I, the final BOSS of the beta test server!

Page 38

Woohoo~

Hearing this, the giant griffin looked at Cecilia reluctantly again, and finally flapped its wings and flew high into the sky.

After hovering and circling in the sky for a few more circles, it finally flew away and disappeared.

After watching the giant griffin disappear, the female knight turned around and returned her gaze to the almost endless sea of fire in front of her.

Her footsteps crossed the scorched and cracked earth.

And on the path Cecilia was walking on, at the edge of the fire in the distance, she could vaguely see clusters of silver-grey shadows, like human-shaped packages.

"Fireproof bag?" Luster whispered.

He recognized the silver-gray human-shaped packages.

It is a kind of protective equipment used by firefighters to deal with emergency fire situations. It is made of multiple layers of high-temperature resistant materials including aluminum foil and glass fiber.

When the fire is severe and evacuation is impossible, covering yourself with a fireproof bag is the last life barrier for firefighters.

"Ah."

Hiltina's light brown eyes were also fixed on the water screen projection.

"Qiuye Territory is a border province of the empire, and most of its territory is covered by mountains and forests."

"Thus, the forest ranger, who guards the mountains and prevents forest fires, is a profession unique to Qiuye Territory. This is also why my family is called the 'Forest Ranger' family."

"The population of Qiuye Territory is very small, only a few tens of thousands... Qiuye Territory's forest patrol team visited my home when I was a child, and I know every one of them."

Her eyes swept over the human-shaped silver-gray fire shield one by one.

"Tyler, 59 years old, captain of the forest ranger team. He was supposed to retire after this year."

"Russell, 29 years old, was once a chain smoker and drug addict. However, for the sake of his children, he wanted to find a stable job. He withstood Captain Taylor's rigorous testing, passed the test, and became a candidate for the forest ranger team. However, he encountered an accident during his first patrol."

"Aunt Susan is in charge of logistics. According to her duties, she wasn't supposed to go with us, but she came anyway... Aunt Susan even held me in her arms when I was little."

"And Angie, Carl..."

Hiltina narrated the story calmly.

"As soon as the disaster struck at dusk and the wildfire broke out, the forest rangers immediately went out and began setting up isolation zones to block flammable materials."

"It was thanks to their hard work that the spread of the fire was temporarily halted, allowing a considerable number of Qiuye Territory residents to escape safely."

"It's just...it's just a routine firefighting method after all."

"The wildfire that descended upon Qiuye Territory was no ordinary fire; it was the domain created by a sixth-rank fire elemental demon king. How could it be stopped by a mere isolation zone?"

At this moment, Hiltina's gaze and movements completely overlapped with Cecilia's in the water curtain.

They stared at the silver-grey human-shaped fire shields, their faces calm, yet with a hint of sadness.

"So-called fireproof bags can only retard flames but cannot provide heat insulation."

"What's more, that wasn't just an ordinary wildfire, but the power of a high-level fire elemental demon..."

"They hid in fireproof bags, and the only purpose was to leave an intact body for themselves."

After a brief pause, Hiltina's voice rang out again.

However, this time, her words no longer contained the previous confusion and sadness.

All that remains is determination.

At the same time, Cecilia in the water curtain also withdrew her gaze.

She moved her wrist slightly, and a clear knight's sword quietly appeared.

The silver sword light briefly illuminated the gray sky covered by thick smoke.

Amidst the raging flames and black smoke in the distance, a roar like thunder could be faintly heard.

That was the ferocious roar of the Fire Elemental Demon King.

And the dignified female knight held the silver sword in her hand, her long chestnut hair fluttering in the hot wind.

then.

He walked past Rast and Hiltina step by step.

Looking at the delicate and slender, yet majestic and awe-inspiring figure passing by her, Hiltina reached out her hand almost subconsciously.

But in the end, her hand passed through the illusory shadow and touched nothing.

In the end, they could only watch the female knight walk away step by step.

Until her back stepped into the raging fire curtain in front of her and could no longer be seen clearly.

……

The scene in the light curtain became distorted and blurred.

It seemed that the battle energy level that broke out was too high, so that even Tucker's Night Blade could not fully detect the whole picture.

But, there was the burning red flame and the back of the female knight who stepped step by step into the flame.

But it has been deeply engraved in the light brown eyes of the little girl in a dress holding a teddy bear on the other side of the light curtain.

"My father gave the order to Teacher Tucker, and he used the Night Blade to create a projection screen in front of me."

"Then, I, who was still confused and ignorant at that time..."

"I witnessed my mother's end."

"Not as the Empress of the Empire."

"Instead, as the head of the Ingullit family, acting as a 'Forest Ranger'... he sacrificed his own life to slay the Fire Elemental Demon King, the source of the Twilight Disaster."

Hiltina whispered in Lust's ear.

"Actually, I was very ordinary when I was little. I was a little girl who loved to act like a spoiled child, was afraid of the dark, and wanted my mother to sleep with me at night."

