Chapter 174: Grant Me a Dream Named Canaan

In Rast’s hand, illusory specks of light began to gather.

Then, those specks of light condensed into a slightly yellowed book.

It was the very fairy tale book Akxia had once gifted him. Now that it had been completed with a proper ending, it had ascended into a final, sublimated form—

【The Long-Gone Ode of Yesterdays】

According to the item description provided by the Nightworld, any story written in one's own blood upon its blank pages would be woven and then materialized into a tangible reality.

To alter the world through one’s own imagination—this was, indeed, true “Imagination Realization.”

“I can’t use ordinary ink. Only the blood of Akxia and myself may be used to write?”

“And the story written must adhere to logic, possess a degree of plausibility, for it to be materialized into reality… Beyond that, there are numerous restrictions, including limitations tied to the target’s tier.”

Rast stared at the cerulean screen before him.

“For example—at my current tier, if I were to try writing the death of a Legendary figure into this book... then the result would either be that nothing happens at all, or I suffer a massive backlash, while that Legendary figure remains completely unharmed.”

“But setting aside those restrictions, I suppose I’ve become a man of ‘Word Manifestation’.”

“Just like those fantasy novels from my past life... to speak laws into existence, or rather, ‘One Word Becomes Law Across the World.’”

Rast couldn’t help but smile.

With a thought, the yellowed book dissolved back into illusory specks of light, returned into his body, and vanished from sight.

Rast then shifted his attention to another piece of Crest Equipment.

【Chapter of the Fire Thief】

【Category: Crest Equipment (Second Sublimation)】

【Description: This was once the emblem worn by a traitor. The deep gash engraved upon its silver face bears witness to a bone-deep betrayal on a rainy night, and the anguished cry of a girl’s shattered dream atop a cliff.

Such unforgettable hatred—the chain of loathing between an innocent girl and a heartless betrayer—was meant to persist forever, eventually forming a vortex of resentment beyond salvation.

However, at the story’s end, by the broken coastline scattered with rubble and jagged reefs, the girl learned the full truth. Misunderstandings and hatred were resolved, and the chains of enmity dispersed under the morning light.

This winged emblem was no longer a mark of a traitor. It had been sublimated into a symbol.

A symbol of the original ‘Fire Thief’—】

【In the distant past, so ancient that the Age of Gods can no longer be verified, the King of Gods among the clouds refused to grant fire to the mortal world. The world was shrouded in darkness, and mankind could only crawl in the shadows.

Then, a god named Prometheus stole the spark of fire from the Sun God’s chariot and gifted it, along with all knowledge pertaining to fire, to humanity living upon the earth.

From then on, flames lit up the land. People built bonfires to fend off wild beasts, and never again would anyone lose their way in the dark. Across the vast wastelands flickered the torchlight of travelers, like a sea of dim, twinkling stars.

But such an act defied the divine will. The King of Gods grew enraged and bound the Fire Thief to a steep cliff with unbreakable iron chains. Nails made of diamond pierced his chest.

He was never allowed to sleep, his exhausted knees could never bend, and each day an eagle would devour his liver. By night, the liver would regenerate, only to be eaten again the next day.

Such was the tale of the original Fire Thief.

One of the gods in the clouds, he fell to the mortal earth for the sake of humankind—insignificant as ants—and was nailed to a cliff, enduring the ceaseless agony of being devoured day and night.】

【Now, though the original Fire Thief has long perished, his spirit has been passed down alongside the fire, from generation to generation, until this very day. And you are one of his successors.

Even if that ideal and spirit have long since been weathered and eroded by your endless days in Deep Blue Port—twisted, reversed, and ultimately fallen into the pitch-black abyss—

Still, the ‘Ally of Justice,’ when darkened and reversed, becomes something else entirely—

The so-called ‘Nemesis of Evil,’ does it not?】

【Equipment Effect: When the equipment bearer is in combat against a target with the ‘Enemy of Mankind’ trait, all inflicted damage is increased by 100%.】

“The opposite of the ‘Ally of Justice’—”

“—is the ‘Nemesis of Evil,’ huh?”

Rast murmured softly as he looked at the cerulean screen before him.

The Crest Equipment once called the “Winged Emblem of the Betrayer” had once granted him a tenfold increase in lethality when backstabbing for the first time.

It was precisely thanks to that tenfold first-strike backstab bonus that Rast had been able to cripple Noah’s Legendary incarnation with a single Holy Grenade in the Nether Abyss… and win enough time to carry out a series of follow-up actions, including rescuing Akxia from the Ice Coffin.

