Chapter 72: Finale: I Will Shoulder the Suffering!

That sword does not shed the blood of the innocent.

That arrow does not pierce the ankles of the free.

That shield strikes back against all wicked deeds.

That wisdom burns the souls of the sinful.

That prayer is only to shoulder suffering.

[Level 38 — Level 34]

[Acquired: Demon Hunter Level 1]

[Prayer: If God does not forgive, then I shall suffer in their stead.]

[The devout monk plunges into the sea of suffering; even if only alleviating a single fraction, he hopes the lives of the people will become more beautiful and happy.]

Blaze raised his arm, lightly tapping his fist against Werewolf Romeo’s abdomen.

Wind blew into this dim world, and pure white snow lotus petals danced in the air. Blaze’s black hair was dyed dark silver in the wind, while Werewolf Romeo’s fur radiated brilliantly.

[Moonlit Silver Wolf — Romeo Level 75]

[Special Quest Generated]

[The Silver Beast Tainted with Filth]

[It was a promise made by a dear friend known for only two days, swearing to lift the curse in his blood, making a pact that the fate of him and his lover staying together forever would surely come to pass.]

The mist shrouding the Moon God Altar dissipated alongside the shadow followers. Ignoring her bleeding forehead, Audrey stumbled up the altar and caught the falling Blaze.

His heavy body pressed down on her, making it hard to breathe, but this was the heaviness of life.

"Blaze, are you okay?!"

"I-I’m fine," Blaze said, struggling to keep his eyes open against the exhaustion.

"Blaze, truly, I don’t know what to do to repay... to repay you..." Still in his werewolf form, Romeo knelt on the ground. Despite his imposing appearance, he was crying hopelessly.

"Then don’t bother me. I hardly know you anyway," Blaze waved his hand impatiently.

"Huh?" Romeo’s sorrow came to a screeching halt.

"Go talk to Juliet."

"Oh." Romeo lowered his head and walked toward Juliet, who was passing by the edge of the altar. His tail drooped lifelessly, dragging along the ground.

Finally certain that her beloved had survived, the young girl lifted her skirt and rushed over. She threw herself into Romeo’s arms, bursting into loud sobs as if releasing something she had endured for a very long time.

"What the boy bore was beyond her imagination, and the only thing the girl could do was support his decision. But the girl had her own grievances too, a pain that would bring tears the moment she spoke, so she could only remain silent.

"Silent all along, unable to speak, until the boy’s return.

"Truly worth celebrating."

Blaze squinted, murmuring as if talking in his sleep. He felt like his head was resting on something soft. Being a complete blank slate in such matters, it was naturally impossible for him to realize this softness came from a girl’s thighs.

"Is that so?" Audrey played with Blaze’s bangs, which had been dyed dark silver, studying his young face. She couldn’t help but pinch his cheek. Seeing the boy’s lips pucker from the pinch, she let out a giggle, laughing until tears streamed down her face. "What the heck? He’s just a boy after all."

That was why he would yell at a god. That was why he believed fate’s arrangements were destined for a good ending, and that only giving up meant going against fate.

"Our future—Arcadia’s future—only begins today."

The large tree in the center of the Moon God Altar remained withered. The day it regained a new life would be the moment of Arcadia’s rebirth.

Herbie did not disturb Audrey. Instead, she walked over to the six Vice Aliens and bowed with unparalleled sincerity.

"Thanks to you all this time, I, Herbie Hermes, thank everyone from the bottom of my heart."

"No need for thanks. Just give us some money."

"And equipment."

"And quests."

Herbie Hermes’s eye twitched. It wasn’t often she acted this sincere. Since this group of Foreigners was so pragmatic, she would just stick strictly to business. She would fleece the living daylights out of them!

"If you want all that, you have to complete the first commission I give you."

"Oh, you mean the assassination of the Deputy Lord, right?"

Herbie shuddered with a violent twitch.

Greenland hadn’t lowered her voice at all, so Audrey heard every single word. The girl was now glaring daggers at Herbie’s back. Once Audrey had a moment to spare, Herbie would surely be in for it.

"L-let’s just talk about your reward."

"As long as there’s money, it’s fine."

"As long as there’s equipment, it’s fine."

"As long as there are quests, it’s fine."

Herbie wondered why they insisted on walking this path to the bitter end when they were living so miserably as Vice Aliens.

Her eye twitched again. She took out a pen and paper she carried with her and began to write.

Quests, equipment, and money definitely couldn’t be given out directly. Even as an Advanced Partner of Hermes’ Travel Hat, she didn’t have the authority to conduct trades with Vice Aliens. Doing it under her personal name would work, though. Kingdom commissions could be accepted on someone else’s behalf in a private capacity, and the same went for equipment. Money was actually the easiest to handle. She just needed to place these things in a location only known to the Vice Aliens and herself, and then have them retrieve it.

After Herbie finished writing the letter, she was agonizing over how to send it out when the chicken flew over and snatched the document.

"Deliver this to Balkan City, right?"

"Yes." Herbie nodded. The chicken’s aloof attitude made her heart ache a little, but she quickly pulled herself together and asked Greenland.

"By the way, before you go assassinate the Deputy Lord," she whispered, before raising her voice. "Do you have any way to stop the Foreigners from participating in the Witch Hunting?"

"Hmm... that’s a bit difficult." Greenland understood what Herbie meant. Although she had accidentally skipped the key storyline, she was smart enough to vaguely realize the relationship between the werewolves and the Arcadians. She was now incredibly thankful that all the points she had grinded came from wild werewolves out in the fields; the only time she tried to make a move here, she was stopped. "The difficult part is that there’s no way to make the players give up on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain the Special Profession, Knight."

"It’s very simple. That Deputy Lord has no right to bestow the Knight title upon Foreigners." Herbie cleared her throat and pointed at Audrey with an extremely exaggerated gesture. "Only the true heir of Arcadia, Audrey Arcadia, is qualified to bestow Knighthood upon Foreigners. Anyone else can really only give you the title of Knight, but cannot grant you the Profession."

"Are you serious?" Greenland was taken aback.

"I’m lying. He’s the Deputy Lord now, but a deputy is still a Lord. He definitely has that bit of authority."

"...Actually, there is another way, it’s just..." Greenland was very torn. That method was to simply tell the truth. She had recorded the whole thing; as long as she turned the video of this stunning battle into a cinematic and spread it, the players would instantly believe it. But this also meant that the storyline monopolized by the six of them would be made public, and their hard-earned advantage would completely vanish.

The six of them exchanged glances. They knew that making this decision would likely be very difficult.

In the end, Greenland scratched the back of her head and let out a dry laugh. "Shall we have an internal discussion?"