Chapter 376: Didn

【"Hehe~"】

The voice that arose in his heart was gentle, brimming with comforting tenderness and ease.

【"I thought I'd hidden myself well enough, but you still found me~"】

It was the voice of a god.

For ordinary believers, hearing the voice of a god would be a great blessing, filling them with excitement and bringing tears of joy.

Yet, compared to those pitiful believers who offered everything to a distant god and received no response in return, Herbert was immensely fortunate.

Herbert felt no surprise at the god's voice; he merely licked his lips slightly.

For the god in his heart belonged to him alone.

【"My dear ally, you caught me again~"】

"So you've been here all along?"

【"That's right, I've always been here~"】

This answer didn't surprise Herbert—it only confirmed what he'd suspected.

Herbert always felt he lived under Nie Nasha's shadow.

Yet, unlike the cold, hostile gazes of others, Her shadow cast upon him had always been warm.

【"Hehe~"】

The god, who had no believers but one ally, laughed softly—her voice as gentle as water, murmuring as if beside a mortal's ear.

Merely hearing this voice could conjure in the mind a beautiful image: maternal radiance and noble compassion.

Unfortunately, the solemnity in this voice didn't last long; it quickly reverted to its usual irreverent tone.

【"Hey! By the way, how exactly did you find me?"】 the god asked, brimming with curiosity.

Miss Xie Shen had been confident in her hide-and-seek skills—there was no way she could be found.

She'd planned to reveal herself only when Herbert finally broke down, but he'd dragged her out halfway.

Not fair! My heroic rescue script!

"How did I find you? Instinct, I guess."

Herbert smirked, thinking casually in his mind: "To be honest, I've felt for a long time that you've been lurking nearby, watching me with ill intent."

I knew it—why did I always feel someone was coveting my beauty? Turns out I was being watched!

Boys out in the world really need to learn how to protect themselves.

Otherwise, you never know when some weirdo will start staring at you.

【"Hey! What do you mean 'ill intent'?"】

Nie Nasha (the hidden observer) huffed, complaining: 【"I admit I've been watching you—but it's loving attention, okay?"】

You ungrateful jerk!

【"Huh!? This is divine favor—do you even understand what that means?"】

Do you even know the value of "a god personally watching you around the clock"?

This is the kind of favor others beg for and can't get!

I haven't even asked you for more offerings—I'm being generous! You should be overjoyed, and yet you complain?

Are you even human?

Hey? Do you have any conscience at all?

Speak!

Answer me!!!

Facing Miss Xie Shen's "indignant" complaint, Herbert's lip twitched, and he mentally gave up:

"Fine, fine! It's loving attention! Thank you for always watching me—I'm truly moved!"

After saying that, Herbert silently sneered inwardly, wanting to throw her a look that said, "What are you even pretending for?"

Sister, what are you even acting for?

Keep acting?

Go ahead, play the victim—who can outdo you at it?

It's just you and me—why are you still pretending? We both know who we are.

As Herbert expected, the very next second after his "apology," Nie Nasha reacted.

【"Ha! Ha! You're welcome!"】

Miss Xie Shen's earlier "indignation" vanished instantly, replaced by pure triumph as she burst into triumphant, rhythmic laughter.

【"Hmhm, hehe, Ha! Ha↑ Ha↑ Ha↑ Ha↑"】

Won!

This time, it's my victory~

Just a little trick, a tiny performance—and I win spectacularly!

This little knight is no match for this demon god—I can easily control him.

Controlling him? Effortless~

Win!

As the god unilaterally declared her overwhelming victory, the lucky mortal who received her favor nearly rolled his eyes.

This guy really doesn't even pretend anymore.

"Alright, that's enough—stop laughing so hard."

The ungrateful mortal muttered half-heartedly: "Now isn't the time to discuss this—my business isn't finished yet."

Their conversation seemed long, but it all happened in the blink of an eye—no time had passed in the outside world.

While conversing with Young Lady Harmonious God, Herbert's gaze never left the reflection of his past life in the mirror, staring fixedly at him.

【"Hmph! I don't care, if there's any problem, go solve it yourself!"】

Nie Nasha declared — I'm angry! The kind that can't be coaxed!

Don't bother whether I'm really angry or not, and don't bother whether I just let out such a triumphant cheer.

I don't care!

I'm currently in a state of being angry, and I need someone to coax me properly!

"I believe you've always been there."

Herbert did not follow Nie Nasha's wishes to humbly coax Her into not being angry anymore, but with a calm expression spoke these words in his heart.

