GBP Chapter 247: THE END
Chapter 247: THE END
It would be a long time before that happened.
The wedding preparations, of course, would take a very, very long time.
In particular, the assistance to be provided by the Holy Land, or rather, the fact that the churches wished to hold these weddings on their own soil, would astonish everyone.
It was as if the Gods and Goddesses were constantly tugging at this couple’s arms.
Nevertheless, Atlas had made it clear.
The wedding ceremony would take place in Nyx’s church, on Atlas’s own lands, within that colossal church in the Shorekeeper Duchy.
Ah, by the way, it would no longer be correct to refer to the Shorekeeper Duchy as a ’Duchy’.
Aether Epsilon and Aelia Epsilon, the leaders of the Imperial family, had personally issued a decree and a parchment.
The Shorekeeper family, who ruled this vast and challenging region, located at the western edge of the Empire’s seas and characterised by an unimaginably deadly cold, would no longer be subject to the Empire but would instead be referred to directly as a Sister Nation of the Epsilon Empire.
To put it simply, Aether had wished to give his nephew Atlas one final gift.
This gift was to ensure he possessed a kingdom.
The tangible reality of this gift would come to pass after the wedding ceremony, for Atlas had believed that transforming his duchy into a kingdom was something he must do with his wife.
Days had come and gone, and preparations had continued at full speed.
Finally, the day had arrived and dawned.
Altair and Cassandra were inside the Church of the Night’s main building, that colossal church perched majestically atop the mountain range in the area very close to the Shorekeeper Duchy’s palace.
There were a great many people in the church, but the most important person to Atlas was Eve Shorekeeper herself, gazing at him with tear-filled eyes.
Atlas could see his own sister weeping silently.
For minutes on end.
The Sages were quite happy.
When Sullivan Leonardi saw his sister Cordelia’s face, full of joy, the slight worry in his heart had vanished.
The Pope of the church stood right beside the pair. In his hands was the sacred book of Nyx.
"The Beloved of the Chaos-Born, Holy Light and Darkness, Connector of People and the Hero of the Eternal Continents, Atlas Shorekeeper. Do you accept the woman standing before you, Sage Cassandra Leonardi, as your wife?" the pope asked with great excitement.
Atlas smiled and replied, "Yes."
It was a simple yet definitive answer.
No one had uttered a sound.
"Ruler of All Vampires, Sage of Death, the Strongest Blood Magician, Sage Cassandra Leonardi. Do you accept the man standing before you, Hero Atlas Shorekeeper, as your husband?" the Pope had asked once more.
"Yes," Cordelia had replied.
Cheers of joy rang out from all around, and the celebrations following the wedding feast continued for weeks.
Finally, when everything had come to an end, Atlas and Cassandra managed to find some time for themselves.
With the Duchy transformed into a Kingdom, the Shorekeeper Kingdom was born.
The Kingdom’s first royal family would soon emerge.
The children of Atlas Shorekeeper and Cassandra Shorekeeper would be born, and their names would be ’Azula’ and ’Orion’.
It was Cassandra herself who had suggested naming the children after Atlas’s parents. She held such deep respect for that couple that she felt compelled to bring up the matter herself.
Eva Shorekeeper was directly appointed as the kingdom’s first duchess, whilst the remaining six Sages held the highest ranks.
The Sages had accepted these ranks themselves.
Each of them was recognised as a Founder Member of the Shorekeeper Kingdom.
Atlas and Cassandra’s children were to be educated by the Sages themselves.
And so time would simply pass.
Hundreds of years would turn into thousands.
During this time, Elisa Fang, Irene Luis, Aether Epsilon, Aelia Epsilon and the rest would, of course, die. After all, they were mortals.
Yet the greatest loss, of course, would be the death of Eva Shorekeeper.
Atlas was heartbroken. How could he not be?
Nevertheless, with the help of his wife and children, he had managed to pull himself together. He had been able to carry on living.
Meanwhile, time had continued to march on.
Atlas and Cassandra, with the aid of the kingdoms wishing to join them, would transform the Shorekeeper Kingdom into a vast empire and bring the entire eastern continent under their protection.
The Shorekeeper Empire would be born.
Once this process was complete and everything had settled into peace, Atlas and Cassandra would realise that their own children, and even their children’s children, and the children of those who followed them, were growing old.
At that point, Atlas would issue a command.
He was now immortal.
Possessing fragments of the sacred powers, the very forces that created the universe, had made him immortal, and for that reason, no one but himself could kill him.
This command stated that he would now enter an eternal slumber and that the empire itself would pass directly to Azula Shorekeeper.
It was a sudden decision.
It was a decision that astonished everyone.
Yet, in the end, this hero’s life too must come to an end.
After all, there was a place he wished to go, a realm he wished to reach.
When Cassandra told him she would accompany him on this journey, Atlas did not refuse. On the contrary, the fact that his beloved would be by his side was the best thing he could have wished for.
The other Sages had stated they would remain in the empire and had personally sworn to Atlas that they would protect the Shorekeepers for all eternity.
Atlas was grateful for this. Yet he had told them that this was not necessary; when their time came, they should bid farewell to everything without looking back and join him in heaven.
Shortly afterwards, Atlas had divided his two pets, Amon and Surtur, between his two children.
Amon had been given to Azula herself, whilst Surtur had been given to Orion.
And so, the time had come.
Almost four thousand years after the founding of the empire, Atlas had closed his eyes to life alongside his wife, Cassandra Shorekeeper.
The couple were buried in the holiest region of the Shorekeeper Empire, within the enclosed cemetery situated on the palace grounds.
However, the couple’s spirits had managed to reach heaven directly in physical form.
Both Atlas and Cassandra were met directly by the Chaos-Born.
Atlas, however, recognised the woman among the Chaos-Born at first sight and bowed his head.
The moment he did so, the woman suddenly moved and stopped Atlas.
"My dear child. You bow to no one," the woman had said.
It was as though Nyx herself had bestowed paradise upon Atlas and Cassandra...
The pair’s story would end here, yet the names of every character in the tale, beginning with Atlas’s deeds, would continue to be recounted in heaven, in hell, and in the mortal world.
There are many stories in this universe.
There are countless mortals within hundreds, thousands of different realities.
Yet only a select few might truly succeed in making progress.
Atlas was one of them.
His story had not begun long ago.
Nor had it ended quickly.
It was arduous.
It was full of pain.
Yet it was a story with a happy ending.
Statues of him and his wife, Cassandra, would be found throughout heaven.
Almost every god and goddess would bow to them with respect upon seeing them, and they would do the same.
They were neither superior to them nor inferior.
Time would pass, and many family members would join them in heaven just like Eva did in the past.
Yet one thing was certain.
They were simply no longer mere mortals.
Atlas Shorekeeper and Cassandra Shorekeeper would now be known as a god and a goddess. Along with the rest of their family.
It was the end of their story.
But... it was the start of many.
After all, time moved on, and it didn’t ask anyone if it should stop.
Right?
THE END