Brunhilde sighed inwardly, but her glare never wavered from Lucian despite internal conversation.

Lucian released a long sigh, which held a mix of exhaustion and resignation as he glanced around. Then his gaze dropped to the Star Jewel in his hands, examining the artifact as if seeing it for the first time.

"I knew things would go this way..." Lucian muttered quietly across the suddenly silent battlefield. "But I do feel a bit of regret seeing the end of another of my dear friends."

Everyone trembled with their expression shifting. The casual admission of premeditated betrayal was delivered with a tone suggesting mild inconvenience rather than catastrophic loss.

Veryn shouted from where she stood among the others, her voice cracked as she lost her composure. "Y-You knew Honor was going to attack Reinhard!?"

Brunhilde's frown deepened into an expression approaching a snarl. "It's obvious, Veryn." Her words emerged controlled, despite fury beneath. "He saw everything that was going to happen through his vision."

Vlad's frown matched Brunhilde's intensity, and his crimson eyes narrowed. "Which means he wanted things to turn out like this..."

Joseph stood slightly apart, his green eyes fixed on Lucian with anger poorly concealed. His hands clenched repeatedly. "But why?" The question emerged through gritted teeth. "Don't tell me you want the Source of All Evil to sweep through the entire Hesod continent?"

Lucian shook his head immediately. "I would never want that." His tone carried conviction despite everything. "I simply want to reset Eastern Hesod... Or more specifically, I want to wipe away its past."

Vlad's eyes widened, his entire posture shifted, and his back straightened while the crimson stakes flickered in his grip.

Amiya trembled beside Janus. Her curly black hair shook with the motion, voice emerging small and uncertain. "Wipe away? W-Why would you want that!? Eastern Hesod's past is-"

"It's a curse that is keeping you all from growing and becoming united." Lucian interjected smoothly.

Vlad's frown deepened further. His weathered face showed lines of confusion, mixing with building anger. "What are you talking about, Lucian?"

Lucian tilted his head slightly. "You Seekers and the Precursors continued clinging to the image and memories of the Golden Age."

Everyone blinked simultaneously, as the statement was unexpected.

Lucian continued before anyone could formulate a response. "Seekers continued moving through the forest, never letting go and continuously trying to breach deeper. Instead of focusing on making the current Precursors better and helping them to surpass the Forerunners."

His gaze swept across Vlad and Amiya, Seekers in their black coats with silver crow insignias.

"While even the Precursor people cling to their golden age past, constantly blaming the Seekers and the old government for not doing better. Unwilling to simply let go and try to improve themselves."

Vlad flinched slightly before glaring at Saint Lucian. Janus gritted his teeth beside Amiya, who looked down at the ground rather than meeting Lucian's gaze. Brunhilde sighed inwardly, recognizing uncomfortable accuracy beneath accusation.

"But if that wasn't enough..." Lucian's voice gained edge. "You all wanted to rely on yourselves instead of asking for help from the outside. All because you knew that the Forerunners took care of the Beast Kings by themselves and cleared out a kingdom against all odds. And so you believed not following them would be a disgrace to their memories and legacy."

Vlad shook his head violently. "It was more complicated than that. We didn't want to be forced to give up things we had from the-"

"So what if you gave up some things?" Lucian interjected, voice rising slightly for the first time. "You guys continue to cling to the Golden Age like it's a lifeline. But all it's ever done is pull you guys down and never allow for true growth."

Vlad's glare intensified, and crimson light blazed in his eyes. "It's that belief that has allowed the people to continue waking up every day. It's that belief that the Golden Age can return that allows the people to push through the terrifying nights and continue living."

Lucian paused and then tilted his head before chuckling, and then he nodded slowly. "I agree that it has helped you continue living, but that's it. Only living and not growing."

His hand gestured toward the ruined Helios around them. Beyond the crimson tide, there were some golden architectural structures consumed by collapsed roots, and centuries of decay were evident in every structure. "The Seekers weren't meant to be people who reclaim the cities and buildings. But people who were meant to save lives and end the Dark Silence!"

His voice rose further, passion breaking through the previous calm. "You all weren't meant to be people who were chasing after a golden age that is dead and not coming back!"

Vlad straightened despite rage flickering under a calm exterior, and his face set in an expression of absolute conviction. "Those ruins, those old cities, the outposts are reminders." Each word emerged with a sharp and strong tone. "Symbols of what we once were, and will once return. But more than that, it's a reminder of the legacy, will, and belief we carry from those who sacrificed so that those in the present can live on." He gritted his teeth. "If we abandon them, if we abandon the legacy-"

"Legacy?" Lucian scoffed. "Do you actually believe that's the legacy they wanted? The Forerunners bled themselves dry so the Precursors could exist. So that those who came before them can someday build something better than what they left behind."

Marie trembled, Joseph frowned, Amiya bit her lips, and Janus' eyes widened. Vlad slightly trembled, but he continued staring at Lucian.

Lucian continued as he said. "But what happened instead? The Precursors and Seekers spent centuries fighting, blaming, and resenting. Both sides clutching to different versions of the same dead past, both sides refusing to move forward, and both sides wishing to go back to the past instead of looking to the future… I know about the incident that led to the full shattering of trust."

Vlad's eyes widened slightly before closing his eyes and saying. "We have no choice."

Lucian nodded and said. "I agree you didn't, but it should never have gotten to that place. You all should have thrown away the memories and legacy of the Forerunners, it didn't help you a bit."

Vlad's eyes widened slightly before narrowing into a glare that promised violence. "That past you disdain is a big part of why the Dark Silence ended. Or else you wouldn't have allowed them to help us. But more than that, it reminds us never to give in, and never to forget what they left us."

"But you all gave in the moment you stopped moving forward. The moment you accepted the past as a cage instead of a lesson." Lucian continued, lifting three fingers. "For three hundred years… You haven't made any good progress toward stopping the Dark Silence for the last three hundred years! Not one!"

He let his hand fall, fingers dropping one by one until all pointed downward.

"But the moment I came with the Luminous Knights, and my own warriors recruited those from the Memento Mori Academy..." His voice gained intensity. "And suddenly, the progress we made surpassed even the Forerunners back at their peak! We defeated the Dark Silence while they failed. We achieved something that the precious golden age couldn't."

Silence fell while the words of Saint Lucian made Vlad tremble, as the truth in them was undeniable.

"You all should've asked for help. From outside, and from anyone… Even if they plan to use you guys, all you had to do was use them back as well." Lucian's tone softened slightly, approaching something like regret. "Instead, you kept telling yourselves you had to handle the Dark Silence alone because that's what the Forerunners did in the past… Taking on their foes by themselves without help..."

His gaze was fixed on Vlad specifically. "But that line of thinking can't be used against the Dark Silence. You all should have asked for help, that's what the Seekers should have done when I was presumed dead."

Vlad opened his mouth to refute, but then paused and trembled. His crimson eyes widened in confusion and surprise before he muttered while clenching his stake.

"...What do you mean by those words?"

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