Chapter 160: This Round, I’ve Won
The Shattered Coastline was a full hundred li away from the Watchtower, a desolate shore far removed from all human towns and settlents.
Sisel stood upon the jagged rocks of the Shattered Coastline, gazing at the surging tides before him.
The overcast do above and the lightless, inky sea below ford a pitch-black curtain in the distance.
It was no different from the sight he first beheld a century ago, when the Watchtower was established and he stood here for the first ti, looking out at the Endless Sea… Millions of tons of seawater devoured all light, and endless darkness beca the main the here.
Beneath the obscure black veil lurked countless naless aberrations and taboos.
Yet in his childhood mories, the sea had never looked like this—
It ought to have been boundless and blue. Standing on deck, one could feel the warm sea breeze brushing against their face. Sunlight shimred on the rolling waves like a dance of golden butterflies.
Back then, the sea was a mysterious and bountiful new world waiting to be explored. Ship after ship set sail from the harbors, loaded with barrels of red wine and rations. Heavy sails flapped in the sea wind as the bold songs of sailors echoed across the decks.
Ocean-going vessels carved out new routes across the sea, and triumphant captains and crews were awarded dals of honor. These sea routes beca the lifeblood linking many nations across the world, propelling the once-thriving human civilization of that era ever forward.
But after the outbreak of the great plague nad Iron Cross in Deep Blue Port… all of that ceased to exist.
The once-radiant sunlight that bathed the sea was devoured. Aberrations and taboos quietly brewed in the Lightless Sea. Forrly safe sea routes marked on maps beca death traps and were abandoned one after another… and the channels that connected the world were severed.
That marked the turning point of the Sixth Era civilization.
Since then, that radiant age of prosperity and exploration had been buried and could no longer be reclaid.
The few survivors left were trapped within tiny safe zones, unable to develop, unable to trade with other settlents… People huddled in fear in the darkness, waiting for a future without light.
And now, the Forbidden Creatures slumbering deep within the Lightless Sea, and the secretive organization "Gravekeepers" that had long hidden behind the curtain of history… were unwilling to even allow humanity this final shred of peace and struggle to survive.
They aid to destroy the final line of defense at the Shattered Coastline, and with it, the last heartbeat of the Sixth Era's human civilization.
Sisel sighed softly and slowly closed his eyes.
A vast spiritual power belonging to the Legendary Realm radiated from this unkempt old man as the center, spreading across the sky and sea, reaching in all directions… slowly probing the taboos lurking beneath the dark veil.
Within the roaring tide ca breaths as grand as a storm—not one, but two.
At the distant edge of the sky, the stench of blood faintly drifted… a scent unique to the Iron Cross Clan, those beasts that possessed human intelligence and appearance but took pleasure in tornt.
And within the Rift Between Dinsions of the Astral Realm, one could faintly sense a verdant, fertile vitality.
Gradually, Sisel’s expression changed.
His gaze toward the end of the coastline grew younger, his long brows slightly lifted, his posture upright.
“Two Forbidden Creatures deep within the Endless Sea… and that King of the Iron Cross Clan… All old friends indeed.”
“Four full Legendaries.”
“In the Western Continent, all Legendary-level combatants who still retain the ability to move and interfere in the Present World… have now gathered at the Shattered Coastline, haven’t they?”
“To think I would be considered worthy of such an array in your Gravekeepers’ eyes… truly, I am honored.”
Responding to Sisel’s words, a figure slowly erged from the distant sky—a gardener-like old man.
It was not the Fertility Half-Body created from the Origin Leaf of the Primal Ancient Tree in the Nether Abyss, but rather Noah’s most authentic body as a Legendary of the Gravekeepers.
This was the first face-to-face encounter in three years between the two Legendaries from the Gravekeepers and the Shoreguards.
Their last eting had been on a cliffside on the outskirts of the Royal City of Paradise. Back then, both had brought Little Grey and Brother Rast, those two burdens. Thus, they had only tested each other briefly before retreating, never truly clashing at full strength.
