[Faced with the imminent explosion of the Stellaron, please choose—]
[1. Quickly take Bronya and retreat to Belobog. Attempt to preserve the city. The Stellaron's explosion will sweep across the entire planet. If you wish to leave any remnant of Jarilo-VI, you can only pray for the Amber Lord's blessing.]
[2. Attempt to make contact with the Stellaron. Use your will to alter its future and stop its explosion. You will come into direct contact with the Stellaron's consciousness. The probability of success is 20%.]
[Because you possess the trait "Self-Destructive Tendency," a fixed "sacrifice" option will appear among your choices.]
[3. You will risk your life, drain all of your Imaginary energy to form a thick crystal wall, completely envelop the exploding Stellaron, and hurl the encased Stellaron ten thousand meters into the sky. The Stellaron's impact will be minimized. The force of its explosion will be unable to destroy Jarilo-VI, merely destroying Belobog's outer walls. By choosing this option, you will sacrifice your life.]
So that's where that trait was waiting for me...
Ron rubbed his temples, a headache blooming. This choice really had him backed into a corner.
The Stellaron's explosion could destroy all of Jarilo-VI; that much was certain.
To continue this simulation, he had to deal with the Stellaron one way or another.
But none of these three options were appealing...
Option one was a pure gamble on his life, banking entirely on the Amber Lord's protection. But for over seven hundred years, Qlipoth had not cast his gaze upon this frozen planet. Why would he suddenly bestow his blessing now?
Option two had a chance of success, but Ron knew that even an Emanator of Erudition like Herta couldn't fully comprehend the Stellaron. For him to try and make contact was no different from gambling. The 20% success rate was proof of that.
But option three... option three would cost him his life.
Ron hesitated. He had a feeling that if he died in the simulation, it would end soon after.
After all, Bronya's AI was just too terrible. Without him there to turn the tide, he felt she would quickly let Belobog be buried by the snow, even after the Stellaron crisis was resolved...
But he had no other choice.
Ron sighed.
He could only hope that his and Cocolia's deaths would force Bronya to grow up a little, to let this simulation run just a bit longer...
He was still hoping to farm a Golden Epic Trait, after all.
He chose option three.
The text on the screen faded, and the screen itself suddenly glowed with a golden light. A pop-up window appeared—
[You have successfully chosen the Epic Event trigger option. You have initiated an Epic Simulation Operation. Your actions within the simulation will now be under your direct control.]
[Your performance in this Epic Simulation will influence your Golden Epic Trait.]
Direct control?
Ron was taken aback and was immediately hit with a strange sensation.
It was like one soul in two bodies, or like controlling a virtual character through a brain-computer interface. Ron was now controlling his in-game self, with no delay, with complete freedom.
The game had even shielded him from sensations like pain, which was a rather user-friendly touch... Otherwise, when he sacrificed himself to stop the Stellaron, he would have had to feel the agony of being burned to ash.
But since there was no pain, and his actions would influence the golden trait rewarded for this event, Ron immediately got serious...
On the screen, the battered and wounded Ron looked at the Stellaron pulsing with light in the distance. After a moment of silence, he suddenly gave Bronya a final instruction.
"Bronya, you must remember: today, Cocolia was corrupted by the Fragmentum, and you defeated her with all your might."
"And I, your personal guard, disappeared in the Fragmentum due to my own recklessness."
"That is everything that happened today. When you return to Belobog, you must promote this version of events... You need the people of Belobog to give you their complete trust, and this is the great deed that will earn it for you."
Bronya was stunned. A terrible premonition bloomed in her heart, and she hurriedly grabbed the corner of Ron's clothes.
"Wait, Ron, what do you mean by that?!"
But Ron just gave a slightly weary smile.
"I just want to tell you... the hand you need to hold now is no longer mine."
He looked at Bronya quietly for a moment. Ignoring the tears that were beginning to well in her eyes, he gently pulled her hand from his clothes.
He walked to the side and pulled the Lance of Preservation from where it was embedded in the thick snow.
Layers of dark golden crystal rock began to grow over the lance. At Ron's command, the eyes of the Creation Engine, which had been lying collapsed on the ground, lit up once more. The crystal spikes on its body dissolved into Imaginary energy, and the giant pushed itself to its feet.
Without a shred of hesitation, Ron walked forward and embraced the pulsing, glowing Stellaron.
Flesh, bone, hair...
His entire being was transformed into crystal rock, a layer far thicker and more solid than anything he had manifested before. It enveloped the Stellaron, layer by layer.
The [Preservation] now echoed in response to Ron's fervent will—
On the distant edge of the cosmos, the golden colossus building its wall paused. The great hammer in its hand, about to fall, froze for 0.00013 seconds.
This was the time it took for the Amber Lord to respond to Ron's will.
The Creation Engine's eyes glowed red. Its giant hand grabbed the crystal-encased Stellaron and hurled it with all its might into the gloom-shrouded sky—
Bronya witnessed the most brilliant firework she had ever seen in her life.
The Stellaron's light exploded across the firmament. The dark golden crystal rock was shattered into scattered points of light, blooming into tiny, glittering flowers in the air.
The heavy gloom was effortlessly blown away by the brilliant explosion. The newly risen sun cast the hopeful light of dawn. And in that light, Bronya could see the dark golden dust floating in the air—all that was left of Ron.
A single lance fell from the sky, embedding itself in the snow before her.
She stared blankly at the dawn breaking on the horizon and collapsed to the ground.