"Every time I encountered danger, you've always been there, always providing me with tremendous help."

Without deliberately stirring up emotions for sentimentality, he was merely quietly narrating the unadorned, sincere feelings in his heart.

"You... never let me down."

Herbert lightly moistened his lips, and softly said in his heart: "Thank you for always watching over me, I'm very grateful."

After facing the reflection of his past head-on, Herbert's heart was also slightly touched.

He, quite unusually, frankly expressed his inner feelings.

Thank you.

【Silence and Clamor】 This trial was definitely not simple, especially since the potion produced some special changes on his body, its effect almost equivalent to the most ancient divine secret medicine of the past.

Without Nie Nasha's existence, Herbert might ultimately have been able to break free from the Illusion, but this process would certainly have become exceptionally arduous.

He would probably, like everyone else, after employing a hundred methods, luckily break free, passing the trial in a very sorry state.

Why was Herbert able to remain clear-headed in the Illusion?

It was precisely by relying on Nie Nasha's protection that Herbert was able to perfectly float outside the Illusion.

Relying on his own willpower alone, he could hold out for a while, but probably couldn't remain clear-headed forever, with a high probability of sinking within the Illusion for a very long time.

By virtue of the deity's gift, he was able to clearly realize he was within the Illusion, and even when coming into contact with their phantoms, he wouldn't be pulled into a deeper dream.

Of course, merely remaining clear-headed within the Illusion was also meaningless; one had to find the method to break the phantoms.

The part about tackling the phantoms mainly relied on Herbert's own efforts; this really tested his skill.

But undeniably, Nie Nasha contributed greatly in this trial, was a huge help.

Especially when facing the reflection of his past life, Herbert had also for a moment begun to doubt himself.

Even for someone as proud and confident as him, when facing a tremendous impact, his heart would also waver.

A soul that shouldn't have appeared here, a face that shouldn't have appeared here, a conversation that shouldn't have appeared here.

If facing other dangerous beings, even deities, Herbert's heart wouldn't have much turmoil.

Legend?

Nothing special, I often pin legendary powerhouses to the ground and rub them back and forth, making them kneel and sing surrender.

Epic?

Worthy of a fight, fifty-fifty, I also often defeat them, engaging in fierce close combat.

Saint?

Nine-one... ahem, temporarily avoid the sharp edge; for now, yield.

Old fart, merely a withered bone in a tomb, will surely be captured sooner or later

Deity?

Trying to scare who? Acting as if who hasn't seen a deity.

If facing other people, he could face them calmly.

But Herbert happened to be facing himself.

A person can deceive anyone, but cannot truly deceive their own heart.

For a moment, his heart was also filled with doubt and lack of confidence.

Was everything he experienced really just an absurd beautiful dream? Was he merely a personality within a dream? Was it time to wake up?

He was panicked, uneasy, not wanting to lose everything he now possessed.

Because he had once lost it, he cherished everything he now possessed immensely.

When his spirit was at its most fragile, he sensed Nie Nasha's presence; that sudden sense of peace flooding his heart nearly brought him to tears.

Therefore, Herbert now clearly expressed his gratitude.

【"..."】

Nie Nasha was somewhat at a loss by Herbert's honest and obedient attitude, unsure whether to continue laughing or not.

She didn't know what he encountered in the Illusion, nor did she know what Herbert saw in the mirror...

But Nie Nasha knew that Herbert's heart must have suffered some grievance now.

And she was even more clear that all she could do was stay by his side, not letting him face it alone.

After a moment of silence, Young Lady Harmonious God also softly said: 【"Herbert, I also want to thank you."】

【"You really... didn't let me down either."】

What was She looking forward to?

Just like all children playing hide-and-seek, the purpose of hiding is to ultimately be found.

Nie Nasha was also looking forward to someone discovering Her little thoughts, looking forward to someone understanding Her ideas, being able to find Her while She was hiding.

Young Lady Harmonious God originally didn't hold much hope for this, but Herbert, this mortal, did as She wished.

Without any clues, relying solely on so-called intuition, he detected her little tricks.

Moreover, this wasn't the first time.

Before this, She had hidden like this many times, but every single time, Herbert would find her with ease, whether intentionally or not.

Everything was as She had wished.

What Herbert did was even better than what Nie Nasha had hoped for in her heart!

"Uh, you're welcome?"

【"Mm, you too, n-no need to thank me."】

"..."

