[Herta obtained ownership of Jarilo-VI.]
[No one questioned whether Herta's words were true, nor did anyone resist Herta's rule over New Belobog...]
[Cocolia calmly handed over power to Herta—all of them could see Herta's special position within the Path of [Salvation]. They might not trust the suddenly-appeared Herta, but they would never distrust the will of Ron, the [Salvation].]
[After all... in the current New Belobog, the seeds of hope planted by Ron had taken root in everyone's hearts.]
[The ideal of [Salvation] was incomparably firm in their hearts. They staunchly believed in the will of "Salvation," trekking along the now-incomplete Path of [Salvation]... They could be described as the most zealous of fanatics.]
[For as long as can be observed in history, the people of Jarilo-VI have been beset by conflict. Even when invaded by the Antimatter Legion and assailed by the Eternal Freeze, huddling within Belobog, the division between the Overworld and Underworld still arose.]
[But now, all divisions on Jarilo-VI have temporarily vanished. The will of all its people has been twisted into a single rope...]
[They all followed the will Ron left behind before his death. Fervent faith strengthened their resolve, and everyone looked to Herta with longing, hoping to hear the departed god's decree from the mouth of this [Salvation] Emanator, to guide them on their now-uncertain path—]
[After your death... what should they do?]
[You ascended to the station of an Aeon, only to die in an instant. Though the time was not long, your actions shook the entire sea of stars...]
[Gondolas set sail in the depths of the cosmos; the Mourners steered their ships toward directions where they had once docked;]
[The "Tavern" was abuzz with noise. Amidst the raucous laughter, someone donned a mask and secretly climbed aboard a Mourner's ship;]
[The marauding Borisin of the cosmos gathered. The tribes conferred in secret for a long time before strictly obeying their chieftain's command. Beast ships roared at the heavens as the grand army surged toward Jarilo-VI;]
[The Xianzhou Luofu and the Xianzhou Yaoqing, having been anchored for a long time due to the Ambrosial Arbor incident, set sail once more, pursuing the trail of the Borisin, beginning a new Hunt;]
["The Family," under a common will, cast their gaze toward Jarilo-VI, looking at the sudden mark of [Harmony] Xipe that had appeared on the planet;]
[The Interastral Peace Corporation fell into fierce debate, with every department vying for the right to handle the incident... Change represented the potential for wealth to flow, and a great change like the one on Jarilo-VI allowed everyone to calculate a future of immense profit.]
[The flames ignited by the fall of an Aeon set the entire sea of stars aboil... Nearly everyone turned their eyes to Jarilo-VI, to this small, unknown planet.]
[Some were curious, some were greedy, some personally embarked on a journey, while others calmly watched from the sidelines... The reactions of the cosmos's inhabitants were varied, but a single question was surely harbored in every heart:]
[What Aeon was this? Why was it born, and why did it fall?]
[It died on this planet... What legacy would it leave behind?]
[Countless people, with different thoughts in their hearts, embarked on journeys—or not—to find the Aeon's legacy...]
[Only the Garden of Recollection's reaction was the strangest—the Memokeepers wandering throughout the cosmos suddenly returned in a hurry. The Garden maintained restraint and silence, not intervening in the carnival brought about by the Aeon's fall.]
[The storm kicked up by this carnival that swept the entire sea of stars could only blow toward Jarilo-VI. New Belobog had just seen off the most powerful enemy this civilization had ever encountered since its birth, only to immediately face the countless, greedy hands reaching out for it...]
[The people of New Belobog were resolute enough, but also lost enough after your death. The warriors with unwavering wills would not hesitate to spill their blood, but the current situation left them completely unable to identify their enemy.]
[If they had to wait a few more days, facing the various factions from across the stars in a state of confusion, facing this intricate and chaotic web of relationships, New Belobog would be decidedly unprepared.]
[To be hostile or not, to accept or not, to declare war or not...]
[Different choices would lead to completely different outcomes. These forces from across the cosmos were far more powerful than New Belobog. Having just survived a catastrophe, New Belobog had to tread carefully among these factions, as if walking a tightrope, to find a tiny path of hope and preserve its own existence.]
[But Herta had a better way.]
[In accordance with the deal she had made with Ron, after taking complete control of Jarilo-VI, Herta immediately contacted the Interastral Peace Corporation, with whom she had deep cooperative ties. Using the Corporation's channels, she contacted "The Family" and hastily took a seat at the negotiating table.]
