Night World Players

Chapter 270 Even if I lose the Holy Sword, I am still the Queen of this country and his fiancée (8k)

From the throne at the top of the palace to the central square of the inner city where the people of the capital are eagerly awaiting Hiltina's formal announcement of her succession... there is a rather long passageway that runs through the entire palace complex.

"Congratulations, Hiltina."

"It's not just your father who's anticipating your coronation..."

"This day has been awaited by our royal family and the entire Granville Empire for a full thousand years."

The elderly man led Hiltina forward, expressing his sincere feelings as he went.

His words were filled with an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

The imperial throne of the empire has a successor in every generation, and countless monarchs have passed through it to this day.

However, the only person who can make the Holy Sword willingly recognize its master and completely unseal it is... The royal family of the Granville Empire has been around for nearly a thousand years, and apart from the founding monarch, there is only one: Hiltina.

This is a once-in-a-millennium achievement.

Two years ago, when Hiltina unleashed the power of the Holy Sword over the capital... all the citizens of the empire who knew the meaning of the Holy Sword had already begun to eagerly anticipate Hiltina's ascension to the throne.

In the public's perception, as the Holy Sword Wielder who has reappeared after a thousand years, Hiltina will surely lead the Granville Empire to a new revival, just like the founding emperor who wielded the Holy Sword to expand the territory a thousand years ago.

And now, this expectation is finally about to become a reality.

However, Hiltina simply smiled slightly at Tucker's sincere praise.

"The identity of the Empress is not only about glory and power, but also an incredibly heavy responsibility."

"I hope that from now on I will not let everyone down."

"Your Majesty need not belittle yourself. Now that you have gained the Holy Sword's approval..."

Tucker replied respectfully, "Then, with just the power of the Holy Sword, it should be enough to deter those petty villains on the Western Continent."

The two stopped talking and walked silently through the passageways of the palace complex.

The surrounding world fell silent, with only the afterglow of the setting sun filtering through the clouds, adding a twilight veil to the quiet palace.

Suddenly, at a certain moment, Hiltina stopped in her tracks.

"The passageway from the throne room to the inner city is about two kilometers long."

"At my pace, it would normally take me only fifteen minutes to walk through this passageway."

"However, we walked for a full twenty minutes, but still couldn't see the end of the tunnel."

Hiltina's voice echoed through the silent palace complex.

"If I'm not mistaken..."

"Professor Tucker, you must have used some kind of extremely high-ranking relic to silently bring us to another sub-plane or secondary dimension, right?"

She looked at the silent palace complex shrouded in the afterglow of the sunset: "Although the surrounding scenery looks exactly the same as palaces in the real world."

"But in fact, this is another dimension, another world... What happens here will not affect the present world, and similarly, people in the present world will not know what happens in this sub-dimension."

Hiltina calmly looked up and gazed at the white-haired old man not far away.

He is both the guardian of the imperial family and Hiltina's childhood swordsmanship mentor.

Long before Hiltina's mother passed away and her father inherited the throne, when the family was still living harmoniously in Autumn Leaf Territory... Hiltina had already met this old man.

Hiltina had always held this elder in high esteem... He was one of the few elders she was close to in the Imperial Family, besides her father, stepmother Carol, and sister Ophelia.

But at this moment, looking at her teacher from her youth, Hiltina felt that the other person was completely unfamiliar.

"Although your name was on the list of guesses that Ophelia gave me earlier."

"However, please allow me to ask one more question..."

"Teacher Tucker, why did you do this?"

……

"It was clearly a divine relic bestowed by the tomb guardian... capable of silently eroding reality and quietly banishing its target to a secondary dimension."

"But you found out so quickly...?"

“Hiltina, it seems your intuition is even more acute than I thought.”

In the deathly silent palace shrouded in twilight, the white-haired Tucker slowly spoke.

"As for the reason..."

He looked down at Hiltina and shook his head slightly: "That is naturally for immortality, for eternity... for leaving his soul imprint on the Tomb Keeper's Eternal Night Stone, to be completely immortal."

"Hiltina, you are still too young, too naive, and too inexperienced..."

"Your understanding is too shallow, which is why you regard the ideals left behind by a dead man and the love between you and the shorekeeper as the entirety of your life."

"But little did they know that in the face of relentless time and eternity, all of this was nothing but a meaningless dream."

"When ten thousand years have passed, this era ends and the next era begins... your love, the ideals of the forest ranger, no one will remember all of this buried in the dust of history."

