Chapter 211: That Place Belonging to You—Where Is It, Little Grey?
"Let me… become an angel myself?"
Emis’s weak voice paused momentarily.
Right after, the light flickering within her sky-blue eyes dimmed once again.
Emis had already lived in the Sixth Era for nearly a year. And during this time, Grey had never hidden from her any truths about the world of Transcendents.
Thus, at this moment, she understood clearly—what the term "Angel" truly meant in the realm of Transcendents.
It was the ultimate peak currently known to humanity, the end of the Higher Sequence Tiers.
For an ordinary Transcendent, just reaching the Legendary Realm was already an impassable chasm… countless geniuses, gifted beyond compare, would spend entire centuries, even lifetimes, without ever truly stepping into the realm of legends.
Let alone, the realm beyond that—“Angel.”
That was a domain belonging to historical legends, the territory of Mythic Beings spoken of in epic sagas.
In all of human history, only a few vague and unconfirmed cases had ever been speculated by later generations to have reached the Angel realm.
And in the Sixth Era, the only angel walking among the living… was the woman standing before Emis—Grey of the Shoreguards.
But even this leader of civilization had only reached the Angel realm after ascending to the Throne of Legends, and then spending over a hundred years more to break free from the shackles of legend…
Let alone someone like Emis, barely past ten years old.
Before being swept into this world by Temporal Collapse, she had merely been an ordinary girl living in a Border Town… never involved in anything supernatural, not even aware of concepts like “Higher Sequence Tiers.”
Not to mention, Emis’s life was already nearing its end.
In the few remaining moments of life she had left, turning from an ordinary person with no foundation into an Angel… to Emis, this sounded no different than a fantasy tale.
"It’s not entirely impossible."
Grey opened her mouth and explained.
"The Eighth Tier is also called the Domain of Gods. Every Angel can be called a true Mythic Being."
"And to become an Angel, one must master the rules and authority of their own Higher Sequence Tier—this is what we call the ‘Cup of the Stars,’ the ‘Divine Authority’... a transformation from a player abiding by the game’s rules into an administrator who controls the game."
"But the rules corresponding to each Higher Sequence Tier—and the authorities that match them—are limited. For this reason, each Higher Sequence Tier can only give birth to a single Angel."
"So in a sense, calling these Angels who have mastered their Sequence’s rules and become administrators… ‘Gods’ of their Sequence, isn’t really inaccurate."
"Of course, conversely—"
"If an ordinary person were, by various means and a stroke of luck, to seize an unclaimed and lost ‘Cup of the Stars,’ that is, a piece of Divine Authority… then even if that person has no power to tie a chicken, they would still possess the key to step into the Divine Domain—the qualification to become an Angel."
As she said this, the emerald shine in Grey’s green eyes flickered with a distant look of reminiscence.
She couldn’t help but recall over two hundred years ago, back when she hadn’t yet become the civilization leader who presided over “The Fool’s Library,” and had merely been an ordinary Shoreguard…
Wandering among the crowds of the Royal City of Paradise, gazing upward during the Sacred Rite at that black-haired boy.
Back then, Brother Rast had already collected the Death God’s Star Cup—he held all the Divine Authorities of the “Death God” Higher Sequence Tier… As long as he completed the final step of the Divine Ascension Ceremony, he could have become the new Death God.
Though the power gained from that would only be the qualification for godhood, and true divine might would still require long years of accumulation and cultivation—yet even that qualification was the life’s pursuit of countless Transcendents, and meant a smooth path toward the Divine Domain.
But in the end, Brother Rast chose betrayal during the Divine Ascension Ceremony.
He returned the Death God’s Cup of the Stars to Akxia… abandoning that gift of fate—“becoming the new Death God.” He also declined the Gravekeepers’ invitation, and turned down the opportunity for Eternal Immortality.
All for that ideal called “Shoreguards.”
Grey’s pupils shifted slightly, drawing her thoughts back from that distant memory to the present.
"And those keys to godhood—the ‘Cups of the Stars’—most were taken away to the Threshold of Seraphim by the defeated and exiled Old Gods at the end of the Age of Gods."
