Chapter 125: Hate me, despise me, and then live on ugly (Two-in-One)
The two looked at each other.
Rast stood on the cliff with raging waves crashing against it, while Grey was beneath a pitch-black sky, where the rumbling thunder and fierce storm engulfed the entire world.
Since their first encounter in Frozen Water Town, this was the first time Grey had taken such a close look at Rast’s entire appearance—
In the flash of lightning, the youthful profile was sharply defined and profound, those pitch-black eyes were still clear, like stars lying calmly at the bottom of a lake, exactly as in Grey’s memory.
Though nearly ten years had passed since their first meeting, those ten years seemed to have left no trace on him…
However, at this moment.
This face, which once brought Grey peace, happiness, and satisfaction merely by seeing it, now evoked nothing but incomprehensible hatred and strangeness.
Clearly, their bodies were very close, separated only by a wavering curtain of rain.
Yet the distance between their souls was unprecedentedly far, as if it spanned the heavens.
“Have you experienced the beauty of power, Grey?”
“And at this moment you also possess the original sin of weakness.”
With her neck tightly gripped and raised into the air, the suffocating pressure made the young girl’s beautiful face show a pained expression, as Rast’s voice echoed along with it.
“Actually, you also have the potential to become strong.”
“I had already discovered this when I first came into contact with you.”
“The sequence of ‘Fate’… much like the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup I hold, represents the uniqueness of this world.”
“This is the key to cast aside the void and the fragile, weak human body, to ascend to the divine realm above… the true cornerstone of eternity and immortality.”
“With the favor of this fate, no matter where you are, you will become a coveted treasure.”
The boy’s voice was like a devil’s whisper, floating in Grey’s ears.
“So, Little Grey…”
“How about trying to join me in becoming a ‘Graveminder’?”
“Just like back in Frozen Water Town, when you were saved by me, which led to your admiration for Guardians, ultimately becoming one of them.”
“And now, it’s merely a replication of the past. Since I’ve betrayed the Guardians, all you need to do is follow in my footsteps.”
“At that time—”
“We will be able to continue the sweet and beautiful daily life you long for, in a new place, in eternal life…”
As he said this, the boy’s voice transitioned from cold indifference to a hint of the warmth from the past.
This was the tone Rast often used during the precious daily times Grey cherished while training at the Observing Spire for the last six months.
If it were just a few days ago, hearing such a straightforward invitation and knowing there was a chance to resume that sweet daily life with Brother Rast… Grey would have blushed and felt like a little deer, excited and elated.
And if it were ten years ago, that little girl who was as naive as a cub, unaware of ideals and beliefs, who simply wandered aimlessly and prioritized her own interests, would have undoubtedly accepted Rast’s invitation without hesitation.
But—
At this moment, Grey merely closed her eyes.
Two clear tears flowed down her pale cheeks, but when she opened her eyes again, there was no longer any confusion in her gaze.
“Brother Rast… I’m still used to calling you that… but in my heart, the real Brother Rast is already dead.”
“The you now only makes me feel disgust and hatred.”
“You are not my Brother Rast, but merely a vessel and soul that replaced him, a grotesque beast that will stop at nothing for so-called strength and so-called eternity.”
“You have treated the persistence of generations of Guardians and Sister Shadow’s sacrifice….”
Struggling against the tightening grip around her neck, leaving her gasping for breath.
She directed her fierce words at Rast.
“What do you consider life to be!”
Grey rejected Rast’s invitation.
That which she once longed for and sweetly dreamt about.
“I have nothing more to discuss with you, Brother Rast.”
“Since you have chosen betrayal, I don’t need the feigned compassion of an enemy.”
Grey’s voice was hoarse, reminiscent of what she had once requested from Rast many years ago in Frozen Water Town:
“k*ll… me.”
However, facing her plea for d*ath, the boy before Grey merely shook his head slightly.
As if realizing the determination in her words, Rast put away the seductive gentleness from before and returned to his previous indifference.
