Chapter 1397: 1397 Adjudicator Game: Game Invasion 2

One figure after another leapt from the ship.

Beneath the glow of the Order Clock, they sprinted down the Bridge of Sighs wrapped in pale golden light.

The Order Clock shone so brightly that from afar the players appeared as little more than dark silhouettes.

Like prisoners escaping beneath moonlight, running toward somewhere far away.

Rita’s warning that "everything seen and heard on the Bridge of Sighs is an illusion" had not been meaningless.

This bridge was built from countless World Sighs, supported by the surviving worlds left behind after every epoch.

It carried immense sorrow and regret.

Anger and unwillingness.

Were sighs truly all that remained of these worlds?

No.

There was hatred too.

Why did we have to die?

Why did this happen to us?

Survivors of shattered worlds.

Great rulers who abandoned their homelands.

After leaving your worlds behind, did you ever think of your people again?

Mistblade had been running at full speed.

She could still see BS Rita ahead of her, close enough to touch.

But in the blink of an eye, the bridge beneath her abruptly split apart.

A teenage three tailed Mistblade stood before her, blocking the path.

So this was the illusion Rita had warned them about.

Mistblade stopped and stared at her younger self.

The young Mistblade looked back at her quietly.

"You said you would rebuild Snowland."

It was only a statement.

Yet it was also an accusation.

Mistblade found herself unable to answer.

She had asked herself this question countless times over the years.

Every time she counted the Snowland fragments she had collected, this sentence echoed in her heart.

Again and again, she questioned whether she had truly been giving everything she had toward the vow she made in her youth.

Cicada once said that the moment Beacon shattered, she had already ascended Dawn’s throne in her heart.

Years later, she fulfilled the oath she made as a child.

But what about herself?

Mistblade had once reached Rank 19.

Yet the higher she climbed, the more she saw.

The longer she sat upon the throne, the colder and more rational her heart became.

Rebuilding Snowland was not the correct choice.

What future could a Snowland belonging only to the Moonfoxes possibly have against future invasions?

The best option had always been to remain within Lania Kaia and seek stronger allies alongside the Undead.

Every second of every day she wanted to rebuild Snowland.

That dream burned through her heart day and night like molten lava flowing through her soul.

But whenever she sat upon the throne, that burning heart cooled.

Not yet.

Not the right time.

So she waited.

She waited for Lania Kaia to destroy No Light.

To destroy Forest Sea.

She waited until she obtained a World Skill.

Until the final fragment of Snowland drifted into Nuclear Flash.

Until the Moonfoxes relocated to BS.

Only then did she finally reclaim a tiny fragment of Snowland.

She had once been proud of her rationality.

But over the years, that same rationality wounded countless people.

And in the end, it wounded herself too.

Mistblade lowered her gaze.

Looking into the eyes of her younger self, she spoke hoarsely.

"Yes. I said I would rebuild Snowland."

She had never understood why Maple Syrup had been so desperate to rebuild Forest Sea.

Reckless. Impulsive. Unwilling to consider consequences.

Mistblade herself possessed a World Skill and still hesitated to rebuild Snowland.

Yet Maple Syrup, who did not even possess a single World Skill, rushed ahead without hesitation.

What had Maple Syrup said back then?

"I want old owlfolk to die in Forest Sea. I want newborn owlfolk to grow up in the real Forest Sea."

"I can lead Forest Sea to invade other worlds and accumulate World Skills. I can protect Forest Sea."

"Maple Syrup, you’re too impulsive."

"Mistblade, you’re too rational."

Her heart was no longer controlled by personal likes or dislikes.

But somewhere along the way, it also stopped being moved by youthful passion and anger.

She had fought so hard to stop the Moonfox clans from dwindling further.

She had fought so hard to erase the fear in their eyes and bring back their smiles.

She did not want the Moonfoxes to live under the terror of war again just for the sake of rebuilding Snowland.

She could afford to lose.

But the Moonfoxes could not.

So she delayed it again and again.

She found endless excuses to tell herself not to rush.

She even sealed most of her own power and deliberately suppressed her strength.

The young Mistblade shouted:

"Coward... coward!!"

Mistblade slowly knelt down on one knee.

She reached out, wanting to pull her younger self into an embrace.

"I’m sorry..."

A cold hand suddenly seized her wrist and pulled upward, stopping her movement.

"Why are your eyes all watery?"

BS Rita’s helpless but lighthearted voice sounded before her.

The next second, Mistblade stumbled forward.

Her younger self shattered apart like glass as she was dragged back into reality and into Rita’s presence.

Rita looked into those deep green eyes clouded with tears.

She did not expose her.

Instead, she tugged Mistblade forward a few more steps, then gently pushed her ahead.

"Mistblade, run."

"Run out of Snowland’s sighs."

"Don’t stand inside the sighs and sigh with them."

Mistblade took two unsteady steps forward from the push, then turned back.

"What about you?"

Rita looked behind her.

Along the Bridge of Sighs, every few pages apart, players stood frozen in place.

Trapped by versions of their former selves.

It had nothing to do with courage.

Nothing to do with strength.

Rita turned back with a smile.

"People carrying too many responsibilities and dreams just can’t run very fast, huh?"

As she spoke, she began running back toward the others.

Toward the trapped players.

She waved at Mistblade while retreating.

"Mistblade, you’re not a coward."

"You’re just too afraid to lose when it comes to Snowland."

Mistblade could lose to Maple Syrup in order to comprehend her divine talent.

She could calmly accept defeat at the hands of BS Rita, someone far weaker than herself.

The Moonfoxes were not without pride.

It was simply that every last ounce of her competitive spirit belonged solely to Snowland.

Her pride shattered on the same day Snowland did.

After that, victory and defeat outside of Snowland no longer stirred her heart at all.

"I can only turn back and pull you forward this once."

"If you ever have to cross this bridge again, I hope you’ll remember."

"There’s Snowland in BS too."

After saying that, Rita turned and ran toward Forest Sea without looking back.

Maple Syrup, Pine Bloom, and Peach Crown were somehow standing side by side in a daze.

Mistblade stared at BS Rita one final time.

"I’ll wait for you in the First Epoch."

Then she turned and sprinted toward the far end of the bridge.

Mistblade had been rendered speechless by her younger self’s question.

And Maple Syrup was equally unable to answer the accusations of her own people.

"Have you ever regretted it? Did you ever think that I was afraid too?"

"Do you know how many owlfolk feared not the Undead or the Moonfoxes, but you, Maple Syrup?"

"They say your existence kept the owlfolk from panicking after joining Lania Kaia."

"But who’s going to pity me, the one permanently buried in Forest Sea moments before the war ended?!"

Maple Syrup could refuse to apologize to Autumn Deer forever.

But the owlfolk...

"Maple Syrup!"