Chapter 132: Writing the Ending I Desire for This Unfinished Fairy Tale
When Rast’s consciousness awakened once more, what entered his sight was the pitch-black ceiling of the Arcane Tower.
And also, occupying most of his field of vision—was a fluffy, snow-white butt.
“You’re awake!”
“The operation was a great success. You are now a…”
The Dean Silver leaned her little head in, peering curiously at the newly awakened Rast.
However, right after that, she felt as though a large hand had seized the scruff of her fate.
The next moment, the Dean Silver’s body was lifted into the air.
“I say, Tingting.”
“Are students these days all so disrespectful to their elders, so quick to rebel?”
The Dean Silver struggled with all her might in mid-air, trying to break free from the grip of the demonic claw.
Yet on the other side—
Rast’s movements were as cold and firm as steel.
He held the furry little snow ferret in the air, his gaze remaining calm and unwavering.
“In the Nightworld, especially when I made contact with that Queen of the Underworld, my intuition… faintly sensed a feeling of being watched.”
“That must have been some scheme cooked up by you all, right, Dean Silver?”
Though phrased as a question,
Rast’s tone didn’t sound like he was asking—rather, it carried the weight of unwavering certainty.
“Hehehe, Rast, you’re joking of course.”
The Dean Silver gave a few dry laughs, and even her struggling weakened considerably.
She blinked her ruby-like beast eyes flatteringly, while her fluffy tail affectionately curled around Rast’s arm: “At Starfall University, we’ve always respected student privacy above all else—how could we possibly do such a thing as spying?”
“This must be a misunderstanding.”
As she tried to win Rast over with cuteness,
The Dean Silver was simultaneously ranting furiously in her heart at a certain little princess who had bolted and left her to deal with Rast alone.
Back when dealing with those high-ranking nobles in the imperial capital, she never once flinched.
At such a young age, she always acted far older than she appeared.
But the moment she found out her brother-in-law was emerging, she chickened out completely and fled on the spot?
Classic case of being fierce in foreign battles but hopeless in domestic ones, huh?
Leaving me alone to face the interrogation of this demon king—Little Tina’s sister really had high hopes for me…
Is it possible that I’m just a snow ferret after all?
Weak, pitiful, helpless—but with a big appetite.
Thinking thus, the Dean Silver looked at Rast with tearful eyes.
You have to believe me—how could a little snow ferret harbor any evil intent?
However, on the other side, Rast clearly wasn’t fooled by the Dean Silver’s act.
“That sensation of being watched from beyond persisted for a very long time… but neither Chief Sisel nor the legendary Gravekeeper, Noah, were aware of it.”
“If even I could sense it, there’s no way those two true legends wouldn’t have noticed as well.”
“The only explanation is that the Nightworld itself enacted protective measures to prevent them from realizing that ‘someone outside the world barrier was observing them,’ which would otherwise cause the foundational logic of the Nightworld to collapse.”
Rast slowly spoke as he stared at the Dean Silver, who was feigning ignorance with a face full of innocence, hoping to pass off everything with cuteness.
Just like when he and Shiltina first met at Deep Blue Port, and she explained to him the rules of the Nightworld—
Information about the Nightworld and the Historical Remnants could only be passed between Night Travelers, and if one were to reveal such information to historical projection figures within the Nightworld…
Not only would the leaking Night Traveler be punished by the Nightworld’s rules, but the information would also be automatically censored and muted in the ears of those projections, making it impossible to truly convey anything.
This was the most fundamental logic of the Nightworld, and also the only explanation as to why legends like Sisel and Noah failed to notice the transmission crystal.
Most concealment techniques in the real world clearly wouldn’t be able to deceive two true legends…
The only thing capable of interfering with legendary beings—was the rules of the Nightworld itself.
“So, the whole thing with Akxia—was your doing as well, wasn’t it, Dean Silver?”
“You used some kind of extraordinary artifact that allowed Akxia to bypass the restriction of ‘being unable to enter Historical Remnants in teams,’ so she could enter the same Remnant as me.”
“Moreover, you had her carry some kind of device capable of transmitting data across the world barrier between the Nightworld and the real world, enabling real-time image transmission—or rather, surveillance… To put it plainly, she was carrying a camera.”
Rast’s tone softened slightly.
“However, you also didn’t anticipate that something unexpected would happen in this Historical Remnant due to the rules of the Nightworld.”
