"So, in the end, it still came back to you, didn't it?" Black Swan looked at Acheron.
"The power of the Chorus of Equilibrium is no different from that of an Emanator. In the end, it requires an equal force to oppose it.
"The final step in overturning the sweet dream... will be completed by me.", Acheron spoke calmly. Then she turned and swept her gaze across everyone.
In truth, this step did not necessarily have to be done by her, but given the situation, there was no one more suitable for the task.
Within this endless descent into a sweet dream, nothing could stir a fierce will to survive more than a touch of Nihility.
Black Swan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hearing you say that is quite reassuring."
"Now that we've divided up the tasks, let's head to our respective battlefields!" Boothill said. "Get ready. We're gonna have ourselves a hell of a fight!"
No one said anything more. There was no need to speak anymore.
The moment the plan had been settled, everyone had already made their decision in their hearts. Now was the time to head for their respective battlefields.
Everyone had their own task, their own convictions, and the resolve to match them...
Looking at everyone who was already prepared, although the circumstances were slightly different, this moment was just like that moment then.
———
"How long has this rain... been going on?" the old man suddenly asked.
"If I remember correctly, it may have been several years, several decades, or even more than a hundred years," Acheron answered.
"The death wish of the Hunt will not subside until life comes to an end. But fortunately, we have finally guided these souls onward."
"They were all heroes in life. They will never again become puppets of Nihility."
"Look, the shadows on the surface of the sea have completely disappeared. Do you remember? You said that once all the regrets of the dead had been put to rest, the sky would clear."
"But... the rain... still hasn't stopped..." the old man said.
"...Yes."
"...Then why, exactly? Why did this rain choose me?"
"Perhaps it is because there are still people whose regrets have not been put to rest."
"When mortals walk along their Paths, it is like crossing the surface of the water in a small boat. They leave behind a winding trail and push countless ripples of possibility outward. Compared with humanity's fleeting lives, these waves take a very long time to settle..."
"And among them, there are some whose traces are too strong, to the point that they leave their own reflections among those countless splashes."
"Blood-Crime Spirits... the obsessions of Pathstriders. They are born from IX's shadow, regard themselves as the subject, and unknowingly repeat the actions of the dead while they were alive."
"They are born from Nihility and head toward Nihility, spending a completely meaningless lifetime. Yet this mere phantom shadow... has walked alongside me through these long years."
"..."
Listening to Acheron's words, the old man let out a sigh. There was sudden realization in that sigh, as though he had abruptly awakened from a muddled nightmare.
"So that's how it is. I... am already dead."
"...Yes."
Acheron answered softly.
From her perspective, the scenery looked completely different from what the old man saw. Amid the endless rain and dark clouds, red had become the only color, rising hazily from all directions.
The old man standing beside her was nothing more than a constantly shifting, distorted humanoid shadow.
"Are you watching over me?" the old man asked.
"Perhaps. It is my duty... Acheron's watcher." Acheron answered. "I will guard the road leading to the abyss of Nihility and guide every life that refuses to fall into it... back to this side of the world."
"But if this is precisely the outcome the dead wish for, do you still want to make them change it?" the old man asked another question.
"I don't know. But someone once told me that one day he would pass away, and he hoped that when that time came... someone would place a flower before his grave."
"Even if... it has no meaning?"
"Some things still have to be done even if they have no meaning. Things like this... I have experienced too many of them already."
"Please extend your hand, and then close your eyes."
"I will carry your wish with me and fulfill it. Only then can I lay to rest the final regret by this Dead Sea."
The old man slowly reached out his hand toward Acheron, then suddenly hesitated. He asked, "Will I... be able to see them again?"
"You will." Acheron said. "Because the person who told me all of this with his own mouth was you: the train, your two former companions, the pioneering journey that ended with the insect disaster, how you survived by a hair's breadth, your encounter with the Galaxy Rangers, your encounter with the Galaxy Rangers... and that hometown you could never return to, Penacony."
"Yes... Countless times, I was turned away by the Family and could only brush past it. But I know my companion is still there... all alone..."
Acheron gently lifted Tiernan's hand. At that moment, an aged soul that had wandered for countless years whispered, "Mikhail... are you still there...?"
———
Acheron's voice rang in everyone's ears. She said the same words as she had at that moment, only without the form of address, "Please extend your hand, and then close your eyes.
"Take my hand and come with me. We... will leave this place."
