Chapter 171: Apologies, Little Grey, I Couldn't Stay with You Until the End
There was no pillar of flame reaching into the sky, nor any raging storm.
For whether matter or energy, even the weightless light itself, had already been devoured by that void-like black hole, until the very end of dimensions.
Only in the depths of the sea, that dustless void, testified to the legendary battle that once took place by the Fractured Coastline.
Rast simply stood there, gazing toward the direction of the Lightless Sea, as that mysterious silver-white glimmer in his eyes gradually faded away.
He touched his chest, feeling the warmth of that sun-like flame gradually cooling within, until it completely extinguished.
It was the power Sisel had left in Rast's body to sustain the flickering fire of his life.
Now, with the extinguishing of this flame of the Sun, it naturally signified that the one who had given it had also passed, vanished forever.
In the Lightless Sea, at the place where Sisel had once existed, endless seawater rushed back under the force of the pressure difference, filling in that blank space.
The dim night fell once more, wiping away the final traces within the ocean, returning it to the silent Eternal Night.
Rast gently closed his eyes, etching the final image of that old man into his memory. He stood at the end of the Sky and Sea, as the vast Milky Way surged beside him.
Even at the end of his life, Sisel had still been transmitting intelligence and information to him... how to completely kill the legendary Gravekeepers.
Only after a long while did he open his eyes again, gazing into the pitch-black sea before him.
The old man's final words before his departure still seemed to echo in his ears.
"Looks like... I only have a little time left."
"So—"
"To bid her farewell... in person?"
The howling sea breeze swept across the Fractured Coastline, carrying away the boy’s final, broken words.
...
It was a boundless darkness, without stars or moon, and no distinction between front and back, left or right—no way to tell north, south, east, or west.
Grey’s consciousness was like a flickering bubble, rising and falling within this void sea.
Until one moment, the bubble burst.
In the next instant, Grey opened her eyes.
She looked around blankly; all around her was scattered rubble.
Not far away, waves crashed into the black reefs, breaking into white foam. The sounds of the tide and the wind blended together, like a small beast's whimper.
Gazing upon the rocky shore scenery before her, feeling the moist sea breeze brushing against her face... a trace of confusion flashed through Grey’s emerald eyes.
If there had been no error in the memories within her mind, or if they hadn’t been rewritten by some external force—
Then, just before this, she should have been in disguise, sneaking into the Royal City of Paradise, attempting to stop Brother Rast’s Divine Ascension Ceremony.
However, even after exhausting every trump card accumulated over the past three years of training, she still had lost... lost without suspense.
She had believed that after three years and more than one metamorphosis, she had finally caught up to Brother Rast’s footsteps.
But now, it seemed the chasm between herself and that boy had never been closed—in fact, it had only grown wider.
Be it the Higher-tier Fate Sequence or the Fool’s Library... everything she possessed, Brother Rast possessed as well—and wielded them even better than she could.
Whether in temperament, initiative, or experience and combat insight, she was far too far behind Brother Rast...
As far as the distance between heaven and earth.
Moreover... at the moment of her defeat, the words Brother Rast had spoken were clearly stating a cruel truth—
In the future, the name "Shoreguards" would be forgotten.
In other words, in the future that Brother Rast hailed from, the fate of the Shoreguards organization was already sealed: destined to vanish in the River of Time, leaving not even a name behind.
"So, after knowing everything, and losing everything..."
"You still do not... regret your choices and all your past convictions?"
That boy’s soul-piercing question still echoed in her ears, deafening.
Yet—
"But even so... Brother Rast."
"I still—"
"Yearn to become a Shoreguard."
The grey-haired girl's whisper of self-examination dispersed with the shattered breeze on the rocky shore, unheard by any.
Grey stood up and examined her body.
Aside from her clothes being slightly worn and covered in dust, her physical condition was even better than she had imagined, without a single serious injury remaining.
And whether in her body or her soul, Grey found no shackles or restraints binding her freedom.
This was a situation beyond Grey's understanding.
According to her last memory before falling unconscious, after being defeated by Brother Rast... she should have been shackled and chained, completely deprived of resistance.
Then, either as a meeting gift or an additional sacrifice for the Divine Ascension Ceremony, brought into the Gravekeepers organization—such would have been the reasonable outcome.
After all, both Brother Rast and the legendary Gravekeeper Noah had hinted more than once at the preciousness of her identity as the sole bearer of the "Fate" Sequence... a value of immense importance to the Gravekeepers.
Yet now, she was not bound by any restraints, but instead appeared inexplicably on this rocky coastline.
This confusion had just risen in the grey-haired girl's heart.
But in the next moment, her gaze froze.
By the occasional moonlight shining through the overcast clouds—
Grey saw, not far away, the black-haired boy resting quietly against a dark reef.
In Grey’s impression, Rast had always maintained a calm and inscrutable demeanor, no matter the time or place, one that no one could see through.
Just like in the battle that erupted during the Divine Ascension Ceremony not long ago... no matter what trump cards she played, Brother Rast always managed to counter them with ease.
That black-haired boy always gave Grey the feeling of a still deep pool—though it appeared clear, no light could illuminate its depths, where only pure darkness remained.
His composure never wavered from external forces, whether facing legendary powerhouses like Sisel and Noah, or even a true god.
