Chapter 145: I Will Retrieve the Original You, No Matter the Cost
Light was rushing forth, light was converging.
As though illuminating the young man who gazed down upon all beings was the highest mission, the brilliance of the entire city was gathering toward the high platform.
Even though it was clearly two in the afternoon, with the blazing sun high in the sky, the central district of the Royal City seed to have fallen into night, the day dimd like dusk.
Only that beam of fierce yet clear dusky starlight remained, lighting up the night.
Then, after several breaths.
The radiance gathered.
At the fingertips of the young man on the high platform, it transford into a dazzling, tangible object.
It was a small, elegant goblet.
And within the goblet's wall, the remnants of starlight turned into an illusory liquid.
Like the blood of a dusk giant, the dim starlight swayed slowly within the cup.
“A symbol of faith, the embryonic form of a Divine Kingdom—”
“『Holy Grail』.”
In the plaza below.
Grey fixed her gaze on the goblet in Rast's hand, filled with starlight, and murmured quietly.
Beside her, many of the dead had already faded to near-nonexistence, their forms approaching nothingness... even with the naked eye, it was difficult to distinguish their outlines.
This was the sign of these dead having their “existence” stripped away.
The force of existence that constituted the foundation of their presence in the world was now being transford by the holy sacrant… turned into that illusory liquid in the Holy Grail, speckled with starlight.
It was the divine blood of the Death God that symbolized “Twilight.”
Yet within the domain of royal authority, even those humans who still retained flesh and had not been stripped of their existence power rely gazed devoutly at the figure atop the high platform, unaware of the constant vanishing of the dead around them.
Watching that Holy Grail, which was being continuously filled and even beginning to overflow with the dusky divine blood…
Grey's erald eyes grew a few degrees colder.
Thanks to the ocular technique allowing her to observe spiritual vision, as well as the complete classified archive left to her by Leader Sisel, Grey was able to clearly perceive the full picture of the current holy sacrant.
The authority gathered by divinity, the Divine Kingdom anchored by faith, and the body of a mythic being…
These were the “three essential elents” of the path to godhood.
Authority, faith, and divine body…
Only by achieving this complete trinity could one ignite divine fire and truly ascend to the divine throne.
Lacking any one of these would render one rely a so-called saint or angel—mythic beings closer to the divine realm than ordinary humans, but still unworthy of the title “deity.”
Previously, Rast had extracted the 「Death-God Holy Grail」 from Queen Helen’s heart and spent three years completing its initial fusion. This was the “divine authority” component among the three elents.
If the path to godhood for the Death God were compared to an ancient road nad Yellow Springs, then upon this shadowy path lay three indestructible ancient bronze gates, which only those with the keys could pass.
And behind those three bronze gates lay the long-lost divine throne.
The Death God of old had perished many eras ago, and that divine throne had been vacant for just as long, awaiting one who could pass through the three gates and truly ascend the throne to beco the new Death God.
Rast, who had previously taken in the 「Death-God Holy Grail」, had already obtained the key to the first bronze gate. Now, as he refined all the dead in Paradise through the holy sacrant and caused the faith-anchoring, Divine Kingdom-embodying Holy Grail to appear…
The key to the second bronze gate was also about to fall into Rast's hands.
…
On the high platform, the black-haired, black-eyed youth gazed at the Holy Grail overflowing with twilight, his eyes flickering with strange light.
Then, he slowly extended his hand.
As long as he also took in this Holy Grail, which had condensed the faith power of the entire Kingdom of the Underworld, he would have fully obtained the keys to two of the bronze gates.
Only one final step would remain between him and the Death God's throne: completing incarnation, fusing with divine flesh and blood, and obtaining a complete divine body.
But at that mont, Grey suddenly moved.
This was the mont when the path of Yellow Springs connected and the Holy Grail manifested.
Even soone as composed as Big Brother Rast would surely be sowhat distracted now, all his attention drawn to the manifested Holy Grail.
And this mont was the opportunity Grey had been waiting for.
Although it would last for only a fleeting instant, for the girl who had waited and longed for this mont for three years, it was already enough.
She would not miss it, and could not possibly miss it.
Raising her gun, aiming, then pulling the trigger…
Using the noisy crowd partaking in the holy sacrant as cover, Grey completed this entire sequence in a single breath.
Then—
Bang—
The piercing scream of the bullet leaving the chamber tore through the silence above the Royal City’s plaza.
An alchemical bullet engraved with blood-colored runes spun wildly as it shot forth from the barrel, heading straight toward the youth on the high platform… or more precisely, toward the Holy Grail manifested in the air before his black-haired figure.
That was Grey’s primary target.
If Big Brother Rast, who had already taken in the Holy Grail, were to take in the Holy Grail as well—
Then, he would have passed more than half the path along the ancient road to godhood.
And by that point, Big Brother Rast might completely lose his humanity, falling into the ranks of those mythic beings who would stop at nothing to beco gods, never able to return again.
