Night World Players

Chapter 128: The Fire Thief, the Origin of the Shore Keeper (Two in One)

As Rast stepped into the twisting vortex, the scenery around him began to spin.

When the distorted light and shadow froze again and became clear, what came into view was a world full of vitality.

This is a vast courtyard, with green plants standing tall and gracefully in the courtyard, blooming with colorful flowers and emitting bursts of rich fragrance.

In the air, the mixture of magic and vitality was almost condensed into substance, interpreting the meaning of the word "abundance" to the extreme.

But if you look outside of this vibrant courtyard, this fertile land, you’ll see a completely different view.

It was an illusory ocean. The dusk rose and fell along with the waves, assimilating the light of the whole world into that dim and depressing halo.

The light of dusk turned into huge waves, hitting the border of the fertile field. The dim yellow and emerald green lights eroded each other, and then both were annihilated into nothingness.

"Abundance" and "Death", life and death...

This is a collision of two completely opposite sequence levels, two completely opposite forces that touch upon the root laws of the world.

The emerald green light disappeared, and the huge dim yellow waves followed... This cycle repeated itself over and over again. If Rast had not been in that vibrant area, he would have been swallowed up by the evening waves long ago.

"You are now inside the remains of the Grim Reaper, the 'Remains of God'."

"Of course, according to the common saying of your Sixth Epoch civilization..."

"This is the origin of the underworld - the 'abyss', or the 'underworld'."

An old and gentle voice was heard.

The sound was clearly audible, but the exact direction could not be determined. It was as if it came from every corner of this fertile courtyard.

"Do you see that illusory yellow ocean?"

"This is the blood flowing in the body of the god who controls death."

“Even though the God of Death has fallen for several epochs, and the power of his remains has already lost more than 90% over the course of time…but the divine power and rules contained in his remains are still not something you can bear.”

"If it weren't for the protection of my Domain of Plenty, even a drop of blood from the debris that has lost most of its divinity and power would be enough to completely assimilate you... and turn you into a being similar to the dead in the city above the Netherworld."

Rast looked around and then he spotted the old man with white hair and beard and a peaceful face.

He stood in this fertile courtyard, without any strong aura emanating from him, just like a gardener pruning plants with garden shears.

If he had not witnessed the clash between this legendary gravekeeper and Cessel with his own eyes, judging only from the aura, Rast would probably have mistaken the old man for a truly ordinary person.

"Thank you...Gravekeeper for your help."

Rast leaned forward respectfully and saluted.

"There is no need for these useless formalities in front of me."

“Every legendary road is a unique, unrepeatable miracle.”

"And everyone who can find his or her own legendary path must be a person of firm character."

"How could a legendary seed like this be easily inferior to others? Even though... you are facing a true legend right now."

The gardener-like old man in white robe stared at Rast, and the old voice sounded again.

"Just call me by my first name."

"My name is Noah."

"Noah...sir."

Luster spoke again, but his words were still respectful.

"No matter what, you saved my life."

"If you hadn't stopped me just now, I wouldn't have had the slightest chance of survival if a legend had attacked me with the intention of killing me."

"That being said, you are actually betting on me to take action, aren't you?"

Noah's faint laughter interrupted Rast's words.

"If not, what's the difference between what you're doing and committing suicide?"

"But you are indeed a natural gravekeeper."

There was a slight pause in his words.

"I sense signs of wear and tear on your soul."

"You are an immortal who has truly experienced a long time, and has also felt the spirit and soul being worn away and deteriorated with the passage of time."

"Only those who have personally experienced the wear and tear of time can truly understand the 'eternity' that we gravekeepers pursue."

"If your philosophy wasn't so aligned with the gravekeeper's, and if you hadn't opened up your own legendary path, and if you hadn't had the possibility of becoming a legend, and if you hadn't been qualified to follow in our footsteps..."

"Then, I would not have chosen to save you just now, but would have let you be burned to ashes by Cecil's scorching sun."

Noah turned around and looked down at the turbulent, dim, and illusory ocean.

"Lassiter."

"You probably still have only a limited understanding of the Gravekeeper."

"Yeah." Rust nodded.

"Previously, all my knowledge of the Gravekeepers came from my secret investigations at the Shore Keepers' headquarters, as well as the information accidentally leaked by Cecil..."

"However, the confidentiality level of this information is extremely high. Even if I tried my best to collect it, I could only get a few words."

A hint of bewilderment flashed in his eyes at the right moment: "I only know that compared to the blind and unscrupulous moths to the flames of the Shore Watchers under the leadership of Cecil -"

"The 'eternity' that the gravekeeper pursues is closer to my current philosophy."

Rast's eyes showed a resolute look: "To be honest with you, Lord Noah, I was once trapped in one place for hundreds of years."

"In that time loop that never ages and can never move forward..."

"I have personally experienced how hopeless and terrifying it is to have your spirit and soul worn away bit by bit by the endless flow of time, and to have your self gradually disintegrate as time passes."

The look in his eyes changed from determination to deep fear: "Since then, I understand--"

"Compared with eternal immortality, ideals, beliefs, secular morals, laws, and personal emotions..."

"Love, family, friendship... all of these things can be abandoned."

“I see.” Noah looked at Rast and nodded slightly. “No wonder your body doesn’t have a long life cycle like the immortal species, but is quite young…”

"But the traces of time wearing out your soul are so clear, and the degree of damage is far greater than that of ordinary immortals."

