Chapter 40 Breaking through the darkness

Faced with the huge boulder that couldn't be moved, Orion thought of a solution.

"The earth is vast and boundless. The only thing wider than the earth is the sky."

If your feet can't leave the ground, then let the ground leave your feet.

If you can't lift your feet off the earth to move the boulder, and if you can't push it with force, then there are rules that restrict it.

Orion stood on top of the boulder and used the power of gravity on himself.

The sky turned upside down.

The sky beneath his feet became a foothold, and the massive boulder representing the earth was thrown out into the universe.

"Stop playing tricks. If you want my body, take it yourself!"

With a cold expression, Orion stood in the void and pointed forward, knowing the stellaron was there.

"Wonderful, truly wonderful."

The invisible void transformed into a figure, still looking as annoying as ever.

"You've passed through the early stages of this planet, where life is reborn and civilizations evolve."

The previously empty eyes, which symbolized nature, suddenly held a myriad of colors. Orion could see these were the colors of human nature.

"The nexy level, Orion. I look forward to seeing you reach that point."

The scene changed again. A plant called civilization grew out of the barren land. The young seeds sprouted and grew larger almost instantly.

The growth of civilization is too brief compared to the vast time and space of the universe.

In the blink of an eye, Belobog's civilization reached a stage resembling an industrial era, similar to Orion's time in Belobog.

People walked on streets paved with stone, their busy movements never stopping, just like the advancing civilization.

The light of electricity banishes darkness, and the power of steam shrinks the distances on the ground. The world humans live in seems to become both smaller and larger.

It's as small as the ends of the earth, yet as vast as infinity.

"This civilization is at a turning point, heading towards a future of unparalleled prosperity, guided by my hand."

The stelleron stood next to Orion, hands spread out. He looked at the scene before him as if he were seeing a pet in its cage, full of doting affection.

"It's better to stop lying. Does this so-called prosperous future really have a place for humans like you say?"

Orion remained unmoved. Although the stelleron seemed to grasp righteousness, in reality, everything he did was for himself. He wasn't on humanity's side. No matter how prosperous the future he talked about was, Orion knew it wasn't what people wanted today.

"Will you remember how many weeds were pulled this morning in your garden?"

Orion frowned at the metaphor. After going through the first two levels, he knew it was impossible to break the rules of the stellaron world with sheer force.

But at least he could control his own will. This was a lesson he learned in Belobog. If it were three years ago, when Orion first arrived and was inexperienced in the world, he wouldn't have survived, even if he had more power than now. He wouldn't have passed a single level.

"You seem dissatisfied with my metaphor, so I'll show you just how flawed the humans you care about are."

With a snap of his fingers, time shifted to the scene the star wanted to show.

Dark giant shadows covered the sky, artillery fire rained down, and clawed monsters tore through the void, vowing to destroy all civilization.

"Antimatter Legion..."

The familiar enemy made Orion realize that this was the most chaotic era of Jarilo-VI nearly a thousand years ago.

"Yes, even during times that threatened the survival of civilization, the tiny humans on this planet never stopped destroying themselves."

On the desolate land, humans chased by monsters fled into the city. The heroic warriors fought bravely. The moment they saw people entering the city, they sighed with relief.

"You guys, why didn't you come earlier?"

Receiving no thanks or complaints, the soldier was stunned. In the next second, his head was pierced by an attack, and he fell on the battlefield.

The soldiers on the front lines were fighting bravely, but inside the city, the nobles' banquet was still full of singing and dancing.

The fat nobles ate grapes peeled by beautiful women, tugged at their collars that were about to burst and complained about their servants not opening the windows because the room was too hot.

Outside the warm doors, a little girl with no matches left lit her last match and fell into an eternal sleep.

"The rich feast while the poor freeze on the streets."

Orion looked at the scene before him and was speechless. This brutally real scene had happened on this planet, and Belobog, which he and Cocolia controlled, was far from being an ideal, safe city.

The disparity between the upper and lower areas also provides opportunities for criminals with bad intentions. Many children from the upper areas want to see the scenery of the lower areas, but once they get there, they become targets.

Kidnappers often lure these children to lower-level areas, make friends with them, invite them to their hideouts, and then kidnap them, demanding huge ransoms from their parents in the upper areas.

Orion had seen all of this and worse before, but he didn't want to dwell on it. No matter how harsh the punishment, people's greed will always push them to cross forbidden lines.

"Look, look, this is the humanity you believe in; these are the weeds you want to protect!"

Behind Orion, countless ghostly black shadows surrounded him. If he ever wavered, they would swarm and devour him. But instead of fear, Orion's lips curled into a slight smile.

The stellaron looked at the man in front of her in astonishment, smiling because of him.

"It seems you've spent thousands of years on this planet, only to die buried in dirt. The rust on the creation engine hasn't seeped into your brain," Orion said, smiling.

Compared to the mental and physical torment of the previous levels, the stellaron had clearly underestimated him.

"Of course, I know humans have a dark side. You can find arrogance, jealousy, greed, and lust in humans," Orion said cheerfully. "But you've overlooked something, or perhaps it's something you can't see with your narrow view of weeds."

"Everything has a good and bad side. Behind every ugly side there's a light that upholds human nature. If humans were only ugly, they would have perished long ago.

It's the millions of lights behind the darkness that have supported humanity until now and allowed it to spread across the universe."

Orion's eyes were more serious than ever. "Human unity, kindness, bravery, justice, and love may seem like obstacles to the progress of civilization, things insignificant in the face of life and death.

But it's often these very things that prevent people from sliding into a bottomless abyss. If a person loses these traits, they become more terrifying than a ghost."

"Well, stellaron," Orion said, looking at the stellaron, who was left speechless. He slowly raised his right hand. "Since your time as a stellaron, have you ever seen..."

"The stars shattering?"

In Orion's right hand, a fully contained sphere with black patterns emitted waves of energy far more terrifying than before.

"This is the moment I've been waiting for. It's time to end this."

"Its time for a black hole!"