Chapter 155: Rast: BOOM (Two-in-One)
The waves surged, and the sea was windy.
Rast looked directly at Noah, who had risen into the air, reaching the top of the tower where their eyes met, gently caressing his chest and leaning back.
His figure was swallowed by the howling storm in the high sky, plummeting straight towards the illusory sea formed by the Abyss.
……
What does he want to do?
Knowing fully well that his body had been sown with the Flesh Seed, that whether he lived or died was entirely in my hands, yet he still struggles needlessly…
Or rather, is he seeking d*ath?
Noah’s bounty half-body slightly startled.
However, he quickly sharpened his gaze.
Originally, Noah was thinking of using the Flesh Seed within the opponent’s body as leverage, ensuring Rast was completely subdued before finding a way to thoroughly investigate the many anomalies existing within him.
For instance, why did Cecil not allow his successor to be cautious and lie low, but instead let him approach him, infiltrating the Gravekeepers to become an insider… placing that most important Flame Seed beneath the enemy’s nose?
This was undoubtedly an illogical choice—Cecil, as a legend, could not possibly misunderstand such a basic principle.
However, looking at the boy falling from the tower into the sea, Noah temporarily reined in the confusion in his heart.
In any case—what Rast had just used did indeed originate from that Flame Seed stolen by the Guardian… this is an unshakable fact that I will never misjudge.
Reclaiming the stolen Flame Seed was Noah’s primary objective on this journey…
Compared to this, everything else seemed unimportant, with prioritization pushed much further back.
“Rejecting the gifts of the divine realm, and also refusing the eternal immortality we bestowed.”
“As the price for rejecting the gift… your flesh will become the sustenance for my creation, blooming the most splendid flower in this world—”
That aged hand gently grasped the void.
“So—”
“Your life shall be buried here.”
In the next moment.
Boom—
Every inch of Rast’s skin suddenly turned pale.
Countless plant roots exploded along his every vein and bl**d vessel, extracting every drop of bl**d flowing through his limbs and bones.
Then, every drop of bl**d in his body gathered in his heart.
Green branches pierced through the flesh, bearing a flower bud that broke through Rast’s pale skin, trembling slightly at his heart, reflecting the deep red of bl**d.
Immediately after.
In one ten-thousandth of a moment.
The flower bud bloomed.
On top of his heart, an eerie bl**d lotus blossomed.
Noah’s words were not empty… this truly was the most beautiful flower in the world.
Blooming with the bl**d and life force of beings, it was as seductive and fallen as a poppy.
Every drop of bl**d was deprived, every bl**d vessel and vein ruptured… Rast’s entire body lost its color.
Like a kite with a severed string, it plunged into the dusky sea below the tower.
“Another one…”
Looking at the bl**d-colored flower blooming in mid-air, Noah couldn’t help but murmur softly.
“Another human, clearly having eternal immortality within reach, yet unwilling to compromise for the sake of fleeting dreams.”
His mind suddenly recalled some past events.
Some that occurred in the old epoch, long buried in the river of history… except for Noah, an elder among the Gravekeepers, no one knew of these past events.
Once, there was an ordinary human, born in obscurity, rising from humble beginnings, enduring hardships, overcoming obstacles, and forging a difficult path…
In an era where extraordinary knowledge transmission was nearly entirely cut off, and the strongest were but at most third or fourth tier in a depleted age—through his own unyielding persistence and talent, he forged a heavenly road in the dark times, devoid of light, step by step.
At an incorrect time and at an incorrect place, he ascended to the seat of legends.
Even then, that person, based on the scant clues found in ancient texts… discerned the existence of the ancient secret organization of Gravekeepers and established contact with the organization that was then still hidden in the shadows.
His talent and character were so exceptional that even the Gravekeepers of that time regarded him differently, inviting him to join.
And he lived up to expectations, rapidly growing to become a senior figure among the Gravekeepers, even qualifying to wield that Flame Seed passed down from the Age of Gods.
However—no one could have anticipated that.
As the lifecycle of that epoch was about to end, and the Gravekeepers prepared to comply with the heavenly principles, destroying the current epoch to reset the cycle… a great internal strife erupted within the Gravekeepers, the largest since their establishment.
The specific processes and details of this internal strife had long been buried in time, impossible to verify.
The end result of the internal strife was that the Gravekeepers suppressed the insurgents, but at great cost, most members suffered irreparable damage, and to avoid perishing over time were forced into long-term slumber or self-imprisonment, greatly diminishing their influence over the real world.
Led by that human who rose from obscurity, all the insurgents were ruthlessly slaughtered, meeting a tragic end—yet only that Flame Seed he had stolen went missing, eventually circulating in the present world, becoming the foundation of the Guardians, and remained an inescapable shadow in the hearts of the Gravekeepers for thousands of years.
This person, who had risen from nothing, was the Fire Stealer… the first Guardian.
To this day, Noah still remembers that first Guardian, the despicable thief who, before dying with a smile, spoke his last words to them:
“This time… we won.”
Did you… win?
It’s a pity that the Guardian built at the cost of his and his followers’ lives… ultimately was just a fleeting dream.
After today—
The “Guardians” will no longer exist.
As such thoughts just stirred.
In the next moment, Noah’s expression suddenly changed.
For the first time, a hint of astonishment appeared on that aged face.
……
From the mid-air falling from the tower.
Under the sky, above the sea.
Rast was bathed in the rushing, howling wind.
He tore the blossoming bl**d flower from his chest, the crimson petals drifting down in mid-air, resembling the floral rain scattered at a funeral.
In Rast’s ear, a crisp sound of shattering was quietly echoing.