“k*ll you?”
“You don’t really think I would so easily grant your wish, do you?”
“Sometimes, d*ath itself is a luxurious liberation.”
“As the favored of fate, the sole possessor of this sequence… your existence itself holds value equivalent to the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup.”
“I believe the Graveminders will appreciate this welcome gift.”
He snapped his fingers lightly.
In the next moment, radiance gathered at his fingertip.
Around Grey’s soft body, it condensed into a pair of shackles glowing with a dusk-like hue.
The moment those dusk shackles fell upon Grey, she felt her entire body stiffen.
She lost control over her own body, unable to even move a finger, let alone find a way to take her own life.
“This is the difference between the strong and the weak.”
“As long as one possesses power, they can freely dominate the fates of others according to their own will.”
“And the weak can only become lambs, allowing themselves to be slaughtered—”
“Even in d*ath, they must plead for the mercy and charity of their enemies.”
The continuous mockery emanated from the boy who loomed above, inscribing one scar after another on Grey’s soul.
But just then, Rast’s actions suddenly halted.
In the next instant, he abruptly released Grey, who had completely become a slaughter-bound lamb, and rapidly retreated.
Boom—
The blazing sun pierced through the heavens.
In the darkest depths of the black sky, a burning coronet suddenly rose.
Illuminating half of the sky, it spread unparalleled light and heat to the entire world, like the true arrival of daylight.
Fierce winds.
Thunder.
Rainstorms.
Even the eternally dark long night vanished silently in that intensely bright, pure light, turning into nothingness.
This was the might unique to legends, where every word and action could transform into laws that modified the world, even to rewrite celestial phenomena within a certain area.
Cecil emerged from that blazing coronet.
He looked at Rast with an unfazed gaze.
“Traitor to the Guardians, leaking mission plans, harming comrades… k*ll without mercy.”
Without any superfluous dialogue.
Once comrades fighting side by side, but in this moment, Cecil simply uttered such a brief sentence, pronouncing Rast’s fate.
The magnificent coronet expanded in an instant.
The brilliant radiance carried boundless light and heat, as if it could evaporate the entire ocean, crushing down towards Rast.
Crack—
Crack—
Sounds of countless things shattering erupted simultaneously.
The intertwined brilliance of pale and yellow, the residual power of the God of d*ath’s remains, Rast’s own equipped power…
Everything shattered in the sunlight and was subsequently obliterated into nothingness.
Ultimately, Rast’s position within the “Tower” sequence tier was merely third tier.
Of course, as the holder of the Night Blade “Library of Fools,” having also contained the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup and standing upon the remains of the God of d*ath in Paradise, his true battle strength could not be measured against an ordinary third-tier extraordinary being.
However, Rast was, after all, not the true “God of d*ath” sequence tier; that was merely a false facade forcibly fabricated using the “Library of Fools.”
Unlike Helen, who contained the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup from the moment of birth, he had forcefully fused in a very crude manner.
Naturally, he could not master the power of the God of d*ath as deeply as the Queen of the Underworld did, merely managing to control it in a rough manner.
It was enough to trample on someone like Grey, who was equally inexperienced and had not truly grown.
However, when faced with the leader of the Guardians, Cecil… those powers that relied on external factors had turned into nothing more than a mayfly meeting the sky, causing everything to become meaningless.
Only legends could contend with legends; this was the steadfast rule of the extraordinary world.
Every legend is the protagonist of an entire era; their birth is a unique, irreplaceable miracle in this world.
Even Rast and Grey had just begun to obtain the key to their legend, catching a glimpse of the unique path that belonged solely to them… but whether they could truly ascend to the legendary seat remained uncertain.
And Cecil, even within the legendary domain, was a strong one.
This was an insurmountable chasm.
Radiance flickered around Rast, but these abilities shattered successively, failing to cause even a hint of obstruction.
He could only watch helplessly as that brilliant coronet approached, bringing scorching light.
