Chapter 69: Grey’s Choice
The shimmering lights were not as scorching and dazzling as Grey had imagined. Instead, they were clear and bright, carrying a hint of warmth.
In the clear flames, Grey felt that the coldness that had long shrouded her heart was slightly dispelled.
“Brother Rast…”
“Don’t you want to k*ll me?”
She whispered her unspoken thoughts.
“Why would I want to k*ll you?”
The voice of the boy came from the firelight.
“Because… I have brought disaster to this world and to the people around me.”
“Only by killing me can these disasters cease.”
“And this is also a way to repay the former mayor, the uncles and aunts in Frozen Water Town, and all those who have perished because of me…”
Grey’s words were tinged with a slight tremor.
Evil monsters should be killed by the messengers of justice. This was a law etched in her mind, learned from fairy tale books, bard’s stories, and many other places, repeated over and over.
In the past in Frozen Water Town, on those countless repetitive May 11ths, the Guardians who hunted her had once again validated this seemingly universal truth.
It was as if an unchangeable fate.
“So, you believe that as long as you d*e, you can atone for those who have passed away?”
“If that’s the case, then that is a truly arrogant and contemptible thought.”
“Arrogant enough to believe that d*ath… would be the harshest punishment for oneself.”
There was an inexplicable chill in Rast’s voice, no longer the warmth from before.
“Is d*ath a very arrogant thought?”
Grey’s voice held a hint of confusion and bewilderment.
“Of course.”
Rast’s words rang out softly.
“Inside you lies a great power that can interfere with time and rewrite fate.”
“You simply knew nothing about this power in your past, and could only awaken it in moments of emotional collapse, unconsciously.”
“It is because of this power that you were able to survive countless disasters unscathed until now.”
“However, the gifts of fate are fair, and the price has already been marked in secret.”
“Those disasters and pollution that have taken away your home and your loved ones, the glimpses and coveting from the Evil God, are the cost of this power.”
“So… Grey, do you understand?”
“From beginning to end, what you bear is not just your own fate… but the weight of countless other people’s fates.”
The boy’s tone softened a bit.
“I once found myself in a situation similar to yours, desperately wanting to d*e, seeking self-destruction.”
“But later, I realized.”
“Attempting to find liberation through d*ath is the simplest and yet the most tasteless, the most selfish approach.”
“Carrying the weight of others’ lives and continuing on… is always much harder than simply seeking d*ath.”
Rast opened the chamber of his revolver and loaded a brass-colored b*llet into it.
Then he closed the chamber, listening to the click of the b*llet being chambered.
“To be honest, I did have thoughts of killing you when I realized your uncontrollable power that touches time and fate.”
“Even if you have no malicious intent subjectively, the power within you is too dangerous… sacrificing an innocent in the subjective sense to secure the safety of countless other innocents is a decision that Guardians must make when necessary.”
“However, in you, I see some possibilities.”
Rast paused slightly.
“The pollution and disasters pose no threat to you; on the contrary, under the influence of that force called ‘Fate’ within you, these pollutants and disasters might instead become your ally.”
“You could clearly ignore these and pretend nothing happened, wandering to the next place after Frozen Water Town’s destruction.”
“But you have repeatedly refused all of this.”
“You have confined yourself in the illusion of the past, yet also bound the pollution of ‘Zhuyue’ here, not allowing it to leak out and harm more places.”
“This is you following the voice of your heart, making a choice to protect those strangers you have never met.”
“Grey, do you remember when you asked me if you could become a Guardian? What I replied to you?”
Grey paused for a moment, then recalled.
“Brother Rast, you didn’t give me an answer.”
“You told me not to casually speak those words until I truly understood what being a Guardian represented.”
“That’s right.”
Rast gently nodded.
“But now, in you, I see possibilities.”
“Not just to survive, but to protect others… the possibility of becoming a Guardian.”
“Therefore, I am willing to give you a chance.”
“A chance for you to choose your own future with your own will.”
The boy lightly tossed with his left hand.
Grey instinctively reached out, and the next moment, she felt a weight in her palm.
The revolver loaded with live bullets quietly fell into Grey’s hands.
Grey instinctively looked up, meeting Rast’s dark eyes.
“Either continue to deceive yourself, immersed in the illusion of Frozen Water Town.”
“Or consider yourself an inherently evil being, and, like the stories in books, k*ll yourself in the name of imagined justice for a clean escape.”
“Or, choose the hardest path.”
“Admit your sins, acknowledge your weaknesses… carry the weight of the lives and souls of those innocents who perished because of you toward an unforeseen future, which may lead to a dead end.”
“All of this simply depends on your choice.”
The revolver in her hand was extremely heavy, glimmering with an iron-like sheen.
As Grey looked at the revolver, her eyes flickered with struggles and confusion.
My own… choice?
Although it was midnight, a distant brightness suddenly broke through the dim sky.
Light flowed.
Light gathered.
Like the morning star, fierce and clear light illuminated the endless long night, stirring up blinding whirlpools in the night sky.
Even the distorted, writhing Zhuyue faded in the flowing light.
That light was so dazzling, yet like a meteor piercing through the sky, brilliant and fleeting.
In that fleeting dazzling light, Grey suddenly remembered some things.
Memories that had been unconsciously forgotten after so many cycles.
There was a Guardian named Foden, her first Guardian encounter, looking like a scruffy uncle.
He lacked the sharpness and clarity of the later Guardians and seemed somewhat weak, with hints of anxiety and fear in his eyes.
His attitude towards the residents of Frozen Water Town was also different from those of the later Guardians.
It was not a clear, purpose-driven inquiry with no wasted words, but simply casual chat, even using his powers to make paper toys for the mayor’s children.
When the bl**d moon appeared and he sensed Grey’s strangeness, the uncle named Foden did not harm her.
He merely patted her head.
Then, he turned around and manipulated his seemingly unimpressive metallic armor created from “origami magic,” walking into the bl**d-colored fog, never to return.
So even though Grey’s memories of her past cycles were forgotten in the later ones… her subconscious still retained a sense of fondness and concern for the Guardian Organization.
It was precisely due to this fondness for the Guardian Organization that she repeatedly tried to interact with those incoming Guardians during the cycles.
Only to repeatedly fall into the cold, dead despair while being hunted.
Until—
Rast’s appearance.
He gave Grey a feeling akin to that of Uncle Foden.
Not like those who hunted Grey, who clearly had the identity of a Guardian but seemed to merely play the role, resorting to any means to escape Frozen Water Town.
But rather, truly like the name “Guardian” implies.
Not to “k*ll,” but to “protect” something.
And so, at this moment.
In that morning star-like stirring light.
The girl’s bright green eyes no longer held confusion or hesitation.
Grey made a decision.
For the first time since her birth, not simply swayed by the tides of fate, but a choice made with her own will.
Click.
Click.
Around Grey, the mottled times were slowly peeling away like plaster, shattering, and falling.
…
PS: Yesterday’s chapter was missing; today’s daily update compensates for it.
(End of Chapter)