【"..."】

After the two of them finished thanking each other with the politeness of strangers, the conversation ended, and for a moment it was a little awkward.

It was like the bashfulness and awkwardness of sending a long love confession late at night, then seeing the other person the next day.

"Ahem!"

After waiting a while, Herbert took the initiative to change the subject and said: "Speaking of which, you really do like to keep pretending to sleep after waking up. Do you really enjoy observing from the shadows that much?"

His tone had returned to normal, his words carrying a few parts of teasing and playfulness.

Following suit, Nie Nasha also stepped down from the awkwardness, lightly laughing in the same way: 【"Aiya, this little lady just wanted to see how far you could go without relying on me~"】

That's right, I am training your ability to be independent and self-reliant, you know!

"Heh."

Herbert let out a light laugh, and once again looked back at the "himself" in the mirror. Only a few breaths of time had passed since Nie Nasha first spoke.

The reflection of his past life in the mirror was still frowning and staring at Herbert outside the mirror, and asked in a low voice: "What did you just say? Who are you talking to?"

Oh?

Herbert raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and asked playfully: "So, you can't see?"

Just as Herbert had thought, the reflection in the mirror was unaware of Nie Nasha's existence; in his account, there was no trace of Her at all.

In the final trial, he attributed everything Herbert had managed to do to his own talent, not to the help of a deity.

But what Herbert hadn't expected was that this single sentence of his... was simultaneously asking three people present.

The reflection in the mirror: "I can't see, what exactly are you talking about? What am I supposed to see?"

Nie Nasha: 【"I can't see either~"】

Liukaliya: Ah? What am I supposed to be seeing?

All three of them thought the words were directed at themselves.

One person asks, three people are left with question marks.

???

This final trial connected to 【Fate】 was visible to Herbert alone.

Even Nie Nasha couldn't see the existence in the mirror; She only knew that Herbert seemed to be talking to his own shadow.

The reflection in the mirror was unaware of Nie Nasha's existence, completely unable to understand the meaning of Herbert's words.

And Liukaliya, the mirror fairy who had watched the one-man show from the side for a long while, also couldn't see anything else, and could only see her own reflection in the mirror.

She was now the most confused of all.

He, he was talking to the phantom in the mirror earlier, so now he should be talking to me, right?

There's no third person here right now, so it must be me, right?

Am I... here?

Should I be here? Or should I not be here?

No, isn't it that I'm right beside you? Why are you asking me!

Also, what am I supposed to see?

The mirror fairy Young Lady had never been this confused before.

Herbert didn't pay attention to Liukaliya's reaction. He put all his focus on the reflection in the mirror, and said softly: "Although you can't see, it doesn't matter. I can describe her to you."

"You were supposed to see someone who is very important to me."

Herbert tilted his head slightly, trying to look at Nie Nasha who was hiding somewhere behind him, and happened to see the shocked Liukaliya beside him.

Hm?

Why are you making that expression?

A strange thought flashed through his mind, but Herbert had no energy to think about these small details now, and continued speaking to the reflection.

"She is not in your eyes, but I cannot do without Her."

"It is precisely by relying on Her that I am able to stand before you, able to support myself in getting this far."

"Without Her, I might have already collapsed long ago."

If at the very beginning of fate, Nie Nasha had not appeared, then Herbert would most likely still be a mid-level, or even an initial-level Holy Knight, tempering himself in the monastery.

The past-life reflection thought for quite a while, and finally said: "What you mean is, you met someone very important in this world, someone so important that you are willing to give up true reality and sink completely into a dream."

"Mm."

Herbert smiled and nodded, winked at him and said: "Also, I am already very clear that what you say is not true. There's no need to keep up the pretense."

"Moreover, even if everything is false just as you say... I would still be willing to give up that world for Her."

Herbert's gaze was firm, and he said it with absolute seriousness, and then... silently added in his heart: "Also for her, her, her, her, mm, for them."

Herbert did not consider this to be some scumbag remark of his.

He was merely loving everyone equally, a saint with great love!

He was simply a little more all-loving compared to other people, that's all.

For Herbert himself, what he wanted to give up was the boring world of his past life that he could not return to and did not want to return to.

But for Nie Nasha, who had heard these words, the impact of his sentence was quite tremendous.

【"!!! \"】

It could not hear the words of its past-life reflection, and could only infer the entire conversation from Herbert's one-sided fragments—he was willing to give up the entire world before him for its sake!!?

Nie Nasha had never imagined that anyone other than a believer would speak such words for it.

