On the Border Plateau of the Kingdom, atop the mountain where the snow never lts year-round.
A young girl sits on a boulder, hugging her knees, the softness of her chest gently pressing against her thighs.
She remains immobile, gazing absently at the distant at mountain piercing the sky, reaching up into the stars.
The Hero has been sitting like this for a day and a night.
Decades ago, when the Dragon Nest began its expansion, the ravages of the Dragon Tide waned.
In the past decade, traces of humankind and other remnants of life can be seen even outside the Angels' domain, with Goblins even re-erging.
Although the Dragon Tide once scorched the entire continent, even dragons couldn't overturn every inch of soil.
So, there remains a possibility for vitality to survive in many places already barren and uninhabited.
However, since fleeing from the Imperial City, transford into a at mountain, the Hero has never left the Snow Mountain, remaining here year after year, day by day, observing the growth of that Dragon Mountain.
Although this is the snow-covered peak of the Highland, with a towering elevation, the Dragon Nest exceeded this height long ago. Even above the cloud layers, its swelling and ascent remain visible.
It is a mountain of blood and corpses nourished by the Dragonkind, the living corpse of the Dragon Emperor, the last mother nest of the Dragonkind.
Simultaneously, it is the New God that will end this world.
[Infection of All Things (Affects Agility Coefficient)]
D70 30=(46)=76
Having spent such a long ti alone on the Snow Mountain, initially, there was indeed so loneliness, but in dreams, ti flies swiftly, that was not challenging.
And since starting this prediction dream, the Hero has always harbored one question in her heart: When will "the end" co?
Will it be when the Empire falls? Will it be when the Corrupted Phoenix undergoes Nirvana? Will it be when the Dragon Tide sweeps the continent? Or when the Wandering Theater covers the world? Or when the Kingdom becos the Earthly Divine Kingdom?
Each ti the world faced a catastrophe, she would ask herself internally: Is this the end?
And previously, she always arrived at a negative answer.
Not yet.
Still, up ahead.
There's sothing more.
But today, a heavy certainty finally rises within her heart.
——This world is dood.
After spending nearly thirty years, the hive mother ford by the Wei Nan Dragon Emperor has summoned back all dragons on the continent and devoured them until all Dragonkind returned within it.
Its scale has grown to an imasurable extent.
Rough estimates suggest the entire Imperial City below has been covered by it. Its height exceeds the clouds, likely breaching the planet's barriers.
Leaving one to wonder where its magic power and mass originate;
Rather than calling it a mountain or a dragon, it resembles more a tree—a World Tree constructed from the flesh and blood of Dragonkind.
Witnessing such a spectacle, anyone can intuitively understand: this world has reached its end.
The lengthy waiting is about to end. In the instant she deduces this conclusion, the Hero cannot help but feel a trace of exhaustion.
In the past, no matter what formidable foes she faced, she could always muster courage and rise against them.
The Church's promotional literature spans with grand words praising the will and awareness of Lady Saintess.
But differing slightly from those words, the Hero actually possesses neither the unwavering will to win nor the awareness to face defeat.
What if victory isn't achievable?
How miserable would defeat be?
The Hero certainly contemplated these things, many tis.
But no matter what conclusion was drawn, the tasks she must perform would not change.
As long as she can act, she will fight, resist, and struggle.
To her, this is not sothing that requires consideration.
Simply put, it's just fight first and talk later.
For opponents like Goblins, even more so;
One might say most life actually follows this pattern.
But now, knowing everything will be destroyed by that existence, the Hero's heart harbors no Battle Intent.
It's not thinking she can't win, nor fearing the miserable outco of defeat, just purely lacking the desire to oppose it.
That is not an entity to be opposed.
Species may face extinction, destiny can be severed, worlds can be devoured...
But that is infallible.
The past that has always been, the future that continuously extends, the taphysical "everything," will et its conclusion there, then be reborn.
She gazes longingly at that towering peak reaching into the cosmos, and suddenly an aspiration arises in her heart.
...Ah, if only I could beco one with it—
[Return to Womb (Affects Charm Coefficient)]
D70 30=(59)=89
'Idiot, do you want to die?'
A cold reprimand suddenly echoes sharply in her mind.
The Hero is startled, rolling decisively down from the boulder, closing her eyes tightly.
[Hero activates skill: No Perception of Void, default resistance successful]
In the next mont, her mind becos a blank.
All thoughts disappear, be it distractions or delusions, even the taunting voice of her other self falls silent.
Like sinking into Deep Sea and slowly surfacing, as though experiencing a long, deep sleep, until consciousness gradually awakens, she exhales deeply, opening her eyes slowly.
'Don't be too careless. Even if for us this may be a dream, it's an exceedingly close-to-reality dream.'
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