"However, a few Cups were lost during the Mythic War at the end of the First Era… and disappeared without a trace, scattered in some unknown corner of the world, becoming unclaimed authorities."
"The Death God’s Cup of the Stars had been in such a state—though it now has a new owner… aside from the Death God’s Cup, there are other Cups still lost amidst the stars."
"For example—"
"The Cup of the Stars of the ‘Judgment’ Sequence."
"And I just so happen to know the precise coordinates of the ‘Cup of the Stars: Judgment’ deep within the starry sky."
Grey’s gaze rested long upon the blonde girl lying on the hospital bed.
"If you can contain that unclaimed ‘Cup of the Stars: Judgment,’ then it would mean you possess the potential to become the Angel of the ‘Judgment’ Sequence."
"However, with your current ruined and frail body, Xiao Ai, it’s simply impossible to withstand the power of the Star Cup—therefore, your body must be replaced. Using the most cutting-edge technology, a mechanical body must substitute the vast majority of your flesh, preserving only the original human soul..."
"To become a true mechanical lifeform—or perhaps, a humanoid weapon."
"Naturally, this transformation process will be unimaginably difficult. The technology of mechanical transformation is still in its experimental stage, far from being fully mature… Let alone the task of crafting an artificial lifeform capable of bearing the power of the Star Cup—a ‘Mechanical Angel.’"
"Even calling the success rate ‘one in a thousand’ would be too optimistic. It is better described as ‘certain death.’"
Grey’s words paused slightly. "And even if everything proceeds perfectly and the mechanical lifeform—the ‘Artificial Angel’—is truly born… it would still be far from complete."
"The process of containing the ‘Cup of the Stars: Judgment’ is the greatest hurdle."
"As the Divine Authority of the Gods, fragments of the world’s laws, these Star Cups possess an extreme exclusivity."
"Usually, Star Cups lie dormant, but the moment you attempt to contain one, it will immediately activate… The world’s laws, the great will called ‘Order of the World,’ will awaken deep within your soul, occupy your body, and turn you into a servant of Order."
"And you must, with your own will, resist the laws of the world—not become a servant of the Order, but instead force it to bow beneath the feet of a mere mortal."
"In short, the danger of this process will far exceed your imagination. Even I myself nearly perished when ascending to become an Angel."
"You might die in agony during the mechanical transformation process..."
"Or you might be devoured by the revived Judgment Star Cup, turned into a servant of Order, a living corpse that walks..."
All this information—whether the precise coordinates of the ‘Cup of the Stars: Judgment’ deep within the starry sky, or the technological details of the mechanical lifeform ‘Artificial Angel’—was intel Grey had obtained during her first wish to Fate, drawn from those infinitely branching streams of the future.
Within that vast divergence of futures, Grey and the human civilization of the Sixth Era had tried nearly every method… every possibility of resisting the Order of the World and surviving the Cataclysm of the Era’s End.
Naturally, among those possibilities was also the scenario of discovering the lost ‘Star Cup: Judgment’ amidst the stars and using mechanical transformation technology to create an ultimate weapon to confront the Cataclysm of the Era’s End—the Artificial Angel.
Of course, since Grey had fallen into despair after her first wish, it meant that at the end of that timeline, there still awaited a deathly dead end—even the strongest weapon in human history, the Mechanical Angel of the Judgment Sequence, could not stop the descent of the Cataclysm.
But now, in this very moment—
Grey once again picked up that plan already proven a failure—‘Artificial Angel Project’—
Only this time, it was no longer for the salvation of the civilization of the Sixth Era.
But to rewrite the fate of a single girl. To grant redemption to this little girl who, even as she plunged into the abyss, still looked up at the starry sky.
...
As she spoke these words, Grey closely watched Emis’s expression and spiritual fluctuations.
The moment she sensed even the slightest hesitation or fear from Emis’s demeanor or soul, she would immediately end the discussion without hesitation.
Every ‘Angel’ was an existence that had detached from the River of Time, standing above history.
Thus, even Grey, as one favored by Fate, could not observe a clear future involving Angels, much less predict whether the ‘Mechanical Angel’ plan for Emis could succeed.
