Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 1504 - 1503: This World Is Vast (Rolling, Tumbling, Curling Up)
This isn’t right!
Staring at the completely annihilated beast horde before her, Katori’s heart was flooded with mixed emotions, unable to accept it.
In the past, their battles were always quite dangerous, requiring the wielding of relic weapons to fend off these dreadful creatures. But now, all they needed to do was fly in the sky and with a flick of the finger, easily eliminate many more beasts than usual?
If this required a lot of magic power, perhaps Katori would be more accepting, but the truth was they didn’t exert much effort at all. Even after becoming familiar with the strange weapon’s usage, what they needed to do was fly slightly higher, and then they could activate massacre mode on the beasts at will.
This isn’t right!
Seeing those creatures that previously required hard struggle and effort to defeat being effortlessly incinerated, Katori couldn’t help but feel awkward. If it was this easy to defeat the beasts, then what had they been doing all along? What did the sacrifices of their predecessors mean?
Even after returning to the airship, Katori remained somewhat dazed, so much so that when Fang Zheng called out to her, she didn’t immediately respond.
"Hey, what’s gotten into you?"
It wasn’t until Fang Zheng waved a hand in front of her that Katori snapped back to reality and shyly lowered her head.
"Sorry, I spaced out."
"How can you space out during this?"
This time, Aetheria curiously asked, "Didn’t we just successfully eliminate the beasts? Isn’t that a good thing?"
"That’s true, but... I just feel... something’s not right."
"Not right?"
Hearing this, Neflen tilted her head in confusion.
"Yes, that’s right!"
Katori finally regained clarity and clenched her fists.
"When we fought the beasts before, it was never this easy. We had to focus, or we might die. But now, we don’t need to fight like before; we can easily defeat those beasts with just a flick of the finger."
"Isn’t that a good thing?"
Aetheria scratched her head in confusion, exchanging puzzled glances with Neflen.
"With this, we don’t have to resort to self-detonation or fight desperately like before. We can live longer; isn’t that a good thing?"
"But... but..."
"Alright, I think I understand what you mean."
Seeing Katori flailing, unsure of how to express herself, Fang Zheng shrugged. He somewhat understood Katori’s thoughts, akin to how mechanized infantry rendered cavalry obsolete. The displaced party must either accept or resist. It’s understandable, like the knights of the Middle Ages who poured so much time and effort into horsemanship, combat, and training. They gained unmatched battlefield status and strength, but with firearms’ advent, their standing rapidly declined. They were no longer the peerless battlefield kings; anyone with a gun could unseat them.
With just a simple act, all a knight had learned and possessed over a lifetime could dissolve into nothingness. It’s not an easy reality for anyone to accept.
"Do you feel that your efforts against the beasts have become pointless?"
"........."
Faced with Fang Zheng’s question, Katori remained silent for a moment, then nodded. At this point, Aetheria and Neflen understood as well.
However, it was clear they weren’t as obstinate as Katori.
For instance, Aetheria not only did not resist but welcomed it, as she mentioned before, Fairy Soldiers could only self-detonate against unbeatable foes. Now, with this special and powerful weapon, they had another option. Although Golden Fairies have a weak conception of death, everyone hopes to live a little longer, right?
"Though I can say a lot to comfort you, at least... I can guarantee that it wasn’t all meaningless. Without everything you’ve done before, this world wouldn’t hold on until now. If I hadn’t encountered you all coming here, I might have been alone, aimlessly whacking moles with Cain in the desert below..."
Fang Zheng shrugged.
"So, to look at it positively, everything you’ve done has at least kept the world afloat till now."
"But... what happens after this? What should we do?"
Hearing Fang Zheng’s consolation, Katori’s mood didn’t improve; instead, she grew more confused. Golden Fairies existed to combat beasts, live for it, and die for it. If, one day, their existence was no longer necessary, what purpose would their lives have in this world?
"The philosophical three questions aren’t for me to answer, but I can give you an answer."
Fang Zheng looked at the three girls before him.
"Honestly, I didn’t plan on saying this so early, but since Katori, you have these thoughts, I might as well tell you this now. After all is done, I plan to leave with all the Golden Fairies, that is, if you will."
"What?"
Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this.
"Leave here?"
"That’s right, this world is much larger than you could ever imagine..."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng opened his personal terminal, and soon, a 3D holographic map appeared in front of the three of them.
"Do you see? This is our airship, and these are the floating islands, this is the world you’re familiar with, right."
Curiously looking at the holographic projection in front of them, the three of them couldn’t help but nod. They were born on the floating island, grew up on the floating island, and to them, the floating island was everything.
"But in fact, your floating island is just a small island floating in the air, while the land below looks like this..."
Fang Zheng gestured with his hand, reducing the scope of the entire map. Soon, everyone saw the vast difference between the two, which left them in awe.
"Is this the land?"
"Amazing... it’s bigger than all our floating islands combined!"
"Is this the land? Is there no worry about falling off?"
Even though the holographic projection was just an overview, just looking at this scene was enough to leave the three girls shocked.
However, their amazement wasn’t over, because the view continued to zoom out. Gradually, they saw that piece of land turn into a huge sphere, then into a medium-sized sphere, and then a tiny speck of light... surrounded by countless similar specks of light. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
As for their floating island, it had long disappeared from sight.
"Welcome to the real world."
Fang Zheng released his hand, allowing the star map to spin continuously, while the three girls stood wide-eyed at the star map in front of them.
"As you can see, this world is infinitely large, and your world is just a tiny grain of sand within it. As for these floating islands..."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng pointed to the floating islands beside them.
"You also saw that, to the entire world, they are insignificant, because they don’t truly exist."
".........."
This time, no one spoke. After a while, Katori finally managed to open her mouth and speak with difficulty.
"So, what should we do?"
"You can join me in exploring this world. In fact, I’ve already told you, I came to this world with a mission, to face a threat, a great threat."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng reached out and grasped one of the floating specks of light in the star map.
"If I fail, then the entire world will perish. I need more power, more companions."
"But I don’t think you need our help. Compared to the weapons in your hand..."
Katori swallowed hard and then said softly. She understood that she simply couldn’t reach that level. Just the effect of a single strike with "Cain" in her hand was enough to outmatch Katori’s desperate battle performance for half a day.
"A weapon is just a weapon. If there’s no one to wield it, then it’s just a pile of scrap metal, and I have high hopes for you."
With that, Fang Zheng patted Katori on the shoulder and then put away the holographic projection.
"But you don’t need to answer right away. After we have dealt with these beasts and leave this world, you can give me your answer."
After saying this, Fang Zheng waved his hand, then turned and left the deck.
When they returned to the cabin, Katori, Neflen, and Aetheria remained silent.
What Fang Zheng had shown them was truly too overwhelming, making them feel as if their worldview had been remade. Even when they entered the room, the three of them felt a bit dizzy.
"I feel like I’m dreaming right now."
Aetheria threw herself onto the bed and spoke in a daze.
"Do you think... those beasts can really be eradicated? With just us... not to mention, we don’t even have enough manpower."
"But he said it was possible."
Neflen replied quietly.
"If the day comes when the beasts are all eradicated, what will we do?"
"I don’t know either..."
Katori shook her head bewilderedly. They had become accustomed to their current life. In the eyes of the three of them, they would fight and then die like everyone else. Someone would then take up their relic weapon and continue the fight. It was like a cycle, and they had never thought they could completely eradicate the beasts one day— or rather, to them, it was more like a distant future dream rather than reality.
But now, Fang Zheng had given them a whole new option.
That night, none of the three of them slept.
