Whispering Verse

"Avalanches cannot hinder travelers' determination to reach the end. All travelers work together to help you survive the avalanche. Although you feel physically and mentally exhausted, fortunately, there is not much left to go. At noon, You camp and rest in a safe place, looking forward to what else you will encounter on this last day of adventure. After a short rest, you set out again. What end point will the unicorn who obtained the map lead you to? ?”

The god signaled the witch to draw the next card, but Shade asked the witch to wait a moment. He asked Chloe Yin beside him:

"Kloe Yin, what did you come to do in the snowy mountains?"

The firelight made her long silver hair more flowing. The petite witch shrank her body and leaned against Shade and shook her head gently:

"Don't worry about me. Even if you can't complete what I want to do this time, you can go again next time and do your things first.

She said understandingly.

"No, no, I want to know in advance what else is waiting for us on the mountain."

So Croyin nodded and introduced under the gaze of everyone:

"I came to this unknown snow mountain for the academy to explore an ancient legend here. Rumor has it that the witch wandering on the top of the mountain has the opportunity to encounter an ancient temple. And that temple has the ability to use itself in exchange for The power of other people’s happiness.”

"Making a wish again?"

This reminded Shade of the bottle he encountered while traveling on the ship.

"No, it's not a wish, nor is it a malicious trap. According to local legends and preliminary investigations by the academy, the ancient temple located at the top of the snow mountain is most likely the place where the ancient god of fate, Mr. Huan, once worshiped. This is the place where destiny is reversed and changed, but it is also the place where the price is paid. That is why the academy asked me, a demigod witch, to come and investigate in person, although I have not found any ancient buildings so far... ..Of course, let me come because my country is the closest to here.”

The ancient god [Mr. Huan], also known as [Ouroboros], is the god worshiped by the Prophet Association, and is responsible for functions such as [destiny] and [reciprocating cycle]. So far, Shade's understanding of this ancient god only comes from Luvia's words. The consequences of wantonly manipulating fate were already clear to outsiders last summer.

He looked at the witch Miss Andreana and the black-dressed maid Clara with some worry. The light of the swaying bonfire made their faces uncertain, and they also guessed what they would face next.

Chloe Yin said to them softly:

"I don't know what the current condition of the person you are looking for is, but if he can still be saved, I will help."

"Thanks."

Miss Andreana thanked her softly, stretched out her hand to open the card, but suddenly asked Shade:

"Your Majesty said that the temple is difficult to find. Does this mean that even if we climb to the top of the mountain, we may not be able to find it?"

"Yeah, so, we need clues."

The witch nodded slightly, picked up [Impermanence and Space] with one hand and put it in front of her eyes, and then turned over the next card. As expected, the card showed an ancient temple standing on the top of Blizzard Mountain.

This is completely different from the sacrificial site where the [Spiritual Cult] is located. Because there are no activities all year round and lack of maintenance, the temple depicted on the card has almost become a ruin, with only a small number of architectural ruins still standing stubbornly in the wind and snow. middle.

The god spoke:

"The unicorn broke through the wind and snow and finally led the travelers to the destination on the map. What greeted them in front were the ruins of the ancient temple. Through the introduction of the silver cat, you know that mortals were once here I have sacrificed to fate, but that is already a story of the old times. All that is left to you now are these ruins. So, on the afternoon of the last day of the trip, should you go around the ruins and continue, or should you search the ruins carefully?"

The god asked with a smile. This sentence was addressed to the brown-haired witch. Arela Andriana answered affirmatively:

"We're going to search this ruins."

The surrounding scenery has not changed, which means that there is actually no need for anyone to take action:

"The unicorn made a decision, so the travelers got busy. The loyal dog sniffed the scent, the parrot flew into the sky to look for traces, the unicorn walked alone in the ruins, and the travelers and the silver cat under the moon searched together The remains of a miracle.”

Everyone's senses had problems at this moment. They were obviously still sitting in the camp, but their vision, hearing, smell, touch, and perception of elements and spirits seemed to have really explored the ruins.

They saw a group of people coming to the top of the snow-capped mountains despite the wind and snow. The unicorn used a card and a golden horn to open a road that did not exist before. So, the group walked through the narrow and winding ice-covered path and came to the huge arch guarded by two statues that had been eroded by the wind.

Even if I didn't arrive there in person, standing in front of the arch, it felt like I had really touched the trajectory of destiny. The temple is in ruins, but the ancient power remains here. They unanimously prayed a few words softly, and then entered the arch to investigate separately.

"I smell my sister's perfume, she's definitely here!"

Clara, the maid in black skirt, said firmly.

"There are no traces of battle here, and I found no trace of Lux's thaumaturgy."

The witch said regretfully.

"I saw the most complete building remains toward the top of the mountain in the center of the ruins!"

The bard reminded loudly, as if everyone was really in a snowstorm in the snowy mountains.

"Yeah, we got there."

