Chapter 65: “I’ll Leave It to You, Rast”
The illusion shattered, turning into countless mottled fragnts.
Above and below, in every direction, white threads stained with blood stretched out like a colossal spider’s nest.
Outside the window, that twisted red moon continued to churn and squirm.
Rast’s consciousness followed the spiritual pathway and returned to his body.
He rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath, easing the discomfort brought on by the return of his spiritual sense.
According to the 「The Fool’s Library」, Shiltina’s willpower should have already broken through the illusion.
Just as this thought arose—
The next mont, he saw a radiance burst forth before him, gleaming like the morning star.
The sword tip dragged out a silver trail through the air, slicing and piercing at terrifying speed, forming a crisscrossing X-shaped trajectory.
A fraction of a second later, the giant cocoon before Rast vanished into nothingness under the blade’s rushing wind.
Shiltina broke free from the cocoon, her slender body untouched by the overwhelming threads.
She sheathed her 「Shimring Morning Star」 and ca to Rast’s side, both of them gazing at the fleshy red moon outside the window that had replaced the real moon.
“This is the mastermind behind Frostwater Town?”
“Judging by the scale of this disaster remnant that even blocks third-tier Night Travelers, isn’t this enemy a bit excessive?”
Shiltina’s voice carried a hint of awe, but no fear.
“This crimson moon made of flesh isn’t a real lifeform, but rely so illusionary projection with pseudo-divinity.”
Rast smiled.
His pupils turned silvery white, shimring with mysterious hues—「Eye of Secrets」 activated silently.
“A being that takes the moon as its form must at least possess the level of a true evil god.”
“If its real body had descended, we wouldn’t even need to fight—just wait for death. The Nightworld’s disaster remnants may be dangerous, but they wouldn’t assign an inescapable death mission.”
He swept his silver-glowing gaze slowly across everything in Frostwater Town.
“Still, being able to project an evil god—even just a façade—speaks volus.”
“I call that projection in the sky ‘Crimson Moon’... And the cause of the current madness in Frostwater Town is a pollution item related to it, similar to the sculpture in Deep Blue Port.”
“The sculpture in Deep Blue Port was sealed in so way. The evil god behind the Iron Cross Plague was also restrained and could only create ‘coincidences,’ passively spread by cultists, leaking its aura to cause pollution.”
“But the pollutant here seems to have beco active... It can even create its own domain, cloaking the whole town in this blood mist.”
This reminded Rast of the description he’d seen in the lighthouse keeper’s journal upon first entering this disaster remnant.
Since the outbreak of the Iron Cross Plague—the sixth era of the Calamity Calendar—order had been breaking down.
Gods once confined to other dinsions could now frequently descend into the physical world.
Pollutants that had once been sealed or dormant now acted on their own, no longer needing coincidences or external triggers.
They released their power proactively, destroying countless human settlents.
That was why the once-prosperous civilization of the sixth era had beco riddled with holes, with humanity barely surviving under the shadow of foreign races and disasters.
Rast refocused.
He looked out at Frostwater Town, blanketed by endless threads.
“These threads are the pollutant’s thod of corroding life—its misty cocoons trap all living things in woven dreams.”
“Once completely lost in those dreams, their souls and will are erased by the threads.”
Shiltina interrupted, “And then they beco puppets with flesh but no self, controlled entirely by these threads, right?”
“Exactly.”
Rast nodded slightly, glancing at her in mild surprise.
He hadn’t shared his 「Eye of Secrets」 with Shiltina this ti, so he had no idea how she’d obtained this intel.
After all, her abilities focused entirely on self-enhancent and combat, not detection.
“It was my ‘intuition’ that told .”
Shiltina smiled faintly, her expression hard to read.
Intuition?
Rast blinked.
But the next mont, the sound reaching his ears gave him the answer.
Rustle—
Rustle—
Rustle—
From within the thick mist, a faint noise erged.
It was strange—like chicks pecking open their eggshells.
Or like coffin lids sliding open, revealing decayed corpses to daylight.
At first, it was only a few whispers—easy to ignore.
But soon, they multiplied into hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...
A slithering, crawling noise from every direction.
Bang—
Rast whipped out his revolver, the muzzle flashing as he fired into the darkness.
The bullet spun rapidly, embedding into the floor, sparking and leaving uneven bullet holes.
Then, shadows erupted from the darkness like boiling ink.
Several spears ford from shadow shot toward Rast.
Crack—
In an instant, Rast switched the card equipped from the 「The Fool’s Library」 from 「The Hermit · Ishta」 to 「The Chariot · Shiltina」.
The silver gleam in his eyes faded—「Eye of Secrets」 was deactivated.
But in exchange, he regained the long-tier of the Chariot sequence and part of Shiltina’s 「Infinite Blade」 abilities.
「Intuition」 activated.
No need to think.
Just from the whistling of the spears and the shifting of light, Rast instantly calculated the optimal evasion.
The shadow spears’ trajectories beca vivid ballistic arcs in his mind.
He sidestepped, slipped through the narrowest gaps, and evaded them all.
While moving, he quickly reloaded his revolver.
Not with ordinary full-tal jacket rounds, but intricate black bullets engraved with runes—like crafted artifacts.
These were custom-made by the 「Ashen Institute」 of Starfall University, tailored for Rast’s 「Iron-Crested Moon」 heavy revolver.
Alchemy Ammo: 「Anti-Magic Rounds」.
