Chương 39: 30 Years.

Spending the night outside, Lucius returned back to the academy.

Walking through the massive gates, Lucius let out a little sigh. It has already been a month since Lucius came back and various things had happened.

'If this was my previous self, I would have been blissfully unaware of what is to come.'

Looking at those massive mechs standing guard, the turrents, and the spaceports that were directly above the academy, Lucius let out a small laugh.

Reminiscing in his thoughts, he spoke, "All this advancement, to what extent does it really help us?"

"We thought that under the protection of all these weaponry, these ships, these scientific breakthroughs.... we would be absolutely safe. No other power in the universe would be able to contest against us," he slowly spoke to himself.

And indeed, that was the case. Ever since mankind stepped out into the galaxy, it never feared a challenge. It continuously expanded and conquered, The only real problem it ever faced was itself. Wars raging between its own countries almost led to the collapse of civilization.

Pausing for a second he continued, "But....how much do we really understand about ourselves? About our surroundings? About our place in the vast cosmos...."

"Why are we alone?"

"Where are the others? We did find some signs pertaining to other possible civilizations, but what happened to them?"

"Did they die? Did they go extinct because they weren't strong enough? Or was the cause something else? Something far-far greater than anything that humanity could ever foresee."

Walking through the paths within the academy, Lucius saw many students and teachers going about their daily lives. They seemed happy, safe, content. Bright sunlight spilled into his eyes.

Lucius used his hands to cover a part of his face to block the sunlight. This sunlight was a carefully controlled product of the atmosphere machine.

Due to the degeneration of Earth's atmosphere, the sunlight that always provided humanity with its warmth had slowly turned deadly. Of course, this was another problem that was solved by science.

Suddenly a spaceship that was entering the spaceport, flew directly above the path Lucius walked, casting a fast-moving shadow.

"Where does true strength lie?"

"Is it within ourselves or in our tools?"

Looking at the various scientific advancements surrounding him he sighed once again and continued, "Then again, do our tools really count as part of our strength."

He continued to walk towards a hill-like elevation on the ground. No one was currently present on top of the hill and it was quite empty.

Shaking his head, he slowly spoke out, "February 7th, 2321, humanity learned the answer to all these questions."

Indeed.

Just 5 months later, humanity would realize. It would learn about the various things that were always hidden in the dark.

Science, which prided itself in being able to solve anything would suddenly falter on that day.

People who were ever confident about their victory would find themselves at a loss.

Weapons of such power, capable of destroying planets at a time, would suddenly become powerless.

February 7th. The day, 'that event' takes place. Humanity will remember once again. Something that it had forgotten throughout its long course of victories.

Something that had always been a part of us, but discarded along the way. Something that stems from deep within us.

.....The true meaning of 'fear'.

"30 years," Lucius continued once again.

"It only took 30 years for humanity's unstoppable rise, to fall."

"Just 30 years for it to remember, what it meant to be afraid, once again."

"To suffer for 30 years. To hide without the power to change its fate. To fight a war that, it stood no chance of winning."

They called it the Great War. It truly was a great war. A war that concerned the future of humanity. All of mankind participated in this war. Innumerable people including soldiers, the elderly, women, and even children participated without hesitation.

In these 30 years, humanity came together as a whole.

There was no discrimination, no ostracization. Influential families willingly fought together with the commoners that they hated.

Of course, this did not happen at the beginning of the war. Betrayals were common. People sold each other out. Backstabbing was a daily occurrence. But as the war progressed, humanity understood.

That it stood no chance if they did not come together.

Coming to the top of the hill, Lucius stopped. From this elevated spot, factoring Lucius' eyesight combined with soul power, he could see almost the entire academy.

Looking at all these geniuses, these marvels of engineering, these advancements of science, Lucius felt emotion in his usual ice-like heart.

It was Pity!

Lucius pitied these unfortunate, ignorant, and weak lambs.

He did not even refer to them as people anymore, because lambs were what they were. In the face of what was to come, humans truly were lambs waiting to get slaughtered.

He spoke in a nonchalant tone, "Alas, they never stood a chance."

He did not speak this last part out loud. Instead, he thought to himself, 'Humanity survived for 30 years before ending up being annihilated.'

Annihilated.

They did not just simply die. No, every single trace of their existence was completely erased off the face of the universe.

They left nothing behind.

None of their knowledge.

None of their technology.

None of their culture.

They were annihilated in the truest of sense.

Humanity was utterly destroyed.

And Lucius who currently stood on top of this hill, overlooking everything, was the only one who lived.

How did he survive? Frankly, Lucius himself did not remember no matter how hard he thought about it.

'Why me? Why not others? People more capable. People willing to give their all to the restoration of humanity. Someone who was much stronger than I am.'

These were the thoughts Lucius had when he first learned the truth. The truth that humanity lost in the 'Great War'.

Thinking back, Lucius laughed at his previous naive self. These questions which seemed quite important actually meant nothing.

Surviving within the vast cosmos was far more important. The 270 years that Lucius lived after that day, taught him this very fact.

Coming out from his own thoughts, Lucius took a deep breath.

'This time, it must be different,' he told himself.

Slowly opening his eyes, what filled it was not a firm determination nor the fiery passion that ought to fill one's eyes when they speak such lines.

Instead, what was present in his eyes was..... absolute indifference.

'Humanity must survive, only then can I continue with the later plans,' giving one last look at the crowd of students, Lucius turned around and started descending the mountain.

'As for how many of these weaklings survive or who amongst it?'

'Why do I care?' he finished with a soundless laugh.