"So, you've finally come..."
Ron's expression turned grave as he read the text on the light screen. He sat up straight, preparing himself as he focused on the interface before him.
Ever since the card game with [The Elation] Aha had concluded, Ron had been guiding the simulation's progress based on the intelligence he had gathered.
He had granted Herta the blessing of the "Chosen," supported her leadership of the grand army to cleanse the Star Ocean, and focused his own efforts on mastering the Path of [The Destruction]. All of this was done to ensure the simulation unfolded largely as predicted during the card game, and to prepare for a showdown with [The Finality] Terminus on equal footing. With the shattered Path of [Salvation] as a foundation, he had completely devoured the Path of [The Destruction] to gain absolute control over all his powers.
Herta had not disappointed Ron in the slightest. She had put the "Chosen" blessing to perfect use, and this power became the cornerstone of her leadership, sustaining New Belobog's expeditionary fleet in its ceaseless campaign across the stars.
Over the course of several Amber Eras, generations had passed on New Belobog. The faith in [Salvation] had flourished, and the number of Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians grew daily, providing a constant stream of fresh blood for the grand expedition.
Herta led these warriors—men and women who harbored a fervent hope for [Salvation] and wished to bring its glory to other worlds—across the Star Ocean. Countless calamities were utterly destroyed in battle with them, annihilated under the incandescent white Holy Light, leaving not a single trace of their existence behind.
For several Amber Eras, the Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians cut a swath across the entire Star Ocean. Due to their formidable martial prowess, their name became renowned throughout the galaxy.
Most interstellar polities became aware of New Belobog's existence, and a considerable number of factions were willing to establish diplomatic ties and accept salvation from them.
It was true that after the Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians eliminated a local disaster and saved a world from the shadow of annihilation, they would invariably bring that world under New Belobog's rule and colonize it with their own knights. However, many worlds on the brink of destruction had no complaints.
After all, even though they would be brought under New Belobog's dominion after being rescued, it was still an excellent option for them...
In this sea of stars, at least sixty-five percent of all planets on the verge of destruction owed their plight to Stellarons—that vile seed inextricably linked to the Path of [The Destruction].
Previously, even an Emanator of [Erudition] like Herta had no easy way of dealing with a nuisance like a Stellaron before she received Ron's blessing and set foot upon the Path of [Salvation]. But once Ron had fully mastered the Path of [The Destruction], handling the once-troublesome Stellarons became much easier.
Now, only the Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians possessed the methods for the harmless disposal of Stellarons. Furthermore, New Belobog's post-disaster reconstruction efforts, drawing upon their experience in building a universal metropolis, were at the cutting edge of the cosmos.
Therefore, even with the prospect of being absorbed into New Belobog's domain, most afflicted worlds requested their help without complaint.
After all... their decisive methods of salvation and extremely reliable reconstruction projects could completely restore their worlds and civilizations to their former prosperity. Even if they had to become subjects under another's rule, it was far better than perishing in despair at the end of days.
New Belobog's rule was not oppressive. In fact, because the Path of [Salvation] was fundamentally rooted in light and goodness, its followers would not commit any egregious acts. Many planets, after being saved by the expeditionary fleet, would even undergo a social liberation brought about by New Belobog...
Decadent old systems were overthrown to embrace a new life. Aside from paying taxes to the cause of [Salvation] and serving on the front lines against cosmic calamities under the conscription system, they had to give up very little.
And while these contributions were not small, it was the lowest price one could pay in this Star Ocean for such comprehensive aid...
After all, the Interastral Peace Corporation next door, which also offered to save afflicted planets, charged an unimaginably astronomical price.
They would demand that the aided civilization join the Corporation's commercial alliance. All its inhabitants would automatically become reserve employees of the Corporation, effectively selling themselves into its rigid system, toiling day and night for a few credits until they ended their lives in exhaustion.
Worse still, even after collecting such a hefty fee, the Corporation's business groups could not guarantee that the afflicted planet would actually be restored.
While the Corporation's power was not in question—their fleets could quell any disaster—the subsequent ecological restoration and reconstruction were not always successful...
For a pitiable planet eroded by a Stellaron and now riddled with Fragmentums, the IPC's success rate for revival and ecological recovery was only forty to fifty percent—an average of about half.
Perhaps some of the IPC's top employees had extraordinary abilities that could raise this probability to over eighty percent, but these elites were incredibly busy. Not every planet was lucky enough to have them take on their case...
