The boat was silent, and everyone was thinking about their own problems. Father Augustus suddenly raised his head, turned around and looked at the stern, the depths of the water, and the dark moon that was slowly sinking into the water.
The old priest reminded in a hoarse voice:
"Now look back and miss those who have left. We can still see them... Try it..."
The ship was moving forward, and Shad, Priest Augustus, Iluna and Sister Devlin all looked back.
The priest smiled and nodded slightly to the young nun who was watching him from a distance:
"You are still as beautiful as ever, but I am old."
Iluna raised her head and opened her mouth slightly, her eyes reflecting the light of the dark moon. Under the dark moon were the captain and teammates who were killed by the Silver Eyed Man and the Tomb Robber Hawthorne. These were her teammates during her training at the Church. They were standing together at this moment, waving goodbye to her.
“I’m living a good life now!”
There was no sadness on Iluna's face. She stood up and waved her right hand towards the depths of death.
Sister Defulin's silver eye mask reflected the moonlight. She folded her hands on her legs and nodded slightly in respect:
"I will continue to carry on the flame and mission you passed on to me."
And Shad stared blankly at the soul standing on the water, and at Sparrow Hamilton under the moon.
The middle-aged detective, Carsonrick's ace spy Gray Eagle, leaned on a cane in his right hand and pulled down the brim of his black deerstalker hat with his left hand. He was not in the terrible state before his death, but looked like an upper-class gentleman. He raised his head slightly, shook his head at Shade with some regret under the moonlight, then turned around and continued to walk towards the depths of the water.
Shad stared blankly at the departing figure. Detective Sparrow passed by another soul that also had colors. That soul stopped and turned to look at Shad.
He has short, dry yellow hair, obvious signs of his eyelids turning outward, a thin figure, and a red glove on his right hand.
It was Ivan Darkness:
"I'll be waiting for you when this is all over."
His right eye emitted a scarlet light, and then he turned around and walked towards Mingyue.
Xia De was in a trance for a while, and suddenly froze. He thought of something very important, and hurriedly called out softly in his heart:
"Shad..."
No soul looked back, and the stranger did not see the real, blind and foolish Shad of the past.
He stared at the departing soul, and suddenly, like Iluna, he raised his hand and waved towards the distance. Father Augustus put down his pipe and waved back with a regretful expression, and even Sister Defulin made the same gesture.
It was silent, everyone saw the people they missed, but no one tried to take them away. Being able to see them again was enough, and this was the difference between others and Joey Barton.
Cutting through the silver silk-like water, only the scale in Iluna's hand emitted a faint light. The surroundings were extremely quiet, but no matter what, the distance between the mudflat and the boat always remained the same, and they seemed unable to return to the distant shore.
"What's wrong with this?"
Iluna noticed this first and asked quietly.
Father Augustus turned his head to look at the front of the ship, and had no idea about it. Sister Develyn also shook her head slightly. Joey Barton and the resurrected Miss Marilyn Handel didn't care about it at all. Shad moved from the position near the stern to the bow, standing on the boat and looking at the weak campfire on the beach from a distance.
After a little consideration, the answer came to my mind naturally without even her reminder:
"For our own selfish desires, we gave the dead a chance to come back to life. Although someone paid a price for this, this is a violation of the rules after all, so we can't go ashore... Yes, I understand. There is still one last step."
Shade turned to look at Iluna:
"Judge, please judge them now and confirm whether this resurrection is in accordance with the rules."
Iluna nodded hesitantly, and when Shade sat down, she stood up, holding the dark golden scale.
Everyone looked at her, which made the 17-year-old girl a little uncomfortable, but she still looked at Joey Barton and Marilyn Handel and said in a clear voice:
"In the name of the ancient god, the upside-down judge, I will judge you."
The boat glides quietly, the pale golden light and the silver light of the dark moon are so peaceful:
"Joey Barton, for your own desires and obsessions, you attempted to break the balance between life and death. Assisting the gap between life and death has brought more deaths, disasters, and victims to Midhill Castle, and may even lead to a greater disaster. Now, the old man has taken your bones, the nun has burned your flesh, and the winner has taken your soul, giving you the possibility of resurrecting the dead..."
Iluna took a deep breath:
"Sacrificing bones, discarding flesh, and abandoning soul can only make up for some of your mistakes. From now on, you and this lady will walk in this world with the curse of death. The Orthodox Church will be your enemy, and the good people will hate your existence. Do more good deeds to make up for your mistakes; repent at all times and pray for those innocent souls. You bear the blood debt of Midhill Castle, which will be a sin that haunts you for the rest of your life."
Joey Barton's transparent soul bowed his head:
"I accept your judgment. I will be cursed and spit upon by all living things before I come here again. I will do more good deeds to make up for all my mistakes."
"Everything will eventually die. What you are asking for is the process, but it will not change the result. Instead, it will curse you for the rest of your life."
Mr. Barton paused:
"Yes, this is... the meaning of my life. Since I can't grow up normally and experience life in the order of the living, then this is fine. After reaching the end the first time, I will experience a second life with her with the curse, even if we will come back again. But I still have her, and a memory, this is the meaning."
"What is this lady's name?"
Iluna nodded, and suddenly asked in a low voice. She didn't hear Joey Barton's call on the water carefully just now.
