novelraw Chapter 220 : Civilizations Have Fallen, but the Shoreguards Have Never Been Defeated
Chapter 220 : Civilizations Have Fallen, but the Shoreguards Have Never Been Defeated
Chapter 220: Civilizations Have Fallen, but the Shoreguards Have Never Been Defeated
“Grey……”
Rast softly murmured the name of the grey-haired girl walking across the wasteland before his eyes.
It was a reunion after more than two hundred years.
Though he had heard Grey’s voice once before in the Watchtower, that had merely been a pre-recorded video played by her in advance.
This was the first time Rast had truly seen Grey with his own eyes since the Battle of the Fractured Coastline had ended.
Whether in attire or appearance, Grey still maintained the look she had back then—before she became the Shoreguard Leader—when she was merely a member of Rast’s squad.
This scene made Rast feel momentarily dazed, as if everything had returned to those years long past, to a carefree afternoon following a completed training session in the Watchtower.
Yet the colorless land, the ruined city buried beneath the desert, and Grey’s small frame beneath her hooded cloak that exuded exhaustion and helplessness… all pulled his thoughts back from nostalgia to harsh reality.
Yes, this was the world after the “Final Catastrophe”.
The civilization of the Sixth Era had already ceased to exist.
……
“Have you finally come to terms with reality, current master of the 『Fool’s Library』?”
Upon the colorless land, within the pitch-black sky-sea, a vast and distant voice descended.
“No matter how bountiful an era, it will eventually end. No matter how glorious a civilization, it must ultimately fall… This is the law inscribed at the root of this world—an unchangeable rule.”
“Even if you are Fate’s Chosen, even if you have deduced every future branch of the River of Time, exhausted every divergent path of possibility… at the end of all possibilities, all divergences, and all streams, there is only one conclusion.”
“This is destiny. This is the Order of the World.”
The voice that descended from the far heavens echoed through every corner of heaven and earth.
“ㄴWhoa, another angel?”
“–Are angels wholesale now? You can buy them in bulk these days?”
Dean Silver’s tail fur bristled once again, her gaze fixed warily on the dark heavens above.
Of course, this was just Dean Silver’s instinctive reaction.
Their current state was very peculiar—like how humans observe the cosmos through a telescope and see galaxies from billions of years ago. Those billions of years represent the time light takes to travel… a history that has already occurred, while they were merely spectators watching a performance. The audience could not interfere with anything on stage, and the actors on stage could not perceive the audience either.
“There’s no helping it. This is the end of an era, the time of final conclusion… All those monsters and devils that usually hide away will also start crawling out at times like this.”
Rast looked up at the dark heavens where the mighty voice had come from. “Besides, considering the other party’s identity, not appearing at a time like this would be the true anomaly.”
He had already guessed the identity of this new angel—
Gravekeepers.
A secretive organization that had existed since the Age of Gods.
And now, at the end of an era such as this, it was only natural for the Gravekeepers to appear and bury the fallen civilizations.
As if to confirm Rast’s deduction, Grey raised her eyes slightly, gazing at that dim sky.
“Not long ago, one of their members was eliminated by Sisel the Leader. After I became an angel, they hid like rats for years, never daring to show themselves…”
“And now, only at a time like this, are they finally bold enough to appear?”
“Noah… he was trapped at the Legendary Realm for too many years and grew greedy for the Death God’s Holy Grail. Instead of calling on the organization for aid, he foolishly tried to seize it all for himself.”
“He died, and that’s that. There’s nothing worth mourning.”
“On the other hand, Sisel… that Legend of the Solar Sequence, truly was someone not to be underestimated.”
When speaking of Noah, that lofty voice was cold and indifferent, as though it wasn’t referring to a fellow Gravekeeper but merely a disposable chess piece.
But upon mentioning Sisel, there was no attempt to hide the admiration in their tone.
“If he hadn’t been shackled by all those dreams and illusions—if he had chosen compromise… given time, perhaps he really could have ascended to angelhood by his own power.”
“To become, like us, a truly Eternal Immortal being.”
“Alas, there are no ifs in this world. An angel is an angel, a Legend is a Legend… they may seem only a step apart, yet between them lies the divide between eternity and illusion.”
“And all that he did—those seemingly noble sacrifices… now, in retrospect, were clearly futile.”
“All he accomplished was forcibly extending the life of this decrepit era by a few hundred years—only to still die in the end, accomplishing nothing, changing nothing, and wasting his own chance to ascend to angelhood.”
From the heavens, those indifferent eyes slowly descended.
“Such occurrences—I have personally witnessed countless times over the long years from the Age of Gods until now…”
“Among them were not a few even more passionate, more talented, and more brilliant than you. They too once burned with a desire to protect their civilizations and defy the fate of their eras…”
“But in the end, without exception, they all failed. From hope to despair, they ultimately chose to join the Gravekeepers.”
“Admit it—”
“The civilization of the Sixth Era…”
“And the ‘Shoreguards’, have already been defeated.”
That voice from the distant heavens paused slightly.
“And the invitation I once extended to you still stands. Join us… You are an angel of the Fate Sequence, possessing a value that matches your power.”
“Use your strength to guide future civilizations to obey the Order of the World, to accept destiny, and avoid all those meaningless struggles and internal strife.”
……
That lofty voice rumbled like thunder, or like the judgment of fate itself.
It declared a cold truth.
Civilization had already fallen, and the Sixth Era had reached its end… a fact already set in stone, unable to be changed.
But just then, Grey pulled back the hood of her standard Shoreguard cloak and raised her head.
“Gravekeeper, you’re wrong about one thing…”
Her voice was faint, but the resolve it carried made both sky and earth tremble: “The civilization of the Sixth Era… has indeed failed.”