Every inch of his bl**d vessels had shattered, the last drop of bl**d had flowed away with the bloom of the bl**d flesh flower… the “Flesh Blossom” was an ultimate move that only legendary strongmen of the Bounty Sequence could use; as long as a life had flesh and bl**d, unless also a legend, there was no possibility of escaping after the bl**d flower bloomed.
Yet Rast still had not died.
A pale blue fluorescence surrounded him, preserving the last sliver of life force within Rast, preventing his life from entirely slipping away, keeping him with the most basic ability to move.
【Desperate Plea】
【Category: Inherent Skill】
【The dream upon the ruins, fragmented shadows… The girl self-proclaims as an evil monster, denying the past, denying everything, trapping herself forever in a lightless dream bubble, desperately praying for light to descend during dark and starless nights.】
【Thus, the hero who responded to the girl’s prayers and cries, shattered the illusory dream, allowing her to escape the mire of despair and walk towards the future… But did he truly come from the illusion, or was he real?】
【Skill Effect: When the holder is in a dying state, deny d*ath once.】
【The cooldown time for this skill is one complete Night World Echo, or 30 days of real time outside the Night World.】
【This skill has been activated, and cannot be used again during the current Night World Echo process.】
【You are currently in the “d*ath Resistance” state; the deny d*ath effect will no longer take effect. For your safety, please seek treatment immediately.】
“Desperate Plea”
This was the inherent skill Rast obtained as a reward from the Night World mission during his first encounter with Grey in Frozen Water Town Echo.
When in a dying state, conceptually deny d*ath once.
Only such a conceptual skill that resists d*ath from a rules perspective could allow Rast to endure the bloom of the “Flesh Blossom” and still not d*e.
But ultimately, this was not some ultimate trump card that could turn the tide of the battle; it could only be said to be a means of surviving.
Even if triggered, it had no ability to heal or restore wounds… merely allowing for a brief resistance against d*ath and leaving Rast with the last sliver of flesh.
As long as Noah made another move, without even needing to finish him off… all he had to do was wait for Rast to naturally fall from the height into the dusky sea formed by the Abyss, and the impact from that fall would be enough to wipe away the last bit of flesh, thoroughly killing him.
However—
Even so, it was already enough.
Clearly, there wasn’t a single intact inch of skin on his body, all bl**d and flesh were muddled, the skin rolled up, looking no different from a corpse.
Yet Rast continued to smile, even if his smile at this point was not much better than a chainsaw-wielding monster in a horror movie.
His figure was bathed in the raging sea winds of high altitude, slightly bringing together his right thumb and index finger, then making an opening and closing gesture—
“BOOM~”
In the next moment.
Tick-tock—
Tick-tock—
On the high platform carrying the Ice Coffin, the sound of dripping suddenly echoed.
As if some countdown was being initiated.
Seemingly sensing something.
On the tower, Noah’s expression suddenly changed.
He reached out his hand quickly, green branches surging, intending to cast off a seemingly inconspicuous round object from the surface of the high platform.
That was an object that had seemingly fallen from Rast’s sleeve pocket when he plummeted into the Abyss.
Noah’s Abundant Domain had completely covered this round object, but in his perception, it had not revealed a hint of life energy or any hidden magical fluctuations.
Thus, Noah never took it too seriously, considering it merely a lifeless object that posed no threat to him.
But at this moment.
The ticking countdown sound came from that round object.
And at the same time.
A dreadful wave was brewing and gathering within that sphere.
This wave exceeded all of Noah’s previous knowledge…
There was no life energy, no magical force, and no divine presence—even when dormant, it was just piles of lifeless objects akin to ores…
But when these lifeless objects were activated, they triggered an unimaginable chain reaction, brewing a tide that would annihilate everything.
“Holy Grenade”
【Type: Extraordinary Item, Single-Use Consumable】
【Rarity: Gold】
【Note: Causes special effects against targets with attributes of “Chaos,” “Evil,” “Pollution,” “Disorder,” etc.】
This was a protective item that Professor Barbarossa gave to Rast when he first entered the Tower of Secrets within the End of the Night World, worried that Rast might become embroiled in historical events that exceeded his capabilities.
As for its item description, it was only a brief phrase—
“Annihilate all”
Later, it underwent mechanization modifications by Professor Agatha, the dean of the Ashen Academy at Starry University, adding a timed detonation function to the “Holy Grenade.”
This was a weapon that transcended all knowledge of the Sixth Epoch… a power known as “technology.”
It transcended the era; it had never appeared in the Sixth Epoch or even in history long before…
Thus, even in later generations, when casually grabbing a child from the street, anyone would easily guess that a round object that beeps is a timed bomb and would run far away.
However, in the current era, even from the perspective of someone as ancient as Noah, he was completely unaware of the existence of the “Holy Grenade.”
Because he had never witnessed such a weapon, it was natural that he could not take precautions… he could not comprehend why such an inconspicuous metal sphere would trigger intense warnings in his instincts.
But even so, the moment a warning sensation arose, Noah would need to take action…
This was the instinct of a legendary strongman, which had allowed him to survive countless battles… even if he couldn’t understand, he instinctively expanded his domain to bat away the sphere.
However, at this moment.
Everything had become too late.
In the next moment.
The chain reaction reached a critical point.
The outer shell of the Holy Grenade shattered, and boundless light and heat broke through the limits, spilling out.
Subsequently, the scorching white light emanating from the Holy Grenade engulfed everything on the high platform—
Whether it was Noah’s Avatar of Abundance or the Ice Coffin sealing Akshia and the old God of d*ath’s remnant memories, they were all consumed into the void.
………………
PS: The next update will try to be earlier.
(End of Chapter)