“Marilyn Handel.”
Xia De reminded quietly, so Iluna coughed and spoke again:
"Marilyn Handel, the dead should not be resurrected. But someone paid with bones, flesh and soul so that you can walk the world again. As a result, you are cursed with death and entangled by a sinful soul. You will never be able to get rid of it until you come here again. All mortals will die one day, and this is the price you pay for resurrection."
"I will be with him. He made a big mistake because of me. I have a responsibility to walk the rest of the way with him again."
She grasped Mr. Barton's soul's hand, and the two looked at each other in silence.
Iluna shook her head slightly, her tone very serious:
"You are a soul that carries the curse of death and sin, but because of this you have touched the extraordinary. Your soul is different. Death is staring at you, lady. Go and redeem those souls wandering in the world. This is your path to atonement."
"Yes."
"I see."
The living and the dead said at the same time. At the same time, Shad saw a golden chain extending from the dark golden scale, binding Joey Patton and Marilyn Handel tightly together.
Father Augustus, Sister Defulin, and Iluna also saw it:
"This is... ... "
"Contract. From now on, they are sinners who bear the sin of death. They must redeem the souls that have not left in the world in exchange for the reduction of the curse they bear. This is the judgment I give them as the chosen one who inherited the 'balance'... Oh, I actually have such power?"
Iluna also seemed to have just found out.
Everyone's story seems to be very interesting. There will be many more stories about Joey Barton and the resurrected Marilyn Handel. But those stories probably have nothing to do with Shad. But perhaps many years later, he will find them when they are old, and they will never be separated, and listen to their stories that will eventually return to death.
"Is that all right?"
Iluna asked Xia De again in a low voice. Before Xia De could speak, he felt the boat seemed to have hit something and shook slightly.
Everyone looked towards the bow, and before they knew it, they had reached the shore.
“I seem to understand something again.”
Iluna patted her head:
"It's a strange feeling. I can use more of the power of balance. So the Chosen One has to use this method to tap into the power of the Chosen One."
"Ms. Beas, this was a fair trial. It really opened my eyes."
Priest Augustus praised, and Iluna smiled shyly with her head down.
The group came to the shore from the boat. Except for Shade, everyone else returned to the Tree Kiss bonfire and sat by the fire. Shade looked at the double-opening stone door. His time was very tight:
"The problem now is that the church's 'Scar of the Holy Tree' ritual has sealed three passages. How are we going to get back?"
He said with a frown.
Last time he used the "Key to the Door" to unlock it, but this time there was a seal on the outside, and he was in no condition to fight against this door again:
"Priest, could you please..."
"No, if we push the door open, it will be equivalent to breaking the seal of the church. But don't worry, when this wave of resistance in the narrow space is over and the narrow space is temporarily stable again, we can force the door open again. Although that will also destroy the seal, at least it will not lead to irreversible consequences... It seems that we will be missing for a few days."
The priest said, his face flushed by the firelight, and the old priest was not very worried:
"If you're worried that others might worry about you, my thaumaturgical last words can help you send some messages out. Yes, just like me breaking into your dreams."
"I must return to Midhill Castle now. There are things only I can do..."
Shad held the broken red butterfly pendant in his hand and looked at Sister Defulin, who shook her head slightly and then looked at Joey Barton, who didn't pay any attention to Shad at all.
Xia De thought about it again and asked again:
"Priest, what you mean is that if we force the door open from the inside to the 'outside', it will damage the ceremony, so what about opening the door from the outside?"
"No, we can't lose any more of the three channels."
The priest hastily denied it, but Shad did not mean that:
"I mean, what if someone, from outside of Fort Midhill, opened the door leading here?"
Father Augustus was stunned and nodded slowly:
"That's fine. After all, only the narrow passage in Midhill Castle has problems. Other areas are safe. However, apart from the three passages in Midhill Castle, is there any other way to easily get here in the material world? I haven't heard of it..."
"Of course, I heard a librarian mention this at the other end of time. Oh, priest, use your magic quickly, I want to send the last words to two people!"
Shade said with a smile, feeling relieved. He also sat back by the campfire and warmed himself with the other people. Iluna moved towards Shade carefully, looking at the flames in front of her happily.
"The original effect of the magic last words is to fulfill the wishes of the remaining souls, allowing them to safely enter the dreams of the people they miss, or use water, mirrors and other methods to say their final goodbyes. We are all equivalent to dead people now, so it is easy to send dreams. However, it cannot be a dream in the Middle Castle area. The Midhill Castle covered by the narrow space now cannot be considered a normal world."
"It's alright. The people I wanted to send my last words to are all in Tobesk City. I hope I didn't disturb their night's rest. It's getting late."
Shade said, then looked at the others around the campfire:
"We still have some time before someone comes to rescue us. Now let's discuss, ahem, I mean, the details of what happened here tonight."
He let out a long breath and looked at each person's face in the firelight one by one:
"But the most important thing is the topic of the chosen one to die. The ritual can be completed by committing suicide in the narrow space and then resurrecting. Now everyone here is actively stepping into death, so... the first candidate to leave here is the real..."
The firelight illuminated the living people in the dead, and the light of the dark moon sprinkled on the ground and the water. The epic of the Sixth Era once again entered an important node, and this time, Shade could finally take control of the situation himself.