Night World Players

Chapter 148 I come from an era where the "shore keepers" had long been forgotten by the world (6400)

Present world, Mystery Tower, Hall of Epoch.

The light curtain spread out like water waves, creating layers of ripples and reflecting everything that was happening in the night world at that moment.

The young man stood in the distant sky, looking down at the earth with a majestic gaze.

It was clearly morning, but the frozen dusk overshadowed the blazing daylight and obscured the entire sky.

And above the wasteland.

The gray-haired girl looked up at the young man in the distant sky, and the expression in her beautiful emerald green eyes was completely frozen.

She did not run away, nor did she activate the time reversal function again. She just stood there in a daze.

"Wow, this guy Rust's aura is quite intimidating..."

"He received the authority of God, one of the three elements of becoming a God - the Star Cup of Death. He also took three years to ascend to the throne of Hades, and took the Star Cup and the faith of thousands of dead people into himself."

"This guy's current status is probably at the peak of the sixth level... No, considering that he is in the underworld, the average peak of the sixth level is probably not as good as him."

Looking at the figure high in the sky on the light curtain, Dean Yin grabbed a small dried fish with his furry claws and put it into his mouth, while pointing at the light curtain.

The authority of the Death Star Cup, the bonus of the imperial domain based in the royal city, and the ability to control the power of the remaining body of the God of Death.

With these three factors combined, if Rast could truly obtain the Holy Grail, which is another key to becoming a god... then maybe he could even defeat the weakest legend.

Thinking of this, Dean Yin couldn't help but look stern.

The furry white tail swept across, gathering up all the grilled fish and large bottles of happy water on the picnic blanket.

This little guy has such strength, he won’t come and snatch food from me, right?
On the side, Ophelia looked at Dean Snow Ferret, who was breathing heavily on the picnic mat because of his fantasy of protecting food. The metal incarnation of immortal mercury couldn't help but reveal a helpless expression.

Even though I am probably older than the entire history of Fanxing University, do I still have to maliciously act cute and young in front of me...

Haki Mink, you guy...

Ophelia felt that she had been hanging out with Dean Yin for too long, and her clever little head, which was enough to deal with the nobles in the imperial capital and even gain the upper hand, was being assimilated into a mess by this ferret.

"Little Snow Ferret, you think too much."

The mercury incarnation that had gathered into the appearance of a girl touched her forehead in a humane way: "Unless it is an extraordinary item or emblem costume that has been certified by the Night World and issued as a mission reward."

"Otherwise, everything we obtain from the night world is nothing more than a phantom in the remnants of history, and cannot be brought back to the real world."

"Whether it's the Death Star Cup obtained in the Night World, or the power of faith from the old era, or the remains of the ancient god...when Rast returns, they will all vanish together."

"As the director of the Institute of Magical Creatures and professor of Starry University, I think you, Dean Yin, should know about these things..."

"and--"

Ophelia narrowed her eyes, and the burgundy eyes that were simulated by the mercury incarnation stayed for a moment on Dean Silver, who was lying on the picnic blanket and wagging his tail innocently.

"I don't think that given Mr. Last's personality, he would be interested in these pet foods of yours, Dean Yin."

Frankly speaking, even Ophelia sometimes couldn't tell whether the ferret was deliberately pretending to be stupid or cute, or whether it was really its nature.

Dean Yin was a little afraid of her because he couldn't see her inner heart, but the opposite was also true...

Even Ophelia, the second princess of the empire, could never understand the details of this talking ferret - its existence might be even older than the establishment of Star University, and the origins of Dean Silver were not recorded in the intelligence database of the Mystery Tower.

A magical animal that can perfectly master human language and emotions, a lifespan that seems eternal, a unique "moon" sequence... beneath Dean Yin's silly and cute ferret appearance, there are too many mysteries and mysteries lurking.

The Starry University and the Granville Empire have been observing Dean Silver for hundreds of years, but the only thing they have gained is to confirm that this ferret does have good intentions towards humans in this world...

Another thing is that it is probably really lazy. It has stayed at the Starry University for hundreds of years and is too lazy to even move from its nest.

However, even so——

Dean Yin also has a corresponding number in the taboo catalog of the Mystery Tower.

"0-03. Moon Beast"

It is not the Level 1 Taboo Index that represents the potential to rival legends and a promising future, but the "0" level.

Its existence itself is equivalent to a legend.

……

"So that's how it is. I almost forgot about it."

