I, the final BOSS of the beta test server!

Hiltina gently touched the silver scabbard at her waist.

Ever since her original team fell apart, she has been a lone wolf.

Walking alone in the night world, walking in the echoes of the past, accompanied by pollution and madness, despair and disaster... The only thing he can rely on is this rapier called "Shining Morning Star".

Except, that one exception.

But now, he should still be at Fanxing University, living a leisurely campus life under the care of Dean Yin.

I don’t know if there will be a chance to meet him again.

As soon as this thought came to mind...

The next moment, a familiar voice came to Hiltina's ears.

There was no awe and caution, or alienation and hatred, in those words that she was accustomed to.

Rather, it was with a hint of sarcasm.

"So, this beautiful lady—"

"May I have the honor to accompany you again?"

Chapter 53 It’s dangerous to be around me

Hiltina couldn't help but pause.

The words ringing in my ears seem so familiar.

The last time I heard it was in the Deep Blue Harbor Hotel, on that long, sleepless night.

Hiltina turned slightly sideways.

Then, he saw the familiar thin figure beside the steel passage.

He was wearing a pitch-black windbreaker, with a holster for a heavy-hitting revolver hanging from his waist. Two emblems were pinned to his collar, one with a dark iron-colored silver moon, and the other with an eye pattern pierced by a straight line.

This look was exactly the same as when the two of them were fleeing from the Deep Blue Harbor, being chased by the Iron Cross wave.

Dark eyes met light brown ones.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Without any words, Hiltina understood why Rast came.

"According to regulations, first-level Night Travelers, as newcomers in the protected stage, are not required to undertake high-risk missions such as the Calamity Reverberation Raid."

"As one of the twelve seats at the Round Table, and also the chief commander of the Scarlet Frost Territory's Echo of Disaster attack team, I can completely revoke your access to the Echo of Disaster according to the academy's regulations."

Hiltina looked directly into Luster's eyes. "If you came here to repay the debt of 1,600 gold cors I mentioned, then there's no need for that."

"That was just a joke I said at the time."

She looked at the starry school emblem on Last's chest and said, "Now that you've enrolled, you should be well aware of the significance of conquering the night world to Starry University."

"If it weren't for you, 'Echoes of the Night: Deep Blue Harbor' wouldn't have been cleared so easily. We don't know how many more lives would have been lost, and what a huge price would have been paid in the historical echoes of Deep Blue Harbor..."

"Just this one thing alone cannot be replaced no matter how many Kol gold coins you pay."

"Not only do you not owe me anything, but it is me and the academy that owe you."

"Even if I asked Dean Yin to look after you, or used the privileges of the Twelve Seats at the Round Table to help you successfully enroll, these are only small compensations and are not enough to fully repay you."

……

"I know."

Listening to Hiltina's serious words, Rust nodded.

"But, just like back in Deep Blue Harbor, you chose to come back to save me, even though you had already planned to destroy my plan in order to uphold the principles of the Ranger in your heart."

"I'm not here just to repay your favor or debt."

"I also have reasons to rely on the Night World to become stronger, and even to uncover the truth about it. From what I understand, while the Echoes of the Disaster are more dangerous than normal historical instances, they also reveal many secrets that wouldn't be revealed under normal circumstances."

Rast walked to Hiltina's side.

Then, in her ear, he whispered softly, in a voice that only Hiltina could hear: "I can smell the scent of my kind in you."

"Bound by the ideals left behind by the deceased, and for that ideal that others see as vain and unrealistic, one endures a lifetime of hardship and struggle... even if it means drowning, one refuses to turn back."

"You are not the only one like this."

He smiled and said, "Since we are of the same kind, we should sympathize with each other, support each other, and rely on each other for warmth, right?"

Hiltina's light brown eyes narrowed slightly as she stared blankly at the young man in front of her.

Hiltina had originally thought that after leaving Deep Blue Harbor, leaving the realm of his near-omniscience, and coming to the world she was familiar with...Last would gradually shed his mysterious veil and become someone she could see clearly.

But now it seems——

It seems that I have never really understood Rast or his heart.

As if unwilling to continue looking into those dark eyes, Hiltina's gaze moved slightly.

Then, he discovered a ferret that was carefully hiding its body behind Rast's neck.

"Dean Yin."

Hiltina's light brown eyes were fixed on the ferret on Rast's shoulder.

"Don't look at me, this guy forced me to come here."

"He said he would put a gun to Rodri's head if I didn't help him. He stole the high-speed train key and drove it to Chishuang to claim it. There was nothing I could do."

Dean Yin sighed helplessly and jumped off Last's shoulder.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, it would be a bit reckless for you to go to the Echo of the Disaster alone, Little Tina."

"I believe in your abilities, but this reverberation of the disaster likely involves the laws of time and space. These problems, which cannot be solved by pure brute force, are precisely your weakest areas."