Shade looked at the air in front of him and added:

"Chloe Yin and I saw it. We saw a table, and... a stone statue of a woman. She really looks like Miss Clara."

"Be careful, even if the ancient god has gone away, the power of fate still remains here. This makes me very uneasy. No one should approach that table, and don't touch the stone statue easily."

Chloe Yin reminded everyone.

After confirming what they were looking for, the five people's sensory abnormalities disappeared. Amidst the slight vibrations on the ground, the table and female stone statue seen by Shade and Cloyin appeared near the bonfire.

Except for the god who was still sitting upright, everyone stood up and gathered around. The stone table had been exposed to wind and sun for countless years, and was now covered with dense holes formed by wind erosion. The table is rectangular, and the female stone statue stands at one end of the short side. Her vivid expression is a smile of relief, as if she was still alive at the last moment.

"elder sister!"

The maid who had always been calm ignored Croyin's warning and hugged the stone statue, but she transformed into a black hound midway. Because of her height, she could only cling to the feet of the stone statue, but fortunately nothing happened. The light of the bonfire illuminated two entangled shadows, one large and one small, but it could not melt the snowflakes on the side shoulders of the stone statue.

No one dared to touch the table. The unicorn came first and touched the stone statue with its horn. Then he said to Shade who was stopping the fight between the two cats - mainly Mia:

"The soul is still inside the stone statue."

The experience in the Randall Valley at the beginning of this year allowed Shade to know a lot about these living people who were turned into stone statues.

He nodded:

"If the soul is still there, I can try to rescue it. I have a thaumaturgy that turns stones and soil into living flesh and blood."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pressed it on the arm of the stone statue. No element response was detected, which means that the stone statue is just an ordinary stone:

"Activated clay."

A bright golden light bloomed from Shade's hand, and the petrified arm actually turned into a white arm in an instant. But then the restored part of the body turned into stone again. Shade tried to use thaumaturgy again, but it had no effect.

"No need to try to cast a spell, she paid the price, so she was turned into stone. It's not that your power has no effect, but after the thaumaturgy took effect, she was turned to stone again. She was destined to be a stone, and fate gave her this The ending, you can’t change that.”

The silver cat, who was driven by Xiao Mia to Shade's shoulder, reminded him. The cat stretched out its paws and pointed to the other side:

"That's a very ancient power, connected to this table."

"Destiny?"

The black hound transformed by the maid lady was entrenched at the foot of the statue and refused to leave. The unicorn was still trying to cast a spell to lift the petrification, but she failed even for a moment like Shade.

It was the parrot transformed by the bard who discovered the clue first:

"Look, there is a complete picture under the dust on the table."

It flew in the air to look more carefully, so the silver cat held by Shade blew a breath. The strong wind blew by, sweeping away the dust on the table. Shade walked to the table and saw the criss-crossed patterns on the stone tabletop, connected to each other to form square frames, like a Rhodes gambling table, or like he had been with Mr. Riddle in the Dreadfort. The gambling table of "The Game of Life" that I have ever seen.

The blown dust did not fall to the ground along with the snowflakes. Instead, it gathered at the other end of the table and formed a human shape without facial features. Because there was not much dust on the table, the figure was quite thin, and the dust that made up the body was shaking all the time. Even through his body, the scene of the foggy forest behind could still be seen.

This was not the effect of Croyin's spell. The power of miracles and fate made everyone alert. The trembling dust moved inside its body in a wonderful trajectory, like stars or like dense raindrops falling on it. He caught the ripples in the pool.

The dust humanoid had no intention of attacking them. It pressed its hands on the table:

"You have trespassed into the temple of destiny. What kind of destiny is guiding you?"

Shade was most familiar with this kind of strange conversation. He coughed and replied:

"Lost blood relatives, lost lovers, we came here to find the girl cursed by fate. Gatekeeper of fate, can you tell us why she turned into stone?"

The figure made of dust "looked" at Shade:

"It turns out that the moon's light shone here. This ancient light is really nostalgic. The cursed girl gained more power for her lover and crossed the extraordinary gate for her sisters. She gave herself and gained. desire."

This answer is quite simple and clear, even Chloe Yin, who knows the least about this matter, can understand it.

"Lo and behold, her wish has come true. The witch has gained the power of the unicorn, and the maid in the black dress has become otherworldly. Fate has always been so fair, and this has never changed."

The dust figure added.

"I want to get my sister back, use me in exchange! I deserve it, it's me who is jealous of my sister, it's me who gave her the advice to go out and find strength, it's me, it's me... I'm willing to give everything, As long as my sister can come back."

The black hound jumped up on the table and said to the dust figure.

"Of course not. Fate has already made its choice, and it cannot be changed."

"Then use me..."

The unicorn said, using its horn to pick off the hound on the table and throw it onto his back:

"It's my fault. If I could have discovered the problems at home more promptly, I wouldn't have caused any discord between the sisters. This is my fault, please let me atone for it."