>>5280697[EPILOGUE]
The Silverfish stand among the corpses and ashes, and they weep.
A victory has been achieved, but at far too great a cost. Their sworn brothers, who've betrayed them, lie dead within the swamps. Their human allies have lost much in their slaying of the Goblin warmongers. And above all, the memory of the Elder God's influence hangs over them- a herald of doom.
But life finds a way, and clings onto the edge of the abyss. Always.
Standing there forever and grieving will not do. Life must go on within the Library, and the survivors swear to live on for the sake of those who've lost their lives. Slowly, bit by bit, they reclaim what was once theirs. In their sweeping of the swamp village, they discover the artifact that the AAA had stolen from the Judge. By deciphering Da'quintin Robertson's research notes, encrypted in Ebonics, they discover its purpose and function. They hesitate to carry it out, for they've seen enough death and devastation for an eternity. But one more act of necessary violence needs to be carried out, to secure the future of the Library.
With a and a , they sweep the pen across the ancient contract and bring about Quinta's end, for she has been doomed by Marxism and lost her way. Paladin Brrzktktk'zzt kneels before the Hive Queen, the pen secure in his grip, and she relieves him of his oath of fealty towards her and the Silverfish. He has something Greater to work towards now. Shouldering his greatsword, a final gift from his people, he steps into the Emerald Temple and vanishes into a flash of light. Though the Gods are nowhere near as infallible as they first thought, perhaps one bug will be able to enact a change from within.
Life goes on. It always must. The Silverfish rebuild and spread out. Now that the greatest mortal threats have been dealt with, an unprecedented era of peace stretches out before them. They aid their Spartan allies in rebuilding and repairing their city, and then pull back to their own territories, wishing for nothing more than a trade relationship. Still heartbroken from the betrayal of the AAA, they permanently renounce their ever-present offer of lending them the surrogates, for they fear granting humanity such a boon ever again. The shell-less four-limbs will have to live and breed by their own power now. It will take a long, long time for the scars of this war to heal.
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