I, the Final Boss of the Beta Server!

Chapter 151: Chapter Start, the Final Rite

A calm voice echoed in Rast's ears.

He turned around and saw only an elderly man, dressed in a plain white robe with a gentle demeanor, standing in the center of this ancient bronze city.

There was no hint of aura emanating, no trace of overwhelming presence.

Even within Rast’s perception of spiritual power, the ground upon which the old man stood seemed like a void without substance... yet the gardener-like old man stood right there, as though he were the very center of the ancient city.

“Your Grace Noah.”

Rast spoke respectfully to the gardener-like elder.

For some reason, the current appearance of this legendary Gravekeeper showed some subtle difference from his past image.

On that aged form clad in white robes and surrounded by the vitality of bounty, there was now a faint and illusory vagueness—

It no longer resembled the flesh and blood of a living human, but more like a vessel that carried a human soul.

“Don’t mind it.”

Perhaps having sensed Rast’s doubt, Noah calmly explained.

“What you’re seeing right now, standing here in the Nether Abyss, is not my true body.”

He gazed at his body that exuded a rich aura of life:

“Rather, it is a Fertility Half‑Body I created—”

“Using a root-origin leaf from the old god of the First Era—『Primal Ancient Tree』 as its core.”

An old god from the First Era, a root-origin leaf of the 『Primal Ancient Tree』?

Rast was slightly stunned.

Though he had never heard of this old god’s name before, even from the description alone, one could sense the sheer might and mysterious stature it represented.

This even touched upon the First Era... that mythical age when the gods still walked the earth, before they hid themselves within the Threshold of Seraphim.

The organization of the Gravekeepers clearly wasn’t just some ordinary wealthy bunch—

Just casually using a divine relic from an old god as the raw material for crafting an incarnation...

Of course, with Rast’s limited understanding of the Gravekeepers, this was still within reason.

After all, the organization originated from the very beginning of the Age of Gods and had spanned countless eras of human civilization.

And as long as one lived long enough, even a pig could become a tycoon—let alone a secretive organization that had endured through endless ages.

From this perspective, it was no wonder Noah would refer to that first generation Shoreguard as a “despicable thief”—

Anything casually picked from the Age of Gods, when left until several eras later, could easily become a peerless treasure or divine relic of the godly era... let alone the Inherited Fireseed, which even the Gravekeepers regarded as a supreme existence.

Such thoughts flashed through Rast’s mind but were all confined deep within his personality and did not surface in front of Noah.

Listening to Noah’s explanation, Rast still maintained a respectful demeanor on the surface, but deep within his eyes, a trace of fear involuntarily surfaced.

“Your Grace Noah, are you saying... what’s in the Nether Abyss is just your Fertility Half‑Body?”

Rast glanced at Noah before him and hesitantly spoke.

“But once I completely gather the three keys, revive the Death God's remnant, and truly ascend to godhood... the commotion caused by the godhood ritual will definitely be significant.”

“I’m a bit concerned...”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing.

“I’m worried that the commotion of godhood ascension might attract Cisel, or other hidden legends in this world who covet it.”

“And with Your Grace’s current half-body state, I fear you may not be able to...”

Rast did not finish his words, but without a doubt, the meaning was already clearly conveyed.

If it’s just a half-body, I’m a little worried you won’t be able to cover me, Old Man Noah.

Seeing the hesitant expression on Rast’s face, the calm aura of that gardener-like elder wavered ever so slightly.

But soon, he once again spoke in a calm tone: “Meticulous in thought, cautious in action, preparing for the worst—this is indeed a good thing.”

“It is precisely because of our caution that we Gravekeepers have been able to endure trial after trial of the Order of the World, survive the final catastrophes of the eras, and persist until now.”

“However, you needn’t worry about this.”

Noah said: “Though it is merely an incarnation of bounty, with a root-origin leaf of the Primal Ancient Tree as the core, this half-body also carries half of my spiritual power.”

“Though it cannot exist for long, under the conditions I set, this Fertility Half‑Body would remain in dormancy until it sensed your aura at the bottom of the Nether Abyss...”

“However, during its limited existence, this Fertility Half‑Body holds a stature equivalent to that of a Legend—”

He looked down at the young man before him.

“A Fertility Half‑Body at the Legendary level is sufficient to protect you through the entirety of the godhood ascension rite, in the face of any petty scoundrels coveting the Death God's divine seat.”

