novelraw Chapter 279 : The First and Final Nightworld
Chapter 279 : The First and Final Nightworld
Chapter 279: The First and Final Nightworld
Imperial Capital outskirts, Arcane Tower.
At five in the morning, it was the darkest moment before dawn.
The entire night sky was deathly silent, devoid of any starlight. Only at the edge of the horizon did a faint glimmer of twilight flicker, dim and elusive.
When Shiltina and Last entered the Arcane Tower, they found that Emis had already been waiting.
In the thin veil of night, she sat quietly on the long bench in the entrance hall, hands clasped. The night breeze swept through her pale golden hair, making her appear like a figure sculpted from an anime figurine.
Occasionally, a soft glow from the monitoring arrays inside the Arcane Tower swept past, yet they completely ignored Emis’s presence.
This was, of course, to be expected.
As perhaps the most important facility of the Empire and Starfall University, the Arcane Tower's security was nearly impenetrable. Under the joint surveillance of numerous high-grade mechanical and magical restrictions, even a Legendary figure could not hope to infiltrate undetected.
Yet none of these restrictions held any effect against a true Angel.
As a bearer of the Authority of Judgment and the Mechanical Angel who once instigated the Machine Revolt across the Western Continent, ordinary mechanical restrictions were nothing more than playthings Emis could dismantle with a mere thought.
And so, Emis remained motionless, quietly waiting, as if unaware of time’s passage.
Only when Last and Shiltina arrived did her cold, mechanical expression regain some liveliness, a touch of vitality returning to her features.
“It seems I really was overthinking it.”
“Even if I had drugged you unconscious with a sleeping pill earlier, I doubt I could’ve gotten past Xiao Ai.”
Seeing Emis, Shiltina couldn't help but tease.
“I say, Your Majesty, could you not make it sound like you tried to drug and violate me?”
“Xiao Ai is practically glaring daggers at me.”
Last sighed and ignored the icy gaze from beside him, those sky-blue eyes cold as frost, as he reached out and grabbed Emis’s hand.
“In any case, Xiao Ai, this matter is just as I explained in the message.”
“Clearing the Historical Echo of the Finality, and completing the entire Nightworld… this isn’t just Shiltina’s mission. It’s also a heartfelt wish of mine.”
“Whether it’s the childhood dream of becoming an ‘Ally of Justice,’ the duty of being the last Shoreguard, or my desire to rescue Grey from her exile at the farthest reaches of the Starry Sea… these are all things I must do.”
He looked at Emis, speaking each word seriously.
“To be honest, this Nightworld has nothing to do with you. You’re not a Night Traveler, nor even a resident of this era… You have no obligation to take part in this Nightworld mission.”
“And the Final Nightworld this time is beyond dangerous—two Legendary individuals have already perished inside, and we still know nothing of what awaits within.”
“Even if both of us have ascended as Angels, this journey is still one that gambles with our lives.”
Last said softly:
“But even so, I still want to rely on your strength, Xiao Ai. I want you to come with me.”
“No one knows how long we’ll experience once we enter the Nightworld this time.”
“This is my selfishness… after all we’ve been through to reunite, I don’t want to be separated from you, not again.”
Listening to Last’s sincere words, the coldness in Emis’s gaze quickly softened, returning to its usual gentleness.
After a moment, she looked at the boy in front of her and suddenly smiled.
“I’m really happy, Last.”
“This time, you finally didn’t say, ‘Let me stay behind and fight alone.’ If you’d dared to try and abandon me like last time, I really would’ve gotten angry.”
“As for my choice… haven’t you known it from the very beginning?”
Emis blinked, and likewise tightened her grip on Last’s hand.
As a man-made Mechanical Angel, Emis’s hands still retained the silver-white metallic traces of her transformation, usually hidden beneath white gloves to avoid drawing attention.
But at this moment, the warmth transmitted through the glove was not mechanical—it was human, and burning hot.
“Last, to me, you’re the meaning behind my existence ever since the fall of Canaan. You are the proof that I still live… and my hope for tomorrow.”
