Chapter 1143
That Which Surpasses Life – The Meaning of Engraving
The future may see the Eagle Eye destroyed and the Iris Flower reborn, with everything becoming better—but without Cirlex.
No, perhaps in a future where the Iris Flower is redeemed and humanity is saved, people will remember the Cirlex family as a lineage that nearly assassinated Eivass, the Savior of the World, and became the sinners of all humankind.
— What was their crime?
From the perspective of humanity, he sent Chloe to Avalon to distribute the novel “Dracula” and warn the people of Avalon about the dangers of the Children of the Moon. From the perspective of the Royalists, he had long ago plotted to ensure the survival of the Speaker, who possessed royal blood, and to bury those scums who acted with impunity under the banner of the Eagle Eye. From the perspective of a patriot, he also participated in the curse of the Avalon royal family and counter-espionage against Star Antinomy. From the perspective of a grandfather, he sent his own granddaughter for gilded training so that she could inherit the political influence of the Cirlex family after his death.
What was his crime?
He single-handedly killed hundreds of Children of the Moon, including those of the Fourth Tier and even the Fifth Tier. He was the one who killed the most Children of the Moon within the entire Eagle Eye. Those who wielded power believed in the Blood Heavenly Envoy. His position within the Eagle Eye was consistently in the top three, and even the leader could not force him to participate in missions. He assassinated traitors, spies, and wealthy individuals and officials attempting to defect. He indirectly saved countless lives.
This was something he vowed to accomplish, and had already accomplished, from the time he was a teenager and received the “Hawk Feather” dagger from his grandfather’s hand—to protect this country in the shadows, in the name of Cirlex.
Why should the Cirlex family lose all its glory simply because Eivass became the Savior? Chloe, as the heir of the Cirlex family, the strongest genius of her generation, had to become a great sinner who “nearly destroyed the world” just because she provoked Eivass?
“—Why?” the old man muttered.
Their family had already paid too high a price and would never allow themselves to become sinners in the future. He would not allow the family to end in his hands, nor would he allow everything to be destroyed by his hands.
If that was the case…
—Then it would be better not to give Eivass the chance to save the world.
Black hatred, jealousy, and despair spread in his heart.
Thomas’s unwavering devotion, untainted by self-interest, caused him to fall into twilight. Everything he did was merely to ensure that the “name of Cirlex” would be engraved in history. However, the hint of “hatred” that mixed in blurred his true objective, allowing him to gleefully choose to plunge everything into the abyss.
Either the Iris Flower would be purified by Cirlex and once again prosper and flourish;
Or, the Eagle Eye, without Cirlex, would be destroyed along with the Iris Flower.
He leaned towards the latter.
The dim yellow in Thomas’s pupils grew brighter and more turbid.
His back gradually stooped, his skin aged visibly, and his presence diminished. This was the price of using the “White Rainbow Secret Manual,” which would further plunder his already dwindling life.
Yet, in contrast—his aura and his posture grew increasingly upright.
“The so-called assassin… is never just a killer for hire.”
He muttered softly, recalling the first words his grandfather had spoken to him when teaching him assassination arts as a child.
Scenes from the past appeared before his eyes like faded photographs.
He had even thought he had forgotten these things.
“—Only by wielding a selfless resolve can one be called an assassin—this sword, once drawn, will strike true. Even if the price is one’s own life,” his grandfather had said then.
His voice was always hollow and echoing, as if speaking into a cave.
The black, seaweed-like wet and coiled long hair, and the oppressive black eyes… were like the Uttermost Black Night, instilling fear in a child.
Every word was so clear, so clear that it didn’t seem like something his memory could retain.
“Life?”
Young Thomas had been somewhat confused back then. “But if I die… what’s the point of killing him? I won’t get the money. Moreover… I might be framed because the dead cannot speak.”
His grandfather merely gazed at him with disappointment, looking at this child whose eye and hair color differed from his own. “Killing him is the meaning itself. If you do not have the resolve to die, you can never reach the highest realm… And if you have the resolve to die, what use are money and power to you?
“Path Adaptation is the path of the insignificant. Those who fear death the most, those who most desperately want to live, awaken the power of this path. To survive, they can bow and scrape, they can grovel. It doesn’t matter if they have no dignity, as long as they can live on.
“At the same time, it is precisely this strong will to survive that allows mortals to dare to confront fierce tigers, monsters, demons… or even villains who are more cunning than demons and more ferocious than tigers.
“If you die, others can live. This is the meaning. The Cirlex generations live for this—the purpose of living is to die. Perhaps you are not a pure Cirlex… so you wouldn’t understand.”
—Only that which is more precious than their own invaluable lives is worthy of the grasp-for-life adapters to sacrifice their own lives.
That is for the sake of “engraving.”
The Cirlex family itself is a lineage that inherits both the path of devotion and the path of adaptation.
For fame. To be remembered in history. To change the future with a humble body. To create the world with individual strength.
