I, the Final Boss of the Beta Server!

Chapter 170: The Promise Back Then, Have I Fulfilled It?

It was no longer the resplendent, blazing sun that radiated endless light and heat across the world.

Instead, it was a black sun.

Suspended in loneliness at the deepest point of that silver-blue sea, whether it was the tens of millions of tons of seawater or the countless fragments of silver-blue metal, all flowed slowly toward the center of that black sun, then plunged into it.

The Milky Way hung upside down, spiraling and converging into a dazzling vortex, as if it were a true galaxy in the deep void of the cosmos.

And at the center of this galaxy, there was a void.

It devoured matter, it engulfed light—only the deepest black remained.

"That little one, you should be watching this right now, shouldn’t you?"

"Even if you can't hear the sound, you should be able to read my lips."

At the end of the galaxy, Sisel spoke softly.

"Remember, if you encounter those core members of the Gravekeepers who left their marks on the Eternal Night Stele, then simply killing their physical body is far from enough."

"Killing their flesh only puts them into a weakened state, but they can still return from the River of Time by relying on the brand of the stele..."

"To truly kill them, you must erase everything that remains of them in this world—not just the body and soul, but all their 'information.'"

"Erase all the 'information' and 'data' that pertains to them from this world."

"In doing so... even the Eternal Night Stele will be unable to capture their information from the River of Time, and naturally, they will never return."

He paused slightly before continuing: "Of course, erasing all information left in the world by a legendary figure is far more difficult than killing their body and soul."

"After a Supernova Explosion, the remaining Star Core collapses into a Black Hole... This is the solution I found after exhausting my entire life, a method that erases not only flesh and soul, but all the information and data belonging to a legend."

"However, whether it's the Supernova Explosion or the Black Hole, both were simulations I managed to complete through my Solar Sequence."

"The Solar Sequence at this higher-tier level is unique, and it heavily relies on mastery over Solar abilities. It took me hundreds of years to gradually grasp it."

"Even though I left behind a legacy of knowledge, trying to reproduce it directly through the Fool’s Library would still be extremely difficult. This is not a universally applicable method... What's more, activating this skill comes at the cost of burning oneself out—it's a move to perish together with the enemy."

"If one day you face a true Gravekeeper Legend, and you don’t want to drag yourself to the underworld alongside them, then it’s best not to replicate this approach lightly."

While speaking, Sisel couldn't help but smile a little: "But if it’s you..."

"I believe even without recreating the Black Hole, you will surely find another way to thoroughly bury those high-and-mighty Gravekeepers."

Boom—

Emerald brilliance crushed down, completely piercing Sisel's already withered body, then tearing through flesh and blood, leaving behind a massive hollow.

Through the hole in his torso, one could see the slowly rotating, brilliant galaxy.

At the very moment the Black Hole appeared, Noah erupted.

Seeing that void, a tremendous sense of danger surged in his heart—far stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

Simple slaughter, even the destruction of Noah’s physical body and the erasure of his soul with spiritual power, was not frightening.

After all, no matter how many times he died in battle, Noah could always return by relying on the power of the stele.

As for the slumber and recovery needed after resurrection to restore his body and soul to their peak, even though it took a long time...

The Gravekeepers had always hidden behind the veil of history, only intervening in the Present World under rare circumstances. Whether asleep or not made little difference to them—this was not an unacceptable cost.

As a Gravekeeper, Noah’s life was "Eternal Immortality" in the truest sense. Though human in form, he had existed far longer than even the Old Gods.

But now, in this very moment.

Noah truly sensed a kind of deathly silence.

That he would die—utterly and completely.

Not the kind of demise from which he could return.

But from this moment onward, until the end of time, the being known as Noah would cease to exist.

Just like chalk wiped from a blackboard, all information that constructed the identity of "Noah" would be erased entirely from the River of Time and the collective memory of all beings—leaving not even the faintest trace in the world.

In such a case, no matter how immense the power of the Eternal Night Stele was, even if it traversed the entire River of Time, it would find not a single piece of information—what talk could there be of resurrection then?

At this very moment, Noah truly heard the Death God's bell toll in his ears.

It was not the so-called Old God who merely bore the name "Death God", yet even his meticulously planned resurrection had been interrupted by a mere mortal.