[No one knows what exactly happened that day. They only know that "The Family" and the "Corporation" jointly pressured Herta, and Herta silently laid out her bargaining chips on the table. Spittle flew across the table, but as the chips were laid out one by one, the Corporation's representative fell silent. A moment later, they chose to pressure The Family, and the two behemoths began their clash at the negotiating table.]
[However, although the three parties had as many disagreements as there were stars in the sky, the wills they represented eventually compromised and reached a consensus...]
[Not long after, they tacitly issued a joint statement to the entire universe. The statement spread throughout the sea of stars, halting the steps of many who were heading for New Belobog...]
[The contents of the statement included, but were not limited to: declaring sovereignty over Jarilo-VI, stating that it, like the Azure Star, belonged to the Emanator of [Erudition], Madam Herta, and that no one was permitted to land, lest they incur Herta's severe enmity;]
[Announcing that New Belobog was an important ally of the Interastral Peace Corporation/The Family, and that the war with the Antimatter Legion had concluded with a great victory for New Belobog, who had routed the Legion.]
[However, New Belobog had suffered heavy losses as a result and now needed to seal its system to recuperate. As important allies, the Interastral Peace Corporation/The Family were obligated to protect New Belobog, prohibiting any outsiders from entering the Jarilo system and protecting the space lanes near Jarilo-VI and the Azure Star to prevent Herta from falling into danger.]
[Finally, they jointly announced that the miracle that had appeared on Jarilo-VI and affected the entire universe, which must have come from an unknown Aeon, was just a wonderful misunderstanding. They explained that it was actually a miracle from [The Preservation] Qlipoth. The Golden Goliath, moved by the devout city-builders of Jarilo-VI facing the world-ending threat of the Antimatter Legion, had come to the planet's orbit and swung its hammer at the countless Legion creations;]
[Several of the Legion's Lord Ravagers were annihilated by this hammer blow, and even [The Destruction] Nanook had shed divine blood... The brilliant light was the golden glint from the explosion of the Lord Ravagers' antimatter engines mixed with Nanook's divine blood, not a miracle from a new Aeon.]
Looking at the text on the light screen, Ron, who had been watching silently and pondering the situation after his simulated self's death, could finally no longer suppress the small desire in his heart and spoke his thoughts aloud:
"The Corporation is really skilled at shifting the blame to [The Preservation] Qlipoth... If the Amber Lord found out, wouldn't he really smash them with his hammer?"
With that, Ron shook his head with a bit of helplessness.
"And even with a deception like this, everyone will still know that a new Aeon was born..."
After distributing his power mixed with hope as seeds of hope, Ron had created a great many Pathstriders.
Many people with a strong desire for [Salvation] immediately embarked on the Path of [Salvation] after receiving the seed of hope he gave, becoming Pathstriders.
As for the rest, although they hadn't yet embarked on the Path, the seed of hope would sooner or later take root and sprout in their hearts...
When that time came, they would inevitably follow this strong hope, step onto the Path of [Salvation], and continuously advance along it.
When Ron was dying, to ensure he could leave as much power as possible for New Belobog and prevent the Silvermane Guards, who had all become Pathstriders of [Salvation] because of him, from losing significant strength due to his death, he had gone to great lengths to preserve his Path.
He fused the remnants of his own unique Path with the spoils he had obtained from [The Destruction] Nanook into the holy sword, then plunged that sword into Jarilo-VI. Only the Path fragments he had taken from other Aeons were reclaimed, leaving the Path of [Salvation] incomplete...
But the current, incomplete Path of [Salvation] was not weak... Because the remaining part was the complete extreme tendency of the Path—the "Sword of Salvation" philosophy—the strength of any Pathstrider who walked this road would not differ by more than ten percent compared to when Ron was alive.
In fact, because the concept became more singular after the Path became incomplete, it was now incredibly easy to advance along the Path of [Salvation]...
Therefore, everyone would inevitably know about the sudden appearance of the Path of [Salvation], and naturally, they would know that a new Aeon had been born because of it. This joint statement not only failed to erase the possibility of Ron's existence but, in a classic case of protesting too much, thoroughly confirmed it.