Once the path to godhood began, it beca exceedingly difficult to stop by will alone.
Therefore, if she wanted to awaken Big Brother Rast completely…
She had to shatter this Holy Grail, the symbol of Divine Kingdom and faith, and break one of the three bronze gate keys completely.
Make Big Brother Rast completely abandon his thoughts of becoming a god.
That was what Grey had to do.
And only by doing so could she fulfill the wish and longing that had haunted her ears countless nights in her dreams over the past thousand days and nights.
Boom—
The alchemical bullet roared forth.
It tore through the air, stirring up a storm.
This alchemical bullet had been specially crafted by Leader Sisel, with the crystal at the tip of the warhead sealing a wisp of the purest solar fire.
Once the warhead struck its target, it would ignite the most intense combustion in the world.
Even the Holy Grail, which gathered the faith of a nation and symbolized the embryonic form of a Divine Kingdom, would be reduced to ashes under the burning of solar fire at the Legendary Tier.
However—
At that lightning-fast mont—
On the high platform, the black-haired, black-eyed youth suddenly turned his head.
That cold and indifferent gaze fell toward Grey’s direction.
Even though this was the critical juncture of the Holy Grail’s manifestation, the joy of taking a further step along the path to godhood did not seem to distract him in the slightest—he still perceived Grey’s ambush in such a fleeting instant.
Grey’s gaze and Rast’s pierced across the hundreds of ters between the plaza and the high sacrant platform, eting in midair.
This was a long-awaited eting after several years. In this mont, the plaza filled with tens of thousands fell silent, leaving only the two of them gazing across the distance.
The youth’s eyes remained as clear and bright as they had been on that rainy night three years ago, like calm starlight lying at the bottom of a lake…
However, in the erald eyes of the gray-haired girl, there was no longer the sa broken and hollow despair from that rainy night.
What replaced it was a blazing fire like stars rising to illuminate the endless night.
As though sensing the solar fire sealed within the bullet Grey had fired, fire capable of incinerating the Holy Grail, as well as the “inevitable hit” fate entwined within it, Rast furrowed his brows.
Then he slightly parted his lips and uttered a tallic voice.
It was the decree of the King of the Underworld within his Domain of Kingship—words of power that commanded death...
The deathly command was directly imposed on the bullet flying through midair, aiming to strip away the bullet’s “life” and bring it to a decayed and weathered end.
Just like on that rainy night three years ago, when Rast had erased all of Grey’s rage-filled attacks after her betrayal using the Word of Power he gained from the Holy Grail... rendering her kneeling and helpless in deep despair.
However—
At that mont—
In Grey’s erald eyes—
That faint, fragile spark like a fla flickering in the snow, seemingly about to extinguish at any ti… suddenly blazed up fiercely.
“『Original Text · Death Immunity』”
“『Original Text · Dual Phantom』”
“『Original Text · Hymn of Life』”
Amidst the surging flas, one illusory light after another flashed briefly across the alchemical bullet sealed with solar fire.
Imdiately after, under the decree of death, the alchemical bullet disintegrated.
As though living out a hundred years in an instant… the golden brass casing rusted and decayed in the blink of an eye, then crumbled into scattered dust drifting across the plaza.
However, the entity that had received the decree of death, that inescapable fate of termination… was rely a phantom created through the replication of soone’s supernatural power: “Dual Phantom.”
The phantom duplicate had taken on the decree of death in place of the real one, while the true bullet continued flying toward the Holy Grail, completely unhindered.
The scene unfolding before him caused the youth atop the platform to furrow his brows slightly.
The tallic voice echoed once more throughout the Royal City—Rast repeated that ancient Word of Power, the decree of death.
Without a second phantom, this ti the brass bullet was directly struck by the Word.
It trembled slightly, its speed slowing, but it still maintained its original trajectory—it did not completely vanish.
That was due to the protection of “Death Immunity” and “Hymn of Life.”
Though the decree commanding death was powerful and unreasonable, it was not without counters… the blessing of life was death’s natural nesis.
This unexpected turn caused the dusky radiance around Rast’s body to surge once more.
For the third ti, he unleashed the kingship of the Underworld, and this ti, the alchemical bullet was finally obliterated completely, turned into scattering dust.
But at the sa ti, Grey’s figure had vanished.
Vanished into a pitch-black spatial rift.
“『Original Text · Dinsional Leap』”
“『Original Text · Shadow March』”
“『Original Text · Teleportation』”
Using the Shoreguard’s fireseed inherited from Leader Sisel, a power encompassing the myriad phenona of the world as her foundation… in that mont, Grey recreated nurous supernatural powers and Sequence abilities possessed by other Shoreguard transcendents through the Original Text.
Using the fissures of shadow and dinsion as carriers, she pierced through the spatial barrier and completed a teleportation spanning hundreds of ters.
Her figure appeared beside Rast.
At the sa ti, Grey’s right hand suddenly manifested a glove flowing with solar fire.
