Part 150: Damn, that's messed up.

How ironic.



For Kevin's sake, I'll arrange the group in a nice cramped clump for easy Earth Walls.





Master Trappers--the monsters that were hiding in the Axis Pillar's chests--are patrolling this walkway, but I can't see them properly because Weissmann took my Heaven's Eye. Is there no end to his misdeeds?





-Gospel Project-







. . .
You passed the final trial! Excellent, excellent. Be proud! You are worthy to be present for the resurrection of the Shining Ring...the Aureole.
Yeah, not interested in that at all, thanks! I'm here to put a stop to all this stupid weirdness!
And...I'm here to get Joshua back!
Ah, yes. Sadly, I'm afraid that won't be happening.
What do you mean?! Joshua! Hey!
No matter how you try to deny it, the truth remains--Joshua's mind is little more than a construct. The Stigma on his shoulder is proof.
Proof that he is of Ouroboros. That he is my possession.
How dare you...
Perhaps if Joshua had somehow erased the Stigma of his own will, he could have found release. But, alas, he never managed to get that far. It would be best if I kept him as a research subject for a bit longer.
...
You really are as much of a monster as they say.
Keep talkin', pal. It'll make beatin' your face in that much sweeter.
Goodness me! Such insults. And how impotent they are.
You see, I suspect Joshua realized very quickly what the Stigma on his shoulder meant. Surely, he knew something like this exact situation would occur.
Ah!
Yet he never breathed a word of his troubles to any of you, did he? Not even a whisper. And conversely, none of you were sensitive enough to notice his pain.
What power these 'bonds' of yours have! What complete, earth-shaking potential.
I...
Tch...
...
But come now, there's no need for long faces.
You have been granted the privilege of being here for this glorious moment! All that remains now is to make the correct choice.
Privilege? Choice? What ARE you going on about?
Perhaps I should start from the very beginning. How much DO you know, I wonder?



About this city, and the events that occurred here with the Aureole nearly twelve hundred years before our time?
Umm...
So that's the Aureole...
It most certainly is.
One of the ultimate artifacts, capable of producing literally endless power and shaping miracles with it! But the ancients sealed it away, despite its limitless, science-shattering potential! Why do you think they would do such a thing?



The data left in the towers said it was having a bad influence on people and society.
Ahhh. You actually managed to put all those together, did you?
That will make this quick, then. Allow me to play the role of professor once more and elucidate the truth of the matter.















Not just physical ecstasy, but even dreams were provided by the Aureole--false realities granted people long-sought spiritual fulfillment. The people of Liber Ark, dependent on 'miracles' that were all but a narcotic, began treading the path to annihilation.
The Ark's inhabitants lost all sense of ambition and ethics, and slid into madness and despair. Birth rates dropped catastrophically while suicide and bizarre crime ran rampant, and the whole of society walked the path to a slow demise.
But the Aureole passed no judgment on these people. It merely granted the miracles asked of it. And so the shining jewel of the sky became a den of evil and chaos.



They built the Great Seal and the Device Towers even as they fought off the guardians of the Aureole, which it sent forth to 'save' itself...
And, at last, they sealed not just the Aureole, but the entire city, in another dimension.
That's what happened twelve hundred years ago...?
Damn, that's messed up.
I will grant that the elder Ausleses did quite well, given the circumstances.
But...think for a moment. The cost of Celeste's 'victory' was humanity being cast forth into a land of chaos, forced to start again from nearly nothing. Think of all the suffering man endured then, and endures now, as man savages one another with endless, petty wars. Can it truly be said that she made the right decision?
Well...
On the other hand, we have gained--or regained--orbal technology and once again live bountiful, easy lives. At this rate, only two ends are possible.
Either we continuously seek to dominate one another and, unable to control ourselves, obliterate each other in an orgy of conflict...Or, like the people of old, we sink into narcotic self-pleasure, let automated systems run the world, and live as farm animals.
Either physical or mental annihilation awaits.
...
There is but one single path for humanity if it wishes to survive.
The beasts of mankind must be led to the point where they obtain the two things required for TRUE, enlightened sentience...A flawless rationality, capable of resisting any temptation and unswayed by even the fiercest circumstances! And peerless intelligence, ever capable of finding the correct solution, unmoved by crude emotion!
This is the true goal of the Gospel Plan! To do what even the ancients could not! To advance our minds to what they SHOULD be!
You're...actually serious.
You're screwed in the head, pal.
I would so appreciate it if you would not look at me as if I were a megalomaniacal lunatic.
Man cannot help but change and reform through fear when confronted with something beyond his imagining. In that sense, what better tool exists to drive evolution forward than the Aureole?
I will guide mankind onto the correct path to salvation with this great treasure from Aidios.
THAT is my duty as one of the Anguis! My duty to Ouroboros and its master!
*sigh*
Boy, I bet you're a real hit at parties. Not.
Oh? What's this?