Sufficient to protect me through the godhood ascension.

In other words...

Under the deterrence of the Legendary Half‑Body, even if I tried to pull something during the godhood rite, Noah would have absolute confidence in suppressing it, forcing the rite to proceed according to his predetermined plan?

Rast realized the implication behind Noah’s words.

“Of course, in reality—there won’t be any mighty being trying to stop your ascension.”

Noah spoke indifferently: “At this very moment, every Legendary being in the world still capable of free action, including my true body...”

“All have gathered along the Shattered Coastline.”

His voice paused for a moment: “Today is the day that despicable thief’s successor, Cisel, meets his end.”

Boom—

As if in response to Noah’s declaration, a thunderous roar echoed from afar.

Despite the great distance, the thunderclap rang as if right beside the ear, undiminished in the slightest.

Alongside the booming sound came an earth-shaking shockwave.

The ancient bronze city trembled... and beyond the Grand Hollow, in the Nether Abyss, the once calm, dusky sea surged into wave after wave.

There was no doubt—that was the might of a Legend.

Only a clash between Legendary beings could create such man-made natural disasters of this magnitude.

Stretching across hundreds of miles without the slightest weakening, even capable of permanently altering local weather patterns.

“It seems the assault on the Shattered Coastline has begun.”

“The name of the ‘Shoreguards’ shall today... fade into the dust of history.”

Noah gazed in the direction beyond the Nether Abyss and spoke calmly.

The Shoreguards’ headquarters, the Watchtower, stood right at the midpoint of the Shattered Coastline’s defensive line.

And the Royal City of Paradise also bordered the Endless Sea... hence, its location was not far from the Watchtower, both situated along the Shattered Coastline.

A straight-line distance of nearly a thousand miles seemed far—but for a Legendary being, it was only a matter of tens of minutes.

However, as the Nether Abyss was once the Divine Husk of the old Death God, it obstructed the spiritual sensing between Noah’s Fertility Incarnation and his true body, preventing him from perceiving the state of the Shattered Coastline in real-time.

Of course, in truth, whether or not he could sense it—

The moment the battle at the Shattered Coastline erupted, the outcome was already sealed.

Using these three years of preparation, Noah, leveraging the identity and interests of the Gravekeepers, brought every remaining Legendary-level being across the continent under his control.

It was a war in which only Legends and Forbidden Creatures were qualified to participate.

And before such an overwhelming numerical advantage, no matter how powerful that last Shoreguard was—

What awaited him was nothing but a tragic death.

...

“At this moment, even those old gods lurking upon the Threshold of Seraphim, hiding and biding their time... their attention must also be drawn to the Legendary battle at the Shattered Coastline, leaving them no room for distraction.”

“If you wish to seize the Death God’s divine seat, now is the best timing.”

“Don’t waste the opportunity any longer. Prepare to begin.”

Noah’s Fertility Incarnation withdrew its gaze and spoke to Rast with indifference.

“Remember, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world—”

“Even though that ancient Death God has fallen, everything he left behind—”

“The Star Cup, the Sacrosanct Grail, even the Divine Husk that became the Nether Abyss... none of it is a gift, but poison.”

“From the First Era, the old Death God who once sat high upon the heavenly throne, overlooking all life—how could he have generously left his legacy to some lucky human? He was a supreme god, and humanity was as lowly as dust before him.”

“Everything he did, the Kingdom of the Underworld above the Nether Abyss, and even the birth of that Helen...”

“All served one purpose: to cast off that non-human divine form of a mythic race, long abandoned by the laws and order of the world alongside the decline of the Age of Gods—”

“To someday, far in the future, resurrect himself in a brand-new human form.”

There was a trace of mockery in Noah’s voice.

“In the schemes of that old Death God.”

“Even if some lucky human, through endless hardship, managed to gain the authority he left behind and the faith of the Underworld, reaching the deepest depths of the Nether Abyss... gathered all the Bronze Keys and glimpsed the god at the end of the Shadowy Path to the Underworld—”

“That person would not inherit the power of the fallen ancient god, but would instead be used as a substitute... their consciousness stripped, their body offered, to help the Death God be reborn.”

“Using the lure of godhood to drive humans mad, only to turn all their efforts into his own wedding dress in the end.”

“Only... unfortunately, he encountered me, and the ‘Gravekeepers’.”

In Noah’s voice, there wasn’t the slightest trace of reverence for that ancient deity: “Our Gravekeepers’ legacy is just as ancient as those old gods of the Age of Gods...”

