Chapter 225 Augustina: The losing dog stops here! (5k)
Abyss, bottom of the abyss.
Snow City.
Outside the gloomy hall, Liliana held a thick scroll and knocked on the heavy, ancient door.
“Come in, Lily.”
An elegant and pleasant voice sounded from behind the door.
After receiving a reply, the Gray Elf maiden held the scroll and stepped into the hall shrouded in a hazy night.
“Leader, you said you were going into closed-door cultivation a few days ago, so I sealed off the central area and did not let anyone approach the Night Palace…”
“These are the incident summaries and memos of what happened in Snow City during your cultivation period. They are all recorded for you to view.”
Liliana placed the scroll in her hand on the table in the center of the hall.
“Don’t worry too much about the rest; they are just trivial matters.”
“The elves have lived in the abyss for hundreds of years. Their daily affairs can be handled and resolved on their own, so there’s no need to trouble you, Leader, to personally intervene.”
“The only unusual thing.”
“Is that the seemingly eternal glaciers and snowfields surrounding Snow City have begun to melt.”
“At first… the elves thought it was just a slight anomaly in the abyss’s internal environment, which would soon subside, but no one expected… the melting of the glaciers to have continued for half a year.”
“According to feedback from scouts, the glaciers at the highest point of the snow mountains have melted into a waterfall thousands of feet long.”
Liliana organized the scroll in her hand and spoke respectfully.
“If this change continues…”
The Gray Elf maiden couldn’t help but smile: “It’s likely that in just a few years, we will have to rename Snow City.”
After all, without the continuous ice fields and blizzards, how could it be called Snow City?
Of course, neither Liliana nor the elf residents of Snow City considered such a change to be a bad thing.
Pure white snowfields and never-melting glaciers did possess a unique beauty.
However, no matter how beautiful the scenery of the ice fields, if one looked at it for decades or hundreds of years, it would inevitably become tiresome and monotonous.
Just as people on fertile plains would consider enjoying the scenery of the frontier as a pleasant journey… residents living on snowfields would naturally yearn for the arrival of spring and wish to live in warm regions filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.
And compared to the elves who were unaware and mistook the environmental anomalies around them for changes in the abyss’s own environment.
Liliana, who was closest to the leader, and in a way, her confidante, knew much more.
The recent environmental changes, the melting of glaciers.
And even – the formation of this snowfield, and the birth of Snow City.
All of this was not a natural change as many residents imagined…
But, solely because of one person.
“Leader.”
Liliana hesitated for a moment, and after a long pause, she carefully spoke.
“If I’m not mistaken…”
“These matters… should be inseparable from him, right?”
As she spoke, she looked up at the black-skirted maiden on the throne of night.
However, in just a moment, Liliana was stunned.
On the throne high above, the black-skirted maiden was actually smiling.
Her smile was very slight, merely forming a tiny curve on her flawless, fair face.
If Liliana had not been by the leader’s side for over a hundred years and was very familiar with the black-skirted maiden, she might not have noticed it at all.
However, it was precisely because of this that Liliana felt quite surprised.
Ever since, this black-skirted maiden had always been seen through a filter by Liliana and all the elves of Snow City.
She was powerful, mysterious, and supreme.
Just like her other title that Liliana had accidentally heard the leader mention… the Queen of the Night.
And the image she had always presented to outsiders was worthy of this title, mysterious and supreme.
The majesty hidden behind the night made the vast majority of the elders in Snow City’s Council Hall fear her, which was why all matters of communication with the leader were entrusted to Liliana alone.
But, at this moment.
The mysterious image of the Queen of the Night was broken for the first time.
Since choosing to follow the leader, this was the first time Liliana had seen her show such a smile.
It wasn’t very obvious, but it was a genuine joy, perhaps even unnoticed by the leader herself.
“Leader…”
“Has something good happened recently?”
In Liliana’s heart, the curiosity surged like a tide, impossible to control.
Perhaps, just like what she had accidentally overheard a long time ago during a casual chat between Sister Heiser and the human youth.
Gossip was the instinct of every intelligent creature.
“Something good?”
On the throne, the black-skirted maiden was carefully reading the scroll Liliana had submitted.
But when she heard Liliana’s words, she paused slightly.
After a moment, she casually covered her mouth.
“Why do you say that?”
Leader, oh leader.
The corners of your lips are practically irrepressible, yet you still ask me why.
The Gray Elf thought to herself, complaining internally.
However, despite her internal complaints, Liliana naturally wouldn’t reveal her true thoughts.
If one doesn’t court death, one won’t die.
Elves are no exception.
“It’s nothing, just some guesses.”
