"Just you? How arrogant..." Arlecchino sneered.
"In my eyes, gods are merely higher forms of life. Divine life and human life are essentially no different to me." Dottore showed no anger at Arlecchino's mockery, his face still wearing an unshakable smile.
"From my observations, Nanook the Destruction is an existence far beyond Teyvat's gods... something more distant and monumental. Some Aeons can even manipulate certain universal laws, wielding power unattainable by the Seven Archons."
"But even Aeons have beginnings. Like the Aeon of Erudition, who started as nothing more than a human creation. Some Aeons were even ordinary humans at first... What did they experience to ultimately ascend? Aren't you curious about that process?"
Dottore's tone gradually shifted to one of regret and disappointment: "I believe... the Stellaron is a crucial entry point for studying the Aeons. But Cocolia abandoned her research on it—utterly foolish."
Arlecchino sighed: "Researching everything will only be your downfall."
"On the contrary," Dottore said calmly. "Losing curiosity about the unknown... is the only thing that could truly destroy me."
——
[Stelle moves forward again, this time encountering Cocolia and Bronya.]
[Bronya says worriedly: "Mother, I still don't understand... The Fragmentum corrosion has already spread to the Underworld. If we withdraw all the Silvermane Guards, how will those left behind protect themselves?"]
[Cocolia pats the girl's shoulder: "The automaton defense line will handle their safety. The most critical front is in the Overworld. If we collapse, the Underworld will fall instantly. We must hold the line at all costs."]
["This is about trade-offs... Bronya. As a leader, you must have the courage to make decisive choices. You, I—we have greater duties to fulfill... One day, you too will face such decisions."]
["Greater duties?" Bronya looks up in confusion.]
[Cocolia replies reassuringly: "It's too soon, Bronya... far too soon. You'll understand when the time comes."]
[Stelle continues forward until she sees a little girl ahead.]
[The girl looks like any ordinary child in Belobog, but when she speaks, countless voices seem to overlap across the veil of time, echoing through the cosmos.]
[It is... the collective will of all past Guardians.]
["This city is weeping... The power of Preservation fades. In the end, we could not resist the Stellaron's will."]
["It was Cocolia who abandoned Preservation," Stelle says.]
["True... But we cannot blame her. For seven hundred years, the Fragmentum expanded every second. What we passed down to our successors... was not faith or prosperity, but boundless despair."]
["To watch the home we vowed to [Preserve] slowly vanish before our eyes... is torture. And then there were those incessant, seductive whispers..."]
"It seems all past Guardians were aware of the problem. Even if Cocolia had held firm and resisted corruption, there would inevitably come a day when future Guardians—her successors—would falter."
Caitlyn suddenly understood: "Even if it wasn't Cocolia who betrayed Preservation, it would have been someone else."
"Even the firmest will can waver. It seems we can't place all the blame on Cocolia." Vi found it hard to imagine the weight of carrying an entire planet's civilization on one's shoulders.
"Still, while I can understand Cocolia's choice, that doesn't mean I agree with it."
Caitlyn's tone was firm: "Decisions concerning the fate of an entire civilization shouldn't be made by one person alone. In Piltover, even such matters require a council vote. The Stellaron... should never have been kept secret from the beginning. At the very least, not from Bronya and the others."
"...This Lady Cocolia is far too arrogant." Caitlyn grew angrier the more she spoke.
"Alright, Cupcake, why get so worked up? Look, isn't Stelle here to 'fix' her?" Vi comfortingly placed a hand on her shoulder.
"But Stelle, she..." Caitlyn recalled the moment Stelle was pierced by that spear, shaking her head worriedly.
"She's got a Stellaron in her, after all. Dying... probably isn't that easy for her."
["Even the firmest will can waver. This day was inevitable. His protection... was destined to leave us." The Guardian's will spoke regretfully.]
[Stelle closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, her expression brims with confidence: "Then let someone else take up [Preservation]!"]
["You..." The Guardian's will sounds astonished for the first time. "A mere passerby, yet you insist on bearing the fate of an entire world..."]
[But soon, the Guardian's will has no other choice. She lowers her head: "Very well. What more is there to lose... what more is there left to try?"]
["Touch the amber light, Trailblazer. See if your will to [Preserve] is strong enough... strong enough to draw His gaze."]
[Following her guidance, bathed in amber light, lies a crimson lance.]
[Stelle slowly reaches out and firmly grasps the lance's hilt.]
[The moment she takes hold, it's as if somewhere in the distant, unseen cosmos, the Amber Lord strikes a heavy hammer. A metallic clang rings out, accompanied by a wave of heat that forces Stelle back slightly.]
[Yet in the next second, she grips it again with even greater resolve!]
[In an instant, countless images flash before Stelle's eyes: Seele, Bronya, Gepard, Serval... In this far-from-perfect world, they're all striving to change it.]
[The Silvermane Guards fight Fragmentum monsters at the cost of their lives. The people of the Underworld labor tirelessly for meager scraps of food. And all the while, the Fragmentum continues expanding, second by second.]
[This world has no hope. No future.]
[Then... let her become this world's hope!]
["RAAHHH!!"]
[With a furious roar, Stelle yanks the lance free. A dazzling amber light erupts skyward, as if illuminating the entire universe!]
[And in the depths of the cosmos, a colossal, stone-like being raises its hammer. In its eyes, a piercing light begins to glow...]
"This... this is the Aeon of Preservation! Stelle has drawn His gaze!"
At this moment, amidst the exclamations of the gathered heroes, Tatsumaki looks up in shock at the godlike colossus.