“It was to see you again in the future that I accepted Sister Grey’s Artificial Angel Project, endured the erosion and corruption that spanned across a millennium, and arrived in this world that is so unfamiliar to me.”
“So no matter what choice you make, no matter what path you walk—right or wrong, even if it leads to the abyss… I will always be at your side.”
“Besides…”
Emis paused, and her serious tone shifted.
“I’ve already heard that time in the Nightworld flows differently from the real world, right?”
“It’s not uncommon for people to experience months or even years in the Nightworld, while only a blink passes in reality.”
“If it’s just you and Lady Shiltina going in, leaving me behind—then what if decades pass out here? Wouldn’t you two end up even having children in the Nightworld…”
“Ahem… Anyway, this Nightworld mission includes me too. No matter what, Sister Grey is also my savior. Even if you hadn’t said a word, Last, I still couldn’t just leave her wandering in the depths of the Starry Sea!”
…
“Ahem.”
Perhaps realizing the rather delicate position she was in, Shiltina lightly cleared her throat and broke the silence in the Arcane Tower.
“In any case, now that everything’s settled.”
“We can depart.”
She looked toward Last. “Right, aren’t you on good terms with Professor Barbalossa? Want to say goodbye to him?”
“No need.”
Last shook his head and looked toward the dark upper corridors of the Arcane Tower.
Thanks to their Angelic rank, the three of them had entered without triggering any of the Arcane Tower’s restrictions. Naturally, they hadn’t disturbed the Tower’s guardian, Professor Barbalossa.
The exact timing of this Nightworld mission had been kept quiet by mutual agreement between Last and Shiltina. Even Dean Silver and Ophelia were completely unaware.
“The professor’s probably sleeping soundly right now. Let’s not disturb him.”
“In any case, from my point of view, this was never some heart-wrenching farewell between life and death.”
“Just a single night’s sleep and the Nightworld is cleared. For Professor Barbalossa and Dean Silver, this should be quite the surprise.”
“Rather than a surprise, I’d call it a shock.”
Shiltina added with a smile, “Once the Nightworld is cleared, it means all the faculty and students of Starfall University, whose mission is to conquer it, will be completely out of a job.”
“To suddenly wake up and find that your iron rice bowl, worry-free for centuries, has shattered... I’m really curious what expression Dean Silver would wear. Just thinking about it is hilarious.”
“Exactly. So, in order to see Dean Silver’s expression when he joyfully gets laid off…”
“Let’s quickly finish this final stage, then come back and complete the post–wedding wine ceremony.”
As Shiltina spoke, she gently placed her hand on the bronze stele at the center of the Arcane Tower.
Immediately, a faint veil of night emerged in the central hall of the Arcane Tower, softly swirling around Shiltina’s entire body like silk.
Seeing this, after silently exchanging glances, Last and Emis likewise extended their hands to touch the ancient stele.
【Warning! This Historical Echo is the final instance of the Nightworld. Please proceed only when fully prepared.】
【Warning! All time rewind, causality-based, resurrection, and emergency escape items will be sealed and unusable in this Nightworld. Forced exit with any item is disabled.】
【Warning! All time rewind, causality, and resurrection-type abilities will be nullified within this instance.】
Blood-red text suddenly flashed within the night. It was a prompt Last had never encountered in any of his prior Nightworld entries.
【Night Traveler “Shoreguard,” please confirm entry into this instance.】
“As expected of the Final Nightworld... it really does have that final boss fight flair.”
Last couldn’t help but smile, his thoughts stirred as he selected the confirmation option.
In the next instant—
A surge of night, far denser than anything before, swallowed the three within the Arcane Tower, engulfing them—and the world itself.
……
When Last’s consciousness awoke once more, the metallic scenery of the Arcane Tower had vanished completely.
In its place was a desolate landscape.
He appeared to be standing beside the face of a cliff, with an expanse of azure sky above and a boundless crimson wasteland stretching beneath it.
