Chapter 179: Akxia's Kiss

Climbing over the final slope, the twilight surged into Rast’s vision like a tide.

The sunset that nearly set the entire sky ablaze, and the girl standing gracefully at the edge of the cliff... everything felt so familiar.

At the far edge of the horizon, the sun disk touching the sea surface was blazing in brilliance, yet radiated a gentle warmth.

Just like that final journey before the collapse of the Nether Abyss an entire era ago… clearly a fairy tale born of hollow lies, and yet it carried a burning warmth, flowing from the distant Sixth Era to the present day.

For a moment, everything felt as if it had returned to the Sixth Era. He was no longer Night Traveler Rast, but rather a Shoreguard squad captain ordered to infiltrate Paradise...

And she was not Student Council President Akxia of Starfall University, but the ruler of the Netherrealm, the caged bird-like Queen of Paradise.

...

Rast stepped forward lightly and came to the cliff's edge.

Before his eyes, soft glowing ice-blue light spots outlined clearly legible characters in midair—"Rast, long time no see (^▽^)"

Whether it was the graceful handwriting or the emoji at the end, Rast was deeply familiar with them—that was the expression of this girl, who was poor at words due to her lack of social interaction, trying hard and clumsily to convey her heart to him.

From the look of it, judging by the emoji... Akxia must be in quite a good mood now.

He walked to the cliffside and silently gazed into the distance with Akxia.

It was a scenery nearly identical to what they had seen back in the Nightworld, nearly indistinguishable. But now, witnessing it again, Rast’s mood was utterly different.

After all, back then he had been under immense pressure, with many tasks still waiting for him...

Whether it was the betrayal, using his own body to fuse with the Death God’s Star Cup, the farewell in the rainy night with Grey that drove the girl to grow through bitter betrayal, or the performance with Sisel to feign alliance with the Gravekeepers through a bitter ruse... each was a daunting ordeal, a single misstep leading to inevitable death.

Because of that, no matter how beautiful the cliffside view was that evening, Rast had neither the state of mind nor the energy to appreciate it.

But his current state was completely different.

Having exited the Nightworld, with the bloody battle of the Nether Abyss, the revived Old Gods, and the mission of the Shoreguards all infinitely distant, none of it mattered anymore.

Only at this moment did Rast finally feel like he could, like a normal person, enjoy the view before his eyes...

No longer a transient of this world, a wandering spirit, but as Emis had said—he was now truly "living in this world again."

Seeing Rast beside her, Akxia turned around once more and sat down on the cliff.

Her legs dangled aimlessly in midair, while she left an empty spot beside her, beckoning to Rast in invitation.

Seeing this, Rast followed the invitation and sat down beside her.

“It really... has been a long time.”

He took out paper and pen, writing in a blank journal—this was the method of communication he had grown used to during his time as a servant in the Royal City of Paradise’s palace with Her Majesty the Queen.

Even after an entire era had passed, the habit of communication between them had not faded, and remained as tacit as ever.

“Although, from my own sense of time, it’s only been a few months... for you, Akxia, it must have been quite a long era.”

“After all, for you, you’ve been asleep from the Sixth Era until the present point in the Present World, only awakening again a few years ago.”

“Still, I must admit I’m a little surprised…”

Rast’s pen paused slightly.

“Didn’t you feel angry, Akxia? Angry that I hid my identity from you back then, approached you under the guise of a servant, and even stabbed you in the back to take the Death God’s Star Cup.”

“Although, there were reasons behind all of it, choices forced by necessity…”

He stopped writing and spoke softly, “But no matter what, I did deceive your feelings, and let down the trust you placed in me back then.”

At this very moment, from the standpoint of someone who had already cleared the Echo of History, looking back once more on all he experienced in that Nightworld—

Rast believed that, for the most part, he had done decently.

Though far from flawless, he had done his utmost with what he had at the time to achieve the best he could.

But with Akxia alone... Rast truly felt guilty in his heart.

That girl had lived from childhood in a tower without windows, raised in a palace that was no more than a cage, able only to glimpse fragments of daylight through occasional cracks.

And he had used that girl’s innocence and longing for the outside world, deceiving her to accomplish his own goals.