Dean Yin tapped his head with his furry tail: "After all, ferrets will also grow old. When they are old, their memory cannot compare to you young people who have the assistance of mechanical databases."

"However, since this guy can't bring out the Star Cup, I feel relieved."

Dean Yin patted his chest with his little paws as if he had let out a long sigh of relief. "I thought that I was about to be bullied by Last and become his real pet ferret—"

"I have lost my freedom. From now on, I can only eat and sleep, sleep and eat every day... Although I can eat endless dried fish, I can no longer breathe the fresh air of the outside world."

"Thinking about it now, I still feel a little scared."

Why do I feel like you don't seem to be frightened at all, but rather looking forward to it...

Do you even feel a little regretful that you weren't really a pet that was bullied by its master and ancestors, and that was trained to be a pet that only needs food and clothing?
Ophelia glanced at Dean Yin, who was lying on the picnic mat with an innocent look on his face, and finally looked away.

Whether he was pretending or acting in his true colors, this ferret had literally become a spirit.

It is indeed a fantasy to think that you can find out Dean Yin's background with just a few words.

The conversation is settled.

Inside the Mysterious Ritual Tower, the attention of the man and the mink was once again focused on the light curtain, the real-time live broadcast of the world of the Night of the Era's Remnants.

In the light curtain, the young man shrouded in a dim halo stood alone in the distant sky, like a king ruling the world.

In fact, he is indeed the king.

He is the lonely king admired by all spirits in the underworld.

"However, becoming the King of the Underworld who controls the life and death of all people, and stepping onto that lonely throne... this also means that you will embark on a lonely road from now on."

"No, it's not because I'm lonely as the King of the Underworld in the Night World."

"It's because you have been alone since the beginning."

Dean Yin was staring at the young man in the sky on the light screen.

In those ruby-like animal eyes, the originally playful and lazy expression was slightly restrained, and a slight ripple appeared.

It is a "moon beast" that grows by feeding on human emotions.

Because of this, even though there is a wall between the real world and the night world...

But at this moment, Dean Yin briefly caught a glimpse of Rast's true inner world.

The lonely figure like a lone king in that high tower is not a disguise... it is also the embodiment of his inner thoughts.

Compared to the peaceful, approachable and easy-going Rast in the present world, he is now closer to Rast's true spiritual landscape.

"The iron heart that has never changed despite thousands of ridicules, and the loneliness that comes from it."

"Then who was it that made you understand what love is for the first time?"

Dean Yin murmured.

"Little Tina, Little Xia..."

"Or is it the person in Canaan whom you mentioned before—"

"Or..."

Dean Yin's beastly eyes slowly locked onto the girl with confused eyes in the distant sky on the light curtain.

"It's this little girl named Gray."

Dean Yin's whisper was not heard by Ophelia who was standing beside him.

But at the same time, the wine-red eyes of Ophelia's mercury incarnation were completely locked on the gray-haired girl in the light curtain.

Through the live broadcast on the light screen from Last's first-person perspective, Dean Yin and Ophelia both knew what the girl had done.

Her name is Gray, and she comes from the Shore Guardian organization of the Sixth Epoch.

Moreover, it seems that there is some extremely special emotional entanglement with Rast in the remnants of previous history that is difficult for outsiders to explain.

That's why she traveled thousands of miles to the royal city of Paradise, the site of the holy ceremony.

He is willing to risk his life to stop Rast from taking possession of the Holy Grail.

Moreover, from the perspective of an outsider.

Ophelia made some even more shocking discoveries about Grey.

"A long stage in the "Fate" sequence that can interfere with fate and the flow of time."

"Although a professor in the Ruins Institute had predicted the existence and approximate capabilities of the Destiny Sequence long ago... I never expected to see it in person."

"Going back in time, overturning everything that has happened, having the possibility of repeated trial and error in countless timelines... It is really too shameless for such a power that is almost like a god to be possessed by a human being."

"Moreover, this girl named Gray seems to have some ability to simulate other people's sequences and night blades and imitate them—"

In the eyes of Ophelia's mercury incarnation, several micro runes used for detection, analysis and recording were slowly rotating.

Although it was just a few glimpses of the live broadcast from Last's perspective.

However, relying on Ophelia's mental power as a genius mechanic and analysis assisted by artificial intelligence, she was able to perceive the full picture of what was happening in the night world at the moment based on the only information she collected.

She and Dean Snow Ferret beside her looked at each other and both had similar associations.

Rast's ability:

That is Night Blade, who was registered as "Copy Eye" in Star University.

