novelonline Chapter 3604 Forging Destiny
Chapter 3604 Forging Destiny
Chapter 3604 Forging Destiny
After a moment's hesitation, Shad, who had assumed the cult members only knew this information, winked at him deliberately and then shook his head.
That's all we know.
Xia De understood immediately: "This is all we know, but this is not necessarily all I know."
He said to Audrey:
"Let them all pass out. As for what to do with them, we'll see if there's a passage underneath after I dig open the ice lake."
He knew, of course, that there was no passage below, and that the location marked by Luvia was not here.
Audrey then cast a spell to render the three unconscious, and was subsequently asked by Shad to wake the high-ringed cultist.
He shook his head to make sure his companions were all unconscious before saying:
"I didn't know the details when I received the mission. But outside of the mission, I heard some things while drinking with my friends in the cult."
If someone possesses the 'War' rune or has a corresponding destiny, they can use their soul to summon the contents of the War Beast when it is weakened.
The archbishop intends to do this himself, but I honestly don't know the specifics. It's supposedly related to the initiation process of the ring mages. You know, the bells ring, the fire is lit, the torch is propelled, and finally, a hymn is sung.
Shad then nodded to Audrey, who then made him faint again.
Claire asked curiously:
"So you intend to detach yourself from the Ring of War?"
"Of course not, I have no interest in becoming the King of War. Our prophet said that as long as the Fallen Star Beast is completely killed, the ring will naturally shatter. I just thought, since the Fallen Star Beast can be separated from the ring, could the Infinite Serpent do the same?"
I'm very curious about the Infinite Serpent's rings, I mean, what kind of shape the curves will take; perhaps this will help us better understand this calamity of fate.
Shad and the girls looked at the ice surface. After a moment's hesitation, he summoned his massive life ring, but nothing happened. If Luvia were still in Topsk, Shad could have asked her what she thought, but now Luvia had already set off.
He could catch the train, but not the train. He could use the Moon Mark to locate it and then transform into a dragon, but it was really unnecessary to invite trouble for himself. However, the divination Luvia performed the night before she left did touch upon a topic related to the Fate Ring:
"Luvia told me how to increase the amount of steam mist. After trying it, I found that my soul power dissipated into the area covered by the steam mist. I remember that the Infinite Serpent reverted to its original form and was safe for a short period of time even if I didn't deal with it."
Having made up his mind, Shad said to the witches:
"Audrey, please summon the Radiant Messenger and have it anchor at the northern coast. Then you and your men can temporarily garrison here until tonight."
Then I'll go ask for advice. I'll leave the last snake skin I have with you, and Emilia too. If the snake reappears, use the snake skin, and together with Claire and Emilia, drive it back."
Audrey nodded and immediately set off to contact the large ship. Emilia naturally didn't object; she was glad to have another suitable reason to go back later.
"So what should we do with these cult members?"
Claire asked, and Shad thought for a moment:
“I keep my word. Their intelligence is indeed substantial. I’ll severely injure them all so they can’t recover for a while, then throw them out to sea on a sturdy plank. I’ll also write a letter and put it on them, telling the Tyranny Club that if they see them on the island again, I’ll kill them one by one.”
Of course, although the people were released, Shad carefully searched everyone's belongings again before Audrey returned. In the end, all the exploration data from the northern part of the island, two relics, two books, and some alchemical items were left behind.
Both relics were of the Keeper-of-Secrets level, but their exact nature still needed confirmation. The two books contained occult materials related to the war. Shad didn't touch the holy emblems they carried, but among the alchemical items, he unexpectedly discovered a chaotic-colored gem.
"Chaos" itself is not a color; it refers to the gemstone's constantly changing hue, but overall it presents a thick, dark brown hue. Shad gave it to Claire for appraisal, and Claire was quite surprised:
"Chaos Stone? It's so perfectly rounded, which alchemical master created this?"
"Chaos Stone" is the mineral material Claire mentioned that naturally possesses "chaotic properties." This type of material is extremely unstable and usually only appears in veins in areas where the elements are extremely chaotic. An environment like Fatummister Island is far from suitable; similar rare minerals can only be found in a few "human forbidden zones" declared by the Church—it is even rarer than white crystal.
The most common use of "chaos stone" is to make explosive alchemical weapons. Due to its extremely unstable nature, once detonated, the effect is quite terrifying.
As Shad watched Claire marvel at the gem, and then glanced at the little princess whispering with Emilia about their "adventure," he felt that the fate of this island was indeed wondrous.
