Monarch of Evernight - Volume 3 - Chapter 68: The Curtain Drops

When Zen was just five, his kingdom fell in flames. His people vanished into dust. His parents - his world - were taken by death. Left behind with nothing but silence, the young prince was forgotten by history. But his story… was only just beginning.He walks alone at first. Weak. Broken. Powerless.But the fire in his heart never died.He seeks strength enough to tear through the heavens, enough to break the chains of fate itself. Not just to see the faces of his lost parents once more… but to take revenge on the ones who destroyed everything.But can strength truly reach beyond death?… or will it only turn him into something worse?This is not just the story of a fallen prince.This is the legend of The One Who Walks Beyond the End.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon chronicles the story of a futuristic civilization returned to Earth after constant warfare hindered them from traveling beyond the post-Apocalyptic Earth. At this stage, a small archipelago called the Divine States were the only hospitable land on Earth. In order to regain the space-faring technology they had lost after many years of war, they decided to recreate history with a book called the Testament as a guide.

It is the year 1648 in the Testament Era. Toori Aoi, Chancellor and Student Council President of the only academy on the airborne city-ship Musashi, faces the ten-year anniversary of the death of his childhood friend Horizon Ariadust in an accident. As he prepares to celebrate the occasion by proposing to P-01s (an automaton who looks exactly like Horizon) he discovers that his suspicion about P-01s’ appearance actually has a basis in truth; P-01s is in fact Horizon Ariadust, reborn into a robotic body. In addition to this, Horizon’s emotions had been stripped away and are now stored in eight powerful weapons called the Mortal Sin Armaments; which are now in the possession of key people in various established countries in the Divine States.

To retrieve the emotions of Horizon Ariadust, Toori Aoi along with his friends and allies begins a crusade against different obstacles as key events in history are recreated in a futuristic manner.

Lu Qingyan was once the perfect daughter—an obedient, soft-spoken high school girl known for her academic excellence and fragile health. But the one person she loved the most was her older brother—hentle, dazzling, and far too burdened for his age, he was her everything.. No one noticed his silent suffering… until it was too late. The day he took his own life, she shattered.Months later, while saving a child from an oncoming car, Lu Qingyan dies and awakens inside a familiar story: the school novel “A Thorn in the Crown”, one she read during her lowest days.But she’s no longer just a reader.She’s now Lu Qingyan, the infamous younger sister of Lu Mingxuan—the novel’s violent and cold-hearted villain feared across campus. A notorious delinquent, and ironically, the sworn enemy of her favorite character: Wang Jingyuan, the story’s tragic antagonist turned misunderstood villain.In the novel, Lu Qingyan is little more than cannon fodder—a delusional girl who idolizes her brother, gets caught in the crossfire between Lu Mingxuan and Wang Jingyuan, and ends up being dead.Determined to change the plot, she initially plans to curry favor with Wang Jingyuan—to save him from his doomed fate.But everything shifts the moment she lays eyes on Lu Mingxuan.He has her brother’s face.The same weary eyes.The same lonely back.The same silent cry for help no one else hears.And in that moment, Lu Qingyan’s plan shatters.This isn’t just a story anymore.So Lu Qingyan vowed to protect him this time, even if it means dragging her brother out of gang fights, squaring off against entitled rich kids, or defying the other villain himself—Wang Jingyuan, the school’s cold and brilliant golden boy... and Lu Mingxuan's sworn rival.In the original novel, Wang Jingyuan was one of the big villains—the cunning and miserable friend of the male lead. Now, he’s front and center... and watching her a little too closely....Lu Mingxuan always disliked his bootlicking sister, but one day he discovered that she had stopped following him around.Later, he unexpectedly found his sworn enemy, Wang Jingyuan, trapping his sister against the wall and between his arms. With an ambiguous and languid expression, he coaxed in a soft tone, “Just give up on that useless brother of yours. What Lu Mingxuan can give you, I can too.”Lu Qingyan: ???Wang Jingyuan, you dog!!That’s my sister!! Stop daydreaming!!