I, the final BOSS of the beta test server!

Those guarding the shore also discovered their own abnormalities and investigated themselves in various ways.

Even after the blood mist descended—

Among those guarding the shore, some also broke out of their cocoons and came straight towards him.

They want to kill themselves.

That's right...

The duty of the shore guards is to protect the broken coast and waterways, maintain civilized order, and eliminate internal sources of pollution.

Just like the story in the fairy tale book that Gray had read before -

The fearless hero went through numerous hardships and finally defeated the devil in the devil's city. He returned to the royal city with the devil's head and was bathed in flowers, applause and glory from the people.

The shore guard is like a brave man in a fairy tale.

As the embodiment of disaster, as long as it lives, it will bring pollution to human cities.

A girl named Gray.

Naturally, he is the devil in the story, and he is the target that needs to be killed by the shore guards.

Tears rolled down the girl's cheeks.

"So...Brother Rust."

"Are you here to kill me too?"

Through her tearful eyes, Gray saw a revolver as sharp as an iron moon appear in the hand of the young man in front of her.

Then he slowly raised the black muzzle of the gun.

Yes.

Even the brother Rast who gave me a name... would definitely kill me after witnessing my true face.

And the previous conversation was just the last kindness that Brother Last showed me because he didn't want me to die in vain.

Justice and evil are always irreconcilable enemies.

And since I am born evil, I will definitely be killed by the righteous shore guards.

This is the truth of the world, like destiny.

Gray's heart, which had been warming up a little, fell into an icy cave again.

Her mind became dead and withered. She no longer thought, but just waited silently.

Waiting for the trigger to be pulled and the bullet to pierce his chest.

However, the next moment.

Gray's eyes suddenly widened.

Last suddenly raised the muzzle of his gun.

It wasn't pointing at the girl named Gray, but directly at his own temple.

After a ten-thousandth of a breath...

boom--

A bright flame shone forth.

It illuminated the dark night sky covered by blood mist.

It also illuminated Gray's empty and lifeless eyes.

Chapter 69 Gray's Choice

The shining lights were not as hot and dazzling as Gray had imagined.

Instead, it is clear and bright, with a slight warmth.

In the clear firelight, Gray felt that the severe coldness that had been shrouding the depths of her soul was slightly dispelled.

"Brother Luster..."

"Don't you want to kill me?"

She uttered a silent murmur.

"Why would I want to kill you?"

The boy's whispers were heard in the firelight.

"Because... I have brought disaster to this world and to everyone around me."

"Only by killing me can these disasters stop."

"Furthermore, this is also a way to pay back the lives of the old mayor, the uncles and aunts in Frozen Water Town, and the countless people I killed..."

There was a slight tremor in Gray's voice.

Evil monsters should be killed by the messengers of justice.

This was a law she had heard from fairy tales, bards' stories, and many other places, and it had been imprinted in her mind over and over again.

And in the past, in Frozen Water Town, during those countless recurring May 11ths...

The shore guards who hunted her down verified this law, which seemed like the truth of the world, time and time again.

It seems like an irresistible fate.

"So, do you think that as long as you die, you can atone for the sins of those who have passed away?"

"If that's the case, it's a truly arrogant and despicable idea."

"So arrogant that he actually thought death...was the most severe punishment for himself."

For some reason, there was a hint of coldness in Rast's voice, no longer as gentle as before.

"Death, is that an arrogant thought?"

There was a hint of confusion and bewilderment in Gray's voice.

"of course."

Luster's words sounded faintly.

"Your body contains a power powerful enough to interfere with time and rewrite destiny."

"It's just that you in the past were completely unaware of this, and could only unconsciously mobilize it in the moment of emotional collapse."

"It is precisely because of this great power that you have been able to survive disaster after disaster and remain unscathed until now."

"However, fate's gift is fair, and the price has already been secretly marked."

"The calamities and pollution that repeatedly befell you, robbing your home and those close to you of their lives, the prying and coveting of the evil gods, were the price of this power."

"So...Gray, do you understand?"