It is so similar to the ability displayed by the girl named Gray at this moment. Both can perfectly simulate and replicate different types of sequence abilities and night blades.

"I knew that this guy Last was fooling me. The copy eye can only imitate fake skills..."

Dean Yin curled his lips and said, "This guy is immune to the reversal of time, and he still keeps copying eyes. He is just treating his teacher like a fool."

It felt that it had been fooled before, but it had no evidence. Now Dean Yin felt that he seemed to have finally found the evidence.

"But is this little girl named Gray scared silly?"

It looked at the scene in the light curtain and shook its tail in confusion:

"Why are you just standing there and giving up resistance?"

Dean Yin just complained a few words, but found that the little princess next to him did not keep up with his thoughts.

It turned its head in confusion... and then saw that the micro-computing runes that were originally rotating slowly in the beautiful wine-red eyes of Ophelia's mercury incarnation had quietly stopped.

The pretty face of the second princess showed a confused expression similar to that of Gray in the light curtain.

After a long time, Ophelia came back to her senses.

"I say, little Tina's sister, are you also scared silly?"

Dean Yin flicked his tail and said, "Is this guy Luster's domineering aura so scary?"

"No, it's not because of my future brother-in-law..."

The micro runes used for calculations quietly faded from Ophelia's eyes. "I just analyzed the abnormal "aging" phenomenon of the crystal that sent back the image data in the night world, which was far beyond the normal use range."

"Then--"

For some reason, Ophelia's words now carried a hint of sadness.

"I finally understand a little bit—"

"Gray has given up resistance and the reason to go back again."

……

In the distant sky, Rast's figure came closer and closer, slowly falling towards the earth.

His figure was shrouded in a dim aura, and his descent speed was not very fast...

However, this time, Grey did not choose to escape immediately after being discovered by Last and falling into the trap like in the previous two timelines.

She just stared up at the face of the young man in front of her.

Those beautiful emerald green eyes that had never wavered or doubted their self-beliefs in any life-threatening situations over the past three years, now revealed an unprecedented sense of brokenness.

Until just now.

Gray finally understood what had happened to her.

And also, the real reason for the abnormal degree of wear and tear deep in my soul.

Why is it that even though he only activated time travel twice in his memory, the actual degree of wear and tear on his soul far exceeds the scope of "twice".

"It seems that you have also noticed it, little Gray."

As if he saw the wavering expression on Gray's pretty face, the boy's cold and indifferent words followed like a storm.

"If I counted correctly..."

"This should be the 183rd rollback that I and the entire Paradise Royal City have experienced."

The boy's cold words without a trace of emotion were clearly engraved in Gray's mind and verified her previous vague guess.

Yes.

It's not the third time travel.

But, the one hundred and eighty-third time.

Ever since the first time he went to Paradise Royal City, wanting to stop the progress of the Holy Scripture and prevent his brother Last from obtaining the Holy Grail... he has already activated time reversal 183 times.

However, there are no exceptions.

Every time time goes back——

After accumulating the failures and lessons learned from the past timelines, I should have been able to avoid wrong options and pass the level with a simpler difficulty.

However, I still failed again and started to look back again.

And so many failures also forced me to repeatedly extend the span of time backtracking, backtracking to a more previous time node...

Under such a high density and long span of time retrospection, the wear and tear of my soul gradually intensified.

Until the wear and tear of the soul reached a critical value, all the experiences of going back in time were forgotten... He mistakenly thought that he had just arrived in the royal city, starting a new cycle.

This cycle went on for an unknown number of rounds.

But, without exception——

In each round, even if I have the ability to go back in time and try and fail infinitely, which is almost like being a cheater... I still can't do anything.

In the Paradise Royal City on this day, fate was divided into 183 different and opposite tributaries.

But all 183 tributaries, no matter how winding and rugged they are,

In the end, it all ended up in the same way.

Irreversible and irreversible.

Just like the divine spear named "Kungunir" in the ancient myth, the moment the divine spear was thrown, the cause and effect had been reversed, and the ending was already determined.

No matter what attempts and efforts you made during this period: building steel walls, hiding behind the Shield of Aegis, or fleeing to the ends of the earth... it was destined to be a futile struggle.

but--

"for……"

"What……"

Gray looked at the boy who fell from the sky and appeared in front of her.

The corners of her lips moved slightly, and a hoarse tremor came out.

Why did I fail every time during my 183 backtrackings?
Why is it that every time he goes back in time, Brother Rast can find himself accurately?
If I were to look back occasionally, my brother Last might have noticed the flaw due to my carelessness.

