Chapter 2205: Eternal Skyfire 4
Chapter 2205: Eternal Skyfire 4
But Aldo also believes.
He believes that the person before him is also full of love for all beings—were it not for Elan’s secret intervention during the twenty-year war back then, the number of dead Terra People would have been far more than hundreds of millions.
[Guidance...]
At this moment, Elan slowly closed his eyes.
He had fought for a century to maintain the civilization his brother left, yet he watched the Terra People gradually forget his brother’s achievements and sacrifices, deviating from that correct and great path. The prolonged peace eroded their hearts, breeding desire and corruption, while the fervent war prevented stable development and exploration.
If humans cannot walk the correct Dao, their civilization is doomed to repeat the spiral of conflict between war and peace, rising and falling, progressing slowly, or suddenly meeting its end.
Exploration and horizons, advancement and sacrifice, right and wrong.
Elan suddenly remembered when he was young, Ian would take him to play on the beach, building castles with sand, using shells, seaweed, and starfish for decoration.
"The castles I make are never as good as my brother’s."
At that time, he was a little self-conscious, disappointedly looking at his simple little castle compared to Ian’s grand one, tempted even to flatten his own castle in frustration.
But Ian stopped him.
"Elan, I use shells, sand, and starfish to decorate and build castles, but I have never caught a jellyfish." A child Ian posed a question, easily capturing Elan’s attention: "Do you know why?"
"W-why?"
"Because I like jellyfish. Elan, whether Thunderhunter Jellyfish or Dismal Nether Jellyfish, their glow in the ocean is as magnificent as the stars."
His brother, holding him then, pointed to the setting sun on the coast, in the gradually dimming depths of the sea, where bluish-green water glowed with an eerie blue luminescence: "That is the scene I love."
"How beautiful..."
At that moment, he couldn’t help but feel an ultimate vibrancy and beauty, stuttering to express his thoughts to his brother, but after listening, Ian wasn’t particularly pleased: "This is just the scenery I like. Elan, you haven’t seen the Star Sea, so you don’t know why I like it, only that it’s similar."
"You like these water curtains, the sea’s Dismal Nether, yet I like the Star Sea... They are alike yet different."
"Just like our castles, Elan, since you like this glow, you can pick some luminescent grass next time as decoration. You don’t have to compare your castle’s size with mine, nor make it the same as mine. What you should do is build the castle [you truly love]."
[Elan]
At this moment, on the throne, the Watcher who had observed for more than seven hundred years heard the familiar voice: [I know, you still mind that I created your origin]
[I also know, you don’t care about your nature. You just fear doing wrong, failing to satisfy the purpose for which I created you, not fulfilling my expectations of you]
[You’re afraid... afraid you’ve strayed from my guidance]
[But don’t be, my brother... my dearest kin]
[Because I already left this world to you]
[Just as I left the entire beach’s sand and the entire sea’s water to you afterward, you can build the castle you love with your heart, shaping everything as you desire]
[Go, Elan, the entire civilization belongs to you]
[You’ve stopped for centuries, you should stride forward again]
[Go, transform the world... into the shape you desire, into a form beyond my imagination, into a shape different from mine yet one that I would love, like stars in the sea, like deep blue glow that makes me want to explore]
[Only this different world...will motivate me to return]
—A different world?
Slowly opening his eyes, the Eternal Watcher looked at the last Prophet before him whose face now showed a surprised expression; enlightened, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted: "Brother, you better not regret."
"Because... I will surely do things beyond your imagination."
[—I’m looking forward to it]
In the void, the lingering echoes gradually faded: [If one day you truly achieve your dream, the Star Sea changes because of you, and the hearts of all beings rejoice like fire, a new civilization forms anew, unprecedented greatness illuminates the entire universe...]
[Elan, please bear no burden, paint the universe in the shape you desire, because that is my expectation of you]
"Indeed."
Beneath him, the throne gradually lit up with silver light like a wave; Elan Silverpeak lowered his eyes, and the light flowed like flame, intertwining with the words in his heart, spoken aloud: "Circling and wasting away for seven hundred years, I finally understand your expectation of me... indeed, I finally get it."
"I don’t wish to be a king, nor does the Heart of Terra want to be a god. Since humans do not seek our guidance, then we shall leave."
"But I am even more unwilling... I refuse even more."
"I refuse to always be just a passerby in your life, merely your younger brother... Brother, I believe I am your successor, someone who can stand with you side by side!"