novelonline Chapter 3626 The Curve of War
Chapter 3626 The Curve of War
Chapter 3626 The Curve of War
Miss Asperger's question is very important. If only three people can be selected, the best solution would be to have Shad, Vanessa, and Miss Asperger take the field. However, the solution that maximizes the benefits would be to have Stella take the field, but this would undoubtedly increase the risk.
Xia De had his own ideas:
"Anyway, there's no rule against substitutions at halftime, right? It's just that there can't be more than three players on the field at the same time. So, at the beginning, you, Vanessa, and I will test the strength of the Falling Star Beast before deciding on the rest."
The sorceress nodded slightly, agreeing with Shad's plan:
"So you think the only danger we face is the Fallen Star Beast?"
"What do you mean?"
"The story of fate has entered its fourth act. Even though some things that were originally convenient cannot be accomplished because Mr. Snake, as you say, has taken over the temple, will there really be no conflict between the candidates?"
I have a strong premonition, a premonition that arose after touching that holy emblem, that what awaits us ahead is definitely not just falling stars.
The road ahead was long and tedious, and after leaving the tomb's perimeter, everyone's spatial perception was suppressed by an inexplicable force, making it impossible to even perceive the sea above. The tomb had indeed served as some kind of entrance. Therefore, Xia De currently had no idea where the group was. For a time, due to the monotonous "scenery" around them, he even suspected that they might be trapped in a spatial loop.
However, at least the powerful ring sorcerers and witches in the group were certain that the force obstructing their perception came from afar. There existed an anomaly there, so "heavy" in a spatial sense that it was compressing and distorting space itself, and it was this anomaly that was increasingly affecting the normal spatial order.
Fortunately, the power of the Fallen Star Beast could not affect time, so the group could still observe their current point in time. Shad was glad he had decided to set off at dawn, because it was almost noon when they left the tomb, and they still hadn't seen any sign of the road ending.
At their speed, if they were on the sea, they would have already run from Fatumunster Island to the beach of Lomari City. This can only mean that the surrounding spatial structure has been severely distorted. They have clearly deviated from the normal space and are heading towards the distorted space created when the star fell.
At 12:30 pm, the team took another short break and had lunch, but this break only lasted for 15 minutes before they continued on their way, as Shad was already worried that they would not see the Fallen Star Beast until around dusk.
At 1:30 PM, scattered streaks of light appeared ahead on the road. Upon careful observation, they discovered that these were rays emanating from the walls of the passage. These tiny rays, like solidified starlight, remained embedded in the hard rock. Vanessa and Claire worked together to extract one of these "starlight" fragments, discovering it to be a peculiar mineral:
"The cores of those gargoyles in the tomb were probably forged from this kind of ore. This is power from the astral plane. The material world hasn't unearthed this kind of ore for a long time."
During the Battle of Green Lake, an astral meteorite fell into the city of Green Lake, and at that time, Shad learned how rare an astral meteorite was.
But the ore the Great Witches were holding was something even purer than "Astral Meteorite." Astral Meteorite came from the starry sky after the Astral Plane shattered, while the glittering things around them came from the intact Astral Plane.
"These are fragments of stars. It is said that many sacred objects of the elven races were made from these."
As Emilia rode on Ellie's back, Mr. Mortis began to recount ancient secrets:
"Rumor has it that the [Star Mark] you possess was also forged from this material."
At first, the "starlight" emanating from the surrounding passages resembled fireflies in a long, dark night—it provided light but wasn't enough to illuminate the area. However, as the group continued forward, the "starlight" grew brighter and brighter. By 3:30 PM, they didn't even need to use magic to summon the light; everything within the passages was almost completely visible.
The light of the stars is faint but steady, and when gathered together, it is a radiance comparable to that of the moon.
As they continued forward, Shad was almost certain that they had left the normal space and entered the strange region that Luvia had described as "unable to find even if you dug through the seabed."
The starlight grew brighter and brighter, and the rock walls became increasingly transparent. Until, without anyone noticing, the group seemed to be walking in a starry sky filled with stars, a scene that people of this era could not have imagined at all.
But danger accompanies the strange scene, and the first to encounter danger are not those who are at the front or the back. Stella walks with Matilda, looking preoccupied, while the loudest sound around them is the sound of Ellie walking—because she has two more legs than the others.