Then, while the black-haired, black-eyed youth before her was montarily distracted from unleashing the Death God’s kingship a third ti…
Her right hand, burning with solar fire, reached straight for the Holy Grail in front of the youth.
This was Grey’s backup plan—should the alchemical bullet fail, she would imdiately use her true body to launch a surprise attack and destroy the Holy Grail using a second glove infused with solar fire.
She had prepared three full years for this mont.
Across those thousand-plus sleepless, starless nights... Grey had countless tis imagined that cliff on the rainy night, imagining the youth who had cast her that indifferent gaze as her opponent.
Over and over, she simulated every possible scenario and outco of their next clash in her mind—every potential variation and branching path.
She had long since known about Rast’s unreasonable kingship of death, which could bring an end to all things… how could she possibly not have prepared in advance?
The six Original Texts Grey invoked now were all part of the preparations she made over the past three years with Rast as her imagined opponent.
Every possibility, every contingency—she had considered them all in these three years.
All for one purpose—
To sever Big Brother Rast’s thoughts of godhood and pull him back from the wrong path… the only wish she had offered to the starless night.
However—
A thousandth of a breath later—
Grey saw that beneath her feet, a dusky magic circle had suddenly lit up.
Imdiately after—
A prison of light ford from the brilliance of dusk suddenly rose up from the six-pointed star pattern of that formation.
Completely binding the petite figure of the gray-haired girl within a cage of light.
Her limbs and every inch of her flesh were pierced by beams of light, immobilizing her body so she could no longer move a single inch.
Big Brother Rast—
He had already guessed that once the alchemical bullet failed, she would approach with her true body to seize the Holy Grail…
He had even predicted her possible landing point after the spatial leap, and laid a trap in advance?
As this thought rose in Grey’s mind—
The next mont—
Grey saw the handso black-haired, black-eyed youth before her slowly lower his gaze to the her now bound within the prison of light.
Those pitch-black eyes, which had once given her imnse peace, now still carried that unfamiliar, distant indifference that Grey could hardly recognize.
As if he were a majestic king, gazing down from the throne at a prisoner daring to incite rebellion.
Though their physical distance was no more than a step apart, the gap between their hearts felt utterly unreachable.
“Three years apart…”
“Grey, you are still as weak as you were before, still holding onto naïve and unrealistic thoughts… yet unable to turn them into real strength.”
“Soone like you does not have the right to challenge .”
“You didn’t back then, and you still don’t now.”
“Only, unlike three years ago—”
“This ti, no one will clean up your ss or pay the price for your recklessness.”
The youth’s cold voice pierced through the prison of light, echoing in Grey’s ears.
In just three short years, Big Brother Rast seed a step closer to the divine throne, less human and more godlike—overlooking the world from the clouds above.
At this mont, a mountainous majesty rose from him, making all those around feel as small and lowly as ants.
Yet faced with the youth’s mockery, Grey only gently closed her eyes.
“You’re right, Big Brother Rast.”
“I know I’m still immature, still naïve.”
“Even after inheriting the fireseed of the Shoreguards… the power I can now wield doesn’t even match a tenth of Leader Sisel’s.”
“But—”
The girl suddenly opened her eyes, her erald gaze firm and unwavering as she looked straight into Rast’s.
“Even if I’m foolish, clumsy, inadequate—I won’t always remain like this.”
“I will grow stronger, beco wiser, beco worthy of Leader Sisel’s expectations…”
“I will catch up to you, Big Brother Rast. Understand everything you face—all your circumstances and struggles… and then honestly tell you that everything you believe in is wrong, and bring you back to the right path.”
Three years of ti, three years of longing day and night, tossing and turning.
To Grey, it was far more than just inheriting the Shoreguard’s fireseed…
“Even soone as inadequate as —”
“How could I possibly remain stagnant over these three years?”
Though now trapped inside the prison of light, her entire body immobilized—
Grey did not give up the struggle and resistance like she did three years ago, sitting collapsed in the mud at the cliff.
Along with her words, the pale silver flas in her eyes ignited once more.
“Fate…”
The girl’s soft whisper was just like over ten years ago, in the hopeless Frostwater Town.
And as that whisper flowed, everything around her—
Whether it was the crowd in the royal court who had just reacted and begun to stir in chaos, the ticking hands atop the clocktower, the breeze blowing in the heavens, or the drifting clouds—
Everything twisted and froze in that instant.
As if a film reel was being rewound.
All scenes, all things, began to reverse with a strange rhythm.
That flowing ti and fate was identical to the one Grey had experienced many years ago, trapped in the hopeless cycle within Frostwater Town.
Only this ti—
She did not do it to deceive herself and numb the pain, trapping herself in an endless illusion.
But to stand before Big Brother Rast—
And bring back the most important man in her life from the wrong path with her own hands.
“I will retrieve the original you…”
“No matter the cost.”
The girl’s voice was filled with tears and sorrow, like a confession to the most familiar stranger before her—or perhaps, just a monologue.
“So—”
“Ti…”
“Rewind.”
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