Night World Players

Chapter 190: I Offer My Loyalty to You (Two in One)

The small room fell into a long silence.

After a long time, Ingrid walked out from the dark shadows.

There was a light surging in those beautiful eyes, representing Ingrid's constantly fluctuating emotions.

But in the end, the ups and downs in her eyes disappeared, returning to pure nothingness.

Under the light of the night light, a slight sound came from the intersection of shadow and light in the room. It was the sound of Ingrid kneeling on one knee.

Her right knee touched the ground, while her left knee remained upright. She lowered her head slightly, and her jet-black hair fell along with Ingrid's movements.

This was the ancient chivalric ceremony of the Granville Empire, a ritual by which knights swore allegiance to the monarch they served. At this moment, Ingrid made this gesture towards Last—

This means that Ingrid has already regarded herself as Rast's knight.

"That is my choice, Luster."

She knelt on one knee and tilted her head slightly.

Looking up at the young man with black hair and black eyes standing in front of him at the boundary between darkness and light.

"Ingrid, the former military inspector general who fell into evil to avenge her mother, her hands stained with blood, is now dead."

"He died at the Gustav Nuclear Power Plant that day, in that endless iron coffin in the deep sea."

"From now on, I will live only for you."

Ingrid looked up at the young man in the light, the dim candlelight reflected in her pupils like a misty sea of ​​stars.

"I will be the sharpest sword in your hand, slashing your enemies. I will also be the strongest shield before you, using my body to block disasters for you."

"Your mission is my mission, your will is my will."

"In the name of loyalty and righteousness, I will use my life to carry out your will—"

"Until the moment your limbs decay and your flesh withers, until life's end, until death separates you and me."

In the silent night, Ingrid knelt on one knee and recited the ancient testimony.

The Granville Empire is also known as the "Land of Summer Flowers" and the "Land of Knights."

This oath of loyalty sworn by a knight to his sovereign had been repeated thousands of times across the land of this kingdom, sung in the poems of countless bards and in the chivalric tales preserved in great libraries.

And at this moment, this ancient knight's testimony once again echoed under the same starry sky.

"So, please allow me to offer my loyalty to you...Last."

Amid the clanging sound of metal hitting the ground, Ingrid gently raised her right arm.

She used the metal prosthesis made of silver to hold up Rast's hand with extremely cautious movements.

Then, Ingrid lowered her head and kissed the back of the boy's hand.

"May I ask you something, my Lord?"

She remained kneeling on one knee, looking up at the young man in front of her, and spoke softly in a respectful voice.

"The organization you are about to establish..."

"What is the name of the place I need to join and will fight for my whole life to carry out your will?"

Listening to Ingrid's respectful words, Rust couldn't help but smile.

"Since you have already seen the memory crystals I left behind, Senior Sister."

"Then I think you should have heard the real name of this organization."

There was a slight pause in his words.

"Its name is—"

"The Shore Guardian"

……

"I understand. I know that for the next period of time, you will continue to focus on the strategy of the Night World."

"So, for the next period of time, I will secretly monitor the movements of Bronze Rose and Gravekeeper in the Western Continent."

"In addition, I will continue to collect clues and information related to the 'Fall of Canaan' incident two hundred years ago, as well as the Sixth Epoch Night World."

Ingrid's eyes flickered with the light of a candle lit late at night, and she spoke again in a pious and respectful voice.

"I am quite familiar with the Bronze Rose, the remnants of the nobles who fled beyond the border, and the Gravekeepers hiding behind the scenes."

"If we only gather intelligence without actually participating in the battle, I'm absolutely confident that the enemy won't notice."

"Then, allow me to take my leave, my Lord."

Ingrid once again gave Rast a standard knight's salute.

Her gaze paused for a moment on the empty bay window in Rast's room, but in the end she said nothing.

Ingrid retreated quietly and returned to the house late at night, into the darkness that had never been illuminated by candlelight.

After a few breaths, Rast felt the breath of Ingrid disappear silently, hidden in the seemingly endless darkness.

Just as she had come before, she came in the shadows and left in the shadows, committing herself to the darkness.

No one except Rast discovered her trace.

"As expected of the former head of the Military Inspection Department, his work style is so straightforward and efficient."

The silver-white light flashed and disappeared, and a furry ferret appeared in the bay window that was originally empty.

Then, it leaped lightly from the bay window and landed directly on Rast's shoulder.

"Besides, Little Lid's strength has improved a lot. Maybe she has already found her own legendary path... Did she sense my presence in the secondary dimension with that look just now?"

"You're right, considering your style of doing things in the night world, if you want to find an agent to carry out your will, then the person who is most suitable for the "Shore Keeper" organization is Lid—"

"Her style of action is extremely similar to yours. Both of you will do whatever it takes to achieve your goals, even to the point of risking your own life... When carrying out your missions, you will never be bound by worldly morals or laws. You can only describe her as ruthless and merciless."

“You two are a perfect match.” Dean Yin flicked his big, fluffy tail and perched on Rust’s shoulder, expressing his sincere sentiment.

"of course."

"If not, how could I possibly spend so much energy on my senior sister?"

Luster couldn't help but smile.

Including the time he spent sinking in the iron coffin in the deep sea, he has spent nearly four months on this. During these four months, Last did not even return to Star University once.

However, it was all worth it, and his efforts were rewarded.

