Night World Players

Chapter 180 Akshia's Kiss (5k)

After climbing over the last slope, dusk surged into Rast's vision like a tide.

The evening light that was about to set the entire sky on fire, and the girl standing prettily at the end of the cliff... everything was so familiar.

At the end of the distant horizon, the sun that touches the sea level is so scorching and so warm.

Just like the last journey before the collapse of the underworld an entire era ago... It is clearly a fairy tale born of falsehood and lies, but it carries a scorching temperature, flowing from the distant Sixth Era to the present day.

Suddenly, everything seemed to have returned to the Sixth Epoch. He was no longer the Night Traveler, Last, but the captain of a small team of shore-guards ordered to infiltrate Paradise...

And she is not Akshia, the student council president of Star University, but the ruler of the underworld, the queen of paradise who is like a bird in a cage.

……

Rast walked lightly forward and came to the edge of the cliff.

Before my eyes, a bright ice-blue light outlined clear words in the air—"Last, long time no see (*^▽^*)"

Both the beautiful handwriting and the emoticon at the end of the sentence were very familiar to Laster - it was this girl who was not good at speaking due to lack of opportunities to communicate with others, trying hard and clumsily to confide her feelings to him.

It seems that in terms of emoticons...Axia must be in a really good mood right now.

He walked to the edge of the cliff and silently looked at the distant scenery with Akshia.

This was a scene that was extremely similar to the one he had seen in the night world, one could even say it was identical. However, when he saw it again at this moment, Last was in a completely different mood.

After all, he was under tremendous pressure at the time, and there were many things waiting for him to accomplish...

Be it backstabbing, using one's own body to fuse with the Death Star Cup, or the farewell with Grey on a rainy night, using the bitter wine of betrayal to force the girl to grow, or performing a self-torture trick with leader Cecel to pretend to join the Gravekeepers... All of these are extremely difficult challenges, and the slightest mistake will lead to a tragic end with no chance of survival.

Therefore, no matter how beautiful the scenery on the cliff was that evening, Rast had neither the mind nor the energy to appreciate it.

But the situation at this moment is completely different.

Escaping from the night world, the bloody battle in the underworld, the resurrected ancient gods, the mission of the shore guardians... everything is infinitely far away from Last and becomes unimportant.

It was only at this moment that Rast was able to appreciate the scenery before him like a normal person...

He was no longer a passer-by in this world, a wandering ghost, but as Amis said, he "truly lived in this world" again.

Seeing Rast coming to her side, Akshia turned around again and sat down on the cliff.

Her legs were swinging idly in the air, and there was an empty seat next to her, and she waved to Last as if invitingly.

Seeing this, Rast accepted the other party's invitation and sat down next to her.

"Indeed...it's been a while."

He took out a pen and paper and wrote in a blank diary. This was the way Rast used to communicate with Her Majesty the Queen when he was still a waiter in the palace of Paradise Royal City.

Even though time has passed and an entire era has gone by, the two of them have not forgotten this habit of communication and their tacit understanding remains the same as before.

"Although it only feels like a few months to me... But for you, Axia, it must have felt like a very long time."

"After all, for you, you have been sleeping since the Sixth Epoch until the current point in the present world, and only woke up again a few years ago."

"However, I am a little surprised..."

Last's brushstrokes paused for a moment.

"Aren't you angry, Axia? I hid my origins from you, approached you as a waiter, and even backstabbed you for taking the Death Star Cup."

"Although, all of that actually has its reasons, it's a choice that must be made out of helplessness..."

He stopped writing and spoke softly, "But no matter what, I did deceive your feelings and failed to live up to the expectations you had of me."

At this moment, standing at the position where the echoes of history have been passed, I look back and review everything I have experienced in that night world——

Last thought he did a pretty good job on most things.

Although it cannot be said to be flawless, he has done his best and achieved the best he could under the conditions at the time.

However, the only thing that Rast felt guilty about was Axia.

The girl had lived in a windowless tower since she was a child, and grew up in a cage called a palace. She could only peek at a glimpse of the outside world through the occasional gaps.

However, he took advantage of the girl's ignorance and her longing for the outside world, and achieved his own goal through deception.

