It had used up all its energy for this, hiding alone in that cold, dark underground, holed up at the deepest part of that High Tower, enduring that long solitude and torment, all for this final leap.
But in truth it knew, this place was a prison built for gods.
Even if it truly restored the Colossus to its peak combat strength, it would still be absolutely impossible to break free from the bonds of this hell.
Still, a single sliver of hope remained in its heart…
What if?
If there was even the slightest chance to leave this hell, shouldn’t one risk everything to try?
That was why it could endure three thousand years of loneliness.
That was why it fought desperately to leap upward.
A thin stream of light flowed in her eyes, making it grip Lynn’s arm hard.
Everything was shattered.
It had dragged the entire Colossus Civilization into this dusk.
All their efforts became a mockery, a negation of every consciousness among them.
Just like three thousand years ago.
Its Queen chose self-sacrifice before it.
Not only its Queen, but all the Colossus consciences of that time — they were battle-hardened veterans, the subjects who had fought alongside it since the Ascension Era — and they made the same choice as the Queen.
They used their sacrifices to block the curse of hell, buying it this last chance.
It became the hope of the entire Colossus Civilization!
Because it was King!
What it bore was not only itself, but the hopes and futures of all those broken ones, the weight of their traditions and visions. That meant it could only succeed, it could not fail! It must not fail!
Because if it failed, it would betray everything the subjects had entrusted to it!
“But I can’t take it! I can’t stand it!”
It suddenly lifted its head, howling toward the sky.
It shoved Lynn away, turned, and frantically staggered toward that all-consuming darkness.
“You all put every hope on me, you all believed in me without reservation!! But I never told you, because I didn’t know!! I didn’t know whether we could truly succeed! I didn’t know whether we could really leave this hell!!”
“I wanted to go! I wanted to take all of you out! I thought about it every single moment!”
“But I actually knew long ago that in this whole age, no god could escape this hell! I lied to you; I gave you false hope!”
Its hoarse, exhausted sobs reverberated across the sky.
Lynn stared blankly.
And he finally understood why it had fought so desperately to break into that color back then.
It was not a reckless gamble; because it was the Colossus’s King, it understood better than anyone the despair that this hell signified.
It also knew it would surely fail.
Yet it still wanted to try.
To fight heaven and fate with all its subjects, for that impossible sliver of possibility…
And now.
Everything unfolded exactly as it had expected — arriving at that inevitable, doomed outcome.
It slumped there, vacant-eyed, the tiny lights on its body continuously cracking and falling apart, murmuring like a corpse.
“Sorry…”
“In the end I just could not accept reality…”
“I simply could not face this prisoner’s end, could not accept this hopeless future, because I am your King. You all may lose faith, but I cannot. My existence is for our future. I must be bold and advance. I must always keep fate in our own hands…”
Crack—
The fissures on its body broke once more.
But it seemed oblivious, whispering as it stared at the spreading darkness, at the curse crazily crawling toward it.
It lifted its head, the light across its whole body steadily dimming.
“I must…bear the responsibilities of a King…”
It knelt down heavily and helplessly, its vacant gaze reflecting that bone-chilling curse, dense cracks crawling nearly everywhere over its body.
Sorry.
Everyone.
I come to you…to atone…
Just as it had known the instant it first saw that girl, she was not really its Queen…
Because it understood that the flesh and blood of the Colossus could only carry memories and imprints, and could not truly revive the once-broken consciousness. Its Queen had long since shattered, just like the countless subjects who had fallen with it three thousand years ago, who had already sacrificed themselves for it.
Only it had become the sole obsession of that Old Era.
And now.
I come to you.
Everyone…
It lowered its head in a trance. The vast darkness of the curse already shrouded the entire Mental Space, like countless climbing vines sweeping toward it.
So cold, so dark, the darkness seemed able to snuff out every hope in your heart.
So hopeless…
…
But why?
Why have I not shattered yet?
Why have I not fallen into that boundless darkness, why does there still seem to be a flicker of light and warmth before my eyes?
Thump—
Powerful heartbeats, like the beating of a pulse, sounded in that endless darkness, in its ears.
It seemed as if a thread of light was being born bit by bit from its broken consciousness, slowly injecting a source of vitality into its body.
What is that?
Why is it so warm?
Am I not dead?
Or is this the world that consciousness enters after breaking…
If so, then those who shattered before and live here might also find happiness.
She at last opened her eyes in bewilderment.
But at that moment, its pupils suddenly widened, light gathering in its silver pupils, leaving it stunned and speechless.
“You idiot!”
Violent gasps.
“I didn’t let you die yet… Did you really think you could leave so quickly?! You’re really… hopeless!”
At that moment.
Like withered leaves, she knelt there in a daze.
And before her, on the boundary between it and the cursed darkness, the man simply stood. One hand gripped its chest, continuously conveying the activated power of the Colossus’s Heart to it, while his other hand emitted a dazzling silver glow, holding back the encroaching curse that covered the sky.
His body writhed constantly, his eyes long since bloodshot, yet those two hands did not move a fraction.
In the weave of gold and silver, in that vast darkness, he almost became the only beam of light in this Mental Space.
Like one hand clutching life, one hand holding light.
Perhaps it was just kindness.
Perhaps it was just pity.
But still.
Had it ever thought, in the moment you wither, that a stranger might really stand there and hold up a sky for you…
And tell you…
“Survive!”
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