Chapter 615: Elias: I Have Never Considered Myself Insignificant

“Are you prepared to repent, Ferryman?”

Elias’ killing intent locked onto the Ferryman. The terrifying pressure, as though hell itself had been manifested into reality, caused the already half-dead Ferryman to cough up blood and grow even weaker.

This man had to pay the price for the mistakes he had made.

His crimes were so vast that, by now, they could no longer even be counted.

The Ferryman stared blankly at Elias, this successful man who stood in complete contrast to a failure like himself. It was like a tiny ant in the darkness looking up at the radiant sun.

“Repent? Yes… I truly do need to repent.”

The Ferryman gave a miserable, battered smile.

“I thought I could become a hero who saved the world, but in the end I became nothing more than a foolish clown. Not only did I fail to save even a single person, I nearly destroyed everyone’s hope.”

“That’s right. You were never a hero. There isn’t a single person in this world who was saved because of you. Though you carried the ideal of salvation in your heart, you walked a path in the exact opposite direction.”

Elias spoke without a trace of emotion.

There was no reason for him to show even the slightest tenderness toward the Ferryman, who had made him suffer so much.

And ultimately, that was indeed the truth.

Although the Ferryman possessed a will to save the world that was almost equal to Elias’, perhaps even stronger in certain respects, the path he chose had been completely different from Elias’, and so the result he created was the opposite of salvation…

Destruction.

The hundreds of bubble worlds whose Ether Anchors he had stolen were the Ferryman’s second most unforgivable crime, because that meant hundreds of worlds had been driven toward destruction faster by his own hand.

As for his single most unforgivable crime, that was naturally attacking Elias.

Because in doing so, he had nearly destroyed the hope of billions upon billions, perhaps even innumerable, bubble worlds.

It was no exaggeration to say that with Elias’ current status, anyone who tried to kill him was committing an unforgivable sin.

“I understand that I’ve committed crimes that cannot be forgiven. If hell truly exists in this world, then my ending will probably be having the hottest spear driven through me in its deepest depths, never to escape for all eternity.”

The Ferryman spoke with complete self-awareness. His gaze toward Elias held overwhelming admiration and envy.

“Once, I was the same as you. I refused to let go. I wanted to save everyone. But I tried countless methods, and every single one failed without exception. Everything I did was futile.”

“Then one day, I changed. I thought that if sacrificing a small number of people could create a chance for many more to survive, then why shouldn’t I try? That was why I created Project Noah, the plan to open the World’s Interstice.”

“But now, I understand… Everything I did was nothing more than the self-important redundancy of a clown. The true savior had already appeared. One day, you will save every single bubble world within the Sea of Quanta.”

How cruelly fate loved to toy with people.

The Ferryman looked at the white-haired boy before him, then lowered his gaze toward himself and couldn’t help letting out a bitter laugh.

They were both captains of the Hyperion, yet the difference between Elias and himself was like heaven and earth.

“Actually, I don’t have much interest in saving the world. What I pursue is nothing more than a simple, happy life. But if tragedy appears before my eyes, then naturally I won’t stand by and ignore it. And besides… I’m greedier than you.”

The classic trolley problem.

Five people were tied to one railway track, while one person was tied to a side track. An out-of-control trolley was rushing toward them, and beside you happened to be a lever that could divert the trolley onto the side track.

So the question was whether to save one person or five.

The Ferryman’s answer was to save the five. He would choose the outcome where one person’s life was traded for five.

That was undoubtedly the “correct” choice.

But Elias’ answer was different.

The only thing he would do was punch the trolley off the tracks!

Admittedly, that was completely unreasonable, but the question itself had never been reasonable in the first place.

“I see. So that’s the fundamental difference between you and me. You are far greedier, more stubborn, stronger, and more naive than I am. And I am far more realistic, ignorant, weak, and powerless than you.”

The Ferryman lay on the deck of his Hyperion, gazing across the Sea of Quanta that he had sailed through for most of his life. He could feel the power of the Ether Anchor gradually fading away.

He was almost done for…

Looking back on his past, all he could see was regret.

He couldn’t help thinking what a meaningless life it had been.

He had accomplished none of the things he desired. Still, while his life might have lacked meaning, perhaps it retained some value. If it were written into a tragic novel, maybe it could even win some kind of award…

The Ferryman smiled miserably, mocking himself without restraint.

He looked toward Elias once more. Only after seeing the true sun could one understand just how dim one’s own light really was.

“Savior, have you ever observed ants…? If you draw a circle in the dirt, the ants become trapped inside it, crawling around and around, unable to escape no matter what they do.”

“I carried ideals and expectations on my back, yet fell into fruitless endings again and again… I always thought I had traveled very far, but now that I look back…”

“I was nothing more than an ant wandering in circles inside the boundary fate drew for me, destined only to exhaust myself in the end. I imagine you could never understand how I feel.”

How could the radiant sun understand the feelings of an ant?

Just as a bird soaring freely through the sky could never understand a turtle trapped inside its shell, forced to crawl slowly across the ground.

