Chapter 393 Chapter 391 · “Because of your sword, your will, your bonds, and your homeland.”

 The dark sky and the snow-covered earth gradually became connected as if they were melting into each other.

Su Lin stretched out her hand.

 The stagnant light evenly sprinkled his face, like a blue sky road.

His movements were slow but firm. When he first drew the drawing of the airship, his hand holding the pen was also so steady.

 Under Michael's trembling eyes, he put his palm against Michael's forehead.

 Michael felt that the teacher should not have ended up like this.

 In the warm wind of spring, on the land illuminated by stars...the teacher should die in the admiration of everyone. He should have the right to like whomever he likes, and the right to continue living on this land he saved. Instead of dying here, in the cold winter, in this remote and deserted alley, among people's ignorance, dying silently.

 …He just came down from Yunshang City alone.

He should have been welcomed by the residents and held a grand celebration banquet, instead of choosing to die so suddenly, alone, and in front of only one person.

 He is obviously a hero.

 Chocked sounds couldn't help but escape from Michael's throat.

"I can no longer bear the malice of this sea monster soul." Su Lin's hand stopped on Michael's forehead: "-No need to say this anymore, just kill me. If I don't die, I will only be attacked by this sea monster's soul. Malice transformed into a terrible ruler.”

　　　…”

"I'm sorry, Michael, I will erase you today and reduce you to a container of 'eternal life'." Su Lin said: "I will instill my earliest memories into you, and you will become the first and most beautiful person." When I was young...do you understand what you are going to do?"

"Yes, teacher, I volunteer... When I can't bear this malice, I will look for the next person and let him kill me and inherit everything from me."

Su Lin smiled.

His smile was a little tired, and bloodshot eyes were swollen. He turned his head and took another look at his familiar homeland.

 The sky cannot be seen clearly in the wind and snow, the houses cannot be seen clearly, the royal city and the distant mountains cannot be seen clearly.

But he can still remember that looking out from here, to the left is the commercial district of Kyle Street, which has the best straw candies in the entire East District. To the right, there was a familiar barbecue restaurant, where he had dined with students studying astronomy and engineering.

To the back is the slightly higher Royal City. Behind the city wall lives the young princess who said goodbye to him. There are loyal Royal City knights who often patrol that area.

Directly opposite is a horizontal canal, across which is the bluestone brick road in the southern district. A few days ago, there was a giant airship parked here, an airship in the clouds that carried the hopes of countless people and divided the boundary between life and death.

That bluestone brick road once gathered residents paying farewell.

 Among the residents, there once was a girl as beautiful as an elf with thick black braids.

In the lively crowd of farewells, her beautiful eyes, like hooks, hooked his memories to her, and he could no longer move away.

 And in that piece of flowing, endless river,

 There once was a bottle of old rice wine that was bunched with daisies and sinking to the bottom.

 …

His vision was extremely distant and clear.

The wind and snow in front of him blocked his view, but he saw the place far away from him as if he had crossed an inaccessible land.

 After boarding the airship, he inquired.

 East District, Thirteenth Street, a hard-working girl.

 She would wash clothes by the slowly passing river in the early morning, and hang all kinds of clothes to dry at the door at noon when the sun was strongest.

 Salted fish and various seafood were dried in front of her house. She would step on her wooden shoes to swim through the small puddle at the door and go to the street next door to buy glutinous rice and salt.

In the evening, she stood at the door, waiting for her parents to return from the sea. The blood-red sunset shone on her shoulders, which looked particularly beautiful.

 Maybe later, she will meet someone who she loves and who also loves her. He may be a hard-working fisherman, or he may be a heroic soul hunter.

Her love will be blessed by the people around her, and she will have a family full of children and grandchildren, who will provide her with a happy life with a pair of hard-working hands.

 Her stable and happy life will be the epitome of thousands of residents in Praia.

 Whether young or old, poor or poor, rich or glorious.

 She can be every hard-working and peace-loving resident living on this land.

 The disaster will let them go, the siren will avoid it, and with the saved resources, people's lives will be stable and prosperous.

 On this vast land, there will be no need for suffering and scars.

The mountain wind stirs up the clouds and rain, and the moonlight pulls the tides. Everything in Praia will continue.

