Chapter 3476: An Unexpected Turn in the All-Souls Festival

Looking down at the 【Calamity Card: Curse-Eroded Tree】 in his hand, Xia De sighed slightly. The memories of the Helena Carter of the past certainly could not be shared with Miss Danister. The situation in the present was different from the past, and for the time being, he did not want more people to know about the "Past."

He tossed the card forward, and as it spun vertically on its axis, Xia De pressed his finger, burning with Primordial Fire, against the card.

Doing this allowed him to partially utilize the power of the Calamity Card while suppressing its calamitous influence. After testing it, the power he could wield from this newly acquired card was the "Curse of Prosperity and Decay."

This allowed plants to grow rapidly or revert to their seed form; its essence was not the manipulation of life force, but the influence of time. Although limited to use on plants, it was still quite useful for Xia De.

To avoid wasting time, the meeting point agreed upon with the elders was the highest peak of the Fatumunster Snow Mountain. Standing on the "White Dragon's Ridge" and looking toward the "Peak of Destiny," Xia De realized this was his first time ascending to the very summit of the snow mountain.

Departing from Miss Silvia's tower was much closer than starting from the town at the foot of the mountain. Xia De chose to fly directly toward it, but out of respect for the Fatum traditions, he landed on the stairs before the summit and walked the final stretch on foot.

The elders placed great importance on the All-Souls Festival rituals. Xia De had expected them to arrive earlier than him, but upon reaching the summit, he found he seemed to be the first one there. Neither the elders, Claire, nor the climbers were present.

As for the summit of the highest peak, it was as empty as Claire had once described.

The platform connected by the stairs was a flat, open space. Aside from the bonfire the elders had piled up there days ago, there was nothing else—not even the dwarf wooden stakes wrapped in red silk common in the mountains.

At this moment, the horizon was already showing the first light of dawn, so Xia De stood at the edge of the platform and looked out over the island. Although clouds obscured his vision, after putting on the 【Crow's Eye】, he could still vaguely see the outlines of Kyle-Todd Town and the City of Chronos scattered at the foot of the snow mountain.

He was reminded of the "Temple of Destiny" again. He had previously speculated that the "Temple of Destiny" and the long-lost "Upper Spring" were on the Peak of Destiny at the summit, but now that he was really here, he couldn't sense anything at all.

Then he thought of the "Temple of Destiny" ruins he had encountered in the Lost Forest in the 923rd year of the Fifth Era, while traveling with the God of Travel and other companions during the Seven-Day Story.

That Temple of Destiny was also on a snow-capped peak, and it was inaccessible through ordinary means:

"It seems it was Clara's sister, Laks, who left behind a map (Chapter 1704), and Miss Andriana, who had turned into a unicorn, used her horn to open a path that didn't exist before (Chapter 1709), and then led us to find that temple."

Xia De then speculated whether the snow mountain in that story was the Fatumunster Snow Mountain. In that story, dragons and angels had appeared on the mountain, but that was the early Fifth Era, so it was normal for there to be no local records:

"I can let Ali or Little Liana come to the summit later to take a look. Maybe it really is this snow mountain."

He stood alone on the summit, watching the starlight gradually fade.

But apart from him, no one else appeared. Xia De even began to suspect he had gone to the wrong place:

"This is the highest peak of Fatumunster Island, right?"

Putting on the 【Crow's Eye】 and looking into the distance, there was no mountain on the entire island higher than this one. The clouds were now a tangerine-orange color. Xia De waited suspiciously for a while longer, and then witnessed the magnificent scene of the sun rising over the snow-capped summit, dyeing the horizon and the clouds gold.

It was certainly a beautiful sight, but the problem was that Xia De hadn't run up here at dawn instead of cuddling with his girls just to watch the sunrise.

Then he had a new thought:

"Wait, could it be that when I used that black time key, it wasn't three minutes that passed, but a day and three minutes?"

"Your imagination is quite vivid, but the time is fine."

"She" smiled gently. Xia De, still thinking about bringing breakfast to Dorothy, took one last look at the rising sun and performed the "Praise the Sun" gesture on the summit to add a status effect to himself.

After finishing the movements, he walked hesitantly to the climbing stairs and looked down, but he still couldn't see anyone.

"I'll wait another ten minutes. If no one comes, I'll go down to the town to see."

Having made his decision, he stopped overthinking. The consequences of the Fatum people failing to complete the "All-Souls Festival" ritual began to manifest.

