Belloberg has waited too long.

[You are being influenced by the whispers of the Stellaron.]

[Your mental resistance fails, and you are affected by the Stellaron's whispers.]

[Your acceptance of the concept of Preservation decreases, while your acceptance of Destruction increases.]

[You are influenced by the Stellaron's whispers once again...]

Bronya stares at the text repeatedly popping up on the light screen, feeling at a loss.

It's not just because of the shocking truth revealed by the Stellaron.

It's also because the simulator has become completely unresponsive, leaving her sitting there helplessly...

Ever since she chose to follow Cocolia into the rift, no selectable options have appeared.

The simulation is racing along a predetermined path, leading straight to a bottomless abyss.

The Stellaron's whispers continuously affect her mind, and the simulated Bronya is almost being converted into a devout believer of Destruction, unable to stop it...

This is truly the end.

She should have waited another day, waiting to confront her mother with Ron...

She was too hasty.

Bronya covers her cheeks in shame, unwilling to look at the long string of text on the light screen.

But the life simulation game doesn't stop simulating just because you avoid it.

The text on the light screen disappears.

A new scene begins playing on the light screen, and Bronya has no choice but to look up—

"Listen to the call, Bronya, listen to the call..."

Her mother's gentle voice rings in her ears, mixed with the sweet whispers of the Stellaron.

As the brain-tearing pain gradually subsides, Bronya slowly releases her hands from covering her ears. The light in her gray eyes begins to dim, gradually shrouded by darkness.

A thick haze covers the sky, and fragmented snowflakes fall with despair, landing on Bronya's face.

The coolness of the snowflakes touches her cheeks, but Bronya feels no cold... because the coldness in her heart is far more chilling than that on her skin.

Bronya's sense of responsibility and stubbornness throb in her chest, with her passionate heart supporting her rationality, but it is gradually being extinguished by the Stellaron's whispers.

The responsibility of preserving Belobog? The ideal of building Belobog? Hopes and expectations for the future?

They are meaningless.

Everything has been frozen under the influence of the Stellaron.

Her rationality is becoming increasingly blurred, and Bronya finally understands why her revered mother has become what she is—

The cold of the Stellaron is enough to extinguish ideals; the belief in Preservation is utterly meaningless.

In the face of the Stellaron's immense power, Belobog's struggles are nothing more than insects waving their antennae.

The Amber King has never truly gazed upon Belobog. This lonely ice planet drifting in the universe was always a forgotten remnant.

In that distant old world, there were festivals celebrating early spring, but today's Belobog will never see the dawn of spring.

The illusory Preservation can only make Belobog stagger in the wind and snow, but the imminent Destruction...

Destruction will bring a brilliant new world.

Chaotic thoughts flood Bronya's mind. Cocolia looks at Bronya with gentle eyes, as gentle as when she held Bronya ten years ago.

"Accept it all, my daughter."

She says, "This is the fate of the Landau family."

"I..."

Bronya, dazed and lost, slowly reaches out to her mother—

"Bronya! Have you forgotten your vow to protect Belobog?!"

But a question breaks the silence of the night.

Dark golden crystals form on the long-handled axe, with imaginary energy flowing within, splitting the wind and snow with immense force—

Cocolia instinctively raises the Preservation Spear to block it, but is still sent flying by the blow.

She barely stops in mid-air using the power of the Stellaron, frowning at the intruder.

Ron breaks through the night, stepping into this place that should have been buried in snow long ago.

He plunges the axe into the thick snow, and a dark golden barrier spreads from his body, enveloping Bronya.

He pulls the dazed Bronya, who starts to struggle under his questioning but remains confused, to his side and flicks her forehead sharply, using a simple physical method to snap her out of her confusion.

"Ouch!"

Bronya winces in pain, covering her head, looking at Ron with teary eyes.

The Stellaron's whispers stop in her ears under Ron's protection, and the intense pain brings her back to her senses...

Bronya successfully regains her rationality.

"You need to learn to fight your destiny, Bronya..."

"Find your direction and don't get lost; only then can you reach the dawn."

Ron says sternly, "You can't be a child anymore; the entire Belobog is behind you!"

"I'm not a child..."

Bronya instinctively wants to refute, but the words get stuck in her throat.

Because of her shame.

She has always been able to distinguish right from wrong, especially when it's her own mistake.

Facing Cocolia, she indeed acted like a child... incredibly immature.

Ron was completely right.

She lowers her head in disappointment, suddenly remembering her mother nearby—

Bronya turns around, only to see Cocolia standing in mid-air with an indifferent expression.

She holds a Stellaron emitting a gentle light, looking docile, and speaks coldly to Ron:

"The Stellaron has promised me a future... you must not obstruct the arrival of the new world."

She says, offering a high and mighty promise:

"In recognition of your sincerity, I will leave you a place in the new world."

But Ron merely sneers—

"My future needs no promises from others; I've always held it in my own hands."

"Cocolia, I've long awaited this day, the day to end it all."

As Ron speaks, heavy dark golden crystalline armor continues to grow, climbing up his body.

"Belobog has waited too long in the dark night..."

A muffled voice penetrates the crystalline helmet, like a general blowing the horn of charge:

"I will bring the dawn to this world."