Night World Players

Chapter 153: That is the story after the fairy tale ending (two in one)

Akshia had a very long dream.

In the dream, she was not Queen Helen of the Underworld, nor was she Axia, the night traveler.

She was a country girl who was born into a small noble family on the border and dreamed of becoming an adventurer since she was a child.

On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, she secretly slipped away from home and began her journey across the continent as an adventurer...

On the way, the girl met a boy with black hair and black eyes who had dreamed of becoming a knight since childhood. So the two formed a team of adventurers and began to travel together.

Together, they had climbed the most majestic snow-capped peaks, and on a ship, witnessed the deepest and most oppressive whirlpool in the sunless sea...

They had conversed with nomadic barbarians in the vast wilderness, and witnessed the glorious kingdom built by the dwarves underground in the depths of the dark mountains...

So, naturally, the boy and the girl gradually fell in love during their journey...

Until they fell in love and got married.

They built a small wooden house in the depths of a secluded forest, far away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and the two of them lived happily ever after.

This is a story recorded in a fairy tale book called "Silver Wing Chronicles". The only difference is that the protagonist of the fairy tale has changed.

It wasn't the original male and female protagonists in the book... but Akxia herself and the black-haired, black-eyed boy.

The story should have ended here, just like the ending of all fairy tales - the princess and the prince lived happily together forever.

Ending in such a place, anyone would sigh with emotion and congratulate everyone.

but--

Akshia's dream has not ended and is still going on.

That was a story that was not written in the fairy tale book "Silver Wing Chronicles", and it happened after the two of them had a happy ending...

The girl who was born in a small town and dreamed of becoming an adventurer was actually the reincarnation of an ancient evil god who brought devastating disaster to the continent a hundred years ago.

As long as it exists in the world, it will bring plague and disaster to the entire world, killing millions of lives.

And now, the will of that evil god is resurrecting in the girl's body...

Devouring Axia's humanity bit by bit.

……

The originally warm orange-red dream was shattered, replaced by a pitch-black darkness.

Akshia felt like she was in the middle of a boundless, vast snowstorm.

The deep darkness spread out, without a trace of light, and I could not see the way forward or the direction clearly.

The thinly dressed girl was walking in the snow.

The extraordinary power that once supported her to become the queen of the underworld was no longer felt.

At this moment, she was no different from an ordinary girl who was powerless.

Until all her strength was exhausted, Akshia staggered and fell to her knees in the snow.

Thousands of snowflakes eroded her body, turning into a bone-chilling cold that deprived her of body temperature bit by bit.

Her body was getting colder and colder. The blizzard took away not only her body temperature, but also Akshia's life flame, which was as flickering as a candle in the wind.

The flame of life dimmed little by little in the snowstorm.

The body's perception collapsed, first the hands and feet became numb, then the torso.

Until the end, even consciousness and memory were being taken away.

The few precious images in her memory were like a dream bubble, gradually swallowed up by the bone-chilling darkness of the blizzard.

In the undestroyed palace, under the warm sunshine, I met that young man for the first time...

In the dark and long night without stars, by the dim candlelight, I listened to the gently narrated bedtime story...

Wearing sheepskin boots, I carefully avoided the patrolling maids and caught a glimpse of the blue sky after the rain...

In the drizzling rain, riding in a carriage through the streets dyed red by the setting sun, the distance between the two hearts became closer than ever before in the silence...

And that day on a cliff in the suburbs, under the blazing sunlight, the girl confessed her feelings to the boy...

Everything is falling apart.

Sincere emotions, irreplaceable precious memories...

Everything was tainted with the icy temperature of the biting wind and snow, and was about to be swallowed up by the pitch-black nothingness.

That endless darkness is the will of the evil god that is resurrecting in Axia.

The boundless blizzard around her represents the evil god's will eroding Axia, and the flame that she desperately protects, like a candle in the wind... represents Axia's self.

When the flickering flame, like a candle in the wind, was completely extinguished, her humanity was completely devoured, and the devil truly awakened in her body.

That is the supreme ancient god, and the human self is as humble as dust before Him.

"Last..."

The girl's faint call drifted in the wind and snow.

