novelonline Chapter 3531 The Upside-Down City
Chapter 3531 The Upside-Down City
Chapter 3531 The Upside-Down City
Shad looked again at the pages in the demon's hand. His guess that the "Puppet Master's Script" was influencing those around him and the unicorn seemed correct. However, he had guessed wrong about who would use the relic.
Shad's first reaction was that the "All Things as One" faction had actually cooperated with demons to deal with him. Last year in Randall Valley, cultists who worshipped the "Stoneheart Demon" did something similar.
But he quickly realized that things weren't that simple; the bloodstains on the paper in the demon's hand seemed to suggest something:
"Did you steal these pages? What did you do with the 'Ten Thousand Numbers Return to One' Association?"
Of course, no one answered Shad's question, and it was only much later that Shad learned that the "priest" who was knocked off the snow mountain by Luvia, Emilia and Miss Sabel on the first night of All Souls' Day had encountered the demon hiding in the snow mountain while he was injured.
Even if a candidate rashly uses a relic, he will pay a price; this is the rule of fate, especially since he actually wanted to use "The Puppet Master's Script" to influence the fate of the chosen one.
The demon's hand touched the flesh-and-blood wall, and blackness seeped into the flesh and blood. The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly, and the pool of blood in the room rippled. The deep darkness did not completely change the surrounding colors; instead, the walls of the core room suddenly burst into a dazzling blood-red light two seconds later.
Within that layer of light, the pseudo-human opposite the blood pool took a deep breath and closed its eyes. Its flesh and blood rapidly peeled away and reassembled, while Shad saw that the mass of flesh inside its body actually began to differentiate into organs similar to human internal organs during this process.
It was getting stronger, and stronger still. The unicorns in the corridor behind Shad were howling anxiously, but the maid Winnie remained silent.
The dummy opened its blood-red eyes, and the phantom images of massive buildings around it kept appearing. It whispered to Shad:
"Caller of Gods, welcome to my [Flesh and Blood City]."
"Oh! Was there an earthquake?"
At the docks of Kael-Todd Town, the towering waves had receded, leaving behind a vast number of water ghost and merman corpses. Miss Elather walked out of the sea carrying the relics that had just been collected. Elder Harald was about to reminisce with the elves who were also resting beside him when the ground suddenly began to shake.
"Something happened again at the mountaintop; it seems a remedial ceremony is necessary."
The old man stopped speaking and looked up at the sky with the Moonbrook clan's elven priests. A blood-red light floated in the still-lingering dawn above the island. Elder Harald, as a priest of the snow mountain, sensed the whispering elements that suddenly erupted from the strange blood-red light even faster than these old elves who were twice his age.
"what?"
Ordinary people might simply think the sky had an unusual color this morning, and newspapers would later attribute it to air pollution. But from the perspective of a ring sorcerer, as the layer of blood-red light in the sky gradually stabilized, a massive city appeared to be hanging upside down in the clouds.
In the blood-red city, houses stand in neat rows, and upon closer inspection, one can even discern functional buildings such as plazas, parks, libraries, and banks. But all these buildings are forged from flesh and blood, and these flesh-and-blood structures are even still writhing.
When Elder Harald stopped observing the details of the upside-down, blood-red city and started to look at it as a whole, he had a strange feeling that a huge, deformed, fleshy creature was floating above Fatummster Island.
A nameless sense of panic welled up inside him. This feeling had nothing to do with age; it was simply a reminder from his intuition of how terrifying what he was witnessing was.
But Elder Harald had seen too much in his life. He took a deep breath, regulated his breathing, and tried his best to look away from the sky. The elderly elves around him also stopped looking up at the sky, but the red light in their field of vision and the sweet, fishy smell in the air, which was gradually overpowering the sea breeze, still reminded them that what was above them had not disappeared.
"This is an unknowable relic similar to the Midhill Fortress's [Gap Between Life and Death]."
Miss Elizabeth, who had already reached the shore, handed the memento she was carrying to the flaxen-haired girl:
"It must be that the [House of Pseudo-Humans] has gone out of control, but even if the relics went out of control, they shouldn't have such great power."
Elder Vildar and Elder Thorin also approached. Although the thing above them had only just erupted and did not directly threaten the island, they knew the devastation it would bring to Fatummont Island if it wasn't eliminated quickly.
"The All Souls' Day ritual must be completed as soon as possible. When the ritual is completed, the power erupting from the snow mountain will be able to calm any abnormal elements on this island. Even if the current anomalies cannot be completely eliminated, it will not make the problem more complicated."
