Aurora Execution

Part 7

Camus knew there would be no going back on this long road.

At this point, Glacier's attitude remained unwavering, much like him, even after he was forced to reveal to his pupil the unspeakable fact that he had never told anyone else before: "There is one more thing..."

Camus continued, taking a deep breath: "In fact, there were already many of them who want to encroach on the dominance of the Sanctuary, not just the one I saw last time, and... most of these people... have been vying to keep and sacrifice your mother, and they bid against each other to seeing her like an auction item since the perfect sacrifice would be a blonde with blue eyes, ideally virginal or with extremely beauty...." 

"what?"

Even though telling the ugly truth silenced Glacier for a long time without uttering a word, and probably shook his soul to a certain extent ,he still seems to have hope for humankind:

"But,can the strength of the Graude Group... be able to counterbalance them?"

"You are still as naive as a child.No matter how rich the old Graude was, he would not be a top member of the freemason, and every step he took would be like skating on thin ice," Camus groaned:

"Because he is just new money, he desperately needs a bargain to survive because a small mistake could occasionally make him the target of internal expropriation by higher-degree masons. You will, therefore, find it difficult to persuade me that a young girl using the Graude Group may be superior to members of the upper classes. If she is not Athena, she can only be a valuable surrogate, which the Graude company packages and supports. But this is also a horrifying fact if she is Athena; it indicates that money and power are available in exchange for God's protection."

"Nevertheless, I will always trust Athena in my gut with all her decisions. As you mentioned, it would be preferable if the Graudes were just new money because old money's property, connections, honor, and status are only valuable in inheritance, instead of the upstarts always having to burn their boats and find a new way out, so Athena will be able to gather resources more efficiently this way as the Graudes do not have these historical burdens, which are easier to destroy than maintain. In addition, I experienced the overwhelming power of her cosmos beyond words. For this reason, my friends, mother, and I never turned back. The only person who could understand what we stand for is someone who has experienced what we have!"

Camus had to make up his mind as soon as possible for the reason that Glacier did not change his mind at all and instead got more determined, even after he was aware of certain insider information.  

Whatever life you have known, one thing is for sure: you and your mother have sided with the Graudes, which implies that you either approve of or at least do not object to the capitalist idea of utilizing money to dominate everything. Then, you would be an enemy of me and the current Sanctuary.''

"No! Sir! I never want to be an enemy of yours, and I don't believe that money and power should ever be associated with justice; instead, we want to fight for Athena, the only true goddess. I also believe the bloodthirsty capital will become a tool for peace if it can used by righteous individuals. And suppose we are still at least 30 years away from the end of the next grand cycle as long as everything you told me earlier is correct, we shall do everything we can to give humanity additional buffer time and strive for another chance. Because..... even if Pandora's box is open, there is still 'hope' at the bottom.'  

"How do you know this 'hope' belongs to most people since it may only related to the few, at least those 100,000 who are left? What does it have to do with most of humanity anyway?"  

"I don't think that only a hundred thousand of these billions are worth living. A society without enough people is worthless. The planet will gradually be back on the right track and continue to go toward the direction of light as long as the goddess reclaims the power that was once hers."

"Alright. To demonstrate your goddess's power, let me first see how she saved your life. There is no reason why she can't keep you alive since you are already so devoted to her."  

Camus slowly joined his hands and lifted his arms. He would not think twice about turning against his nearest and dearest. What else could he not lose now due to his disappointment with the world and the fact that he's a class traitor determined to destroy himself?