Once the coronet completely consumed Rast, both the power of the God of d*ath’s remains and the “Silence Disqualified: Withered Pebble” Night Blade from Professor Barbarossa would become utterly ineffective.
The sunlight slowly closed in on his body.
Extremely slowly, yet unstoppable and irreversible, approaching the outcome of Rast being obliterated into ashes.
As if sensing that impending demise, Rast’s figure struggled desperately.
Yet for some reason, his gaze remained calm, and in that silent moment, Rast exchanged a glance with Cecil in the distance.
Then, he subtly nodded.
A flicker of unusual light flashed in Cecil’s eyes but quickly disappeared.
In the next moment.
The expansion of that brilliant coronet actually accelerated, directly swallowing half of Rast’s body.
There was no pause whatsoever.
Within the radiant coronet, half of Rast’s body was instantly incinerated by the intense heat of the sun.
Reduced to nothing but ash, only the incomplete other half of his body remained.
…
“Don’t!”
Everything happened too suddenly.
Witnessing the coronet swallow half of Rast’s body, leaving only the incomplete other half, Grey didn’t even have time to comprehend what was happening before she found herself shouting.
She herself didn’t even know what feelings or thoughts drove her to cry out.
Alongside Grey’s hoarse scream came the sound of an aged laughter.
“Ha, Cecil, it seems I can’t let you have your way.”
“Although he is a traitor to your Guardians— Rast is still the chosen one, the heart of a deity, the host of the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup.”
A calm voice echoed across the cliff, as a vibrant, bountiful green realm quietly spread across the cliff.
It also blocked the coronet from further eroding Rast’s body.
Rast’s body, burned by the sun’s radiance, was battered and on the brink of d*ath, silently fell into that verdant realm.
Then, in that bountiful and vibrant light, the remnants of his body began to rapidly swell with flesh.
Cells were breathing at an overloaded speed, quickly completing the healing… or rather, it was not healing but patching.
Some supernatural force acted upon him, reconstructing his already puppet-like deteriorated body.
In just a few breaths, except for the burned clothing, Rast’s body was entirely restored to its original state.
“Under legends, everyone else is but an ant; this is the iron rule of this world.”
“But do not feel afraid; when the day comes that you truly reclaim the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup… you too will be able to reach such realms.”
A white-robed figure appeared beside Rast, the robe adorned with designs of gravestones, an ethereal aura akin to a gardener.
And the elder’s calm and gentle words echoed peacefully in his ears.
“Nor should you cling to rivaling legends like Cecil.”
“Entities like Cecil and the Guardians are but moths drawn to fire, burning meteors.”
“They seem to shimmer brilliantly, blazing fervently, appearing incredibly powerful… yet they are ephemeral, sacrificing the long life that could have been embraced for an illusory flash of light.”
“When the fire burns out, the meteor falls to earth, lying in dust, but the stars in the night sky continue to shine eternally… just like us Graveminders, witnessing the cycles of eras, the rise and fall of civilizations, existing through the ages.”
“Thus, one becomes closer to the natural order of this world.”
“Cecil and the Guardians are merely doomed to self-immolation, crushed to dust… that’s all they are, mere kindling.”
As the words settled, the gardener-like elder’s figure disappeared, leaving behind an ethereal door of vibrant green light, imbued with abundance.
Rast walked towards that illusory door of abundance.
However, just before his figure was about to vanish completely, Rast’s actions suddenly paused.
He turned slightly, looking down at Grey, who sat on the ground with tear-streaked pale cheeks.
“Do you want revenge, Grey?”
“k*ll me, the ungrateful traitor, the one who took away your Brother Rast’s soul and body to become stronger, ruthless and ugly.”
“Only, with who you are now, you don’t have the qualification to take revenge on me.”
The air of abundance dissipated into the night fog, leaving behind an evil laugh that echoed long.
“If you want to k*ll me, then hate me, despise me…”
“And then, live on ugly.”
(End of Chapter)