No matter what hidden secrets and hardships lie behind this, it is for the justice of the shore defenders, a noble and awe-inspiring goal that no one can fault, but the betrayal and deception of Axia still exists...

This is a fact that he can never deny no matter how he tries to hide it or deceive himself.

However, before Rust could finish his words, he felt his lips being gently covered by a white finger.

"No, I'm not angry."

The icy blue, crystal-clear words flickered faintly in the twilight.

"Because, I know you don't have a choice, Rust, right?"

Akxia silently gazed at the sea below them, dyed red by the sunset glow.

In the Sixth Epoch, it was called the "Sunless Sea." Terrifying, forbidden life forms lurked in the depths of the ocean. Any ship that strayed from the guidance of the lighthouse on the shattered coastline would inevitably sink in the Sunless Sea.

But now, although it is the same sea, its appearance has completely changed, and the sparkling sea surface is calm.

Occasionally, fishing boats pass by on the sea, dragging up tons of fish with their trawl nets, making the sea seem peaceful and tranquil.

"The book says that a relationship where you can only enjoy pleasure together, where you can only smile and welcome someone when they are useful and in line with your wishes, and where you immediately turn hostile once your interests are harmed... is nothing more than a drinking buddy."

"And only by being able to sympathize with each other, understand each other's difficulties, and put yourself in each other's shoes can we achieve success."

"Those who are willing to support each other when they are in trouble, even at the cost of their own interests...are true friends, true soulmates."

She turned her head slightly and withdrew her gaze from the distant sea dyed red by the setting sun.

Axia looked at Rast, her beautiful dark purple eyes gleaming with an extremely serious light.

"Actually, I'm not as ignorant and inexperienced as you think, Last."

"Although I didn't understand it at first, I eventually became aware of some things... For example, your origin as a shore guard, Last, and the team members who secretly helped us when we left the palace to play."

The beautiful ice-blue handwriting paused for a moment: "But, I think none of this matters."

"When I entered the fortune-telling room that time... that petite, gray-haired fortune-teller told me that you, Last, and I will definitely have a happy ending, where both of us will be safe and sound."

Bright light danced in the girl's dark purple eyes: "Fairy tales are fake, but love is real."

"Even though our story began with lies, I believe that even the soil made of lies can still produce true flowers."

"In that case——"

The beautiful handwriting slowly outlined the second half of the sentence in mid-air.

"That's enough."

Akshia stood up gently and looked directly into Lust's eyes.

The wind blows in from the other side of the sea, blowing across tens of thousands of hectares of mountains and the forests covering them. Thousands of treetops and branches sway in the wind, converging into waves that rise and fall one after another.

The layers upon layers of waves seemed to be a sea, a sea of ​​crimson trees.

"I know that everything we experienced back then, including the identities and relationship between the Queen and the waiter, was a coincidence caused by the influence of the night world and should not be taken seriously."

"It's like a performance with a script arranged by fate. When the performance ends, the actors will naturally disperse and return to their original lives."

"But, I think there should still be something left between us—"

Akshia took Last's hand and gently wrote on his palm with her fair fingers, writing quickly yet earnestly. The way she wrote so diligently made it seem as if she were anxiously and hopefully awaiting someone's response.

"I don't want to be like Luster and I in the real world, just acquaintances and ordinary classmates like before."

"I want to be friends with Rust."

"Not just friends who only drink and eat, but good friends who can truly understand each other and connect with each other's hearts..."

She raised her head slightly and looked up at Luster's face: "So, Luster——"

"Can you answer a question for me?"

When writing to this point, Akshia's handwriting became a little hesitant, but in the end, she wrote the line of questions on the palm of Rast's hand.

"If, that trip could happen again..."

"Laster, will you do the same as before, snatch my Star Cup and push me into the abyss?"

……

Feeling the slightly agitated touch coming from the palm of your hand.

Looking at Axia, who was like a kitten in front of him, looking up at him cautiously and vigilantly trying to figure out his expression, Rast's heart couldn't help but move slightly.

He knew that the girl in front of him, with eager hope in her eyes, was waiting for his answer.

And Rast also knew that as long as he gave a negative answer at this moment, the Death Girl in front of him would completely fall in love with him.