A glimmer of silver moonlight flashed in its blood-red eyes. "If he follows you, it might not be a bad thing."

Looking at the fading silver moonlight, Hiltina nodded thoughtfully.

"I understand."

……

The metal passage connecting the entrance to the night world is nearly a kilometer long.

They didn't speak any more along the way, just moving forward in silence, and the monotonous metal barriers around them kept changing.

Until the space at the end of the passage came into view.

In the very center of the space was an illusory door that Last had seen before. It was shrouded in the gauze-like night and emitted a shimmering light.

This is the entrance to the night world.

The two men and the beast stopped in front of the illusory door that was like ripples of water.

"I'll explain it to the academy for you."

"I don't care about what happens between you two. I just know that you both owe me now."

Dean Yin snorted twice.

It turned around, and its originally light movements became slightly heavier.

"Fantastic Beasts are very stingy. They must recoup their investment, so..."

"Come back alive."

The next moment, Dean Yin's figure disappeared with a slight spatial fluctuation, as if he was unwilling to stay and face the scene of parting.

Hiltina counted the consumable items she had with her.

"It's dangerous to be around me, right?"

She didn't look at Luster beside her, but just lifted a strand of chestnut hair that fell from her forehead: "Many people say that those who team up with me will be buried with me because of my paranoia."

"If you're scared, it's not too late to regret it now."

"I should be the one saying this to you." Rast smiled.

He took a step forward and stepped into the illusory door at the same time as Hiltina.

Followed by.

Everything around, whether it is the swaying lights or the flowing breeze, is frozen in an instant.

Only the increasingly dense night remains——

It gently wrapped up the figures of Hiltina and Rast.

Chapter 54: The Guardian of the Mist and the Echo of Disaster

Rast's consciousness sank into the increasingly dark night.

An unknown amount of time passed, but when he regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the cold metal ground.

Luster opened his eyes and looked at the world in front of him.

It was pitch black, with the only source of light being a kerosene lamp.

Compared to the electric lights that are common in today's world, the lighting capacity of this kerosene lamp is obviously much worse. The dim light can only illuminate a very small space around it.

This seemed to be a lighthouse commonly seen in coastal areas, and he was in a dark and narrow room inside the lighthouse.

In the darkness not far away, the outline of a wooden ladder was faintly visible, which seemed to connect to the optical lens system higher up in the lighthouse, used to illuminate ships.

Whether it's a kerosene lamp or a lighthouse, the optical lens system requires manual adjustment...

These are technologies that have long been eliminated in the modern era.

In other words, the lost history corresponding to the reverberations of this disaster...its level of civilization is not modern, but at most more than a hundred years ago, like the level of civilization in the era of Deep Blue Port.

As soon as this thought arose.

"Last?"

A familiar call rang in my ears.

When Rast turned around, he saw the girl with the rapier walking out of the darkness where the lights had not yet illuminated her. Her long chestnut hair shone like flames under the light.

Her right hand grasped the hilt of the Shining Morning Star, maintaining a posture ready to draw the sword at any time.

After seeing Rast's face clearly, the stern expression on Hiltina's pretty face eased a little.

However, her grip on the hilt of the sword never relaxed at all.

"Last, don't get close yet. Although the probability isn't high, similar cases have occurred during previous Calamity Echoes raids..."

"After entering the night world, the people I thought I was traveling with were replaced by some foul creature from the remnant of the disaster, disguised as my companions."

"Due to the unique nature of the Reverberation of the Disaster, the original rule prohibiting revealing the existence of the Night World to the natives is partially invalidated... And not only was the appearance of the imposter completely consistent, even the voice was perfectly consistent. Therefore, he remained undetected throughout the entire capture process, only revealing his true identity when reaching the final point of the Reverberation of the Disaster."

"In the end, it directly led to the annihilation of the entire attacking team."

Hiltina's voice echoed in the silent space: "Answer my question."

"When we first met at the bar, what two drinks did you mix for me? And how much did you charge for the service?"

"I only mixed one kind of wine for you at the time, which was 'Karma Fire Flowing Sand'. I originally recommended 'Amber Love' to you, but in the end I didn't mix it."

Luster replied, "Besides, I didn't charge you for your services."

He smiled and said, "After all, Miss Hiltina was just a penniless pauper in Deep Blue Harbor at that time."

After hearing Last's answer, Hiltina breathed a sigh of relief.

But then she saw Luster raise the iron moon revolver and point it at her.

"It's my turn to ask questions."

"Ms. Hiltina, how many hamburgers can you eat in one meal? Ten or twenty?"

Hiltina was stunned, and the ahoge on her head twitched visibly.

"There are no hamburgers in my normal diet..."

"And don't you think it's rather rude to say a woman can eat ten burgers in one meal?"

"That's right."