As a subordinate and the executor of his own will, Ingrid's strength as a transcendent and her origin can only be described as impeccable.

Her professional background as the former director of the military's Inspectorate, her skills in infiltration, reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, tracking, assassination, etc.... are actually the areas that Ingrid is best at, and she has already honed them to perfection.

This is also the reason why Rast tried so hard to win Ingrid over.

After all, his own power is limited. If he can gain a loyal subordinate like Ingrid, then Last can secretly participate in this chess game planned on the Western Continent and exert his influence behind the scenes.

Although he is the heir of the "Fool's Library", Rast has a very clear understanding of himself.

The experience of surviving like a lone wolf in Deep Blue Harbor for three hundred years made it impossible for him to become a banner like Cecil, who had strong affinity and personal charm and could make countless people follow him subconsciously, nor could he become a true leader of a huge organization.

But, there's nothing wrong with that.

Surrounded by thousands of subjects, the king of lions who rules over the vast territory of the grassland has his own way of life.

The lone wolf, living alone and wandering in the wilderness, also has its own unique survival rules.

In the present world, on the Western Continent known as the Seventh Epoch, civilization is still in a state of prosperity and development. Although there are undercurrents, on the whole, it still maintains a superficial peace, which is completely different from the chaotic and disastrous scene in the Sixth Epoch.

Therefore, the shore keepers no longer need to establish a large and hierarchical organization to maintain the order of civilization as they did in the Sixth Age.

All we need to do is select a very small number of elites, hide in the darkness, and watch over the light of civilization.

However, regardless of the size of the organization, or the number of members, as long as they truly inherit the will of the "Shore Keeper"—

We are worthy of this ancient name that has been passed down from generation to generation until today.

"Also, Dean Yin."

Rast stroked the furry ferret on his shoulder.

"Old man, when will you ever stop chopping off the first and last characters of other people's names and then adding a 'xiao' to the front?"

"Little Tina, Little Xia, and now there's another 'Little Lid'..."

He felt that if he continued like this, he would become "Little Rast" sooner or later.

Of course, maybe this is already the name that Dean Yin has been calling me.

"But, having said that—"

Last restrained his complaints a little, and his words became slightly serious.

"If I remember correctly, Dean Yin, you used to address the seniors by their names, and never used a more intimate name like 'Little Lid'."

After spending a long time with this unreliable snow ferret dean, Last has figured out Dean Silver's temperament and many of his life habits.

Intimate names like "Little Tina" and "Little Xia" only appear to people like Hiltina and Axia, who have a very good relationship with Dean Yin.

As a magical animal with the body of a ferret but the ability to speak human language, Dean Yin's promotion path is different from that of ordinary human extraordinary people -

It does not require training and accumulation, but requires contact with humans with pure souls, and uses the method of understanding human souls to stimulate its own rank growth.

Just like Dean Yin's unique sequence long-order "Moon" - the moon itself cannot emit light. The reason why the bright moon in the night sky is so bright is because it reflects the light of the sun.

And if the sun does not exist, then the moon will no longer be the moon, but just an inconspicuous, dull and ordinary piece of rock in the deep space of the universe.

The same is true of Dean Yin's practice. Those shining and glittering souls are like the radiance of the sun... and only by feeling this light from the souls of others can the moon symbolized by Dean Yin shine equally brightly.

In Dean Yin’s own words—

Akshia, Shiltina...they are all my meal tickets.

And Last himself is the best and most special golden meal ticket among the several meal tickets collected by Dean Yin... Just one day of staying with Last is equivalent to ten days or even a month of hard training under normal circumstances.

That's why it ignored its own status and stuck to Laster all day and all night, as if it had really become a pet ferret... This Lengcai meal ticket was so tempting that Dean Yin completely abandoned his dignity as the head of the academy.

Because of this, Last remembered very clearly that Senior Ingrid was actually the type that Dean Yin disliked very much, and his fear of her was even more serious than his fear of Ophelia.

When Last and Ingrid first met, Dean Yin even hid himself and was unwilling to see Ingrid.

Unexpectedly, a year later, Ingrid became "Little Ingrid" in Dean Yin's mouth.

"In the past, I was indeed reluctant to associate with her... After all, she was too deep-minded and too shrewd, and she was calculating in her bones."

Dean Yin blinked his ruby-red eyes. "And the last time we went to the Arcane Tower, my instinctive aversion to her reached its peak."

"Thinking about it now, it's probably because little Lid was already pursuing revenge at all costs, committing countless crimes. Her hands were stained with blood, and her soul was corrupted and fell into the dark abyss."

"only--"

Dean Yin paused for a moment. "When everything was exposed and Lid chose to return to the Gustav Nuclear Power Plant to live out her life alone, her soul changed."

"The Ingrid of the past, with her many crimes and bloody hands, is dead."

"But Ingrid, who had lost her way in the past, has returned. She has regained the honor and glory she had abandoned and has been reborn."

"So I was certain from the beginning that little Lid would eventually choose to pledge allegiance to you and become your knight and agent."

Dean Yin's words dissipated in the night breeze of Starry University.

"A pair of eyes that have seen the light can no longer stand the darkness."

"And the brilliance that belongs to you, Rast, is so dazzling—"

"For her, who has already been in endless darkness, how could she not throw herself into the flame?"

(End of this chapter)