Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

If humanity had not created these substitute lives, if it weren’t for humanity’s own folly and arrogance summoning the Evil God, this world would never have fallen to such a state. To simply blame it all on them—that is something Malin cannot do.

If they must truly be eradicated, Malin would not hesitate or feel regret over the slaughter of so many lives. But Malin would make this decision based on the right to survival, using the aphorism "One cannot allow others to snore beside one’s bed" as a guiding principle for their Fate, rather than hypocritically claiming it was their actions that dragged human civilization into the abyss, and then using such a baseless reason to justify their cleansing.

Because to act this way is to insult humanity itself. We humans do not need such hypocrisy.

"...But if you help them, this land will no longer belong to humanity. They will eventually take this place as their capital; they will also build a civilization; they will also have nations; they will also ignite the flames of civilization." The Goddess of Fate, who appeared as a young girl, looked at Malin and said, "You always prioritize humanity. Don’t you find that troubling?"

Malin laughed. After laughing enough, he pointed out the window and said to the goddess, "Before humanity became the master of this planet, do you truly believe this planet had no master? Scientists say the universe formed 4.6 billion years ago, but who can discern what’s true or false? We humans are merely the so-called masters of this planet beneath our feet. There were masters before us, and there will be masters after us. What I aim to do is ensure that the flames of civilization are not extinguished by Chaos. To me, they are worthy lives to unite with. My goddess, if we are fortunate enough to banish Chaos completely from our world, then if war between humanity and them arises again, I will help the side of justice without hesitation."

The goddess fell silent for a while. She gazed at everything outside the window and eventually smiled.

"Is your justice really so important to you?"

"Of course, it’s extremely important." Malin nodded and, staring out the window, chose to answer her directly without hesitation.

"Important enough for you to betray your identity?" The Goddess of Fate looked at Malin and asked.