The All-Souls Festival, originally scheduled for three days, had ended, and the spirits that had been restless during the festival should have calmed down. But now, as the sun rose, the four elements became chaotic once again. Unlike the turbulence during the festival, which was like a sudden swell in the ocean tide, the element environment now beginning to mutate felt more like someone was stirring a calm pool of water.

The violent fluctuations of the elements affected the environment, and Xia De even saw the morning sunlight turn slightly purple. He liked purple, but only when it came to Luweiya's eyes... and the pretty lingerie the girls occasionally wore for him.

"Did something go wrong?"

Xia De walked to the bonfire in the center of the summit and waved his hand, brushing away all the snow. The bonfire was already laid out. He summoned his own fire to dry the damp firewood, then looked toward the climbing stairs again.

Still no one appeared.

"This is strange."

The abnormal element tide at the summit was now causing the space itself to slowly change color. Aside from inside relics, this was the first time Xia De had seen such a situation in the real world. The source of the island's element chaos was above this highest peak; the area below the mountain shouldn't have experienced such exaggerated mutations yet, but if the situation wasn't resolved quickly, the elements swirling at the summit would eventually make the entire island feel the consequences.

He wanted to step in and stabilize the environment, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't think of any incantation he possessed that could achieve such an effect.

Just as Xia De was hesitating about whether to go down the mountain immediately, two figures finally flew over from the distance. It was Claire and Elder Ursa. Their flight speed was extremely fast; Claire even stumbled upon landing and was caught in time by Xia De.

The platinum-haired witch hugged him immediately:

"It's good that you're here. At least one thing went smoothly this morning."

"What happened?"

Xia De asked urgently. Elder Ursa, advanced in years, sat directly on the snow-covered ground. Xia De wanted to help her up, but the old woman waved him off:

"I'm fine, just let me rest for a moment. Around midnight, a group of water ghosts suddenly landed at the pier and entered the town. Although they were discovered in time, they still caused quite a mess. By two in the morning, we had confirmed that all the water ghosts in the town had been cleared out."

"Then news came from the City of Chronos that water ghosts had appeared there too, along with a large group of mermen. So the priests and the young men in the town didn't sleep all night, guarding the pier to prevent more enemies from appearing. By four in the morning, two hours ago, no enemies appeared at the pier, but the northern part of the town was breached instead."

"Breached by what?"

Xia De asked. Claire, whose breathing was gradually steadying, replied:

"I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it: demons. No, not ancient evil spirits, but xenomorphic demons. Although they were just low-level demons, they still terrified us. This island has never seen such things before. After clearing out that batch of demons, I found traces of a summoning ritual in the forest belt in the northern part of the town."

"Miss Swift, who came to help, recognized it as a demon summoning ritual. Grandma Cassandra was very skilled at this when she was young."

Grandma was the "Dark" witch of the council. After getting on in years, she only handled logistics in the council, but Xia De had heard parts of the legends about her younger days. Zina Cassandra was definitely worthy of the title "Dark Witch."

"So that's why you were late?"

Elder Ursa, leaning on her staff, stood up and shook her head again:

"When we went to deal with the batch of demons that had broken into the northern part of the town, the water ghosts emerged from the pier again. Claire's friends were a huge help; otherwise, relying only on the town's strength, we would have suffered heavy losses this time."

"Repelling the demons that broke into the town and the water ghosts at the pier happened about half an hour ago. Then a tsunami hit the town, but we don't know what relic caused it yet. Elder Harald and the elves staying in the town are still fighting the tsunami. Elder Ursa and I saw that time was running out, so we rushed here."

Xia De suspected he had misheard Elder Ursa's heavily accented Karsenburg:

"A tsunami? In this season?"

"It's a runaway relic, but we don't know what it is yet."

Claire said, then looked at the summit behind Xia De:

"What's going on? Hasn't anyone reached the summit yet?"

Xia De shook his head immediately:

"I arrived before dawn. You are the first group I've seen at the summit. It seems the climbers have also run into trouble. Should I go down the mountain path to find them now?"

Claire stopped him:

"Not yet. Elder Harald, Elder Vilda, and Elder Sorin stayed in the town. Elder Ursa and I came directly to the summit, and Elder Ulla set out with us, but considering there might be trouble here too, Elder Ulla split off halfway to search for the climbers from bottom to top. He knows the climbing route better than you. I'll rest for a moment, and if no one else arrives, I'll go find them with you."

?? PS: Illustration of this chapter: "Sunrise on the Snow Mountain." ===== CHAPTER 3477 =====