“I just feel that the anomalies outside Snow City now are related to him.”
“Oh? Who?”
On the throne shrouded in night, a hint of cunning flashed in the beautiful eyes of the black-skirted maiden, which seemed to be covered by a faint shadow.
“Uh…”
Liliana paused, and finally forced herself to speak: “It’s the human named Shaya that you mentioned before, the one you’ve been having a one-sided crush on.”
As she said this, Liliana was already regretting it in her heart.
Why was she so gossipy, insisting on prying into something that had nothing to do with her?
Well, it wasn’t entirely unrelated…
After all, this directly concerned their leader’s lifelong happiness.
And it also involved Sister Heiser.
Although they hadn’t seen each other for hundreds of years, Liliana was still very grateful to the Golden Elf elder who had taken care of her and the Gray Elf race back then.
However, no matter what.
The leader had previously said it was just her own one-sided crush, yet she still brought up the most sensitive topic…
Anyone whose unrequited love, destined to be fruitless, was brought up by their subordinate, would likely not be in a good mood.
Although, given the leader’s personality, she never directly punished or disciplined anyone.
But having followed the leader for so many years, Liliana knew that her leader, despite her outwardly cold and mysterious demeanor and seeming indifference to everything, actually had a hidden mischievous side.
If a subordinate who gossiped about her touched a sore spot… even if she didn’t say anything, she might be assigned a difficult task at any time.
Just like being sent to investigate intelligence at the junction of the Abyss and the Prime Material Plane.
However, even though Liliana had prepared herself mentally.
In the next moment.
The black-skirted maiden’s words made her pause slightly.
“That’s not it, Lily.”
“The anomalies in Snow City are indeed related to Shaya.”
“I did say before… that my words about having a one-sided crush on him were almost like a losing dog.”
“However, that is now completely in the past.”
In her eyes, the shadow that seemed to be eternal night slowly receded.
Revealing her true eyes.
They were pure crimson gold, possessing a nobility and majesty as if born to rule over all beings, yet now they rippled with emotion.
Intense and complex feelings surged within them.
There was nostalgia, a sense of longing and dissatisfaction at not being able to have him all to herself, and also a joy of finally achieving her wish.
But overall, there was more happiness than melancholy.
“I am no longer the pitiful wretch who had a one-sided crush on him.”
“Instead, I have received his personal promise… that I can openly declare to the whole world that I am his lover.”
Listening to her leader’s words, which were seven parts joy and three parts melancholy, Liliana’s pupils trembled.
When?
The leader had only been in closed-door cultivation for half a year, and such a major event had already occurred?
This meant that her leader’s lifelong happiness was finally going to be settled.
While happy that her leader had finally shed the identity of a “losing dog,” another thought instantly arose in Liliana’s mind.
If that’s the case… what about Sister Heiser?
She couldn’t help but recall her childhood memories, when the Lost Island was still drifting on the vast ocean, before it fell into the Abyss.
And the Golden Elf who had smiled so brightly because she could stay by Shaya’s side.
If her leader had turned from a losing dog to a winner, wouldn’t Sister Heiser become the new losing dog?
What kind of unfortunate “law of conservation of losing dog traits” was this?
“It’s not what you think.”
As if seeing through Liliana’s thoughts, the clear voice echoed again.
“He is a very greedy fellow.”
“While he has acknowledged and accepted me, it doesn’t mean he will give up on what he has already grasped… I never dared to hope for that.”
In the black-skirted maiden’s eyes, the melancholy that had been masked by joy emerged slightly.
“To be precise, my current status in his heart.”
“Should still be incomparable to that Golden Elf.”
“What cunning and luck, Heiser…”
The black-skirted maiden murmured to herself.
“So early on, even before he had fully grown, she was fortunate enough to meet him and enter his life as a mentor.”
“This first-mover advantage, no matter how hard latercomers try, they probably won’t be able to fully compensate for it.”
“In fact, strictly speaking, the reason he came to the First Era was entirely because of you…”
“My ability to enter the Abyss, to meet him, and to be by his side, was all thanks to you.”
“However, a temporary setback… doesn’t mean I will be perpetually behind you.”
The black-skirted maiden chuckled.
“Just as he said.”
“There’s no such thing as a newcomer who can’t defeat a childhood sweetheart.”
“Long-term companionship and devotion… who hasn’t had that?”
The black-skirted maiden’s soft whisper was not heard by Liliana.
In a brief moment, she gathered her composure, which had momentarily become unbalanced due to her inner joy.
The faint night once again shrouded the crimson-gold dragon pupils that had briefly revealed themselves in her joy.
