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Chapter 132 - 130: Dawn Line TE - Meeting Tomorrow

Chapter 132: Chapter 130: Dawn Line TE - Meeting Tomorrow

"Moli" abruptly swung her Dragon Head Cane again, and Su Ming’an felt an invisible pressure engulf him from above.

A sharp pain suddenly steamed up in his chest as if countless invisible thorns had fallen. But in the next moment, this pain abruptly disappeared, as if swept away by a hand.

He heard a prompt from the system:

[(Hidden·Rose Hat) Skill effect triggered.]

[Due to Instant Death Resistance, the enemy’s instant death skill automatically became ineffective.]

"Why, why is it ineffective?" Moli looked at him blankly, her cane glowing with a golden-red light, as if the attack had been delivered, but to no avail.

Su Ming’an realized—his equipment skill, capable of resisting instant death effects similar to curses, prevented the outcome where he would have died and become Moli’s puppet.

The outcome had changed.

He was now in... perhaps a whole new process.

Moli looked at him with a somewhat grim expression, then suddenly said,

"You are a decent townfolk, I am willing to forgive your past departures.

If you are willing to become my believer, I can spare you and let you take over your father’s business, controlling Terrily..."

"—Excuse me for refusing," Su Ming’an interrupted her, looking firmly at Moli.

He wasn’t sure if it was right to say that, but agreeing surely wasn’t the perfect ending.

He was after [perfection], never just a simple [pass].

Moli might not be dead, it was this so-called "Deity" that had possessed her body—he still had a chance.

He wasn’t sure if his act of chasing out and killing the Mayor was right, but since the ending prompt hadn’t appeared, it wouldn’t result in a direct bad end.

Moli squinted at him, the danger unlaunched.

"You are not a Deity, you are just a desire aggregate hoisted by the townfolk’s desires", Su Ming’an looked at her: "You make the townfolk slaughter each other, you let innocent girls suffer to death, your protection seems like a joke to me—you claim to be a Deity, but what you do is what a Demon should do, the entire town is deluded by you, living like madmen, and you still take pride in it..."

His words were not finished.

Moli, realizing her curse was ineffective, suddenly stepped forward, her eyes flashing a blood-red light.

Her palms turned into claws, her fine fur growing wildly, and she pounced on him like a wolf!

The fire-red wedding dress fluttered like bird feathers, the girl’s eyes as haunting as ghost fire.

"—So this is, the so-called Deity of Terrily?"

Su Ming’an watched the ferocious werewolf before him and chuckled softly, his smile tinged with mockery.

Facing the pouncing Moli, he was fearless. As long as it wasn’t an unreasonable skill controlling his body, he always had a chance to counterattack.

He focused on the direction Moli was pouncing from, ready to launch Spatial Vibration at any moment.

Suddenly, he heard a crisp sound.

"Crack!"

It was the sound of a glass bottle shattering on the ground.

Moli’s expression changed drastically, and she quickly covered her chest in extreme pain.

A bottle swirling with green liquid was thrown in from the window, hitting her directly.

The green liquid, flowing down her body, made a "sizzling" sound as it dissolved, Moli fiercely looked aside, but could only see a vast expanse of snow outside the window.

"Ting-a-ling—Ting-a-ling—"

Sounds of glass bottles colliding came from outside the door.

Su Ming’an turned his head and saw a woman shrouded in a cloak, with a silver dagger at her waist, holding a bottle filled with red liquid in her hand. Her slightly dry blonde hair spilled out from the opening, tending toward the sun setting into deep colors.

She walked slowly towards him, still carrying the snow on her body, and her steps did not halt while passing the bodies of the townfolk on the ground, as if she didn’t care about these people at all.

Moli was trembling all over, she seemed very afraid of the potion. Seeing the woman approaching, she ground her teeth, and her Dragon Head Cane swiftly pointed at her—

"Boom—!"

[HP-1250!(Weakness Suppression! Break Technique!)]

Moli’s attack was interrupted.

