Chapter 3291

Entering a semi-enclosed area from a narrow entrance, and there is an important building at the end of the area, but there is a very wide and flat open space between the building and the entrance. This scene made the Outsider quite alert. He felt that even if a dragon drilled out from under the ice in the next moment, it was possible:

"Emilia, ask Ellie, does the castle have defensive power to prevent intrusion?"

Xia De said, and after Emilia asked, the unicorn shook its head directly.

"Ellie said she didn't know. She appeared here after waking up. This is not the place where she originally lived. She has no problem entering and exiting, and when that demon ran in, it didn't seem to encounter much obstruction."

"Speaking of which, do you feel that the wind is getting stronger and the temperature is getting lower?"

Miss Reinhardt on the side said suddenly. The gusty wind mixed with snowflakes was indeed getting stronger, but this area seemed to have no air inlet. Xia De opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but raised his hand and unexpectedly found that he had manifested the power of "Initial Fire Embers" at some point:

"What's the situation?"

Then, because of the cold around him, he shivered violently, and the sudden cold made him a little unbearable. The violent wind and snow submerged everyone in the sharp sound of the wind in the next second, and the drop in visibility caused Xia De to lose the figures of everyone.

And when he broke through the wind and snow to approach Emilia, who was closest to him, he was shocked to find that Emilia had been frozen in ice:

"What?"

Reaching out to touch the surroundings, the unicorn Ellie, Miss Reinhardt, Miss Larsen, and the other three high-ring girls were all frozen in ice.

Xia De, whose hair and eyebrows were already covered with frost, couldn't believe that this was a matter of an instant. He summoned fire and wanted to thaw them, but reaching out, he found that at some point, his hands were also covered with ice:

"This is a bit exaggerated—Burning Oath!"

Wanting to use the power of the Initial Fire to thaw himself, but that only delayed the freezing time by a few seconds.

In the end, Xia De, who maintained the action of raising his hand, was also sealed in ice, but at least in those few seconds of delaying the freezing, he felt what the power coming from the castle was—

"The power of the Old God 【Winter Maiden】, the power of at least a demigod-level Witch Emperor, and a relic of not low level."

But there was no demon power alone.

He was sealed in ice with this thought, and his consciousness also solidified because of the freezing. In the ice layer, he could vaguely see the fire marks of "Initial Fire Embers" appearing on his body, but this time even the power of the Initial Fire could not break through this layer of cold ice.

While consciousness was frozen, it seemed that his own time was also stagnant.

I don't know how long it took, in a trance, it seemed that he heard a cat meow, but it seemed to be just the soft laughter of "She."

Among the thousands of human-shaped ice sculptures standing in front of the ice castle, one of them suddenly trembled. Then, in the rustling sound, cracks appeared on the surface of the ice sculpture. Finally, the ice sculpture exploded in place, and Xia De, who was panting heavily, regained his ability to act in the crystal-clear ice powder all over the sky.

He knelt in the snow, supporting the snow surface under his feet with his hands and breathing heavily. During that period of time, the spirit in his body was completely frozen, and the change in the elements in his body caused by the spirit rushing again almost let him know what "out of control" meant.

But fortunately, his own recovery ability was very strong. It took him half a minute to adjust himself. After standing up again and looking around, there was no trace of his companions in the surroundings.

Before being frozen, the team should have been half the distance from the ice castle, but at this moment, he had crossed the area that looked very flat and empty in the canyon under the ice cover and stood in the ice sculpture cluster in front of the castle steps.

The size and volume of all ice sculptures around were exactly the same. One could only see men and women from the carved clothing, but couldn't see that the inside was complete solid ice, or that the inside was a human being. The expressions and actions of different ice sculptures also had subtle differences, but all were lifelike.

"What's the situation just now?"

【After you were frozen, I also lost the ability to perceive the outside world. Time has passed for about twenty minutes.】

"She" said gently. Xia De didn't care whether this was true or false. Looking into the distance to the entrance of the canyon, he could only see the ice sculpture cluster spreading towards that side. The subsequent team should only be five minutes away from here. At this moment, since he didn't see them, I am afraid that the subsequent team either temporarily withdrew from the canyon or also turned into ice sculptures here.

He didn't try to leave the canyon, but reached out and wanted to touch the ice sculpture closest to him. But at this moment, footsteps came from the highest point of the steps in front of the castle. While the high heels clicked on the steps, a female voice stopped Xia De:

"Guest, please don't destroy the decorations in the castle courtyard at will." (Kasenrike language)

"Who?"