"You will embark on a very, very long road. Wherever you look, you will see darkness. But do not be afraid, because at the end of that road, there will always be a trace of red."
"That is the color of existence. Follow it. It will show you the way out. That way, you will surely be able to meet again beneath the sunlight."
"May death end your long dream... and guide you back to the waking world."
When he opened his eyes again, black seawater stretched beneath his feet. A gigantic black hole loomed in the distance, close enough to touch. Acheron stood beside him and spoke softly, "Welcome to the 'Horizon of Existence'..."
"This is one of the countless manifestations of the Sleepless Face of Nihility, IX. But at the same time, it is also an exit for those who are awake to bid farewell to Nihility."
"So, let us make our final farewell here."
Nero looked at Acheron, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
At this moment, he was extremely curious about the way this power of Nihility manifested itself.
Here, there were only him and Acheron. But perhaps there were other Horizons of Existence as well. Like a shadow that had merged into Nihility, Acheron led everyone back to the waking world.
Not just him, but also Sister Robin, Sister Black Swan, the other members of the Astral Express, and... all those other people who had fallen asleep.
———
"Leave this place and return to where you came from. Then... let Penacony awaken from its dream."
"Do I finally get to see the strength you've been hiding?" Stelle asked curiously.
"As I said, our plan is not to make everyone abandon darkness and turn toward the light, but to make them choose to save themselves. Tell me, under what circumstances will a person save themselves?"
Acheron answered Stelle's question expressionlessly, "The answer is... when they are driven into a desperate situation."
"Like a drowning person in the deep sea. When a person's body and mind are both under immense pressure, pain, confusion and despair will follow. And I also believe..."
"Even if the weaknesses of human nature make them stop in their tracks, when they truly can no longer move forward, humanity will certainly try to save itself. And now... Penacony has enough heroes to lead them forward."
"Precisely because of this selfish instinct, even when they already know that their resistance is futile, people will still fight with everything they have. Absurd though it may be, this too is a form of resistance."
"Then, you will be the one to guide everyone's direction, not as a savior, but as a Nameless who stands alongside mortals."
"That way, you will surely be able to meet again beneath the sunlight."
"The rain is about to grow heavier. Before we part, allow me to ask you a few final questions."
"In the sweet dream you have experienced so far, you have formed unbreakable bonds with many people and many things. Tell me, would you be afraid of severing those bonds with your own hands?"
Stelle shook her head. "I wouldn't be afraid."
"If one day, there were a gigantic dream, one realistic enough to be indistinguishable from reality. There would be no separation between life and death."
"Everyone could obtain the fulfillment and happiness they deserved and live happily forever. Would you be willing to make your home there?"
Stelle shook her head again and gave the same answer she had given the first time she faced these questions...
"That's impossible. As long as individual consciousness continues to exist, society continues to develop, and civilization continues to move forward, conflict and division will never stop. As long as living beings can still experience emotions, it will always be impossible to exclude a sense of superiority."
"Human hearts are impossible to fathom, and desire is never satisfied, so a world like that can never exist. And the disappearance of individual consciousness means there would no longer be any possibility of experiencing what happiness and joy feel like... Don't talk about 'what ifs.' Be realistic."
Acheron fell silent for a moment before asking the third question, "If this sweet dream is destined to shatter, and everything will eventually leave: friends, family, strangers; then the gentle wind, the flying birds, the stars... and finally yourself."
"Every person, every person in their memories, every smile and tear, every promise fulfilled and every promise left unfulfilled... will eventually move toward its predetermined ending. If, at the beginning of your journey, you already knew where it would end... would you still embark on this journey?"
Stelle's expression was resolute.
"I would continue to blaze the trail without hesitation. No matter what the ending is, I need to make the choice myself."
"Mm. I'm glad." Acheron smiled. "Listen, touch, think. Through these things, you will gain the ability to feel. Treasure it. Through our feelings, we are able to exist. This is also the only answer humanity can give in the face of Nihility."
"If Nihility is the most primal fear and trembling, and every noble belief appears insignificant beneath its enormous shadow... then behind that shadow, there must also exist the fiercest source of light in the world."
"Just as every life moving toward death continues to grow passionately, toward the end of Nihility... we pursue that first light."
———
Nero looked at Acheron. He did not know whether, during this farewell, the woman before him, who stood within Nihility yet possessed such a strong yearning for the sunlight, had said the same things to everyone.