Her body shook violently amid the fierce spatial tremors, and then, she closed her eyes and fainted.

And the moment she fainted, the fur and claws on her body instantly retracted.

Su Ming’an withdrew the Spatial Vibration, stepped forward, and caught the fainting girl, preventing her head from hitting the coffin.

He propped her against the coffin and brushed away the hair in front of her face.

"...You’re quite thoughtful," said the cloaked woman.

Her voice was very hoarse, different from the voice Su Ming’an remembered, as if it had gone through many years.

"No, I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t feigning faintness." Su Ming’an stood up, looking at this suddenly appeared cloaked woman:

"—Sharina, I think I’m entitled to know everything about Terrily."

The woman chuckled softly.

She reached out her hand—a withered hand like that of an elderly person. When she revealed her face, Su Ming’an saw wrinkles carved by the years on her face, one after another, her skin crinkly like paper.

This was an aged Sharina, who was not protected by time, who was still alive.

Sharina, the Guide Witch, had long died, and in a past timeline, Su Ming’an had met her still alive.

"Boris, when you left Terrily, proclaiming you would change the Townfolk’s faith, I never thought you had such courage," Sharina said with a smile, "The you who has returned now seems different. You were able to personally kill the puppet-like Mitchell, to kill the mad villagers; this proves that perhaps you now have the qualifications to know everything."

She sighed softly. "Mitchell once instructed me not to reveal these secrets, but I don’t want to take them all to the grave. The you now, quite different—you might really be able to change this Terrily."

Su Ming’an watched her, waiting for her to continue.

Sharina slowly moved closer; she seemed to be observing Moli’s condition. After crouching down, she twisted open a bottle containing a red liquid and then, pinching Moli’s chin, she poured it gradually into her mouth.

"It was evident to me long ago that the town’s faith had subtly changed," she said. "Originally, we truly had a great Deity protecting Terrily. Although vile Werewolves had appeared ever since the discovery of the wolf child, we could always turn danger into safety... but all this changed after the Deity’s protection vanished."

She stood up, her eyes filled with the harshness of the elements yet retaining the brilliance of her youth. "The Townfolk, every year, would choose a young girl and nail her dead inside a coffin to gain Blessing—they called it marrying the Deity. At first, I also thought it was a splendid method, but I later realized, the so-called Deity was long gone. Instead, what replaced Him was a Ghost that roamed the darkness."

"The Townfolk have been bewitched," Su Ming’an said. "If I’m not mistaken, that Ghost you mentioned must be the entity that just possessed Moli’s body."

"...Right." Sharina nodded slightly, her head bowed. "That vile entity bewitched the Townfolk, drove them into exile, and selected young girls to sacrifice to it. I had seen through it all along, but my potion, although it could temporarily suppress the Ghost, was still powerless against the eternal Curse..."

She looked up, appreciation in her eyes. "Boris, much thanks to you this time. If you hadn’t held back that Ghost in time, preventing it from leaving before it could absorb Moli’s soul, my potion couldn’t have hit the creature—this time, it must have sustained a serious injury."

Su Ming’an didn’t speak.

He was pondering some things.

After Sharina finished speaking, she turned around.

"You’re leaving?"

"Boris, perhaps you haven’t realized, but this shrine has long been contaminated by the Ghost’s presence," said Sharina, her breathing uneven. "Staying here for long, even I would become contaminated. After you deal with Moli’s affair, make sure to seal off this place as well. The shrine—it’s best if it becomes a forbidden area. If someone were to intrude carelessly, they might awaken the Ghost that my potion has severely wounded."

"What affairs?" Su Ming’an was unsure of how to handle the girl.

Sharina turned back, looking at him with a somewhat teasing gaze.

"Moli has become a dwelling for that Ghost. Ghosts cannot be killed; it can only recuperate within Moli’s body. If you want to trap it, the only way is— to confine Moli."

Su Ming’an’s eyebrows slightly raised.

He seemed to sense a connection between earlier and later timelines.

But he noticed there were subtle differences, and the route he was taking might have deviated from reality.