"This should be an adventure that belongs to you... Thanks to this adventure, you will be able to qualify to join the tomb keepers hundreds or thousands of years, or even an entire era, in advance."

Noah smiled indifferently and did not question the credibility of the hundreds of years of time loop experience that Rast said.

Although the time distortion phenomenon confined to a small area is rare, it does exist in the entire history... When Gray had not yet awakened the long stage of the "Destiny" sequence, she had created a similar time distortion zone in Frozen Water Town.

For Noah, a legendary tomb keeper who may have lived for several epochs, this was not something unreasonable.

His gaze returned to the illusory, undulating, dim yellow sea.

"In fact, the so-called "Gravekeepers" are not what you imagine... a military organization with a strict hierarchy."

“It’s just a group of people with similar ideas coming together for the same goal.”

Noah's old voice suddenly became distant, like the humming of an ancient bronze bell.

"Life is an end."

"Everything follows the cycle of birth, growth, prosperity, aging, and finally reaching the end... This is the law of the world, a rule that has been engraved deep into this plane since the beginning of creation."

"Not only ordinary life - even civilization, and even the era itself, cannot escape this law."

"So, just as they once flourished at a high speed, civilizations will also decline when they reach their peak, heading towards the end of their lives... until, at the end, they perish."

"And our duty and mission is to be independent of the long river of history... to witness the rise and fall of civilizations, the opening and closing of eras, and to engrave these processes on tombstones, recording and protecting the traces of their existence—"

"Just like our name - "Gravekeepers."

“As witnesses and writers, we watch over the mausoleums of vanished civilizations and the tombstones of eras. This is the meaning of our existence.”

"only……"

Noah paused for a moment.

"In every era and every civilization, there are always certain variables."

"After going through hardships, blazing a trail, overcoming difficulties, and going through untold hardships, he finally ascended to the throne of legend. He has the qualification to exist forever independent of civilization and era, and to stand above the long river of time and look down on all living beings—"

"But he still couldn't give up his mundane emotions and was unwilling to compromise for something that was illusory... He wanted to rewrite the fate of his own era and civilization with his own strength."

"Try to deny the inevitable end of the era."

"But the birth and end of eras, the rise and fall of civilizations, are the most basic rules of this world. How could they be rewritten by the efforts of a mere legend?"

"If a civilization in a certain era chooses to quietly and calmly welcome its own end, then the backlash from the laws of the world will naturally be relatively small... It's like falling asleep, and ending peacefully."

"The old era ends, and the new era begins."

"With the help of the seeds that have been preserved before, a brand new civilization will soon sprout in a new era and grow again, allowing the cycle of civilization to continue indefinitely."

Noah's words remained calm.

"And if, after crossing the destined critical point from prosperity to decline, a civilization of a certain era did not face the end calmly, but chose to resist..."

"Then, the more intense the resistance of this civilization is—the more it deviates from its originally destined development trajectory and embarks on a completely different path...when the end of the era comes, the backlash it will face will be more despairing."

"That is a judgment from the rules, a ruling called the law of nature, a catastrophe that will annihilate everything."

"In front of the laws of nature that constitute this world, let alone a few legends, even true gods are nothing more than running dogs whose life and death are controlled by laws of nature."

"And in the face of the final catastrophe that will destroy everything... the entire continent will be reduced to calamity and ruins."

"In a wasteland that has been reduced to scorched earth, it is much more difficult to ignite the spark of civilization again."

“I don’t know how many years of sedimentation it will take, coupled with great luck, for a new civilization to sprout again after the catastrophe that wiped out everything.”

"It is not impossible that human civilization will be completely cut off."

Noah withdrew his gaze and looked down at Rast in front of him.

"So, Rust, do you understand?"

“Those legends who attempt to rewrite the fate of their own civilization seem noble, just, and brilliant.”

"But in fact, they are just selfish people in the name of justice."

"For personal satisfaction, for personal emotions...the selfish desire to realize one's own ideals is placed above the fate of the entire human civilization."

"Just chase the brief moment of light when you are alive."

"But they never considered whether they could afford the cost of their failure after they failed. And how would future generations of human beings and civilizations pay for their reckless decisions?"

"This is not bravery, this is just selfish greed."

At this moment, a hint of coldness suddenly flashed in Noah's old eyes.

"Like a shore-keeper."

"Now they call themselves the guardians of civilization, admired by the world, and showered with flowers, glory and applause."

"but--"

"But a few people know it."

The rich legend let out a faint laugh, with a hint of coldness in his laughter.

"In the beginning, the founder of the Shore Watch, the first generation who established this organization, was actually just a traitor among us?"

"In order to chase that fleeting light, for those absurd things that are like a dream bubble, like a moth flying into a flame..."

"He betrayed the gravekeeper and stole the "spark" from the gravekeeper, taking it for himself and turning it into a legacy for the gravekeepers."

"Every previous leader of the Shore Watch was just a greedy thief—"

"Just a despicable 'fire thief'."

………………

PS: I felt dizzy after taking a red-eye flight for more than ten hours. I slept for a whole day before I got enough rest and adjusted to the jet lag.

I will try to update more often in the next few days to make up for the update I owed yesterday.

(End of this chapter)