Rather, it felt as if some supreme existence that weaved the threads of fate had truly delivered its judgment beside his ear.

Boom—

The power of Bounty erupted, piercing through the end of that brilliant galaxy, obliterating every inch of Sisel’s flesh and blood.

As long as the instigator, Sisel, was killed, that pitch-black void would naturally cease—this was Noah’s first thought.

At the same time, Noah himself exploded in speed at all costs, attempting to flee from the depths of the galaxy’s vortex—that void which devoured light and exuded an unmatched sense of deathly stillness.

However.

"So ugly, such a hideous form—"

Even though his body had been pierced with a gaping hole, the vitality of his flesh had long been extinguished. What remained was merely a final wisp of spirit and soul clinging to this corpse.

Yet Sisel’s expression never changed.

He looked into the distance, at Noah—whose face had twisted with ferocity, doing everything he could to move beyond the galaxy, desperately attempting to escape that black sun—and voiced a quiet sentiment.

"Once within the boundary of a Black Hole, not even light can escape."

"Let alone you."

His voice was soft, yet it sounded like a proclamation of something inevitable.

In the Lightless Sea, all matter was swept up by the vortex formed from the galaxy, then drawn into the center of the Milky Way.

The falling was slow—very slow. Even the flow of time was distorted near the boundary of the void, as if someone had pressed the slow-motion button on a film reel.

But no matter how slowly it played, the spinning reel could only move forward.

And Noah was one of the particles of matter caught within the boundary of the Black Hole.

The power of Bounty surged through the seawater, stirring waves as mountainous as peaks.

One life-saving Extraordinary Item after another, along with sacred relics from the Age of Gods, manifested in Noah’s hands, which he hurled out without hesitation.

Countless radiant glows burst within the galaxy, waves of silver-blue rolling and transforming into a torrential downpour that crashed upon the sea surface, scattering countless points of light upon impact...

These were the accumulations of the Gravekeepers—from the Age of Gods till now—a stockpile terrifying enough to be described as monstrous. Among them were relics that, even when facing a peak True God, could preserve Noah’s life.

But they could not help him escape.

Nothing could break free from the event horizon of a Black Hole—not even "light", which had no mass.

Just as one, no matter how hard they try, cannot prevent noon from arriving at twelve o’clock tomorrow.

Amid the tempest and shattering silver-blue spray, the mighty galaxy was slowly devoured by the Black Hole—until the end.

Time passed, irreversible.

"Spare me, Sisel!"

Watching his own body inching ever closer into the Black Hole alongside the galaxy—no matter how the power of Bounty and the sacred relics roared in resistance, it was useless.

Noah suddenly let out a desperate, shrill scream: "I surrender! Spare me!"

"I am willing to betray the Gravekeepers, to act as your mole. You may leave a restriction deep within my soul—one that will kill me instantly if triggered."

"I can tell you everything about the Eternal Night Stele, all the secrets within the Gravekeepers. I can even help you erase the brands left on the stele by other Gravekeepers, stripping them of their ability to return from the River of Time..."

"Even including secrets from the Age of Gods, and the Old Gods—those who fell in the mundane world and left behind remnants awaiting resurrection. 'Death God' was not the only one. I can tell you all of it, so you can directly seize the divine relics they left behind."

Tremendous terror enveloped Noah's heart.

This was something Noah had never felt before in his entire life. Even during the Supernova Explosion, what he felt was merely an intense sense of danger—like a game player facing a sudden major crisis in a game. Tense, yes, but always carrying a condescending composure.

But now, the once composed player had truly fallen into the mortal realm, entering a real chess game—

No longer seated outside the wall of the world, no longer a player with infinite retries, but truly a chess piece on the board, possessing only one life.

When people are killed, they die—this was a matter of course.

Yet only now, at this moment, did Noah, as a mere human, finally grasp the real meaning of that phrase.

That sudden descent into the great terror between life and death shattered Noah’s spirit completely. He began to beg for mercy.

This posture was utterly incompatible with the indifferent demeanor this legendary "gardener" had shown in the past, completely unworthy of someone of his legendary tier...

Even beasts of legendary rank like the Iron Cross King or the Black Dragon would never beg for mercy at such a moment.