 And that young girl...she will grow up safely, she will get married and have children, she will grow old with her lover and spend the rest of her life with her happily.

 She can be happy at every important moment in her life. Or really get through it with worry.

Her years do not have to be forced to be fixed at the youngest period. Her youth can gradually fade away as time fades, and she can fully enjoy the marks left by the years on her body.

Of course there will be people who kiss her and are willing to hold her hand and reverently express their love for each other.

 Of course there will be people who love her body and soul, and of course she will enjoy a splendid and stable life for the rest of her life.

 …and this is what he wants to see.

 No one is born a victim.

 …but he is willing to make this sacrifice.

 In the heavy wind and snow,

 His palm finally lit up with a blue light.

 The brilliant blue siren soul emerged from his body, passing through his arms, palms, and fingers, like a blue stream, slowly flowing into Michael's forehead.

 Snowflakes no longer flow, and tree shadows remain stagnant without wind.

In the brilliant light and shadow, the colors surging in his eyes gradually revealed a tranquility that was the same color as the white snow.

His face became older, his hair gradually turned white, and the skin on his body began to become chapped and rotten.

His body bones gradually became thinner and shriveled, and were washed out of shape by this light.

 The vitality in his body faded away bit by bit like ice and snow melting.

From beginning to end, Su Lin's eyes never moved. She just stared at the land in the East District quietly with an almost peaceful and gentle expression.

 The wind and snow fell on his eyelashes, and his eyelashes trembled slightly.

The hot tears fell from the corners of the eyes, and disappeared in the fiercely burning blue fire.

 In the brilliant and grand flame, no one saw this tear.

"well done."

He said.

 The blood faded from his face, revealing a pair of empty eyes.

 All time is frozen in it, and no one or thing he loves can move in it.

 Michael, who was infused with the soul of the Siren, was already in tears.

 The vitality in him is becoming more and more intense and vigorous. His blond hair was slowly dyed jet black, his facial features gradually began to twist and change, and the aura on his body rose little by little, like rising fire.

 After Su Lin's hair turned gray and his body completely decayed, Michael had completely transformed into what Su Lin looked like when he was young.

 …He became Su Lin.

 The second generation of Su Lin.

 Azure and beautiful, like a sea monster created by the gods, it blended into his body. Michael opened his eyes that had turned dark gold.

In front of him, the original young man had turned into a pool of flesh and blood.

 …

["Su Lin. In order to ensure the peace of Praia in the future, the leader of the soul hunter, the royal family, the head of the Royal Knights, the captain of the Praia Guard and other important figures, including your brother and father... they are not allowed to follow you on the ship. , have you said goodbye to them?"]

  【"Goodbye passed."】

  【"In what name?"】

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　】

  【“...You are still full of hope.”】

　　【…】

　　【The young, high-spirited captain smiled in front of the princess. 】

  【"Princess." He chuckled and said:】

 …

　　　"I will not consider death to be my ending until I reach the end of my journey."]

 …

 Michael, who transformed into Su Lin, wiped away the tears on his face.

His eyes have become extremely clear, like a high-spirited young captain who was sailing away in his youthful period.

He put Su Lin’s flesh and blood on the ground into a small mahogany box, completed this extremely simple, lonely, unattended funeral, then turned around and walked away slowly in the wind and snow.

 The wind and snow are getting stronger.

The houses are covered in white clothing, and the city walls are like a sleeping dragon, lying in the heavy white snow.

The cold wind brought a noisy sound of the city, mixed with people's laughter. In the distance, amid the wind and snow, the water of the harbor shone like neon, and the white sails of fishing boats appeared and disappeared.

The young man wearing a white mask, holding the extremely light redwood box in his arms, slowly walked out of this deserted alley step by step.

Deathly silence spread in the air, and the wind and snow pressed on his somewhat stooped back.

His slightly bent figure blends into the silent darkness in the gradually thickening twilight.

 He left in the grand ceremony and died in a lonely alley.

The white light in front of my eyes gradually faded and disappeared.

 This scene is over.

 …

Decades later, Michael could not bear the malice in his soul.

At that time, he had been completely assimilated into Su Lin, and the memory that originally belonged to Michael had become blurred.

