"… You …"
Dead silence filled the hall. The blue-haired young man stared at Fangzheng in bewilderment while the young lady behind him widened her eyes and remained silent.
"The struggles of mortals are laughable and ignorant. But, they are indeed interesting. Is this your final choice?"
"— — —!"
As Fangzheng's voice faded, several flames suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Like a gigantic evil dragon opening its mouth, it swallowed all the corpses in one gulp.
Looking at this scene, although the young ladies behind Fangzheng changed their expressions slightly, they didn't step forward to stop the flames. They weren't fools either. After hearing Fangzheng's words, they knew that the enemies were obviously trying to kill them. It was just that Fangzheng stopped them. Although dying in this place wasn't a true death, but … not everyone was willing to live as a dead person!
"Wu La, get out of here!"
Looking at the fire serpents wreaking havoc in the hall, the blue-haired young man hurriedly grabbed the hand of the black-haired young lady sitting on the throne and tried to lead her away. However, before he could take a step forward, the blazing flames had completely enveloped the entire hall. At the same time, Fangzheng walked up slowly.
"Tell me your choice, Miss Wu La."
"…"
"Oh, you don't have to worry. If you're afraid of your power, I've already erased it."
"Wh … at?!"
At this moment, the blue-haired young man seemed to have heard something unacceptable. He widened his eyes and stared at Fangzheng. On the other hand, Fangzheng sneered.
"What an interesting fairy tale. God bestowed the princess with the power of death to destroy her enemies? Mortals always like to attribute anything irrelevant to God. Since that's the case, there's nothing wrong with me taking back this power, right? "
Fangzheng raised his right hand, and at the tip of his finger, a blob of black fog slowly revolved.
"This is not a power that you should possess. Little girl, tell me your choice now."
At this moment, an unparalleled pressure descended upon them. Be it the black-haired young lady, the blue-haired young man, the group behind Fangzheng, or the dead who were desperately trying to avoid the flames, all of them came to a halt. They widened their eyes and gazed at the figure in the blazing flames. They couldn't help but kneel on the ground. It wasn't out of respect, but out of fear. It was because they instinctively sensed the burst of power from an existence far above them. It was like the fear and panic of ants sensing a person who could easily crush them to death with a finger.
This was the power of a god.
The blue-haired young man tried to speak, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't utter a single sound. The black-haired young lady, Wulla, opened her azure eyes and stared at Fangzheng. After a moment, she said softly.
"Why me?"
"Because you're the ruler of this city and you have the responsibility to decide their future. Besides … you're the one who turned them into this, aren't you?"
"Shut up — —!!!"
The blue-haired young man yelled crazily while Fangzheng stared at Wulla.
"I think you're aware of it yourself, right?"
"… Yes."
Facing Fangzheng's gaze, Wulla lowered her head slowly. Upon hearing Wulla's answer, the blue-haired young man stared at her in astonishment.
"Wulla, you …"
"I know that I seem to be different from others. I seem to have some kind of power, but I'm not too sure what it is. Today … Until now, when I heard it from this great god, I finally know …"
Wulla said until here. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them again.
"I … did kill someone …? Am I right? "
"No, it's not your fault, Wulla!"
The blue-haired young man tried desperately to reach out his hand, but at this moment, he had exhausted all his strength just to speak.
"It's us. We used your power! This isn't your responsibility! It was us who used your power to destroy those who tried to destroy Eusta and made them our comrades. We did all of this! It was done by us! "
"Those with power bear responsibility."
However, facing the blue-haired young man's roar, Fangzheng didn't even look at him. Instead, he continued to stare at Wulla.
"In this city, all the residents of Eusta, 1.2 million people, are dead because of you. To be exact, you're the one who killed 1.2 million people. So, it's best for you to decide their future because this is your responsibility and obligation. "
"…"
Upon hearing until here, Wulla pondered for a moment before looking at Fangzheng again.
"Great God, I'd like to ask … what does it mean to become a specter?"
"Simply put, it means that a specter will maintain the appearance of the deceased when they were alive. However, they can't see the sun and can only live in darkness. They will carry an ice-cold chill and can't coexist with the living. The living also can't touch them. Because this chill will corrode the living. If one stays with a specter for a long time, it will be like a person staying in an ice-cold cellar. Sooner or later, one will die. Of course … the degree is different. "
"So then, if Zicoli becomes a specter, does it mean that I can't touch him anymore?"
Wulla said and gazed at the blue-haired young man beside her. That seemed to be his name.
"That's about it."
"So then … Great God, can you turn me into a specter too?"
"What nonsense are you talking about! Wulla! "
Hearing this sentence, the blue-haired young man instantly yelled. However, Wulla gazed at him.
"Do you want to die?! Do you want me to watch you die?! "
"But, isn't that the truth?"
"… Huh?"
"I'm different from Zicoli."
Wulla gazed at the blue-haired young man and said to herself.
