SSS Class Mythic Beast Master

The roots trembled around Reinhard, their grip tightening slightly.

The voice spoke in confusion, uncertainty, and something approaching bewilderment. Why do you still believe in those pathetic people? Their constant struggle only allowed for more people to die and led to tragic ends. If they'd simply accepted peace, accepted rest, fewer would have suffered.

Reinhard closed his eyes, blocking out the pale interior and the roots binding him as he said. "Before I came to Eastern Hesod, I would also think that way..."

His mind recalled memories of his own experiences before arriving. The faces of those awaiting him in Nuevo City appeared. Klein's worried expression when Reinhard was leaving, Anasha's tears that she'd tried hiding, and Anna's small hand gripping his coat as he left.

"I thought that people who sacrifice themselves instead of running away and leaving their loved ones behind were pathetic and a disgrace." He continued. "How could they do that? They know others are waiting for them at home... And yet they still decide to stay instead of rushing back. Did they ever consider the consequences of those left behind? Did they ever consider how it would feel for them to live on without them?"

The memory shifted, showing young Dune standing before his parents' graves. The boy's face contorted with anger and grief, fists clenched so tight they trembled.

His voice echoed across the years. Did I mean so little to you? Couldn't you just have left and stayed with me?

That desperate question, wondering if duty mattered more than family, if he'd been abandoned rather than protected. The loneliness of growing up alone, questioning whether his parents had ever truly cared.

The roots paused in their tightening.

Some tendrils leaned closer around Reinhard's face, as if the entity controlling them was listening with something approaching genuine curiosity. The pressure eased slightly, not releasing but no longer actively restraining.

"But after coming here." Reinhard said, his voice growing stronger. "I heard the stories of those pathetic people."

He recalled walking through Naraku streets with Vlad as he spoke about the Seekers' founding. The first leader, Charlie, would venture into the forest repeatedly despite having no obligation and no family ties demanding it.

Just the belief that survivors existed and deserved rescue. And even after rescuing them, he would take their abuse with a smile, happy that they were safe.

Vlad's voice echoed in memory. "Charlie pushed himself beyond an Inquisitor's limits, constantly endangering himself. He'd return bleeding, exhausted, carrying people who couldn't walk. Some expeditions, he'd come back alone, having found only corpses. But he never stopped going back in."

The image shifted to Marie explaining Old Melo City, not the ruins, but the living settlement. Her eyes lit up as she described how everyone had helped each other.

Not from obligation but genuine care, love each other, and desire to understand each other. Old Melo City communities were formed through the shared struggle and mutual support of each other.

Marie's smile in that memory carried warmth. "There was no putting down each other, there was no mocking, or hate between them. If one person were in trouble, then they would all step up to help each other. It was like Mensis Town, where everyone was worried and took time to check on Ven… It was so beautiful and amazing to see."

"I saw their dedication." Reinhard continued, his eyes still closed but seeing clearly through memory.

The Golden Warrior appeared in his mind, that armored figure fighting despite having lost his limbs. Pulling himself forward with his torso, using momentum and determination to continue fighting Brunhilde even though he was no match against her.

The knight had been guarding the Star Jewel for over two hundred years. He was forgotten, left to rust in darkness against enemies that will never stop. And yet, he never abandoned his duty and mission.

Even as his soul faded over time, even as the body he used would break, and even as there was no sign of things changing. The Knight continued to persist with no complaints about his loneliness and no questioning whether the sacrifice mattered.

Just pure dedication to fulfill the mission he was given.

"And I lived through their memories." Reinhard finished quietly.

Dune's life flooded back, which he didn't just hear but experienced through the Star Jewel's power. The young man questioned his parents' sacrifice, unable to understand why they'd valued a monument over their son.

Dune held anger, resentment, and absolute conviction that they'd made the wrong choice.

Then the slow transformation as Dune grew.

Seeing people laugh in Melo City's streets because the Phantasm Beasts had been driven back. Watching children play without fear because warriors stood guard.

Understanding that his parents hadn't chosen the Memory Pillar over him.

They'd chosen to protect him by ensuring the symbol of their home survived.

Bargest's words echoed. "We can do something and change them, Dune. We can be better than those bastards who tried to screw us over."

And Dune's realization at the campfire. "No one ever said a Golden Age had to be the same. Then doesn't that mean I can find my own unique Golden Age and still feel the same way my parents felt?"

The memory of Dune standing atop the Memory Pillar, surrounded by his city's people, seeing them smile, laugh, and live without fear.

That moment when he'd understood completely what his parents had died protecting. Something they can be proud of, and something they can give their all to protect.

It wasn't just the pillar they protected, but also Dune.

Reinhard opened his eyes, light blue irises shining with conviction. "Through all of this, I realized they were amazing people. Ones that shined so bright they gave all who gazed upon them hope for a better tomorrow."

The roots trembled violently, the voice returning with something approaching desperation. But that light was snuffed out! It was proven to the others that it was fragile and could not truly protect them.

Reinhard smiled before shaking his head slowly despite the roots still binding him. "It wasn't snuffed out. It was simply passed to those it was used to protect."

What... The voice emerged smaller, uncertain in a way it hadn't been before.

"From the Forerunners who had fallen," Reinhard explained. "It was passed to the survivors who had to live without their mighty empire."

He saw it clearly now, the chain of inheritance stretching across centuries. Supreme Commander Dune and his generation falling, their bodies claimed by roots or consumed in final battles.

But before dying, their beliefs were passed on to the survivors whose lives were protected by them.

"And then from these survivors to the Seekers who took up the fight and continued trying to overcome you."

Vlad appeared in his mind, the last Ancestor standing alone, carrying the beliefs of nine dead friends.

Taking on their dreams, their wishes, and their unfinished business.

Fighting not for personal glory but to prove their sacrifices hadn't been meaningless.