"From the beginning to the end, what you carry on your shoulders is not just your own fate... but the weight of the fate of thousands of others."

The boy's words softened a little.

"I was once in a similar situation to you, going crazy and wanting to die, wanting to destroy myself."

“But then I understood.”

"Trying to end everything with death is the simplest, yet most tasteless and selfish approach."

"Carrying the weight of other people's lives...is always much more difficult than simply seeking death."

Luster opened the cylinder of his revolver and loaded an ordinary brass bullet into it.

Then he closed the cylinder and listened to the click of a bullet being loaded into the gun.

"To be honest, I did have the intention to kill you, after realizing that the power in you involving time and fate was uncontrollable."

"Even if you harbor no subjective ill intentions, the power you possess is too dangerous... Sacrificing one subjectively innocent person in exchange for the safety of thousands of other innocent people is a decision the shore guardians should make when necessary."

"But, in you, I see some possibilities."

Luster paused for a moment.

"Those pollution and disasters pose no threat to you. On the contrary, under the influence of the power called 'fate' within you, these pollution and disasters may even become your aid."

"You could have simply ignored all of this, pretending nothing had happened, and continued wandering to the next place after the destruction of Frozen Water Town."

"But you still rejected it all again and again."

"You've trapped yourself in the illusions of the past, yet you've also confined the pollution of the 'Red Moon' here, preventing it from leaking out and harming more gathering places."

"This is the choice you make to follow your inner voice and protect strangers you've never met."

"Gray, do you remember my answer to you when you asked me if I could become a shore watcher?"

Gray was stunned for a moment, then she recalled.

"Brother Rast, you didn't give me an answer at that time."

"You told me not to speak so carelessly until I truly understand what Shore Watchers represent."

"Yes."

Luster nodded slightly.

"But now, in you, I see possibility."

"It's not just about keeping myself alive, but about protecting others... the possibility of becoming a shore guardian."

"So, I'm willing to give you a chance."

"An opportunity to choose your own future by your own will."

The boy threw it lightly with his left hand.

Gray reached out her hand subconsciously, and the next moment, she felt her palm sink.

The revolver loaded with live ammunition fell silently into Gray's hands.

Gray subconsciously looked up and met Luster's dark eyes.

"Or continue to deceive yourself and indulge in the fantasy of Frozen Water Town."

"Or perhaps you consider yourself an inherently evil being, like in the stories in the books, and kill yourself in the name of some imaginary justice, putting an end to everything."

"Or, choose the most difficult path."

"Admit your sins, acknowledge your own weakness and frailty...carry the weight of the lives and souls of those innocents lost because of you, and walk towards an unforeseeable future where the end may be death."

"It all depends on your choice."

The revolver in his hand was extremely heavy, and the gun body shone with the luster of an iron moon.

Gray looked at the revolver, struggle and confusion flashing in her eyes.

My own...choice?

It was clearly midnight, but the distant direction suddenly became bright, piercing the dark sky.

The light is flowing.

The light is converging.

Like the morning star, the intense and clear light illuminates the long night of darkness, stirring up dazzling whirlpools in the night sky.

Even the twisting and wriggling red moon was eclipsed by the rushing light.

The light was so dazzling, but it was like a meteor that pierced the sky, brilliant yet fleeting.

In that fleeting dazzling light, Gray suddenly remembered something.

Because there have been too many cycles, the memory has been subconsciously forgotten by myself.

He was a shore guard named Foden, the first shore guard she had ever met. He looked like a sloppy old man.

He did not have the shrewdness and competence of the later shore guards, with their clear division of labor... Instead, he looked somewhat weak, and even had a hint of uneasiness and fear in his eyes.

His attitude towards the residents of Frozen Water Town was also different from that of the people guarding the shore later.

It wasn't an interrogation or questioning with a clear goal and no nonsense... It was just a simple chat, and he even used his own superpowers to fold some small toys for the children of the mayor's family.

After the blood moon appeared and the uncle named Foden noticed Grey's abnormality, he did not kill Grey.