"But by then, those tomb keepers will still stand on the river of history, looking down upon the world."

Listening to the old man's words, Hiltina slowly closed her eyes.

"Teacher Tucker, you chose to abandon your past life and betrayed your centuries-long vigil as a guardian of the empire..."

"So, that's all the reason?"

"What do you mean by 'just for this reason'?!"

The white-haired old man suddenly became angry: "Hiltina, how could you possibly understand my feelings?"

"You are a true chosen one, a person favored by fate and destined by destiny... and you have won the favor of the Holy Sword so easily."

"For you, with the second royal power sequence brought by the Holy Sword and the double blessing of the imperial throne—whether it's a legend or an angel, these are things that can be overcome with just a little effort."

"You can easily become an angel, a being that reigns over time, without any obstacles."

"But I'm different."

Tucker's tone turned slightly somber: "I am not like you, not like that shorekeeper named Rust, who was born with the favor of fate."

"Not only do you possess the Nightblade, as powerful as the 'Infinity Blade,' but you have also been recognized as the master of a holy sword, making you a born candidate for king."

"And that shorekeeper named Rast possesses the 'Library of Fools,' having received the legacy of that fool from the Age of Gods... perhaps a supreme being who transcends the angelic ranks, who surpasses even the gods."

"But I have never had these golden fingers that you take for granted, like eating and drinking."

What you can achieve with ease... requires me a lifetime of effort to explore and pursue.

"And that boundary called angels is an insurmountable chasm for me, one that I cannot cross even if I exhaust my entire life or hundreds of years."

He looked down at Hiltina: "I have lived for over five hundred years... and as a legendary lifespan, I am nearing the end."

"My only obsession in my five hundred years of life is the desire for immortality."

"The angels of the tomb guardians promised that if I assisted them, I would become one of the tomb guardians after the deed was done, and I would be able to leave my mark on the Eternal Night Stone, and even in death I would be able to return from the river of history."

"I don't know if this ancient, secretive organization will keep its promise."

"But now... Your Majesty, I have no other choice."

As if in response to Tucker's words.

In the distance, a huge rift suddenly appeared in the sky shrouded in twilight.

Immediately afterwards, a brilliant and dazzling figure, with outstanding talent and ability, quietly emerged.

That was the majestic form unique to mythical creatures; only true angels could embody such a completely mythical form.

Even within the Tomb Keepers, a secret organization passed down from the Age of Gods, true angels are extremely rare, numbering at most only four or five.

However, at this very moment, a true guardian angel of the tomb descended—

They came solely for Hiltina, who had only broken through to the Legendary level two years prior.

And that's not all.

Behind that majestic angelic figure, two more magnificent figures appeared in the crack of the twilight sky.

Compared to the former, the two figures that appeared later had slightly less imposing auras, but they still displayed a majestic presence like those divine beings.

Like the gravedigger that Rast shot two years ago, they were beings who had touched the boundaries of angels. Although they could never truly take the final step to become angels because their souls were engraved on the Eternal Night Stone... in terms of combat power alone, they were no different from angels.

One angel, and two quasi-angels.

This is the trap set by the secret organization that has been passed down from the Age of Gods to the present day, for Hiltina, the Star Sword Wielder.

First, a supreme relic was used to transfer the battlefield from the present world to another completely independent sub-dimension, thereby severing all possibility of external interference.

Then, they used absolute violence to completely crush and kill the Holy Sword Wielder.

This is a deadly trap with no chance of survival.

Putting aside the fact that Hiltina is currently only an ordinary legend and has not yet been promoted to angel... even if she were to successfully be promoted to angel, she would only face defeat and death in the face of such a force.

"Hiltina, I've watched you grow up, bit by bit—"

“I know that your growth experience, from your initial entry into the extraordinary to your ascension to the legendary level... has been accompanied by life-or-death struggles.”

“I also know that many times you broke through in life-or-death situations and turned the tables on powerful enemies.”

“We are even more aware of the power of the Holy Sword; it is a weapon forged from the planet, enough to give a legend the combat power comparable to an angel.”

"Even the Gravekeepers speculate that the shot Last used to kill the quasi-angel two years ago was a copy of your Nightblade 'Infinite Blade: Fantasy Collapse', created using 'The Fool's Library'."

"Therefore, even though we have already deployed three angel-level combatants... I have still made more preparations to ensure victory in this battle."