“Not just us. Across six eras from the Age of Gods until now, humanity has stumbled again and again, falling into the dust…”
“But—”
“The ‘Shoreguards’ have never been defeated.”
Until this moment, Rast finally saw for the first time the face that had been hidden beneath Grey’s hood——
Even though her expression was so exhausted and haggard, in that instant, Grey’s eyes were still so bright.
They were flames, blazing and pure, illuminating the deepest darkness of the Long Night.
“Angel of the Gravekeepers……”
“This time, it was my win.”
……
It was you… who won the bet?
Everything you cherished, everything you wished to protect, had already been buried in the dust of history with the end of the Sixth Era.
At this point, what meaning did those words still carry?
Such confusion only rose for a fleeting moment in the heart of the Gravekeeper Angel before it dissipated.
Because in the next instant, he heard Grey’s clear chant echoing across the entire silent wasteland.
“Fate…”
Was she about to invoke the abilities of the Fate Sequence? Temporal Rewind, or Temporal Stasis, or Precognition?
But what did it matter?
Only an angel could contend with another angel. This saying not only declared the might of angels—its deeper meaning was that the strength between angels was not vastly different.
Each and every angel held “Uniqueness” across the entire River of Time, across the entirety of history. They simultaneously existed in every moment, every instant of time… with no moment of weakness.
Even if one angel was slain at a certain point in time, he could instantly return through another “self” situated at a different node in the historical stream… for in every instant, every moment of the entire River of Time, there remained the traces and imprints of angels—omnipresent.
A brief suppression might be possible, but to truly kill another angel, one had to erase every trace of their existence in the River of Time at the exact same moment—every mark left at every node… even for an angel, this was near impossible.
Barring the extinction of the Age of Gods or a direct confrontation with the Corrective Force of History—those irreversible currents—so long as one did not seek death recklessly, an angel was nearly impossible to kill.
The so-called “Eternal Immortality” was not merely empty words—it was the truest portrayal of the concept of an angel.
Thus, at this moment, the Gravekeeper Angel felt no worry about Grey striking against him. He knew that as fellow angels, he could not kill Grey, and Grey certainly could not kill him in a short time…
But then, the next instant.
He heard Grey’s words clearly.
“Fate…”
“This is the final wish I have made——”
“Release the seal upon the 『Eternal Night Stele』.”
“Let everything etched upon that stele—all the epochs and the histories of civilization that had once faded away; the remnants, echoes, and traces of time—return to reality.”
“Turn those reflections of the past into a world for future humanity to explore… to become nourishment and sustenance for a newborn civilization sprouting amidst the ruins, on the verge of a New Era——”
Wha…
The Gravekeeper Angel’s thoughts nearly froze.
Since the Age of Gods until now, Grey was the first angel born of the Fate Sequence… thus, even he could not know what kind of “miracle” Grey would be capable of wielding after ascending as an angel.
And only now, did he finally understand Grey’s true goal.
『Eternal Night Stele』.
A Sacred Relic passed down since the Age of Gods, and the true foundation of the Gravekeepers.
Like the 『Fool’s Library』, it too originated from the Age of Gods—from the nameless Fool who led humanity’s rise and founded the Gravekeepers.
It was a true treasure involving time and space, able to record the imprints of history and the vestiges of time.
Within the Gravekeeper organization, those legends who returned even after death had done so because they had left their Soul Imprints upon the 『Eternal Night Stele』… in a way, they obtained the trait of “Eternity” that only angels could possess.
One could even say, without the 『Eternal Night Stele』, the Gravekeepers would not exist at all.
No wonder Grey had said, “I won the bet”...
The 『Eternal Night Stele』 was usually sealed in the deepest recesses of the Gravekeeper organization. Not even angels could approach it. Without a clear objective, Grey’s wish could never have taken effect.
But at this exact moment—at the end of the Sixth Era, the moment of finality—the Gravekeepers would surely bring forth the 『Eternal Night Stele』...
Because this was the final hour of the epoch. Recruiting Grey into the Gravekeepers was merely incidental.
The true purpose of the Gravekeeper Angel appearing here was to use the 『Eternal Night Stele』 to collect and entomb the history of the Sixth Era… this was the very reason for the existence of the “Gravekeeper” organization.
“Are you insane?”
“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”
“Do you have any idea how great a price you will pay for making such a grand vow?”
For the first time, the usually indifferent voice of the Gravekeeper Angel carried such a tone of agitation.
As fellow angels, he was fully aware of the price Grey would pay for “performing a miracle”—it was Equivalent Exchange.
Every gift of fate would always have a clearly marked price. The more magnificent and grand the miracle… the higher the price one must pay to trade for it.
If it were merely like Grey’s previous two wishes—such as enhancing her precognition, or a miracle with a single target like “bring Brother Rast to my side”—then the cost of Equivalent Exchange was still bearable for someone who had already become an angel.
But now, the vow Grey made was a miracle that would influence the entire era, the future historical currents.
Its price was one that not even an angel could bear—nor would they wish to face.
“Of course I understand the weight of the wish I’ve made.”
Grey’s voice, at this moment, carried an indescribable calm.
“To balance this grand wish upon the scales, what I must offer…”
“Is everything I possess as an angel—including ‘Eternity’, right?”
Grey gently raised her head, gazing toward the dim and lightless heavens: “To be eternally exiled, wandering adrift in the deepest corners of the sea of stars…”
“That truly does sound like a bleak future——”
“But, I was chosen by Brother Rast to be the new Shoreguard Leader, after all……”
“If even the resolve in my heart cannot match that of a girl just past the age of ten, wouldn’t that be far too shameful…”
“Then——”
Her calm voice descended, together with twisted time and the grand tides of fate, rushing like an ocean.
“Equivalent Exchange, fulfilled.”