"Moli was, in fact, already considered dead. If she hadn’t been a dead person, the ghosts wouldn’t have been trapped inside her, unable to continue absorbing life force," Sharina said. "Furthermore, according to the deceased prophet Anlienna, she saw the faint connection between the ghost and the townspeople. The best way to ensure Terrily’s continuation is..."

...

After Sharina left, the snow gradually ceased.

"Hmm..."

A faint voice came from beside him; Su Ming’an turned his head and saw Moli, holding her head, slowly opening her eyes.

He saw a pure blue sea in the depths of her eyes.

"What is this..." She was somewhat confused, looking at the green liquid flowing over her body and then at Su Ming’an, who was watching her. She timidly and somewhat excitedly whispered, "Lord... God?"

"I am not your god," Su Ming’an said. "The god is dead, and your faith is yourself."

Moli’s body shrank slightly; she didn’t understand the meaning of his words, but she knew that this person had appeared in the temple on her wedding night. He had touched her and saved her.

Her father had said that a god possesses immense power and can easily save anyone.

Her father had also said that the god would appear in the temple on this night to take her away to a blissful life.

The being before her was exactly as her father had described God.

She had married God.

Apart from the man before her, she had seen no one else.

—He was her god.

This is what Moli thought.

Su Ming’an looked at the young girl whose face was filled with devotion.

He saw through her—she was a superstitious believer, forcefully indoctrinated by her father Mitchell.

She didn’t know why she believed, nor did she know how to love someone. She did so just because her father said it, firmly believing his words were right, even when taken out of context.

Because of her simplicity, her stubbornness was alarming.

As Su Ming’an watched the pure and bright look in her eyes, he remembered Sharina’s words before she left:

[Boris—you need to stabilize her. Moli cannot die, nor can she leave this temple.]

[She is no longer an ordinary girl; she doesn’t need food or water, and can live in a coffin. But she might commit suicide.]

[Once she dies, the ghost will seek another living body, absorb his soul, recover its strength, and continue to be its god. It will decree terror over Terrily eternally.]

"Moli must not die; even if she has to live like a ghost, she must continue to live."

"What you need to do is give her hope and prevent her from committing suicide."

"After dealing with her affairs, seal off the ancestral hall, allow no one to intrude. You need to take away the Dragon Head Cane and become the next Mayor of Terrily, rediscovering our true lost Deity."

"I have already grown old, my hair white and thin."

"Even the familiar scent of potions is gradually fading from my senses..."

"Perhaps, due to my devout faith, I will be fortunate enough to, like the other great figures of Terrily, leave behind a Spiritual Body that can continue to protect Terrily."

"But I am about to die, even though making all these arrangements would subject me to the torment of ghosts day and night."

"I know it’s too much to lay all this on someone who has just returned home."

"But, please—take up this responsibility."

"God once told me that twelve Travelers who will change our destiny will come to save us..."

"Please, hold on until then and afterwards,"

"liberate Terrily from the Eternal Curse."

...

Su Ming’an looked at the young girl.

She was looking back at him, her eyes filled with a longing for love and admiration for the Deity.

Moli seemed to want to speak, her cheeks slowly blushing like a young girl’s, her fingers fiddling with her somewhat ragged bridal dress, the golden ornaments flashing in her eyes.

Su Ming’an remembered Sharina’s words.

...

"Give her hope, let her live"

"—even if, just like a ghost, alone in the ancestral hall with no sight of the sun, until she completely rots."

...

This was the most important and also the most cruel task he had to perform.

He stood up, the girl gripping firmly onto his pant leg as if she was clutching at hope.

"—Where are you going?" Moli asked.

"I’m going to the town to handle Terrily’s affairs," Su Ming’an said, touching her head.

"Will you come back?"

"Yes," Su Ming’an nodded. "Once I finish handling Terrily’s matters, I’ll come back to find you—until then, don’t step out of the ancestral hall, stay alive, understand?"

Moli’s hand gradually clenched tighter.