"Hiltina, you must have figured it out by now."

Tucker's figure slowly rose into the sky, standing shoulder to shoulder with the three tomb guardian angels, looking down at the palace below.

"This is a completely independent dimension, a place isolated from the real world."

"In other words, even if you are the master of the Holy Sword, the Holy Sword cannot respond to your call and manifest in this world."

"And the second sequence of high-ranking power you obtained from the Holy Sword, 'Royal Authority,' as well as the royal authority you received as Empress in the capital, will all lose their effect."

"That's not all..."

"In this world, which has been completely cut off from the Night World and exists independently of the River of Time, you will also lose your identity as a Night Traveler—and you will no longer be able to use the Night Blade."

His words carried an inexplicable chill: "Even someone as strong as Hiltina."

"Having lost the protection of the Holy Sword, and also the forbidden Nightblade 'Infinite Sword'... there's no chance of victory left."

Tucker looked down at Hiltina, trying to detect the girl's panic in her eyes.

In the battle between legends and angels, even the slightest advantage is precious and could very well determine the final outcome.

If one can break down the opponent's psychological defenses with words before the battle breaks out, that would be ideal.

However, Tucker ultimately gained nothing.

He didn't detect the slightest hint of panic on the face of the girl with long, flowing chestnut hair.

Despite losing the protection of the Holy Sword and her most powerful weapon, the Nightblade "Infinite Sword" that she had always relied on to defeat powerful enemies, Hiltina's expression remained calm and undisturbed.

"So, was the death of my mother... and the twilight disaster that suddenly broke out in Qiuye Territory twenty years ago, also related to you, teacher?"

Hiltina's calm voice echoed in the air.

"Yes."

Tucker nodded.

"Twenty years ago, during the king selection ceremony that your father participated in, those secret forces that colluded with the tomb keepers wanted to put their secretly supported puppets on the throne and turn the Granville Empire into a puppet state that they secretly controlled."

"Therefore, they contacted me and used the tomb guardians on the Eternal Night Stone, which is the back door of the Night World's origin... to have me deliberately create a twilight disaster in Autumn Leaf Territory."

“Originally, I didn’t intend to kill your mother directly… but only thought of using the twilight disaster that broke out in Qiuye Territory to slow down your father’s pace and prevent him from paying attention to the border war at that time.”

"In that case, your father Aaron will naturally lose the royal election, and the throne will be inherited by the puppet prince chosen by the secret forces."

"But I never expected that Aaron would be even more cold-blooded than I imagined."

As he said this, a chill flashed in Tucker's eyes: "He actually chose to watch his wife die in order to win the royal selection and inherit the throne, while he went to the front lines alone."

"Despite such cold-blooded ruthlessness, he actually won the royal selection, causing the tomb keeper's original plan to support a puppet to fail."

"In this respect, your father was indeed a perfect emperor, single-handedly carrying the empire forward for twenty years. During those twenty years, neither the cult nor the tomb keepers could truly influence the empire's core decisions."

"Unfortunately, he ultimately succumbed to his love for his deceased wife... He abdicated hastily after only twenty years on the throne, entrusting the empire to an idealist like you, whose mind is full of naive ideas." "Hiltina, if you had the ruthless skills of your father, and were able to skillfully navigate alliances and betrayals across the continent, perhaps the empire could have continued to be so powerful."

"However, you openly declared your intention to become an enemy of the gravedigger because of your love for that shorekeeper, Raste."

"And thus, the entire nation was led into an abyss of no return..."

"And you will follow in your mother's footsteps, dying for that naive ideal called 'The Ranger.'"

Tucker scrutinized Hiltina's light brown eyes: "Hiltina, you don't seem surprised?"

"Nothing surprising."

Hiltina spoke softly.

"These were things I had already guessed, but I was still a little unwilling to believe them and wanted to confirm them again."

She raised her head slightly, gazing at the mythical creatures that blotted out the sky above the dim, yellowish heavens: "Teacher Tucker."

"Do you really think that with my father's methods... he hasn't noticed a single trace or clue about you in the past twenty years?"

Tucker paused for a moment.

“I think Father must have noticed your clues a long time ago, and knew that you were an accomplice in killing Mother, but he never showed it.”

"After all, for a country, the benefit of keeping an exposed traitor alive and using him to pass on false information to the enemy is undoubtedly greater than eliminating him directly."

Hiltina smiled and said, "Teacher, you're right. Father can indeed be described as cold-blooded in this respect."

