Meanwhile, in the haven, Roberta stood beside Alex's tent.

Earlier, she sensed an abnormality in Alex's evolution, drawing upon the laws of fate and divinity.

"What would you choose, girl? To be a puppet to a cause from a forgotten era? Or be a reincarnated god? Or would you create a pleasant surprise?" Roberta muttered, intrigued, her marble eye gazing at the scene inside Alex's soulscape. "Don't disappoint me..."

.

.

.

[Become an Ancient Goblin! Restore the glory of your race!] One voice sounded.

[Become a Dark Goblin! Fulfill your destiny!] Another tried to persuade.

[Ancient Goblin!]

[Dark Goblin!]

[Ancient Goblin!]

[Dark Goblin!]

[Ancient Goblin!]

[Dark Goblin!]

"Oh, shut the fuck up! Both of you! Goblin this, Goblin that. Goblin Blabla. You are giving me a damn headache!" Alex shouted, covering her aching head.

[...]

[...]

The two voices went silent at her request.

After a few minutes, Alex finally calmed down and looked around. Indeed, there was nothing other than these two orbs, the floor, and an infinite span of darkness.

"Can I choose neither of you? I want to be a Tinkerer Goblin or even a Wild Goblin." Alex said, feeling indignant.

[Impossible. We both destroyed them to reconstruct your heritage.] The righteous voice sounded.

[For once, I agree with the bigots. Those paths were inferior mockeries.] The scholarly voice added.

"... So, that means I am stuck with you?" Alex narrowed her eyes. "Because you destroyed everything else?"

[Yes.]

[Yes.]

The two answered in sync.

"... Fucking unbelievable." Alex facepalmed.

[...] 

[...]

The two voices remained quiet, letting Alex process the information.

"Sss... Hah... Okay. I made up my mind." Alex said.

[Yes?] The two voices asked expectantly.

"I choose to... Not give a fuck about you." Alex said, giving them both the middle finger and walking to the platform's edge, wanting to jump off. However...

Ting*

A soft voice sounded. Alex bumped her forehead into an invisible barrier.

"What the hell?!" Alex cursed.

[It is pointless. This is your soulscape. You must choose something to proceed.] The righteous voice sounded.

[Until you choose, you will be stuck here... until your body dies.] The scholarly voice added.

Alex's expression fell. "You are forcing me!"

[We don't want to... It is just how it is.] The righteous voice helplessly said. 

[We prefer not to resort to such things, but it is the only way.] The scholarly voice also had a bitter tinge in his voice.

"..." Alex's anger continued piling up.

"I don't want this... I refuse to accept this...!" Alex shook, filled with rage.

And then, a eureka moment appeared in her mind.

"You two said you needed to break the previous evolutions... Right?" Alex asked.

[Yes.]

[Correct.]

"... Fine," Alex walked to the Ancient Goblin sphere.

[Good choice, young lady! You will become the ultimate champion of our race! Remembered for an eternity!] The righteous voice said in jubilation.

[No... No! They will erase you!] The scholarly voice yelled.

Alex ignored them and stood in front of the Ancient Goblin sphere.

[Smart girl... Now claim your heritage.] The righteous voice said.

Alex slowly raised her hand with an open palm. But the two voices, and even Roberta, didn't anticipate her subsequent action.

"You want to make me choose, hah..." Alex muttered, anger burning in her eyes, and her hand clenched. "Fine. Then I choose MY WAY!" She then pulled back her hand, ready for a punch.

[W-Wait... What are you—]

Woosh* Ting*

Alex punched the sphere with all her might! The result... Nothing. Her fist was blocked.

[You can't harm us, girl. It is impossible.] The righteous voice calmly said.

[He is right. You lack the means to do so.] The scholarly voice added. [Accept your fate and choose one of us... Or die from starvation.]

"..." Alex went silent and then raised her fist again.

Woosh* Ting*

And again.

Woosh* Ting*

And again.

Woosh* Ting*

And again...

Woosh* Ting*

[No matter how you repeat this action, it is a pointless tantrum.] The righteous voice said, unconcerned.

Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting* Woosh* Ting*....

.

.

.

Drip*

At some point, Alex's eyes started to tear up. She didn't want this. She didn't want any of this nonsense.

"... Is this my end? Is it my fate to be stuck here and die? After all my dreams and expectations, crushed by some old frogies? I refuse... I don't want to be some puppet or become a god's vessel or whatever... I want to be me... I want to be free..." She thought and cried. "Alex Woodworks lost her Village... Runt was abandoned... And I am alone here... Somebody... Help..."

The two voices didn't speak, letting her accept her reality.

However, just then...

Tap* Tap*

Alex felt two hands placed on her shoulders.

Looking to her right, she saw the Human Alex. "We are here with you." Human Alex smiled.

Looking to her left, she saw Runt, the owner of the body. "We will stand by your side, always." Runt smiled.

"And you are not alone!" They spoke in unison.

They turned her around, and she saw Cornelia, Tenta, Sierra, Daylily, and Roberta. They silently waved at her, showing their support.

"Uuuu..." Alex shook.

[Hm? She finally stopped? What is she looking at?] The scholarly voice asked.

[Did the stress cause her to hallucinate? Poor thing...] The righteous voice added.

{She is indeed hallucinating.} An aged voice sounded to the two remnants, startling them. {But sometimes, hallucinations hold the ability to tap into a mortal soul's full potential... You will pay the price for your hubris, hehehe...} The aged voice menacingly chuckled.

[Who are you, upstart?!] The scholarly voice demanded.

[Peeping on us is rude.] The righteous voice said in contempt.

{It doesn't matter... Since you are both done for.} Roberta declared.

Just then, a fluctuation appeared around Alex.

In her imagination, the figures of everyone became beams of light that came to her hand, and then what appeared was the thing she loved the most... Her smithing hammer. It shined with a mixture of gold, black, and all sorts of colors mixed in.

"I WILL FORGE MY FATE!!!" Alex declared, raising her hammer high.

[A-A soul weapon?! Such a weak mortal condensed a SOUL WEAPON?!] For the first time, the scholar sounded horrified.

[It isn't just that... She condensed all her talent, luck, the curse, and even fate into it... Sacrificing her everything into making it... It is beautiful...] In contrast, the righteous voice was impressed and awed at the marvel before it. [We are convinced. Our epoch is over. Forge a new dawn for yourself... You earned it, our successor.]

"RAH!!!" Alex swung her hammer down onto the orb.

The previous indestructible orb cracked like an egg, shattering into pieces. The pieces turned into particles that aimlessly floated around.

"Hah... Hah..." She panted and looked toward the other orb. And then she started walking.

[W-Wait... If you do this, you won't be able to evolve...] The scholarly voice tried to reason with her, terrified.

"..." Alex didn't stop, silently walking over a step at a time.

[You can't do this! I am Dazgolis! A god! You are just a puny little mortal! I am your creator! You should be worshipping me! A tool for my resurrection! You ungrateful wretch!] The scholarly voice said in fear and anger, slowly revealing his true colors.

"Thank you for creating me... Now FUCKING DIE!" Alex roared and smashed her hammer down, shattering the other orb.

All that was left were two pedestals and floating light particles, the remnants of the orbs.

However, as the scholarly voice said, no new orbs appeared. She was stuck here... Forever.

"... Is this it? Is this my end?" Alex muttered. However, she then looked at the hammer in her hand. "No... I won't give up until the end..."

She then looked toward the light spots as a wild idea sprouted.

"Since you broke my evolutions to recreate your races... why can't I do the same?"

With that, she picked the light spots of the Dark Goblin orb and brought them to the shattered Ancient Goblin orb, then used the pedestal as a makeshift anvil.

"Now... let's get to work..." A genuine smile emerged on Alex's lips as she began hammering away, doing what she liked the most.

Inside Alex's sounlscape, a miracle was happening as the creation of a new race started.

.

.

.

Outside, Roberta smirked and stopped looking.

"And so, a REAL protagonist is born. Oh, this will be fun... Hehehe..." Roberta chuckled.