Suddenly, the two witch apprentices noticed that the starlight on the wall beside them seemed to tremble slightly. With a barely noticeable sound, a spherical, transparent rock, radiating starlight, peeled off the wall. As they watched in surprise, the head-sized spherical rock flew up, its internal starlight converging towards its very center—until—
hum!
Bella casually blocked the burst of starlight, but then the floating stone began to sway from side to side. Bella pulled two witch apprentices away, and the others hurriedly retreated to a distance.
As expected, the stone exploded on the spot, but fortunately it did not destroy the passage.
"The starlight has been activated. Now pay attention to the top, bottom, left, and right. These attacks will probably become more and more frequent."
It seems that areas where strange enemies appear are always accompanied by precious materials. The activation of starlight means that after the enemy is defeated, it will leave behind luminous ore formed from pure starlight, which is even purer than simply mined ore. According to Claire, this is almost equivalent to Shad condensing moonlight into a physical form, which can be used not only for alchemy but also for potions.
Of course, if the enemy doesn't get defeated but instead self-destructs, then there's nothing left.
The appearance of the new monster slowed the group's progress, and then the appearance of a humanoid monster made of glowing rocks slowed them down even further.
Since the mid-Fourth Era, probably no one has ever reached this place. That's why the fragments of power that escaped after the star fell have also turned into monsters under the influence of the "Fallen Star Beast," which is the original body of the star.
These things can't stop the group yet, but if they're not dealt with, they'll keep following the group and attacking. So each monster that appears must be completely eliminated before they can move on.
These monsters weren't particularly strong, but their physical resilience was astonishing, and Shad discovered that his [Black Moon Mark] had a remarkably significant effect on them. The power of annihilation was almost instantly fatal to the floating "starlight."
This wasn't just because of the power of this magical technique; Shad noticed that the residual black light from when he crushed the arc of the "Wrong Ring of Fate" could very effectively counteract the power of the starlight.
"These fragments of starlight also possess a certain degree of power of destiny."
"So, when the story of the chosen ones of the moon comes out, will we still encounter this kind of monster?"
During their journey, Vanessa asked Meghan the same question, to which Meghan responded negatively:
"Although the ever-changing starry sky symbolizes an ever-changing destiny, not all fragments of the starry sky can be transformed into a ring of destiny. The star we encountered is an exception; under normal circumstances, a fallen star should only contain the pure power of the starry sky."
I think when we get to the story of the Moon's chosen ones, we'll most likely encounter 'contaminated star fragments,' not something like this.
The passage is gradually widening, and the "active starlight" that appears is also growing larger. The most troublesome thing about these things is not just their physical strength, but that they must have mastered the ability to emit light from a distance.
If they encounter them nearby, they can focus fire and quickly eliminate them. However, if they appear at a distance from the group, the team can only move while maintaining their shields and wait until they catch up with these monsters, who may even try to escape, before they can take them down.
As they ventured deeper, the surrounding scenery became increasingly magnificent, and the active starlight gradually transformed from humanoid to beast-like. Some of these beast-like forms were larger than humans, such as bears, while others were much smaller, such as rats.
They did not attack the group irrationally. When they gathered in sufficient numbers, their coordination was quite tacit, almost like an army.
The most powerful "active starlight" they encountered along the way was a giant wolf, twice the height of a person, which fought the group in a space comparable to the final chamber of a tomb. Not only could it burst energy from its mouth, but it could also leap down from the air and use a weapon similar to a "moonlight greatsword" to slash at the ground.
It ran incredibly fast, almost like teleporting. If Vanessa hadn't used gravity to suppress it, most attacks wouldn't have even been able to touch its hard rocky body.
"That is."
During the fierce battle, Shad noticed a glowing, curved raised pattern on the chest of the Starlight Giant Wolf, but when he asked the others, none of them could see the pattern.
"Was it 'The Handbook of Destiny' that gave me the power to see the solidification of destiny?"
What happened next confirmed Shad's idea. After defeating and binding the giant wolf, he examined the curved pattern up close and confirmed that it was indeed a "War Curve":
"These are fragments of the fate of war, but it is unknown whether they were shattered by the first generation of Fatu people or were fragments scattered when a star fell."
"So, the ring at the Fallen Star Beast's place isn't perfectly round, is that right?"
Emilia asked, but Shad shook his head:
“Fate is not a physical substance, and there is no law of conservation of mass. As long as a ring is not completely shattered by an external force, it will always remain a ring, and the fragments that are scattered do not affect its integrity. Fate itself is a concept.”
P.S.: Requesting votes at the end of the month!!!