Rejection from fate
[You have slain 114,514 Fragmentum creatures. Your combat experience has increased.]
[Due to your actions, your progress along the Path of Preservation has been hindered.]
[The Path's source power is at odds with your principles, and because your will is diverging from the Path—]
[Your progress on the Path has come to a halt.]
Ron looked at the words on the screen, feeling a bit frustrated. This was the best run he had ever simulated, with Seele, the emperor he personally trained, fully supporting him. His personal attributes had increased across the board, reaching heights unattainable by ordinary people.
In terms of commanding armies, strategy, and personal combat ability, he had reached the pinnacle.
No matter how you looked at it, this run should have been a big win—a satisfying victory.
But the enjoyment started to fade after the founding of the First Yalilo Empire...
Because his actions had deviated from the core principle of the Path of Preservation.
As a Pathstrider of Preservation, Ron had never abandoned the will of preservation in this simulation, but as the Shadow of Belobog, he was essentially the blade executing Seele's will.
Belobog's filth was too much, and Seele wanted to cut away these burdens slowing down the empire's progress, and Ron, following her will, cleared all internal obstacles within the empire.
But this led to a rejection by the Path of Preservation itself... such actions were in conflict with the will of the Path.
The result was that no matter how much time Ron spent fighting, even after he and the Firebreak guards and the Silvermane Guards cleared all Fragmentum creatures within thousands of miles of Belobog, eradicating the Fragmentum, his level still couldn't increase.
Every time he entered the Fragmentum to fight, after clearing it, the simulation would prompt: [Your principles are at odds with the will of the Path.]
Moreover, the more Ron supported Seele and helped her eliminate the burdens of the empire, the more he was rejected by the Path of Preservation itself.
Ron looked at the screen helplessly, where new text had appeared:
[Due to a mistake during the Stellaron confinement, you find the world is gradually warming.]
[Snowfall has become rare in Belobog, and the humanoid ice sculptures in the Fragmentum outside the city show signs of movement.]
[You know that besides the Stellaron, the great enemy that Yalilo-VI faces is about to awaken from the ice.]
[You lead the Firebreak Guards and the Silvermane Guards day and night, searching for the frozen Antimatter Legion in the Fragmentum outside the city.]
[Many void soldiers are defeated before they can fully thaw, turning into antimatter dust.]
[But the Antimatter Legion frozen across the planet is as numerous as the sands of the Ganges... you cannot annihilate all the Antimatter Legion on this planet.]
[Coincidentally, unrest brews in Belobog, with rumors spreading about the Antimatter Legion, claiming that the empire does not care about the people and is powerless against the Legion's threat, suggesting it's time for a new leader.]
[You immediately lead the Firebreak Guards to quell these voices, discovering new actors behind these rumors... the Masked Fool is secretly watching, adding fuel to the stage.]
[By defying the principles of Preservation again, the Path of Preservation rejects you further.]
[The rejection from the Path intensifies, causing you to doubt the idea of salvation... perhaps, there is a new path?]
[Please choose—]
[1. Support Seele.
Seele's choice is not wrong, and you are proud of her achievements... the empire is on the right path and does not need to change direction.]
[2. Establish a new ruler.
The people's grievances awaken your conscience. You believe Seele has become too cold-blooded and has gone astray... the empire needs a different future, perhaps the former Supreme Guardian Bronya will bring new opportunities to the empire.]
Looking at the two options on the screen, Ron felt speechless.
"Establish a new ruler? What a joke!"
He sighed and rubbed his temples—if he chose the second option, stopped supporting Seele's methods, and strictly opposed her cold-blooded actions, pulling Bronya out to take her place, the suppression from the Path would probably disappear the next second.
He could still be a Pathstrider of Preservation, running along the Path under the gaze of the Aeon.
But why should he stop supporting Seele?
Although Seele's methods were indeed cold-blooded, they were undoubtedly efficient... couldn't possibly be compared to the inefficient Supreme Guardians of Belobog, right?
Seven hundred years passed, and besides making Belobog increasingly dilapidated, they nurtured a bunch of parasites... what exactly did the Supreme Guardians protect?
Seele had been in power for less than a year, and although the people suffered a bit, the nobles and merchants were all gone, but the future was genuinely bright—
The Stellaron was successfully confined by Seele, the best leader Ron had ever seen in the simulation...
Far better than Bronya.
However, choosing Seele also had obvious drawbacks—the Path of Preservation was already rejecting him. If this continued, what would be the result?
The Path of Preservation might never open up to Ron again.
He would lose all access to the Path's energies and nearly all of his power.
"Though it seems likely that continuing will lead to being abandoned by the Path..."
Ron hesitated for a moment, then chose the first option.
So what if he was abandoned by the Path?
Even if this was just a game, Ron wasn't willing to compromise his principles for a bit of power.
He would only follow the path he believed to be right... in Ron's view, the Path was merely a useful tool.
A tool to achieve his goals—tools should never change his principles.
He was determined to support Seele!
The choice screen faded, and new text appeared:
[Seele's rule is the only light in the apocalypse. You trust Seele completely, continuing your support for her.]
[Due to your support for Seele, the Path of Preservation seriously rejects you.]
[However, because of your trait "The Amber King's Gaze (Gold)," you are not completely abandoned by the Path, merely stuck in place, unable to progress.]
[Under the Aeon's protection, you have one more chance to err.]
A new trait notification popped up:
[You have gained the trait: Crossroads (Grey)]
[Crossroads: You are advancing on the Path but have come to a crossroads because of diverging principles.
Will you return to the original path, or take a new, fog-shrouded, untraveled road?
You are trying to decide.]
Not completely abandoned, just stuck in place... as expected of the Amber King.
Faced with this outcome, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as he had his current strength, Ron was confident he could lead Belobog to dawn.
Even if... he couldn't achieve the perfect ending.
Ron thought to himself as new text appeared on the screen:
[Time passes, and the temperature continues to rise—]
[The Antimatter Legion finally awakens from the ice.]
[These ancient warriors, reforged in the furnace of war, once again wield the power of Destruction, igniting fierce flames on this planet that has been cold for seven hundred years...]
[The war from centuries ago reveals its icy veil to the people of Belobog today.]
[Destruction is about to extinguish the dawn of the Empire.]