I, the Final Boss of the Beta Server!

Chapter 153: So, You Are the Gravekeepers, and I Am the Shoreguard

Blood splattered onto the fairy tale book, outlining a winding, crimson path upon the white pages—yet it was noticed by none.

At the same time.

Dong—

Dong—

Amidst the howling of wind and tide, a muffled sound echoed.

At first, it was faint... like a seed yet to sprout, deeply embedded in that amber-colored ice coffin.

But in the blink of an eye, that seed vigorously grew into a colossal tree that blotted out the sky, becoming ever more grand and majestic...

The howls of gales and waves gradually faded—

Only that thunderous roar connecting heaven and earth remained.

It was the heartbeat of some towering being.

The rhythm of the heartbeat resonated with the dim, yellow sea of the entire Nether Abyss, slowly merging with it.

Each beat of the heart marked the rise and fall of the tide.

And when that mighty heartbeat reached its climax, reaching its fullest potential—

It would be the day a god burst through the decayed coffin sealed for millennia and returned to the world.

Yet at that very moment—

Emerald runes suddenly began to glow within the amber-colored ice coffin, brimming with the aura of life.

Then, verdant lines were slowly outlined.

They transformed into a complex and magnificent array, covering the entire surface of the ice coffin.

This was the contingency that Noah had arranged in advance atop the coffin.

Just as life and death were antonyms by nature.

To the newly reborn Death God who had only just revived and had yet to recover their full former strength... the legend of the Bounty Sequence was a formidable nemesis.

It was a verdant prison constructed of life essence and bountiful power—one that could also be understood as a kind of seal.

This was a prison capable of imprisoning a god. Within it, the reborn Death God could no longer remain or accumulate power. Instead, like a power engine, the god was endlessly drained by this sealing prison and used as fuel.

From the amber coffin burst forth a ray of crimson-gold light, followed by a deafening roar.

The storm and surging tide swept across the entire Nether Abyss.

The entire Phantom Ocean surged with sky-high waves that even caused the Sky-Piercing Tower to tremble violently.

Within the coffin, that awe-inspiring will became enraged.

It had just awakened from a slumber of tens of thousands of years and was about to gaze skyward, overlook the land... to open its eyes and see how the world it was about to rule again differed from the once-glorious Age of Gods.

But then, it realized that within this Perfect Vessel—one infused with its own divine blood and half-human, half-god nature—there had been a hidden contingency laid in secret.

Some despicable human had dared set a trap within its resurrection vessel.

Attempting to seal the reborn deity, to reduce the lofty god into a prisoner devoid of freedom.

That solemn majesty turned into blazing fury...

The wrath of a monarch stirred with mighty thunder, ready to annihilate the contemptible human who dared to enslave a god.

However—

Amid the surging divine power of dusk, those emerald runes of sealing showed no sign of weakening.

Instead, the verdant glow grew even more intense, radiating the vigorous vitality of bounty.

Death and life were inherently intertwined.

At the end of extreme death and silence came the rebirth of another cycle...

Thus, no matter how violent the divine power of the Death God raged, it could never destroy the Bounty Seal.

On the contrary, it would nourish and strengthen the very cage that confined it.

Just as wildfire could never consume the entire grassland—once spring wind blew again, new seeds would sprout from the fertile ashes.

The ancient god's roar continued.

But the trembling Nether Abyss and the roaring thunder slowly quieted.

That verdant seal prison gradually took solid form around the ice coffin.

Suppressing the reviving Divine Consciousness, extracting divine power and Divine Authority.

It would imprison the slumbering Akxia within the coffin, along with the ancient Death God reviving inside her, turning them both into slaves—caged birds bereft of freedom...

Below the tower, even Noah’s ever-indifferent expression revealed rare fluctuations.

This was a moment that crossed countless eras since the Age of Gods... the instant the ancient path to the Divine Kingdom reopened.

And most importantly, that newly born deity was about to fall completely into his grasp, becoming his prisoner and puppet.

To imprison a true god—

Even among the Gravekeepers, this was an unparalleled feat, never before accomplished.

Watching his plan near success, even with Noah’s breadth of vision, his Incarnation of Bounty momentarily lost focus.

Such a moment of distraction from the Fertility Half‑Body lasted no more than a thousandth of an instant.

It wasn’t even a true flaw... even if someone noticed his brief lapse, Noah's genuine legendary status in his Fertility Half‑Body form could easily suppress any disturbance.

But—

At that precise moment—

“O world...”

A gentle chant suddenly echoed across the entire world, drowning out the howls of wind.