“Because of those Nightworld rules, Akxia temporarily lost her memories as a Night Traveler, and believed herself to be the Queen of the Underworld within the Nightworld.”
“Even so, that image-transmitting device remained functional, allowing you all to watch a full livestream of Akxia’s time within the Nightworld.”
“Which, of course, included the entire period where she and I were together…”
He gently stroked the Dean Silver’s snow-white fur—his motion soft, yet it sent a chill down the ferret’s spine.
“Did I guess right, Dean Silver?”
“Wait, wait.”
“Let me defend myself—no, I mean, let me explain…”
Feeling the gentle caress on her back,
And gazing into the pair of pitch-black eyes before her—eyes like deep pools that devoured all light—the Dean Silver, caught by the scruff of the neck, even began to stammer a little.
Although the latter parts of the livestream were never seen by Ophelia or the Dean Silver, because the transmission crystal had been destroyed by that bearded old man from the Sun Sequence,
The Dean Silver, relying on her instincts granted by the Moon Sequence long-step, vaguely sensed a premonition…
The current Rast seemed a little different from the one who had first entered the Historical Remnant.
Even though he appeared unchanged on the outside, still wearing that perfectly fitting, gentle mask of a gentleman—
This current Rast undeniably carried a stronger sense of “being human.”
If it had been the old Rast, he probably wouldn’t have dwelled on any of this with the Dean Silver.
He would’ve directly asked for compensation or benefits.
But now, he was clearly using this method to vent his frustration at having been manipulated.
And just as that thought arose in the Dean Silver’s mind—
In the next moment, she heard Rast’s calm voice once again whisper by her ear: “And… that’s not all.”
“No matter whether it’s that kind of technology that allowed Akxia and me to enter the same Nightworld, or the livestream device capable of crossing the world barrier between the Nightworld and the real world to transmit imagery from within the Historical Remnant in real time…”
“These are epoch-making technological creations, enough to rewrite the understanding of Night Travelers and reshape the strategy model for the Nightworld—things that the Institute of Relics has never developed before.”
“For something of this scale… with your shut-in, lazy personality, Dean Silver, even if you were given a thousand years, you’d never be able to invent it.”
“Barbalossa is just a pure brute as well—though he holds the title of academy professor, he’s got absolutely nothing to do with inventing or crafting anything.”
“So—”
Rast’s gaze slowly shifted as he looked around the vast, silent Arcane Tower: “There must be another person involved.”
“Someone who has been assisting from the shadows—no, who has been orchestrating the entire process.”
His gaze finally returned to the little snow ferret in his hand: “So, Dean Silver.”
“Can you tell me… just who is the mastermind behind all of this?”
Dean Silver: …
The Arcane Tower had a year-round constant temperature thanks to climate control for long-term relic preservation, always warm like spring.
And yet, Dean Silver was drenched in cold sweat, her limbs icy as if in the midst of a scorching summer.
Now she was truly sweating buckets.
Though she had already mentally prepared herself the moment Ophelia fled, she never expected Rast’s pressure to be so overwhelming—far beyond what he imagined.
Did you train to be a detective in Deep Blue Port or something?
On one side, the step-by-step pressure from Demon King Rast, and on the other, the threat from little demon Ophelia before she ran…
After weighing his options, Dean Silver felt that Rast’s side was slightly easier to deal with.
At least in name, Rast was still a student of Starfall University.
He couldn’t possibly truly cross the line and go against the Headmaster of the Department of Magical Creatures, could he?
However, just as Dean Silver steeled herself, ready to resist to the bitter end and refuse to confess—
He suddenly saw Rast cast her another calm glance.
“I’ve said this much already, and yet you’re still resisting, Dean Silver.”
“So that must mean, the person who orchestrated everything from the shadows must have an extraordinary connection to you… someone very close, and maybe even someone you’re afraid of.”
“Only then would you be willing to keep such tight-lipped silence on her behalf…”
“So—”
Rast’s words paused slightly.
“It’s Princess Ophelia, isn’t it?”
“I’ve heard Shiltina mention her before, and I know that you seem quite afraid of her.”
“Also, according to the information I’ve gathered, the second imperial princess of the Granwell Kingdom, Ophelia… she’s apparently an extremely talented mechanist.”
“If she’s Shiltina’s half-sister… then it makes sense that she would want to collect information about me while avoiding direct contact.”
