The fragile, beautiful hope built from song, faith, and new sprouts was like a rainbow reflected on Crystal Lake.
Radiant, but fleeting.
Beneath the banner of the Family, the community had become a tiny utopia, isolated from the wasteland beyond.
People shared supplies, tended to the miraculously fast-growing crops, and gathered at night to sing hymns that grew louder and more devout with each passing day, using their voices to push back against the artillery fire and the unknown.
Smiles even returned to the children’s faces, if only briefly.
Robin, with her bell-like voice, often led the chorus, and her pure singing seemed almost capable of dispelling the gloom.
Mercy still cranked the human-powered generator every day, watching the steady glow of the bulb, but she felt little peace.
She knew better than anyone that their current “harmony” rested on an extremely fragile balance.
Her father’s death.
The Antimatter Legion’s relentless assault.
The Stellaron hiding somewhere like a malignant tumor, radiating waves of destruction…
All of it hung over them like a sword of Damocles.
“Sister, look!
The little tomato plant is flowering!” Robin carefully held up a seedling and ran to Mercy, who was wiping down the generator crank.
Her face beamed with pure joy.
The tiny yellow flower, glowing in the dim lamplight, looked especially delicate and precious.
“How beautiful,” Mercy said, setting down the cloth.
She gently touched the little flower, then ruffled Robin’s hair.
“You’ve taken such good care of it, Robin.” “It’s the Aeon’s blessing!” Robin said earnestly, her sapphire-like eyes shining with faith.
“Mom said that if our hearts are sincere, our songs will reach Xipe, and the Aeon will protect us.” Sunday, sitting nearby and trying to repair an old radio with the generator’s power, looked up at this.
He pushed up his non-existent glasses and gave an objective assessment.
“The accelerated growth of the plants is more likely related to localized environmental mutations caused by Stellaron energy leakage, or residual catalytic substances in the soil.
Attributing the phenomenon entirely to divine intervention lacks a direct chain of evidence.” “Sunday!” Their mother walked over, carrying a cup of herbal tea brewed with filtered water, its flavor thin and bland.
Her voice was gentle but carried a note of reproach.
“Faith gives people strength, especially in times like these.” She looked out the window at the community, which, though battered, seemed alive with the sounds of labor and song.
A trace of comfort crossed her face.
“Look.
Everyone is united because they believe in the same thing.
Isn’t that the best outcome?” Sunday pressed his lips together and did not argue.
He simply lowered his head and continued fiddling with the radio, which still emitted only harsh static and occasional fragments of garbled emergency broadcasts.
Mercy watched this scene, and the unease in her heart grew stronger.
This highly concentrated, perfect embodiment of the Path of Harmony.
This pure resonance of faith born from despair…
Under the cosmic laws woven from imaginary and quantum threads, was it too bright?
Bright enough to attract predators that chased destruction?
Her fears soon became a brutal reality.
The community’s ever-rising hymns of harmony, and the life-energy fluctuations radiating from the unnaturally accelerated crops, acted like a beacon in the dark universe, clearly pinpointing this region.
For the Antimatter Legion, whose sole creed was destruction, and especially for Nanook, the Aeon of Destruction who longed to burn away all traces of existence, this “harmony” and this “hope” were themselves the most discordant notes, the ones most in need of utter erasure.
At the same time, the Stellaron buried deep near Radiant Star’s core seemed to “sense” this force of harmony trying to resist it.
It quietly intensified its energy radiation, like an invisible hand, constantly twisting and corroding the key nodes of the planetary defense system, paving the way for the Legion’s final assault.
The planetary defense forces and the Harmony guard fleet had held out for one month, four days, and four hours.
Soldiers held the line with their flesh and blood against the endless tide of Voidrangers.
Warships fell from the night sky like burning meteors.
What they defended was not just territory, but the light of order upon which billions of civilians depended.
But with the Stellaron’s interference and the Antimatter Legion’s overwhelming numerical advantage, the crumbling defense line finally shattered completely.
Like a breached dam, the flood of destruction rushed forward without obstacle, sweeping toward every corner of the planet, especially those regions where resistance still flickered.
The news came through Sunday’s old radio, which finally received a clear signal.
It was the final announcement from the planetary defense headquarters, laced with desperate static: “…Repeat…
Radiant Star’s primary defense perimeter has been completely breached…
Antimatter Legion main forces are spreading across the planetary surface…
All civilians…
seek sturdy shelter…
wait for…
rescue…
The relief fleet from Penacony has departed…
but estimated arrival time…
at least…
three days…
Repeat…
hold on…
wait…” “Three days…” Their mother’s face went pale, her voice barely a whisper.
The sounds of explosions from the radio overlapped with the gradually approaching roar outside the window.
Sunday switched off the radio abruptly.
The room fell into deathly silence, broken only by the crackling of the kerosene lamp and the explosions drawing closer, like the footsteps of death itself.
“Penacony…
is too far…” Sunday’s voice was dry.
Even the most composed of them felt the bone-chilling cold.
Across countless star systems, even at full speed, three days was more than enough time for the Legion to cleanse the planet many times over.
The singing in the community had stopped.
In its place were screams of terror, the pounding of running feet, and the shattering of collapsing structures.
The fragile order, built with such effort, crumbled instantly under the weight of absolute force.
Mercy shot to her feet and rushed to the window, pulling back the curtain just enough to see outside.
The distant sky was stained an infernal crimson.
Countless projectiles trailed fiery tails like a meteor shower, exploding into massive fireballs across the city.
Thick black smoke rolled toward them.
“Mom!
Take Robin and Sunday to the basement!
Now!” Mercy spun around, her tone urgent and commanding.
They had a small but relatively sturdy underground storage room, which their father had remodeled for storage purposes.
Their mother snapped out of her daze and grabbed Robin, who was still stunned, and Sunday.
“Come!
Follow me!” Just then— WHISTLE—!!!!!
An ear-splitting shriek tore through the air, growing closer at terrifying speed.
The sound was so near, it seemed to be right above them!
“GET DOWN!!!” Mercy screamed with all her might, instinctively lunging toward her mother and siblings, trying to shield them with her body.
But it was too late.
BOOM!!!!!!
A cataclysmic explosion!
The entire world seemed to be torn apart in that instant!
A shockwave of unimaginable force struck the house like an invisible sledgehammer.
Sturdy walls buckled and shattered like paper.
Ceiling fixtures and decorations rained down.
Window glass shattered instantly, turning into countless razor-sharp shards flying into the room.
Mercy felt an overwhelming force slam into her back.
A metallic taste flooded her throat.
She was hurled through the air and crashed heavily against the opposite wall.
Her vision went dark, and she nearly lost consciousness.
In the split second before darkness consumed her, her blurred vision caught a final glimpse— Massive sections of the wall collapsed between her and her mother and siblings!
Thick load-bearing walls, shattered furniture, and rubble cascaded down like a waterfall, instantly forming an impassable barrier of debris.
It separated her from the people she loved most.
The last thing she saw was her mother’s arm reaching toward her, her face contorted in terror.
She saw Robin’s small face, white as a sheet, her mouth open in a silent scream.
She saw Sunday’s desperate, furious eyes as he tried to push through the falling debris but was blocked.
Then, endless darkness and silence swallowed everything.
Artillery still thundered.
Buildings still crumbled.
But for Mercy, in that moment she was knocked unconscious, the world had already shattered.
The ending of this beautiful chapter had not yet been written, but it had already been abruptly…
cut short.
Beneath the ruins, only the lingering echoes of destruction drifted mournfully through the smoke of dawn.