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After Kenta's prolonged verbal onslaught, Gepard finally broke. The sheer, absurd conviction in Kenta's voice—and the silent, resigned "confirmation" from his sister—left the Captain with no choice but to believe.
"Alright," Gepard said, his voice heavy with a new kind of burden. "Since you've said so, I'll trust you." He paused, looking out over the frozen horizon. "For the Silvermane Guards, the Supreme Guardian's orders are absolute. But there is a part of our oath that is equally sacred..."
"The people of Belobog," Kenta finished for him, his tone surprisingly soft.
Gepard offered a ghost of a smile. "To continue north, you must cross a sector of the Fragmentum that has been completely corrupted. Only then can you reach the true snowfields on the other side. My men and I will hold the line here to buy you the time you need."
The group shared a brief, solemn nod before moving toward the massive reinforced gates of the Restricted Zone.
"Once these gates open, the monsters from the rift will pour out," Gepard warned one last time. He checked their gear, then his gaze lingered on his sister. "Wait."
"What is it, little brother?" Serval asked, looking puzzled.
Gepard's expression turned into one of fierce, protective concern. "Sister... since you are pregnant, you must withdraw from the front line. The Silvermane Guards do not send expectant mothers into the jaws of the Fragmentum. It is non-negotiable."
Serval's mouth twitched. She looked at the gate, then at her brother's resolute face. She desperately wanted to scream that she was as "un-pregnant" as a person could be, but the time for explanations had passed. If she fought him now, they'd lose the window to escape.
With a heavy, dramatic sigh, Serval surrendered to the lie. "Fine. You win, Gepard."
She shot Kenta a look that promised a very painful conversation later. Kenta, don't blame me for this. You're the one who sidelined me at the climax...
Serval flashed a dashing, mischievous smile and turned to Kenta. Her voice dropped into a silk-soft, maternal lilt that made the hair on the back of Kenta's neck stand up. "Baby's father... you must come back to us safely."
Without waiting for a response, she turned and marched back toward the inner zone, leaving a trail of absolute chaos in her wake.
"..."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Kenta's temple. Alright. So that's the game? He could practically feel the lethal pressure radiating from Seele, who stood beside him with her head down, her knuckles white as she gripped her scythe. The silence coming from the "Butterfly of Wildfire" was more terrifying than a legion of monsters.
But the gates were groaning open. There was no time to fix his life. The group plunged into the corrupted rift, racing toward the northern peaks of the Belobog snowfields.
"Look! Up there! Is that... Cocolia and Bronya?"
March 7th's shout pulled everyone's attention to the ridgeline. Two figures stood in the swirling snow, but they were ethereal—shifting like smoke in the wind. Their voices reached the group in distorted fragments.
"They look... wrong," Stelle whispered, her hand tightening on her bat.
"Afterimages," Dan Heng corrected, his eyes narrowed. "Residual energy trapped in the Fragmentum's memory. They've already passed through here."
"Then they're heading for the Stellar Core," Seele said, her voice strained but focused.
Guided by the ghostly echoes of the past, the group ascended the jagged slopes of Everwinter Hill.
At the summit, the reality was far grimmer.
"No... stop... I won't..."
Bronya was on her knees, clutching her head as if trying to keep her skull from splitting. Beside her, Cocolia stood like a priestess of the frost, her eyes shimmering with a terrifying, hollow light.
"Do not resist, Bronya," Cocolia whispered, her voice a caress of ice. "Accept the collective will. The Stellaron offers us a world without the sting of poverty, the bite of the cold, or the burden of choice."
"No!" Bronya gasped, her voice thick with pain. "This... this is a lie built on ash!"
Cocolia's expression turned fanatical. "Look at the future they promise! It is beautiful, Bronya!"
"The brainwashing ends here, witch!" Seele's voice cut through the gale like a thunderclap as the group crested the final ridge.
"Seele... Kenta..." Bronya looked up, her face a mask of exhaustion and hope.
Cocolia turned slowly. Her gaze swept over the Trailblazers, landing finally on Kenta. She paused, a flicker of the old Cocolia—the friend, the comrade—passing behind her eyes for a split second before the gold light of the Stellaron drowned it out.
"Hmph. I should have known you would be among them, Kenta."
Kenta's expression was grimmer than anyone had ever seen it. He stepped forward, the wind whipping his black cloak. "Cocolia, look at her. Do you truly intend to break your own daughter?"
"This is not breaking," Cocolia replied, her voice growing agitated. "It is evolution! The Stellar Core will lead us to a new existence!" She reached out a hand toward him, her tone suddenly, unnervingly sincere. "Kenta, come with us. You always understood the weight of the world better than the others. Join us in the new world."
Kenta remained silent for a long beat. Then, he let out a short, hollow laugh—a sound of pure self-mockery. "You aren't the Cocolia I knew. She died the moment you stopped listening to the people and started listening to the static in your head."
Cocolia flinched as if struck. A spasm of heartache crossed her face, followed by a surge of cold fury. She turned to Bronya. "And you? Is this your final choice?"
"I'm sorry, Mother," Bronya said, standing tall despite her trembling limbs. "But this time... I cannot stand with you."
The rejection was the final catalyst. The voice of the Stellaron roared in Cocolia's mind, a cacophony of absolute command. Her eyes turned a solid, burning gold.
"I see... so be it." Cocolia raised her crystalline lance, pointing it directly at Kenta's heart. "Belobog's fate is sealed. If you will not be the foundation of the new world, you will be the cornerstone of its ruins!"
She thrust the lance into the air. "I, as the Supreme Guardian, command the ancient engine to wake! Rise, Creation Engine!"
The earth didn't just shake; it groaned and tore. A colossal mechanical titan, taller than the surrounding peaks, erupted from the permafrost. Cocolia ascended to its crown, looking down at the group like a vengeful god. At her feet, shadows pooled as countless Fragmentum horrors surged forward.
"Everyone! Battle stations!" Dan Heng shouted, his spear humming with wind.
Kenta drew his broken blade, the black flames leaping to life along the jagged steel. "Let's end this frozen nightmare once and for all!"
The battle for the soul of Belobog had begun.
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