"But what I witnessed that day, that figure walking step by step into the flames, I will never forget."

She paused for a moment.

"So, whether others call it crazy and paranoid, or call it contrived and hypocritical... it doesn't matter."

"I fully understand my father's choice. Autumn Leaf Territory is merely an insignificant region within the Granville Empire. In terms of the overall interests and trade-offs, even if the entire Autumn Leaf Territory were destroyed, it would still be no match for Winter Fortress."

"But I don't want to agree with my father's ideas no matter what."

"If becoming the First Princess, the so-called heir... requires me to become a cold, machine-like being that prioritizes the interests of the nation above all else, and to abandon the perseverance that belongs to a ranger, then I would rather not have these identities and status."

"so."

"My name is Hiltina Ingulite, not Hiltina von Fresberg."

As Hiltina's words fell.

The carriage before me, the rippling light curtain, and that timid little girl...

All the images in Hiltina's memory were shattered, cracking into mottled cracks, and then disappeared.

Instead, the memory scene that reappeared before Rast and Hiltina's eyes was a dilapidated ruin.

There were figures all around, all wearing the school emblem of Star University.

However, at this moment, almost all of these elite students from Star University were injured.

In the distance, one could see dozens of human remains covered with white cloth. They were the victims of the recent battle, and their number was almost equal to the number of people still alive.

"Hiltina, are you satisfied now?"

A plain female voice sounded in the ears of the two.

"After such a huge sacrifice, with over half our team killed or wounded, we finally conquered this historical remnant. Is this the ending you wanted?"

Hearing this, Hiltina in the memory scene raised her head slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Fran."

"I know this attack on the Echoes of History is very dangerous, so I wanted to go in alone from the beginning. You guys just stay outside..."

"You know that's impossible! We're a team, and you're our captain. If we let you in alone, how can we still claim to be your teammates?"

The female voice was no longer calm, but instead contained a hint of anger.

When Last looked at the source of the voice, he found that the other person looked familiar to him.

Fran.

Previously lost in Frozen Water Town, one of the scouts who had his soul erased, and possessed the Night Blade's "Plant Dialogue" ability.

At the same time, Fran was also the vice-captain of the team that Hiltina briefly joined in her first year but later fell apart.

"But the Night World must be conquered. Otherwise, the Dusk Disaster will descend..."

"I'm from the Ruins Institute myself, so of course I know that kind of common sense!"

In the memory scene, Fran loudly interrupted Hiltina's words.

"Conquer the Night World and prevent the Dusk Disaster from falling upon reality. It is because of this awareness that we chose to join Starry University and become a member of the Conqueror Team. You don't need to repeat this!"

"I admit, Hiltina, your strength and your ideals are dazzling. So dazzling that many people are willing to follow you and become part of your team."

"But your decision is too idealistic. You are the protagonist of a fairy tale, an epic legend, a flawless knight, but not someone who should exist in reality."

"We all want to conquer the night world and prevent the arrival of the twilight disaster. Otherwise, we wouldn't have joined Starry University. But we are also flesh and blood. We get tired, afraid, and terrified. After a long battle, we may want to retreat and even have the dark thought of desertion. This is human nature."

"We can't be like you, who can keep going forward without hesitation and unwaveringly even when faced with life-threatening dangers time and time again."

"You are indeed an ideal knight. However, because you are so idealistic, your idealism and paranoia have subtly influenced your companions, without ever considering the weakness of the human heart."

"To keep up with you, to not be a burden to you... everyone on the team is already exhausted. We've just been enduring and forcing ourselves to persevere. It's like a taut string, sooner or later it will break."

As if the emotions that had been accumulated for a long time could finally be released, Fran looked at Hiltina in front of her.

"You may be a perfect knight, a perfect night traveler, but you are definitely not a qualified leader."

"Your radiance is so blinding... that even for ordinary people like us, simply being by your side is painful."

"Hiltina, you don't understand human nature."

She stared at Hiltina like this, with a hint of expectation in her eyes.

Around, dozens of eyes were cast towards Hiltina, also with eager anticipation.

Xiltina knew very well what her team members were expecting.

They hoped that Hiltina could let go of her pride and prejudice, learn to adapt and change, and restrain her own brilliance.

Gradually, he became a qualified leader who could understand the weakness of human nature, knew how to be detour and make choices, knew how to seek benefits and avoid harm, and was willing to give up dangers and difficulties for the benefit of the team...

If Hiltina could make such a change, then their strongest team would not have to fall apart, but would be able to continue to exist.

And Hiltina will still be their captain and leader.

Just, in the end.

Under the spotlight of those eager gazes, Hiltina gently closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Fran."

"Perhaps I am not a qualified leader, and I truly do not understand the weakness of the human heart."

"But, before all this—"

“I am myself first.”

boom--

The moment these words were spoken.

The illusory world before his eyes, woven from fragments of Hiltina's memories, shattered in an instant.

Then, everything returned to nothingness.