Chapter 180: Akshia’s Kiss (5k)
Rolling over the last slope, dusk surged into Rast’s view like a tide.
The sunset, about to set the entire sky ablaze, and the girl standing gracefully at the cliff’s edge… everything felt so familiar.
In the distance, at the horizon, the sun resting on the sea was so intense and warm.
Just like the last trip before the Abyss collapsed, an entire epoch ago… it was clearly a fairy tale born from falsehoods, yet it carried a burning warmth, flowing from the distant Sixth Epoch to the present day.
In a daze, everything felt as if it had returned to the Sixth Epoch; he was not the Night Traveler Rast, but the leader of a Guardian squad infiltrating Paradise…
And she was not the Student Council President Akshia of Starry University, but the ruler of the underworld, the Paradise Queen, like a caged bird.
…
Rast stepped forward quietly and arrived at the cliff’s side.
Before him, shimmering ice-blue lights in mid-air outlined clear handwriting—”Rast, long time no see (^▽^)”
Whether it was the elegant handwriting or the emoticon at the end of the sentence, Rast was very familiar with it—this was the girl, who, due to a lack of opportunities to communicate with others, expressed her feelings clumsily and desperately.
If that was the case, in terms of emoticons… Akshia’s current mood must be very good.
He approached the cliffside and silently gazed at the distant scenery alongside Akshia.
It resembled the landscape back in the Night World so closely that it could be described as identical; however, seeing it again at this moment, Rast felt a completely different state of mind.
After all, at that time, he bore immense pressure, and there were many things waiting for him to accomplish…
Whether it was the betrayal, merging with the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup using his own body, or the farewell with Grey on the rainy night thereafter, using the bitter wine of betrayal to promote the girl’s growth, or pretending to join the Gravekeeper organization under the leadership of Cecil… all of this was an incredibly daunting challenge. Any mistake would lead to a disastrous end.
Thus, even though the scene at the cliff that evening was stunning, Rast had neither the heart nor the energy to appreciate it then.
But the state of mind at this moment was entirely different.
Escaping from the Night World, the bl**d battle in the Abyss, the resurrection of the Ancient Gods, and the mission of the Guardians… everything was infinitely distant from Rast, losing its importance.
Only at this moment could Rast truly appreciate the scenery before him like a normal person…
No longer a passerby in this world, a wandering lonely soul, but as Emis said, he had “truly begun to live in this world again.”
Seeing Rast come to her side, Akshia turned back, sitting on the cliff.
Her legs swung idly in the air, and she left a space for one person beside her, beckoning Rast to join her.
Seeing this, Rast complied with her invitation and sat down beside her.
“It has indeed been a long time since we last met.”
He took out paper and pen, writing in the blank diary; this was the way Rast had become accustomed to communicating with Her Majesty the Queen when he served as a attendant in Paradise City.
Even though time had passed and an entire epoch had gone by, they had not forgotten this manner of communication, and their understanding remained as it was.
“Although for me, it feels like just a few months have passed… but for you, Akshia, it must have been a rather long time.”
“After all, for you, you have slept from the Sixth Epoch until the current point in time, only waking up a few years ago.”
“However, I am somewhat surprised…”
Rast’s writing paused slightly.
“Weren’t you angry, Akshia? About my initial concealment of my identity, approaching you as a servant, and then betraying you to take out the Grim Reaper’s Star Cup?”
“Though, all of it actually had its reasons; choices that had to be made under unavoidable circumstances…”
He stopped his pen and spoke softly: “But nonetheless, I did deceive your feelings and let down the expectations you once held for me.”
At this moment, standing at the historical echo that had already cleared, looking back once more at everything he experienced in that Night World—
Rast believed he had done quite well in most matters.
Though it couldn’t be called perfect or flawless, he had done his best within the conditions he had at the time.
However, only towards Akshia… Rast felt a sense of guilt.
That girl had lived her whole life in a windowless tower, growing up in a cage called the palace, only being able to glimpse a bit of light from the outside world through the occasional cracks.
And he had taken advantage of her naivety and longing for the outside world, achieving his goals through deception.
