"The efforts of our predecessors… their unfinished research can finally bear fruit in this era!"
"Give me a guard unit, let me find the Stellaron, and I will find a way to save our homeland!"
Cocolia's voice was ice-cold.
"Calm down, Serval."
"Calm down? What are you talking about—"
"Guards! Lady Landau is exhausted. Escort her away, seal her laboratory, and detain all her researchers. They've been conducting illegal research."
Serval's voice was filled with shock, confusion, and bewilderment.
Clearly, she hadn't expected Cocolia to pull such a move, and she couldn't help but question her.
"Why, Cocolia? Why are you stopping us? We were so close to uncovering the truth and finding a way to end this disaster…"
"At least tell me—why?!"
"There are things you shouldn't know, things you shouldn't touch. From today onward, you are no longer part of the Architects."
"Cocolia… how did you become so cold…?"
Serval's trembling voice carried a mix of disbelief and despair.
Cocolia remained unmoved, even as Serval's figure disappeared.
"Serval Landau… you were once my most cherished friend."
The Stellaron's voice echoed: "But in the promised new world, there is no place for her."
Seeing this, Stelle, furious, kicked apart Cocolia's lingering image.
This deranged woman was even more unhinged and obsessive than she'd imagined.
She pressed forward.
But what she saw next nearly made her grind her teeth to dust.
Cocolia—how could she!
She had personally pushed the Silvermane Guards into an abyss, using their willpower as fodder to feed the Stellaron…
And she had the audacity to speak of absolving their foolishness and fear?
"…Cocolia!"
Stelle adjusted her breathing, continuing her flight forward.
This time, she had no time to linger, driven by an urgent need to find a way out.
The battle wasn't over.
Her companions were waiting for her.
This world awaited the redemption of the Nameless.
And she carried Leon's will.
Her instincts told her that the radiant light piercing the heavens in the distance held the answer to her escape.
Drawing closer, Stelle noticed a childlike figure nearby.
As she descended from the air, retracting her wings, a faint sigh reached her ears.
"This city is crying out… the power of Preservation is fading… In the end, we couldn't resist the Stellaron's will."
Stelle had a rough guess about the nature of the figure before her—
She… must be an amalgamation of the wills of past Guardians.
"Cocolia abandoned Preservation."
"Indeed… but we have no right to judge her."
The Guardian let out a long sigh, her voice like wind passing over ruins.
"For seven hundred years, the Rift has expanded relentlessly. Successors inherited not faith, glory, or wealth, but boundless despair…"
"Watching the homeland they swore to protect crumble is a cruel torment. The seductive whispers linger day and night… Even the strongest will can waver."
"This day was destined to come… Their protection will eventually abandon us…"
"…"
Stelle's mind flashed with memories from this journey.
The small yet resilient figures struggling to survive.
The Silvermane Guards with no retreat, standing firm for their homeland.
"There are always those who won't waver. Cocolia gave in to cowardice and embraced corruption, so I will uphold Preservation!"
"You…"
The Guardian turned abruptly, her tone filled with astonishment.
"A mere passerby, yet you insist on bearing the fate of an entire world?"
"Compared to bearing the fate of a world, or the will of Preservation, I carry something even more important—"
"The will of Trailblaze!"
"Trailblaze… Trailblaze… Very well. With nothing left to lose, why not try?"
The Guardian's gaze shifted to the blazing light in the distance, her sigh tinged with faint hope.
"Touch the amber light. If your will to preserve is strong enough… perhaps you can draw Their gaze…"
The Guardian's form dissipated like scattered stars.
With resolute determination, Stelle turned without hesitation, striding toward the amber light.
A massive lance stood tall, evoking a sense of familiarity.
After a moment's thought, realization dawned in her eyes.
It wasn't made of ice after all. In the hands of one who had forsaken Preservation, it had long lost its value.
The lance's surface shimmered with flowing light, its heavy aura like solidified history, each glowing ring bearing the will that spanned time and space.
Stelle stood still, gazing at it for a few seconds, then reached out to grasp the shaft.
Boom!
Flames erupted, searing pain shooting through her palm.
The skin on her hand split open instantly.
A surge of force struck, knocking her arm back and sending her stumbling.
But she charged at the lance again, her fingers gripping the handle tightly.
"Get—up—!"
Veins bulged on Stelle's forehead, her arms trembling from the strain.
To bear the will of Preservation, one must first endure its immeasurable weight.
Flames engulfed her, the searing pain nearly driving her mad.
Her hands lost sensation, but the conviction in her eyes remained unyielding, steadfast as stone.
A gentle voice, filled with expectation, echoed in her mind.
"Alright, carry my will, cross this ancient battlefield abandoned for centuries, and find Cocolia."
"No matter when, I'll always be by everyone's side."
Hearing this, Ah Xian could no longer control her expression. Her eyes reddened, her vision blurring instantly.
Wings unfurled from Stelle's back, draping over her arms.
Even the flames couldn't ignite the white feathers, instead making them shine ever brighter.
"Follow—our will—"
"Argh—!!!"
A battle cry erupted from Stelle's throat, reverberating through the heavens. Her knuckles, scorched by the flames, burst into bloody blisters, only to heal instantly.
Beneath the lance, the starry void cracked like a spiderweb, rapidly spreading.
—The lance, seemingly immovable for eons, was forcibly lifted!
The entire cosmos trembled, countless shattered oaths of Preservation transforming into a golden torrent, flooding into the lance.
In that moment, Stelle's consciousness flickered—
She saw a towering figure wielding a massive hammer, exuding a heavy presence.
She could feel a gaze resting upon her.
The haze cleared, and Stelle's eyes snapped open.
The boundless starry void had transformed into familiar ice and snow.
But now—
She would dispel the cold and end the seven-hundred-year calamity.
Together with her companions' will.
Together with the will of those seven hundred years.
Together with the will of all who yearned to live…
Her wings spread wide.
Stelle, holding the flaming lance, hovered steadily in the air.
The flames on the lance flared, and the Creation Engine suddenly seized the stunned Cocolia, hurling her to the ground.
"With spines etched with the oath to preserve civilization, with will to dispel the ancient iron's resolve."
"Only with the courage to ignite the flame can one forge an everlasting bulwark."
An unyielding spine, an indomitable will, the courage to face death and rise again…
She understood.
But Cocolia would never understand.
Never.
"Hey! Stelle—"
March 7th looked up joyfully, waving at her.
She was okay—thank goodness!
Stelle's lips curved into a faint smile, nodding to her companions.
Then—
She raised her arm, the flaming lance pointed straight at Cocolia!
"This is the inscription of salvation!"
As the protagonist's words fell, the screen shattered, and rousing background music with pounding drums ignited the players' fervor.