novelonline Chapter 3540 The Story Continues
Chapter 3540 The Story Continues
Chapter 3540 The Story Continues
The destruction of the "House of the False Man" also marks the end of the third act of the seven-act story of the Ceremony of the Chosen Ones. Although it seems that Shad led the people to solve the problem, all the candidates are also intricately connected with this event.
Although Stella did not enter the House of the False Man, her participation in the All Souls' Day Remedial Ritual played a crucial role in the final battle; Mr. Mortis the Clown, though not involved in the direct combat, cleared obstacles for Shad along with his companions and brought the Golden Lion Armor.
Shad doesn't know what the old man Zarathustra of the [Prophet's Association] and the unknown candidate of the [Cult of Doom] did, but since the demon has bloodstained pages of the script, the priest with the unique hairstyle of the [Order of Oneness] must also be closely related to this matter.
After all, the ritual only requires participation in the story as much as possible to make it more exciting; it doesn't require playing a positive role. Shad hopes Stella can play a positive role in the story, but she increasingly seems like a supporting character in the main group who can't be of much help but can play a key role; Mr. Mortis has already decided to play his "clown" role, and he understands fate better than Stella. As for whether the cultists will covet the villain's position after realizing that they can't defeat Shad with good, that's hard to say.
After the incident, all the snake molts of everyone showed new content.
Not only Stella's snake skin, as a candidate, but also the snake skins of Emilia, Dorothy, and Claire, who also possess snake skins, have been given new descriptions.
Emilia and Dorothy are both chosen ones. They will not gain anything immediately from participating in the story. They will only receive a "gift" when the story of fate comes to an end. Therefore, the contents of the snake skin only describe what they did in this event.
Claire's "luck" improved once again with her snake slough, but the role the Great Witch of the Sun was fixated on remained that of a "minor supporting character":
"Wait a minute, why hasn't anything changed? Am I still not doing enough?"
She didn't do enough; she didn't even go inside the "House of the Pseudo-Humans," only attacking the building from the outside with the other witches.
Stella's molted snake, however, was described in this way—
Flesh and blood turned into disaster in the icy season, and once again, you, weak as you are, failed to become a sword-wielding hero to face the enemy. You witnessed the efforts of others and ultimately played a minor role; are you unwilling to accept your own powerlessness? But it's alright. You never possessed the power of flesh and blood, but the power you already possess is responding to your call. Winter is not over, the snowflakes are still falling, and the story is not over.
This sounds like it means that the strange chill emanating from the white-haired girl will make her stronger, but Stella herself is completely unaware of it. However, she admits that she wants to help, but she is too weak.
As a reward for completing this story, although her role remains that of a "protagonist candidate" and her luck remains unchanged, she gains a new ability:
"I can now barely foresee a person's fate of death, not by their lifespan or vitality, but by what they do that increases their probability of death."
She gave everyone a brief description:
"After activating the ability, a layer of black mist appears in my vision. The thicker the black mist above someone's head, the easier it is for them to die. This also applies to people of higher levels than me. Everyone is safe."
"In the seven-day story of the ancient god mentioned by the ice maid Shad mentioned, the one that corresponds to the [House of the False Man] is that the god refused to resurrect the dead. Is that why Stella obtained a similar ability? I wonder what the other candidates obtained."
Claire explained that Stella's abilities appeared to be related to death, but in reality, it was quite common for diviners to predict people's deaths. The powers of the ancient gods overlapped and intersected, collectively covering the entire world, so this phenomenon was quite normal.
Shad, who didn't have a snake molt but possessed the "Manual of Fate," naturally received a "participation reward" after the story ended. However, even though he participated in the story almost from beginning to end and defeated the final enemy, all he gained was a temporary boost in luck.
Fortunately, Shad didn't seem to care much about it, but Dorothy did ask Shad if he wanted to do something while he was having such good luck.
Shad touched the deck in his pocket, then looked at Elder Harald who was talking to Claire. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head, feeling that it was not right to bully the old man like this.
After lunch, Iluna and Emilia went to the unicorn's den, where Emilia would teach her how to care for an injured unicorn. Even her job at Blackrock Security wasn't without holidays; today she planned to enjoy a relaxing vacation at the foot of the snow-capped mountains.
