"Don't kill me, please, I don't want to die..."
The unknown death row prisoner in front of her spoke in terror.
The first option was specifically highlighted in red.
The two of them were stunned upon seeing this.
Was this asking them to choose whether or not to kill the other person?
"What should we do, Chang Chang?"
Sushang leaned in and thought: "Castorice herself doesn't seem very willing. Didn't she say so? Taking a life so casually is unacceptable. I actually feel the same way."
The two of them hit it off and decisively chose the second option.
Unfortunately.
The execution did not end; Amonet's counsel rang in her ears again.
Once.
Twice.
Sushang continued to choose not to kill until finally, only one option remained.
[Gently Touch]
There was no room for resistance.
And so, as Castorice reached out her hand, the prisoner's body convulsed. Amidst fear, resentment, and unwillingness, he turned into silence and rest.
[Forced to kill?!]
[Holy crap! This elder is such a sore loser. Castorice didn't want to kill, yet she's forcing her to do it?!]
[I'm so done. What's wrong with this crappy place...]
[There's no choice. It seems if Castorice wants to stay in Aidelia, she must be the Executioner.]
The bullet chat sent by players was filled with a sense of helplessness.
Guinaifen and Sushang also sighed one after another, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in their hearts.
But just when the two thought it was over, who would have thought this was only the beginning?
With every step Castorice took, butterflies rose beneath her feet.
Players needed to control her, wandering to every corner of the city-state according to the mission guide, bringing death to all kinds of different people.
There.
There were brave, disabled warriors, foreign prisoners of war, and travelers with incurable diseases.
As she walked, her ears were constantly filled with all kinds of curses.
"Executioner."
"Monster."
"Murderer."
"May you... live in eternal pain!"
There were even those who cursed Castorice.
This made everyone feel a bit unpleasant.
At the end of the road, the final execution target actually turned out to be Amonet—the elder who taught Castorice how to perform executions?!
"Why?" Castorice's voice began to tremble.
In contrast, that elder appeared quite calm.
"Because I am old," she said in a raspy voice. "From the moment I felt fear toward the aging of this body, I was already dead."
"This is the fate of every person of Aidelia. I shall respond to Thanatos's call and charge toward fear to prove that I am no coward."
Castorice shook her head vigorously. She found it hard to understand; the other party clearly had many Time left to live.
Just because of a fear of aging, she had to end it personally?
"I... I can't take it anymore..."
Castorice's voice was trembling.
Amonet comforted her and apologized to Castorice.
She already regarded Castorice as her own daughter, yet she had forced her to become an Executioner, which was no different from kidnapping.
And now, with just a gentle touch from Castorice, a sinful life would wither away.
But at the same time, this was the significance of her choosing Castorice.
Precisely because she possessed an innate blessing—or curse—no one in this world understood the weight of death better than Castorice.
"If viewed through the eyes of an Aethelgardian, death is the end of all life, the path we must all take. One should not resist it, but learn how to welcome it."
"Come, do it. I have already taught you everything I could comprehend in this life."
In the blink of an eye.
The Amonet before her seemed to turn into a monster.
There were no options, only a prompt to release a combat skill, then fight and kill her.
Guinaifen's breathing seemed to grow heavy, but she could only do as told.
[Battle Start]
With Castorice present, there were only two waves of monsters, so it was naturally very simple.
But for some reason, after slaughtering these mobs, Guinaifen didn't feel the slightest bit of joy.
...
A moment later, the battle ended.
Only a closing scene remained.
In the gloomy canvas, Castorice's eyes held reluctance, confusion, and sorrow.
The figure standing before her was dissipating bit by bit.
She spoke to herself.
Following the instructions one last time, Castorice still touched the old woman before her.
However, even this old woman who was accustomed to death was no different from others when passing away—trembling, fear, resentment, and so on.
She spent her life teaching 'death', and in the end, she vanished like morning dew in the morning mist.
Aside from awe, there was nothing else.
Later, in the marshes of Aidelia, Castorice buried her among the dead. To seek an audience with Thanatos, Castorice set out on her wanderings once again.
During that very long, very long, very long journey...
She heard too much discussion regarding 'death'.
Everyone spoke of its weight, whether through resistance, worship, or awe.
"How can a Titan of unknown whereabouts become the deepest fear in people's hearts?" Castorice asked.
"For the answer to this question, I continued my journey. At first, it was an escape, then it became a search, and finally..."
"I want to know... if my touch, my embrace, isn't meant only to strip away?"
The screen cut off abruptly.
Silence.
Once again, a moment of silence.
Guinaifen crossed her hands and stared intently at the screen.
She opened her mouth, and just as she was about to say something, Sushang beside her suddenly pointed her finger forward!
"Wait, Guinaifen..."
"Don't move yet, look at what this is?!"
Whoosh—!
Along with the livestream, the bullet chat that was about to spam comments frantically also got stuck.
That's right.
In the next second, the screen transitioned directly from 3D to 2D. In a dark, claustrophobic prison, a man was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I—I don't want to die, please!"
It echoed the beginning.
In contrast, opposite him stood a purple-haired girl with a cold expression. She turned her head away but still reached out her hand.
"No, don't..."
Like a withering flower, the man collapsed at the sound.
There was no twist, only petals of purple stamens scattering, and a voice:
"I hate these cold hands."
During the brief black screen transition, Guinaifen pointed at the screen, her lips trembling slightly: "It's—it's, it's, it's..."
"Could this be the animated short the Author mentioned in the preview?!"
[?]
[?]
[?]
[...]
At the same time, the vast majority of the bullet chat area was replaced by question marks.
The long-awaited animated short was actually playing suddenly at this moment?!
The camera reflected the images once more.
In the first scene, it was an old-era city-state hidden in gray mist, along with a ritual that felt eerie and very oppressive.
Without a doubt, the purple-haired girl was Castorice.
And it was her as a child.
Wearing a black veil and surrounded by countless people in black, Castorice cautiously walked up the steps one by one.
The people on both sides of the road held no anticipation, only full awe, including the children.
Watching Castorice climb the temple steps bit by bit, and then under their gaze, granting death to a deer.
Meanwhile, the surroundings were already filled with the deceased waiting for rest...
The Executioner said: "Your hands are the blessing of death; only you can bring them peace."
But clearly, Castorice didn't understand, nor was she willing.
Before she could reach out her hands to the deceased who were about to rest, she turned and ran away in a panic.
She ran and ran, all the way to a cluster of flowers.
With a gentle touch, the flowers withered.
The question marks in the bullet chat area continued to spam, becoming more and more intense.
The next scene.
Many children were gathered around a bonfire, holding hands and spinning in circles.
Castorice, staying some distance away on the other side, looked toward them—a lonely, solitary figure, leaving only a gloomy silhouette of her back.
Until a little girl reached out a branch toward her.
And so, the two of them held the branch across the distance, walking hand-in-hand toward the horizon.