“No. I can understand.”

Elias shook his head and spoke without expression.

“What?”

The Ferryman froze, finding it hard to believe.

“Do you think I’m a god? No. From beginning to end, I’ve only ever been a simple human. In the past, I’ve loved, shone brightly, succeeded, and I’ve also been weak, failed, and fallen into despair. But no matter when it was, I never gave up.”

“That is the greatest difference between you and me, Ferryman. You see yourself as an ant toyed with by fate, but even when I stood against fate itself, I was never afraid.”

“Because beneath this vast sky, before this utterly unreasonable fate, I… have never considered myself insignificant!”

The killing intent around Elias had already vanished.

This failure before him no longer possessed the right to make him angry.

“…”

The Ferryman lowered his head in silence. He felt as though he had finally understood something, but unfortunately, it was already too late.

If he had met this person earlier, and if that misunderstanding had never happened, perhaps he might have had the chance to walk alongside this white-haired boy on the true path of salvation.

(What a shame… It’s already far too late.)

But that no longer mattered.

The work of heroes should be left to heroes.

The Ferryman looked up at Elias and knew that this endless sea filled with tragedy and destruction had finally welcomed salvation.

That alone was enough.

He believed that this pure-white savior before him would surely reach the ending he himself had never been able to reach.

“All right. You’re going to die soon, so before that, hand over anything useful you have. Your life may have had no meaning, but it still has some value. For example, you’ve probably developed quite a few uses for Ether Anchors, right?”

Elias folded his arms and spoke indifferently.

“Indeed. Heh… That’s nice. I thought the only value of this life where I accomplished nothing would be turning it into a tragic novel to depress people. I didn’t expect it to still be useful for something.”

The Ferryman patted the Hyperion’s deck.

“All of my research is recorded in the battleship’s database. Since you’re also a captain of the Hyperion, I assume I don’t need to tell you the password.”

“All right… Oh, right. I almost forgot.”

As though suddenly remembering something, Elias struck his right fist into his left palm, then took out the World-Destroying Divine Spear and asked,

“Since you obtained this spear, that means you’ve been to the Teyvat bubble world, right? Is that bubble world still alive? If it hasn’t kicked the bucket yet, give me the coordinates.”

“…You can actually hold it directly with your hand.”

The Ferryman was extremely surprised.

Elias could actually grasp the World-Destroying Divine Spear with his bare hand.

He remembered how merely touching it with one finger had allowed the energy within it to corrode him into an inhuman monster.

Still, thinking about it, that was understandable.

After all, this man was the savior. Why wouldn’t he be able to tame a mere spear?

(I suffered a huge loss because of this spear. In that case, I won’t return it to Finality immediately after I get back. I’ll play with it myself for a while first. Yep, happily decided~)

“The condition of that Teyvat bubble world isn’t very good. But it hasn’t died yet. It can probably hold on for another few years. I recorded its coordinates in the database too.”

Taking away an Ether Anchor dealt an enormous blow to a bubble world, but it didn’t cause immediate destruction.

Still, recalling Teyvat’s condition, even the Ferryman couldn’t say for certain how many years it had left. He then honestly explained everything he knew.

Apparently, that bubble world had never been particularly peaceful to begin with. First, it faced a threat known as the Abyss. Then one day, the World-Destroying Divine Spear appeared and brought Honkai with it.

Even the strongest existence within that Teyvat bubble world, someone called the “Heavenly Principles,” had been corroded by Honkai energy.

By now, it was probably nearly insane…

Then the Ferryman had gone and taken away its Ether Anchor as well, drastically shortening the bubble world’s lifespan.

In short, the Teyvat bubble world was already on the verge of death and urgently needed the savior’s support.

“…I’m tired. I’ll go later.”

Elias silently turned his head away.

If it could still hold on for a few more years, then it could wait a little longer. After all, Teyvat’s Honkai corruption wasn’t his fault in the first place. Finality was the one who had left the spear there…

And secondly, Elias really was exhausted beyond belief.

More than ten thousand years!

A full ten thousand years!

Inside the World’s Interstice, he had flown at full speed and full power without sleep or rest for more than ten thousand years!

Elias genuinely had no energy left to save another world right now. All he wanted was to sleep until heaven and earth went dark.

Even Klein, the Flawless One, needed rest, let alone a savior like him.

He was exhausted in both body and mind!

“All right. In the future, I’ll visit the bubble worlds whose Ether Anchors you stole. If I can save them, I’ll save them. Now then, Ferryman, you can die. Pick how you want to go. Haaah~”

Elias yawned sleepily as he spoke.

“Death… I do have one request. If possible, please kill me as painfully as you can. There’s no need to make it quick. Doing this is meaningless at this point, but… consider it my insignificant apology to those bubble worlds.”

The Ferryman spoke with a serious expression.

Even then, he felt the request was too indulgent.

After all, being killed by this savior could already be considered a kind of honor.

Elias nodded.

He accepted the Ferryman’s request.