After a hearty meal, Ellie's spirits were noticeably better. Shad and the witches carefully examined her physical condition. Her injuries had actually been healed after the unicorns' ritual, and Ellie's power had been significantly enhanced after this incident.
Her physical abilities far surpassed those of a newly adult unicorn. According to Emilia, even the truly adult unicorns might not be as physically strong as Ellie.
"Once she grows up, she might be able to wrestle with a dragon."
The unicorn's spellcasting ability cannot be easily detected, but Ellie's own elements and spirit have been significantly improved, clearly benefiting greatly from this incident.
The pale pink scar on the side of its neck, which could never be erased, proved the permanent effect of the false people's power. Emilia was actually looking forward to Ellie transforming into a human; the little fairy thought that way Ellie could go to town with her.
"If Ellie really does master Transfiguration, maybe she can teach it to little Leanna! When I was little, I always thought that if little Leanna could turn into an elf or a human, we could go to school together!"
The pointy-eared elf girl smiled and spoke to Iluna, who, considering herself more mature than her two friends Emilia and Adelina, had many more things to consider:
"I have a feeling that the sudden appearance of a unicorn that could potentially transform into a human in this story of fate is definitely not a coincidence. But what does this mean?"
Emilia and Shad will continue to monitor Ellie's situation. Ellie fell into the Blood Lake while saving Shad, and since she acknowledges Shad as her master, Shad naturally has to take responsibility.
If it weren't for the sheer risk of keeping a unicorn in Tobesk, he would have even considered bringing Ellie home as "Pet Number Two" after the story on Fatummister Island ended. Luckily, he bought No. 7 St. Delan Square just before the year-end holidays, and the two houses offered ample space.
"Meow?"
However, Shad later decided that it was not good to keep the freedom-loving unicorn confined in a house. Unicorns are different from lazy cats. Therefore, after the snow mountain story ends, Shad will ask Ellie for her opinion on whether she wants to continue living on the island or go to the academy to live with the unicorn herd.
The church members stayed in town all afternoon, discussing with the elders how to strengthen the defenses of Kyle-Todd. Although only Time Wheel City and Kyle-Todd were attacked at night and in the early morning, the coastal villages were spared. However, since cities and towns are the two largest human settlements on the island, the attack could actually be seen as targeting the entire island.
As for the information that the reflection of the flesh-and-blood city originated from the "House of Pseudo-Humans," it was ultimately passed on by the witches. However, it seems that the Prophet Association already knew about this by noon.
But demons were also involved in this matter, information unknown to the Church and the prophets. The exorcism team of the Church of the Five Gods had not yet left the town; they were still in Kyle-Todd examining the remains of the demons after their deaths—demons do not leave corpses after death—but after receiving news from the black market that the demon associated with the weapon had become active again, they hurriedly returned to the city.
[Sun Crest] Miss Camille Eden is still on the island, but since the demon has demonstrated the terrifying ability to briefly transform Sage-level relics into Unknown-level relics, it's likely that more 13th Rings will arrive on the island. The story of destiny is about to reach its climax.
Of course, it wasn't just church members who came to visit the town that afternoon. At two o'clock, Mr. Mortis delivered a letter to the Snow Mountain Hall, and because the recipient was "the owner of the white horse," the letter was directly forwarded to Shad.
Shad was discussing with Flora whether her "unicorn transformation" had reverse feasibility when he opened the package and saw that Mr. Mortis had arrived. He then took the napping Mia to town and met the "clown" at Mr. Sargent's herbal shop.
This time he wasn't wearing a mask, and when Shad entered, he was discussing with Mr. Sargent the latter's shop profits during All Souls' Day:
"If I had known that setting up a stall in Kyle Todd during All Souls' Day would be so profitable, I should have come here a few years ago."
Mr. Sargent's shop was too small, and the docks were now full of church people, so Shad eventually borrowed a place from the elders and went to the town's warehouse to talk to Mr. Mortis.
The town had warehouses specifically for storing grain and daily necessities, which were piled high with food during the winter, and the cellars also contained some vegetables that could be stored for a long time. Now that most of winter had passed, the warehouses were empty. Shad remembered Claire saying that she loved to come here with her friends to play hide-and-seek when she was a child.
"Mr. Watson, the matter of the 'House of False Men' is considered resolved, right?"
Mr. Mortis first asked about what happened that morning, and he had been a great help. Shad was naturally willing to share information.