Chapter 73: 『Fate』 · Grey
Consciousness drifted like flickering bubbles in a void ocean, rising and falling.
At a certain moment, a bubble burst.
Rast felt as if he were soaking in warm water.
A gurgling warmth flowed through his entire body, nourishing him.
Darkness was driven away by light, and cold dispelled by warmth.
In the next instant, his consciousness returned to his body.
The air carried the pungent scent of disinfectant and the sweet aroma of a fruit basket.
Rast instinctively tried to open his eyes, but was met with boundless darkness.
As if he were still blind.
And his limbs and bones ached with a pain like being scorched by raging flames.
“I know you're awake, but don’t move yet.”
A slightly weary voice sounded at his ear.
Rast recognized the voice—it was the Dean Silver.
That meant… he was currently in the real world’s Starfall University, not in Frostwater Town shrouded in blood mist.
In other words, the sniper bullet he fired just before losing consciousness had successfully pierced the source of the contamination in Frostwater Town and ended that Nightworld Remnant.
However—
For some reason, his body didn’t seem to have fully recovered.
By the rules of the Nightworld—and through Rast’s own experience—
As long as one cleared a Historical Remnant, the Nightworld’s reversal power should completely restore them.
Moreover, before truly exiting the Nightworld, there should theoretically be an interval of time after the Remnant ended.
He had originally wanted to use that interval to mentally return to Canaan.
And maybe see Xiao Ai again…
Yet at this moment, Rast had no memory of that interval, as if he had been unconscious the whole time.
“No idea why… the Nightworld’s usual reversal after clearing didn’t work on you.”
“Or maybe it did, but it was too weak—it barely managed to keep your little life hanging on.”
Dean Silver’s voice carried a trace of confusion.
“When you escaped from the state of that Nightworld Remnant… you were barely better than a skeleton.”
“Not only had most of your flesh collapsed, even your spiritual energy was nearly undetectable—completely a dried-up corpse holding on by a thread.”
“If your name hadn’t still been faintly flickering on the Starfall Obelisk, not yet fully dimmed and returned to the stars, we would’ve thought you were dead.”
“You’ve been in a coma for half a month. The university tried who knows how many healing-type Nightblades and restorative transcendent items and potions just to get your skeleton to grow back some flesh and regain a basic human appearance.”
As she spoke, perhaps because she could finally relax, Dean Silver let out a long sigh.
“Your injuries have mostly recovered now, but there’s still a lingering curse in your flesh…”
“It seems related to an old evil god. This curse continues to burn deep in your flesh, blocking your final recovery and leaving your eyesight unrestored.”
“But it’s not a huge problem. That ‘Doctor’ should have returned to campus recently.”
“Now that Rast is awake…”
Dean Silver’s words paused, as if turning toward someone else in the room.
“Shiltina, go call that doctor over.”
“After that… go back to your dorm and rest.”
“You’ve been watching over his bedside for half a month without sleep. Even with the physical resilience of a Tier 4 ‘War Chariot’, you’ve likely reached your limit.”
…
“Yes, Dean Silver.”
Shiltina’s familiar voice sounded beside his ear.
Her light footsteps moved toward the door.
But soon, they returned, stopping beside Rast again.
He felt someone quickly approach.
The scent of violets filled the air, and her smooth chestnut hair brushed against Rast’s hand.
Warm breath fell on Rast’s neck, bringing heat, dampness, and a slight tickle.
“Sorry, Rast… for letting you end up like this.”
Shiltina’s normally composed tone was now laden with exhaustion and undisguisable regret.
“During the days I watched over you… seeing your limbs burned until not a shred of flesh remained, only pale bone—I asked myself countless times—”
“If you were to sleep like this and never wake again, then what would I do…”
Her voice carried a hard-to-describe sense of relief.
“Thank goodness… you’re okay, Rast.”
“No matter what, just get some rest now.”
Perhaps eager to fetch the doctor Dean Silver mentioned, Shiltina didn’t linger long at his bedside and quickly rose to leave the room.
Her light footsteps gradually receded down the hallway.
Rast simply listened as they faded away.
Then he breathed in the pungent disinfectant and softly asked,
“Dean Silver, so I’m in a hospital now?”
“Yeah.”
Dean Silver seemed to swish her tail, her voice turning tired and lazy: “More accurately, this is the inpatient ward of Starfall University’s campus hospital.”
“Though, since the Nightworld offers reversal to all wounded Night Travelers after clearing a Remnant, there usually aren’t many people in this ward.”
“Occasionally there’s someone injured during on-campus training, or from fighting secret organizations in the real world.”
“You’re probably the first in Starfall’s history to be hospitalized due to Nightworld injuries.”
“Rast, just how many secrets are you hiding?”
Dean Silver’s voice sank slightly.
As one of the few magical beasts at Starfall University who knew Rast’s background, Dean Silver naturally understood how many secrets this seemingly frail boy held.
And each one could relate to the very laws of the Nightworld.
Rast weakly smiled. “So, is Dean Silver curious about my secrets?”
