Chapter 3453: Disputes in the Snow

The sea cliff where the ladies currently stood was itself part of the snow mountain's mass; thus, although they could still see a few patches of vegetation after walking a few steps forward, they were effectively already inside the mountain.

Emilia had completely given up on tonight's bonfire banquet. Although she was still thinking about how to apologize to Xia De, she was now more curious about what lay ahead:

"We can find the Pilgrim's treasure tonight, right? And that relic, too."

She did not truly consider Miss Sabel one of their own, so she did not mention the name 【Pedestal of Fate】. A white orb of light floated to the right of Luvia's hand as she shook her head gently:

"Finding something is not important; what matters is the process of the pilgrimage. If I walk forward with the goal of finding something, I will never reach the destination that the ancient diviners reached."

Even though there should not have been a path in this area, every stretch of road they walked after entering the mountain was remarkably flat. When they encountered rugged, undulating terrain, there would happen to be fallen trees that paved the way for them.

The snow began to fall again, but no one paid it any mind. Luvia and "Miss Sabel" continued their conversation, while Emilia, unable to interject, took responsibility for managing the two unicorns, ensuring they did not wander off from the group.

Ellie, who had lived on the island for many years, had been to this area before, but she was not very familiar with it because there was no food or habitable cave nearby, so she had never lived in this vicinity.

It was the end of the Month of the Newborn Moon, and winter was drawing to a close. Although the temperature had not fully recovered, the snow cover in the low-altitude areas of the snow mountain where the young ladies were active was no longer as dense as it was on the mountainside.

They walked and talked all the way until, before ten o'clock that night, they arrived in front of a cliff face. The bonfire dance at the pier would end at ten-thirty, and there was no path left before them.

"I thought there would be a cave or something here."

Miss Sabel said. Luvia inquisitively approached the stone wall, wiped away the accumulated snow and ice, and examined it carefully.

"Should Luvia have come here alone? We shouldn't have followed, should we?"

Emilia asked with some concern, but Luvia did not think that was the reason:

"Ellie, Little Liana, help me strike this."

The unicorns charged together at the stone wall, and then, amidst the sound of shattering glass, a pitch-black cave was revealed. The group continued to advance into the cave, only to emerge from the other end after walking just a dozen steps.

"This is..."

The cave exit faced another cliff, and beyond the cliff lay the undulating landscape of snow-capped mountains under the night sky. They had suddenly gone from the foot of the mountain to the heights of the snow mountain. This was not the highest peak in the vicinity; from the side of the cliff where the now-vanished cave had been, there was a small path leading to an even higher elevation of the snow mountain.

Or rather, to go down, one would have to jump off the cliff, but to go up, there was a path to follow. This reminded Emilia of the adventure games Xia De used to mention, and this moment was the starting point of an adventure game.

"How do we go from here?"

Emilia asked for guidance, then realized she had asked a silly question:

"Since we have already passed through the cave, does that mean the map Xia De found in the traitorous priest's tomb can now be used?"

She then patted her little head in annoyance:

"Since we are already close to the treasure's location, shouldn't we have called Miss Larsen just now? After all, she is the Chosen candidate."

Luvia said while taking out the map deciphered by the Elder:

"If we delay, this path might not remain open to us. Do not pursue the result so deliberately; it is already very good that we have been able to find our way here."

She compared the hand-drawn map translated by Elder Harald with the cliff in front of her, then looked up at the highest peak nearby:

"It is indeed the map of this area; our destination is that highest peak."

"Can't we fly up there?"

Emilia asked again, and this time it was the blonde witch who answered her:

"Some paths are better walked one step at a time."

This was not Emilia's pilgrimage, so she just followed Luvia obediently, imagining what kind of treasure was waiting for them at the end. But she immediately thought of how the dead traitorous priest had also seemingly reached this place successfully, yet after reaching the end, he hadn't taken anything and had eventually met his end in the water pool—

"Will there be danger up there?"

Neither Luvia nor Miss Sabel could answer this question, but Luvia believed the journey ahead would not be smooth:

"There will be trials of a sort waiting for us, but as for what exactly they are, that depends on the arrangements of Fate."

In the snow of the starry night, the group set off upward from the cliff that had no path down, amidst the increasingly surging tide of Qi. They first climbed along the small path beside the cliff, then followed the map to make a turn, entering a hard-to-notice cave. After winding through the cave, they exited from another hidden opening, only to be led by Luvia onto a path leading down the mountain.