“Be still, here and now.”

In the very next moment—

Whether it was tides, storms, or that slowly pulsing heartbeat...

Everything, all of it, froze in that instant.

The entire Nether Abyss became a still photograph—motionless. Even the flow of air... even ripples of spirit and soul ceased to exist.

The world fell utterly silent.

Only one youth remained able to move freely in the frozen world.

【You have equipped the Grimoire “Fate: Stagnant World”】

【Warning! There is an over-spec entity within the skill’s range. Forcibly activating the Grimoire on such an entity may cause severe consequences, including Grimoire failure, spiritual backlash, and soul trauma!】

【Please proceed with extreme caution before using this Grimoire!】

Lines of text flickered relentlessly in Rast's mind, glowing with a blood-red intensity.

This was the latest Grimoire Rast had unlocked.

After the fateful duel with Grey in the Royal City of Paradise... within his "The Fool’s Library", the Higher-tier Fate Sequence finally unlocked a new Grimoire ability.

Perhaps because the Bond Level had yet to meet the required threshold, what Rast unlocked was not "Time Rewind"—Grey’s ultimate trump card—but rather "Stagnant World"—

Centering himself as the origin, causing the surrounding world to fall into a state of absolute temporal suspension.

Only he, the user, retained complete mobility.

In terms of functional effect, it bore some similarity to a certain vampire who liked to wield a steamroller while shouting “XX Rola”... it could be interpreted as a slowing of time flow in the surroundings, or as an extreme acceleration applied to oneself.

Pat—

Pat—

Almost at the very moment of the time freeze, a series of cracking sounds echoed from below the tower.

On the image of the frozen world, like a still photograph, tiny fractures began to appear—like a photo being torn by an external force, on the verge of shattering completely.

This was only to be expected.

Neither "Stagnant World" nor "Time Rewind"... included the legendary rank as valid targets for their effects.

Even Grey, as a Fated One, could hardly interfere with the temporal flow of a legendary being... let alone Rast, who was merely simulating the Fate Sequence through "The Fool’s Library".

And now, forcibly activating it—just like the blood-red warning still flashing painfully before Rast’s eyes—

The time freeze, which should have lasted several seconds or more, was already breaking apart upon activation, likely to collapse in less than a second.

Once the "Stagnant World" was forcibly shattered by Noah’s legendary incarnation, both "The Fool’s Library" and Rast, as its user, could suffer a severe soul backlash... possibly even become a brain-dead vegetative state.

Yet, at this moment, Rast paid no heed to the blood-red alert continuously flashing in his mental realm.

Although the forcibly activated time stop could only affect a legendary being for less than a second—

That fraction of a second was enough.

From between Rast's fingers, a cracking sound abruptly rang out.

In his hand, the surface of a verdant gemstone suddenly displayed a fine crack.

This was the contingency set up by Noah.

It was also the core node of the Bounty Seal array upon the ice coffin...

As long as one held it, one could fully control the prison powerful enough to confine a god, extracting power from the ancient Death God and converting it for one’s own use.

Yet, at this very moment—

Countless cracks covered the entire surface of the emerald gemstone.

Then—

Crack—

The gemstone emitted a crisp cry and shattered completely.

Only the dense essence of life remained, along with countless verdant fragments scattering across the high platform and dispersing into the tempest above.

On the surface of the amber ice coffin, the emerald sealing runes suddenly flared.

Then, the Bounty Seal—the verdant prison—began to dim inch by inch.

Correspondingly, the Remnant of the Death God, once imprisoned within the coffin, gradually suppressed and nearly reduced to a caged prisoner... surged again in a violent updraft.

The core of the Bounty Seal had been shattered by external force.

Thus, the resurrected deity within the coffin was no longer bound.

…

Boom—

The still world was torn apart by legendary might, and the once-frozen flow of time returned to normal.

“Rast.”

Noah’s voice, tinged with veiled fury, echoed from the depths of the Nether Abyss.

“You shattered the core of the Bounty Seal and released the reborn ancient god from its prison.”

“Do you have any idea… what you’ve done?”

“Do you even understand what you’ve rejected?”

…

“Human...”

At the same time, another voice came from within the ice coffin.

It was a language of the Age of Gods, carried on wind and thunder.

The voice rang out like clashing bronze, as though it came from an endlessly distant primordial era.

This was the newborn Remnant of the Death God conversing with him.

Although Rast had never learned the divine language, the ancient tongue resounded directly within his heart, allowing him to clearly comprehend its meaning.

“You have done well.”

