Chapter 742: Determination

Karwenz had arrived quite suddenly. He left even more suddenly.

I had been about to attack, yet Karwenz unhesitatingly left, leaving only one sentence behind.

“Not this time.”

Although I knew that this would be the end result of trying to talk to him, I still felt rather aggrieved after being unable to explain certain things to him.

Perhaps this was exactly why Karwenz had appeared in front of me even though he clearly expected my decision as well.

He had also been unwilling to let things go without trying to make me see things in his way.

I felt rather sad as I exclaimed over things. However, regret would be meaningless.

I could understand why Karwenz thought the way he did. In a way, all of this countless misfortune had been caused by this sealed-off universe.

The Creator Goddesses of Order and Chaos had been afraid of the powerful dimensional invaders from other universes. The Creator Goddesses also desired that they and their own species could become more powerful. However, the Creator Goddesses then disagreed about what “powerful” meant, in the end leading to the Holy War.

Theoretically, the Holy War wouldn’t possibly have an end.

That was because no matter if it was Order or Chaos, it would be impossible for either to completely destroy the other. Even if one side managed to completely suppress and destroy the other, as time went on, new Order or new Chaos would be born again.

In a way, all this sacrifice hadn’t been meaningless. Although the path was rather twisted, the entire Eich universe’s power level was increasing.

Although the immemorial species, tribes, and Gods all sounded really powerful, the way they would utilize power was still quite primitive. Their weapons and equipment were also primitive. Their Concepts were rather traditional and shallow.

Of course, the ancient ones who were able to keep up with the times were still really amazing, but even more of them had unknowingly been left behind by the new generation, becoming nothing more than outdated old artifacts from the previous generation.

Such existences were incredibly common in the Chaos Abyss. However, even though such existences might have really amazing reputation, they might not actually be able to even win in a real fight against a youngster who was only a few centuries old.

The angels, giants, and dragons of the past had all relied solely on their overly strong physical bodies. They would use the most primitive wooden sticks and stones as weapons.

Nowadays, there was plenty of high-level equipment out there. Magic spells and martial arts techniques had been passed down through countless generations already. There were countless curses and ultimate techniques out there. People would view the ancient species’ really direct methods of attacking to be as childish as a hoodlum trying to pretend to know martial arts.

It wasn’t that the ancient dragons from the first generation of Gods and demons were so powerful that they were truly undefeatable. It was rather that any strong dragon who was able to survive so long in history to be known as a Supreme Immemorial Dragon would naturally become unimaginably strong due to how long they had survived.

Immemorial God Equipment? You should first check to see if it had rusted.

Immemorial powerful existence? Is your back still doing alright? Can you still jump?

Ahem, I was getting off topic. Although there were always those who would like to say that everything was so wonderful in the past, in my opinion, the current generation would forever be making progress. Back in the days of the Elven Empire, there had only been the major four elemental branches of magic. Now, elemental magic had developed to have several hundreds, and even thousands of branch magic schools. Any legendary mage from that generation who was suddenly transported to this one would likely have to study magic for 30 years first.

“The current generation is always making progress.”

This was something that I adamantly believed. Although an inheritance sounded quite vague and ethereal, as long as words and history existed, the entire world would naturally progress. Blindly worshipping the past was unnecessary as well as foolish.

However, not only would the mortals not know, even the Creator Goddesses of Order and Chaos wouldn’t know if this amount of progress was enough or not.

The Eich universe was just like a cage. No matter how the beasts trapped inside did in their fight, they still wouldn’t know if they would be able to defeat the vicious beasts outside… To use a more peaceful analogy, it would be just like how a high school student studying for their college entrance examination would never know if their preparations were truly sufficient or not without having taken the exam.

Now, if this cage was unlocked, then this periodic Holy War would naturally become meaningless and no longer need to exist.

However, I knew that Karwenz didn’t desire an end to the Holy War…

What he desired was an opportunity to evolve to even greater heights. He wanted to restart the stopped clock of the entire Eich universe.

“Periodic wars between species? Is this supposed to be a game for little children?

