novelonline Chapter 3523 The Fake Mountain Climber
Chapter 3523 The Fake Mountain Climber
Chapter 3523 The Fake Mountain Climber
Both Claire and Elder Ursa had snowmelt to replenish their spiritual energy, but it was clear that the fatigue and tension from a night of fighting could not be relieved by snowmelt alone.
Shad then unleashed the magical spell [Dark Moon Grace], and while casting the spell on the mountaintop, he also felt the influence of abnormal environmental elements on him. Although the spell did not fail, the light of the summoned silver fireball flickered incessantly, like a gas lamp that had fallen into disrepair.
“If the ritual fails—I mean if all the flames eventually go out and no one gets here—Elder Ursa, is there any way to remedy the All Souls’ Day ritual?”
Shad had only considered that the climbers might not arrive on time due to weather conditions, but he never expected that none of them would show up in the end.
Elder Ursa's expression was quite unpleasant:
"The last time something like what you described happened was over a thousand years ago. Ancient snakeskin scrolls did record remedial measures, but even if those measures took effect, Fatummister Island would still experience minor problems for the entire year to come, and the elemental imbalance wouldn't subside within the island for a month or two. Although it wouldn't be as severe as it is now, it was still no small matter."
All three looked in the direction of the mountain climb. Fortunately, a few minutes later, Elder Ule flew over from below, panting heavily.
"Found him! The young man from Vadino village is already down there. He'll arrive in ten minutes. The others haven't come yet? What's going on this year?"
Elder Ule also sat down on the snow to rest, the elderly man panting heavily.
"firewood."
"I've dried it out; it'll ignite as soon as a spark falls."
Shad immediately spoke, Elder Ursa continued to inquire about the situation beside Elder Uller, while Claire stood with Shad:
"It's good that you're here. Although Sylvie is also on the island, I feel at ease when I see you."
The platinum blonde girl spoke softly, and Shad asked:
"Why didn't you come to me for help last night? Although Galina's manor is a distance from my home, she could have found me within an hour."
Claire shook her head:
“The situation in town wasn’t critical enough to require your help last night. Those water ghosts and alien demons sound scary, but the real problem is that they’ve gotten into town and we need to search house to house.”
Are your parents alright?
Shad asked again, and Claire smiled, knowing that Shad was concerned about her.
“It’s alright. After the incident at the dock, I had Stella and Matilda take my parents to the Snow Mountain Hall. But speaking of which, Bella’s maids were a great help last night. When we were searching for the water ghosts and demons in the town, we were very grateful for their assistance. I owe Bella a favor this time.”
"So how do you plan to repay it?"
Claire's mood relaxed at this moment:
"I won't hold her accountable for what happened last time. I only recently found out that the amethyst amulet she sold me was a defective product she made as a New Year's gift for you. Hmph~ It's hard to imagine that the Countess of Moon Bay would do such a thing."
Shad laughed sheepishly, but Claire wasn't really blaming Bella. After all, even though it was a defective product, you get what you pay for, and Bella hadn't lied to her.
"I just regret that I met you a few weeks too late."
She added, her golden eyes fixed on Shad, who understood her meaning:
"Although we missed this year-end holiday, we can still spend many more year-end holidays together in the future."
The witch nodded gently, glanced at the two elderly people who were engrossed in their conversation out of the corner of her eye, and then subtly hooked her right hand around Shad's finger:
"Then it's a deal, you can't lie to me."
The pale-faced, panting young man finally arrived at the mountaintop platform shortly afterward. Elder Ursa and Elder Ule immediately went to greet him. They both recognized him and called him "Shay," a common name among the Fatu people. The young man, Shay, was a young man of about twenty years old, about the same height as Shad, with brown hair, but much thinner than Shad.
The kerosene lamp, which held the fire, hung from his waist, and although the flame inside was faint, it was still present.
Although Elder Ursa and Elder Ule were anxious, the ceremony was not yet over, so they did not directly touch the kerosene lamp. Instead, they urged the young man to quickly use the fire to light the bonfire in the center of the mountaintop.
So the young man named Shay quickly walked towards the center of the mountaintop platform, but at that moment—
"Moonlight Slash!"
Standing next to Claire, Shad raised his hand and unleashed a dazzling beam of moonlight at the young man's back. No one expected him to strike at this moment, and the moonlight slid along Shay's right shoulder, splitting his body in two.
The body and the kerosene lamp fell onto the snow, the blood staining the surface crimson. Elder Ursa and Elder Uller looked at Shad in shock, instinctively about to cast a spell, but Claire stepped in front of Shad:
"Wait a minute, Shad, what did you see?"