Although Emilia did not have a problem with getting lost, she had long since forgotten the way after walking this far. This strange, hidden area of the snow mountain seemed to possess a peculiar power in the path itself, and she believed she would never have reached the end on her own:

"If there were no map, how would pilgrims walk such a labyrinth?"

She felt she had many questions today, but fortunately, the ladies were willing to answer them for her.

"Star charts and intuition."

As the group walked on stone steps carved in an unknown era that circled the mountain peak, the blonde Miss Sabel held her long hair hanging over her shoulder with one hand and pointed to the starry sky above the three of them with the other:

"Those truly devout pilgrims of Fate must certainly have no shortage of ability in interpreting star charts. If one interprets the general path according to the star charts and then moves forward according to one's own inspiration, one should be able to reach the end."

Emilia then looked at the stars too, only to remember that her astronomy had always been poor. After all, she spent most of her nights taking care of the unicorns, and astronomy was not a required course for her.

The snow in the mountains grew heavier. As they walked along the steep stone steps circling the mountain body, a person suddenly fell from the heights of the peak and landed straight on the stone steps ahead of them.

The person did not appear to be injured; he patted his black robe and stood up.

This was a middle-aged man who looked like a priest, with black and white hair arranged in alternating stripes on his slicked-back hair, and he held a black notebook in his hand. Of course, the holy emblem of the evil god 【Great Demon of Probability】 hanging on his chest clearly indicated that he belonged to the 【Society of Ten Thousand Numbers Returning to One】.

After seeing the three people coming from below—the unicorns were further behind and had not caught up yet—the "priest" did not observe them immediately, but instead opened the notebook in his hand to check it.

"It seems I am not the only one who didn't go to town to attend the All Souls' Festival tonight."

He said in a low voice, his eyes moving away from the "notebook" to look at the three people below:

"Good evening, ladies. You seem to have the map of this place in your hands? Since Fate has allowed you to bring the map to me, then please hand it over to me now."

He maintained the same demeanor he had when he last encountered Xia De, but his words were very infuriating.

Luvia naturally guessed that this was the cultist who had fought Xia De in the cedar forest outside the small town, so she retorted sarcastically:

"Whether it is Fate, or the 'Puppeteer's Script' in your hand that made you meet us, I don't think that's certain."

"Madam, it seems you know me?"

The cover of the "Puppeteer's Script" was an unremarkable black and not very recognizable, which was why the "priest" asked this.

However, seeing that Luvia did not answer, he continued to persuade:

"I am very certain that none of you three are candidates. Since that is the case, why not yield the opportunity to me? A mere pilgrimage of Fate is not as important as the birth of the Chosen of Fate."

Luvia took a deep breath, feeling that she was indeed not good at talking to such people. Seeing that the three people below had no intention of yielding, the "priest" opened the notebook in his hand again. He held the notebook, one eye looking at the content on it, and the other looking at the three people below:

"Then please forgive my offense, ladies."

In a voice that suddenly became somewhat fierce, a puppet with a golden, metallic-looking body and a flat-topped yellow helmet on its head stepped out from behind him, passed the "priest," and arrived on the stone steps below him, blocking the "priest."

The strangely shaped golden puppet continued to take a step downward, and then the "priest" felt his vision flash, and the puppet was actually back in front of him again:

"Oh?"

The puppet continued to step downward, and then it returned to its initial position again.

Luvia, knowing that Adele Isabella was secretly casting a spell, smiled and said:

"This is a wonder that manipulates stairs. Its essence reflects Fate, meaning roughly that you have gone far enough by reaching this point, and you will be trapped on the stairs unable to take the next step. You are destined not to become the Chosen, so leave."

Emilia looked at Miss Sabel curiously, and the "priest" with the unique hairstyle certainly did not believe it. Writing rapidly on the black notebook, the golden puppet no longer tried to approach the three ladies below. It stood in front of the "priest," blocking most of his body, and at a certain moment, it suddenly extended its finger toward the bottom.

The right fist turned into golden light at this moment and shot toward the bottom, but that light almost immediately solidified under the night sky. At the same time, emerald light burst from Emilia's fingertips. The golden puppet wanted to block it, but its vision blurred again, and that light pierced straight through the "priest's" brow.

The kinetic energy carried by the energy emission caused his entire body to fly backward, and then *boom*—it exploded into a sky full of paper pages amidst the snowflakes in the mountains. Every one of those pages belonged to the "Puppeteer's Script."

PS: The monthly votes have fallen out of the top 100. If you have votes, please cast them~ Thank you. I will continue to add updates this month. ===== CHAPTER 3454 =====