Physically weak, but devastating against magical circuits—perfect for nightblades and sequence powers.
Under the buff from 「Endless Martial Refinent」, the black round burst from the revolver’s muzzle.
Even though the damage increase per shot was tiny compared to sword training, Rast had fired tens of thousands of rounds during his ti at Starfall University.
That training significantly boosted his gun skill.
If he returned to Deep Blue Port now, even without armor-piercing rounds, he could pierce the Iron Cross’s heart mbrane with standard ammo.
Boom.
Rast’s revolver was still aid at the sa shadowy corner.
But this ti, the Anti-Magic Round hit sothing.
The deafening sound of flesh being torn rang out.
In the once-empty corner, a previously invisible figure twisted violently.
Shadow spread like ink, revealing a humanoid form shrouded in darkness.
A flash of silver pierced the air.
Just as the shadow creature began transforming into humanoid form from the Anti-Magic’s effect—
Shiltina’s crystal-thin sword 「Shimring Morning Star」 struck.
It pierced the shadow being’s neck, blowing a bloody crater through it.
The figure collapsed, dissolving like a shadow, twitching once before falling still.
At the sa ti—
Threads ford from condensed blood mist silently erged in the air, pulling away from the corpse and vanishing.
“Roya.”
“A scout team mber. Ranked twenty-seventh on the Starfall Obelisk. Nightblade: ‘Shadow Leap’.”
Shiltina softly spoke, identifying the downed foe.
“To be precise, that’s no longer Roya.”
“That’s just a puppet—soul and self consud by the blood mist. The body and nightblade are controlled by the pollutant.”
Rast added.
And now, he understood the thousands of rustling sounds that echoed through the town earlier.
A cocoon must eventually break.
But for those lost in dreams, who never broke free—
What erged was no longer themselves, but puppets and dolls with erased minds and souls, moved by threads of blood mist.
Among these puppets were not only the original residents and creatures of Frostwater Town—
Even Night Travelers who had entered the disaster remnant but never returned...
Exploration team mbers.
They too had beco slaves of the mist.
Roya, the first to arrive using 「Shadow Leap」, was just the beginning.
Shiltina and Rast’s forr teammates from Starfall University—
Now puppets, wielding their sequence powers and nightblades to capture the two.
To turn them into hollow companions, void of will or soul.
...
“There were seventeen scout mbers lost in this disaster remnant. Sixteen remain after Roya.”
“Even if most of them were recon and stealth types... as raid team mbers, they’re at least third-tier.”
“A tough battle.”
Rast calculated the power disparity.
And beyond them were also the town’s original residents and animals.
Though they were once ordinary, under the threads’ control, they might gain enhancents—just like the Iron Cross.
In so ways, this was an even greater crisis than the Deep Blue Port operation.
Back then, Rast had rewound over 8,000 tis and morized every detail of the port.
But now—
Even defeating all these puppets didn’t guarantee clearing this disaster remnant.
Rast hadn’t forgotten the lighthouse keeper’s journal...
The endlessly looping ti, just like in Deep Blue Port.
As that thought ford—
He heard Shiltina’s whisper by his ear.
“Rast, did you already use the 『Eye of Secrets』 to find the key to clearing this disaster?”
“Grey... right?”
“Otherwise, knowing your personality, you wouldn’t talk so much to a little girl who has nothing to do with you.”
“Yeah.”
Rast nodded. “But in our current state, unless we eliminate all the puppets chasing us, it’s aningless to speak of it.”
“Then if soone were to intercept all the puppets and remove every interference, how long would you need to end this?”
“Not sure. But if all goes well, maybe fifty minutes.”
As soon as he finished, he realized this conversation felt familiar.
Back in that port city, he’d had a similar exchange.
With this sa sword-wielding girl.
Only now, their roles had completely reversed.
“I see...”
For so reason, Rast sensed a mischievous smile in Shiltina’s voice.
“Then this ti, you’ll have an hour.”
Boom—
As the words fell—
The wind flowing around Shiltina suddenly dissipated.
She voluntarily deactivated her long-held 「Wind Step」.
But in contrast—
A blazing azure fla surged up around her body.
「Blood Ignition」.
The third-tier ability of the War Chariot Sequence.
Burning body and soul alike—
Drawing out all physical potential, then releasing it in a brief burst of power.
The azure flas around her were the manifestation of burning blood and spirit.
Smiling within the fire, Shiltina said, “Last ti at Deep Blue Port, you went and did things your way. I’ve always wanted to try a little brute-force myself.”
“This ti’s different. These puppets were raid team mbers. I know their abilities better than you.”
“And all my powers boost combat. I’m no help with breaking mysterious ti loops.”
“I’m the best choice to stop these puppets.”
Engulfed in blue fire, she walked to the open window.
She turned back and locked eyes with Rast.
“Last ti, you entrusted everything to in Deep Blue Port... You bet I’d win.”
“This ti—”
“I bet on you.”
Her red-and-white uniform fluttered.
Chestnut hair danced in the wind.
This resolute fencer leapt from the window, her fla-wreathed figure striking against the night.
She charged into the darkness, eting the incoming footsteps in the blood mist.
Just like years ago, when the knight nad Cecilia walked alone into the blazing Autumnleaf Domain, facing the thunderous roar of the Fire Elental King.
“So—”
“I’ll leave it to you, Rast.”
“End this damned disaster remnant.”
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