His voice sounded again, this time almost in a tone of despair,
"Let me ask you something, and answer it to yourselves honestly, if a day were to come when a war is actually upon us, and you fight in it, with the best of your abilities and you are the only one who manages to survive, because you did not fight for the sake of whole humanity, you only fought for yourself, to ensure only you’re own survival, not for the collective good of humans as a race."
"And you survived as well, all alone, what would you think? How would you live in this world when you’re the only surviving human? Would you feel happy as you’re the only one who can live out of all the humans, would you be proud? Or would you be lost?"
Gareth continued, "You all knew this from before, Professor Regina had already explained to you all just how pathetically weak humanity is in reality, yet you all were still avoiding it. I know what some of you are thinking: if the situation is really that serious, why is there no sign of tension in any place of humanity? Why are the kings or various factions and family leaders not trying to increase the power of humanity as desperately as possible?"
"It’s because all the other races are too busy fending off against the demon empire, that’s why they have no time to pour their attention here, we are insignificant enough for them to simply ignore us. But the moment their attention turns towards us. We might as well be doomed."
As his ominous revelations sank into the ears of everyone, the entitled felt they were not, the commoners felt their dreams of wealth and riches vanish, the weak felt insignificant, and so did the strong, as a sense of hopelessness crept into everyone, even Lucien felt the weight on his shoulders increase tenfold.
This is the very reason why this was the one world that Axel did not want to be reborn into, humans were nothing but playthings in the eyes of the other races, they’re collective power is so weak compared to the other races as a whole, that its downright unsettling, and the words Gareth said unknowingly hit a sore spot in his mind.
He...hoped to... survive and live. He hoped to... thrive, and maybe one day..Be happy. But just as his examiner said, so what if he survived? so what if he lived and everyone else died, just like in the original story, would that be something he would be content with? would he be happy while surviving and letting humanity die, as it was supposed to? or would it haunt his consciousness one day? Would he not regret it?
Was simply fighting for himself the right choice? Even if he one day turned into a demon, would he not be a human at heart? So, is that something I can endure, letting my whole race die, while I tactfully save my own skin? He asked himself. Axel felt conflicted; he didn’t... know how to feel, to be honest. He wasn’t sure what his purpose was, what he was supposed to do, what he was supposed to be. He truly didn’t know.
At this moment, Gareth’s voice continued again, piercing through the despairing silence and deliberation of everyone,
"And why am I saying all this? To make you despair? To make you rise? To make you courageous? No, no, no. Nothing like that."
He added in a grim voice, "In this small game of fortress war, remember this when you’re attacking, even if you must die, you must not lose, because if you do, you are losing humanity. And when defending, remember this: defend as if you’re defending the human race, losing the fortress means you’re losing the human race."
Gareth raised his right hand high in the sky and said as if making a promise,
"So, Attack, as if you are attacking for humanity."
"Defend, as if you are defending humanity."
"Fight, for the sake of humanity."
"Live, for the sake of humanity."
"Die, for the sake of humanity."
"Rise, for the sake of humanity."
Each of the words echoed like a gargantuan thunderclap at the hearts of every single student alike, whether they were weak or strong, whether they were from a poor or rich family, whether they were royal, merchant, or noble, none of it mattered. A boundless determination rose in the hearts of every single Seeker, an unquenchable desire to fight with their all, for the human race.
Everyone, every single student, cheered thunderously and kept chanting to express their determination and enthusiasm,
Gareth nodded towards everyone with a smile, seeing that everyone was chanting the same; even Axel and Lucien felt their blood pumped with adrenaline; there was only one person who did not speak or join in the excitement of everyone. It was the Valkyrie. To her, this whole thing felt like a pathetic joke; she never wanted to be here, she never wanted to fight, she had no interest whatsoever in fighting for the sake of their so-called humanity.
But not like she had a choice in the first place. She was but a slave, and a slave can only obey the commands of their master obediently.
After the initial excitement of everyone died down, Axel could not help but think how ironic it was that, in the end, humanity would not be able to save itself, at least not with its own strength. It could only be saved by the two individuals, one of whom is not even human, and the other doesn’t have any interest in saving it. He unknowingly glanced towards Lucien and Sophia,
Lucien had the Gold dragon’s blood flowing through his veins, and, as for the valkyrie, from what he understood till now, she was a human, but perhaps a different kind of human. Something fundamentally and entirely different from the humans of this world. As such, the world Will does not categorize her the same way as the humans of Eldarion, and does not suppress her that heavily for being a foreign entity in simple terms.
At least, that is the initial hypothesis he had come up with. No one knows whether it’s true or false, he sighed.