She is a miraculous creature of mixed blood of human and god, the most perfect offspring of the gods in this era.

After the remaining soul of the old God of Death was completely annihilated and disappeared into the abyss... Akxia became the sole successor to the "God of Death" sequence. There would be no further obstacles to her breaking through the legend and even ascending to the throne of God.

A powerful man who is destined to become a legend and even ascend to the throne of God is completely devoted to him... It is conceivable how much help this can bring to Last.

only--

Luster gently closed his eyes.

"If I had to do it again, I would still do it—"

"I betrayed you again and pushed you off the cliff."

Inherit the will of the shore guardians and become a partner of justice...

This was the source of power in the past life, in the desperate cycle of hundreds of years in Deep Blue Harbor, like a steam furnace core, supporting the empty and dilapidated body to keep moving forward.

It is this belief that has driven the creature named "Last" to survive to this day, and he will not betray this belief.

Hearing this, the glitter in Akshia's beautiful dark purple eyes dimmed a bit, and a hint of loss flashed across her face.

But the next moment, her eyes brightened again.

"but--"

Luster said softly, "Even if I have to face the remnant of the old god of death again and get hurt all over again, it doesn't matter."

"No matter how many times this happens, I will definitely break that ice coffin once again and pull you out of the abyss."

This seems like a somewhat twisted and meaningless choice.

After all, if the sole goal is to pursue "justice for the shore guardians," then simply taking Axia's Star Cup and then leaving it alone would be the optimal option with the least consumption and the most energy efficiency.

If it was for the pursuit of love, the pursuit of what Noah called "the primitive reproductive impulse between male and female creatures caused by the glands secreting stimulating hormones", then he should give Axia a direct negative answer now.

However, for Rast at this moment, this is the truest thought in his heart.

After choosing to embrace humanity, no longer being a machine, but living as a human being again - while basking in the glory of humanity, it also means that Rast must face the weakness of human nature.

Not willing to give up the ideal of being a "shore guard", but also wanting to embrace "humanity"... Such a road of "I want it all" will inevitably be more rugged and bumpy than an ordinary road.

But this is the path that Rast chose himself, so he will not regret it and will complete it no matter how ridiculous it is.

……

The last rays of sunset burned the entire sky into the color of flames.

In the increasingly dark night, listening to Last's answer, Akshia's beautiful dark purple eyes were brighter than ever.

But soon a hint of vigilance appeared in her eyes: "Could it be that what you just said was also made up by you, Last, to fool me?"

Luster shook his head.

No longer using words or text, but rather whispering under the moonlight, he conveyed his inner voice directly to Axia in the spiritual world: "No."

"Are you really not lying to me?"

"really not."

"Are you really not lying to me?"

"Really, really not."

……

The voice of the heart, which is conveyed directly between two hearts without the aid of words or text, is so childish, like the dialogue between children in a sullen state.

And after such a childish dialogue lasted for a while——

Rast felt that in the spiritual world of Moon Whispering, the voice of Axia quietly paused, and everything returned to silence again.

The next moment.

He saw the girl in front of him close her eyes, gently stand on tiptoes, and hug his neck.

Followed by.

A cold and wet touch.

It spread out little by little on one side of Rast's cheek.

At this moment, the sun sets and endless darkness engulfs the entire world.

Akshia's lips were cold and soft to the touch, but the girl in her arms was so warm and trembling slightly.

Your bond with Axia deepens, and the Fool's Library gains new power.

[[Death God] Axia's current bond level increased from 6 to 7]

[You have unlocked the new Night Blade Tome - "Angel of Death"]

In the suddenly flashing and constantly rhythmic azure light and shadow before my eyes.

In a trance, Last seemed to see the lively paradise city at the foot of the mountain again.

Anna, the head maid of the royal palace, who has served Her Majesty the Queen for many years...

The vice-captain of the Shore Guard team, and also the assistant director of their date...

A member of the team, the ponytailed girl Janice...

People who had passed away in the old era appeared beside them again at this moment, smiling as they watched the two people hugging on the cliff.

It seems like a celebration, but more like a blessing.

(End of this chapter)