Chapter 1609: Gun of Destiny

The shadows writhe among the ruins, like a completely black python, silent and unnoticed by anyone; it advances along the broken bricks, taking a brief rest at the corner of the path, where it coalesces into a vague human form within the dead-end shadow.

Olivia emerges from the darkness, scanning the surroundings nervously. After ensuring safety, she sits against the wall, her eyes full of fatigue.

“Truly exhausting, both body and soul…”

Olivia sighs, her face bearing a bitter smile.

Since leaving the Undying Club, Olivia headed directly towards the Land of Eternal Night without looking back. She knew nothing of Serey’s secret passages and lacked other means to enter the Land of Eternal Night, so her actions were very straightforward, relying solely on the characteristics of her Secret Energy to avoid others’ scrutiny and gradually infiltrate here.

Though the distant journey and crossing the Angry Sea gave Olivia considerable hardship, she still successfully reached within the Land of Eternal Night, even penetrating layers of defenses to arrive within the Royal City.

“Been a long time apart.”

Olivia lifts her head; the oppressive buildings loom close like a towering beast grown wild—its rugged bones form spires, thick veins become corridors, and heavy skin becomes the high walls and bricks that ward off external threats, with every pore exhaling a foul, sinister air.

The Royal City—Olivia’s hometown and now her journey’s end. Now standing before the passage of time, Olivia only feels time’s swift flow, too fast for one to grasp.

Leaving the dead-end, Olivia’s figure begins to writhe again, like an amorphous mist; after several seconds, it completely collapses into a wisp of black smoke, blending into the shadows crawling slowly along the ground.

With the properties of Secret Energy and her close-to-Extreme Realm Ethereal Concealment, Olivia’s actions have been smooth since stepping into the Land of Eternal Night—like a returning specter, drawing no one’s attention.

Carefully floating past the defenses, heading towards the core of the Royal City.

Soon, the surrounding scene becomes familiar in Olivia’s eyes; on the city’s edge lies a dilapidated, desolate garden. Olivia remembers its former grandeur and mystery, but now only remnants of history remain.

The garden’s gate is rusty, seemingly having endured countless storms; the reliefs on the door are long blurred, leaving only imagination to guess its former pattern.

Olivia passes silently through the gate’s gap, trying to avoid any real-world interaction to prevent drawing attention.

Behind the gate lies a barren garden; weeds proliferate, and the bushes grow wildly and frenziedly, nearly covering the former stone path. The once-vibrant flowers now leave only wilting petals and withered branches; the soil cracks into chunks, barren and devoid of life.

Olivia pauses for a moment, the decaying scene before her subtly overlaps with the beautiful memories in her mind; she remembers spending a great deal of time here in her childhood.

She remembers, back then she used to spend time here with her mother; now a hundred years have passed, everything has changed.

The former luxury is gone, leaving only the smell of old decay.

Olivia sees in the corner of the garden a fountain now dry, leaving only broken sculptures and scattered coins; the bench beside the fountain has long been weathered by time and storm, precariously leaning.

Standing by the dry fountain, countless threads of memory blossom in Olivia’s mind; a smile inadvertently appears on her face but turns cold, as if waking from a dream.

Moving beyond these anchors of reminiscence, Olivia continues on forward; for her, the road ahead has become familiar despite the ruin—she still remembers each corridor and every fork vividly; she can even find her former room within the spiral staircase.

Olivia refrains from dwelling in nostalgia, simply adjusting her emotions; her expression turns solemn, her sole purpose directing her entire spirit.

The Ether fully concentrates around herself, without leaking any breath externally.

Olivia knows that as she progresses deeper, she will draw nearer to her grandfather, the Night King; given the Night King’s absolute control over the Blood of the Night Race, if Olivia reveals her presence, it will instantly draw his attention.

Then, what awaits her will be a pursuit throughout the city; even equipped with stealthy Secret Energy, Olivia wouldn’t be able to hide for long.

The connections within the Night Race’s bloodline are far more resilient than the ties of Secret Energy.

“Would your feelings then be the same as mine?”

Olivia muses to herself, attempting to empathize with Aisha’s sentiments back then; upon careful contemplation, she finds her mindset vastly different from Aisha’s.

Aisha sought to summon Serey’s mercy through self-sacrifice, compelling him to save the world. But Olivia, she never anticipated Serey’s help—her present actions are less about self-sacrifice and more about her weariness of it all, seeking self-destruction.

To give this futile, fruitless life a fitting end.

Halting her steps, Olivia looks up, gazing towards the highest point of the jagged cluster of towers, towards the Origin Tower that pierces the clouds, shrouded by dark clouds.