No matter what hidden truths or difficult circumstances lay behind it, no matter how righteous and unimpeachable the goal of justice for the Shoreguards may have been, the betrayal and deception toward Akxia undeniably existed...

It was a fact that could never be denied, no matter how much he tried to cover it up or lie to himself.

Yet, before Rast could finish speaking, he felt a pale fingertip gently press against his lips.

"No, I’m not angry."

The ice-blue crystalline script shimmered faintly in the twilight.

"Because, I know you had no other choice, didn’t you, Rast?"

Akxia silently gazed down at the sea dyed crimson by the glow of dusk.

Back in the Sixth Era, it was called the Lightless Sea. In its depths lurked terrifying forbidden lifeforms. Any ship that strayed from the guidance of the lighthouse along the Fractured Coastline had only one fate in the Lightless Sea: to sink.

But now, though it was the same sea, it had a completely different face. The surface glittered peacefully under a calm breeze.

From time to time, fishing boats passed over the water, dragging in tons of catch in their nets, projecting an air of serenity and harmony.

"The books say that relationships where you only enjoy happiness together, smile when others serve your interests, and turn your back the moment your own interests are hurt… those are mere fair-weather friendships."

"Only relationships where both sides can understand each other, empathize with one another’s struggles, and genuinely put themselves in each other’s shoes..."

"Where you’re willing to support the other, even at the cost of your own benefit... only that is true friendship, a genuine bond between souls."

She gently turned her head, withdrawing her gaze from the crimson sea far in the distance.

Akxia looked at Rast, her dark violet eyes shimmering with an unmistakable sincerity.

"I’m actually not as naïve and ignorant as you imagined, Rast."

"Though I didn’t understand at first, later on, I began to notice certain things... like the fact that you were from the Shoreguards, or the teammates who secretly aided us whenever we left the palace to explore."

The graceful ice-blue script paused slightly: "But I think, none of that really matters."

"That time I went into the Divination House... that petite grey-haired diviner told me—between Rast and me, there will definitely be a perfect ending, one where both of us come through unscathed."

In the girl's dark violet eyes danced a bright glimmer: "Fairy tales may be false, but love is real."

"Even if our story began in illusion, I believe that even from soil built on lies, true flowers can bloom."

"If that’s the case—"

The graceful script slowly traced the latter half of the sentence in midair.

"Then that’s already enough."

Akxia slowly stood up and met Rast’s eyes.

The wind blew from beyond the sea, sweeping over tens of thousands of hectares of mountain ridges and forest canopies. The countless treetops and branches swayed with the wind, forming waves that surged and fell.

Those layers upon layers of rustling leaves were like a sea too—a vast sea of crimson trees.

"I know everything we went through back then—the roles of queen and servant—were all fleeting acts brought about by the influence of the Nightworld, a game of fate, nothing to be taken seriously."

"It was like a performance with a prewritten script arranged by destiny. And once the curtains fell, each actor would return to their original life."

"But I think... there were still things left behind between us—"

Akxia took Rast’s hand and began writing hurriedly but earnestly in his palm with her pale fingers.

Her frantic writing seemed like she was waiting anxiously and hopefully for someone’s answer.

"I don’t want us to return in this real world to being just classmates who nod in passing, acquaintances who met only once."

"I want to be friends with Rast."

"Not fair-weather friends, but true ones, who understand and connect from the soul..."

She raised her head slightly, looking up at Rast’s face: "So, Rast—"

"Can you answer a question for me?"

As she wrote this, Akxia’s script wavered slightly with hesitation, but in the end, she still finished the line in Rast’s palm.

"If that day’s journey could happen all over again..."

"Would you still do the same, Rast? Take my Star Cup and push me into the Nether Abyss?"

...

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Feeling the faintly stirring sensation in his palm.

Seeing Akxia before him, looking up like a cautious kitten, carefully observing his expression, Rast’s heart couldn’t help but stir.

He knew, the girl before him, her eyes full of sincere hope, was waiting for his answer.

And Rast knew—if he gave a negative answer now, this Death God girl before him would fall completely for him.

She was the miracle offspring of human and god, the most perfect descendant of the gods in this era.