But that did not seem important.
"I'm glad too that you haven't completely sunk into Nihility, Sister Acheron. But there's one thing you got wrong. Nihility... Nihility... isn't just a matter of other things being unimportant to it."
"It's the same for other things toward Nihility. Your power can't be used as evidence. It belongs to Black Marshal. As for Nihility itself, it is just an ordinary noun, a name given abstract meaning by humanity."
"So please don't say that every noble belief appears insignificant beneath the enormous shadow of Nihility. Reality should be the other way around."
"Nihility appears insignificant beneath every noble belief, because when people with noble convictions take action, they never care about it, just like what you're doing right now."
"..."
Acheron silently looked at the young man before her.
In her faded world, something that had been obscuring the young man from beginning to end seemed to fade away at this moment, allowing her to see the child's appearance clearly.
Then she suddenly realized that the smiling young man before her was so different from everything else. It had been a long time since she had seen an existence whose colors were so rich and splendid.
When was the last time she had encountered someone who possessed such colors?
Ah... it was at the Ever-Flame Mansion, when she encountered those knights.
Focused, devout, persistent, and full of passion. When people paid the price for that fanatical ideal, Nihility would forever be left behind, because at that moment, it truly was exactly what its name meant: unimportant.
"Then, before we part, Sister Acheron, can you tell me your real name? Or is Acheron, a title that sounds like a code name, already your name, just like Sister Robin and Big Brother Sunday?"
Acheron: "..."
———
"Clearly standing within Nihility, yet watching over people as they leave Nihility..."
Acheron remembered that during her farewell with Tiernan, the old man had looked at her with emotion. She seemed to be able to feel a clear gaze from within that distorted shadow. There was no pity in that gaze, only admiration.
"What an absurd and meaningless mission."
"But someone has to complete it. As for the meaning you speak of... even without it, haven't I still made it this far?"
"Even if the future you open up may not belong to you?"
"It may not belong to me, but it will certainly belong to someone."
"How difficult your past must have been... Since that is the case, let me do one meaningless thing as well... Finally, tell me your name."
"..."
"Perhaps in the next moment, my existence will disappear... No one will remember this conversation or your answer... But I still believe... your name should be remembered by someone... and this universe... will remember it too."
"... There are some things I can hardly remember anymore, but there are also some things... I find very hard to forget."
"This is memory. It is created by the past, yet it can bloom with meaning in the distant future."
"I still remember. That was the starting point of my journey, the origin of the red in my life, the fiercest and most passionate thing in every storm..."
"That is my name..."
———
"Raiden Mei, Guardian of the River of Oblivion."
"Raiden Mei... I'll remember it." Nero raised his head, a smile on his face. "Then, Sister Mei... may we meet again in the waking reality!"
Acheron: "...Mm."
Acheron answered softly and slowly drew her blade.
And so, rain suddenly began to fall in the dream. Lightning tore across the night sky, as if cleaving a gigantic opening in the heavens. The wind also grew restless at this moment.
Amid the gradually rising storm, the Galaxy Ranger climbed to the highest spire in the dream and gazed toward the Grand Theater in the sky. His black-and-white hair danced in the wind. He loaded his pistol and aimed it at the sky.
The shooting star of the Hunt, a symbol of glory, was about to illuminate the boundless gray dream and summon dawn to the longest night.
"The golden sweet dream is beginning to stir."
"In the long night that follows, you will probably encounter many setbacks and witness countless tragedies. In the end, all you see may be reduced to black and white."
"But please believe that in that black-and-white world, there will be a flash of red that vanishes in an instant. Yet when you make your choice, it will surely appear again."
Acheron's long blade fell.
And so, the shadow of Nihility suddenly expanded. It violently spread outward, destroying the structure of the sweet dream like a raging storm.
Memoria shattered beneath the terrifying shadow, breaking apart into its most primitive chaotic form. Everything was swept into despair.
People were terrified. Within despair, they yearned to survive.
In the black-and-white world, the shooting stars of the Hunt carried dazzling light and shot straight beyond the clouds.
Countless heavenly flames answered the call, tearing apart the curtain of night and scattering light across all things beneath heaven and earth.
At this moment, all living beings fell from the high platform of order.
"And you must carefully savor its meaning, then return to the waking world. We will all find the answer there."
[T/N: As a thanks for reaching 400 discord members, I am releasing 5 Chapters of all the books tomorrow. Enjoy~]