"As a monarch, he always put the interests of the country above his own personal feelings."

Even if he missed his mother dearly and wanted to get rid of you as soon as possible, for the sake of the greater good... his father could still pretend to be fine in front of you.

"But I am not your father."

Hiltina shook her head slightly.

“My father was able to sacrifice his personal interests for the greater good of the country, watching my mother die and the murderer who killed his wife roaming around in front of him for twenty years… But I can’t do that, and I don’t want to do it.”

"I am a rather greedy woman."

"The greater self, the lesser self..."

"Love, family, responsibility... I want everything."

"so--"

She looked up at the magnificent and imposing figures in the distant sky.

"Whether they are the angels who guard the tomb, or the gods on the Seraphim..."

"If you really think you can take my life, then come and try."

……

boom--

The gravedigger's attack came in an instant.

That was a pillar of light that reached the heavens and the earth, annihilating everything.

When the aura of the mythical creature dissipated, the once tranquil palace had been reduced to ruins.

Hiltina stood amidst the ruins of the palace, her meticulously braided princess braids scattered by the wind, her long chestnut hair fluttering in the gale.

Her entire body was covered in blood, and even her once delicate face was covered with wounds of all sizes. Her breath was also rapidly weakening.

This is a self-evident fact; at this moment, Hiltina has not yet broken through to the Angel level, but is merely a Legend.

Having lost the protection and enhancement of the Holy Sword, it is already a great miracle that Hiltina was only seriously injured and did not die immediately when facing the attack of several angels.

But she still stood there, her light brown eyes still clear and bright, untouched by any worldly dust.

"Hiltina, the scabbard of that holy sword... is no longer inside your body, is it?"

"To heal your father's wounds caused by the backlash from the holy sword?"

"That's quite a naive, indecisive choice, very much in line with the style of your Ranger family."

"It's exactly the same as your mother twenty years ago, who walked into the fire like a moth to a flame and died in vain. She was just as blind and foolish... no different from an idiot."

Tucker stared at the blood-soaked girl below and suddenly burst into laughter.

Originally, he was somewhat worried about the scabbard of the holy sword inside Hiltina's body—Avalon.

As a member of the royal family, Tucker was well aware of the scabbard's miraculous power... As long as it didn't directly kill, no matter how serious the injury, it could be quickly healed and the scars smoothed out thanks to Avalon's effects.

With such an infinite regeneration effect, the battle may not be without its variables if it lasts too long.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Hiltina actually gave up the sword sheath and also abandoned Avalon's protection—the "immortality" that could infinitely heal wounds.

"Having lost the Holy Sword, the blessing of royal power, and the Nightblade... now that you've abandoned your scabbard, how could you possibly have any chance of winning?"

"Of course... we have to get rid of that kind of thing."

Despite being severely injured and in dire straits, Hiltina was still smiling.

"If I were an angel who had just broken through the ranks by relying on the Holy Sword and the home-field advantage of being the Empress of the Empire..."

"Even if I became an angel, I would still be a weakling among angels, a flawed product that only succeeded in breaking through by relying on external means."

"Being so reliant on external things, I can never become the ideal king I pursue: 'I want it all, and I don't need to give up anything.'"

"She has no right... to be the woman standing beside him."

She gently reached out and touched her blood-stained, crimson breastplate.

"Even without the protection of the Holy Sword, even without the immortality of the scabbard, even without the bonus from the second-tier long-range 'Royal Authority'."

"I am still the Queen of this country, the 'Forest Ranger' who has dedicated her life to fulfilling her mission and ideals, and also Last's fiancée."

“You will not take away a single one of these things from me.”

……

"Truly excellent."

After a moment of silence, a thunderous roar came from the distant sky.

It wasn't Tucker, but the leading gravedigger angel high in the sky.

Perhaps because he didn't want to interact too much with the dying, the angel simply made his move in silence without ever uttering a sound.

But at this moment, He couldn't help but express His praise.

"Indeed, in any era... there will be those who are unparalleled in their time, leaders who guide the civilization of that era forward."

"It's a pity that your relationship with the shore-guarding humans is too deep, and we cannot invite you to join our ranks."

"Also, the fiancé you just mentioned is the last guardian of the shore... who is now sleeping in the hospital, a half-dead, vegetative patient named Rust."

The Gravekeeper Angel lowered its gaze to Hiltina: "What is in this secondary dimension is not all that we have mobilized this time."

