Chapter 65: “I’ll Leave It to You, Rast”
The illusion shattered, turning into countless mottled fragments.
Above and below, in every direction, white threads stained with blood stretched out like a colossal spider’s nest.
Outside the window, that twisted red moon continued to churn and squirm.
Rast’s consciousness followed the spiritual pathway and returned to his body.
He rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath, easing the discomfort brought on by the return of his spiritual sense.
According to the 「The Fool’s Library」, Shiltina’s willpower should have already broken through the illusion.
Just as this thought arose—
The next moment, he saw a radiance burst forth before him, gleaming like the morning star.
The sword tip dragged out a silver trail through the air, slicing and piercing at terrifying speed, forming a crisscrossing X-shaped trajectory.
A fraction of a second later, the giant cocoon before Rast vanished into nothingness under the blade’s rushing wind.
Shiltina broke free from the cocoon, her slender body untouched by the overwhelming threads.
She sheathed her 「Shimmering Morning Star」 and came to Rast’s side, both of them gazing at the fleshy red moon outside the window that had replaced the real moon.
“This is the mastermind behind Frostwater Town?”
“Judging by the scale of this disaster remnant that even blocks third-tier Night Travelers, isn’t this enemy a bit excessive?”
Shiltina’s voice carried a hint of awe, but no fear.
“This crimson moon made of flesh isn’t a real lifeform, but merely some illusionary projection with pseudo-divinity.”
Rast smiled.
His pupils turned silvery white, shimmering with mysterious hues—「Eye of Secrets」 activated silently.
“A being that takes the moon as its form must at least possess the level of a true evil god.”
“If its real body had descended, we wouldn’t even need to fight—just wait for death. The Nightworld’s disaster remnants may be dangerous, but they wouldn’t assign an inescapable death mission.”
He swept his silver-glowing gaze slowly across everything in Frostwater Town.
“Still, being able to project an evil god—even just a façade—speaks volumes.”
“I call that projection in the sky ‘Crimson Moon’... And the cause of the current madness in Frostwater Town is a pollution item related to it, similar to the sculpture in Deep Blue Port.”
“The sculpture in Deep Blue Port was sealed in some way. The evil god behind the Iron Cross Plague was also restrained and could only create ‘coincidences,’ passively spread by cultists, leaking its aura to cause pollution.”
“But the pollutant here seems to have become active... It can even create its own domain, cloaking the whole town in this blood mist.”
This reminded Rast of the description he’d seen in the lighthouse keeper’s journal upon first entering this disaster remnant.
Since the outbreak of the Iron Cross Plague—the sixth era of the Calamity Calendar—order had been breaking down.
Gods once confined to other dimensions could now frequently descend into the physical world.
Pollutants that had once been sealed or dormant now acted on their own, no longer needing coincidences or external triggers.
They released their power proactively, destroying countless human settlements.
That was why the once-prosperous civilization of the sixth era had become riddled with holes, with humanity barely surviving under the shadow of foreign races and disasters.
Rast refocused.
He looked out at Frostwater Town, blanketed by endless threads.
“These threads are the pollutant’s method of corroding life—its misty cocoons trap all living things in woven dreams.”
“Once completely lost in those dreams, their souls and will are erased by the threads.”
Shiltina interrupted, “And then they become puppets with flesh but no self, controlled entirely by these threads, right?”
“Exactly.”
Rast nodded slightly, glancing at her in mild surprise.
He hadn’t shared his 「Eye of Secrets」 with Shiltina this time, so he had no idea how she’d obtained this intel.
After all, her abilities focused entirely on self-enhancement and combat, not detection.
“It was my ‘intuition’ that told me.”
Shiltina smiled faintly, her expression hard to read.
Intuition?
Rast blinked.
But the next moment, the sound reaching his ears gave him the answer.
Rustle—
Rustle—
Rustle—
From within the thick mist, a faint noise emerged.
It was strange—like chicks pecking open their eggshells.
Or like coffin lids sliding open, revealing decayed corpses to daylight.
At first, it was only a few whispers—easy to ignore.
But soon, they multiplied into hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...
A slithering, crawling noise from every direction.
Bang—
Rast whipped out his revolver, the muzzle flashing as he fired into the darkness.
The bullet spun rapidly, embedding into the floor, sparking and leaving uneven bullet holes.
Then, shadows erupted from the darkness like boiling ink.
Several spears formed from shadow shot toward Rast.
Crack—
In an instant, Rast switched the card equipped from the 「The Fool’s Library」 from 「The Hermit · Ishta」 to 「The Chariot · Shiltina」.
The silver gleam in his eyes faded—「Eye of Secrets」 was deactivated.
But in exchange, he regained the long-tier of the Chariot sequence and part of Shiltina’s 「Infinite Blade」 abilities.
「Intuition」 activated.
No need to think.
Just from the whistling of the spears and the shifting of light, Rast instantly calculated the optimal evasion.
The shadow spears’ trajectories became vivid ballistic arcs in his mind.
He sidestepped, slipped through the narrowest gaps, and evaded them all.
While moving, he quickly reloaded his revolver.
Not with ordinary full-metal jacket rounds, but intricate black bullets engraved with runes—like crafted artifacts.
These were custom-made by the 「Ashen Institute」 of Starfall University, tailored for Rast’s 「Iron-Crested Moon」 heavy revolver.
