Although Welt's figure was still flickering unstably, he seemed to gather his last strength, maintaining his form.
His gaze first fell on Shido, his pale golden eyes holding a depth that seemed to pierce through time.
"Young man," his voice was steady, yet carried a subtle heaviness.
"You were there a while ago, and you are here today. I don't know if you are truly so 'unlucky,' always getting caught up in these kinds of events, or if this is a unique kind of 'luck,' allowing you to glimpse the truth behind the world's curtain."
He paused slightly, as if organizing his thoughts, or perhaps recalling something from a very distant past.
"Since you have stepped into the 'dark side' of this world, and I am about to depart... then, in the end, I will tell you a part of the 'truth' I know, and also..."
His gaze turned to Kurumi, who stood silently beside him, "...you who are also searching for a certain answer."
"The origin of everything can be traced back thirty years ago, to the giant Spatial Quake that swept across the Eurasian continent—the Eurasian Great Disaster."
His voice was like reading an ancient historical record, "In that catastrophe that tore civilization apart, not just one Spirit was born."
"One is what you call the'Spirit of Origin'; her existence and whereabouts remain a mystery to this day, her power unfathomable." His tone carried clear apprehension.
"And the other..." He raised his hand, and faint blue light particles drifted from his fingertips, "...is the Spirit who bore the power of 'Reason' and 'Understanding'."
"Oh?" Kurumi's golden eyes lit up slightly, showing a look of interest.
"Two Spirits born at the same time? That's an interesting record. So, what happened to that Spirit of 'Reason' later?"
"He... or rather, 'it' at the time, was discovered and taken in by a group of passing, adventurous scientists amidst the ruins of the disaster."
Welt continued to narrate, his voice carrying a warmth of reminiscence.
"Those scientists... they did not view him as a monster or a weapon. They gave him knowledge, guided him to understand this world, taught him what 'freedom' was, and gave him a name—a name symbolizing 'world' and 'reason'."
"Welt...?" Kurumi softly interjected, as if she had caught something.
"Yes, Welt."
Welt affirmed, but his next words made both Shido and Kurumi slightly stunned, "But it was—Welt Joyce."
"Joyce?" Shido subconsciously repeated, asking in confusion. "But isn't your name... Welt Yang?"
"Welt Yang is my name." He calmly confirmed, but did not immediately explain the relationship between the two, instead continuing to tell Joyce's story.
"Welt Joyce became a close assistant and collaborator to those scientists, living and researching with them, forming deep friendships. It was a... brief but peaceful and beautiful time. Until... the unavoidable disaster struck."
His voice deepened, as if shrouded in a shadow.
"It should have been a beautiful day, like countless ordinary and warm yesterdays. However, on such a day, everything Welt Joyce cherished burned and collapsed in flames and smoke."
"Using 'the existence of a Spirit threat here' as an excuse, a company named DEM dispatched their private armed forces to carry out... an indiscriminate massacre at the research institute where Joyce was located. Their goal was to force out the true Spirit power within Joyce and recover it as a'sample'."
"After witnessing his closest friends and companions fall one after another in pools of blood, Joyce... finally stopped suppressing and chose to fully accept and release the power belonging to the Herrscher of Reason."
"And, in his spiritual world, all those who sacrificed during the Eurasian Great Disaster appeared behind him."
His narration here carried a tragic and heroic meaning.
"However, in order to cover up all traces, to prevent news from leaking, and to completely 'purify' any potential resistance... DEM used force far beyond the conventional, launching a devastating saturation strike on the city where Joyce was."
The workshop was silent, only Welt's calm but heavy voice echoing.
"To protect the innocent civilians remaining in that area, Joyce... he used his newly acquired, still unskillful Spirit power, burning his life, to construct a massive shield capable of protecting the entire area."
"And, at the last moment, using the way people existed during the Eurasian Great Disaster, he copied and carried the 'thoughts' and 'memories' of all surviving humans in that area into the core of his Spirit power, using his authority to understand all things."
"And in the end, he entrusted this 'power,' which carried the thoughts, hopes, and unfulfilled ideals of countless people... to the one boy who was the sole survivor by his side in that catastrophe."
His words paused here, his gaze once again falling on Shido, carrying an indescribably complex emotion.
"That boy..." Shido's voice trembled slightly, as if he had a premonition.
Welt slowly nodded, confirming Shido's unspoken guess. "Ah... yes, it was me."
He took a deep breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted, or as if a certain mission had been completed.
"This is what I know about the truth of the Spirits' origins. They do not all come from an unknowable otherworld; some of them... their birth and tragedy, their source lies precisely in humanity's own greed, fear, and... madness."
He turned to Kurumi again, his eyes becoming exceptionally serious.
"Nightmare, I don't know if these past events are meaningful to the answer you seek. But..."
His voice carried a sincerity that was almost pleading. "If possible, I hope you... do not act solely for'self-destruction'."
"Fighting with 'a determination to die' and seeking an end with a mindset of 'it doesn't matter if I die' are completely different. The former might create miracles, while the latter... will only lead to nothingness."
"Please... act to 'live'. Even if... there is no tomorrow at the end."
After these final words, Welt's figure flickered even more violently, the scattered light particles rising upwards like a reversed river of stars.
He took one last deep look at the unconscious Chinatsu, as if to engrave her appearance into his final consciousness, or as if silently conveying a certain expectation.
Then, under Shido's complex gaze and Kurumi's thoughtful stare, his figure completely transformed into a splendid and sorrowful blue rain of light, falling in showers, finally dissipating into the dull air of the abandoned factory.
This time, he seemed to have truly departed?
What remained was a heavy story of ambiguous truth, an admonition for the persistence of life, and a "chosen", unconscious girl.
And for Shido and Kurumi, who heard all this, what kind of ripples were stirred in their hearts?
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