Captain – Chapter 557 – God and Believer

The howling of collapsing fragments, the thunderous roar of cascading seawater, and the weightless sensation of falling toward hell, followed by excruciating pain and pitch-black darkness so deep one couldn’t see their own hand.

Boundless darkness, like the world after death.

In fact, he should indeed be dead.

Caine lay on his back, letting the darkness carry him, drifting in this meaningless world, staring blankly at the starless night sky, silently reminiscing in wordless contemplation.

His consciousness remained, yet he couldn’t move a single finger.

Because his body had long since been shattered to pieces, like an exquisite porcelain dropped on a table.

Since regaining consciousness, the pain coursing through his entire body, and his complete inability to move despite exerting all his strength, revealed this cruel reality to him without mercy.

Faced with such inhuman, endless torment, faced with nothing but darkness and despair, even someone as resolute as the young man couldn’t prevent his spirit from crumbling.

He could only rely on memories to divert his attention as much as possible, to slow this process.

What he recalled first was naturally that apocalyptic scene.

The false sky collapsed, seawater poured down like sulfur, the entire underwater world wailed and perished. He looked up and around, no longer harboring any hope of escape.

Then the young dragon came.

That disobedient little creature approached with low growls, carrying him away from the shadow of falling rocks, weaving between flowing fragments, as if trying to defy the devil’s will.

But though it bore the name Nidhogg, it was ultimately not the dragon of despair from the old calendar.

As the mountains collapsed on their arrival and the stairway back to the present world shattered, in the midst of this world turned upside down, no matter how noble its origins or how glorious its distant future might be, at that moment, it couldn’t possibly carry him to safety.

So like a tragic scene from mythology, a crystal fragment struck the swiftly flying young dragon, forcibly separating them as they plummeted toward the ground riddled with cracks.

Before consciousness faded and darkness descended, he had vaguely seen the young dragon…

Fall into the Putrid Abyss.

That abyss said to devour the vitality of all things, where even time would lose meaning.

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As for himself, he must have fallen directly onto the rocks. Even though the pocket watch moved of its own accord and the devil’s great power blessed him in his death throes, it hadn’t spared him from broken bones.

What came next—was it deadly falling stones, or torrential seawater?

No matter what, he should have died.

At this thought, whether due to the pain intensifying beyond what mortals could endure, or simply from exhaustion, the young man had no heart to think of anything else.

He just drifted like this, as if lying in a coffin, floating along the River Styx toward true hell.

The destination of all life.

His eyelids drooped, yet he felt no drowsiness.

After darkness came more darkness, along with maddening agony.

In this dreamlike world, Caine felt no real sense of time passing. He only felt that during this drifting process, the unceasing pain throughout his body was gradually becoming numb, until finally only bone-deep coldness remained.

Was this what death felt like?

But that was fine… at least this way, he wouldn’t have to endure such torment every moment.

Sleep.

The excruciating pain subsided, followed by heavy drowsiness. Yet compared to genuine pain, this final mercy the world showed to living beings was more deadly.

Once he fell asleep, he would never wake again.

“Splash, splash…”

Whether by coincidence or… fate.

As the young man closed his eyes, ready to let himself drift off to sleep, in this world of deathly silence—or rather, by his ear—the sound of flowing water suddenly arose.

No, it couldn’t be defined so simply. This sound was more like something between water and wind, and it wasn’t naturally occurring, but rather seemed created by someone.

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As if someone was swimming desperately through some unseen medium.

Almost hysterically.

What was this sound?

His gradually stagnating thoughts began to flow again. The young man inexplicably felt a premonition that the person swimming must have an inseparable connection with himself.

Otherwise, there was no reason for them to appear here.

In this world separated from death by only a thin line.

Caine struggled to open his eyes, but the previously sweet drowsiness now acted like chains, like a hideous death god that had shed its disguise, firmly binding him.

Yet ultimately, he succeeded, as if by miracle.

The moment his vision returned, overwhelming pain also returned to his body. But this time, the young man paid it no mind, only staring blankly into the distance.

Staring at that blurred figure in the depths of darkness.

Elizabeth…

Though everything was dark and Caine could only vaguely make out the person’s build and silhouette, he recognized at first glance that it was his beloved, whom he treasured like a precious gem.

Even you…

Before he could sink into sorrow, the young man discovered that although he and the captain were both in darkness, even not far apart, they seemed to exist in different worlds.

As if separated by a thin veil called life and death.

But he felt relieved instead.

The faint sound of movement continued in his ears. Caine quietly watched the girl, seeing her off as she swam toward the surface, unable to do anything, and making no attempt to do so.

He only murmured silently: Yes, that’s right, swim out of this damned place, Captain.

Return to our world.

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Finally, the girl approached that paper-thin dark veil, but as if fate played a cruel joke, when she was only a step away from it, she no longer had the strength to move forward.

No, it shouldn’t be like this…

Watching the girl’s hands fall, looking so helpless, Caine felt his heart wrench violently. That heartbreak-like profound disappointment even overwhelmed the pain throughout his body.

He didn’t know what sinking back to the seabed meant for her, but he knew that while it might not involve life and death, it could truly break her heart.

Just as she had said—if everything was beyond change, she would give up hope.

And that was exactly what the young man had hoped for.

But somehow, witnessing the moment before the girl’s “dream shattered,” thinking of the deep sorrow and loss she would face, he suddenly felt his heart soften.

Yes, it shouldn’t be like this.

Smiling silently, the young man who had been unable to move due to broken bones throughout his body slowly raised his hand, though his movements were stiff and his hand bones somewhat twisted.

He looked exactly like a pitiful marionette.

“Tick, tick…”

What enabled him to do all this wasn’t pure faith, but the pocket watch that had started moving again, though it was on the verge of breaking, though its sound had become hoarse.

Great power supported his broken hand as it slowly pushed forward, and formless, substanceless darkness began to flow, surging toward the girl who was about to fall back.

It surrounded her, trying to push her, to carry her flying toward that place her heart yearned for.

But it seemed… still not quite enough.

Some laws couldn’t be broken at will through courage and will alone.

The lightning in his azure eyes gradually dimmed. Watching the captain still slowly falling, even Caine felt somewhat desperate. But just as his hand was about to drop in near-surrender, he heard those words—that command from the other side of the world.

“Pierce through it.”

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And everything changed accordingly.

Rules were broken, the girl rekindled hope, and those dark currents accompanying her finally carried her forward, charging toward that dark veil with unwavering determination.

“Pop.”

A crisp sound, and in the world that had only darkness, the first ray of light finally appeared.

Very faint, yet very warm.

The girl left, but the light remained, growing stronger with time.

It wasn’t skylight, but more like fire, like lava, like blazing devil’s eyes.

They rose up, they poured in, they competed to occupy this world, unreasonably tearing open the darkness, dyeing everything a brilliant gold.

As if proclaiming that the old rules no longer applied.

Finally, they approached and penetrated that veil separating life and death, spilling onto the young man’s pale face, seeping into his body like spring rain.

In the blinding light, Caine seemed to see the captain again.

Only this time, she was also gazing at him, divine light flickering in her eyes with that sense of looking down from above, as if a deity observing insects.

But ultimately, all those cold emotions melted away, leaving only tranquility and gentleness.

She extended her hand toward him, just as the goddess Auran did to believers in the holy scriptures.

Was this a dying hallucination, or…

Caine’s gaze was equally gentle. When the girl’s slender, pale palm came before him, he no longer wanted to think deeply, but only instinctively reached out his hand toward her.

Their two hands overlapped in the radiance, then their fingers interlocked.

Time seemed to freeze eternally in this moment.