But now, neither Sisel nor Noah bore the burden of those two anymore.
The domains of “Sun” and “Bounty” spread across land and sea, colliding with one another. The sea surface surged into towering waves.
“Sisel, you are, after all, a true Legendary… and the successor of that traitor who stole the Spark from our organization—holder of the Inherited Fireseed passed down since the Age of Gods, the Night Blade ‘The Fool’s Library.’”
“According to our observations from behind the curtain of history, ever since you succeeded the Shoreguards and inherited the Spark, you’ve gone a full hundred years without ever fighting at full strength.”
Noah’s tone was flat, devoid of emotion: “For soone like you, there’s no such thing as overestimation. No amount of preparation would be too much.”
“Is that so?”
Listening to Noah’s words, the corners of Sisel’s lips curled into a smile:
“Though you’ve called in a whole crowd of helpers.”
“To , it looks like you’re the one suffering from kidney deficiency, huh?”
“Even if you’re trying to cover it up, your spiritual power… is clearly not at full strength, but weakened by half.”
“Did you split half of your spiritual power to create a half-body that also reached the Legendary Realm? As for the purpose of that incarnation, let guess...”
“It’s for Rast, and the Old Death God in the Nether Abyss, isn’t it?”
Noah couldn’t help but frown slightly.
That Sisel saw through his splitting of half his spiritual power to create a clone didn’t surprise Noah.
After all, this was the holder of the Night Blade "The Fool’s Library"—a being whose Grimoire, after ages of completion, had already recorded all the Original Texts of myriad phenona… encompassing virtually all fields and ability types in existence.
And among them, it naturally could include information-based abilities capable of seeing through Noah’s disguise and detecting the weakened nature of his spiritual power.
Yet as he looked at the face of the Shoreguards’ leader before him, Noah faintly sensed sothing unusual… sothing that didn’t match the records on Sisel in the Gravekeepers’ archives.
Sisel’s words just now had been light and cheerful, unlike an aged man who had watched over the Shattered Coastline alone for centuries. Instead, he sounded more like a spirited youth.
“An Old God not yet restricted by the Threshold of Seraphim and newly awakened, whose strength hasn’t even reached one percent of its pri, is indeed an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.”
Noah nodded, openly admitting his covetous intent toward the Old Death God.
“However, whatever happens in the Nether Abyss will not affect the outco of the battle at the Shattered Coastline.”
Noah fixed his gaze on Sisel: “You deliberately avoided the Watchtower and the human cities there, and chose to fight here instead… because you’ve foreseen your end and wish to face death calmly, to avoid implicating the Shoreguards and the human settlents.”
“Unfortunately, this is dood to be in vain.”
“Once you die in battle, without your protection… your subordinates and the surviving humans in your organization, even without Legendary intervention—just the ordinary Iron Cross and Beast Tide will be enough to grind them into dust.”
The gardener-like Legendary of Bounty slightly shook his head: “The Spark stolen from us will return to its rightful owner.”
“And the na ‘Shoreguards’ will vanish from this world… becoming dust in history alongside the civilization of the Sixth Era.”
“So tell , Noah… why on earth would you imagine that I ca here just to close my eyes and wait for death?”
Sisel’s voice coldly cut off Noah’s words.
“Guerrilla tactics. Ever heard of them?”
“Do you really think that if I’m determined to escape, the four of you Legendaries alone could stop ?”
Sisel straightened his back and looked around, his clear gaze simultaneously sharp like an eagle and cunning like a fox.
“You yourself said it. I am the inheritor of ‘The Fool’s Library.’”
“The Original Texts in that Grimoire encompass all things—escape, concealnt, disguise, hiding, transformation, facial alteration… everything you can imagine.”
“If I want to, even if you turn the entire continent to scorched earth, even if you flip every stone… you’ll never catch , much less kill .”
His deep eyes stared upward at Noah, at the sky and sea behind him. The raging wind over the sea gradually stilled under Sisel’s gaze.
