Chapter 223: Even If I Must Exhaust the Entire Starry Sea, I Will Surely Bring Her Back
The rushing currents of time washed away Grey's final silhouette.
Brother Rast gazed into the end of the long river, remaining silent for a long while.
In that moment, all the confusion and doubts within Brother Rast’s heart… finally dissipated like smoke, completing a thorough closed loop.
Why did the memory of the Canaan Ruins persist in his mind? And why did he always find himself unable to forget the woman who embraced him amidst the great fire, showing a beautiful smile?
Why was it that, upon passing the certification of the Nightfall World and becoming a Traveler of the Night, he had not awakened from nothing, but had instead directly revived the Nightblade known as the "The Fool’s Library"?
It was, of course, because that woman who embraced him tightly amidst the flames, who called herself a "Shoreguard"—was Grey herself, the very same Grey who had achieved the position of Angel of Fate.
After the wish Grey had made was twisted by Fate and brought about a mistaken catastrophe—
Grey had passed down the "The Fool’s Library" to her younger self, and made a third wish, opening up the Nightfall World.
Then, she hid her younger self within the historical echoes of the Nightfall World.
All of this, just like the "Artificial Angel Project" Grey had arranged for Little Aimeith, were desperate attempts made by her to atone for the tragedy she had caused.
Everything was done so that she and Little Aimeith’s twisted fates might be corrected.
To return from the Sixth Era, which did not belong to her or to Little Aimeith, to the original, proper history.
However, unlike Little Aimeith, who had learned the truth after being hospitalized in critical condition...
He, back then, had still been young and ignorant—far from mature.
Grey had worried that he, at that time, might not yet be ready to face the truth, and so she had hidden everything from him.
Furthermore, to prevent him from collapsing mentally and self-destructing within the historical echoes due to the long cycles of time… Grey and Little Aimeith had also established an emergency mechanism: a phantom land called "Canaan", to serve as a sanctuary when his mental fluctuations exceeded a certain threshold.
It was like a safe haven, an isolated utopia detached from the world… and it was precisely because of this harbor known as "Canaan" that he had managed to endure through the long years in Deep Blue Harbor, waiting until the historical echoes were reopened by Hiltina, and the chance to return to the correct history presented itself.
Why was it that, despite both being Angels, Little Aimeith had instantly recognized him upon seeing him, even willing to defy the Corrective Force of History just to acknowledge him… while Grey had not recognized him when they met in Frozenwater Town?
Naturally, it was because Grey, at this moment, had already fallen from the Throne of the Angels… and had lost that omnipresent angelic status which existed in every instant of history.
What he had encountered and come to know within the historical echoes was not a self-projection of the "Angel of Fate" scattered across the River of History, but a very real, ordinary human girl—Grey.
And now, in the present world after the Nightfall World, at the current point in time, Grey had already been exiled by Fate, still drifting and wandering in the deepest part of the Starry Sea.
...
The world was utterly silent, leaving only the roaring of the surrounding River of Time, echoing unchangingly since antiquity.
In the end, it was Dean Silver who broke the eerie silence by speaking first.
“I say, do we really have to make the atmosphere this heavy?”
He wagged his fluffy, snow-white tail, brushing gently across Brother Rast’s cheek, making him feel a bit ticklish.
“As the price for making a wish to Fate and paying through Equivalent Exchange… Little Grey indeed will have her imprint as an angel erased from the River of History and be exiled into the far reaches of space, to the deepest part of the Starry Sea.”
“But that doesn’t necessarily mean a final farewell.”
Dean Silver’s voice paused briefly, his beast-like eyes, red like rubies, staring into Brother Rast’s.
“Since that exile into the depths of the Starry Sea was the price extracted for the ‘birth of the Nightfall World’—”
“Then if, someday, you manage to completely clear the Nightfall World… this Equivalent Exchange will naturally cease to exist.”
“And Little Grey will also be able to break free from the shackles of the starry sky. When that time comes—”
“Perhaps, you’ll be able to reunite once more.”
Hearing Dean Silver’s words, Brother Rast couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“I understand, Dean Silver.”
“So, you still don’t understand the Shoreguard… I’m not as fragile as you think.”
“The so-called Shoreguard is someone who fails again and again, falls into despair, yet can still stand back up time after time.”
“Leaving aside the possibility that clearing the Nightfall World might save Grey…”
“Even if, taking the worst-case scenario, clearing the Nightfall World still wouldn’t grant her freedom—it doesn’t matter.”
His gaze lingered long at the end of the Starry Sea.
“In the end, whether it’s falling from the Throne of the Angels and losing her ‘Uniqueness’, or being eternally exiled and wandering the deepest part of the Starry Sea… all of that is nothing more than some nonsense fabricated by so-called Fate and the laws of the world.”
“And something like Fate was born to be trampled underfoot.”
“If the Sixth Step isn’t enough, then become a Legend. If Legend isn’t enough, then become an Angel…”
“And if even Angels cannot resist Fate, then surpass all myths throughout time and become one who reigns above all Angels.”
“Even if I must scour every corner of the universe, even the ends of the Starry Sea, I will surely bring her back.”
“Though, speaking of which…”
Brother Rast withdrew his gaze from the depths of the Starry Sea and looked back at Dean Silver beside him. “I do need to thank you, Dean Silver.”
“Just now, you were worried that I might fall into despair after parting from Grey, so you comforted me in your own way, didn’t you?”
“Even though you usually seem so unreliable, you didn’t abandon me and run when that murderous Angel Little Aimeith appeared—you chose to stand with me instead.”
“Thank you.”
“I take back what I said earlier. As a professor at Star Cluster University, Dean Silver, you really are dependable in critical moments.”
“You…”
Hearing Brother Rast’s words, the fur all over the weasel dean’s body bristled up at once, puffing out completely on the spot.
“I-It’s not like I said all that just to comfort you or anything!”
“Y-You… y-you idiot!”
“Also, that textbook-level tsundere routine of yours, Dean Silver, remains as dependable as ever.”