Chapter 44: The Truth of the Stellaron
"Takatsuki, Takatsuki, can you fix these machines?"
The group stood watching Clara repair Svarog with the newly acquired parts. March 7th, somewhat bored, poked Takatsuki and asked.
"No."
Takatsuki shook his head: "If I could fix it, I wouldn't have waited until today. I would have fixed it yesterday when I was in the Great Mine."
"I didn't expect there to be something you couldn't do?"
March 7th's words made Takatsuki roll his eyes: "What kind of talk is that? I'm not a god, and besides, even gods aren't omniscient and omnipotent."
"You say that as if you've seen a god, Takatsuki, but indeed, Aeons aren't omniscient and omnipotent."
"I have seen one."
Takatsuki's words startled March 7th: "Huh!? Takatsuki, have you seen an Aeon!? Which Aeon?"
Takatsuki shook his head.
"Not an Aeon, but deities from other worlds."
"Are they beings referred to as deities?"
Dan Heng seemed to be interested in Takatsuki's words as well.
"In some places where civilization isn't very advanced, powerful beings are considered deities or incarnations of deities."
Takatsuki shook his head: "Not that kind. They are truly existing deities, but in that world, there are no Aeons."
The concept of Aeons seems to only exist in worlds that are part of the Imaginary Tree. At least, he hadn't heard of such a concept in other worlds.
"Can you tell us about it?"
Dan Heng seemed very interested in this information. March 7th explained from the side: "Dan Heng manages the data library, the knowledge base, on our train."
"I see. However, the gods I'm talking about don't belong to this world, nor to the star systems you know. They are beyond that. Although there are boundaries, in reality, the worlds where Aeons exist are all worlds under the Imaginary Tree's rule, and Void Energy is actually the energy of the Imaginary Tree."
"The world I'm talking about exists independently. There's no Void Energy there, and the gods there use genuine divine power. However, I don't know much about divine power, but I have seen the gods of one world. The gods there are just a group of powerful, capricious fellows. Although each of them controls a certain authority, they are not omniscient and omnipotent."
As Takatsuki spoke, Dan Heng took out a terminal and quickly recorded everything.
"Divine power… what kind of power is it?"
Dan Heng stopped his actions and asked: "And without Void Energy, how do people there fight? Do they rely solely on physical strength or technology?"
"There is, but not entirely. There's an energy called magic. Ultimately, magic is things like life force, spiritual energy, and then transformed. And the methods of using magic that arise from this are called spells, like this."
As Takatsuki spoke, he raised his hand, and a sword slowly formed in his hand.
"This is… I see. So your weapons weren't made of material substances after all."
Dan Heng understood how Takatsuki's previous weapons came to be when he projected a weapon on the spot.
"Let me see, let me see."
March 7th took the sword from Takatsuki and swung it around wildly, even smashing it on the ground: "It feels completely real."
Thankfully, Takatsuki only projected an ordinary weapon. If he had projected a magic sword, March 7th's few swings would have made a mess here.
The casual chat about Takatsuki's past experiences was just conversation while Clara was doing repairs.
Mostly, Dan Heng was asking questions and recording, while March 7th would interject whenever she heard something new and interesting.
Stelle and Seele listened from the side. The world Takatsuki spoke of was very novel for both Stelle, who only had a few days of memory, and Seele, who had grown up in an orphanage.
For Bronya and Seele of Belobog, it was the same.
"So, the world outside Belobog is so exciting."
Big Seele swung her scythe: "I also want to go see the Dungeon. I wonder which floor my scythe could reach."
"Yes, even the Supreme Guardian doesn't know these things. No… perhaps they knew a long time ago, but after such a long time, it has long been lost."
Bronya still couldn't go three sentences without mentioning the Supreme Guardian.
Soon, Svarog, with Clara's help, had several mods repaired and walked towards the group.
"Unit repair complete. Database access available at any time. Do you wish to access now?"
The others looked at Takatsuki, as he was the one who had subdued Svarog. Takatsuki naturally didn't waste time: "Access. Let's see what the Stellaron truly is in Belobog's history."
"Requesting database access, number 13175. Encryption level: Highest."
"Data access approved. Now playing…"
As Svarog's voice fell, a light screen was projected in the air before him, and it began to play past records.
The record was viewed from a third-person perspective. It showed a researcher named Mearsheimer discovering that the Stellaron caused the Eternal Freeze and reporting it to the Supreme Guardian, and the Supreme Guardian deciding to suppress this information.
As the record skipped, everyone also learned the origin of the Stellaron and the Eternal Freeze.
Once, this planet was invaded by the Anti-Entropy Army. When the civilization was on the verge of destruction, the Stellaron descended.
The Supreme Guardian at that time made a wish, activated the Stellaron, and brought forth the cold tide. The descending cold tide destroyed the Anti-Entropy Army, but in contrast, humanity's living space continued to shrink.
Perhaps to study the Stellaron, Belobog was built not far from it. Later Supreme Guardians, to prevent public panic, concealed the truth about the Stellaron and ordered the doctor to find a way to destroy it.
The result was naturally impossible.
Until Dr. Mearsheimer's death, his research findings were taken by the new Supreme Guardian, and Svarog, the doctor's security robot, was placed in the Underworld to maintain order.
So, from beginning to end, although the public didn't know, the Supreme Guardian had always known that the Stellaron was the source of all calamities.
"So that's it. But there's only one problem now: why did Cocolia's temperament change so drastically?"
Dan Heng quickly sorted out the conclusion, which was also something Takatsuki had mentioned before.
"Perhaps, Takatsuki's conjecture is correct."
Dan Heng didn't know if Takatsuki was right, but he knew that they now needed Bronya's help to find the Stellaron with more certainty. The abnormal Cocolia would clearly be their enemy, so it was very important to promptly shatter Bronya's illusions about Cocolia.
"Bronya, are you alright?"
March 7th looked at Bronya with some concern. She had been holding her head with one hand ever since she finished reading the information and learned everything.
"I… I'm fine… just a little dizzy."
"Mother really…"