Volume 17: Enemy of All Things Chapter 4: Freedom, how many crimes have been committed in your name
" What exactly is freedom in your eyes?"
"A reason that can be used to cover up all crimes? An excuse that can make the whole world turn a blind eye to atrocities? A trap that is incomprehensible but obviously tempting? Or is it just a cruel word stained with the blood of innocent people?"
"I know, I understand, but you won't say it. You may even put on an arrogant face to prove your courage and innocence, while highlighting the brutality and terror of the enemy. We all know this very well, and we all know that all of this is just an act. Freedom was originally a word created to resist slavery, but later, as time went by, everything changed."
"It has become bloody and cruel, it has become cold and ruthless. Freedom can become any scenario and phrase you want. When your enemies oppose you, when your allies don't listen to you, when your children don't respect you, when your family doesn't believe in you, freedom has become a panacea. You can denounce anyone, anything, and everything as unfree. But is it really unfree? Is there really any problem? You see, once faced with the real core issue, everyone will avoid the issue. Even if they grit their teeth and refuse to admit it, reality will prove it all."
"Freedom is not spoken, but done. When you force this concept on any innocent person, freedom becomes a synonym for tyranny. And now, this is what you are doing. And because of this, you have brought all this upon yourself."
"This destroys everything."
Looking at the corpse that had long been rotten tied to the chair, the man muttered and looked up at the sky.
The world is rotten.
In the man's eyes, the sky was like a pot of boiling soup, with countless weather conditions that had appeared on this planet coming one after another. This was the planet's memory, a revolving lantern from the star soul. Under the oppression of death, even the planet would release its distant memories to commemorate its eternal passing.
The land had become colorful, with shadows of people and buildings looming. Except for the house behind him that was shrouded by the man's magic, everything had turned into countless cycles of time. The time worm had gone crazy, and images wrapped in various times began to overlap. Just like the man behind him, although he had turned into a rotting corpse, he was also suffering in another time point, screaming continuously.
But all this is meaningless. Even the man himself doesn't know whether the planet has died long ago or is now sighing in its dying state. Because there is nothing to prove the existence of time, and there is no sign to prove it. In the moment of chaos in the sky, the phantom sun hangs high in the sky, and the planet has been sentenced to death in that moment. And the self that follows has melted away in the chaotic light. The man doesn't even know whether his thoughts are a fusion of some memories, or the remnants of some obsession. Even he has lost all his strong emotions.
What remains are just some memories that are not particularly outstanding and are engraved with certain emotions. And there are also different conflicts and spots in these memories, like a moldy and rotten painting that has been violently smeared, which makes people feel uncomfortable.
“This was my hometown…”
Looking at the land of overlapping illusions, the man stood at the window that was constantly changing and sighed.
There were too many memories of this planet to count. In the man's memory, this planet once had a nice name. It was called Asongard, which means a place of blessing. A place praised by the gods. This planet was once home to countless souls who yearned for beauty and dreams. They gave everything they had on this planet.
They were once victims, fleeing from the waves of demons, and finally found a small planet. They began to close their own planet, as if hiding in an illusory space, so that no one could find the location of their hometown. These new fugitives used their own ideas and abilities to build their own ideal paradise on the planet. Everyone worked hard for their own future, and no one felt tired.
Even the phantoms outside can show the glorious shadows left over from the pioneering era. Some phantoms are ragged, but everyone works hard for their lives with a happy smile. They may not be smart enough, they may not be strong enough, and they are not extreme people, but they are kind enough and compassionate enough. They will seek common ground while reserving differences for each other's future. Who knows that they were once a group of dreamers, and their original dream was just to let everyone live the way they wanted. This is the kindest move, but also the stupidest.
Different cultures, different beliefs, and different voices bring different opinions. Although everyone can tolerate such a different life under the oppression of the environment, as time goes by, this future becomes more and more unbearable, and various disputes begin to gradually emerge.
Some people will back down from such arguments, others will follow suit, and the whole situation will gradually become more and more chaotic.
So when the concentration of desire reaches a certain level, expansion will naturally begin.