Looking up, the crystal-clear figure walked from a high place. She stepped on crystal-like ice high heels and came from the clean-as-a-mirror ice crystal steps in front of the castle. Every step was accompanied by the light sound of broken ice crystals, because her body was also carved from pure ice.

Unlike those ice sculptures standing in the snow in front of the castle that were basically the same in appearance, the figure walking down the steps had an incomparably fine face. The maid long skirt made of thin ice layers looked like a work of art, and the ice layer even swayed gently with her walking.

Her skin revealed a cold but not soft luster, and the long skirt fit every contour of the ice edge on the surface of the body.

Because Xia De was standing below, he even noticed that when this "Ice Maid" walked down the steps, there was light of falling snowflakes under the skirt.

"Puppet... no, elemental life?"

Just like Tifa and Matilda, this is another very professional head maid.

"Guest, please don't destroy the decorations in the courtyard."

She said it again. As she kept approaching, Xia De was very sure that there was the look of a wise life in the depths of her pupils.

The wind and snow in the canyon had long stopped, and the sunlight passing through the ice cover on the top of the head sprinkled on her. The non-human feeling and cold feeling gave her charm not inferior to any living girl.

Of course, her arrival also made the surrounding temperature lower, but at least the temperature at this time would not re-freeze Xia De.

"Who are you?"

Seeing that the other party didn't show hostility, Xia De took back his hand and asked. The maid continued to use the Kasenrike language of the Sixth Era, standing under the last step and bowing slightly to Xia De:

"Guest, I am the head maid of this castle and the only housekeeper here. Since you are not afraid of the cold winter, welcome to your visit. Please follow me, please forgive me for the poor hospitality."

Xia De didn't move:

"Maid, can you explain what the situation is now?"

The ice maid actually showed a smile on her face. Xia De didn't know how the cold ice became movable like the human body:

"Of course, the great master who built this castle has long since left, but she left some treasures that are still considered precious here before she left. Aren't you here to look for treasure?"

"I..."

"Of course, only when a witch or Ringed Shushi who is strong enough comes here will the castle give such a test. If the test is not passed, you can only stand in the courtyard as a decoration. But the master is kind-hearted. If it is an ordinary person who accidentally breaks into here, as long as they leave in time, the castle and I will not make things difficult for them."

She seemed to know what Xia De was doubting.

"But I saw many ice sculptures of ordinary people just now."

"Yes, there are always people who greedily want to take something away from here, so they can only stay. The last one who left safely was an ordinary person twenty years ago. Although he accidentally took away a piece of fabric, since it was accidental, I didn't make things difficult for him."

She made the invitation gesture again:

"Then guest, please follow me. A great adventure is waiting for you ahead."

Xia De still didn't move. He frowned and stared at the face of this "Ice Beauty":

"Unicorn Ellie never mentioned you."

"Yes, since the experimental subject woke up, I have been in a state of merging with this castle. After all, after it woke up, no guest like you who needs me to come out to greet in person has appeared."

"Experimental subject?"

The ice maid was unwilling to explain:

"Can you follow me now?"

"There are two more things. After I finish speaking, I will go with you—do you know there is a demon in the castle?"

"That is an evil guest who lives here temporarily. It wants the master's secret treasure but refuses to accept the test left by the master. It lives here temporarily because it did not destroy the castle and is too powerful, so I did not expel it. It is still here now and possesses part of the castle's authority. If you pass the test, you can naturally see it."

There was no trace of demon power on the ice maid, and the demon is the "demon of weapons" rather than the "demon of ice and snow," so Xia De was not worried that the maid in front of him was a trap of the demon.

"The last thing, where are my friends?"

"I put them in the courtyard and the castle separately. The naughty Ellie rashly brought so many strangers here, and it was locked in the castle by me. If you complete the test, you, Ellie, and your friends can all leave."

She smiled again:

"This also includes others who followed you. It is an honor for a humble maid like me to receive so many visitors. Don't worry about their safety. Within fifty years of being frozen, even ordinary people can survive. But if it exceeds fifty years—sorry, even Ringed Shushi will truly become a part of the ice and snow."

It seems that the church's team also encountered danger, which Xia De was not very surprised by. No one expected that the danger encountered this time was not a demon, but the castle itself. All the response means they took were aimed at the demon. And the power of this castle, in Xia De's view, might be stronger than that demon.

?? PS: Who is this?

? The divination result given by Luweiya for this action is "Pocket Watch," "Ice and Snow," "Reunion."