Dean Silver: …
She opened her mouth, wanting to argue a little more, only to find that she had nothing left to say.
Dean Silver finally understood—this was a hidden confrontation between Ophelia and Rast, ands he was just the unlucky snow ferret caught in the middle—
If this kept up, she’d be squashed into a snow ferret cookie.
“Say no more, I confess…”
“I confess to everything…”
Dean Silver listlessly waved her fluffy snow-white tail and directly surrendered.
So what if Ophelia the demon tormented her again?
She’d accept it.
…
“Anyway, that’s more or less the whole story.”
“If you still don’t believe me, that brute Barbalossa can testify for me.”
After finishing the final sentence, Dean Silver flopped down atop Rast’s head.
In the end, she chose to completely give up and confessed to everything.
Honestly, this kind of no-resistance, all-out surrender wasn’t bad at all.
As long as I admit I’m weak, I’m invincible.
Listening to Dean Silver’s explanation, a thoughtful gleam flashed through Rast’s eyes.
Although he had already suspected it, the identities of Queen Helen and Akxia were now thoroughly confirmed through the Dean Silver.
“By the way, you’re really ruthless… even though you already guessed the connection between that Queen of the Underworld and Little Akxia, you still stabbed her in the heart.”
“Rast, you bastard… do you have no concept of cherishing a beautiful woman?”
Dean Silver, sprawled atop Rast’s head, looked at him suspiciously: “You didn’t spend too long as a gigolo in Deep Blue Port, did you? Is that why your preferences got skewed, and now you’re not even into women anymore?”
“That was my only option in that situation.”
Rast shook his head: “The Death God’s Holy Grail inside Akxia’s body was far too conspicuous. Both the Shoreguards and the Gravekeepers had already set their sights on it as a must-have item.”
“If I didn’t extract that Holy Grail from her heart and remove her from the center of the storm, then her situation would’ve become even more dangerous than it already was.”
“When you put it like that… I suppose it makes sense.” Dean Silver nodded.
She had watched the whole livestream, so she naturally understood what happened afterward—the two legendary figures who appeared, and the chaos and schemes that unfolded around the land of the Underworld—she knew the root cause behind all of it.
A man of virtue cannot escape envy if he holds a treasure.
With her memory suppressed at the time, there was no way Akxia could have escaped the greed of two legendary beings.
She would most likely have faced a tragic end—both body and soul extinguished…
Life could not be regained once lost, and death within the Nightworld also meant the death of a Night Traveler in the real world.
Given the circumstances, Rast’s actions were undoubtedly the optimal solution.
“So what’s Little Akxia’s current situation?”
“She didn’t leave the Nightworld with you?”
Dean Silver glanced at the Epoch Tombstone, which had fallen silent again after Rast’s departure.
There was no sign of a second Night Traveler preparing to exit.
She knew very well—Rast’s backstab might have seemed shocking, but it wasn’t enough to kill a Death God Sequence extraordinary being who possessed the “Pale Body.”
She had assumed that once the Nightworld mission ended and the Historical Remnant concluded, Akxia would naturally be able to leave.
But now, it seemed she was still trapped inside the Nightworld.
“That’s because… that final Nightworld, that Historical Remnant, still hasn’t ended.”
Rast spoke: “My current condition is more like a save point in a game.”
“When I re-enter, the Historical Remnant will resume progression.”
He briefly explained to the Dean Silver the information he had gathered, and his own experience within the Historical Remnant this time.
Of course, Rast withheld most of the information about the Shoreguards and Canaan.
“The historical event—‘Civilization Epic.’”
“There’s actually a setting like that within a Historical Remnant?”
Hearing Rast’s account, Dean Silver couldn’t help but widen her beastly eyes in surprise.
She looked at Rast: “So, what do you plan to do next?”
Although he wanted to tell Rast about what had happened to Ingrid in the real world, Dean Silver also knew that Rast didn’t have the mental space to deal with that right now.
And as for Akxia, who now slept within the Abyss of the Underworld… only by clearing this Historical Remnant could she break free from the Nightworld and return to the real world.
“What I’m going to do next?”
Rast gazed at the pitch-black Epoch Tombstone at the center of the hall: “Naturally, I’ll devise the most comprehensive strategy, prepare the most powerful gear, collect the most effective countermeasures… and make all the preparations.”
“Then, this unfinished fairy tale…”
“I will write the ending I desire.”