Then these wanderers in the universe accumulated strength and dissatisfaction in their own nests, and finally one day decided to open the valve of the subspace to see what the outside world was like and whether it was still occupied by demons. But after really opening the door, they found that what greeted them was a warm and kind world.
Because all enemies have been driven away by the fanatical light. Those true warriors protected the kind but cowardly people behind them, used their bodies to withstand the pressure of all monsters, and killed the demons and monsters wandering in the void one by one. And those fugitives who existed long ago followed behind the great man, constantly rescuing those who were tortured by suffering. The filth was suppressed again, and what was left was the lofty hope.
Amid the chaotic scene below, the speeches of those noble men still echoed in the air.
'We may not be noble, but we must not be despicable! We may be cowardly, but we must not betray!'
'Our freedom is brought by the blood and sweat of others, and our lives are because there are brave people helping us bear it all! And we must not betray or live up to all of this, we must unite, we must unite as a whole, and we must support this war in our own way! '
'Don't forget where peace comes from! Don't forget what kind of responsibility we have! We are hunted by demons, we are the wastes who have abandoned our homes! We don't have the courage to fight against those people, but we must not insult those real warriors! We are humble, but we are not mean! We dare not go to the battlefield, but we can go to labor, to work, and to help the warriors fulfill their long-cherished wishes in the way we can! '
'The most terrifying thing in this world is the devil. We must unite as one and be of one mind! We will never compromise!'
Such a passionate voice was the most appealing voice in that era.
No one objected to this, and anyone who objected would be labeled a lackey of the devil. And it was indeed so. The war between the Holy Light and the devil was eternal and endless, but the light of the brave did save those who were in suffering.
The Pale Crusade was extremely tragic in the past. Every inch of it was stained with the blood of those who dared to fight. Every inch of soil was irrigated with the remaining souls of both sides. Therefore, the creatures on these planets became more and more dazzling, and the people on these planets became more and more intelligent. The remaining people on these planets, the people who were saved, and those who were tortured by the devil, although they could not become holy light, they could become the federation.
The Free Federation was established under such circumstances. They were originally established just for the Holy Light's expedition and to support their war.
Before every bad consequence there is a branch of good deeds, because only enough kindness can attract more people.
But what happened after that? The boy who slew the dragon eventually became the dragon.
The holy light is still the holy light, and the brave are always brave. The warriors who come one after another continue to fight against the seemingly invincible monster with their flesh and blood, constantly cutting off the charred flesh from their immortal flesh and blood, splashing pieces of blood. It seems meaningless, but it is indeed effective.
However, ordinary people don't care about these things. Because there are enough things, those things are enough. The universe is already big, and there are enough things. Why do we need to go on such a long expedition? They have forgotten that they were once part of the people who were saved in that era, and have forgotten their responsibilities. Instead, they treat all this with dissatisfaction and resentment. To them, this is just a money-making trick.
The Free Alliance has not seen the devil for a long time, because the heroes have done such a good job that even the humble cowards cannot see the shadow of the nightmare.
Some scholars have even said that demons do not actually exist and that everything is a hoax of the Holy Light.
As for all this, Holy Light did not refute anything and they still persisted with gritted teeth.
But this silence eventually led to bitter consequences.
Whether it is for the Holy Light or the Free Alliance, this is ultimately the most bitter fruit.
"...You think you can get forgiveness by torturing me?"
The rotting body behind the man shook, as if the fat figure had come together in the chaos of time, allowing the corpse to speak again.
In this chaotic space and time, time has lost its original function. Although he has long been dead, he is alive at the same time. This figure who alternates between life and death took off the rotten rope on his body, stood up and walked to the man's side.
The peculiar stench of the decayed corpse mixed with the scent of some kind of spice, forming a strange smell. However, the men had no organs to feel sick, and it could even be said that the impression of this smell was originally a reflection in their minds. They had long since lost track of what was here, and had long since lost track of what had happened. Everything was empty, and no one knew what it was except each other.
"Do you think you can be redeemed by torturing me?"