All the memories have become blurry, even the face of the black-haired boy has faded.

Even though he had been pierced by the blood-stained blade, the cold touch and pain seemed to still echo in his body.

But Akshia still kept repeating this name, a name that she did not want to forget even at the end of her life.

Because she still remembered the divination that the petite girl in the hooded cloak had made for her when she was traveling with Rast that day.

And the fate of himself and Luster as predicted by divination.

She knew very well that so-called divination was mostly a trick to fool people, and she also understood that the fortune teller of unknown origin could not be trusted.

However, Akxia still firmly believed in the result of the divination, unconditionally.

After learning the truth of everything, learning the fact of betrayal, and perhaps having her self-consciousness devoured by the true master of the underworld, the self named "Axia" still prayed for the unattainable happiness and beauty in her last moments before death.

……

Deep in the abyss, there is the Tower of Babel that reaches to the sky.

On the high platform, next to the amber coffin, the Holy Grail and the Star Grail had completely melted, and the broken starlight was like liquid, slowly flowing between the inner and outer layers of the coffin.

Then, the flowing starlight and the solidified dusk intertwined and blended into one.

The originally small coffin suddenly expanded and turned into an ice coffin that was several times more magnificent and huge than before.

It still maintained the shape of a coffin, but carried with it a vast aura of oppression... as if it was not the coffin of the deceased, but the frozen throne that nurtured the rebirth of a god.

In fact, this is not an illusion.

The Star Cup and the Holy Grail respectively represent faith and authority, two of the three elements of godhood.

And at this moment, Axia in the coffin, as the perfect container of the hybrid of human and god, her very existence already represents the final element of "the flesh and blood of God".

The last key was completed, and the last dusty bronze door on the ancient road leading to the underworld was opened at this moment.

then--

It means.

A complete god is completed at this moment.

The former god of death is about to return to the world in his complete form.

……

In the overflowing light, in the translucent ice coffin—

You can vaguely see a girl with long ice-blue hair silently raising her upper body from the coffin, like a puppet that had been abandoned for a long time and was picked up and wound up again.

She slowly opened her eyes which had been closed.

At this moment, those dark purple eyes burst into a red-gold light, like flowing lava.

The dark darkness in the depths of the abyss was illuminated as brightly as day at this moment.

"This is the moment when the Yellow Springs Road is opened up again."

In the distance, Noah's embodiment of fertility also cast a concerned glance.

This is the first time a new god has been born since the mysteries receded and the Age of Gods ended.

Of course, it's been so long—

The long time of several epochs is enough to consume the remaining power in the remains of the god of death to only one tenth of it.

Even if the ascension ceremony was completed again, the power of the god of death who was reborn in human form was just a drop in the ocean compared to a true god in his prime.

For Noah, who is considered ancient even in legends, a newly born god who possesses divine authority and divinity but whose power is less than one percent of his peak strength is still entirely within his control. This is precisely Noah's purpose in this journey, in addition to annihilating the shore guardians.

The revived soul and consciousness of an old god...are of great value even to the gravekeepers.

After all, most of the remaining gods are hiding on the threshold of the blazing sky at this moment.

Outside the world on the threshold of the Blazing Sky is a realm that can only be set foot by mythical creatures who are rejected by the laws of this era. Even for the gravekeepers, there are many secrets and unknowns.

Being able to capture the remnant soul of an old god will undoubtedly allow one to glimpse many top-secret information of the divine realm.

……

boom--

boom--

Outside the big hole in the heart, the entire illusory dim yellow sea erupted with a loud roar.

The so-called underworld was originally formed by the remains of the god of death. At this moment, the former corpse felt that his soul had returned again, and it set off a huge wave like the collapse of mountains.

In the frozen coffin, a girl whose pupils had turned from dark purple to red gold was breathing slowly. Although she had a pretty face, her expression carried the majestic dignity of a god in the clouds overlooking all living beings, as if she were a king ruling the world.

The dim ocean ebbs and flows with the girl's breathing, and the waves surge.

It was as if... the whole world was celebrating the rebirth of this ancient god.

"For that revived divine consciousness, this marks the beginning of its rebirth, overlooking the entire world, and once again dominating the world."

