OBS Chapter 3654 "Aftereffects"
Chapter 3654 "Aftereffects"
Chapter 3654 "Aftereffects"
Winnie's ability to alter the climate stemmed from her racial talent rather than from spellcasting; therefore, in Shad's view, she simply stood on the edge of a cliff, closed her eyes, and the surrounding snow gradually diminished.
She said it would take a while for the local climate to change completely, and Shad tightened the scarf around his neck—a gift from Iluna at the end of 1853—before taking the initiative to start talking about the past.
When he left on Friday night, Shad only confirmed that Winnie was indeed Winnie; there were many things he didn't ask. Now, watching Winnie's retreating figure, time seemed to rewind to that night when he conversed with God by the lake:
"After what happened back then, did Miss Novare and Miss Coens get married?"
The maid answered softly:
"Yes, that was ten years after you left. They got engaged a long time ago, but Miss Cohens' hunter companions thought she shouldn't marry a vampire, and a lot of things happened during that time."
Miss Novare failed to become a clan elder, so she eloped with Miss Cohens. They first traveled the world together, and after I left the Zarath Academy, they lived with me for a while in the northernmost part of the world. All the commotion only subsided when Miss Novare advanced to the thirteenth rank and returned to the civilized world with Miss Cohens.
This is a good ending for them too:
"So what happened to Ms. Gerd afterward?"
"She returned to the Zarath Academy, having reached a high-ranking position before becoming an angel. She sometimes visits me at the northern end of the world, and I have always maintained contact with the Zarath Academy. Her Majesty Chloe later sought me out on her own initiative, also because of the academy."
"how about you?"
Instead of asking about Chloe's condition, Shad asked her:
How have you been feeling these past few years?
The maid, who had been facing away from Shad, turned around, seemingly having completed her brief influence on the region's climate:
"Living amidst ice and snow, even the concept of time becomes blurred. The hundreds of years before I met Her Majesty Chloe seemed to pass in the blink of an eye; these years of slumber in the castle, time is equally blurry to me."
A smile appeared on his cold face:
"Time only has meaning for me when you are there."
So when Miss Asperger arrived to check on the situation after sensing the abnormal climate change nearby, she happened to see Shad and the Ice Maid embracing.
"It seems I came at the wrong time."
She raised an eyebrow, wondering if she should keep this a secret from her friend. But then she thought about how Shad already had so many beautiful witches around him, and that Daniste probably didn't care about such things.
The two separated, and Shad greeted Miss Asperger as if nothing had happened.
She pretended not to have seen anything, responded to Shad's greeting, and then, intending to ask what had happened, she noticed something was wrong with the "elemental lifeform" beside Shad:
"You are."
The truth that even the faked didn't see, the "Winter Singer" did:
"Natural essence?"
A few days ago, she told Shad the story about the stone harp, so she was more surprised than anyone else at this moment:
“I thought that beings like you no longer existed in this era. Sorry, that’s not what I meant. I meant that the last time the Order recorded the appearance of a natural spirit born from ice and snow was in the previous era.”
She was very curious about Winnie's background, but the Ice Maid clearly had no intention of sharing her story with strangers. However, since the other woman was a follower of the Winter God, she at least exchanged a few words with Miss Asperger.
"Our camp has been relocated."
The sorceress in the dark blue dress then said to Shad:
"The church already knew we were cooperating with you on Friday, so to make things easier later, the camp was moved from the cedar forest on the outskirts of the city to outside the town of Kyle-Todd. Miss Reinhardt's grandfather originally said he could find some empty houses for us to live in in the town, but I refused. It's better for ring mages not to live in groups in ordinary towns."
The move outside Kyle-Todd was likely also based on blood ties. On the Saturday Shad was away, she had already communicated with the Fatu people on behalf of the far-northern tribes, and both sides acknowledged the discovery of the underwater tomb.
Although this blood relationship has been separated by two eras, both sides are willing to re-establish contact based on it. However, this is not Miss Asperger's business; representatives from the far north will come to the area to discuss the future with the Fatu people. In these increasingly chaotic times, having more friends and family is certainly a good thing.
Currently, the Fatu people and the Winter Choir are merely allies, and the connection between them is Shad.
Winnie then returned to the castle, while Shad and Miss Asperger went to the chorus's residence, which was very close to the town. It was actually the place where Shad first met the priest from the "Unity of All" who was holding the "Puppet Master's Script."
