Mara's feelings wouldn't disappear just because they had talked about them. Yoko, for all her confidence, was still walking on uncertain ground in a place full of people who had been fighting alongside Goro long before she arrived.
He needed to keep an eye on both of them.
For now, though, he had more pressing matters.
As he stepped out of the command room, Riggs was already waiting for him in the hall, arms crossed.
"Handled it?" the older man asked, raising an eyebrow.
"For now,"
Riggs grunted.
Goro stood at the edge of the balcony, overlooking the heart of the capital. From here, he could see the city was more than just a refuge now.
But amidst all that progress, something else had taken root. Something dangerous.
Across the city, newly built temples and shrines gleamed under the artificial lights. Massive banners hung from the buildings, displaying symbols of ascending spirals, each one proclaiming the same message:
Spiral Power is Divine. Humanity is Chosen. The Strong Must Lead.
He had first heard whispers of them when he arrived. The Spiral Ascendancy, a newly formed faction that had embedded itself deep within the capital's growing society.
What had started as a small movement, a mere philosophy among those studying Spiral Power, had transformed into something far more fanatic.
A religious order. A cult.
"They Worship You, You Know."
"They see you as a god," Riggs muttered beside him, his arms crossed as he too gazed out over the city. "Or at least, the closest thing to one."
'What the hell!?'
all he could think about was how crazy this was.
He never wanted this. He just wanted to pilot mechas, fight cool battles, and live the dream. Instead, he had somehow become the leader of humanity and now even a damn prophet to some.
People actually thought Spiral Power was some kind of divine blessing. A holy gift that made humans superior to all others. That made him superior.
If they knew the truth, that Goro was just some guy from another world who lucked into this, they wouldn't be kneeling at his feet.
He was supposed to be out there, piloting Lagann, drilling through enemies, not sitting on a throne while people worshiped the ground he walked on.
"They're calling themselves the Spiral Ascendancy," Riggs continued. "They believe Spiral Power isn't just energy. it's divinity. A force that makes us superior."
"Superior to what?"
Riggs shot him a knowing look. "Take a guess."
His gaze drifted toward the streets below, where clusters of people had gathered before one of the Spiral Ascendancy's shrines. A robed figure stood before them, his voice amplified by a crude speaker system.
"We are the children of the Spiral! We are destined to ascend! The stagnant ones, the unnatural creatures, hold us back! The day will come when we will claim what is rightfully ours!"
The crowd roared in agreement.
Goro's grip tightened on the railing. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they were referring to.
"Their doctrine's simple," Riggs went on. "Humans are the only ones capable of evolving. Spiral Power is proof of that. Beastmen? They don't have it. Which means they're… defective."
Goro closed his eyes.
He had spent years fighting the Beastmen, watching them terrorize humanity, hunting them like animals. But he had also seen their suffering, their confusion as they struggled to exist in a world they barely understood. Not all of them had been monsters. Some had simply been lost.
And now, the cycle is repeating. just in reverse.
"Are they armed?" Goro asked.
"Not yet, but they're gaining influence fast. Even some of my own men are starting to listen. They're not causing trouble now, but…" He hesitated. "We both know where this leads."
Yeah. Goro knew. He had seen it before, in a thousand stories. Blind faith turned into hatred
"What can we do about this?" Riggs asked
What could they do? He had fought wars, crushed enemies with Lagann, drilled through impossible odds. But this? This was different. This wasn't a battle where he could just throw a punch and be done with it.
"If we crack down on them, we make them martyrs," Goro muttered. "If we ignore them, they grow stronger."
Riggs sighed, rubbing the scar along his jaw. "They're recruiting from our own ranks. Soldiers, civilians. Hell, even politicians." He shook his head. "We're losing people to this thing, Goro."
He could already see how this would play out. The Ascendancy would push further. The rhetoric would grow bolder. The city would start to split, those who believed in their message, and those who didn't.
And then?
Then the real fighting would start.
Goro turned to Riggs, eyes sharp. "...honestly i don't know"
"Huh?"
Riggs blinked, caught off guard by Goro's blunt admission. "What do you mean you don't know?"
Goro exhaled, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean exactly that. I've punched my way through just about every problem up until now, Riggs. Beastmen? Enemy generals? That, I can handle. But this? A faction forming under my nose, twisting Spiral Power into some kind of holy doctrine?" He shook his head. "I didn't sign up for this."
Riggs looked at him. "And yet, here you are."
"Yeah," Goro muttered. "Here I am."
He turned back toward the city, watching as flickering green torches illuminated the streets below. The Ascendancy's banners stretched high, their spiral insignia painted across buildings, posters, and even on people's clothing.
"I just wanted to pilot mechs, Riggs. I didn't want to be a symbol."
Riggs was quiet for a long moment before he spoke. "Symbols don't get to choose what they stand for, Goro. People do that for them."
Goro scoffed. "Great. So now I'm just an unwilling god to a bunch of fanatics?"
"Seems that way."
Goro groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Perfect."
"But you're not just some symbol, Goro. You're a leader. And leaders don't get the luxury of not knowing."
He hated that Riggs was right. He might not have wanted this, but ignoring it wouldn't make it go away. The Ascendancy wasn't an enemy he could just punch into submission.
He sighed. "Then I guess it's time to start figuring it out–"
"Listen up, you rowdy lot! We are humanity! The real deal! The ones who clawed our way out of the dirt, who took back the surface, who proved that nothing, not beastmen, not the Spiral King, not even the laws of the damn universe can hold us down!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, fists pumping in the air. Green torches blazed like miniature suns, their eerie glow reflecting off Kamina's wild grin.
"And do you know why?!" Kamina shouted, pointing a finger at them. "Because we've got Spiral Power! The power that burns inside us! The power to drill through fate itself! And now, for the first time, we're not just surviving, we're thriving! We're building a world where humans are the ones in charge! No more hiding! No more running! No more sharing our victories with those filthy beastmen!"
The moment the words left Kamina's mouth, Goro's stomach dropped.
"Oh, hell no," he muttered under his breath.
Riggs let out a long sigh. "Yeah… they got Kamina too."
Kamina threw an arm around one of the Ascendancy leaders, laughing. "These fine folks get it! They know that the future belongs to us! And who better to lead that future than the guy who dug himself out of the underground and took the world by storm?!"
Goro had heard enough.
He stepped forward, cupping his hands around his mouth. "OI! KAMINA!"
The crowd quieted slightly as Kamina froze mid-sentence. Slowly, he turned, blinking in surprise before breaking into a wide, toothy grin.
"Goro! You finally made it! What took you so long, huh?"
"What the hell are you doing?"
Kamina tilted his head. "What's it look like? I'm making sure humanity takes its rightful place at the top! Just like we always said we would!"
Goro's fists clenched. "Not like this, man. Not like this."
This problem just became a thousand times worse.