After the Remnant of the Death God had completely perished and vanished into the Nether Abyss… Akxia was now the sole inheritor of the Death God Sequence. From here onward, there would be no obstacle left for her to break through to Legendary, even to ascend to the Divine Seat.

A powerful being destined to reach the Legendary Epic and ascend to the Divine Seat, utterly devoted to him… one could imagine how much strength that would lend Rast.

And yet—

Rast gently closed his eyes.

"If it happened again, I would still do the same—"

"I would betray you once more and push you off that cliff."

To inherit the will of the Shoreguards, to become the Ally of Justice…

That was the driving force that kept that hollow, broken body moving forward like the core of a steam engine, during those desperate centuries in Deep Blue Port.

It was the conviction that kept the one called "Rast" alive to this day—he would not betray that belief.

Upon hearing this, the light in Akxia’s dark violet eyes visibly dimmed, a trace of disappointment flickering through.

But in the next moment, her eyes brightened once again.

"But still—"

Rast spoke softly: "Even if I had to face the Remnant of the Death God again, even if I ended up covered in wounds once more, it wouldn’t matter."

"No matter how many times it happened, I would still break open that Ice Coffin and pull you out from the Nether Abyss."

It was a choice that seemed twisted, even a bit needlessly painful.

After all, if his only goal had been to pursue the “justice of the Shoreguards,” then taking Akxia’s Star Cup and abandoning her afterward would have been the most energy-efficient and optimal choice.

And if it had been for the pursuit of love, or as Noah described it, the so-called "primitive reproductive impulse produced by glandular secretions between male and female organisms," then he should have directly given Akxia a negative answer.

But for Rast at this moment, this was truly the most honest thought from the depths of his heart.

After choosing to embrace humanity, no longer living as a machine, but once again living as a human being—while basking in the brilliance of human nature, it also meant Rast had to face the weakness of humanity.

He did not want to give up the ideal called "Shoreguards," yet he also wanted to embrace "humanity"… Such a path of “I want it all” would inevitably be more rugged and difficult than the ordinary road.

But this was the path Rast had chosen for himself, so he would not regret it. No matter how absurd it may seem, he would see it through to the end.

...

The final light of sunset set the whole sky ablaze in the color of fire.

In the deepening darkness, listening to Rast’s answer, Akxia’s dark violet eyes shone brighter than ever before.

But soon, a hint of caution surfaced in her eyes: “That sentence just now… Rast, you didn’t just make it up to fool me, did you?”

Rast shook his head.

Not with words or writing, but with “Moonlight Whisper,” he directly conveyed his heart to Akxia in the Spiritual World: “No.”

“You really aren’t lying to me?”

“Really not.”

“Truly, truly not deceiving me?”

“Truly, truly not.”

...

Without relying on text or words, but by conveying their hearts directly between two souls—such a childish exchange, like children sulking with each other.

And after this childish exchange lasted for a moment—

Rast felt that in the Spiritual World of Moonlight Whisper, Akxia’s voice went quiet, everything returned to silence.

The next instant.

He saw the girl before him close her eyes, gently rise on her toes, and wrap her arms around his neck.

And then—

A cold and damp sensation.

It rippled bit by bit across Rast’s cheek.

In this moment, the sun had fully set, and endless darkness swallowed the entire world.

Akxia’s lips were cold, carrying a soft sensation, but the girl in his arms was warm, and she was slightly trembling.

【Your “Fate” with Akxia has deepened. “The Fool’s Library” has gained new power】

【“Death God” · Akxia’s current Bond Level has increased from 6 to 7】

【You have unlocked a new Nightblade Grimoire — “Angel of Death’s Decree”】

In the suddenly shining, pulsing blue light before his eyes.

In a daze, Rast seemed to once again see the Royal City of Paradise full of life at the foot of the mountain.

Anna, the head maid of the palace in the Royal City, who had served Her Majesty the Queen for many years...

The vice captain of the Shoreguard squad, also the assistant director of their dates, the Shadow Maid...

The squad member, the ponytailed girl Yanice...

One by one, those who had already passed away in the Old Era, now appeared once again at their side, smiling as they looked upon the two people embracing on the cliff.

As if celebrating, and more like offering their blessings.

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