No matter what ulterior motives or hardships lay behind that, for the noble goal of Guardian justice, free from anyone’s reproach, that betrayal and deception towards Akshia still undeniably existed…
This was a fact that he could never deny, no matter how he tried to disguise it or deceive himself.
However, before Rast could finish his sentence, he felt a pale finger gently cover his lips.
“No, I’m not angry.”
The ice-blue crystalline handwriting flickered slightly in the dusk.
“Because, I know you, Rast, had no other choice, right?”
Akshia silently watched the sea far below them, a sea dyed red by the sunset.
In the Sixth Epoch, it was called the “Sea of No Light” where terrifying forbidden life lurked in the depths; any ship deviating from the Lighthouse’s guidance on the Broken Coast would meet with only the end of sinking in the Sea of No Light.
But now, although it was the same sea, it had entirely transformed; the surface glittered, calm and peaceful.
Occasionally, fishing boats passed by on the surface, dragging nets filled with tons of catches, appearing tranquil and harmonious.
“The book says that relationships only can enjoy together when one is useful to the other, welcoming smiles only when it suits one’s interests; otherwise, it’s just a superficial relationship.”
“And only those who can understand each other’s difficulties, who can empathize with one another…”
“When one faces difficulties, willing to support each other even at the cost of sacrificing their own benefits… are true friends, true kindred spirits.”
She gently turned her head from the sea turned red by the sunset back to Rast.
Akshia looked at Rast, her violet eyes radiating an extremely serious light.
“I’m actually not as naive and ignorant as you think, Rast.”
“Though I didn’t understand at first, later on, I subtly sensed some things… like, for example, that you come from the Guardian’s background, and those comrades who provided us assistance in secret when we went out of the palace to play.”
The ice-blue elegant handwriting paused slightly: “But I think none of that matters.”
“During that time I entered the Diviner’s tent for a reading… the small diviner with gray hair told me—that you and I, Rast, will surely meet a complete ending, both safe and sound.”
The bright radiance jumped in her violet eyes: “Fairy tales are false, but love is real.”
“Even if our story began from illusions, I believe that even the soil built of lies can surely bear real flowers.”
“If so—”
The elegant handwriting slowly outlined the second half of her sentence in mid-air.
“Then that would be enough.”
Akshia gently stood up, looking directly into Rast’s eyes.
The wind blew from across the sea, sweeping over thousands of hectares of mountains and the forests covering them; countless treetops and branches swayed in the wind, gathering into waves.
Those waves seemed like a sea, a sea of crimson trees.
“I know that everything we went through back then, the identities and relationships of the Queen and a servant, are merely acts arranged by the Night World, not to be taken seriously.”
“Just like a performance scripted by fate, once the performance ends, the actors will naturally disperse, returning to their previous lives.”
“But I think there should still be some things left between us—”
Akshia took Rast’s hand, gently writing in his palm with her pale fingers, hurriedly, yet seriously.
That hasty writing resembled someone anxiously and hopefully waiting for a response.
“I don’t want to return to the ordinary relationship we had before, just being acquaintances who merely nod to each other.”
“I want to be friends with you, Rast.”
“Not that superficial relationship, but a true friendship where we can empathize, a connection of kindred spirits…”
She slightly raised her head, gazing up at Rast’s face: “So, Rast—”
“Can you answer me a question?”
At this point in writing, Akshia’s handwriting hesitated slightly, but in the end, she still wrote her question in Rast’s palm.
“If we could relive that journey…”
“Would you do as you did before, seize my Star Cup and push me down into the Abyss?”
…
Feeling the slight stirring sensation in his palm.
Looking at the girl in front of him, resembling a kitten, gazing cautiously up at him, trying to read his expression, Rast’s heart stirred slightly.
He knew that this girl, whose eyes held eager hope, was waiting for his answer.
And Rast also understood that if he were to give a negative reply at this moment, the d*ath God’s girl before him would wholeheartedly fall for him.
She was a miraculous being of mixed human and divine lineage, the perfect descendant of the gods in this era.
