My consciousness, which had been hazily floating, slowly surfaced.
I was dreaming of a man. No, perhaps the man was dreaming of me.
As the fog cleared, an unfamiliar landscape etched into my cleared vision. Following that, stimulating my five senses was the clanking sound of armor joints clashing.
It was a desert.
Before I knew it, my body was traversing a barren wasteland. The scent of metal and oil piercing my nose, and a place where a steel tower rose to an unknowable height.
My indifferent gaze subtly turned toward the tower’s summit.
There, a pure white orb was floating. The source of endlessly flowing electricity, and a device that was the essence of magical engineering, causing cracks in the empty void.
‘Humanity’s last hope.’
That was what the orb of light was called. Though it was merely a name given by the defeated who had built high walls and isolated themselves.
It was a sound that didn’t even elicit a hollow laugh.
However, on the other hand, I could understand that sentiment. After all, even I couldn’t completely abandon a shred of expectation for that orb.
The fact that I had deliberately come here today was proof of that.
It was around the time I turned my gaze back to the front.
“……You’ve…