However, as the term implies, backstab and first-strike bonuses only took effect the first time they were used.

After completing the current Nightworld mission and returning once again to the Shoreguards faction—completely tearing off all pretense with the Gravekeepers… this piece of Crest Equipment had become useless to him.

After all, the Gravekeepers were not fools. After suffering a loss once, they would surely strengthen their defenses… and it wasn’t realistic for him to play the double-agent spy every time he entered the Nightworld, spending massive time infiltrating the enemy just to find a chance to backstab.

Such a plan was merely a risky maneuver. It could work occasionally as a surprise tactic, but using it as a routine method was unfeasible.

Now that the “Winged Emblem of the Betrayer” had sublimated into the “Chapter of the Fire Thief,” while it had lost the backstab bonus, it had gained a special attack effect against the “Enemy of Mankind,” making it a rather worthwhile upgrade.

An item with an extremely restrictive trigger condition—only usable in specific situations—had been transformed into a permanent buff effective in most cases.

After all, by the character of the Sixth Era’s Nightworld, whether it was the Iron Cross Clan, the Beast Tide, or those Cult Groups, all of them genuinely threatened the survival of Human Civilization and carried the “Enemy of Mankind” trait, qualifying for the special attack bonus.

This even included the Gravekeepers—whom Rast perceived as enemies genuinely obstructing the survival of Human Civilization—they too fell under the “Enemy of Mankind” targeting scope.

“From this perspective, maybe I really could hypnotize myself, convince myself the other party is an ‘Enemy of Mankind’... Just like Saint George, I say you’re a dragon, then you are a dragon.”

“That way, no matter who I’m facing, I could always trigger the special attack bonus and become a permanent 100% damage buff.”

“But… if I were under self-hypnosis, I’d probably lose my identity as a ‘Fire Thief,’ and no longer be able to serve as this Crest Equipment’s bearer. I didn’t expect the Nightworld to account for that loophole too. It really patched the bug.”

Rast smiled and shook his head. He picked up the worn Shoreguard Winged Emblem and carefully tucked it close to his body.

Then, he turned his attention to the final Nightworld mission reward.

【Your Inherent Skill "Heart of Steel Forging" has sublimated into "Iron Heart Firmament"】

【Iron Heart Firmament】

【Category: Inherent Skill】

【An unending same day, time looping over and over, a stagnant life—these are not blessings to humanity, but the most despairing of curses… No matter how sincere the emotions, how fervent the ideals, in the face of prolonged time, they will ultimately decay, deteriorate, and turn to empty dust.

Devoid of memories and stripped of the past, one lives on like a walking corpse. The youth forsook morality and reshaped his mind into a machine, operating like gears.

In the Crimson Wasteland of his Mental Image World, aside from desolate ruins and giant gears that turned like an iron refinery, there was nothing else.

It was a Mental Image far beyond what any normal person could possess, a steel land where no living being could survive. Even the dim sky, and the gray and milky-white clouds, were all forged from iron and fire—the Iron Heart Firmament.

This soul of steel, forged from iron, could even devour the lingering Divine Thoughts of Old Gods without the slightest hint of corruption or wavering.

So then… just what kind of person could possibly melt your heart of stone?】

【Skill Effect: Your Rationality permanently fixed at 99; you are permanently immune to all hypnosis, enchantment, mental control, corruption, and pollution statuses.】

【Any hypnosis, mind-reading, soul probing, or memory-extraction ability used against you will backfire at 100% value upon the caster】

“No longer like the previous ‘Heart of Steel Forging,’ which merely greatly enhanced my resistance.”

“But rather, it directly fixes my SAN value permanently at full?”

Rast was momentarily startled as he read the skill description for “Iron Heart Firmament.”

It was his first time seeing such absolute, unyielding declarative statements used in Nightworld’s description text.

Typically, even truly overpowered skills like Akxia’s “Angel of Death’s Edict” or Grey’s “Fate” Sequence would come with a myriad of conditions, including tier-based restrictions.

For instance, even Akxia at Sixth Tier couldn’t directly kill a Legendary with a death Word Manifestation, and Grey’s Time Rewind and World Stagnation likewise couldn’t affect Legendary beings directly.

But the “Iron Heart Firmament” skill was different.

In the description, the Nightworld had used an absolute, unrestricted declarative tone.

In other words, even if a true god—currently in their prime and four entire Major Tiers above Rast, who stood at the peak of Fifth Tier—were to appear before him…

That full-powered true god could certainly kill Rast’s body, obliterate his soul, grind him down, slice him into a thousand pieces…

But even such a god still could not alter Rast’s memories, corrupt his mind, or forcibly convert him into a willing believer.

