I, the final BOSS of the beta test server!

Therefore - inns, orchards, hotels, bakeries, breweries... there are too many places in this city where she can stop and stay.

The scorching sun above my head slid down from directly above to the west little by little along its eternally unchanging trajectory.

The scorching midday sun was no longer so dazzling and aggressive, but became gentle and quiet, turning into golden light to illuminate the way forward for the two people.

The scenery around them also changed. It was no longer a bustling street with crowds of people... but instead a quiet wilderness.

The towering steel buildings have been replaced by brick and tile bungalows. In the endless fields, a group of sheep are grazing peacefully. There are very few people here, and only a few shepherds wearing straw hats can be seen occasionally.

Amidst the overgrown weeds, a winding path passed through the entire pasture and disappeared at the end of the wilderness... There was a mountain covered with lush forests, and the faint sound of the sea tide came from the depths of the mountains.

"We're almost there."

The girl next to him stopped, and ice-blue writing appeared between Rast's collar.

The mountaintop covered by a sea of ​​trees was where she first felt the urge to run away from home.

It is also the final scene of the story of "Silver Wings Chronicles", the end of the hero and heroine's journey.

"Well, we're finally here."

Rust nodded and turned his head to look at the girl beside him. Helen was looking at the mountains covered with trees in the distance, and hesitation flashed in her dark purple eyes.

They were finally about to reach their destination, but instead they started to hesitate... It was not difficult for Last to understand this feeling.

During this month, he was almost able to completely simulate the other person's thoughts using profiles—

For Helen, whether it was the previous date in the royal city or this journey to the top of the mountain, it was actually a pilgrimage for her.

Just like fans who are crazy about certain works, they will go to the filming location to check in and take photos, and go to King Arthur's tomb to draw cards...

When it comes to the degree of enthusiasm, perhaps no one in the world loves "Silver Wings Chronicle" more than Helen... To a certain extent, she has regarded this work as her own psychological sustenance, and the lonely poisonous witch in the book who can bring plague is herself.

The places Helen had visited with Last before, the circus, the detective agency, the fortune-telling club, etc., were all places that appeared in that fairy tale book...

Because of this, in Helen's subconscious, the peaks of the mountains are not only the finale of "Silver Wings Chronicles", but also the end of her own dreamy and wonderful journey that is full of novelty and joy at all times.

Every journey has an end.

But not all travelers can calmly accept the gap between before and after the trip.

Calmly return from the magnificent and dreamy mountains and rivers, the starry sky... to the boring and unchanging daily life without any light.

The girl's eyes flickered unsteadily, but in the end, her longing overcame her hesitation, and she took the first step towards the distant mountain top.

……

The road up the mountain is not very flat. It is just a winding mountain path, a little muddy, and even the stone slabs and foundations have not been paved.

This was the path that lumberjacks took when they went up the mountain to chop wood a long time ago. Perhaps it is just as the saying goes - there are no roads in this world, but when more people walk on it, it becomes a road.

However, with the development of the times and the influx of many refugees from the outside world into the royal city, this road used by the lumberjacks to go up the mountain was gradually abandoned... After being covered in dust for many years, it finally welcomed new visitors like Last and Helen.

Helen was a little worried that she would fall, so she placed her hand obediently in Last's palm and let Last lead her forward.

Last walked in front, occasionally pushing aside the lush branches that blocked his way, as well as the stones along the way that might cause the girl behind him to trip.

If I had known this would happen...

Maybe I should have put more effort into Rodrigo and gotten his Night Blade "Wanlutong".

The current situation is simply the best place to use that guy's Night Blade.

Looking at the almost deserted mountain road in front of him, such thoughts arose in Rast's mind.

……

The sun at the zenith moved down little by little, and the light spread across the mountains gradually changed from its original golden color to a dim red.

Through the leaves on the lush treetops along the mountain path, mottled shadows are cast.

Slowly, this mountain path finally came to an end, and above it was a sloping hillside.

With the help of Luster, Helen climbed over the hill, breathing slightly.

Although she is the queen of the underworld, the long-rank of "Death God" is different from Hiltina's "Chariot". It is not the type that can directly improve physical fitness and sanctify the body.

