"So, what happened to you in the end? Did the Four Pillar Gods kill you?"

"No, because of the resistance of Lord Saint Bull, the Four Pillar Gods didn't have the chance to act against us. The one who truly killed us was Fredri."

The old man with the white beard sighed:

"After Lord Saint Bull was killed, Fredri told us that in the revelation she received from the sanctuary, there was still one last bit of hope. But to grasp this last hope, we would have to give up everything and proactively become a part of her." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Proactively become a part of her?

The description inexplicably felt familiar, and after racking his brain, Leon couldn't help but ask in disbelief:

"Root Source Essence?!!!"

"Moo (Yes)"

Both Father Bull's and Calf's eyes glanced at Leon, and the two "Saint Bulls," one big and one small, spoke in unison:

"Moo moo moo moo moo... (That's what Fredri said, and although they had lost trust in her as a saint due to her leading them down a doomed path, with the Four Pillar Gods menacingly watching from outside and their inability to resist, they had no other choice left.)"

"Yes, after Lord Saint Bull was also killed, we had no other choice but to choose to believe in Fredri one more time."

The old man with the white beard closed his eyes, a complicated expression on his face:

"Fredri had everyone left in the sanctuary hold hands together, surrounding her in the center. And after everyone became one, she came and embraced me tightly, and then... then..."

And then, everyone remaining in the lineage of hope was "consumed" from the plane of existence, each individual's will was "submerged" and they completely became a part of Fredri, serving as the nourishment for the birth of the Root Source Essence.

Understanding the unspeakable words of the old man with the white beard, Leon took a deep breath and vaguely came to understand the plight of the Old Soil survivors.

...

The "revelation" Fredri received from the future was possibly the most complete destruction of their entire group. After witnessing the destruction of the Old Soil survivors, she completely lost hope, believing that neither she nor the survivors could prevent this from happening with their combined strength.

Upon learning about the existence of the Root Source Essence from the future, and judging that only the Root Source Essence could counter the enemy, she decided to use a method she didn't understand, by absorbing the Old Soil survivors from which she originated, to concentrate a small amount of the Root Source Essence.

If we think more cruelly, the Old Soil survivors being intercepted by the Four Pillar Gods and the sanctuary being pursued time and again, could have been her machinations to bring this about.

After all, nobody knows what she truly saw in the future. She might have thought that instead of prolonging and eventually facing destruction as an entire tribe, it would be better to face the end early and sacrifice everything in one gamble.

Moreover, judging from the way these people behaved, Fredri likely kept a part of their will as much as possible during the process of "absorbing" the Old Soil survivors, perhaps due to compassion or some unrealistic hope.

And though these people had become a part of her, since they retained a little of their individual will, they were temporarily separated from her will within this dreamscape founded on her memories, thus regaining "physical form" and "personality," granting them ephemeral freedom at the level of will.

Thus, although these people were born from the dream, they were not entirely fictitious dream figures. They were a part of Fredri but also reflections of their former selves, the remnants of the Old Soil survivors absorbed into Fredri, remnants lingering within her heart.

"What happened after that?"

With some vague speculation, and observing these mournful dream figures before him, Leon couldn't help sighing internally, then hardened his heart to continue questioning:

"What did Fredri do? Did she use the Root Source Essence you all converged to defeat the Four Pillar Gods pursuing you?"

"Yes."

The old man with the white beard dressed in a comical outfit nodded slightly, then replied with sorrow in his eyes:

"In this aspect, she didn't deceive us. After condensing those Root Source Essences, the Four Pillar Gods were helpless before her. The Crimson King, who killed Lord Saint Bull, was repeatedly slain by her. Yet, Fredri still lost in the end, lost to..."

Just as the old man with the white beard was about to finish his sentence, his expression suddenly faltered, and the white paint on his face and arms started to rapidly fall off. The comical white dress he was wearing also quickly reverted to its original linen robe.

"Eh?"

Seeing the white dress still partially on him, the old man with the white beard, his sorrowful look vanished, blinked in confusion, and then, with a stunned expression, asked Leon, who was donning a "skin suit":

"Fredri? Why are you... Damn it! What are you all doing?!!"

Facing the confused old man, who was restored to "normal," and seeing the kids dressed in tightly stretched white silk dresses smeared with face powder, even the Saint Bull had a piece on, the old man clutched his heart, and furiously exclaimed:

"Beasts! What kind of look is this? I must whip you all to death today!"