That was the essence of “Go ahead, kill me”—“You can have my body, but you’ll never get my heart.”

“Why does it feel like this ‘Iron Heart Firmament’ passive is particularly suited for a female lead in an ero-game or doujin…”

Rast lightly shook his head and expelled the absurd thoughts that had surfaced.

Blame it on Leader Sisel. If not for him awakening Rast’s humanity in the Nether Abyss… such ridiculous thoughts would never have occurred to his past self.

With that in mind, Rast withdrew his attention from the Crest Equipment and Inherent Skill granted as mission rewards.

He gradually calmed his spirit and immersed his consciousness deep into his soul.

At the edge of the spiritual ocean, amidst the winds and tides of the Soul Sea, stood tall—

A pitch-black tower.

“The Fool’s Library.”

He softly spoke the name of that dark tower.

This was the Nightblade Rast himself possessed.

And after traversing the Sixth Era’s Nightworld, Rast could now confirm that this library hidden within his soul was not born solely from his own Mental Image landscape.

It was the manifestation of a fireseed—stolen by the first generation from the Gravekeepers and passed down through generations of Shoreguards—in the form of a “Nightblade.”

The very moment he left Deep Blue Port and became a Night Traveler… he awakened the “Fool’s Library” Nightblade.

This could not have happened without reason.

Yet prior to this, Rast truly had no knowledge of the Fool’s Library.

The only reasonable explanation was that in his past—before being trapped in Deep Blue Port—something had happened.

Something long since eroded by the three hundred years of endless time loops within Deep Blue Port… something he had forgotten.

Once, there had been a Shoreguard. When Rast was still young and naive, that person passed on the fireseed known as the “Fool’s Library” to him.

Just as Sisel had passed on his own fireseed to his chosen successor, Grey.

Only—

Rast’s gaze turned slightly distant.

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In his mind, certain memories—long since faded with time, leaving behind only fragments—resurfaced... memories belonging to the border town of Canaan.

Collapsed walls, fallen floorboards, hot winds laced with smoke, metal pipes twisted and deformed under high heat... and a sky burned red and black by thick smoke and raging fire.

And that woman—who, upon finding the still-living him amidst the burning ruins—showed a heartfelt smile.

Though the woman’s face had grown blurred in his fragmented memory, Rast still remembered that smile—

Perhaps it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life.

It was also the very moment when Rast first heard the term “Shoreguards.”

If he were to say where the fireseed burning fiercely in his chest, named “The Fool’s Library,” most likely originated from—

The only answer would naturally be that woman, who rescued him from the burning wreckage and instilled within him the ideals of the “Shoreguards.”

“So...”

“Are you the one I think you are?”

Rast’s soft murmur was met with no reply.

Immediately after, the grand library landscape unfolded quietly before his eyes.

It appeared to be a pitch-black tower, and Rast stood at its base, surrounded by endless darkness, with only distant starlight glimmering faintly.

In the deep shadows stretched twenty-one pale stairways, extending upward from the ground beneath Rast’s feet, leading all the way to the top of the tower, to the far end of deep space.

Rast slowly surveyed the surroundings, scanning each of the twenty-one pale stairways one by one.

At the base of some stairways stood illusory doorways, entwined with golden chains—sealed under certain shackles, seemingly impossible to lift.

However, unlike the first time Rast entered the interior of “The Fool’s Library,” when only the “Tower” and “War Chariot” stairways were unlocked—

Now, nearly half the stairways had already been unsealed.

Faint specks of light quietly gathered on the cleared stairways, forming illusory cards.

The backs of the cards bore symbols representing their respective Sequences, while the fronts displayed portraits of characters who had formed bonds of fate with Rast.

“My own ‘Tower,’ Shiltina’s ‘War Chariot,’ Professor Barbalossa’s ‘Forest,’ Leader Sisel’s ‘Sun,’ Dean Silver’s ‘Moon,’ Little Grey’s ‘Fate,’ Ishta’s ‘Hermit,’ Akxia’s ‘Death God’...”

“To think that, without even realizing it, I’ve already unlocked as many as eight Sequence Long Stairs...”

Rast looked at the gently rotating, softly glowing cards and couldn’t help but murmur in quiet reflection.

Back when he first opened the Fool’s Library, he never would have imagined such a sight.

