Night World Players

Chapter 238 Next, the real killing move begins.

"meteor?"

In the palace gardens, Hiltina stopped drawing her sword.

She subconsciously looked up at the sky shrouded in twilight.

A crimson meteor streaked across the silent night, its blood-red brilliance illuminating Hiltina's eyes.

In the ancient legends of the Western Continent, the blood-red meteor is also known as the "disaster star," and its appearance is an ominous sign.

Today, with the improvement of science and technology and the public's level of understanding, people are no longer superstitious... but "disaster stars" are still an extremely rare astronomical phenomenon, appearing only once every many years.

But Hiltina quickly noticed something amiss: the trajectory of the crimson meteor did not originate from the end of the sky, but from the earth.

Within that crimson radiance lay an indescribable sense of destruction and death, as if it had already burned its own body and soul before even hitting its target, thus unleashing its most dazzling splendor.

It looked so familiar to her.

In a fraction of a second, Hiltina realized the source of this inexplicable sense of familiarity—

That was a superior skill that her own Nightblade "Infinite Sword" had recently mastered, even more powerful than "True Name Liberation"—"Fantasy Collapse".

That feeling of destruction, deathly silence, and annihilation... can only be released when the most basic structure that constitutes a fantasy weapon is completely destroyed and disintegrated—it is an ultimate explosion that is relentless, yet also a final swan song before destruction.

But that was clearly a Nightblade skill that only he possessed.

Because the cost of using it was too high, to the point of being almost unbearable, even Hiltina herself only simulated and deduced it in her mind, and never actually used "Fantasy Collapse" in actual combat.

But at this moment, that shooting star that pierced the night sky was undoubtedly a "fantasy collapse".

In Hiltina's mind, there was only one person who could replicate the Nightblade wielded by another and make it their own—

Rast.

In that instant, the "hyperintuition" of the chariot sequence erupted in Hiltina's heart with an extremely sharp alarm, like a mournful cry.

Only now did Hiltina suddenly realize the truth she had unconsciously ignored for over a month—

Whether it was herself, the quasi-angelic tomb keeper, or the empire's ruler Aaron... they all subconsciously overlooked the existence of Rust himself in this game between the tomb keeper and the royal family.

For Hiltina, Rast was someone she subconsciously wanted to protect. He was as vulnerable as a kitten in front of the quasi-angel of the gravedigger, making her want to protect him. But if Hiltina didn't choose to obey her father's will, complete the wedding, draw the holy sword, and inherit the throne... then she wouldn't have the power to protect him.

For Aaron, Rast was a qualified and satisfactory son-in-law... and also a bargaining chip for him to force Hiltina to step down and inherit the throne.

For the tomb keeper, Rast is merely a prize placed on the gambling table. Whoever wins the game against the royal family can take away this prize called "The Guardian".

Everyone assumed that Rust would definitely attend the wedding.

Just like in the game of eagle catching chicks... the vulnerable, defenseless chicks will obediently follow their mother hen, huddling behind her outstretched wings to avoid the eagle's clutches.

But Rusty is not a helpless chick that can only rely on its mother hen for protection; nor is it a cute cat or dog that only hides behind its owner and acts cute.

She's not like those hero-versus-dragon games where she obediently gets kidnapped by the dragon, her only purpose being to become the hero's spoils of war after the hero defeats the dragon, a decorative princess who's just there to complete a cutscene.

Hiltina already knew this back in Deep Blue Harbor—

Beneath the handsome and beautiful appearance of the young man lies... a demon who has returned from hell, a demon whose presence even the abyss trembles at.

And a demon who has wandered in hell for hundreds of years, after finally returning to the human world and discovering the object of his long-standing revenge... how could the thoughts that arise in his heart be fear and escape, but rather ecstasy?

Just as a champion of justice needs a "dragon" that must be defeated to realize its own self-worth...

It wasn't just the Gravekeeper who saw Rast and the "Library of Fools" on him as prey. From the very beginning, the moment the Gravekeeper quasi-angel appeared, Rast also saw him as his prey.

Even if he chooses to hunt this prey, it's the price of pursuing his ideals—

It means "shattered to pieces".

boom--

He could no longer care about the holy sword still stuck in the rock, nor could he care about the various dignitaries and bishops who had been invited to the grand hall in the distance, waiting for the wedding of Hiltina and Rast to begin...

Hiltina stomped her foot on the ground and rose into the air.

Her figure transformed into a streak of red and white light, hurtling straight toward the end of the meteor's trajectory in the sky.

……

The sound disappeared.

Next to disappear is the color.

The world became silent, with only the gushing hot starlight remaining.

There was no gap in the passage, nor was there any opportunity to dodge.

Even a quasi-angel with such powerful intuition that it defies logic, and who can even "predict the future" to some extent, could never sense the murderous intent suddenly emanating from a stone.

Just as the tomb keeper, who was delivering the intelligence, noticed something amiss, the crimson bullet formed from the illusionary collapse of the "Seven Domains" struck his heart.

Then, it collapsed.

The chain reaction of collapse began to spread endlessly, not just from that bullet formed from fantasy, but by forcibly imposing that hysterical command of destruction and decay upon everything it touched—

Whether it was the tomb keeper's flesh and blood, the walls of the entire house, or the surrounding earth...

Everything was connected and swallowed up, heading towards the distant other side of the night sky.

Then, explode.

The mark of light was imprinted on the sky, turning the entire night sky outside the capital city crimson.

Followed by.

From a very far distance...

The blast arrived at the capital a little later, blowing away the rain clouds, shaking the houses, overturning the mountains and forests, shaking the earth, and sweeping past.