“That’s not a Fatu person. That’s a pseudo-person, a fourth-stage pseudo-person.”
Shad's eyes passed over the two old men and looked down at the "corpse" on the ground; his expression was very serious.
"Stop pretending, stand up. I won't mistake you disgusting creatures."
The two elders then turned to look at the "corpse." The writhing flesh had now pieced itself together, and then "Shay," with scars on his body that had not yet healed, stood up in a rather bizarre posture.
It used its hands to adjust the position of its upper body, making its body fit together more accurately. But the holy moonlight prevented its flesh from healing itself, so the scar lingered.
"Although I expected you to be here, I'm really curious how you recognized me?"
Its arms transformed into long whips of flesh and blood, stabbing at the two elders. At the same time, it kicked backward with its right foot, sending the embers that had fallen on the snow flying towards the pile of firewood.
"Freezing Ray!"
"Freezing Ray!"
Shad and Claire cast their spells simultaneously. Although the icy blue light emanating from Shad's fingertips was blocked by the fake man's body, Claire's magic accurately struck the kerosene lamp.
The kerosene lamp was frozen in the ice, and only then did the witch realize that the lamp was not made of metal at all, but of flesh and blood:
What is the flame inside the lamp?
The elders blocked the two long whips of flesh and blood, but they were caught off guard and attacked, and were still knocked away.
The flesh-and-blood whip continued its attack on the elders, then with a whoosh, the Night Watchman transformed into a whip in mid-air, striking the fake man's flesh. The flesh and blood entangled the gleaming silver whip, and then the blazing moonlight, following the whip formed from the longsword, ignited the fake man's flesh.
It immediately abandoned that part of its body, warping space to dodge the ensuing moonlight. But as soon as its body reappeared, the Sunlight Gun pierced straight through its chest.
It tried to struggle, but the golden arcs of electricity crackling across its body had already caused its flesh and blood to spiral out of control. Claire continued casting her spell, and with a rustling sound, ice enveloped the fake human's body.
Blood-red light rippled across its body, neutralizing the arc of the Sun Gun before shattering the ice. But by then, Shad had already reached it, his right foot stomping on the ground to activate the "Spatial Stability Aura," preventing spatial movement. Then, the [Night Watch] swung down, and the pseudo-human's head immediately flew into the sky.
Before the head hit the ground, its body was already engulfed in flames. The head then flew away from Shad and was blasted to pieces by a fireball thrown by Claire.
"bonfire!"
Elder Ursa, who had just gotten up from the snow, shouted. Shad, who was dealing with the fake corpse, then noticed that the dry pile of firewood was now burning with a scarlet, foul-smelling flame.
The stench of blood filled the air, but more importantly, the crimson flames that ignited on the mountaintop almost instantly caused the whispering element, one of the four elements already in disarray at the summit, to suddenly overwhelm the other three.
At this moment, it seemed as if an angelic relic was going out of control nearby, and Elder Ursa, Elder Uller, and Claire immediately felt that the elements within their own bodies were also being affected.
"Thunder Wave!"
Xia De swung his palm forward, shattering the strange cluster of flames with a single blow. As the stench of blood dissipated in the early morning breeze atop the peak, the abnormality of the whispering element slowly subsided. However, the abnormal elemental tide in the mountaintop area still hadn't dissipated; the sky had even turned a deep crimson purple. Just half a minute later, snowflakes carrying a faint purple hue began to fall from the sky. With each snowflake that landed on them, the four people on the mountaintop felt the elements within their bodies stirring.
"What do we do now? Are there any other brave climbers?"
Xia De asked quickly, then went over to help Elder Ule up, and Claire also helped Elder Ursa up. The fact that the only warrior who approached the summit was a fake meant that it was highly unlikely anyone else would reach the top.
This was the first time the elders had encountered such a situation, but Elder Ursa quickly made a decision:
"Since the flames brought by that fake man can affect the ritual, other flames should be able to as well. Although this does not conform to tradition and ritual procedures, go to where the campfire was before and relight it."
Avoid using flames with strong characteristics; try to keep the flame's nature gentle.
Claire looked at Shad:
"You do it."
The pile of matches had been scattered by the thunderous wave, but Shad still had other pieces of wood on him. While "Moonfire" was sacred, its nature was far from peaceful. "Primordial Fire," having consumed various flames and firewood, appeared extremely violent, but in terms of its elements, it was relatively balanced.
After quickly setting up a brand new campfire, the crimson flames, under Shad's gaze, roared upwards from the fire.
He was prepared to extinguish the campfire again, but this time, when the flames ignited, although the four elements still changed because of the flames, the change caused the restless elements to gather towards the flames.