Because this was a war destined to end in death—both sides had long accepted the resolve to fight to the end before the war began.

But Noah was different. As the mastermind behind the Battle of the Fractured Coastline, he had never imagined he would truly die in this conflict—this was just a game, a chess match. A lost game could be replayed, a failed match could begin anew, that was all.

And thus, his disgrace now appeared so hideous, so groveling and unscrupulous, completely devoid of any poise or dignity befitting a legendary powerhouse.

He laid out everything he could offer Sisel, all in exchange for the slightest thread of survival.

"Even if we perish together here, it will only end in a Pyrrhic defeat for both sides."

"Aren’t you worried that your Shoreguards won’t survive after losing your leadership? Though the legends are dead, there are still Beast Tides, and other Iron Cross and cult groups... all uncontrollable variables."

"Don’t you want to lead them forward?"

Noah’s words became rapid, his posture crumbling to its lowest: "I can join you, become a support for the Shoreguards... no, not a support—just a servant, even that’s fine."

"With my help, you can completely destroy the Gravekeepers."

"We can even storm the Threshold of Seraphim, annihilate the remaining Old Gods, and eliminate all threats to civilization in their cradle..."

"No, they don’t have to die."

At the end of the galaxy, Sisel spoke softly: "But their Divine Seats will be overturned by countless people."

"On the grand roads, flourishing city-states will be established. Ships will sail from the inland to the sea. High-speed railways will span the land like a web. Every school-age child will afford government-funded education. Knowledge once hoarded by scholarly tyrants and factions will be accessible in general textbooks."

"Human footsteps will reach every corner of the world, from ten-thousand-meter-deep ocean trenches to the vast and boundless starry cosmos... People then will be able to see the customs and cultures of the world without ever leaving their homes."

"Even without my guidance, they will find a bright path in the dark mist."

"Because someone once told me—humanity is a race that never admits defeat."

That fractured murmur, along with the flowing galaxy, came to an end.

After the Supernova Explosion, all developments had become irreversible, solidified into an established fact—regardless of whether Sisel, the one who enacted it, lived or died.

This was a causality that no one could escape from, as if it were fate.

Noah opened his mouth, seemingly trying to say something.

But he said nothing.

This legendary figure of Bounty, a Gravekeeper who had survived since the Age of Gods, thus accompanied that mighty galaxy, and irreversibly...

Bit by bit—

Fell into the Event Horizon of the Black Hole.

At the same time, that black sun also collapsed.

The runaway solar disk converged toward a singular center, evaporating all seawater. At the core of the surging Lightless Sea, a rupture several hundred meters in diameter emerged where no seawater remained.

Not just seawater—even the slightest speck of dust and grain of sand ceased to exist, leaving only pure vacuum and void.

Sisel stood at the center of that dustless space, as though he were standing at the end of sky and sea.

He slightly bowed his head, looking at the broken flesh upon his body. Though the senses in his facial features had already faded to near nothingness, it felt as though scorching daylight brushed across his face, illuminating his eyes.

Amidst the pure white daylight, Sisel suddenly recalled a moment many years ago—an afternoon when his teacher entrusted him with the Fireseed, along with the duties of the Shoreguards' leader.

That too seemed to take place on an unnamed coast, with tides rising and falling, and the sun shining brightly.

In the crisp sea breeze, the aged elder gazed at the spirited youth before him, and in the end, merely patted him gently on the shoulder.

"Though it’s still a bit early, from today onward, you are the new Shoreguard."

"Do your best. Don’t let your teacher down."

To this day, the elder’s face in his memory had already blurred, yet Sisel still remembered the tone in which he spoke those words.

The emotions in that sentence were extremely complex—concern, relief, but more joy than sorrow.

And at that moment, the girl who could control shadows stood behind him. After the succession ceremony, she hurriedly controlled dozens of shadow clones to clap and cheer for him.

"So, Sharonah."

"That promise I made with you back then, the vow to resolve the misunderstanding between those two little ones—have I fulfilled it?"

"And also, teacher."

"As your disciple, as a Shoreguard..."

"Have I ever... let you down?"

That self-murmur, which had no audience, was never finished.

The Black Hole, collapsed into a singularity, carried everything to another world.