Yet when Rast’s gaze fell upon the “Sun” Sequence Long Stair, and upon the card bearing the image of an old man with graying hair, dressed in linen and holding a smoking pipe—his expression inevitably dimmed slightly.

Behind the 【‘Sun’ · Sisel】 card, the stairway stretching into deep space was completely bathed in bright, blazing sunlight.

Each level of the stairway was clearly defined, and atop them, illusory Sinful Tomes began to materialize.

This was the final gift Sisel, in his role as elder, had left for Rast.

All the abilities and knowledge he had developed within the “Sun” Sequence—including even “Supernova Explosion” and the birth of the “Black Hole”—had been transformed into Sinful Tomes of the Fool’s Library and entrusted to Rast as a legacy.

From that moment on, Rast no longer needed to unlock Bond Levels for the “Sun” Sequence.

As long as his own tier reached the required height and he could bear the corresponding price, all Sinful Tomes of the Sun Sequence would be available to him freely.

That old man had truly spent his life lighting up the dark night.

At the same time, amid the radiant sunlight piercing the veil and illuminating the misty stairways, lines of pale golden text gradually appeared before Rast’s eyes, fragmenting into golden traces of flowing light.

【Received inheritance of homologous knowledge】

【Current number of unlocked Sinful Tomes has surpassed the threshold; “The Fool’s Library” power has further awakened】

【Sequence Long Stair restriction lifted—abilities from different cards and different Sequences may be used simultaneously】

【Sinful Tome slot limitation lifted—so long as spiritual power is sufficient to support the cost, multiple Sinful Tomes may be used at the same time without being restricted by slot count】

“In other words, if I’m not worried about being drained dry of spiritual power and turning into a vegetative soul from overexertion…”

“Now that I’ve reached the peak of Fifth Tier, I can essentially consider myself to have stepped onto eight Sequence Long Stairs and become someone who can use multiple Nightblades simultaneously.”

“Feels like my progression is really starting to resemble a young version of God.”

As he analyzed the bountiful rewards from the Nightworld mission and the growth he had obtained, Rast couldn’t help but murmur quietly.

If one day he could unlock all twenty-one Sequence Long Stairs and master their highest-tier Sinful Tomes…

That would mean all the rules and Authorities of this world would fall into his hands.

It would truly be the mark of an “Omniscient and Omnipotent One.”

Compared to the Old Gods of the Age of Gods—who only reached the apex of a single Sequence—such an Omniscient and Omnipotent being would be the real deity, or rather—

“God.”

...

Such thoughts only briefly flickered through Rast’s heart.

In the end, he was still merely at the peak of Fifth Tier.

Relying on the Fool’s Library, and the Crest Equipment and numerous external means he had accumulated far beyond his tier… perhaps he could still contend with ordinary Sixth Tier peak powerhouses.

But his recent experiences in the Nightworld had also granted Rast a deeper understanding of the Legendary tier.

Even if the enemy had only been a Bounty Incarnation formed by half the spirit power of a true Legendary being—

Even after devouring the Remnant of the Death God and borrowing the power of the entire Nether Abyss, even wielding a Forbidden Weapon like the “Sword of Zenith”… even so, Rast had only managed to annihilate Noah’s Bounty Incarnation at the cost of nearly perishing together—its danger was beyond words.

Without the Nightworld’s Nether Abyss enhancement, there remained a nearly insurmountable gulf between himself and the Legendary.

Let alone the true gods who stood above the Legendary tier… the distance was simply too vast to dwell on.

With such thoughts, Rast slowly raised his hand.

In the next moment, silvery-blue light swirled around his fingers.

Then, it slowly converged into a heavy revolver engraved with the Iron-Crested Moon.

Rast calmly raised the revolver and pointed it at his temple.

He closed his eyes, feeling the accelerating rhythm of his heart and the complex emotions slowly filling his chest.

There was the joy and anticipation of returning to Canaan and seeing that blonde-haired girl once more.

And also, after confirming certain facts in the Nightworld, a trace of hesitation and apprehension at coming home.

But in the end, he gently pulled the trigger.

Boom—

With a mechanical click, the preset mental suggestion was activated, sending Rast into a boundless void.

...

When Rast regained consciousness from the haze, the veil of night before him had already vanished.

A cerulean sky.

Beneath the blue dome, mountains layered and towering, with snow-capped peaks.

And from beyond the window came the sound of bagpipes echoing across the border town.

Everything before his eyes felt like the echo of an old dream.

Outside the door, the bubbling of soup and porridge was accompanied by a girl’s light humming.

It made the newly awakened Rast ever more uncertain where the line between dream and reality lay.

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