Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 849 Ridiculous Person
Along with the Dark Army, the Great Old Ones under the shade of the trees were also sent into the Path of the Stars. These included the Blackblade Master, the Sorcerer, and the Beast. They were indeed defeated, but they were difficult to kill. As powerful beings, even if only a wisp of their will remained, they could be resurrected and reshaped through avatars or other means.

Almost all of the Gold Saints who were tainted by the Dark Will were banished to the stars.

Lu Kui and his disciples received the same treatment.

Today, the Temple of the Golden Law is almost just an empty shell.

...

But there are exceptions.

Does anyone still remember Colin, the warlock who ignited this disaster?

Who could have imagined that the person who broke the seal of the abyss to welcome the Dark Ones had never truly embraced the Dark Ones, and the Dark Ones had never acknowledged this...complex fellow.

...

"You can't kill a tree with the power of a tree, can you?"

"The Deep Age, behold!"

...

There may be a million reasons to submit to the deep will, but Colin's thoughts are not among them. He was merely a seduced tool, a pathetic soul.

His vision has always been very narrow.

From the time he began learning under Elder Hastings to gradually becoming involved in the affairs of the temple, he had never actually opened his eyes to this world, and he was even less aware of what was happening in the conscious world on the other side of the world barrier.

Colin only knew that his duty was to protect everything about the Golden Law: its authority, its definition, and its sharp edge.

People always say that Byrne is an incomplete blade born in a greenhouse, but in fact, all the new generation are like that, and Colin and his ilk are even more so.

It's unclear when exactly his understanding of responsibility began to become distorted.

Especially after Byrne fell twice, that childhood longing and adoration for the blade began to grow and intensify.

...

This guy is even more pathetic than Dillah Shaw.

During his time in the church, De La Chau also hesitated and struggled, but what made him waver was the conflict between his self-awareness of the right path and the will of the church.

Colin, on the other hand, was completely consumed by his own desires, which is why he would kneel before his bed again and again when no one was around, committing those despicable acts.

Ironically, after the deepest part of the valley receded, he was left behind.

Ultimately, all of Colin's crazy actions stemmed from his deep love for the Golden Tree, including his twisted and humble infatuation with Byrne.

Thus, after the Deep were collectively banished, the remains of Colin, abandoned deep within the ruins, still bore the mark of the Golden Tree, and were not hanging upside down.

...

That's outrageous, isn't it?

Despite being the culprit in the open, he remains one of the most loyal followers of the Golden Tree after committing such a series of wicked deeds.

...

This is perhaps what Marshall the cat realized about the "coldness of the thinking eye," a series of arrangements made by those in power to put this premeditated turmoil on the agenda and to make someone the savior, which were actually filled with the indifference of those in power.

Colin's life trajectory is also part of the narrative.

For example, the naive Princess Rose could never have known that the person who initiated the Path of the Stars would be defined as the eternal sinner of the Dream Realm in the future...

...

But in any case, Colin at least briefly experienced the pinnacle of life.

At least before the Dark Ones possessed the divine body, he single-handedly forced the Old Ones under the Golden Tree to rise up and attack him, a privilege not enjoyed by ordinary people.

...

Now that the Deep has been banished to the stars, Colin's body, which was briefly possessed by the Deep, is rapidly decaying and aging.

He lay amidst the ruins, struggling and greedily inhaling the last few breaths of fresh air before his life ended, slowly raising his withered arm to try and touch the dappled light streaming through the cracks in the broken walls.

...

Before his vision began to blur, he saw a familiar face.

Although the other person was wrapped in a cloak and half of their face was covered by a hood, he still recognized the face at a glance…

He forced out a few words from his dry, hoarse throat with all his might:
"Sister..."

"You're finally awake..."

A terrifying smile appeared on his face, which was even more horrifying than a zombie.

...

In his final moments, he finally mustered the courage to reach out and touch her haggard face, but he stopped mid-air. Perhaps he noticed his hand beginning to fester and decay from his fingertips, or perhaps he remembered his past acts of desecration. In any case, he ultimately failed to touch Byrne. Even the dust from his suspended arm as it fell blurred his vision, preventing him from seeing his senior sister's face clearly, let alone the expression on her face as he died—was it disgust? Or regret? Colin was no longer qualified to know.

This might be the cruelest way for him to end things.

...

Even after his aged body completely disintegrated into dust, the mark of the Holy Radiance Golden Tree still remained on the ruins where he had lain.

...

Byrne remained silent for a long time before the symbolic totem.

She looked up at the dazzling lights above the distant sea, her gaze complex.

Fate seemed to be playing all sorts of jokes on her, big and small, without ever stopping.

She has finally been honed into a true blade, just as she had wished, but everything familiar in her memory seems to have fallen apart.

...

Byrne saw a ship gradually disappearing into the distance on the horizon.

Those who were once considered sinners, but are now hailed as saviors by the people of gold, stand on the deck at the stern of the ship.

The person she once hated most saved the Golden Kingdom and herself.

Ironically, Byrne once regarded this evil person in the conscious world as his nemesis, because he was tortured to death like a dog by the other party in his first mission after leaving the temple trial grounds.

At that time, Byrne, who had just come of age, remembered this man who was burdened with guilt.

The Golden Tree gave her a second chance, so she honed herself even more relentlessly, refining every means of killing, and looking forward to the day of revenge.

She firmly believed that in the dream world where time flowed even faster, she had plenty of time to repay the blood debt in full when the next encounter occurred.

But when they met again, that person was already the target of everyone's hatred under the blood moon.

The image of him bearing the curse of the roots and facing all those in power became Byrne's nightmare.

She was moved by it, and even felt fear.

No matter how cruel the trials and tribulations she underwent, she could not put herself in the shoes of the other person facing such despair. She felt that she would be crushed by the will of those in power in an instant, or fall into endless madness.

That time, Byrne backed down.

For a knight, this is more shameful than dying in defeat.

She tried again and again to convince herself that her true mission under the Blood Moon was to retrieve the "Eye of Thinking" for the Temple of the Golden Law, and that she didn't need to confront that person.

Not only did she tell herself this, but everyone else in the temple did too.

But every time the same words were repeated, Byrne felt as if something was slapping him in the face.

Because she knew very well that after the Blood Moon, she no longer had the right to place Milo in her so-called "arch-enemy" position, simply because she had run away.

This state of self-torture lasted for countless years.

It made her cold, withdrawn, and even, to outsiders, a blade that seemed bloodthirsty...

...

Until one day, while hunting down hunters in the Cold Plains, she encountered the person who should have turned to dust along with the old era of lucidity.

This time, Byrne decided to confront his inner demons.

Looking back now, it was probably another ridiculous move, because she hadn't overcome her inner fear at all. What supported her in drawing her sword against Milo was the weak posture he displayed at the time.

Byrne has once again defied the knight's will and sense of honor.

She chose to deceive herself by killing the weak Milo, pretending that her past failures and cowardice had never happened.

But what's even more ridiculous is that she died at the hands of that seemingly weak and powerless Milo, once again.

...

……

Now, the notion of arch-enemies has faded into the past.

Beneath her feet lay ruins, while beneath the other's feet lay order.

The two are no longer comparable; perhaps they never were ever on the same level, and Byrne has simply been deceiving himself all along.

...

However, the obsession that had been tormenting her in the past has now completely disappeared. It's hard to say whether she has given up or let go, but at least she has found the path she should truly take.

(End of this chapter)