"The Savior is dead."
Earl Berni's expression was calm, but the slight twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed his inner turmoil, showing he was not as placid as he appeared.
Upon hearing this, Witch Tower and Chris glanced at Shen Feng, who stood beside them.
They instantly realized that something was terribly wrong with the Western Council—that it had likely betrayed the creed of the Salvation Army.
The Savior's existence was, without exaggeration, the last remaining hope for all human survivors in the world.
Many had survived this cruel environment, scuttling about like cockroaches, only because they clung to the firm belief that the Savior would one day return.
Everyone knew the story: the Savior had crossed the Interstellar Gate into the lair of the World Beast for a final, desperate battle against those terrifying monsters. And everyone believed that one day, he would return.
The Minstrels, an order that evolved from the Salvation Army, had endured for centuries and earned the trust of the survivors, all on the strength of the prophecies surrounding the Savior.
And the foundation for all of this was the simple fact that the Savior was still alive.
As long as the Savior lived, as long as his return was a possibility, there was still hope.
But now, this Earl Berni had arrived with a so-called message from the Western Council, claiming the Savior was dead. This was tantamount to denying the Savior's very existence—denying all hope for human civilization.
'And what's more, the Savior is standing right beside us!'
Witch Tower tilted her face upward, her expression furious.
"Nonsense! How could the Savior possibly die so easily? He is humanity's hero! The hope and belief of our civilization!"
Looking down from his high vantage point, Earl Berni couldn't make out the faces of the figures below, but he recognized Witch Tower's. His own expression was blank as he spoke:
"Minstrel Witch Tower? Weren't you stationed at the AN-13 Floating Island Market? It doesn't matter if you don't believe it. The Savior is well and truly dead."
"The last flame of humanity has been extinguished. Humans are but a group of lowly insects. Only by clinging to a more powerful existence can they survive... and even attain eternity."
His last sentence was rather vague, and Witch Tower and the others paid it no mind. Chris looked up and asked:
"You say the Savior is dead. What proof do you have? I could just as well say the Savior is right here beside me!"
'Only the most intelligent could become Minstrels. The Savior, who had remained silent in the shadows the entire time, clearly wanted them to fish for more information and find out what was truly happening with the Western Council.'
A flicker of reluctance crossed Earl Berni's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by his arrogant expression as he said:
"It is all according to God's will."
As he spoke, he pulled a holographic projector, similar to a tablet, from his coat. Its surface was covered in solar panels, clearly its power source.
Earl Berni pressed a button, and in the next instant, a holographic image about a meter in diameter materialized in mid-air.
A field of floating asteroids, the wreckage of various World Beasts, and two distant stars made it clear: this was the remote World Beast Star Realm!
A pile of mangled World Beast bodies floated in mid-air, many of them burned black and reduced to empty husks.
Not only that, but there was also man-made debris: mechanical parts that clearly belonged to Super Giant War Armors and human spacecraft.
The surface of a distant asteroid was pockmarked with enormous circular craters, the result of impacts from hundred-megaton-class Super Giant Hydrogen Bombs.
Some massive asteroids had even been blown into hemispherical chunks.
The view then quickly zoomed in, focusing on a pockmarked asteroid.
This asteroid was spindle-shaped, some seventy or eighty kilometers in diameter. There, in a vast crater at its center, lay a Super Giant War Armor shaped like an ancient warrior.
Zero Armor!
The image zoomed in further, toward the cockpit in the head of the Zero Armor. It was completely shattered, a gaping hole torn through it.
And inside that gaping hole stood a black-haired youth, his face set with determination.
"Savior!" Witch Tower and Chris cried out in alarm.
Because this black-haired youth was the spitting image of the Shen Feng standing beside them.
'Is that the Savior who went to the World Beast Star Realm!?'
Hearing their gasps, Earl Berni seemed surprised. He raised an eyebrow and said:
"That's right. That is the Savior. I'm surprised you know what he really looks like... Two hundred years ago, he led the Salvation Army's Advancing Faction to the World Beast Star Realm for a final, desperate struggle. A pity, though..."
As he said this, a slight tremor entered Earl Berni's voice, but he quickly composed himself and continued:
"A pity that he ultimately failed, and was obliterated along with humanity's destiny."
The image flickered and then sharpened. The group could now see that the black-haired youth's chest had been impaled by a spear-like fragment of an asteroid, pinning him to the inside of the cockpit.
His pupils were unfocused. He had been dead a long, long time.
And yet, his body remained upright, standing ramrod straight. His eyes stared out into the vast, empty cosmos, as if he were ready to charge into battle once more!
To carve out a new dawn!
