Chapter 273: Welcome Back, My King Consort
The vast darkness that stretched across the heavens, like a deep and endless dome, suddenly faded away.
In its place, there appeared a single beam of light—
A ray that pierced through the night’s veil, illuminating the firmament—a fierce and radiant starlight.
Sound vanished.
And soon after, color disappeared as well.
The world fell silent, leaving only the surging brilliance that erupted forth.
Rivers of light churned and twisted, forming countless vortices that devoured the deepest darkness—together with the three Gravekeeper Angels that had begun to emerge upon the night sky.
It was the True Name that had been unsealed after a thousand years—
the radiance of the Holy Sword.
Once, it had illuminated a darkness deeper than the night itself—
the chaos of a war-torn age.
It had endured the passing of countless epochs without decay,
and had remained undefeated through innumerable battles.
That glory had long since solidified through the passage of time, becoming a crystal of miracles.
Even now, though the one wielding the Holy Sword high above was not Shiltina, the Holy Sword Wielder, the brilliance it emitted was in no way inferior to that of its original master.
Not even a fragment of resistance had time to form.
The Gravekeeper Angel, just freed from the seal of the Eternal Night Curtain, was instantly consumed by that torrent of light.
——
The grandeur of the palace complex, the earth beneath—
Everything was penetrated and engulfed, drawn toward the farthest edge of the night sky.
Then came the explosion.
The Mark of Light was engraved upon the heavens, dyeing the entire sky of the sub-dimension in crimson.
Immediately after—
From the distant horizon, the delayed shockwave arrived at the palace’s heart.
It scattered the rain clouds, shook the buildings, bent the forests, and tremored the ground as it swept past.
When all finally stilled, only the resplendent full moon and the boundless starry sky reappeared.
——
Ding——
With a crisp chime, the resplendent Holy Sword in the night sky withdrew its light and descended from above—
falling lightly into Shiltina’s hand.
It had always been her weapon. Yet earlier, because the Gravekeeper had used a special Sacred Relic to sever the link between the sub-dimension and the Present World, Shiltina had temporarily lost control of the Holy Sword.
Now, as the Angel—the one who caused all this—had fallen, the connection between the two realms was restored once more.
The Holy Sword, which Rast had briefly borrowed, naturally returned to its rightful master.
But Shiltina’s attention was not upon the sword in her hand.
She simply lifted her head calmly—
and gazed at the young man descending slowly from the night sky,
until he stood before her.
The night wind swept past, stirring his black hair.
Under the hazy moonlight, the lines of his face were deep and distinct.
“Now then…”
“What time is it?”
Rast’s voice reached Shiltina’s ears—
quiet, distant, as if transcending ages long past.
At that sound, her heart trembled faintly.
Those words—so familiar.
Many years ago, when she had not yet taken up the Holy Sword or ascended as the Empress of the Empire, and Rast had not yet even stepped into the world of the extraordinary—when both of them were still young and unformed—she had once heard a similar conversation.
But at that time, it was not Rast who asked this question.
It had been Shiltina herself.
In that instant, time seemed to flow backward.
Everything returned to the Nightworld— to that place where Shiltina and Rast first met, the Historical Echo known as “Deep Blue Port.”
And to that night before the port’s destruction— the night when they drifted together in the freezing sea, leaning on each other to endure the bitter cold.
In the distance, timed bombs had detonated throughout the harbor district— tens of thousands of tons of gunpowder igniting Deep Blue Port into a sea of fire. Flames dozens of meters high rose like the dawning sun.
The black-haired, black-eyed boy had stood amidst that sunrise of flame,
beside shimmering waters clear and pure beyond words.
The city’s glow reflected in his eyes— like a sea of dim, golden stars.
“Nine oh five,” Shiltina said softly, her voice drowned by the storm.
Beside her, the ruined palace was illuminated by the Holy Sword’s glow. Though the battle with the Angel had left nothing but broken walls and shattered stone, at that moment, even the ruins seemed magnificent and solemn, like an ancient temple.
“Just as you once said to me back at Deep Blue Port.”
Shiltina stepped forward, leaning close to Rast’s ear.
Then, in a whisper barely carried by the wind, she murmured:
“The missing point five…”
“…was because I was afraid you’d get too proud.”
“So proud that you’d lose yourself— and go off to flirt with other women.”
Her words made a wry smile appear on Rast’s face.
That was only natural.
Back then, their relationship had yet to be clearly defined, so such things hardly mattered.
But now— things were completely different.
Rast cleared his throat, intending to defend himself,
but before he could speak, a slender finger pressed gently against his forehead.
“No need to explain.”
“Before this, we never had a formal engagement. I was not your fiancée, so I had no right to interfere in your relations with other women.”
“Senior Akxia, Little Ai… Those bonds were formed long before this. I won’t hold them against you.”
“But— from this day forth.”
Shiltina’s light brown eyes locked onto his.
“You are not allowed to flirt anymore.”
“No being unfaithful.”
“Other than the women already by your side, you are not to pursue anyone else.”
Her words fell— and before Rast could reply, Shiltina took a graceful step back.
Then the stern expression upon her fair face faded, replaced by a smile brimming with unhidden joy, rippling from the depths of her amber eyes.
“Because from this day onward…”
“You are my fiancé.”
She lifted her head lightly, eyes closing,
and rose on her toes.
“Then—”
“Welcome back, my king consort.”
And with those words, the warmth of Rast’s lips spread softly through the night.
The girl’s lips were cool and tender.
The entire sub-dimension lay silent, save for the faint breeze wandering between the ruins— as though whispering and weeping, offering heartfelt blessings to two souls reunited after a long separation.