novelden Chapter 957 Prisoner, stepping through the shadow of the sun to see the deep sea 5
Chapter 957 Prisoner, stepping through the shadow of the sun to see the deep sea 5
Tibao: "Cerydela...is our journey coming to an end?"
Cerydra: "Breaking old laws, forging new ones... Within the boundaries of Omphalus, my conquests have reached their end. Since the Oracle has declared that Caesar's conquest of the stars will be unattainable, I withdraw from this pursuit, and will not pursue it further.
After that, there will be more golden descendants who will bear the divine power, and more heroes will be born... Will you choose peace or war? Will you resist tyranny or become the next Caesar? I don't care. Future generations will decide.
Don't feel sorry for me. There are countless people who can kill Caesar, but the only one who can truly destroy her is Cerydra."
"Finally, I faithfully recorded the most important battles in Caesar's life. With this, the conquest is nearing its end. But, for some reason, as I put down my pen and pondered, a memory quietly intruded upon my mind.
It was a fantasy train journey, and I had the privilege of having a deep conversation with Caesar under the starry sky. At the end of that conversation, I asked her this question -
Xilian: "How would you like to be remembered? A hero who sacrificed his life for the Fire Chaser... or a tyrant?"
"She answered with absolute certainty, barely even thinking—"
Cerydra: "I would rather be forgotten than defined. Because laws can neither be eternal nor unique... Only humans can write the rules for history."
In the video, Cerydra fell in the steam, with golden blood flowing from her chest. She was at the end of her life.
"Now, the great law of Omphalus has been broken by me... The chess game... It's time to end... Lord Sword Banner... It's clear... For over 30 million lifetimes... It was you who killed Caesar with your own hands...
But this time... you've finally found your own law within your heart... So... Heisein... Helequla... I'll have someone deliver the sea of heaven and earth realms mentioned in the oracle to you...
Whether... or not you choose to swim there... I don't care... I won't..."
Honkai Impact 3rd Aponia: "Has it been Heisein who killed Cerydra in the past 30 million lives?"
Star Railroad Bai'e: "Indeed, in my memory, except for the first time of Eternal Return, it was the ocean that killed the Law every time."
Star Railway's Kerydra: "For a moment, I couldn't figure out whether this fate was a bad one or not."
"Caesar murmured of her conquests, and throughout the city, news of her death spread."
"Freedom! Liberation! The tyrant is dead! Go, proclaim this news in the streets!"
"My fellow citizens, my fellow senators, please stop panicking and stand still—the tyrant has paid the debt of his ambition!"
Cerydra seemed to be aware of the voices in the city, and inwardly she thought: "People once cheered my ascension... Now they cheer my fall... Well, I love cheering... Ah, I see... the Milky Way... the battlefield I cannot set foot on...
In the afterlife... I will return... Let the stars hear the drums of the Legion... Hear the name of Caesar... Hear... Omphalus... Cerys... Dela..."
"What laws Caesar rewrote with his life, we still don't know. Perhaps, like every game Caesar played, the truth will only be revealed at the moment of the checkmate.
But her death caused a stir in Ohema. On this side of the city wall, the defenders of freedom pushed the monument to the ground; on the other side, Caesar's supporters stood in front of her statue, trying their best to declare: the emperor is still standing in the center of the crowd.
It is said that in every place where they fought, golden blood gathered into the same inscription, the same name, which belonged to Caesar Cerydra, the first and last king of Ochma.
But the owner of that name saw none of this. Her gaze drifted off into the distance, the roar of the waves drowning out the shouts of the people. In this prophesied sea of heaven and earth, a shallow pool of stagnant water.
What was Caesar thinking? Was he reminiscing about his past conquests, or repenting for the countless lives lost in the pursuit of fire? Neither. Caesar only saw the shimmering water, a stark resemblance to the afternoon when his mentor first played chess with him, the rough chessboard divided by the sun's shadow—"
"Look at this chessboard and these chess pieces. What do they look like?"
"It's so strangely beautiful... It's like... the stars in the night sky are burning brightly."
Jing Yuan from Star Dome Railway: "Caesar finally came to an end, but what will Heisen think of the ocean that Caesar promised her?"
Genshin Impact Leosli: "That depends on what she thinks."
Star Dome Railway Heather: "..."
At this moment, Heiseyin arrived at the Scaled Abyss in her memory: "From that page... emerged... an ocean? So vast, so... pure... without a trace of... foul air.
This is... Cerydra...?"
Heise looked at the scroll floating beside her, on which was written a letter from Cerydra to Heise.
Cerydra: "Helethra, my vassal, stepped out of the polluted sea and joined my army. Then I saw the abyss in your eyes and the emptiness in your heart.
So, I promise you a new sea, where Caesar's ambition is a current and loyalty is a flame. Helena, my lord—you have fulfilled your duty as a blade.
Now, the oracle has pronounced my intended path, and my true obedience is destined to prevent me from reaching the stars. But Caesar's promises never fail, so accept this memory, the savior's vision, the sea beyond the sky.
This is the last reward that Caesar can give to a subject."
After reading it, Heiseyin remained silent for a long time. After a long silence, she slowly said, "A long time ago, when I was still a fish in the sea, it always felt so real when I was swimming in the water.
But once I set foot on land, I was caught up in a drama. People on earth all lived their lives wearing masks, so I put on a costume, trying to find my own role. I became your sword, the strings at the banquet...
Don't you understand? I'm not drawn to the deep seas of my homeland, nor do I yearn for the vast oceans beyond the heavens... Perhaps I don't understand it myself either. In the end, I won't know where I'm swimming to. But now, there's one thing I know perfectly well.
A fish is still a fish, how can it leave the ocean where it lives? But whether it's the deep sea or the earth, you and I, two prisoners unable to escape the cave... can also look out of the cave and admire the stars.
Honkai Impact 3rd Alicia: "Wow! Heather is confessing her feelings, right?"
Cosmic Wanderer Gao Xuan: "I'm really impressed. One doesn't ask, the other doesn't tell. Is this like a fish in the sea falling in love with a straight woman who doesn't understand romance?"
Genshin Impact's Zhongli: "In the end, Caesar never knew Heatherine's feelings until his death."