Chapter 88

───────────

Episode 19 - Principles of a purpose [5]

─────────────────────────────────

"Then save the villains’ families."

A purpose for which she became known.

The daughter of a great house and the last one standing after the massacre of the villains.

In a world where the sky was black, people’s life expectancy did not even reach thirty years.

A world where villains left behind nothing but boys and girls without families.

Something equal to, or perhaps even worse than, what Luminus herself experienced, according to the story known about her.

If you asked a historian what the purpose of Luminus, the Fallen Maiden, was, they would say that her purpose was to save children and protect the families that still remained.

To many, it might not have seemed like a special purpose, but to Luminus, it meant everything.

’It was the purpose she followed and ultimately fulfilled faithfully.’

She did not die with regrets. She did not die without purpose, dreams, or goals.

So when I said those words, Luminus stared at me for over a dozen seconds before finally lowering her head and murmuring:

"Saving families... is that a coincidence, or did you already know?"

I wasn’t sure what to say.

According to her story, that was the purpose she had originally followed before forgetting it.

She followed it unconsciously, but at some point, someone reminded her of it.

’But that’s the story from the game. If we’re talking about real life, the real Luminus probably never followed a purpose at all.’

The Luminus within this Memory Gate was walking down that same path.

But if you gave her the right push, she might remember it.

"Isn’t that the perfect purpose for you?"

As I said that, her emotions kept changing constantly.

The ability to see emotions was finally proving useful at this moment, so I continued:

"You can dedicate yourself to changing the lives of children who lost their families, or saving families before children lose them. It may sound more like a goal than a purpose, but everyone interprets those things differently, so it doesn’t matter."

In this era, the deaths of countless people were recorded in human history.

The years of the First Calamity were extremely harsh.

It was the era in which countless heroes were born, heroes who are now recorded in the Memory Gates of the academies across every continent.

And the person standing before me was one of those heroes.

The first person who changed this world after reaching the Eleven Stars.

And the first person to reach the Eleven Stars who fulfilled everything she desired in her life.

"Our ages are not that different, and you’re not far from reaching 6 Stars, so seeing the blue sky is only a matter of time, and your goal is only a matter of time as well, but when it comes to a purpose, most people carry it for the rest of their lives."

"I’m not saying you should follow a purpose so simple that it feels more like a goal than a true purpose, but I think that, for you, it would be what you truly want to do, right?"

She nodded unconsciously.

"The principles of a purpose are guided by the right moment. Maybe someone tells you indirectly, maybe you discover it someday, or maybe you’ve simply been following it unconsciously all along."

Then I pointed at myself.

"For example, me. I feel like I’m following a purpose I don’t understand, but my goal is truly more important than anything else."

A purpose is not simply something to be treated as an obligation.

In general, many people think of it that way.

But most of the time, a purpose is born from something far simpler and crueler than an obligation.

It is born from something a person cannot ignore even if they want to.

From the kind of pain that remains buried for years and still keeps guiding your steps without you even noticing.

Some people believe they choose their purpose, but many times, it is the purpose that ends up choosing them first.

Luminus opened her mouth and said,

"People die every day. Entire families disappear. Children lose their parents before they can even understand what’s happening. Even if I want to save something... I can’t save everyone."

A slight smile appeared on my face at her words, and instead of answering, I asked,

"Then what’s the point?"

She showed a hint of confusion. Even so, I shrugged and simply said,

"No one can save everyone."

"Not even the strongest people in history could do it. There will always be someone you can’t protect, someone you’ll arrive too late to save, or someone who will die right in front of you no matter how hard you try."

"But that doesn’t mean the lives you do save lose their value."

Luminus slowly raised her head.

"If even a single family manages to stay together because of you, then you’ve already changed something. If a child can grow up without going through the same hell you lived through, then your purpose already had meaning."

Silence returned once again.

But this time, it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence.

It was a heavy one.

One filled with thoughts she was desperately trying to sort out inside her mind.

The Luminus from the story was admired by countless people, yet very few truly understood what existed behind that legendary figure. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Everyone praised the Fallen Maiden who protected families and saved children, but no one ever spoke about the reason she did those things with such obsession.

Because she probably saw her own past reflected in every one of them.

Because every abandoned child probably reminded her of herself.