“Further destroy the seal and release Me completely.”

“My divine body has already been reforged and is no longer bound by the laws of the world—no longer like My fallen kin, forced to hide within the Threshold of Seraphim, but able to roam freely upon the earth.”

“Once I reclaim My full power and ascend the Divine Seat again... neither this Fertility Half‑Body before Me, nor its true body, nor even the Gravekeepers behind it, will be more than ants in My eyes.”

“Then, you shall become the Vice Lord of Heaven, the Right Hand of God, the sovereign of all the mortal realm.”

…

These solemn words echoed in Rast’s ears the moment the "Stagnant World" was shattered.

There was Noah’s furious interrogation—and the temptation and invitation from the Remnant of the Death God.

Standing at the center of the vortex, at the peak of the Nether Abyss.

Rast's face had turned completely pale, devoid of the slightest trace of color.

The blood-red warnings in "The Fool’s Library" were no false alarms.

The "Stagnant World" had been forcibly shattered—how could its user pay no price?

Within "The Fool’s Library", the once-equipped Grimoire "Fate: Stagnant World" also dimmed abruptly.

Forcefully activating this skill had even damaged the Fool’s Library... Before the library could be fully repaired with the passage of time, this Original Tome of Time Stop had already dimmed completely, rendering it unusable again.

His soul, too, had suffered a severe blow in an instant.

If not for Rast’s mental resilience—tempered over hundreds of years in the time loops at Deep Blue Port and unimaginable to ordinary people—he would likely have already become a vegetative state due to spiritual trauma.

But, at this very moment—

“I’m well aware of what I’m doing, and I know what I’ve given up... Your Grace, Noah.”

Even though his remaining mental power was insufficient to support even the most basic movements, Rast was still smiling.

“If I had obediently followed your plan, then even if the Gravekeepers had seized the vast majority of the power in the Nether Abyss, and even imprisoned the complete Divine Consciousness of the old Death God... the remaining scraps, those embryonic forms of the Divine Seat, would still have benefited me greatly.”

“My current power is mostly based on my status as the King of Paradise, rooted in the home-field advantage of the Nether Abyss... but if I were to leave Paradise, losing the amplification from the Nether Abyss beneath my feet, my true tier would only be Third or Fourth Tier at best.”

“Whether before you, or before that old Death God, I would be nothing more than an insect... perhaps not even an insect, merely a speck of insignificant dust.”

He paid no attention to the temptation from the Remnant of the Death God inside the ice coffin.

Rast simply gazed quietly at Noah, the old man below the tower who resembled a gardener.

The reverent façade he once maintained before Noah quietly fell away, revealing his original appearance... Though he still upheld the etiquette due to an elder, a note of irreverence crept into his otherwise calm voice.

And on that pale face of his, the corners of his mouth clearly curled into a faint arc.

“If I were to accept Your Grace Noah’s gift, then even if I left the Nether Abyss, left the boost of my home ground... I would still be a true peak Sixth Tier. In the future, my path to the Legendary Realm and Divine Domain would be smooth and unobstructed, without any bottlenecks that could trap an ordinary transcendent for half a lifetime.”

“Moreover, I am also refusing your invitation. I gave up on becoming a ‘Gravekeeper’... gave up on the opportunity to reign above the River of Time, to ignore the cycles of eras and epochs, and to exist as Eternal Immortality.”

“And what I am doing now brings not the slightest benefit to myself. I am abandoning an embryonic form of the Divine Seat that was within arm’s reach, and I am also forging a deadly enmity with you and the Gravekeepers... No matter how one looks at it, this is an utterly disadvantageous choice for me.”

Rast looked into the eyes of Noah’s Fertility Half‑Body, ignoring the storming wind and tide raging beside the ice coffin:

“So naturally, you don’t understand my choice.”

“Just as you also don’t understand why Leader Sisel, and the legends of the civilizations from past eras that have perished... though they had already ascended to the Legendary Realm and possessed the power to protect themselves, still refused to compromise for what you consider illusions.”

“They gave up on personal eternity and chose to perish with their own civilizations, like moths flying into the flame, to journey together into the Underworld.”

...

Rast’s voice was very soft, nearly inaudible amidst the howling storm.

Yet Noah, with the legendary tier of this Fertility Incarnation, still clearly perceived every word Rast had said.

“Leader Sisel...”

Noah repeated the term Rast had spoken.

A trace of realization flickered in his aged eyes: “No wonder... that Time Stop just now clearly belonged to the Higher Sequence of Fate...”