A simple wooden fence enclosed the campsite, inside which stood rows of white tents. In the current snowy weather, these tents provided excellent concealment, and the people who live year-round on the far north ice sheet are well adapted to the weather.
Today, Stella was to undergo a Fatu ritual to enhance her talent, so Shad and Miss Asperger only stayed at the camp for a short while before heading to town together, accompanied by two girls from Central.
On the way, Shad also inquired about the aftermath of Friday's incident, specifically the situation of the cultists, which Miss Asperger seemed to know quite well:
"The cultists' ranks consisted of the [Meeting of Ten Thousand], the [Order of Doom], and the [Club of Tyranny]. They suffered heavy losses in the battle against the rampaging Fallen Star Beasts. The church was unable to capture any survivors, but recovered several corpses from the sea."
According to psychic readings and the prophets' divinations, the three parties acted as partners. However, the followers of tyranny clearly exploited the two cults with candidates; their aim was the "ring of war," and only after realizing they were too late did they resort to unknown means to try and prevent everyone from achieving their desired outcome.
The sorceress glanced at Shad:
"But no matter what methods the prophets used, they could not find out what kind of power the tyrannical believers used to turn the fallen star beast into such a bizarre form. It was definitely not the power of an evil god. The church currently strongly suspects that the power that corrupted the star was the power of a demon. Although the church's speculation has no evidence, I think you must know something."
Xia De nodded:
"Yes, it is the demon, Black Hand - Tifreon. It used its power to catalyze an artifact, and then used that artifact to influence the Fallen Star Beasts. It was probably lurking among the followers of tyranny, using them while the former used their collaborators."
Later I will explain it to the church like this: its power is definitely real; there is no other possibility.
Miss Asperger gave her a "I knew it" look:
"But in any case, things were resolved fairly satisfactorily. However, the fact that stars could be shattered was unimaginable before 1853. I am not a diviner and cannot explain the impact of this event on the night sky, but there is one more thing you need to pay attention to, namely that astral fragment."
Xia De was somewhat puzzled:
"After we defeated the Fallen Star Beast, how come that fragment of the astral plane still exists? Wasn't it supported by the power of the Fallen Star Beast?"
"That's true, but it was a relatively intact space, so it didn't collapse immediately. According to the church's estimates, it will take about three years for it to completely disappear. Right now, its interior is quite unstable, so the church only sent someone in to take a look."
The collapsing astral fragments won't have a significant impact on the normal world, but the spatial rifts torn open by the future Elven King's battle against the stars will remain, disappearing only when the astral fragments vanish.
On Friday, the group returned to Falling Star Bay through that rift. The power Emilia used at that time was not only her own; the power Shad gained from "wishing" to the giant tree in the white mist to slow the falling star also appeared in her at that moment.
Xia De instinctively looked southeast, but it was too far from the sea for him to see anything.
"Could an ordinary person also see that crack?"
"You can't see it during the day, only at night. It's beautiful, like a crack in the starry sky, with an even denser starry sky inside. Although leaving it to exist isn't a big problem, the Church will probably ask you to find the chosen ones in the space to help see if they can accelerate the collapse of the astral fragment or close that crack."
Shad nodded to indicate that he understood, but Dorothy and Lacey's "Red Butterfly Day" was postponed until the end of the story of fate. Even if they could make the rift disappear, they would not act immediately.
Of course, the traces left by Friday's battle weren't limited to the massive rift in the sky. The fallen star beasts, corrupted by the Demon King's blood, crashed onto the side of the snow-capped mountain, and the enormous impact crater still exists today.
On Saturday, with the permission of the Fatu people, the Prophet's Association climbed the snow-capped mountain to examine the crater. Even after being "cleansed" by moonlight and burned by the First Flame, the impact crater still held glimmers of starlight.
Although the prophets believed that only starlight remained in the impact crater and no evil forces were hidden there, they also believed that the starlight in the impact crater would probably remain for many years and would not disappear.
"It is said that the kind of mineral monsters that can shoot out starlight that we saw in the underwater underground tunnel may crawl out there. The Fatu people should be careful not to encounter those things on the snow mountain in the future."
Miss Esberger then said in a relaxed tone that compared to the damage caused by the Fallen Star Beast itself, these "aftereffects" were actually nothing.