Of course, for normal transcendents, even if the sequence long stage itself is not the type of physical strengthening... their promotion is inevitably accompanied by persistent growth and experience.

In this process, even those extraordinary people who focus on the spirit and mystery rather than the body will inevitably hone a strong physique and not leave obvious shortcomings in battle.

For example, Rast himself, although his physical fitness cannot be improved due to the Deep Blue Port cycle, his "Tower" sequence is not the type that focuses on the physical body.

But relying on his near-extreme development and control of his own body, coupled with unparalleled combat experience over the past three hundred years...

Even when facing a Chariot-sequence transcendent of the same rank as him, Rast was confident that he could hold his own in close combat.

Of course, with the exception of Hiltina, a Night Blade of the "Infinite Sword" level can only be said to be a pure hanger-on.

But Helen was different.

Her power does not come from constant training and development like that of other extraordinary people... but is innately strong.

She was born with the power of the god of death, and had never experienced growth, training, or hardship... yet she stood at the pinnacle of the extraordinary. However, she also lacked the process of constant tempering, constant beating, and constant self-improvement.

Therefore, when Helen does not directly activate her own power and words to mobilize the power of the Lord of the Underworld, her physical fitness is no different from that of an ordinary person.

Climbing the entire mountain in one breath was nothing for Last. When he was in Deep Blue Harbor, he had to engage in a life-and-death marathon with the Iron Crosses every time he went through the circuit. If he was caught up, he would become a toy for the Iron Crosses to abuse him... But for Helen, this was not an easy task.

She was obviously a little tired, and an unnatural blush appeared on her pretty white face.

But Helen's dark purple eyes were still very bright, surprisingly bright.

"Here we are."

Rast's figure stopped at a high point.

Helen took Luster's hand and climbed over the last slope.

The next moment, her pupils widened and her fingertips holding Rast suddenly tightened.

What comes into view is a lush pine forest.

The evening breeze blew through Helen's hair, carrying the fragrance of pine wood and the bitterness of sea water. Countless trees swayed in the wind, creating layers of waves.

Whenever the evening breeze blows across the mountain ridge, the entire forest will emit a roar like bronze chimes, and the treetops will flicker alternately in the dim sky light.

At the end of the sea of ​​trees is a steep cliff, and below the cliff is the endless sea.

The sky was like an overturned crucible, and the molten twilight poured down through the cracks in the clouds like copper liquid. The calm sea surface was also dyed by the twilight, and stained with a dim color.

Amid the sound of the ocean tide, waves soaked in the sunset are hitting the cliffs again and again, eroding the basalt base.

From the side of the cliff, you can see the entire picture of the Paradise Royal City, with buildings quietly crawling on the ground... In the center of the city, the magnificent palace is shrouded in the stagnant dusk, like a frozen photograph.

Last took Helen's hand and gently let go, and she walked step by step towards the end of the cliff.

After a few breaths, Helen's slender figure paused at the end of the cliff. The wind lifted the hem of her long skirt, making it rustle in the sky.

At dusk, Rast looked at the girl's profile, which was gilded by the twilight, and suddenly remembered the bronze sundial he had seen in the museum - like the Queen of the Underworld in front of him, they both carried a sense of unreality that was beyond this era.

"I finally saw the scenery of the story's finale."

The ice-blue handwriting fluttered in the sea breeze along with Rast's collar.

Last walked to Helen's side and looked at the sea of ​​trees dyed red by the sunset with the girl beside him.

"You went to all that trouble to come here, aren't you disappointed?"

"This world is different from the story in Silver Wing Chronicles..."

"There are no parrots transformed from cursed high elves in wandering circuses."

"The cases that detectives in a detective agency take on don't involve evil organizations plotting to overthrow the entire world. Instead, they mostly deal with domestic matters like catching mistresses and lovers and finding evidence of infidelity."

"On the peaks of the mountains, deep in the forests, there is no little cottage built by the witch lady and the knight boy, where they live in blissful seclusion..."

Last saw the girl in front of him shaking her head, and her hair in the sky was also stained with some of the sunset glow.

"No, I'm not disappointed (＾＾)"

Helen stretched out her white fingers, drawing an ice-blue trace in the dim sky.

At the end, she didn't forget to add a smiley face emoticon.