"For Noah and the gravekeepers behind him, this is their perfect opportunity to peek into the Blazing Heaven's Threshold and the secrets of godhood."

"That's right..."

"This is a grand ceremony of ascension to the gods, a great undertaking that allows myths to be repeated here."

"In this unprecedented grand spectacle, everyone's attention was focused on the resurrected ancient god."

"How could anyone care about the feelings of a vessel that serves as a key, a consumable material, during the ceremony of ascension to the gods..."

"This is just a tiny speck of dust in the general trend of the times, a necessary sacrifice that no one knows about and no one cares about."

Rast's mumbling disappeared in the sound of the tide that covered the sky and no one could hear it.

Before his eyes, the overwhelming pressure in the amber ice coffin slowly expanded, turning into a vast majesty that surpassed everything and set off a storm.

And in the center of the storm—

Someone was chanting his name: "...Rast...Rast...Rast..."

The girl's cries were drowned in the wind and the tide, becoming weaker and weaker until they were inaudible.

……

"it's time."

"Activate the backup plan I arranged in advance, Rast."

Noah's indifferent words crossed the long distance and rang clearly in Rast's ears on the high platform.

"Imprison the revived Death Vessel."

"Then, use the blood exchange method to replace the divine blood flowing in this container with your own body."

"Then you will be the reborn god of death."

The voice fell.

And in front of Rast, an exquisite gem slowly materialized from the void.

Last understood that this was a backup plan arranged by Noah.

The legend of this gravekeeper does not seem to contain any unnecessary malice.

He really wanted to ascend to the throne of the new god of death, and then guide himself to join the gravekeepers.

And at this moment.

As long as he activated this gem, Noah's backup plan would be triggered.

And I will truly inherit the throne of the God of Death.

Or, to put it more simply.

From "he".

To "Him".

only--

Last's mind suddenly moved slightly.

next moment.

A slightly old book suddenly fell into Last's hands.

On the book, there is a painting of a young knight holding a silver sword and a witch lady shrouded in black mist.

Because it is too old, the cover of the fairy tale book still has mottled scratches.

This is a fairy tale book.

A fairy tale called "Silver Wing Chronicles".

It was also a gift that Axia had given to him personally on that cliff as a return gift for him re-copying a manuscript.

After being certified by the Night World, this "unfinished fairy tale book" has been elevated from an original book to a true heraldic ceremonial dress.

next moment.

Crackle, clackle——

There was clearly no movement, but the old fairy tale book suddenly began to turn pages without any wind.

Then, the paper stopped at the last page.

Those were the few blank pages that inexplicably appeared after the finale of "Silver Wings Chronicles" where the hero and heroine lived happily together.

This is also the origin of the name of the heraldic costume - "The Unfinished Fairy Tale Book".

Looking at the blank fairy tale book, Rast raised the gem and turned his wrist slightly.

stab-

A flash of cold light passed by, accompanied by the sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh and blood.

He did not activate the gem, but used it as a knife and cut his wrist directly.

The vein ruptured and bright red blood splattered in the wind on the platform.

Let the pure white on the page be stained with the crimson of blood.

……

I can't tell whether it's real or fake in this dream.

The girl with ice-blue hair was curled up...

Although the icy wind and snow were hitting her delicate shoulders, chilling her to the bone, Akshia still tried to stretch out her thin arms, trying to protect the fire beneath her from the wind and snow.

That was the origin of Axia's soul, and also her last self that had not been eroded by the revived consciousness of the ancient gods.

This tiny flame carries all her memories with that black-haired, black-eyed boy...

I don't want to share it with anyone, I don't want to show it to anyone.

No matter who it is...be it God or fate, no one can take away the treasure that you are not qualified to covet.

That's when.

Axia felt a faint warm current slowly flowing out from her soul.

The blizzard quietly dissipated, along with the darkness that swallowed the light.

Instead, there is a ray of warm sunshine.

……

The splattered blood dripped onto the blank last page.

Then, inexplicably... the blood formed clear strokes and lines.

I began writing on this unfinished fairy tale book...

That is the story after the finale.

(End of this chapter)