Even if she followed that purpose unconsciously, she still had one.

"Do you really think someone like me could do something like that?"

She didn’t say it with arrogance or confidence.

She asked honestly.

Like someone who, for the first time, was trying to believe in something for herself.

"Yes."

I answered without hesitating for even a single second.

"Because the people who truly understand pain are the ones who best understand the value of protecting others."

Luminus’s emotions froze for an instant.

And then, little by little, they began to stabilize.

Not completely.

But enough for her to breathe a little more calmly.

Maybe she still didn’t fully understand what a purpose was.

Maybe she was still lost.

But even so, I could clearly tell that those words had left a mark inside her.

A small seed.

Something that would probably grow with time.

And as I looked at the future heroine standing before me, I understood something clearly.

The reason Luminus managed to change the world wasn’t only because she became strong.

It was because even after suffering, she still chose to protect something.

And then, a screen appeared in my mind.

〖You have found the purpose of Luminus Arcantel Valentina〗

〖Luminus Arcantel Valentina Story Progress: 28%〗

〖You have surpassed the Prologue of the Fallen Maiden〗

〖Luminus Arcantel Valentina Story, Chapter One〗

〖Scene: "Mountain of Corpses and Snowy Nights"〗

〖The player’s consciousness will be sent to Chapter One〗

My body slowly began to disappear, just like Charlotte’s.

Luminus stared at us as if she didn’t realize what was happening.

Then, with a smile, leaving behind her cold and emotionless expression, she said:

"Thank you for helping me find my purpose."

Charlotte smiled faintly and replied:

"I didn’t do anything."

"But I did, so don’t think about straying from it."

I didn’t know why Charlotte and I were saying those words.

This world was fake.

We were only experiencing a few important scenes from Luminus’s life.

So when the system appeared, it shouldn’t have mattered to us.

Maybe they were remnants of Luminus’s emotions still lingering inside both of us.

Or maybe it was because we felt something, even if we didn’t fully understand it.

Even so, both Charlotte and I smiled faintly, and Luminus smiled as well.

Then she froze in place, staring at the spot where we had been before disappearing completely.

***

Several seconds passed while my senses remained numb.

Then, in the very next instant, the cold struck my entire body.

A freezing cold that began to freeze me solid within seconds. I quickly used Mana to cover my body, and shortly afterward, the temperature stopped affecting me as much.

’Fuck, this cold is seriously awful.’

Beside me, Charlotte opened her eyes, and instantly her body froze as she started trembling.

"W-what the hell... w-what i-is this cold..."

She did the same thing I had done, and shortly afterward, her body stopped shaking.

She looked around and asked:

"Where exactly are we? I don’t recognize this place from the scene’s name."

"Well, I’m not completely sure either, but judging by the cold, maybe we’re in the Mountains of the End."

The Mountains of the End were a mountain range located at the edge of the Flegrea Continent, a continent in the middle of the Frozen Sea, so far away from the rest of the world that it seemed completely isolated.

’Did Luminus really come here at some point?’

The thought was absurd. Who the hell would come to a place like this?

It was the continent farthest from the rest of the world, and it was located right in the middle of the Frozen Sea.

The coldest place in the world.

’Even a 5-Star would die within hours just from the cold of these mountains.’

It was absurd to think that anyone could survive here for long.

From Chapter One onward, I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to do.

’The Scene’s name is pretty simple, but it doesn’t give me a clue like the prologue did.’

What does Mountain of Corpses and Snowy Nights mean?

I could speculate about the last part, but that probably had more to do with the Chapter’s objective.

Meanwhile, the first words most likely had something to do with what would happen here.

"I’m not sure, but I think Luminus will either do something on this mountain... or lose something."

I said that while finally extending my senses around the area.

Soon, I sensed many presences near us.

Charlotte spoke after hearing my words:

"Now that I think about it, how exactly do you know the scene’s name? Aren’t you supposed to be blind?"

"Oh, that. Well, that screen you see appears in my imagination, that’s all. Anyway, we’ve got company."

Charlotte instinctively grabbed her sword and looked around.

"Company? We just got here."

I shrugged while taking my sword as well.

"This is a 5-Star Memory Gate. What do you think that difficulty means?"

Charlotte opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing, and shortly afterward, the presences I had sensed earlier appeared in swarms.