Moreover, even if they did intervene, there was still a chance of failure after paying such a heavy price...
It could only be said that in this entire Star Ocean, no faction understood salvation better than New Belobog.
Through this "business" of salvation, New Belobog's military grew rapidly. The scale of the Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians continued to expand, quickly elevating the fleet's strength to a level where it could confront almost any enemy in the Star Ocean, save for the Aeons themselves.
It was for this reason that Herta was able to lead the fleet to hunt down the most notorious calamities of the Star Ocean, achieving one great victory after another. Even on the rare occasion they suffered a setback, they would regroup, seek aid from allies, and swiftly launch a torrential counterattack, securing yet another triumph...
However, these days came to an end several Amber Eras later. Just as the information from the card game with [The Elation] Aha had foretold, New Belobog's fleet encountered an utterly irresistible enemy for the first time.
[The Voracity] Ouroboros, endlessly devouring all in its path, came face to face with the expeditionary fleet. The Salvation Knights and Galaxy Guardians were completely unprepared to face an Aeon and suffered grievous losses under its ravenous consumption.
If not for Herta turning the tide and forcing a retreat, and Ron secretly communicating with [The Preservation] Qlipoth to swiftly intercept Ouroboros, the entire fleet would have been effortlessly swallowed into one of its countless abyssal maws, becoming nothing more than a trivial little dessert for Ouroboros to sate its endless appetite...
Afterward, the heavily damaged fleet was forced to return to New Belobog to recuperate. But before they could even catch their breath, the Arbiter, an Emanator of [The Equilibrium], appeared from nowhere, attempting to "balance" the power on New Belobog and suppress its development.
Unfortunately for it, the appearance of [The Equilibrium] HooH had also been on the table during Ron's card game with Aha. Ron was fully aware it would appear and had already prepared a solution.
He had laid an ambush for HooH long in advance. When the Arbiter arrived at New Belobog, the elusive [The Elation] Aha and [Salvation] Ron acted in concert, catching the lurking HooH and launching a perfectly honorable 'sneak attack'...
The battle did not last long. Soon, a heavily wounded HooH fled the star system. Aha pursued it, ensuring it would no longer be able to interfere with the events on New Belobog.
Not long after, several cryptic Harbingers of Doom sent a message to New Belobog, informing them that their doom was at hand and that they must flee Jarilo-VI immediately to avoid a destructive fate.
But New Belobog was the true home of the Belobogians... No one would abandon their home because of some inexplicable prophecy.
Even if a world-ending danger truly existed, the people of Belobog would not give up on saving their home, nor would they flee just to eke out a meager existence.
Even though this world had once been covered in ice, once a scene of utter apocalypse, the people of New Belobog had fought against disaster and fate on this planet for too long. Even after two or three generations had passed, their history had been well preserved, and their former conviction was carved into the bones of every Belobogian...
They would not abandon their home. Never.
But... sometimes, conviction alone is not enough to change things.
[[The Finality] Terminus arrives from the end of the River of Time. It has completely broken its shackles on this timeline and extended its hand.]
[You discovered its presence at the first possible moment—it was an arm woven from countless white and black threads. Countless destinies had become the fine threads that formed its hand. It looked utterly unremarkable, as if it were merely wearing a pair of thread gloves in extremely poor taste.]
[But... looking unremarkable does not mean it actually is unremarkable.]
[Those are the threads of fate... and [The Finality] Terminus needed only to squeeze gently to hold that fate firmly in its grasp.]
[You had no intention of letting it take the first move—you knew that no other Aeon would come to help you fight this being from the end of time. In this sea of stars, you were the only one standing in its direct opposition. You could only rely on yourself.]
[Therefore, since it had come to this, facing an enemy of unknown depth who was clearly stronger than you, you decided to strike with the utmost speed, attempting to catch it by surprise...]
[A vast torrent of Holy Light instantly swept through the River of Fate. The arm woven from black and white threads was immediately engulfed by the immense light. Your attack seized the perfect moment. [The Finality] Terminus had no time to react and was completely submerged in the sea of incandescent Holy Light.]
[But... was seizing the moment enough?]
[Not necessarily...]
[The vast Holy Light dissipated, but the arm belonging to [The Finality] Terminus was still there, completely unharmed.]
[The next moment, the black and white threads on this "arm" suddenly expanded. Countless death lines of fate descended from above your head and, in the next instant, bound your body...]
[You are bound by fate, turned into a stringed puppet.]