"What remedial measures should be taken?"
Rita asked from the side, and Elder Harald explained:
"The ritual has already failed, so the remedy doesn't need to be too complicated. Just send the flames and extra offerings back to the mountaintop, and then hold a special ceremony. The fire sent back to the mountain should have gone out by now, but the campfire in the town will traditionally be kept burning for three days. We can use that."
The additional offerings were some specially made snakeskins; there should be some in the warehouse as well.
He suspected other things might be happening in town, which was why most people were still there. After surveying the crowd resting on the dock, he asked Miss Elizabeth:
"Claire has gone to the city to help rescue the unicorn, and we don't have a suitable replacement at the moment. Could you help deliver the fire and offerings to the mountaintop?"
But the boat girl shook her head:
“I’m going to town soon too; the situation is terrible. But Miss Swift can help; she’s very trustworthy.”
The three elders agreed after only a slight hesitation, but the flaxen-haired girl asked:
"Isn't this ceremony only for Fatu people?"
Elder Harald then explained:
"The ritual has failed, so the remedial ritual isn't as strict. But you still can't fly directly to the mountaintop; you need to pass through some important points and light a flame in the hall. I'll go prepare a map for you. You've never been to a snow-capped mountain before, have you?"
Rita shook her head. Since arriving on the island, she had spent most of her time in the tower and castle.
“Let Claire’s friends lead the way; some of them have been to the snow-capped mountains.”
Elder Virda suggested, and Matilda replied:
“I’ll go with Miss Swift. Although I’m not very familiar with the snow-capped mountains, I’m a fortune teller, so at least I won’t get lost.”
None of Claire's followers had actually been to the summit of the snow-capped mountain, so it would be even better if Matilda were willing to help.
The elders agreed, and were about to explain the details of the climb to them when the old elves suddenly said:
"Look over there!"
Under the sky in the direction of the city, several white figures were rapidly approaching, and then, amidst the exclamations of the young Fatu priest on the dock, the three-headed unicorn landed.
This was certainly not Ellie or Leona; the three-headed unicorn was much larger and more robust, clearly a standard-sized adult unicorn. And returning with the unicorn was Stella, with her white hair.
She jumped off the unicorn's back and then explained:
“Miss Siamod has already stormed the House of the Pseudo-Humans with the unicorns. She asked me to bring back three unicorns to see if we need any help here.”
As a candidate, she should actually be trying to get into the House of the Fake People to help, just like Mr. Mortis did earlier. However, the situation has changed too much. Even Emilia had to persuade Luvia and Danist to let her into the House of the Fake People, so Claire left her outside.
Just when someone needed to return to town to check on the situation, Stella returned with the three unicorns.
"Things here are temporarily settled, but it's uncertain whether there will be any further developments."
Miss Elizabeth said this, then asked the others:
"Now we have three unicorns willing to help, and three people who are available. I don't think we need anyone else to help."
Stella, Rita, and Matilda were then tasked with retrieving the flames and offerings from the "Peak of Destiny," using three unicorns as mounts for their swift movement. These adult unicorns were exceptionally powerful, more than capable of protecting them as they climbed the mountain; after all, no one knew why the ordinary Fatu people hadn't reached the summit.
While the elders went to find the offerings in the storeroom, Miss Elizabeth asked Stella again:
"How's the situation in the city?"
The white-haired girl immediately replied:
"When Miss and I arrived at North End Alley, it was already quite late. The first wave of reinforcements had already broken down the door of the [House of the Pseudo-Humans]. Later, the great witches arrived one after another, and then Miss Siamord, Miss Daniste, the unicorns, and Miss Sylvia and Miss Edwards, who had arrived earlier, entered the [House of the Pseudo-Humans] as the second wave of reinforcements."
Miss Annette was arranging the third batch of reinforcements when the incident occurred. The city is still discussing whether the aerial city is directly connected to the interior of the [House of the Pseudo-Humans]. That 'Miss Balance' wanted to attempt to enter the deepest part of the relics directly from the aerial city, and that's when I was dispatched.”
The unicorns stood beside them, the sea breeze blowing. The boat girl nodded gently, without looking up again.
"The three of you should also be careful while climbing, and reach the summit as soon as possible while ensuring your safety. Once the remedial ceremony is completed, it will greatly reduce the pressure on Xia De's side."
The three witch apprentices nodded in unison, while the three unicorns that had come from Saint Byrons were actually quite uneasy. They had a stronger sense of relics and evil than humans, and they understood better just how terrifying the flesh-and-blood city hanging upside down above them was.