"I've realized since I was young that Zicoli has always been like this. Everyone else is the same, but I'm different. I remember clearly that I used to be a small child. But every day when I woke up, my height would change. In the past, I was only as tall as Zicoli's waist. But now, I'm only slightly shorter than Zicoli. "
"…"
As a young girl who had been raised by a dead person since young, she had no common sense of the outside world. Unlike other people, she did not have anyone who grew up with her. She did not have any companions who would compare her height with her. She also did not have anyone who would see her after a period of time and say that she had become prettier than before. Everything was unchanged. The people she saw, the people she met, the people around her, and everything would always be the same. Only she was different.
If this didn't raise any doubts, then she wouldn't be natural. She would be a fool instead.
However, the young lady in front of him was obviously much smarter.
"I know that my eyes can have a certain effect on people. Besides, I also know that all of you are trying your best to hide this from me. But I'm not sure what exactly I did. But I think that even so, it doesn't matter. Since everyone doesn't want me to know, it shouldn't matter even if I don't know. "
"…"
Upon hearing her words, the young ladies behind Fangzheng were dumbfounded. Ai also widened his eyes and looked at Wulla in astonishment.
"Frankly speaking, in this world, I'm actually not very sure about what it means to kill people. Even if Sir God explained it to me, I still don't really understand. But, some people heaved sighs of relief while some sighed. Those who were holding weapons and killing each other stopped fighting and came to Austa. Some chose to head to the wilderness. But, everyone revealed an expression as though they were liberated … "
Wulla said and gazed at Fangzheng.
"Sir God, is my existence … death bad?"
"That's cowardice."
Fangzheng gave a silent answer.
"The cowardice of mortals when they try to escape from the rules of Order. Of course, everyone has their own reasons, but birth, aging, illness, and death are an inseparable part of Order. In this world, no one is so naive that they can get whatever they want without paying a price. It's the instinct of any living creature to want to live, and the same goes for escaping death. In the end, what they want is eternity. But, eternity doesn't exist in this world. Everything will perish one day. Death is for them to understand this truth, not an excuse for them to continue to avoid it. "
Fangzheng pointed at the blue-haired young man before him.
"If I were to burn him right now, how would you feel? If you don't understand, then I'll make it clearer. You will never see him again. He will never speak to you or smile at you. You won't have a future. He won't respond to your calls. He will disappear forever. This is true death. "
With every word Fangzheng said, Wulla's expression became more painful. She stretched out her hand and pressed on her chest.
"This is … death?"
"That's right. Death is such a thing. It separates the dead from the living, separating them into Yin and Yang, never to see each other again."
"That's … too painful!"
"But, it's because of this pain that you cherish the other party's existence, isn't it?"
"… Huh?"
"Thinking that perhaps one day the other party will disappear and die suddenly, shouldn't you cherish the time you have with him? But, what about after you become undead? Will your feelings still be so pure? 10 years or 20 years might not be a problem. But, what about 100 years or 200 years? Because both parties can't die. When that happens, will you still cherish each other? "
With that said, Fangzheng chuckled.
"But you're still a little girl, after all, and it's not the time yet. Perhaps you'll experience it after a few hundred years. So then … make your choice."
"…"
Facing Fangzheng's request, Wulla fell into silence once again.
"I … I don't know if my choice is the right one."
"There's no such thing as the right choice. Many times, the choice you make may result in a completely different result from what you thought. You may regret 'why did I do that back then', or you may rejoice 'fortunately, I did that back then'. What's important is that you made the choice."
"…"
This time, Wulla remained silent for a long time. Finally, she lifted her head.
"I understand."
The road leading to the core area was as dark and cold as usual, but no one seemed to be bothered by it.
"Mr. Fangzheng is really a God …"
Zuotian Leiko whispered to Misaka Mikoto and the rest. The other girls also couldn't accept it.
"I really thought he was joking …"
Misaka Mikoto didn't know what to say. Although they had always been close to Fangzheng, it was also because of this that they felt that Fangzheng was only joking when he said that he was a God. However, at that moment, they clearly felt that kind of power.
That kind of power that was impossible to reject. It wasn't a power that humans could possess. Even Shokuhou Misaki couldn't give them such a feeling. No matter how much she manipulated people, it was impossible for her to have such a level of power.
But … it was still unimaginable!
"Kuroko, what do you think … Kuroko?"
With that in mind, Misaka Mikoto turned to Shiroi Kuroko, wanting to ask for her opinion. However, to her surprise, Shiroi Kuroko remained silent with a complicated expression on her face. Misaka Mikoto had never seen such an expression on Shiroi Kuroko's face before.
"Kuroko? Are you okay? "
"Eh? Ah? Big Sister? "
Hearing Misaka Mikoto's call, Kuroko was stunned for a moment before returning to her senses.
"I'm fine. I'm just a little scared."
Kuroko said until here and gazed at Fangzheng's back.
"That's right … I'm just a little scared …"
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