Su Ming’an felt Moli drawing closer, and as he turned, he saw the girl in the blood-red bridal dress tightly embracing his arm.

"I will wait for you, wait for you to come back," she said.

She seemed to ask not many questions, almost indifferent about her situation, her eyes shining like stars as she looked at him.

"But before that, can you admit, can you tell me, can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"—Are you my God?"

Her pupils were fervent, her gaze still pure.

Because of her simplicity, she was like a seeker of truth, desperate for his answer, a zealot yet not a zealot.

She was looking at him, her eyes filled with a fervor as if reborn.

...She no longer lived for her father’s words.

But for her own true heart.

She had decided that the young man before her was her God and would thus become a ghost roaming the ancestral hall, permanently lost.

—But perhaps, she might also become the most steadfast and most devout Pilgrim.

Su Ming’an looked at her.

Just as he was about to speak, he was dazzled by a brilliant flash.

His gaze slightly shifted, and in the dim darkness, he saw a hint of golden hue.

—It was the dawn.

Mild yet fervent, it poured in from the window side, leaving a splendid golden hue in the girl’s pupils, warming the cold coffin and countless nameplates.

The night had already receded.

...

—She had, as she wished, seen the dawn.

...

Su Ming’an couldn’t make the words come out.

The next moment, the scene before his eyes froze.

Boris’s somewhat leisurely voice resounded.

This voice, familiar and tinged with the vicissitudes of time,

—was just like that of Mayor Mitchell who had welcomed them.

...

[—I am Boris returning from a long journey. Boris Mitchell.]

[I have become their Deity.]

[Perhaps, she will be forever imprisoned in this shrine, like a ghost eternal in the darkness.]

[But I no longer have to send away new girls, no longer have to watch them walk towards death.]

[—Even if it comes at the cost of this girl’s sacrifice in front of me.]

[The minority yields to the majority, minor justice submits to greater justice. Father was right.]

[I am just a naive child. I should follow my father’s faith.]

[I am the rebellious child Boris, I will atone to the Deity. I will take over my father’s cane and continue to protect my beloved Terrily.]

[We are pilgrims with steadfast beliefs, and also spirits reluctant to leave our homeland.]

[We burn ourselves like fire, consuming our lives and emotions... On this land surrounded by faith, warmth comes from ourselves ablaze.]

[And in those ashes.]

[—I felt an unprecedented light.]

...

The bodies in the shrine had already been cleaned up by Sharina, and the morning sun drenched the ground in swathes of gold.

The young girl was looking at him; she did not fully understand her destiny yet.

But she knew, she would wait here—always waiting for the Deity in front of her to come back and marry her.

[Are you my God?]

The girl asked him this.

Su Ming’an looked at her, his eyes filled with the radiance enveloping her.

He covered his chest, where an indescribable emotion was brewing.

...

[You have completed S Class Task—Before the Dawn, achieving the personal instance TE·Meeting Tomorrow]

[Task Evaluation: SSS (Perfect)!]

[ (TE·Meeting Tomorrow): Survival is the carrier of tragedy, and we will struggle incessantly in the days to come.

The girl who fell into the coffin saw the dawn.

She will stay there day and night, pursuing the faith she has recognized.

I learned the appropriate sacrifices and became what my father hoped for.]

[I am the next mayor, inheriting the Mitchell name, ashamed for having once abandoned my homeland in pursuit of other selves.

I embrace the fragments of affection and rejoice for the arrival of tomorrow.

But suddenly, I see her gaze.

Her clear gaze, as if questioning me.

—The heir of the town, Boris Mitchell.

Returned from travels, only to live as the next Mayor Mitchell whom I loathed the most.

Claiming to marry her, but only to make her live like a ghost imprisoned, always in an eternal wait, her "Deity."]

Is such a "tomorrow" really needed in this world?]

...

[Personal instance · TE achieved, earning hidden reward · Time Line · Meeting Tomorrow]

[Earned 80 points]

...

[The ending has been recorded and will be included in the final evaluation]