Success need not be by me, but success must include me—even if posterity does not remember their existence, or even know their names… their actions will surely change the entire future.
The reason why the Cirlex family now consists of only him and Chloe is simple.
Because everyone else is already dead.
They succeeded in assassinating the impossible, using their own lives.
Undoubtedly, the power of the Children of the Moon far surpasses that of humans.
Even a Fourth Tier Child of the Moon, without any training and unable to control blood, could easily shatter city walls with a single punch, withstand cannonballs with their physical bodies, be immune to illusions of the same tier, see through mist and darkness, and possess senses and reaction speeds several times faster than humans. Simultaneously, they could recover from severe injuries simply by drinking blood, not to mention their ability to scatter into bats and reform into their original bodies.
đó là sự mạnh mẽ thuần túy. Rất khó để đối phó với sức mạnh vượt trội này mà không cần bất kỳ khả năng siêu nhiên hào nhoáng nào. Nếu sở hữu cấp độ nghề nghiệp Lãnh chúa Máu, hoặc có đức tin sùng kính Hiến tế Trời Máu, họ còn có sức mạnh pháp thuật và thần bí mạnh mẽ. Họ cũng có thể tự học các lời nguyền và nghi lễ, hoặc tăng cường sức chiến đấu hơn nữa bằng thuốc. Mặc dù khả năng của họ có thể không toàn diện, nhưng việc giết chết họ là cực kỳ khó khăn.
Only the “White Rainbow Secret Manual” could achieve this miracle, allowing the weak to triumph over the strong and one to fight against many.
The reason he did not pass this secret manual to Chloe was also simple. Given Chloe’s proud personality, if she obtained this manual, she would definitely try to assassinate enemies of a higher tier than herself. Like a skilled swimmer drowning, such attempts would inevitably lead to disaster.
His original plan was to place the “White Rainbow Secret Manual” with his old friend after his death. Then, after Chloe had a child, he would pass the manual to her.
This way, with a child as a bond, Chloe would not act so recklessly. She would at least consider the possibility of “what if I die,” much like he himself dared not to die.
Only then could she use the “White Rainbow Secret Manual” cautiously, so as not to burn herself out completely.
“Grandfather…”
The old man muttered, his skin gradually turning yellow and withered, his teeth falling out. Two turbid tears, like muddy water, slowly rolled down.
“Did I… disappoint you again…”
He sobbed, and under the bewildered gazes of passersby, he slowly knelt on the ground.
Then, his muffled sobs turned into wails. The old man, who always maintained his dignity, now seemed like a lost child.
His hair color, his eye color… were different from his revered grandfather’s.
This was because of the bloodline from his father, which had distorted the fearless blood of Cirlex.
Because of this, he yearned even more for his grandfather’s approval. He wanted to become the best Cirlex… to become the strongest assassin.
—He failed, yet he succeeded.
Not because he became the strongest, but because the Cirlex stronger than him were all dead.
Unsung. Nameless in death.
Even without a place to be buried.
He feared such a future… he did not want to die like that.
The truly terrifying assassin is the nameless assassin. But if no one remembers oneself… what is the meaning of becoming an assassin?
—If that is the case, then he would become their gravestone.
Although they would die on missions, he would remember them. The Cirlex family was destined to inherit the assassin spirit from the founding of the Eagle Eye organization, becoming the last assassin family…
Remembrance. Engraving. Eternal forgetting.
And eternal forgetting also meant… oneself must first reach eternity.
Thus, the desire for survival surpassed the mission of remembrance… the will to live ultimately transcended the spirit of devotion.
From then on, he no longer carried out assassination missions but focused solely on training new recruits. Outsiders assumed he had retired due to injuries. But in reality, it was because he could no longer use the “White Rainbow Secret Manual.”
—Until now, he could again.
It was certain that Cirlex had no possibility of being passed down further. The assassin family founded at the beginning of the Iris Flower’s establishment would be completely extinguished with this.
Looking back now, old Thomas realized… at some point, he had abandoned the will of Cirlex.
Completely unrestrained, he could once again emerge with the resolve to die.
However, this time it was not the pure and untainted will of “engraving”—
Under the contamination of “love and hate,” the selfless resolve became blind. He would rather destroy everything with his own hands. The saying goes, the soft fear the hard, the hard fear the ruthless, the ruthless fear the obstinate, and the obstinate fear those who risk their lives—if a person can even abandon their own life, they can do anything.
If he used this resolve to destroy demons, he would become a blade feared by demons; but if he used this resolve for self-destruction, even a small person could detonate the world.
“To turn everything into nothingness…”
Thomas’s pupils had completely melted, and his entire skin dripped stickily like melting candy.
He knelt on the ground, his whole being becoming blurry as a result.
Exactly…
From when did things go wrong?
Such confusion arose in his mind.
Every step had been correct.
Every step had been natural.
—From where did I stray from the path?