The rotting corpse put its arm around the man's shoulder and spoke in a hoarse voice, like a close friend:
"Look at what you see. This is our choice. We have forgotten the sufferings we have gone through, the people who are fighting for us. We have forgotten all of this. Doesn't this look like me? Don't you think this world looks so familiar? But the only difference is that this is a planet, a world, and we are just one person."
The skeleton pointed at the phantom sun hanging high in the sky and let out a shrill laugh.
"We were once naive, we once wanted to be powerful, we once thought we had the ability to change the world. But in the end, we can't change anything except ourselves. Even if I am here and you are there, what is the difference between us?"
“…We are different.”
The man was silent for a moment, looking at the long river of time on the street where floats were floating and the chaotic crowds were mixed together. With a firm face, he slowly said:
"I have dreams and ideals in my heart. I will swear to fight for the poor people. I swear to fight for a little light for this world. Even if I have never been the Holy Light, and have never been blessed by the Holy Light, I still want to be that kind of person. I want to contribute my own strength to this world."
"That's why I came here, to the power center of this planet. I hope to use my abilities, my ideas, and my philosophy to change this filthy world. Although I come from a humble background, there is still light in my heart. I want to accomplish great things and work for all the poverty and suffering. This shouldn't be our ending. If we act according to my plan, this shouldn't end up like this."
"I will raise the banner of rebellion against the corrupt Free Alliance. If I were in this position, I would definitely rebel against the Free Alliance. They are no longer the organization that was worthy of people's lives and blood. We are no longer the people who worked hard for the Holy Light as in history. Our kindness has disappeared, but if it were me standing here, I would make the Free Alliance and this planet great again. At the very least, I would never become a lackey of the devil, and deal a fatal blow to my own allies when the Holy Light's expedition was advancing, and end up like this."
"If it were me, I would never do that."
"Haha, is that so?"
The corpse smiled and patted the man on the shoulder.
"But standing here, I have become the person you hate the most."
“…”
The decayed corpse smiled, and the remaining face was exactly the same as the young man standing on the edge of the windowsill.
He is the garrison commander of this planet. He once vowed to become the most outstanding man on this planet when he was in his prime. He vowed to do something for this world. But after actually taking charge of a planet, he found that everything was too difficult for an ordinary person. Everything was so confusing in his eyes, and everyone's flattery was so wonderful.
Whether it was the praise from others, the scolding from the poor, the constantly circuitous policies and orders, it was just something that happened on a planet, but it had exhausted the man. He began to seek help, find allies, and compromise on some things, just to better implement his own orders.
But I don't know since when, the original purpose of better implementing orders has become the implementation of orders itself.
Recommended by the sycophants, some policies that harm people are implemented just to gain more support and more benefits. All these changes are so subtle and silent.
When he was insulted by his former partners, he did not wake up, but felt that these people did not understand his great ideas at all. His compromise was only to better implement his ideals, but it was not until the destruction came that he truly woke up and realized that his compromise only brought the destruction of his ideals. And the real ideals can never be compromised. Never.
But it was too late. When he saw his past appear before him and turned into a rotten corpse, he knew it was too late. The battleship of Holy Light had arrived, and the trumpet of destruction had sounded. The illusory stars fell from the sky, and the earth and the planets were like pages of a book, and the sinners would eventually receive their own judgment. Compared with the gentleness of the past, the man who was in charge of the punishment now was undoubtedly the embodiment of terror, so much so that the planet itself refused to stay.
This is the end of a traitor.
"We were one, but now, we are all dead."
"Yeah...we're all dead."
The young man smiled at the corpse that was lynched by the angry mob, and finally turned into a ball of dust.
In the midst of the brilliant light, everything here turned into nothingness, as if nothing had ever existed. Whether it was the man talking, the mutated and chaotic streets, or the entire world itself, everything turned into a dark color.
Only the fake sun hanging high in the sky was shaking constantly, gradually curling up into a flower bud shape, swaying in the chaotic space, dragging a path of defeat, looking for its next target in this chaotic void. It was set up like this, and it was done this way. No one would be curious about the phenomenon left in this void, and no one would be surprised by it.
They should be like this.