“Forget it, I’m just saying.”
“You just cleared a Nightworld Remnant as the main force and made great contributions. If I really dared interrogate you, Shiltina would skin me alive.”
Dean Silver shook her head.
She knew full well—trying to dig secrets out of this guy was pure fantasy… Ishta’s tragedy was proof enough—losing both the lady and the troops.
“Besides, you don’t have to take yourself so seriously.”
“At Starfall University—”
“You’re hardly the only one burdened with secrets.”
Dean Silver’s tone grew lazier.
Starfall University stood unique across the continent, even enjoying status equal to an independent nation… because of its capacity to embrace all secrets.
Most of its students had their own mysteries and opportunities.
Rast certainly had his secrets, but wasn’t Shiltina’s unacknowledged status as an imperial princess one too?
Even Dean Silver herself was included.
The sequence she held was one of a kind on the entire continent—there were no ancient texts or records of it at all… even rarer than Rast’s long-lost but still documented “Tower” sequence.
Not to mention, as a magical beast, she could speak and feel emotions just like a human.
In any other country, Dean Silver would be dissected for research… leading to battles, exile, and being hunted.
Yet no matter how many secrets one carried… as long as they accepted Starfall University’s ideals and were willing to fight to conquer the Nightworld and stop the Dusk Calamity from descending—
The university would welcome them as one of its own.
That was why Dean Silver remained at Starfall University as a professor and Director of the Magical Beasts Research Institute.
She glanced silently at the boy on the bed, unmoving with closed eyes, like a vegetative patient.
In some ways, Rast—trapped in the Nightworld for centuries, unable even to find his homeland—was the same kind of creature as Dean Silver.
Both had lost their pasts, forgotten their histories, wandered far from home… once drifting, homeless wanderers.
But in the end—
They found a new place to belong in Starfall University.
…
On the other side, Rast was briefly stunned.
【You have formed a new “Bond”; The Fool’s Library · Moon Arcana Unlocked】
【You have unlocked a new card—『Moon』 · Dean Silver】
To think the Dean Silver bond he had been grinding for so long without progress would suddenly jump from “0” to “1” now.
All he could say was, that ferret dean really lived up to her “tsundere” beast persona.
Saying things like “don’t think you’re that important,” while giving honest bond level feedback.
“By the way, Dean Silver.”
“You mentioned… that doctor?”
After a moment of silence, Rast asked again.
Based on his understanding of Starfall University, doctors—being logistics personnel—shouldn’t need to participate in Nightworld conquests.
But clearly, the doctor Dean Silver mentioned, one even Shiltina had to go fetch, was not someone ordinary.
“Doctor, sure… but more accurately, she’s a student just like you and Shiltina.”
“Her Nightblade is incredibly effective in healing, so she’s got a doctor title at the campus hospital, that’s all.”
Dean Silver’s tone suddenly brightened a bit.
“Axia—ever heard of her?”
Rast fell into brief silence.
Of course he had.
Or rather, any student currently enrolled at Starfall had heard the name.
Axia.
Fourth-year student at Starfall University.
“Death God” sequence arcana.
Nightblade—“Angel of Death's Decree.”
Also, the current number one on the Starfall Obelisk.
Because Axia oversaw a massive Nightworld with no level restrictions and was often off-campus—
Even the ever-nosey news club had extremely limited information about her.
But the few fragments that did exist were shocking enough.
Not only did she top the obelisk in Nightworld conquest contributions.
In pure combat strength, Axia was also universally acknowledged as Starfall’s strongest.
Back in her third year, she had already surpassed the fifth-tier former top senior while still at fourth-tier and seized the number one spot.
Now, Axia had reached fifth-tier… nearly all students agreed—she was currently the strongest at Starfall.
The only one who might challenge her was Shiltina… but she was just in her second year, newly advanced to fourth-tier.
By the time she reached fifth-tier, Axia might’ve already graduated—no chance to compete.
But—
No matter what.
From all the intel Rast had gathered, this current top-ranked student and strongest combatant of Starfall—
Was clearly a pure combat Night Traveler.
No need for extra intel.
“Death God” sequence arcana and her Nightblade “Angel of Death’s Decree” said it all.
No way she’d fit the title “doctor” who healed the wounded.
A strange sense of contradiction rose in Rast’s heart. He wanted to ask more—
But the ferret dean deftly dodged all his questions.
Helpless, waiting for this so-called “doctor” to arrive, and with nothing else to do—
Rast sank his mind into his consciousness.
He prepared to organize what he gained from this Nightworld—
And to uncover the real reason why the Nightworld’s reversal had failed on him.
…
【Nightworld Quest—“Nightworld Remnant: The Mist’s Shore Watcher” Cleared】
【Current Quest Rating: A++】
【Quest Rewards Distributed】
【Sequence EXP Distributed; View Progress at Will】
【You have obtained the innate skill: “Desperate Plea”】
…
【You have formed a new “Bond”; The Fool’s Library · Fate Arcana Unlocked】
【You have unlocked a new card—『Fate』 · Grey】