"At this very moment, our companions have also arrived in the capital."

"Their objective was to kill the last guardian of the shore who was sleeping in the hospital."

"Although the 'Library of Fools' within him should be shattered, even the fragments remaining inside his body still have considerable value to us."

The gravedigger angel spoke coldly: "Now, let's calculate the time."

"That shorekeeper named Rust should have been killed by my companions, who then stripped the fragments of the 'Library of Fools' from his corpse."

The cold words fell like blades; the gravedigger attempted to crush Hiltina's last will to resist by using the news of her beloved fiancé's death, plunging her into a deeper despair.

However, in the face of the gravedigger's verbal barrage, Hiltina simply smiled again.

“If he really dies, then I will kill all of you to be buried with him.”

"Then, when I achieve a higher position above angels... I will be able to travel through time and space at will without any scruples, reverse cause and effect, and then resurrect him from the river of history."

"Besides -"

“I never thought he was a fragile guy who could be manipulated by you.”

"Instead of worrying about Rust's safety, I suggest you worry about whether your companion is still alive."

"And what I need to do now..."

She gently closed her eyes: "We will welcome his return with a victory."

He murmured, leaving behind this last whisper that was swallowed by the evening breeze.

Finally, Hiltina fell completely silent.

In direct proportion to the emotions surging in her heart, the light in her pupils faded and the shadows cleared.

This is a flow state unique to the swordswoman Hiltina.

She gently touched the hilt of the sword at her waist.

The next moment, the sword was drawn.

In the dim yellow sky, a round, water-like azure light was reflected.

It is not the Holy Sword—because its connection with its master was severed and it was never summoned, the radiant Holy Sword is still quietly sleeping somewhere in the mortal world.

What Hiltina was holding in her hand at that moment was a rapier called "Sword of the Night Sky".

It is not a sacred relic whose fame has endured throughout history, but merely an ordinary heraldic ceremonial garment.

It was also the last gift that Hiltina's best friend Fran left for her before she died in the mist of Frozenwater.

Even after she later gained the Holy Sword's allegiance and became the enviable Holy Sword Wielder, Hiltina always kept the Night Sky Sword by her side and never discarded it.

"Heraldry attire?"

"In battles between angels and legends, what role can these weapons, used by lower-level superhumans, play..."

Seeing Hiltina's actions, Tucker was slightly taken aback before expressing his doubts.

But then his words caught in his throat.

Because immediately afterward, he saw a pale silver flame rising from Hiltina's body... a flame that seemed to burn along with her blood.

Her entire body was mutilated and covered in wounds, but Hiltina's eyes shone even brighter, like clear and radiant morning stars.

Echoing the starlight in Hiltina's eyes, the thick darkness of night was slowly gathering at the tip of the rapier in her hand, obscuring the entire dim yellow sky.

"Is this... the fantasy collapse of 'Infinity Blade'?"

High above, the once indifferent and cold voice finally showed a hint of emotion.

At this moment, the aura brewing within Hiltina was exactly the same as it had been two years ago when Rast, then only at the sixth rank, shot down that quasi-angel.

"How can this be?"

"This sub-dimension has clearly severed all connections with the Night World, so you should no longer be able to use any Nightblades bestowed by the Night World!"

For the first time, his voice betrayed shock.

"The so-called 'Nightblade' is actually a manifestation of the inner landscape of every night traveler."

"It is not a gift from any person or thing... but rather a power from the depths of everyone's heart. The Night World merely helps night travelers accelerate this process."

"Therefore, even though Rast's Nightblade is shattered, one day he will rebuild the tower in his heart called 'The Library of Fools.'"

"As for me, even though I have lost my connection with the Night World, my heart is still an Infinite Sword that has been forged and tempered countless times... This is a power that belongs only to me, and no one can take it away from me."

"It's not that you become powerful because you possess the Nightblade, but rather that you first have a powerful heart before you can possess the Nightblade."

"It was you, Professor Tucker, who taught me this principle. How come you've forgotten it before I have?"

Hiltina's words were swallowed up by the evening breeze.

The next moment, she spoke softly, uttering an ancient syllable:

"Night Sky"

The next moment.

A night deeper than eternal darkness, accompanied by a sky full of brilliant stars, surged forth from the edge of Hiltina's sword.

Then, it swallowed the entire world, along with the three gravedigger angels and Tucker.

(End of this chapter)