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“Protect the balance of the Cycle of Reincarnation? Why do I have to care?

“Isn’t it quite boring to repeatedly run around in the same circle?”

That was what Karwenz would say. As long as he broke the dimensional barriers, then the Eich universe would naturally be invaded by other universes.

At that time, only those who were most suitable for the new age would survive. Anyone who survived would be the strong. Anyone who died would be the unlucky and weak.

I could understand that a short and momentary pain might be better than long-term pain. I also understood that keeping one’s own world completely sealed off was extremely foolish. However, understanding didn’t mean agreement.

In the history of my previous world of Earth, any country which remained a shut-in had always paid a serious price. When your borders were finally invaded, the invaders would always bring new technology that you had never seen before, easily crushing you under their heels.

“Anyone who is behind the times will get beaten.” This was no empty phrase at all. This was bloody experience.

However…

“The Eich universe being sealed off is fundamentally different from how a human country might seal itself off. What if what’s outside in other universes isn’t other humans at all? What if they’re all vicious monsters that eat humans? What if they invade Eich not to enslave and conquer, but rather to completely eradicate and exterminate?”

Indeed, it would be impossible for anyone to know what was out there in other universes that had made the Creator Goddesses of Order and Chaos afraid for all these countless years. However, just based on the game’s history of the dimensional invaders from other universes, which was a reproduction of Astrya’s memories, it was obvious that the situation in other universes wasn’t friendly to us at all.

Back in the game’s history, both Creator Goddesses had revived, but that had still been meaningless.

Even in the best case scenario, if the Eich universe managed to survive invasion from countless other universes, achieving so-called evolution, just how many would still be able to survive?

10%? 5%? This was impossible for me to calculate. If the dimensional invaders from other universes were just as powerful as depicted in the game’s history, then I would probably be really happy if even 10% of Eich’s population could survive.

Perhaps some would say that “This is a necessary sacrifice,” “There will always be cannon fodder as history moves on,” “There will always be those who can’t keep up with the times,” and so on. However, I would say that you wouldn’t be able to say something like that so casually if you were the one being sacrificed.

Who should be eliminated? Who should be sacrificed? It wasn’t easy at all for anybody to survive in this world. Why should they die because of someone saying one thing?

Was anyone really capable of making such a grave decision?

Again, in the hypothetical best-case scenario, that 10% of Eich’s population could survive, who would have a guarantee of being able to survive? In that case, even if so-called evolution happened in the end, what meaning would there be?

Perhaps, things might end up in a single powerful country known as Eich, where all species lived in peace together, where the power of magic was only used to improve life, where everyone pursued only civilization and art, but…

“Is that meaningful at all? Will the people who were ‘sacrificed’ in this current generation be happy about that?”

I finally saw a chance to end this Holy War forever. So, how could I possibly let Karwenz’s goal come to fruition?

Was I wrong for making such a decision?

I was indeed wrong. I was preventing a major historical development. Perhaps in a few centuries or a few millennia, a new species would bring about a new “Holy War”.

Was Karwenz wrong for his selfishness?

He was absolutely wrong. He basically didn’t care about other mortals at all. Countless people would die because of his decision.

Was I right for making my decision?

Of course I was right. The entire world had finally managed to develop to this current degree. How could I possibly take such a gigantic risk? I couldn’t possibly use countless lives to exchange for a so-called chance at further evolution.

Was Karwenz right for his willfulness?

Of course he was right. He was right to the point where I couldn’t counter him. The two Goddesses of Order and Chaos had been absolute idiots. I was just a coward who didn’t dare to progress because of the necessary sacrifice. Only by opening up the dimensional barrier would Eich’s stagnant time finally be able to move forward again rather than endlessly repeating the destruction of the Holy War.

At this point, there was long since no more such thing as absolute right or wrong. Perhaps this was simply about different standpoints and different values, finally resulting in a definite clash.

I knew that no matter if I saw Karwenz again, or if he saw me again, that next time…

“‘Not this time?’ So, that means it’ll be next time, then? Ha, next time we meet, neither of us is going to hold back. Are we going to have to kill each other in the end…?”