But now, under that fleeting moonlight breaking through the clouds, Grey clearly saw the boy’s broken body covered in wounds, and his pale, bloodless face lying on the rocky shore.
A sorrow and grief beyond words surged from Grey’s heart.
Even Grey herself could not fully grasp the origin of the intense emotion in her heart.
But driven by that overwhelming sorrow, Grey could no longer care about anything else.
She hurried across the rocky beach, allowing the jagged stones to cut her delicate skin, leaving bleeding wounds without the slightest concern.
And when Grey finally reached Rast’s side and saw his face clearly—
That sorrow and grief surged violently, like a collapsing mountain blotting out the sky, enveloping her entire soul.
The boy’s originally black windbreaker was now completely soaked in blood. His body was riddled with countless puncture and tear wounds, each of which pierced through flesh and crushed his internal organs.
Rather than calling it a body riddled with severe injuries, it was more accurate to say that Rast’s body had long since shattered like a porcelain vase falling from a great height—its fragments crudely glued together by some external force, barely maintaining the most basic form, and nothing more.
"Brother Rast..."
The girl's wail, mingled with the sea wind, was so distorted even she could barely recognize it.
Clearly, judging from past events, she and Brother Rast should still be in a state of hostility. One belonged to the Shoreguards, the other to the traitors—they were supposed to be locked in a life-or-death struggle.
But at this moment, Grey could no longer care about any of that.
She swiftly bent down, emerald eyes shining with radiant brilliance.
In that instant, twisted time coiled around Grey’s fingertips.
The power of "Fate" was mobilized without reservation, and then directed at the boy before her.
"Time Rewind."
Even with such grave injuries, as long as she used the power of fate to rewind Rast’s body... to the moment before he was injured, then Brother Rast would no longer be on the brink of death, but fully restored to his peak state.
That should have been... how it went.
The surging flow of time became a mighty river, churning around Rast’s body in raging waves.
But the boy stood like a reef, unmoved by the crashing tide.
The power of fate that had always worked flawlessly under Grey’s command passed over Rast like a blade that could never cut a shadow.
Time roared, fate surged.
Yet that broken human form showed no sign of recovery.
In fact, the sight of Rast’s bloodstained windbreaker, his pale, lifeless skin, carried an indescribable sense of unreality in Grey’s eyes.
As if he were a moonflower reflected on water.
Clearly visible, yet ethereal and illusory, easily shattered by the faintest ripple.
"Don’t waste your strength, Grey."
"My body’s condition is a bit special. As the master of the Fool’s Library... time and fate-type abilities have no effect on me."
On the reef, Rast barely opened his eyes. Seeing his own broken, ruined body, he gave a bitter smile.
"Come to think of it, what a pathetic sight."
"I’ve utterly collapsed the persona I spent all these years carefully crafting before you... I probably no longer seem so mysterious and all-knowing in your eyes now, do I?"
"But... this feeling isn’t bad."
As if to conserve his last bit of strength, the boy gently closed his eyes.
His faint whisper drifted away with the sea breeze.
"After all, always wearing a false mask of personality, always maintaining the perfect and proper demeanor in front of others... that’s really exhausting."
"Being able to occasionally take off all pretenses and defenses like this, to show my true self without hiding, and to live in this world..."
"Kind of feels like I’ve returned to Canaan."
Rast could feel his presence rapidly fading, being stripped from this world in a way that could not be undone, drawn toward the proper point in time.
As a Night Traveler, whether this place was a projected replica constructed by the Nightworld or actual history, Rast was always an intruder who did not belong in this era.
This Echo of History had long since ended, and he should have already exited the Nightworld and returned to the Present World... It was only because of that old man forcibly interrupting the process that he had stayed past the limit in this world.
And now, with the extinguishing of the flame of the Sun, the previously interrupted exit process would naturally resume.
"Sorry, Little Grey."
"Looks like I won’t be able to stay with you until the end."
"The road ahead... you’ll have to walk it alone from here on."
Rast’s words were calm.
This was already the end of the journey.
There was no tomorrow, no more from this day forward.
Even if this was not a projected replica but actual history, and Rast could return to the Sixth Era again through the Echo of History... no one could predict the cycle or pattern of the Echo of History's appearance, let alone determine when Rast and Grey would meet again.
Perhaps decades, perhaps centuries.
Or perhaps this farewell was truly one of life and death, with the world changing beyond recognition.
So, in this final moment, Rast shed all his disguises.
His words no longer carried the depth and mystery of the past, but instead held a gentleness Grey had never heard before.
Pa-da—
Pa-da—
Warm liquid fell upon Rast’s face, the sound of the wind laced with a sobbing whimper.
"Is it tears... or blood?"
Rast did not open his eyes, only raised a hand to touch his cheek.
"Either way, saying it out loud feels a bit embarrassing. You're the new generation of Shoreguard, destined to become a role model and pillar for many... no longer the little girl who could rush into her elders’ arms and cry."
"Cowardice and weakness can only be whispered in places where no one can see. Before outsiders, you must always maintain a confident and dignified appearance."
"Little Grey, you are the symbol of hope. If the symbol of hope were to collapse, who knows how many people would panic and descend into the abyss of despair."
"So—"
His voice paused slightly, as he wiped away the still-wet trail of tears: "I’d rather think of this as rain."
"A warm rain."