After the remnants of the old d*ath God’s soul were completely extinguished in the Abyss… Akshia would be the sole inheritor of the “d*ath God” sequence, with no further obstacles for her to break through into legend and ascend to divinity.
Having a person destined to become legendary, even ascend to the divine throne, fully devoted to him… one could imagine how much strength this would bring Rast.
But—
Rast gently closed his eyes.
“If it were to happen again, I would still do the same—”
“Betray you again and push you off the cliff.”
Inheriting the will of the Guardians, becoming a partner of justice…
This had been the driving force, in his past life, during the despairing cycles of hundreds of years in Deep Blue Harbor, fueling that empty, broken shell to keep moving forward.
It was also the faith that had kept the being named “Rast” alive until now; he would not betray this belief.
Upon hearing this, the light in Akshia’s violet eyes dimmed slightly, passing through a hint of disappointment.
But the next moment, her eyes brightened again.
“But—”
Rast spoke softly: “Even if I have to face the remnants of the old d*ath God again, even if I end up wounded all over again, it doesn’t matter.”
“No matter how many times it happens, I will break that ice coffin once more and pull you out of the Abyss.”
This seemed to be a choice that was somewhat twisted and meaningless in terms of internal conflict.
After all, if it were only to pursue the singular goal of “Guardian justice”, then the best, most energy-efficient option would be to take Akshia’s Star Cup and disregard her afterward.
And if it were for love, pursuing what Noah described as “the primal reproductive impulse arising between male and female due to the secretion of stimulating hormones”, then Rast should directly give Akshia a negative response now.
However, for Rast at this moment, this was his most genuine thought at the core of his heart.
Once he had chosen to embrace humanity, living not as a machine but once again as a human—while basking in the radiance of humanity, it simultaneously meant that Rast must confront the weaknesses of human nature.
Not willing to abandon the ideal called “Guardian,” yet wanting to embrace “humanity”… this “I want it all” path would undoubtedly be much more rugged and difficult than the ordinary road.
But this was the path Rast had chosen for himself, and he would not regret it, even if it was absurd.
…
The last rays of the sun ignited the entire sky in flames.
In the deepening night, listening to Rast’s response, Akshia’s violet eyes shone brighter than ever.
But soon, a hint of vigilance floated in her eyes: “That statement you just made, weren’t you just trying to fool me, Rast?”
Rast shook his head.
Instead of using words or writing, he directly transmitted his heart’s voice to Akshia in the spiritual world through “Moonlit Whisper”: “No.”
“You’re really not lying to me, are you?”
“Really not.”
“You’re really, really not deceiving me, are you?”
“Really, really not.”
…
Without the aid of words, but directly transmitting heartfelt voices between the two hearts, it was such a childish back-and-forth, like children quarreling.
And after this childish exchange lasted for a moment—
Rast felt the heart’s voice belonging to Akshia in the Moonlit Whisper’s spiritual world come to a gentle halt, everything returning to silence.
In the next instant.
He saw the girl before him close her eyes, gently tiptoe, and wrap her arms around his neck.
Then.
A cold and moist sensation.
On one side of Rast’s cheek, it gradually spread out.
At that moment, the sun set, and boundless darkness engulfed the entire world.
Akshia’s lips were very cold, soft to the touch, but the girl in his arms was so warm and trembling slightly.
【Your bond with Akshia has deepened, and the “Library of Fools” has gained new powers.】
【The current bond level of ‘d*ath God’ Akshia has risen from 6 to 7.】
【You have unlocked a new Night Blade original classic—’d*ath’s Messenger’.】
In the suddenly shining and rhythmically moving azure light before him.
In a daze, Rast seemed to see once again at the foot of the mountain, the vibrant Paradise City.
The head maid of the palace, Anna, who had served Her Majesty the Queen for many years…
The vice-captain of the Guardian squad, also the co-director during their dates, the Shadow Servant…
The squad member, the girl Yannis with a single ponytail…
One by one, those who had already passed away in the past epoch now appeared beside them once more, smiling as they watched the two embrace on the cliff.
As if celebrating, yet more like blessing.
(End of this chapter)