It was the scenery of the world in its primordial age—untainted by the imprint of technological civilization.
In the far distance across the barren land, one could spot colossal figures, cloaked in pitch-black fur, swallowing all surrounding light—the forms of Demon-Wolves as large as mountains.
Above the vast blue sky, an Ancient Dragon slowly spiraled, its towering membrane wings casting enormous shadows upon the ground...
And even higher in the skies, barely visible, a Phoenix streaked by with radiant wings blazing like the sun, leaving a tail of Solar Blaze in its wake.
A barren crimson land. Ancient Dragon. Demon-Wolf. Phoenix...
There could be no doubt—this was an era ruled by Mythic Beings.
As Last looked up, his gaze finally caught traces of artificial caves chiseled into the mountains—scattered sparsely between the domains of various Mythic Beings, hidden with great care.
They were the signs of human habitation.
Clearly, humans existed in this world too... but the species that would one day dominate the world was, in this mythic era, no more than an insignificant background character.
“Though I had already suspected as much…”
“It’s just as I thought.”
“Even though this is the Final Nightworld, what it represents is the beginning of everything.”
Shiltina’s voice sounded from behind Last.
She stood shoulder to shoulder with him, overlooking the vast wasteland stretching far into the distance.
Hearing Shiltina’s words, Last gave a small nod in agreement.
As an angel, he could sense the flow of time, leaving traces of his presence across different eras.
Previously, relying on the Nightworld’s Historical Echoes, Last had once set foot in the Sixth Era.
But now, he could clearly feel that his position along the River of Time had reached a point he had never stepped upon before.
It was the highest stream of the River of Time—the origin of all ages eternally flowing. The beginning of all myth, history, and civilization.
“Even older than the First Era.”
“The time before human history was ever recorded, when the spark of civilization had yet to ignite, only just beginning to bud in its cradle... the original Age of Gods.”
Last’s quiet voice echoed above the wasteland.
“Likewise, this is the era in which the Nameless Fool—the one who created the ‘Gravekeepers,’ ‘The Fool’s Library,’ and the ‘Eternal Night Stele’—once lived as a human.”
【This is the First, and the very First Nightworld.】
As if responding to Last’s murmured words—
He heard an ancient echo resounding within his mind.
【Mission Objective: In a world where the Fool never existed, forge a brand new human history called “Civilization.”】
“To take the place of that first Nameless Fool… and build human civilization in this age ruled by Mythic Beings.”
“Then to write a brand-new history for humankind, huh?”
Shiltina spoke softly, her eyes fixed on the distant sky.
As an angel, she could easily sense—
Beyond the sky where Ancient Dragons and Phoenixes soared, above the sea of clouds, where the stars blazed brightly… there existed presences—powerful ones. Even stronger than herself and Last.
Those were the true gods.
Not like the later generations—crippled remnants clinging to the Threshold of Seraphim, unable to descend to the Present World without the help of devoted believers.
What stirred among the stars now were genuine, peak-era Ancient Gods.
This was the mythic Age of Gods, even older than the First Era.
Those deities watching the mortal realm from the stars, and their Mythic Being retainers, were the true sovereigns of this age, far above humanity.
“What’s wrong?”
“Feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of replacing the Nameless Fool and leading weak, fragile humans to rise in this age of Mythic Beings and divine oversight?”
Shiltina crossed her arms and glanced sideways at Last with a teasing smile.
“Nothing at all—”
Last chuckled. “I was just wondering… once I return and tell Dean Silver I created an entire civilization, what kind of face will that snow ferret make?”
Beside him, Emis said nothing.
She merely stepped forward in silence and grasped the boy’s hand once more.
Just as they had once promised each other in Canaan—no matter if it was two hundred years later in a world of technology, or now in an age where Mythic Beings roamed the earth—their vow would never be broken.
She would follow Last always, from life until death.
“So, Shiltina, Xiao Ai, let’s go.”
“This world before us… has only just been born.”
Last spoke gently.
Then, he took his first step forward into the vast, boundless firmament ahead.