“The Death God’s arrangement might deceive the ignorant and naive new generation of mankind, but could never work on us.”

“The old Death God did indeed leave a contingency, but in the end, it was merely an indestructible wisp of divine thought...”

“As long as we use a specific method to deceive it, providing a perfect vessel for that divine thought to awaken in another container... then we can use substitution to seize that supreme divine seat.”

“And that one called Helen, a hybrid with both human and divine blood, was prepared precisely for this purpose—she is the key, and the perfect vessel.”

He looked at Rast. “Go. Do as I said.”

Rast silently nodded.

He hesitated no longer, simply walking through the ancient bronze city where the altar stood solemn and tall, heading toward that Sky-Piercing Tower.

Plap—

Plap—

His footsteps ascended the stairs one by one. Whether it was the Nether Abyss or the entire ancient bronze city, both gradually shrank within his field of view.

The experience was quite similar to flying in his past life—looking down from the airplane window at the earth below—the bustling cities resembled miniature models, scattered with thousands of light dots in the night, as splendid as a sea of stars.

It was a strange sensation, as if by reaching the sky with the plane, one truly possessed the divine majesty of overlooking all beings from above the clouds.

This process continued for a long while.

Until Rast stepped over the final stair, arriving at the summit of the Sky-Piercing Tower.

At the high platform atop the tower, dusk had condensed into a tangible form, much like the ice coffins made of ten-thousand-year-old mystic ice in the martial arts novels Rast had read in his previous life.

Only, this coffin was amber-colored, like a chunk of ancient amber that had encapsulated some ancient being.

And within this amber-hued coffin, a girl with ice-blue long hair lay curled up quietly, her beautiful eyes gently shut, as if in a deep sleep.

But for some reason—

The expression on Akxia’s pale and delicate face did not reflect the calmness of slumber; her brows still held a trace of unease.

It was not until Rast approached the coffin frozen within the solidified amber that the unease on Akxia’s delicate cheeks began to slowly fade, her expression becoming peaceful and serene—like a cat curled up asleep inside a cardboard box.

Cats only sleep beside those they trust most, for even in slumber, the scent of someone familiar gives them a sense of safety.

And so Rast stood quietly beside the amber coffin, gazing at the girl within.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment, as if everything had returned to three years ago...

Within the palace bathed in sunset, a girl in a long dress lounged lazily on the throne, her ice-blue hair cascading softly behind the seat.

Behind her, Rast, who had just begun his role as a servant in the Royal City, recited stories from a fairy tale book while gently combing Her Majesty’s trailing hair with a wooden comb.

The ice-blue strands reflected a crystalline brilliance under the evening sun, freezing the moment in time like an eternal photograph.

Now, three years had passed, and everything had changed—the once unknown servant had become the revered Wise King of Paradise, while the girl with the ice-blue hair slept in the Nether Abyss, forgotten by the world.

At the time, it had all seemed so ordinary, yet there would never be another evening like that again.

Rast stood before the amber coffin for a long, long time.

Only after a long while did he shift his gaze.

Then, using his hand as a blade, he drove it straight into his own left chest.

Amidst the spray of blood and tearing flesh, the crystalline Star Cup and the illusory Sacrosanct Grail simultaneously manifested.

A pallor instantly overtook Rast’s face.

His heart pierced, and the Sacrosanct Grail, source of his current strength, along with the Star Cup, were simultaneously torn away.

Were it not for the Inherent Skill “Pale Body” that rendered his torso devoid of vital organs, Rast would have already lost the ability to move.

Yet his hand remained steady.

He lifted both the Sacrosanct Grail and the Star Cup and placed them atop the cold amber coffin.

In the next instant—

Starlight shattered.

Then transformed into a gentle warmth that flowed into the sleeping girl’s coffin without the slightest resistance.

This queen with ice-blue long hair had originally been chosen by the old Death God as his Perfect Vessel.

And now, Rast was returning the Star Cup, the symbol of divine authority, and the Sacrosanct Grail, the crystallization of faith and prototype of the Divine Kingdom—both of which he had gone to great lengths to obtain—to the sleeping girl within the coffin.

This was Noah’s plan.

Using Helen as bait, to awaken the will of the old Death God within her.

Then, with a prearranged setup, to seize the power of the divine seat.

“Then, let it begin.”

Rast’s words drifted away on the high winds.

“The final... rite.”