The light vanished as Earl Berni retracted the holographic projector. He spoke slowly:
"As you have all seen, the Savior has sacrif—... he is dead. The future of human civilization cannot be entrusted to a dead man. To survive, to live better, we must look forward."
Witch Tower and Chris exchanged a look, then glanced toward Shen Feng in the shadows. In their hearts, they had already branded Earl Berni a liar and a traitor, and their fury blazed.
'To fabricate news of the Savior's death, to insult humanity's Heroic King... his crimes are unforgivable!'
Witch Tower reined in her temper and asked:
"Look forward? Look forward to where?"
Earl Berni's eyes narrowed. A brilliant smile stretched across his face as he spread his arms wide.
"This is all God's will! A trial from God! He has already guided us and will forge a new Heaven for us all!"
"Only by submitting to God's will can we truly save human civilization!"
"My purpose on this journey, aside from spreading the news of the Savior's death and God's decree, is to prepare to journey to the Sea of Mist. God has already built a Heaven there. We can let the light of Heaven shine across the world!"
"God? What god? Don't tell me you mean..." Witch Tower's eyes went wide. She grabbed the longbow slung across her back. Chris likewise tightened her grip on the stock of her shotgun.
For hundreds of years, the Salvation Army had fought an enemy that lurked in the shadows. They were all too familiar with the word "God."
It had even gradually become a derogatory term.
And just as they expected, Earl Berni said with a smile:
"Although no one wants to admit it, the Savior's death proves one thing: everything we did before was wrong. If we want to continue living, the only way is to pray to the one true god, the Whispering God!"
As he said this, a flicker of confusion, bewilderment, and even sorrow crossed his eyes, but he concealed it so well that no one else noticed.
"Traitor!" Witch Tower roared. She drew an arrow from her quiver, nocked it to her longbow, and aimed squarely at Earl Berni.
Chris likewise raised her shotgun, her finger on the trigger.
Along the carrier's railings, hundreds of sailors immediately raised their weapons, aiming them at the two women. Clearly, if they dared to fire, they would be riddled with bullets.
"You actually sided with the Purification Church, with that so-called Evil God! You've betrayed humanity! Have you forgotten the creed of the Salvation Army!? Forgotten your honor and pride as humans!?"
Witch Tower cried out.
At her words, a flicker of shame crossed the eyes of many of the men, including Earl Berni himself. But he quickly suppressed it and shouted:
"The Savior is dead! What can we, mere mortals, possibly do? This tide is unstoppable! All we can do is submit to the powerful! It's a pragmatic path to salvation!"
"Only in this way can the flame of human civilization continue! Survive! Survive by any means necessary!"
He pressed the button again, bringing back the image of the Savior, impaled against the starry void. He said:
"Stop being so stubborn. This footage has already been broadcast throughout the Cordillera Islands. The vast majority of people have already accepted their fate. We just want to live!"
Chris asked coldly:
"And if we don't accept? Are you going to be like the madmen of the Purification Church, tie up the dissenters and throw them into the sea to feed the fish? Or do you have even crueler punishments in mind?"
Earl Berni sighed and said:
"I know it's hard for a Minstrel to change her beliefs, but time will make you accept everything. Don't be so stubborn. The secret of Heaven lies in the Sea of Mist..."
Just then, an unfamiliar voice suddenly addressed him:
"Has the Purification Church occupied the entire Cordillera Islands? Have the Whisperers appeared again?"
Earl Berni replied:
"The people of the Cordillera Islands are gradually accepting the fact that the Savior is dead. The Whispering God has... Who are you!?"
He had just realized the voice was completely unfamiliar.
Shen Feng snorted coldly and said:
"That Whisperer is a damn persistent pest. Humanity is already in this wretched a state, and he still wants to wipe us out completely? It's like snatching the last half of a biscuit from a beggar's bowl..."
As he spoke, he had already petrified the vital parts of his body while simultaneously preparing the two arms of the Steel Glory for activation, ready to tear the aircraft carrier before him to shreds.
In front of a Super Giant War Armor, even the most powerful aircraft carrier was just a toy boat, not to mention that this Kitty Hawk-class Conventional Aircraft Carrier had already lost most of its armaments.
His preparations complete, Shen Feng stepped out from the shadows. He tilted his head up slightly, looking at Earl Berni and the sailors on the carrier, and said calmly:
"It's me."
When Earl Berni and his men saw the face of the young man before them, they froze as if struck by lightning. Their bodies trembled, their eyes widened in disbelief, and they stammered:
"S-Savior!?"
Shen Feng's eyes narrowed, his expression turning stern.
"Where is the Salvation Army!?"
Upon hearing Shen Feng's question, everyone on the aircraft carrier reacted instinctively. They raised their right fists, slammed them against their chests, and roared in unison:
"Here!"