“You are not a Fated one, and yet you were able to use what should be a unique Sequence ability.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“Sisel, he already passed that Fireseed on to you.”

“Because he foresaw the destined outcome of the battle at the Shattered Coast, he abandoned futile struggle and resistance... and selected his successor in advance?”

Noah’s tone carried a hint of surprise.

This was not his true body, but only a Fertility Incarnation.

And in order to conserve the power of this incarnation and prevent it from dissipating prematurely, this Fertility Half‑Body had remained dormant at the bottom of the Nether Abyss until Rast’s arrival triggered it.

Therefore, this incarnation of Noah did not know about the commotion caused by Grey during the Holy Rite at the Royal City of Paradise...

Thus, from the perspective of this incarnation, Rast being Sisel’s chosen successor was undoubtedly the most reasonable assumption.

“However...” His voice quickly returned from surprise to calm: “Though a bit unexpected, what meaning does it really hold?”

“As the one chosen by Sisel, who should have continued the legacy of the Shoreguards after his death...”

“You’ve now, in the most foolish manner possible, completely exposed your identity before me.”

Noah’s voice grew slightly colder.

He slowly extended his hand, then clenched it tightly.

In the next instant, Rast’s heart and all his internal organs suddenly convulsed amid a grotesque distortion of flesh and blood.

At that moment, countless root systems of plant life silently took root, sprouted, and grew within every vein, meridian, tissue, and organ inside Rast’s body.

Then, they condensed into an eerily beautiful blood-colored bud.

“Flesh Blooming”

A power of the Bounty Sequence only usable upon ascending to the Seventh Step, and regarded as the hallmark of the legendary tier of the Bounty Sequence.

Unlike most of the Bounty Sequence’s powers, which were healing and supportive, “Flesh Blooming” was a purely offensive skill.

It could, through breath and air as a medium, silently implant a seed into the flesh of any living being.

Normally, this seed would lie dormant within the host’s body, showing no abnormalities.

But when necessary, the seed could rapidly sprout within the target’s body.

Then, using the target’s own flesh as nourishment, it would bloom into a beautiful blood-colored flower.

And when the bud in the heart blossomed, it would mark the end of the target’s life.

Irreversible, unstoppable... the flower nourished by flesh would utterly devastate every vein, every muscle, every bit of skin in the host’s body.

Even the Death Sequence’s passive skill “Pale Body”, which could disperse damage from vital points across the entire body, could not survive “Flesh Blooming”, because even “Pale Body” merely redistributed vital point damage rather than rendering one immune...

But the blooming flesh flower would destroy all of a person’s flesh and organs entirely—as if in an FPS game, where even without a headshot, shooting the feet repeatedly could still kill via sheer damage.

Noah’s hand clenched slightly, and in Rast’s heart, the bud nourished by flesh grew even more luridly beautiful, as if ready to bloom at any moment and end the host’s life.

This was the true source of Noah’s unshakable confidence from the start.

He had implanted this “Flesh Flower” seed within Rast from the very beginning, so he had never doubted Rast’s identity as a spy... Because whether Rast was a spy or not, whether his admiration for the Gravekeepers was genuine or false, it simply didn’t matter.

As long as the seed of flesh remained, Rast’s life was completely under his control.

No matter what happened, so long as the Flesh Flower bloomed, Noah could erase Rast from this world instantly.

"Seems that Sisel made an extremely foolish and erroneous decision."

"The successor he chose for the next generation of Shoreguards will die even earlier than himself."

Noah’s voice sounded calmly.

He had not expected that Sisel would actually send the inheritor of that Fireseed... directly into his hands like this.

Without any effort, he could retrieve the Fireseed that the Gravekeepers had lost years ago.

As for the Old Death God within the ice coffin, who had already broken free of restraints and was gradually awakening... compared to successfully reclaiming the Fireseed, it now seemed far less important.

Even if the Death God were to be reborn, he had perished for countless years—his remaining power had already dwindled to less than a tenth, and the countless believers of his Divine Kingdom had ceased to exist.

For the Death God to regain his peak state, he would still require an extremely long period of accumulation... during which the Gravekeepers would be more than capable of hunting him down.

"Didn’t expect you to be even more foolish than I imagined."

Noah looked calmly at Rast, whose face had lost all color, whose heart had already sprouted that eerie flower bud, and whose life was now completely under his control.

"Originally, if you had chosen to feign obedience, cooperating with me to complete the Divine Ascension Ritual and transfer the Divine Authority and embryonic Divine Seat of the Death God onto yourself..."