Of course, this gem cannot be given to Adelina for the time being; its unstable nature is still too dangerous for someone with only low-level gems. However, Adelina possesses more than just this one dangerous item—for example, the Sage-level relic, the Soul Gem (Chapter 2701), which was formed from the soul of a tragically fated girl that Shad gave her in the woods.
But that gem has a healing effect, so it might be somewhat useful to Adelina. This stone is too dangerous, and Adelina already has a gem on the tip of her staff, so she doesn't really need this one.
So the gem is temporarily in Claire's possession. She will try to limit its power and make it more docile before giving it to Adelina. This can be considered an "unexpected gift" for the little princess's birthday, but she is not happy about it.
Because after the Radiant Messenger and the girls arrived at the nameless lake beneath the waterfall, Shad, who was about to set off to seek help, also planned to send Adelina back to Topsk immediately:
"I'm most likely unable to attend the birthday party tonight, I'm sorry."
Adelina expressed her understanding, but still felt regretful.
As she reluctantly bid farewell to Emilia, the witches, and the unicorns, Shad remembered something else:
"Claire, here are the materials I promised you."
The egg-sized silver moonstone was handed to Claire by Shad. Audrey hadn't returned yet and naturally couldn't see this. Meanwhile, the platinum-blonde-haired witch was beaming; she had already decided how to handle this "gem."
Shortly after Shad left, Audrey returned with her people. Together, they renovated the cultist camp, and then discussed a "guardian plan" with the pointy-eared elves to prevent Shad from staying away for an extended period.
But just as Emilia was fantasizing about camping at the foot of the snow-capped mountains that night and falling asleep to the sound of the waves, Shad returned. At that moment, the setting sun painted the sky over Fatummst Island orange-red, and Ellie whimpered softly as she nestled close to Shad, who stroked her several times before finally appreciating her.
“I went to Daniste, and she gave me this.”
Shad held a bottle of pale purple potion in his hand and explained:
“After I told Daniste about the cultists and their plan to turn the ‘Fallen Star Beast’ into a ring, Daniste, although she didn’t know the specifics of their method, said we could try this—the Bell Ringing Potion.”
This is a potion that a Ring Sorcerer must drink when taking office. It is the first of four steps that must be taken for the initial appearance of the Life Ring: "ringing the bell," "lighting the fire," "pushing forward," and "hymn."
Different organizations have different recipes for the Bell Ringing Potion, but all of these potions work to shake the soul, giving it an "initial force" to begin forging the Life Ring.
Claire frowned and said:
"I remember that when ring sorcerers who had already taken up their posts drank this potion, it caused their souls to vibrate and become unstable."
Some diviners use this method to glimpse a world invisible to the naked eye during a brief moment of disharmony between the soul and body; other researchers have discovered that repeatedly drinking the Bell Ringing Potion allows ring sorcerers to exercise precise control over their rings, such as controlling their levitation to specific locations or the speed and direction of their rotation. But what is the point of this?
Audrey also had her own opinion:
“Danist's idea makes some sense. If we want to reveal the Ring of Fate, it may indeed require a 'forging' process. However, this time it is not the human soul that is being forged, but fate itself.”
She even thought of the origins of the Ringwitch class system, but now is not the time to discuss such things:
"Then why don't you give it a try?"
“Luvia told me some things, and this time it might work. But if it doesn’t work this time, Emilia, you’ll come with me to break this frozen lake. We can’t leave any hidden dangers.”
The girls stood in the camp on the shore watching Shad walk to the center of the frozen lake. Shad did not immediately drink the potion, but instead made other preparations.
Although the four steps of becoming a Ring Warlock are repeated, Shad is not doing this for a "second job change," so the specific process will definitely be different from that of becoming a Ring Warlock.
While the "ringing of the bell" still uses a magical potion, the "ignition" certainly can no longer be the ignition of the four elements within the gifted individual's body. Since the object of forging is destiny, one must seek a "flame" that can influence destiny. Although Shad didn't know how the cultists planned to achieve this—in fact, they intended to burn the soul to ignite the life ring—he knew that the "Primordial Flame" could burn everything, and Sister Daphne had said that this flame could even burn destiny.
If you weren't worried about contaminating the flames, burning Infinite Serpent with the Primal Flame would actually be a good option.
The third step in becoming a Ring Warlock, "Pushing," requires the gifted individual to use extraordinary power once to ignite the elemental flame within their soul.
But he certainly couldn't do that now; what he needed was a power that could shake fate. And Luvia had said that the most common fate-related power among ring sorcerers was actually the Ring of Fate.
Therefore, Shad intends to use his own life ring to carry out this "push" step.
As for the final "hymn," it is the simplest: language itself is power in this world with its idealistic forces. The hymn is a declaration; since destiny is to be forged, something must be said.