Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 316 Echoes
sink……

come down……

The intense pain in my chest gradually faded into endless darkness as my consciousness faded.

This was an experience Xia Nan had never had before.

He could clearly feel the life force within him draining away with the gushing blood from the wound in the center of his chest.

Like the biting cold of a harsh winter, it spreads inward from the fingertips, devouring all the remaining warmth.

He could even hear the increasingly slow heartbeat, as if it were about to stop completely at any moment, and the booming noise of blood rushing through his veins.

Xia Nan could sense everything about his body, yet he couldn't control even a single finger.

"Am I going to die?"

He thought so in his mind.

Perhaps it was because of the truck that brought him to this other world in his previous life that he had a similar experience.

At this moment, Xia Nan was surprisingly calm in the face of his life, which was already on its countdown.

He even began to think about what he should be thinking about during this last little bit of his life.

Deconstructing the battle is pointless now.

"It seems Barn won't get the final payment for his longsword reforging, but knowing his personality, he'll probably continue the process... He can send the finished product to the auction house and get a good price for it."

"Judging from the strength this demon has shown, those two adventurers probably won't survive either. It looks like my magical equipment will be lying here underground for a while. I wonder which lucky kid will end up getting it."

"Damn it, I still have one more chance to use the coin of fate. I should have just flipped it randomly. I've lost out big time."

"Didn't they say there would be a revolving lantern before death? Why isn't it here yet?"

"I really want another bowl of cream of mushroom soup..."

Thoughts raced through my mind, as if even time itself slowed down with my fading consciousness.

Like withered yellow leaves drifting down, like a dilapidated lone boat reaching its end.

When the flame of life comes to an end, the burned body is like the charred remains of a campfire, leaving only the last...

ember.

Through long hours of rigorous training, Xia Nan has gained a considerable understanding of the unique combat technique [Echoes of Ember], which comes from a mysterious otherworld.

I know it's a special skill of the status class, and it's related to elements like fire and burning.

This body has good talent, its own spirituality is quite outstanding, and it also has the energy regulation and guidance of that broken flame crystal. Logically speaking, it should only be a simple entry-level task and shouldn't be too difficult.

But for some reason, he got stuck on that last bottleneck and couldn't grasp the key points.

What exactly is missing?

Xia Nan even considered asking Barn to let him observe the changes in the flames by the fireplace for a while; or perhaps he could burn his body with the campfire to carefully experience the ever-changing forms of the flames.

Until the night before he stepped into the goblin's lair, he spent several hours feeling the temperature changes of the campfire, trying to connect the flickering flames with the flow of energy within his body.

But in the end, nothing was gained.

Until now.

In this moment when death approaches, the mind is more active than ever before.

Only then did he seem to vaguely perceive the secret within.

[Echoes of the dying embers].

The answer is actually hidden in the question itself.

Only when the flames have burned out and only ashes remain, and the source of life slowly fades away, leaving only an echo.

Only the final step across the threshold will eventually come.

……

The endless feeling of falling suddenly stopped, and I felt my feet firmly planted on the ground.

Xia Nan suddenly opened his eyes. His tense body, which was preparing for battle, suddenly jolted.

Because what appeared before him was not the open nest underground that he had before he was seriously injured.

Instead, it was an extremely magnificent but long-dead palace.

Thick, cold dust covered the brick surface beneath their feet; massive stone pillars had broken and collapsed, with broken bricks and tiles scattered across the ruins.

Suddenly realizing something, Xia Nan looked up sharply, his gaze passing through the gray mist drifting in the air and the holes in the palace dome.

What comes into view is a dim, yellow sun hanging high in the sky, as if it is about to burn out.

"So, I haven't woken up yet?"

He thought to himself.

Before he could think further, a slight rustling sound caught Xia Nan's attention.

He looked ahead.

At the far end of the palace, beyond several broken steps, lies a dilapidated throne carved from black rock.

The knight remained unmoved atop the throne.

The once magnificent and exquisite armor is now covered with dark red rust and deep dents. The mottled helmet covers the face, with only two faint, tiny points of light, seemingly about to go out, visible through the gaps in the visor.

It doesn't seem to be a physical entity; like the entire scene before us, it gives off a sense of illusion and ambiguity.

Kara -

The sound of metal rubbing together lingered in the air.

The knight slowly raised his head, his fiery eyes fixed on Xia Nan ahead, filled with weariness, a dry and hoarse voice echoing in his mind:

"The flames have died out, and the world has returned to silence."

“The merciful and great Lord has abandoned us and given us suffering.”

“Lost one…you’re too late…”

Filled with pain and regret, like a sigh piercing the soul, echoed in Xia Nan's skull.

The defeated knight slowly raised his right hand, as if this single action had exhausted the power he had accumulated over countless millennia.

The metal gloves were weathered and broken, revealing withered, dark purple flesh underneath through the gaps.

He did not attack the black-haired youth in front of him, but simply opened his palm and stretched it out towards Xia Nan.

In the palm of his hand was a small patch of dim, flickering sparks, like embers about to reignite.

"Even so... take it..."

"There is no need to fight for the throne, no need to be inspired by a mission."

The eyes within the gaps in the visor flickered with light, while sparks swirled and converged in the palm, emitting a faint yet tenacious flame.

Flashing, swirling.

By the time Xia Nan realized what was happening, that tiny spark had already completely merged into his body.

At the same time, what followed was an indomitable will, containing both determination and pain, like a raging torrent.

Consciousness blurred once again, the figure of the decaying knight in front of him gradually became transparent, and the magnificent palace trembled as if it were collapsing.

"Burn... let the last echoes of this dead world resound..."

"Consider it as...for the sake of 'existence' itself."

The knight's hoarse voice, carrying an inexplicable meaning, echoed in my ears, and darkness once again engulfed everything before me like a tidal wave.

Xia Nan didn't know why his consciousness had come to this place at the moment of his death, but the semi-transparent characters that flashed before his eyes had already told him that this should be related to the combat skill that he could never master no matter what.

"Proficiency +1"

"【Echoes of the Past】lv1: (1/100)"

　The next chapter will be around 5 PM.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)