Cavendish had arrived quite suddenly, and left even more suddenly.
I was about to attack when he unhesitatingly left, leaving behind a single sentence.
"Not now."
Although I knew that this would be the end result of our conversation, I still felt quite unwilling to leave some things unsaid.
Perhaps this was why Cavendish had appeared in front of me even though he had already predicted my decision.
I would feel unwilling if I didn't try.
I sighed and felt rather sad, but there was no possibility of regret.
I could understand Cavendish's reasoning. That was because, in a way, countless misfortunes had originated from this sealed world.
The Goddesses of Chaos and Chaos were afraid of powerful invaders from other dimensions. They desired for themselves and the species they created to become stronger. However, they disagreed on what it meant to be "strong," which finally resulted in a Holy War.
Theoretically speaking, a Holy War would be impossible to have an end.
That was because neither Chaos nor Order would be able to completely destroy the other. Even if one side was completely destroyed, a new Order or Chaos would appear as time passed.
From a certain standpoint, sacrifices weren't completely worthless. Although the path was quite complicated, the overall power level of the entire mortal plane was constantly improving.
Although ancient species, ancient species, and ancient Gods sounded quite cool, their methods of using power were rather primitive and crude. Their weapons and equipment were also quite primitive. Their Concepts were all rather old-fashioned and shallow.
Of course, the ancient ones who were able to keep up with the times were powerful. However, even more ancient species had been unknowingly left behind by the times, becoming ancient artifacts that only the tears of the times.
There were plenty of these ancient species in the Chaos Abyss. Although they were famous, they might not necessarily be able to defeat a brat who was only several hundred years old in a real fight.
In the past, angels, giants, and Dragons had all relied on their outstanding physical strength to fight. Even wood and rocks could be used as weapons.
Now, not only were they armed to the teeth with high-level equipment, their magic and martial arts techniques had been passed down for countless generations. They had countless curses and ultimate techniques. The ancient species' direct attack methods were as childish and laughable as hoodlums' punches.
It wasn't that the ancient dragons from the God and Demon Era were so powerful that they were undefeatable. It was that the powerful dragons of the past were able to survive for so long that they were called ancient dragons. Naturally, they would have been polished to an unimaginable degree by the passage of time.
Ancient God Equipment? Let's see if it's rusted first.
Powerful ancient species? How's your old waist? Can you still jump?
Cough, I was getting off topic. Although there were always people who liked to talk about how everything was fine in the past, in my opinion, the entire generation was still progressing. The four major elemental magic from the Elven Empire's era had already been developed to the point where there were hundreds or even thousands of branches. Even if a legendary and incomparably powerful archmage were to be thrown into the current generation, he would probably have to study for thirty years first.
"Time will always progress."
This was something that I had always firmly believed in. Although inheritance sounded rather abstract, as long as words and history existed, the entire world would naturally move forward. Blindly worshipping the world would be unnecessary and even more foolish.
However, not to mention the mortal races, even the two goddesses themselves didn't know if this progress was enough.
It was like a cage. No matter how the beasts inside fought, they wouldn't know if they could defeat the beasts outside … This analogy seemed a little inappropriate. Then, it was like the examinees before the college entrance examination. They wouldn't know if they had prepared enough until the day of the exam.
Once this cage was opened, there would naturally be no need for this periodic war to exist.
But I knew that Cavendish didn't wish for the war to stop …
What he longed for was the opportunity to evolve, to reactivate the time needle of this world that had fallen to a standstill.
"An indefinite war between races? Are you kidding me? "
"Maintaining the balance of the Cycle of Reincarnation? What does that have to do with me? "
"Is it really that interesting to keep going around in circles?"
As long as I opened the door to this world, the entire world of Aichy would naturally welcome a baptism from the outside world.
At that time, it would be nothing more than survival of the fittest. Those who survived would be the strong, while those who died would be the unlucky and weak.
I could understand that it was better to get the pain over with than the pain over with. Secluding the entire world was quite foolish to begin with. However, understanding definitely didn't mean that I agreed.
In history, secluding the entire world had always paid a heavy price. When the world's door was finally opened, the invaders would bring new things that you had never seen before and easily slap you in the face.
"If you fall behind, you'll get beaten up." This wasn't just an empty saying. This was an experience filled with blood and tears.
However …
"There's a foundational difference between the seclusion of Aichy and the human countries. What if the people outside aren't humans, but rather a group of vicious man-eating demons? What if their goal isn't to enslave and conquer us, but rather to completely exterminate us? "
Indeed, nobody knew just what was out there that the two Goddesses of Order and Chaos had been afraid of for so many years. Not to mention, the game's "history" had faithfully portrayed the dimensional invaders from back in the day. This made the situation quite grim.
In the game's "history", both Goddesses of Order and Chaos had been revived, but it was still meaningless.
Taking a step back, even if Eich was able to survive the baptism of foreign creatures and achieve so-called evolution, just how many of them would be able to survive?
10%? 5%? It was impossible for me to estimate. If the dimensional invaders were as powerful as the game's "history" had described, then I would be quite happy if even 10% survived.
Perhaps some people would say, "This is a necessary sacrifice," "This is the cannon fodder of history," "There will always be people who can't keep up with the times." However, I would say that those would be the sacrifices, not your sarcastic remarks.
Who should be eliminated? Who should be sacrificed? Who finally managed to survive in this world, only to die because of someone else's words?
Would anyone be able to make such a heavy decision?
Taking a step back, if the dimensional invaders really suffered more than 90% casualties, who would be confident in surviving? In that case, even if the dimensional invaders managed to achieve so-called evolution, what meaning would there be?
Perhaps there really would be a powerful Aichy country in the end, where all species could coexist peacefully, where the power of magic would be able to change everyone's lives, and where civilization and art would become what everyone wanted, but …
"Would there be any meaning to that? In this generation. Would the dead people who were 'sacrificed' be happy? "
It was so difficult for me to finally see the light at the end of everything. How could I possibly allow all of this to happen?
Was I wrong for making such a decision?
I was wrong for stopping the development of history. Perhaps in a few hundred or even a few thousand years, a new species would bring about a new "Holy War".
Was Cavendish wrong for being so willful?
Yes, he was wrong. He basically didn't care about the lives of other mortals at all. Countless people would die because of him.
Was I right for making such a decision?
Of course I was right. The entire mortal plane had finally developed to such a degree. How could I possibly take such a huge risk and use countless lives in exchange for so-called evolution and progress?
Was Cavendish correct for being so willful?
Of course he was correct. He was correct to the point of being irrefutable. The two Goddesses of Order and Chaos were the idiots. I was a coward who didn't dare to advance when I saw the possibility of sacrifice. Only by opening up that dimensional door would Aichy's stagnant time be able to advance again. Only then would Aichy's Holy War's cycle of destruction and reconstruction be repeated.
At this point, there was no longer any such thing as right or wrong. Perhaps this was the inevitable result of having different standpoints and values.
I knew that next time, no matter if I met Cavendish, or if Cavendish met me …
"'Not right now?' So it's going to be next time? Ha, next time we meet, we won't hold back at all. In the end, we'll still have to kill each other … "
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