But she could be certain—regardless of success or failure, it would be a fate worse than death. A torment hundreds or thousands of times more painful than any torture in the world.
For an innocent little girl, enduring such endless torment… perhaps dying here and now would be the kinder outcome.
Yet throughout the entire conversation, Grey never once sensed a trace of fear in Emis’s eyes.
That serene expression almost made Grey, in a trance, think she saw that black-haired boy once again.
She merely listened quietly to Grey’s account, then gently nodded.
"I understand."
"As long as the ‘Artificial Angel’ Project succeeds, then I’ll be able to see him again… won’t I?"
"Yes."
Grey nodded. "Mythic Beings of the Angel Tier possess an overwhelming ‘Temporal Uniqueness’—regardless of time, place, past, or future, there will only ever be one ‘Emis.’"
"If you can become an Angel, then that virtual artificial Yao Guang will also be a part of you—no longer separate."
"And I will use my third wish to help you and Brother Rast… Rast himself, to survive the Cataclysm of the Era’s End in the Sixth Era, and return you both to your original timeline, to the world that belongs to you."
"If everything goes smoothly, then… perhaps you may even reunite again in the distant future."
"But are you truly certain you want to do this?"
Grey posed her final question.
"To contain the Star Cup, to become a true Angel… it is by no means as simple as I’ve made it sound."
"Even if you succeed in the end, the process of containing the Star Cup is destined to span an extremely long period—perhaps a thousand years, perhaps ten thousand…"
"All of your life until now has only been a brief dozen or so years… Compared to ten thousand years, it is but a grain in the vast sea."
"By then, the world may have already undergone immense changes, and there may be nothing familiar left to you."
"Or perhaps, you will have already forgotten all memories of the past—becoming a being who possesses only the status and power of an Angel, yet has forgotten everything, a Wandering Spirit drifting aimlessly through the world."
"Even so, would you have no regrets?"
"No regrets."
On the hospital bed, the frail little girl gently shook her head.
"Sister Grey, please let me participate in the ‘Artificial Angel Project.’"
"Is that so…"
Grey’s voice grew somewhat dazed.
As she looked at the little girl on the hospital bed before her, she seemed to see herself from many years ago, standing on that rain-soaked cliff, swearing that no matter whether it took a hundred or a thousand years, she would surely bring Brother Rast back.
"In that case—"
"Then I understand."
...
Within the light screen, the clean and spacious hospital room, along with the frail golden-haired figure lying in the bed, slowly faded away, until it returned to nothingness.
"This… is the reason the ‘Artificial Angel Project’ was born."
"And Brother Rast, the ‘Third Mechanical Research Institute’ you are now located in, was built specifically for the ‘Artificial Angel Project,’ a place meant to contain the Mechanical Angel."
"At this moment, Xiao Ai should be sleeping deep within the Mechanical Research Institute..."
"This is the process of containing the Star Cup of ‘Judgment,’ the metamorphosis into a true Angel—it will last a very, very long time."
"And if this project truly succeeds, then Emis will become a new Demigod, the ‘Judgment Angel.’"
"And by that time, Brother Rast, you will also be able to reunite with Xiao Ai in that world which belongs to both of you..."
"Thus, this is the complete truth behind everything that you, Brother Rast, wished to know."
The image within the light screen faded, and Grey’s voice gradually weakened.
"What a pity. Even though I foresaw your arrival, Brother Rast… this was the only way I could meet you."
"There’s still so much I wanted to say, but in the form of a recording, what can be said will always be limited."
"I’ve set the highest level of access for you, Brother Rast, in the database of the ‘Watchtower,’ and also briefed the head of the Third Mechanical Research Institute about your situation—"
"So, if there’s any information you wish to find, just check it yourself in the Third Mechanical Research Institute..."
Grey’s clear voice slowly resounded, tinged with farewell.
Clearly, the recorded message she left behind was coming to an end.
Yet within the Watchtower—
Rast stared at the slowly fading light screen and suddenly spoke softly.
"Then, what about you?"
"In that future you described, where is the place that belongs to you?"