“Quite the opposite, in fact. Since you can’t catch , can’t kill … I will beco your tumor of death, the nightmare you can never rid yourselves of.”
“As the master of ‘The Fool’s Library,’ I need no logistics, no supplies. I alone am an army, capable of accomplishing almost everything by myself.”
“In the days to co, you will be forced to face an enemy who follows like a shadow… I will hide in the dark while you remain in the light. True, I cannot defeat your combined force, but your clans and factions will know no peace, ever again.”
“And you’d better pray that from now on, none of you ever travel alone—whether man or beast—nor ever find yourselves injured or weakened… because when that happens, what awaits will be my hunt.”
The undisguised threat mixed with the fierce storm, sweeping across the sky and land like a blade.
Clearly—
Whether it was the Forbidden Creatures in the ocean’s depths, or the Iron Cross King whose scent of blood lingered in the distant sky, their erupting auras all montarily paused.
As a Gravekeeper, Noah had little need to fear Sisel’s threat—every mber of the Gravekeepers was a true Legendary, hidden behind the curtain of history, rarely moving alone or risking weakness that could be exploited.
But the other three Legendaries were different. Whether the emperor of the Beast Tide, the Forbidden Creature from the sea, or the Iron Cross King… they each had their own clans. And in the face of a Legendary determined to hunt, none of those clans could withstand the blow.
Sensing the hesitation of the allies he had summoned, Noah furrowed his brows even deeper.
He had not expected Sisel to so bluntly issue such a threat.
As a Shoreguard—even with his strength—Sisel should have been bound by the duty to protect humanity and civilization.
This was the premise upon which Noah and the Gravekeepers had launched this Legendary battle. He had been certain that Sisel would never abandon the Shattered Coastline, much less flee.
But if Sisel truly steeled his heart to abandon the entire Shoreguards and the remaining human settlents on the continent, choosing instead to bide his ti alone in the shadows for revenge… then the dynamic between offense and defense would instantly reverse.
“Sisel is rely bluffing. If he were truly ruthless enough to abandon everything, he wouldn’t have shown up here in the first place…”
“Noah, did you really think I’m the kind of fool who would close his eyes and wait for death just because a thug held a hostage?”
Sisel’s words once again interrupted Noah.
“In the Ga of Chicken, or rather, the Coward’s Ga, the only outco for the one who backs down… is to lose everything.”
“If after I die, the Shoreguards and the civilization of the Sixth Era are dood to be destroyed by the Beast Tide and Iron Cross, with not even a sliver of hope left, leaving nothing behind…”
“Then fighting to the death is not a noble sacrifice, but rely a pointless waste of life.”
“To flee, to preserve our living forces, is the optimal choice for as the leader of the Shoreguards.”
“So long as I still live, the Shoreguards shall stand, never falling.”
Sisel’s unrestrained voice echoed across the sea.
If the Sisel before had resembled an old elephant sensing its end, leaving the herd to find its burial ground—then the Sisel now was more like a lion entering its pri, having just claid dominance over the pride.
It was as though he had returned to when he first succeeded the leadership of the Shoreguards—vigorous, not naïve like a youth, nor weary like the elderly… his body, strength, experience, and skill all at their peak, radiating unshakable confidence with every word and action.
“And the reason I ca to the Shattered Coastline is not to die… but to confirm sothing.”
“To confirm whether the successor I have chosen, and the path ahead… are truly worthy of entrusting the future.”
His gaze shifted slightly, looking toward a distant part of the sea.
That was the direction of the Royal City of Paradise—or rather, the Nether Abyss.
For so reason, the battlefield Sisel chose for himself was actually closer to the Royal City of Paradise than to the Watchtower, the Shoreguards’ headquarters hundreds of li away.
And then, as if sensing sothing, he suddenly lifted his head, gazing toward the distant sky.
Looking at the empty do of the heavens, a trace of imperceptible relief quietly passed through Sisel’s eyes.