Noah’s tone remained flat: "Then, after becoming the new Death God and amassing sufficient power... if you had chosen to betray me then, perhaps it would’ve posed a greater challenge."

"Yet I didn’t expect you to be unwilling to endure even for such a short while. My arrangements have been wasted."

Hearing Noah’s words—

Even though his own heart was already gripped by the Flesh Flower, with his entire life hanging by a thread,

Rast’s pale face still wore a smile.

A smile he had never worn before, never once shown before.

"Indeed, feigning patience, remaining hidden... inheriting the Death God’s power, or choosing to completely release the Death God and trigger a war between the Old Death God and the Gravekeepers... That undoubtedly would’ve been the optimal choice."

"But—"

Rast smiled slightly: "If I had waited until the Remnant of the Old Death God completely took over this body, then everything would’ve been meaningless."

Rast turned slightly, looking down into the ice coffin at the girl with ice-blue long hair.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and the expression on her delicate face kept shifting... sometimes exuding the majesty of a monarch, sometimes bearing a maiden’s confusion and timidity, as though trapped in a deep nightmare.

Looking at the girl like a sleeping beauty, a trace of gentleness flashed in Rast’s eyes.

"Your Grace Noah, you and the Gravekeepers... have stood above the clouds for far too long."

"So long that you've forgotten what it felt like to be ‘human’."

"From beginning to end, in your eyes, there have only ever been three parties: the Shoreguards, the Gravekeepers, and the resurrected Old Death God..."

"You believe only these three are qualified to sit at the table, and that everything happening before your eyes is merely a cold game of strategy and benefit among these three."

"You’ve never considered the feelings of the third key to the Divine Ascension Ritual, nor have you ever asked..."

"She, the vessel for the Old Death God’s resurrection—was she ever willing?"

"The feelings... of this vessel?"

For the first time,

Noah directed his gaze toward the sleeping girl inside the ice coffin.

Yet his gaze remained indifferent, like a gardener looking at the shears in his toolbox—handy tools, but nothing more than tools.

"The primal reproductive urge between male and female creatures... caused by the secretion of stimulating hormones?"

"Everything you’ve done—was for such a laughable reason?"

"Didn’t expect Your Grace Noah to be so well-versed in biology... It seems that the technological level of past eras' civilizations was higher than I thought."

Rast chuckled. "Indeed, you wouldn’t understand. Your colleagues wouldn’t either..."

"Because in your world, only tangible benefit holds meaning—everything else is but a fleeting illusion."

He looked the old man directly in the eyes, calmly: "Frankly speaking, I was once like that too... forgot human emotions, lost sight of humanity, lived only as a cold machine."

"Existing solely for the preset objective of ‘survival’—every action was a cold judgment of value. If deemed beneficial to survival, I did it; if not, I discarded it completely."

"But then I met a girl named Emis—"

"She told me that humans shouldn't live just to survive."

"The idea of ‘living’ is not about waiting for death, but about running endlessly, meeting all kinds of people and things, fulfilling every wish one has, until one’s body collapses and they can walk no further."

"Only then, when death comes, would there be no regrets. Only then, when looking back at the end, could one calmly say: ‘I lived a life without regrets.’"

"I once didn’t understand the words Xiao Ai said to me... But now, after encountering Shiltina, meeting Dean Silver, Grey, Leader Sisel, Akxia... after seeing so many people and things—"

"I think I understand a little now."

Rast extended his hand and gently stroked the soft, ice-blue hair of the girl inside the ice coffin.

"I don’t know if this is the primal impulse Your Grace Noah described, caused by hormonal secretion... but I know this is the surge in my heart at this moment, without a trace of falsehood."

"The noble spirit of dying to protect one’s people, the knight’s creed of perishing before one’s comrades."

"For the people and things one cherishes, for the world behind them... like a moth to a flame, knowingly charging into the impossible."

"The firelight passed from one generation to the next for a shared dream, lighting the long dark night."

"Because I loathe never-ending tragedies, even knowing the hardships and dangers, I must write an ending I desire for that imperfect fairy tale."

He closed his eyes, placed his right hand on his chest, turning his back to the steep cliff atop the Sky-Piercing Tower.

"You will never understand my beliefs, just as I can never accept your doctrines."

"Perhaps in your eyes, this is a foolish and hopeless choice—but I accept it willingly."

Splash—

In the lament of wind and tide,

Rast’s figure fell backward, plunging from the top of the Sky-Piercing Tower into the depths of the Nether Abyss.

"So—"

"You are the ‘Gravekeepers’, and I... am the ‘Shoreguards’."