Civilization is Dead but Not Rigid

"I have never seen a rat so large; those wizards led it to the King’s bedchamber."

"My head hurts so much, and my vision is red like blood. I've been sick ever since I left that room. Wait, what’s that noise outside?"

"Why is it so loud? Has a riot broken out?"

"No... I cannot let anyone know I am sick. I just need to stay in my little room, otherwise I will be locked away too. That madwoman has lost all restraint."

"I hope everything can get better, but my head really feels like it is about to burst—"

The diary ended abruptly. Sevia set it down and looked back at the rat carcasses littering the floor; perhaps the guard was resting quietly among them now.

The guard's diary detailed the entire ritual process performed by the wizards.

First, they used the ritual to attract the gaze of the gnawing parasite, then used extraordinary materials to trap it in the room, and finally imprisoned it within a mortal vessel.

Presumably, the giant rat was the physical manifestation of the gnawing parasite's projection in reality.

It seemed that two hundred years ago, those wizards brought about the Gnawing Parasite Miracle in the same way.

The steps of the ritual themselves were not important.

They could be shuffled or broken apart at will.

What mattered was attracting the attention of the "existence" within the Eternal Garden.

Like a human walking across a desert who sees a colony of ants lighting a bonfire on the plains, they would inevitably feel curious and go to investigate.

Sevia had two reasons for not acting directly against those wizards in the palace.

First, the enemy was unaware of her existence, and the Archbishop of Wrath's abilities were too bizarre. She did not want to rely too much on her Starry Singer powers before understanding the enemy's background.

Second, even if she killed the wizards, the kingdom’s miracle was already on the verge of erupting. Breaking the trail of clues now would only make the kingdom's destruction a certainty.

But now that she had confirmed the physical manifestation of the Gnawing Parasite Miracle, one of the two conditions was met.

The next goal was simple.

She would go to the palace, kill the wizards and the gnawing parasite blocking her way, and end all of this.

With that thought, Sevia set off at once, hurrying toward the prison exit.

Atula flinched slightly and reached out to block her, only to find a conductor's string sword hovering at her neck, a hair's breadth away from taking her life.

Cold sweat broke out all over the woman, not just because of the string sword at her throat, but because of the look in the girl’s eyes—gentle and calm, yet cold as snow.

She did not understand what had happened to the girl or why her aura had changed so drastically, as if she had become a completely different person.

"Sevia, what’s wrong with you?"

"Don't let your people come to the palace."

Realizing something, Atula's gaze also began to frost over. "What do you plan to do?"

"Kill," Sevia said.

"Kill who?"

"Whoever stands in my way, I will kill."

Seeing her foreign friend's gaze filled with such complexity, Sevia sighed softly and briefly explained her earlier discovery.

"The King has been blinded by those wizards. Only by killing the gnawing parasite can this plague potentially be stopped," Sevia said.

"I don't want to strike at your companions or harm innocent people. You should be able to understand..."

"I'm sorry, but if that's the case, I cannot let you leave."

Atula's answer caught Sevia slightly off guard.

Before she could react, Atula stepped in front of her.

"I thought you would be more rational." Sevia quietly watched Atula's eyes.

"I am being rational. We cannot betray this kingdom—out of loyalty and for the spiritual totem of our titan race."

"The General is the only one who can lead us titans back to our homeland. Her power is immense, but it comes from the people's faith in her. Our tribe has barely a tenth of its people left. Do you expect me to watch as our last glimmer of hope is snuffed out?"

"But your homeland is already destroyed," Sevia said.

"It's precisely because it's destroyed that we have to go back!" Atula's emotions were beginning to spiral out of control.

"We titans are never afraid of falling."

"Because every time we pick ourselves up, the dirt clutched in our palms contains a seed for the future."

If she could help it, she truly didn't want to stand against Sevia. They were mere strangers who had met by chance, yet this kind girl had shown her nothing but goodness. She was the only foreign friend Atula had ever made.

"To abandon our homeland and our faith? That would be the true extinction."

When the torch of a civilization's spirit has no one to carry it, and the collective consciousness collapses like a sandcastle, that civilization is truly dead.

Conversely, as long as the marks of a civilization are still carved into stone tablets to be unearthed from ruins tens of thousands of years later, its existence remains immortal in a new chapter.

A civilization can die, but it must never go extinct.

The corpse of a civilization can be dead but still rigid.

The long night will always pass, and new civilizations will build new towers upon the ruins. People will follow the paths of the past to rebuild their homes.

But under the flickering lights, what will those people remember? Where do the stories parents tell their children even begin?

"We are a nomadic people, but we are also warriors. Our destiny lies either on the battlefield or on a peaceful plain."

"I cannot let the people of this kingdom lose faith in the General."

"If they do, she will die..." Atula pleaded. "Sevia, just leave. Pretend you saw nothing and leave this kingdom..."

.....

"Our generation of titans cannot return home. We can only open our arms to grasp the dust of our homeland and embrace our companions in the wind."

"But our descendants—when they let out their first cry, they will see an endless grassland, clear and transparent streams, and flocks of sheep covering the hills."

"I can't do that," Sevia said calmly.

The plague was still ravaging the land. In Pangard, hundreds of thousands of people were reaching toward the rift with everything they had, just to grasp a single thread of hope. She did not need to say it; Atula understood.

"Then kill me." Atula lowered her spear, the hope in her eyes replaced by a grim determination.

"I will hold onto you tightly to slow you down. Unless you sever my arms and cut off my legs, then..."

"Atula, move!"

Flora shouted as she charged from the side with a spear, but Sevia easily restrained her by the neck with a flow of water. The spear clattered to the ground.

Flora struggled violently in the air, her face twisted in pain. The bones in her body made faint clicking sounds. If Sevia applied even a little more force, her neck would snap.

"Don't, Sevia." Atula's eyes were brimming with tears. "Please."

"I'm sorry." Sevia did not deliver the killing blow. She threw Flora back to Atula’s side and swept her conductor's string sword upward, slashing out a blue crescent moon!

The ceiling collapsed with a thunderous roar, and countless monsters poured down from above like a flood. Sevia stood her ground, casting one final look back at her friend. Atula held the unconscious Flora in her arms, blankly watching as the girl walked away without once looking back, her silhouette looking so solitary.