"From the beginning, I knew that the stories in the Silver Wing Chronicles were all false."

"That's a fabricated fairy tale, deliberately written. The worldview and story logic are all for the sake of drama. It's not a fictional story that would happen in reality."

"There aren't that many coincidences in this world. The hero and heroine wouldn't just happen to rescue a high elf that's been transformed into a parrot, nor would they just happen to stumble upon an evil organization's grand plan to overthrow the world while passing by a detective agency."

This was the first time since Last met Helen that he saw Her Majesty the Queen write so many words in one breath.

She has always been the type of person who is cold and icy, and she doesn't reveal her feelings easily. Instead, she prefers to keep them in her heart. Even when she occasionally communicates with the maid, it's just a few simple words, and you can't see the ripples in her heart.

But at this moment, in the scenery of the last scene of "Silver Wing Chronicles", on the cliff at the top of the mountain where only she and Rust were, she no longer had any of her past concerns.

The slender fingertips danced in the evening sky, the icy blue silver lines rose and fell, and the beautiful words flowed out, even becoming a little messy and sloppy at the end.

This doesn't seem like text written for Last, but rather like it's written for myself... like an emotional catharsis, a silent soliloquy.

"I understand that in reality, the world we live in is not a fairy tale."

"And I'm not really the protagonist in the book, protected by that so-called protagonist halo."

"Including my encounter with you, Rust—"

The ice-blue text paused slightly.

"That beautiful firework bursting into the sky, the people who suddenly gave up queuing in front of the wandering circus, those unskilled vendors, and that fortune teller who, for some reason, seems to be filled with resentment towards me..."

"They are not coincidences... Only fictional stories have so many coincidences."

Looking at the beautiful ice-blue words, Rast's heart moved.

It was only now that he realized that whether it was the Shadow Servant or himself...

It seems that everyone has underestimated the Queen of the Underworld in front of them.

Because of her past experiences, Helen's character and experience are indeed flawed, and her mental age is relatively young... But this does not mean that she is stupid, without her own thinking ability, and cannot even notice some abnormalities that are right in front of her.

Maybe she didn't take it to heart at first, but when coincidences happened again and again, doubts and suspicions would arise in her heart.

After all, Helen was the Lord of the Underworld. The entire royal city, and even the entire paradise, was her domain, a back garden that belonged only to her...

When the Queen of the Underworld is truly determined to find out something, no matter how careful the Shadow Servants are, they will eventually leave traces.

After all, he was a legend in his field...

Even if it is only an approximate status reached by relying on external forces, the legendary means are definitely not something that can be guessed by extraordinary people who have never seen the scenery of this field with just a little intelligence and information.

Luster slowly adjusted his breathing rhythm.

According to the original "Lost Paradise" plan, once the ulterior motives of himself and the shore guard team are truly exposed in front of Helen, the Queen of the Underworld... then Last should immediately activate the escape props he carries with him and implement the emergency evacuation plan.

But he didn't move.

It was obvious that Her Majesty the Queen had already noticed something unusual.

I realized that my encounter with myself and everything I experienced were a script written by others.

However, those dark purple eyes did not reveal the slightest anger, hostility or alertness.

He didn't even know if it was an illusion, but Last could clearly feel that the emotions conveyed in those beautiful dark purple eyes staring at him were a little closer.

It's not the familiarity and trust we had before...

But I like it.

Just like in the story of "Silver Wings Chronicles", the witch loves the male protagonist.

"I know... that dreamlike date we had before must have been the result of many people working hard for us behind the scenes."

"Everything we've experienced, just like the Silver Wing Chronicles, is a carefully choreographed stage play filled with coincidences..."

"But--"

Lines of ice-blue words appeared in the dim sky, and then disappeared.

Helen's profile as she stretched out her hand to write was shrouded in the twilight, as delicate as porcelain, yet with a bubble-like feeling that could burst at any moment. Last could see the sunset in her eyes.

"Fairy tales are fake, but love is real."

"Even if 'Silver Wing Chronicles' is just a fictional story, the love between Knight Lyall and the Witch Lady in that story is definitely not fake."

“In reality, I think the same is true.”

“Even if everything we experience is a performance, the emotions that sprout from this performance are definitely real.”