But with hundreds of opportunities for trial and error, even someone as clumsy as myself will definitely be able to fill in all the loopholes and find a real way out.

And the most important thing—

why?
Why did Brother Last know "one hundred and eighty-three times", a number of rewinds that even he himself could not be sure of?
Faced with Gray's questioning, Last did not give an immediate answer.

He simply fell from the sky to the earth and walked towards Gray step by step.

The panting of horses, the noise of other passengers in the carriage - the world froze at this moment, and all the noise was isolated from the outside world.

Gray fell on the seat of the carriage, and Luster's head was exposed to the blazing sunlight.

The boy and the girl looked at each other across the wilderness, and the whole world was engulfed by the wind blowing across the wilderness.

"why?"

There was a hint of cold smile on the corner of his mouth.

"I think you should have already had the answer in your heart."

"It's just that you have been avoiding it from the beginning to the end, and you are never willing to admit it or face it."

Rast's voice was not very loud, but every word rang clearly in the depths of Gray's soul.

Yes--

This is a fact that I should have realized long ago.

No one, excluding those who have reached the level of legend, can retain the consciousness of the previous timeline when going back in time.

In addition to being the darling of fate, one can retain one's own will like impurities and sand in the adverse times.

However, "destiny" is a unique sequence of long steps, which is a fact that Chief Cecil has repeatedly explained to himself.

Besides, he knew his brother Rast's sequence, which was the "Tower" sequence, and he did not have the ability to control time or interfere with fate.

However, brother Rast possesses a characteristic that should only be possessed by the long-level "Destiny" sequence.

Such a special case... within the scope of my knowledge, there is only one explanation.

And it just so happened that he had never really known about his brother Rast's special abilities...

And ten years ago, when I first met my brother Last in Frozen Water Town—

Those were memories from when she was still a naive little girl. Today, the past in Frozen Water Town has become blurred, but Grey still clearly remembers her first encounter with Brother Last.

Also, when destroying the Vermillion Moon pollutants that were entangled in Frozen Water Town... Brother Last had demonstrated many extraordinary abilities that did not belong to the long-term "Tower" sequence.

This is something that Gray had never cared about in the past. Even if she occasionally thought of it, she would ignore it by saying, "It was too long ago, maybe I remembered it wrong."

However, thinking about it again at this moment, after excluding all possibilities -

The remaining answers, no matter how absurd or unbelievable they are...

This is an indisputable fact.

"Yes, you are right."

Although the two figures were very close to each other, Last's words seemed to come from the other side of the clouds, appearing distant and unfathomable.

"Little Gray, that supports you--"

"The reason you have the courage to stand before me again three years later... is the inheritance that Cecil gave you, right?"

The boy's tone slowed down a bit, becoming less cold and indifferent, and more gentle, which was familiar to Gray.

But, at this moment.

The gentle words that once made Grey feel at ease turned into an unforgettable curse, shattering the last bit of psychological defense in Grey's heart.

In front of him, the young man with black hair and black eyes slowly stretched out his finger.

next moment.

A wisp of silver flame quietly emerged from Rast's fingertips.

The firelight was very illusory and vague, without any killing power at all.

However, in Gray's eyes, this ray of fire seemed so familiar.

It was the same as what she had inherited from Leader Cecil.

However, this is clearly a legacy passed down among the shore keepers, stolen from the grave keepers... a unique spark of fire.

And at this moment, the unique fire appeared for the second time.

As mentioned before, after eliminating all impossible options, the one remaining is the only answer.

at this moment.

Gray finally understood... the indifferent, cold and superior look on Brother Last's face when he looked down at her earlier.

It's not hatred, nor is it disgust, nor is it aversion.

It is a pure bird's-eye view, just like a researcher observing an ant colony in a laboratory. How could humans, who are so high and mighty, possibly get angry with ants?

It was just like when I was implementing the Lost Paradise Project and looking at the dead in the paradise.

In the eyes of living people like me, the dead in paradise are dead souls, specimens deprived of their destiny and having long lost the possibility of a future.

In the eyes of Brother Last, he and others were also ancient objects whose destiny had been lost, and fossils used for archaeology.

It was also because of some unknown powerful force that the phantom of the past reappeared in an instant.

"Unfortunately, the fire seed you got is the same one I have."

"Just as you guessed."

"I come from a—"

"The name "Shore Watcher" has long been forgotten by the whole world."

The boy's last indifferent words.

Gray's heart fell into the abyss of despair.

(End of this chapter)