But... Ron wasn't panicked. He looked at the text on the light screen, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly, finally feeling a bit more at ease about New Belobog's future.
It was a clumsy denial that only confirmed the truth, yes... but so what?
Whether the cover-up succeeded or not, since the curiosity of everyone in the sea of stars had been ignited, deception alone could never solve this problem.
Someone would always set foot on the soil of Jarilo-VI, disturbing the planet's peace and tranquility.
Therefore... all that was needed was a clear stance from the behemoths.
Now, the Corporation and The Family had stated their position... At least until they had the power to deal with the threat of the Corporation and The Family, many would be stopped in their tracks, daring only to watch what happened on this planet from afar, not daring to set foot on it...
Ron thought to himself pensively, and the text on the light screen did not pause, but continued to appear:
[Because of the stance taken by the Corporation and The Family, the boiling sea of stars was as if countless blocks of ice had been suddenly thrown into it, forced to cool down. Many people and factions halted their steps, daring only to peer at the Jarilo system from several star systems away, no longer daring to proceed toward Jarilo-VI...]
[But there are always those who do not fear colossal powers like the Corporation and The Family, who advance toward Jarilo-VI with intentions both good and ill—]
[The Borisin war fleet expeditioned amidst primitive war songs. On a Gondola, a Mourner and a Knight of Beauty clinked glasses. The mirrored surface of the cups rippled, reflecting the face of the one holding the mirror.]
[But Herta would absolutely not allow anyone to come to Jarilo-VI now... This planet was no longer the cosmic miracle it once was, but merely a cold ruin.]
[If someone with malicious intent were to arrive in New Belobog, the City of Salvation might not have the strength to save itself this time...]
[Fortunately, Herta always has a way.]
The text on the light screen faded, and a few simple silhouettes flashed past:
Two ecological dreadnoughts charged out from opposite ends of a star system. Star-skiffs swarmed out like bees, completely surrounding the Borisin.
On a Gondola's communication terminal, an uninvited Herta appeared, arms crossed coldly, watching as a Knight of Beauty and a Mourner eyed each other warily before suddenly attacking in unison, lunging at a bewildered-looking Xianzhou Ranger—
But the ranger simply dropped a broken smiley-face mask and then vanished.
The silhouettes on the light screen disappeared, and new text appeared:
[Relying on her observational abilities as an Emanator of [Erudition], Herta completely analyzed the Borisin's detailed route of advance. Using the Corporation's channels, she delivered multiple ambush plans against the Borisin to the Xianzhou Alliance. Ultimately, the Borisin were cornered by the Xianzhou Luofu and the Xianzhou Yaoqing, completely losing their opportunity to plunder New Belobog.]
[Afterward, Herta contacted the Gondola, rooted out a certain blue-haired rat, and easily broke through the Mourners' psychological defenses, bluntly stating that a faction that couldn't even keep its own house in order was in no position to offer help to others.]
[They began an internal purge, catching one Masked Fool after another. The Gondola docked several star systems away, no longer sailing toward the Jarilo system.]
[Through Herta's deliberate machinations, the carnival that had set the entire sea of stars to a boil was forcibly terminated... The vast majority of people lost the chance to participate directly and set foot on Jarilo-VI, giving New Belobog a chance to breathe.]
[Thereafter, Herta migrated the databank from the Herta Space Station, personally created a new databank AI, and reactivated the broken New Belobog, this Ideal City, reshaping all the chaos in this cosmic metropolis with the endless energy of the Stellaron...]
[In just a few months, New Belobog was completely restored to its pre-war state—aside from the giant sword you plunged into it, which spanned dozens of city districts, New Belobog had fully recovered.]
[To coexist with the holy sword, Herta simply modified the city's blueprints, establishing a giant round table council chamber for the "Sword of Salvation" next to the sword. Several city districts were enveloped within it, and the selection process for the "Sword of Salvation" organization was carried out in secret, soon to establish its initial form.]
[Time passed in a flash. Relying on this time to recuperate, New Belobog continuously recovered its strength, on the verge of returning to its pre-war state.]
[And after all this time, no news had come from New Belobog. Everyone spying on the outskirts of the Jarilo system gradually lost interest in the fallen Aeon on the planet. Some had already weighed anchor, setting sail once more among the stars...]
[But just as everyone let their guard down—]
[New Belobog fell into chaos.]