Willing to give up the entire world for its sake?

Even fanatic believers rarely possessed such resolve.

And there was not the slightest trace of erosion from its power of faith on Herbert's body, which meant—every one of his words came straight from the heart.

!!!

How can this guy say such embarrassing words with such a calm face!!?

【"Hiss! \"】

Although Herbert had always been very important to Nie Nasha, an extremely special existence, and it was willing to give a great deal for him.

But at this moment, Nie Nasha felt ashamed, feeling that the resolve in its own heart did not seem to be as great as Herbert's.

It began to reflect on whether it had not done enough? Whether it was still lacking something?

Miss Xie Shen was successfully struck dumb, and for a time became somewhat coy, not knowing how to bring it up with Herbert.

At the same time, there was another lady present who had been shocked.

And behind Herbert, Miss Mirror Demon—wore a face of utter shock!

!!?

Th-this, is he talking about me?

Liukaliya was thoroughly shocked!

She had no idea why Herbert had suddenly given her such a high evaluation.

She simply could not figure it out!

What "important person," what "give up the world"... ah!!?

Is this right?

What did I do?

How did I not know I was this important to you!!?

Moreover, Herbert was so respectful of me in front of others—he actually addressed me as "it"!

A Saint is already nearly equivalent to a deity, and an Epic-tier powerhouse is in strength also equivalent to an angel or even a divine envoy, and is qualified to be addressed as "it" by mortals.

Looking at Herbert's previous attitude, Liukaliya had thought he simply did not respect her, that he had no sense of reverence.

She had never imagined that in front of others he would be so frank, showing such respect toward her.

"So, he actually respects me deep down? He was just using that playboy attitude to attract my attention?"

Liukaliya thought for a moment and arrived at a conclusion—he likes me!!?

Ha!

You still say I'm secretly in love with you—when clearly you're the one secretly in love with me!

So you little punk were crying 'stop, thief' while being the thief yourself, trying to use that kind of approach to ease your own embarrassment.

After thinking through this key point, Liukaliya became thoroughly smug.

Little rascal, still trying to hide it?

Caught you!

Heh-heh~

Miss Mirror Demon looked at Herbert's profile and smiled to herself: "Given how shy he is, I'll treat him a little better from now on."

The speaker has no intent, but the listener takes it to heart.

Once words are spoken, how they end up interpreted is the listener's own problem.

The reflection in the mirror fell silent, brows tightly knit, gazing into Herbert's eyes.

"……Hah!"

After a long while, the black-haired youth finally dropped his shoulders as if drained, let out a long breath, and sighed: "As expected of me—truly can't fool myself."

"Let's go, let's go."

He stretched vigorously, pounded his stiff shoulders and aching lower back, then, without a word, turned to leave.

Since Herbert had fully awakened, it was time for this phantom of his to depart as well.

From behind came the youth's inquiry: "It's already the end—aren't you going to say a proper goodbye?"

"Goodbye?"

The past-life reflection's steps halted; it turned its head to look back, raised an eyebrow, and asked in return: "Goodbye to what? You've only let go, you're not completely forgetting."

Letting go does not mean abandoning.

Life is never about severing ties with your past self, but about, after each fall, remembering every wound, seeing everything clearly, and continuing forward.

The past life continued onward, growing more distant with each step.

Just as the phantom was about to fade, the youth's inquiry came once more from behind: "Has the current me disappointed you?"

"Disappointed? Are you kidding me?"

The youth's steps halted again; he raised an eyebrow, then said proudly: "I have never disappointed anyone."

"Including myself!"

The youth gave a slight nod of agreement.

"That is true."

Separated by a mirror named Fate, the two representing past and present gazed at each other, then burst into laughter in unison.

"Haha."

"Hahahaha!!!"

After laughing heartily for quite a while, the black-haired youth called out to his future self: "Herbert."

"Since you've already let go, now is the time to move forward."

Move forward?

"What are you saying… hmm?"

Herbert was puzzling over his past life's words when he suddenly felt his body grow light.

Thud.

Accompanied by an ethereal light sound, he felt something drop from his ankle and fall into the shadow beneath his feet.

What was that?

No, he knew.

That was his own past.

At this moment, the past that had always bound him finally let him go.

Then, without giving Herbert any chance to be sentimental…

He immediately felt a surge of impassioned power erupt from his soul!

"This is?"

Herbert's eyes went wide, and he murmured in a daze:

"…Legendary?"

(End of chapter)