“Shadow Maid Sister… no, Sharonah.”
“Looks like… the promise I made with you back then… can finally be fulfilled.”
His murmur was carried away by the chaotic sea wind, heard by none.
…
On the other side of the sea, Noah’s true body watched Sisel suddenly lift his head to the sky, unsure of his purpose.
But soon—
Within several breaths—
All the Legendaries at the Shattered Coastline understood the reason for Sisel’s action.
At that mont, whether it was the Legendary of Bounty, the Forbidden Beasts of the ocean, or the King of the Iron Cross… every Legendary lifeform slightly lifted their gaze.
And then, they saw the Divine Punishnt falling from the distant heavens.
The domains of five Legendaries collided, and the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere froze silently.
All the Legendaries rely looked up in silence, watching the trajectory of a star falling from the pitch-black sky.
This was an arrow of teor launched from the planet’s low orbit, using gravity as the bowstring—
It crossed the vacuum of low Earth orbit, pierced the atmosphere and clouds, and surpassed the constraints of the maginet and material plane laws.
It tore through the air and stirred a storm.
It fell from the heavens like apocalyptic scarlet flas, a blood-colored teor.
Then—
It struck its target with perfect precision.
Piercing through the earth and bedrock without pause…
That crimson teor shattered the crust, and continued further down—
Toward a deeper, more fundantal place.
The inner layer of the world, the Void Abyss.
…
Incomprehensible, unanalysable.
What was happening before their eyes had already surpassed the comprehension of all present Legendaries.
This was the power to command the stars, the “Solidified Divine Punishnt,” sufficient to erase weaker Legendaries.
It was a feat only possible in the far-removed Age of Gods, by a True God in its pri.
But all the Ancient Gods had long been imprisoned beyond the world in the Threshold of Seraphim.
Their states were extrely deteriorated, and even channeling power into the Present World through the Threshold of Seraphim was drastically restricted—barely one-tenth of their might could be exerted.
In the current world, who could still accomplish such a feat…
Or was it rely a coincidence—just a teor caught by gravity that happened to fall there?
Such doubts erged in the hearts of every Legendary at the Shattered Coastline.
But Noah’s thoughts delved deeper.
The direction where that crimson teor had fallen—was clearly the Nether Abyss beneath the Royal City of Paradise, where his avatar was located.
Had the Old Death God awakened? But there wasn’t even the slightest trace of the death aura unique to the Death God on that teor.
Yet, Noah soon had no ti to ponder the teor’s aning.
Because he suddenly realized—in the brief mont he was stunned by the teor’s descent… Sisel’s figure had already vanished from the Shattered Coastline.
Only the pitch-black sky remained, where spatial rifts forcibly torn open by so Night Blade were slowly healing.
…
At the bottom of the Nether Abyss—
All words now seed pale and useless.
In an instant, the layers of rock above the Nether Abyss shattered with a roar.
The planet’s crust was now as fragile as an eggshell.
And even after breaking through the rock and crust, the suspended Divine Punishnt did not stop.
It pierced the colossal remains of the Old Death God, pierced the yellow sea ford by the Death God's blood.
Then, it reached the deepest part of the Nether Abyss.
Sound vanished.
Next to vanish was color.
The world turned utterly silent, leaving only the surging brilliance of that scorching starlight.
Light surged.
Light roared.
The surging brilliance stirred countless vortices, engulfing the entire Royal City of Paradise, the entire Underworld Nation—and the colossal corpse of the Death God that sustained Paradise, along with the Nether Abyss.
At the end of the Sky-Piercing Tower, within that surging brilliance—
Noah saw, below him, the bloodless lips of Rast, subrged in the yellow sea, quiver as if murmuring.
No sound ca forth, perhaps because that shattered humanoid form had long since run dry of life, too feeble to make a sound…
But Noah, relying on his Legendary perception, discerned the words from the movent of his lips:
“Your Excellency Noah, looks like…”
“This round, I’ve won.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)