'Peerless intelligence, ever capable of finding the correct solution, unmoved by crude emotion'? What's the point of any of that?
It seems someone was sleeping during the lecture. As I said, mankind faces annihilation through either conflict or mental entropy. The only way we can--
No, no. I heard the lecture just fine. That's not what I'm talking about
What I'm trying to say is, isn't there something we can DO about the problems you described if we know they exist?
Hm...?
It's like Joshua said to Loewe: We aren't completely powerless. They might not be guided by flawless, peerless whatever, but everyone's working together to get through the crisis going on right now.
I've gone across all of Liberl and seen it with my own eyes.
Don't you think we're capable of getting along just fine without some kind of forceful grand transformation?
Really now. Eking out survival by flocking together is how beasts and insects live. Is that really all you have to offer on the potential of humanity as it stands now?
Is there anything else I NEED to offer? Is there a problem with being the same?
I mean, we're living beings too, you know. And, heck, aren't I just talking about the strength of life?
What...?
I don't think people are JUST animals, of course. I just think that living honestly, with that spark of life from others as your driving force...That's what it means to live.
People don't need to be omnipotent superbeings or whatever you want them to be. People just need to be aware of each other and help each other out.
Hmph...
And you know what? I bet the people who sealed the Aureole away in the first place felt the same way. I mean, sure, making miracles mundane and relying on nothing but them is really bad by itself.
But the biggest problem there, more than anything, is that it makes it so there's no point in knowing or helping each other. That's...awful.
Heh...Damn right.
A man can only be a man because it's others who make the man.
You nailed it, Estelle.
Hah...STILL sticking to the 'mutual assistance' argument and invoking the power of 'human bonds,' of all things...
I would ask you to read a history book before saying such nonsense, Ms. Bright. As an example, consider the overpowering, nation-crushing machine called 'war.' Is man not only capable of being ground beneath its treads?
Absolutely not!
In the middle of the biggest war in Liberl's history, my mother gave her life to save mine! And because of that, I chose the path of a bracer, and now...look at me! I'm here to stop the crisis YOU caused and prevent another war from breaking out! All thanks, in the end, to my mother!
Hell, I'd say you just made my point for me! People are NOT powerless! Not against anything!
Pfeh! You're quite good at trite answers, if nothing else.
If you really, seriously believe people are powerless...And you've really convinced yourself humanity can only be 'saved' by you turning us into emotionless superbeings...
Then that makes you really pathetic, I think.
What?!
I mean, that'd mean you've never known the joy of trusting someone or helping them.
To think that your only smug satisfaction comes from watching people struggle...That's just...That's too sad.
Hmph...
But even if I feel sorry for you, I am a bracer. I can't ignore the fact that you're getting a lot of people involved in your little pity party.
Sorry, but I'm afraid we're going to have to stop you. By force.





Pheh...You ignorant little girl. How dare you talk to me like that...?
Very well then. The professor would like for you to prove your theory.

*snap*







Wha...?



I promise this will be quite a show.
What are you planning, Weissmann?!
Joshua. Forward.



Joshua! No!
Come, Ms. Bright. Do show me. You claim humanity can stand against forces larger than itself? Show me proof you can stand against despair.
Gh! FINE!











Guh...Joshua...
O-ho. Quite an impressive move. Leaving him with the Divine Blade for a while seems to have paid off nicely.
It does always feel good to see a product of one's craft honed to an even finer edge.



And now for the climax to our little show.
Joshua. Seize her.
No!





-Confession-

And thus, the 'strength of humanity' proves to be nothing more than a house of cards before a hurricane.
But, I am an academic, after all. I do understand the necessity of proof.
So we'll have Joshua provide the final test.
What...?
What, indeed? It will be a simple experiment.
I am going to have Joshua end your life. Once you are dead by his hand, I will break his hypnosis and return him to his senses.
No...You can't!
Oh, I DO wonder what kind of expression Joshua will have, on seeing you dead at his feet. Doesn't it just get your blood pumping?
Don't even think about it!
If you do that, Joshua would, he'd...
Yes, this time his heart may just be crushed to powder.
If that happens, however, all I need do is construct him a new persona. And then I can offer him the chance to become human yet again, and observe the results. Heh heh...I can hardly wait!
Stop...Stop! It's too cruel...
Isn't it? Now come, Joshua. End her.
. . .