Alchemy Ammo: 「Anti-Magic Rounds」.
Physically weak, but devastating against magical circuits—perfect for nightblades and sequence powers.
Under the buff from 「Endless Martial Refinement」, the black round burst from the revolver’s muzzle.
Even though the damage increase per shot was tiny compared to sword training, Rast had fired tens of thousands of rounds during his time at Starfall University.
That training significantly boosted his gun skill.
If he returned to Deep Blue Port now, even without armor-piercing rounds, he could pierce the Iron Cross’s heart membrane with standard ammo.
Boom.
Rast’s revolver was still aimed at the same shadowy corner.
But this time, the Anti-Magic Round hit something.
The deafening sound of flesh being torn rang out.
In the once-empty corner, a previously invisible figure twisted violently.
Shadow spread like ink, revealing a humanoid form shrouded in darkness.
A flash of silver pierced the air.
Just as the shadow creature began transforming into humanoid form from the Anti-Magic’s effect—
Shiltina’s crystal-thin sword 「Shimmering Morning Star」 struck.
It pierced the shadow being’s neck, blowing a bloody crater through it.
The figure collapsed, dissolving like a shadow, twitching once before falling still.
At the same time—
Threads formed from condensed blood mist silently emerged in the air, pulling away from the corpse and vanishing.
“Roya.”
“A scout team member. Ranked twenty-seventh on the Starfall Obelisk. Nightblade: ‘Shadow Leap’.”
Shiltina softly spoke, identifying the downed foe.
“To be precise, that’s no longer Roya.”
“That’s just a puppet—soul and self consumed by the blood mist. The body and nightblade are controlled by the pollutant.”
Rast added.
And now, he understood the thousands of rustling sounds that echoed through the town earlier.
A cocoon must eventually break.
But for those lost in dreams, who never broke free—
What emerged was no longer themselves, but puppets and dolls with erased minds and souls, moved by threads of blood mist.
Among these puppets were not only the original residents and creatures of Frostwater Town—
Even Night Travelers who had entered the disaster remnant but never returned...
Exploration team members.
They too had become slaves of the mist.
Roya, the first to arrive using 「Shadow Leap」, was just the beginning.
Shiltina and Rast’s former teammates from Starfall University—
Now puppets, wielding their sequence powers and nightblades to capture the two.
To turn them into hollow companions, void of will or soul.
...
“There were seventeen scout members lost in this disaster remnant. Sixteen remain after Roya.”
“Even if most of them were recon and stealth types... as raid team members, they’re at least third-tier.”
“A tough battle.”
Rast calculated the power disparity.
And beyond them were also the town’s original residents and animals.
Though they were once ordinary, under the threads’ control, they might gain enhancements—just like the Iron Cross.
In some ways, this was an even greater crisis than the Deep Blue Port operation.
Back then, Rast had rewound over 8,000 times and memorized every detail of the port.
But now—
Even defeating all these puppets didn’t guarantee clearing this disaster remnant.
Rast hadn’t forgotten the lighthouse keeper’s journal...
The endlessly looping time, just like in Deep Blue Port.
As that thought formed—
He heard Shiltina’s whisper by his ear.
“Rast, did you already use the 『Eye of Secrets』 to find the key to clearing this disaster?”
“Grey... right?”
“Otherwise, knowing your personality, you wouldn’t talk so much to a little girl who has nothing to do with you.”
“Yeah.”
Rast nodded. “But in our current state, unless we eliminate all the puppets chasing us, it’s meaningless to speak of it.”
“Then if someone were to intercept all the puppets and remove every interference, how long would you need to end this?”
“Not sure. But if all goes well, maybe fifty minutes.”
As soon as he finished, he realized this conversation felt familiar.
Back in that port city, he’d had a similar exchange.
With this same sword-wielding girl.
Only now, their roles had completely reversed.
“I see...”
For some reason, Rast sensed a mischievous smile in Shiltina’s voice.
“Then this time, you’ll have an hour.”
Boom—
As the words fell—
The wind flowing around Shiltina suddenly dissipated.
She voluntarily deactivated her long-held 「Wind Step」.
But in contrast—
A blazing azure flame surged up around her body.
「Blood Ignition」.
The third-tier ability of the War Chariot Sequence.
Burning body and soul alike—
Drawing out all physical potential, then releasing it in a brief burst of power.
The azure flames around her were the manifestation of burning blood and spirit.
Smiling within the fire, Shiltina said, “Last time at Deep Blue Port, you went and did things your way. I’ve always wanted to try a little brute-force myself.”
“This time’s different. These puppets were raid team members. I know their abilities better than you.”
“And all my powers boost combat. I’m no help with breaking mysterious time loops.”
“I’m the best choice to stop these puppets.”
Engulfed in blue fire, she walked to the open window.
She turned back and locked eyes with Rast.
“Last time, you entrusted everything to me in Deep Blue Port... You bet I’d win.”
“This time—”
“I bet on you.”
Her red-and-white uniform fluttered.
Chestnut hair danced in the wind.
This resolute fencer leapt from the window, her flame-wreathed figure striking against the night.
She charged into the darkness, meeting the incoming footsteps in the blood mist.
Just like years ago, when the knight named Cecilia walked alone into the blazing Autumnleaf Domain, facing the thunderous roar of the Fire Elemental King.
“So—”
“I’ll leave it to you, Rast.”
“End this damned disaster remnant.”