 Before he died, he wrote his last words in the basement of the royal city.

 …

  【I deceived the Pope and Princess Tulip, saying that I was going to sea to find a way to break the enchantment. 】

　　【However, I just want to die alone. 】

　　【That person...that boy who calls himself a soul hunter, when he attacked me with a knife, I didn't resist. 】

　　　【He seriously injured me and tore half of the map from my hand. 】

　　…However, he probably didn’t realize that I just wanted him to kill me. 】

  【I am not willing to take on such a heavy responsibility anymore...it is almost crushing me. I can no longer tell whether I am the Michael of the past or the 'Su Lin' of today. 】

 …

　　　【Let the kid who killed me, who calls himself Kaiya, become the next 'Su Lin'. 】

 …

 Garder’s later husband, Kaia, became the third generation Su Lin.

He snatched away half of the map from the dying Michael. After Michael's death, his mind was flooded with a large amount of Su Lin's memories.

Unable to control the overwhelming memory and swinging emotions, he went to sea according to the original plan and boarded a ship to the At Empire.

Belonging to Kaia, his timid mood prevented him from returning to Praia and facing the deceived princess and the pope—he chose to settle in the Art Empire and lived there for decades.

In the process of Kaia's assimilation, Su Lin's memory gradually gained the upper hand. He bewitched the Duke of the Art Empire and obtained the false identity of viscount. However, due to Kaia's cowardice, he struggled between living in anonymity and returning to the common people. Raya struggled repeatedly.

 …Finally, one day, he completely transformed into Su Lin.

 The part belonging to Kaia disappeared.

He planned a plan to seize the ship, transformed S-class soul hunters and a group of nobles, boarded the immortal pearl of the empire, and with the help of the Siren Soul, took away the most important Art of the empire. stone so that it can be preserved safely.

 And those who go with him,

 …She is just like a tulip, a dignified and beautiful lady in decline.

  【Saya. 】

And in Praia, the girl from the East End who was supposed to have a happy life failed to wait for her husband and failed to spend the rest of her life with her lover.

After Su Lin blessed her, his first-generation successor Michael let Kaia take over the burden in an extremely dramatic way and ruined her happiness with his own hands.

 She guarded her daughter who was sick in bed and her son who went to the front line, waiting for her husband all her life.

 …until the teeth are shaken and the hair is gray.

 …

  No matter what, no matter what means are used and what is sacrificed.

 In this land that has gone through many vicissitudes of life, peace has continued.

 "Su Lin" lives on in people's praises, has been erected with monuments and names, and has successfully become a glorious hero in the legend.

 A symbol that has been passed down, a name that is chanted, a mark engraved on a stone tablet, he regards himself as a brick of this land.

He once walked into the golden color of dusk amidst the noisy sea breeze full of laughter, turned his back on his partners and colleagues who spent time together day and night, walked towards the airship, and never looked back.

 The sound of the waves is like a drum, and the sound of the flute is like thunder.

 The setting sun shone on him, and his shoulders were as red as flames.

 He implemented the ideals of generations, protected the peace of the land, and died in the brilliant lights of thousands of families.

 means commitment,

 means order,

for love.

 He is a microcosm of the thousands of victims on this land.

 or justice,

　　or kindness,

  Or indignation.

 …

 …

 The story about me is long, very long...and there are many things I regret. 】

    What is the best way to protect the people I love? Sacrifice, balance, or hatred? 】

　　【What exactly is the driving force for maintaining the survival of a group of people? And are they who have lost their faith and are living in illusory dreams still considered the people I love so much? 】

　　　【At this moment before I die, I can't figure it out either. 】

　　　　My dear heir, I am sorry to entrust you with this task. 】

 【Inevitably, please be me, and then...】

　　—Use your life, your flesh and blood, your bones, your burning soul, everything about you, fearlessly, bravely, and resolutely—love this land. 】

　　　【Fight for the people who cry, live for the people who laugh. 】

  【Because of your sword, your will, your bonds——】

　　…To protect this land of thousands of suffering people. 】

 …

 …

  【Just like me,】

  …Just like thousands of “us”. 】

 …

 【Perfect clearance progress: 95%】

 (End of this chapter)