The earth was scorched, turning into pale ashes. Not only that house, but the surrounding area for nearly a kilometer... both rocks and forests were annihilated into nothingness, leaving only a bottomless, enormous crater.

If the tomb keeper hadn't specifically chosen a secluded and deserted dwelling to avoid suspicion, the area would likely have been devastated long ago.

At the bottom of the pit, only pure white crystalline solids remained, remnants of the heat.

Hiltina's "Infinity Blade" - truly worthy of being rated as "forbidden" by only two other weapons in the Mystic Tower, a super-specification Nightblade capable of threatening even the legendary.

After Rust, at the peak of the sixth rank, activated the highest-level ability of "Infinite Sword," "Fantasy Collapse," the destructive power he unleashed completely surpassed the legendary realm.

If it were an ordinary legend, suffering such a blow without any warning, they would surely have been evaporated without a trace.

but--

Within the vast, chaotic pit shrouded in smoke and dust, a magnificent figure suddenly rose into the air, accompanied by a deafening roar.

It was a creature with prominent horns and antlers, and behind it were a pair of membranous wings covered with jet-black scales.

With its wings outstretched, it was already suspended a thousand meters in the air, looking down at the earth with a majestic gaze.

With wings that blot out the sky and a majestic presence, he resembles an angel acting on behalf of the gods.

In fact, this gravedigger was indeed qualified to call himself an "angel".

Each member of the Tomb Keepers imprints their own destiny on the "Eternal Night Stele." This imprint, in most cases, is a blessing, allowing them to return from history even in death.

For example, during the Battle of the Broken Shore, if Cecil hadn't used a "pseudo-black hole" to erase all of Noah's information state... then even if Cecil's supernova explosion was incredibly powerful, Noah would have been able to revive from the astral plane after a long period of slumber.

But for those tomb guardians who have transcended the legendary realm and aspire to become angels, the inscription on the "Eternal Night Stele" has become a shackle—

His destiny was confined to that small stone tablet, preventing him from retracing time like other true angels and leaving his mark at different points and moments in the river of history.

Aside from the difference in the realm of time, this tomb guardian is an angel.

That majestic, dragon-like figure, with its membranous wings that blot out the sky and covered in jet-black scales, is a symbol that He has already touched the realm of angels... Although He has a human appearance, the essence of each angel's life has long since transcended the human realm and entered the realm of mythical creatures.

The tomb keeper hangs high in the sky, overlooking the entire forest shrouded in night, searching for the source of the meteor trail that attacked him.

Soon, He fixed His gaze on the platform halfway up the mountain used to monitor forest fires, and on the platform, on the boy who was holding the shattered remains of a sniper rifle and looking up at Him.

“Raster, the shorekeeper…”

"So that's how it is. That attack that almost threatened my life just now was because you exhausted the power of 'The Fool's Library,' which is why you used it?"

High above, the tomb keeper spoke with authority.

His voice contained both joy and a barely suppressed anger.

The anger stemmed from the fact that he had been injured by an ant who hadn't even reached the legendary level, but was merely at the peak of the sixth rank.

The crimson streak of light that pierced his chest just now contained a destructive impulse that still terrifies him. Even as a mythical creature, being caught off guard by such an attack caused him considerable damage.

As a quasi-angel, even ordinary legends are weaklings in His eyes, let alone an ant that is not even a legend.

What's delightful is—

Last, the target of his operation, did not hide, but instead chose to show himself.

The other party possesses the protection left behind by the angel of fate, Grey, rendering all prophecies and divination ineffective against them...

If the other party is truly determined to hide and refuses to show themselves no matter how dire the situation becomes, and if the Empire refuses to cooperate with the tomb keepers in the search for them, then he really has no way to deal with Rast.

Unexpectedly, the other party actually came to us.

After that shot, his fate became inextricably intertwined with that of Rust, which meant that the fog of fate would be greatly reduced, and Rust would have no chance of escape.

"The reason you chose to show yourself first and strike me first is because the 'Library of Fools' gave you that confidence, isn't it?"

"Admittedly, that sniping attack was powerful, even enough to wipe out an unsuspecting legend, but it is still nothing compared to mine."

"What distinguishes the ant from the sacred is power."

The tomb keeper said softly, "People always think that they can steal the power of the gods with science and technology."

"As long as you persevere in your development, one day you will be able to reach the realm of gods with your mortal body. But in reality, you are still very, very far away..."

"These are the angels of the divine realm, so different from lowly ants like humans... as far apart as the distance between heaven and earth."

A majestic voice swept in with the gale, causing the entire observatory where Last was located to sway precariously. The metal fragments of the "Seven-Dimensional Domain" were scattered by the gale, falling to the ground in scattered pieces.

This is the power of angels; they can transform into tangible natural phenomena with just a word or a thought, without even needing to take any actual action.

However, when faced with the quasi-angelic guardian of the tomb who looked down at him like a messenger of God, Raste only slightly raised his head.

"It's clearly just a fake, but it talks like it's the real deal."

“A true angel’s wings wouldn’t be as ugly as yours, neither human nor dragon, like a mixed-blood monstrous creature.”

Rast looked up at the tomb keeper in the distant sky and murmured to himself.

He couldn't help but recall the Amys he had seen in the Night World, the beautiful posture of that mechanical angel spreading her steel wings, which was far beyond the reach of this half-human, half-dragon hybrid in front of him.

"besides……"

In Last's hand, a pale silver light slowly gathered.

It was a revolver, a heavy-duty revolver called "Iron Moon".

Then, he raised the muzzle of his revolver and slowly aimed it at his temple.

"Okay."

"Next... is the real killing move."

(End of this chapter)