She looked back at the Gray Elf before her and then spoke calmly.
“Go back for now, Lily.”
“You’re right, something wonderful is about to happen.”
“Not just for him, but for me…”
“And also for the entire Snow City, and the entire Elf Race.”
Her eyes, obscured by the night, swept across the entire city beyond the gloomy hall.
“No matter how dark, no matter how deep this abyss is.”
“It still cannot trap him.”
“Since he loves his Shī Jiang so much, then the Lost Island left by his Shī Jiang should not be sealed away in this lonely world.”
The leader’s meaning—
Is she saying…
We can finally leave the Abyss.
Return to the Prime Material Plane, truly return to the light?
Liliana’s heart trembled.
She forcefully suppressed the surging emotions within her, responded respectfully, and then exited the hall.
This truly is…
An extraordinary good thing.
…
Within the Night Palace.
As Liliana left, the place returned to silence once more.
Augustina gazed out the window, the light in her eyes lingering for a long time, like a twilight-hued sea of stars.
She let out a soft breath, feeling the joy gradually spread within her.
Even though many days had passed, the promise and confession the young man had made to her in the dream, which was illusory yet no different from reality, still lingered in her heart.
It made Augustina feel warm in her Spiritual World, being washed by the tide of happiness that had finally been fulfilled.
This happiness and joy were so beautiful.
Even the Queen of the Night, who had long been accustomed to hiding her true feelings and never revealing them, was now somewhat impatient to share her current joy.
And a certain unlucky Gray Elf was roped into it.
After a long while, the crimson gold surging in Augustina’s eyes finally subsided.
Then, her eyes moved slightly.
A silent ripple crossed time, reaching the ocean of her soul.
“Is it time?”
Augustina stood up and walked towards the depths of the gloomy hall.
Curtain after curtain, woven from shadows and darkness, slowly parted before her.
And so she walked forward with elegant steps.
Finally, she stopped in the deepest part of the palace.
On the frozen throne, the black-haired, black-eyed youth still leaned his head on the armrest, seemingly in a deep sleep.
But—
At the same time.
In the astral view observed by Augustina’s throne-level status.
A vast and magnificent mystery was slowly converging upon the symbol of the youth’s Star Spirit Body.
That mystery carried a profound and distant aura, as vast and majestic as a mountain.
On the inner side of this world, the thin rules of the Abyss Plane creaked before it.
And then, they cracked.
Crossing the river of time, though rare, was not impossible.
Holy Relics like the Holy Sword and the Hourglass of Time, or the Authority of certain True Gods, could achieve similar feats under limited conditions.
However, traversing with Holy Relics often came with considerable constraints.
For example, although Augustina could use the Holy Relic “Hourglass of Time” she possessed to descend her will at the current time into her past self, she could only retain a portion of the power she would possess in the future, not the entirety.
Another example is Isadorella’s journey to Escarnia at the end of the Third Era for the Holy Sword assessment, but that also came with the mission of “becoming the Knight King.”
When Isadorella’s chosen path deviated from the glorious Knight King’s trajectory and instead veered onto another path, the “Hypothetical Stream” was born.
If not for Shaya’s valiant efforts back then, even with the protection of the Holy Sword, Isadorella, who had gone down the Hypothetical Stream’s divergence, would not have been able to return to reality unharmed.
And the human youth at this moment should also have encountered limitations—the laws of the Abyss did not permit overly powerful future forces to descend across spacetime.
However, next—
Crack.
It was the sound of something shattering.
Within the Astral Realm, streams of illusory chains roared and shattered into fragments of law, dissipating.
The rules and limitations of the Abyss were forcibly broken.
The next moment.
On that frozen throne.
The human youth, who had slept for hundreds of years without moving an inch.
The finger supporting his armrest suddenly moved slightly.
“Although I’ve done all that needed to be done in the dream.”
“No matter how realistic the dreamscape I wove is, it’s still different from reality.”
“After all, I haven’t experienced those events; it’s purely fantasy.”
Augustina paid no attention to the wailing sound of the Abyssal rules shattering.
Her crimson-gold eyes flickered with affection.
She focused all her attention on the youth before her.
“In reality, this is our first time, isn’t it?”
“But, to be honest.”
“For me now, no matter how many times we’ve done it, I still don’t feel it’s enough.”
“That’s a debt of three whole eras, and no amount of repayment will ever be enough.”
She moved closer to the frozen throne like a small cat.
Then, the moment the youth on the throne opened his eyes.
She lightly kissed his lips.
“Since you said we’re going to rekindle our feelings, not as a Familiar and Beast Tamer, but as lovers.”
“Then, let’s start from this moment.”
