Chapter 3477: The Imposter Climber

Both Claire and Elder Ursa had snow mountain water to replenish their spiritual consumption, but clearly, the exhaustion and nervous tension brought on by a night of fighting could not be relieved by snow mountain water alone.

Xia De released the incantation 【Dark Moon Grace】. While casting at the summit, he also felt the impact of the abnormal element environment on himself. Although the casting didn't fail, the light of the silver fireball he summoned flickered constantly, like a gas lamp in disrepair.

"If the ritual fails—I mean, if all the fire seeds eventually go out and no one reaches here—Elder Ursa, are there any remedial measures for the All-Souls Festival ritual?"

Xia De had only considered that the climbers might not arrive on time due to the weather; he hadn't expected that not a single person would appear.

Elder Ursa's face looked terrible:

"The last time this happened was over a thousand years ago. The ancient snake-skin scrolls do record remedial measures, but even if they take effect, the Fatumunster Island will have small problems throughout the coming year, and the element chaos won't subside across the island for a month or two. While it won't be as severe as it is now, it's still no small matter."

All three looked toward the direction of the climb. A few minutes later, Elder Ulla finally flew up from below, gasping for air:

"Found them. The young man from the Vadino village is already below; he'll be here in ten minutes. No one else has arrived? What on earth is going on this year?"

Elder Ulla also sat directly on the snow to rest. The old man was panting:

"Firewood..."

"I've already dried it. It will ignite as soon as the spark falls."

Xia De said immediately. Elder Ursa and Elder Ulla continued to discuss the situation, while Claire stood with Xia De:

"It's good you're here. Although Silvia is also on the island, seeing you come made me feel at ease."

The platinum-haired witch said softly. Xia De asked:

"Why didn't you come to me for help directly last night? Although the distance from the Duchess's manor to my house is not short, you could have found me within an hour."

Claire shook her head:

"The situation in the town last night wasn't so critical that we needed your help. Those water ghosts and xenomorphic demons sounded terrifying, but the real trouble was that they had run into the town, requiring a house-to-house search."

"Are your parents okay?"

Xia De asked. Claire smiled; she knew Xia De was concerned about her:

"They're fine. After the pier incident, I had Stella and Matilda take them directly to the Snow Mountain Hall. By the way, Bella's maids were a huge help last night. When searching for water ghosts and demons in the town, thanks to the assistance they provided, I owe Bella a favor this time."

"So how do you plan to repay it?"

Claire's mood had relaxed:

"I won't blame her for what happened last time. I only recently found out that the purple crystal amulet she sold me was a defective product she made while crafting your year-end gift. Hmph, it's hard to imagine that the Countess of Moon Bay would do such a thing."

Xia De smiled embarrassedly, but Claire wasn't really blaming Bella. After all, although it was a defective product, you get what you pay for, and Bella hadn't deceived her:

"I just regret that I didn't know you a few weeks earlier."

She said again, her golden eyes looking at Xia De. Xia De understood what she meant:

"Although we missed the year-end festival this time, we can spend many more together in the future."

The witch nodded gently, glanced at the two elders who were deep in conversation, and then quietly hooked her finger with Xia De's with her right hand:

"Then it's a deal. You're not allowed to lie."

A pale, gasping young man finally reached the summit platform shortly after. Elder Ursa and Elder Ulla greeted him immediately; they knew him and called him "Shay," a very common name among the Fatum people. The young man, Shay, was about twenty years old, about the same height as Xia De, but much thinner.

The kerosene lamp storing the fire seed hung at his waist, and the flame inside, though faint, still existed.

Elder Ursa and Elder Ulla were anxious, but the ritual wasn't over yet, so they didn't touch the lamp directly, instead urging the young man to hurry and light the bonfire in the center of the summit platform.

Just as the young man named Shay walked quickly toward the center of the platform—

"Moonlight Slash!"

Xia De, standing with Claire, raised his hand and slashed a brilliant beam of moonlight at the young man's back. No one expected him to strike at this moment, so the moonlight sliced the body in two diagonally along the right shoulder.

The corpse and the kerosene lamp fell onto the snow, blood staining the ground red. Elder Ursa and Elder Ulla looked at Xia De in shock, instinctively preparing to cast spells, but Claire stood in front of Xia De:

"Wait, Xia De, what did you see?"

"That's not a Fatum person. That's an imposter, a fourth-stage imposter."

Xia De looked past the two elders at the "corpse" on the ground, his expression grave:

"Stop pretending, stand up. I won't misidentify you disgusting things."

The two elders turned to look at the "corpse." The squirming flesh was already stitching itself back together, and "Shay," bearing scars that hadn't yet healed, stood up in a rather bizarre posture.

It used its hands to adjust the position of its upper body to align it more accurately. But the holy moonlight was preventing its flesh from healing, so the scar remained.

"Although I thought you might appear here, I'm really curious, how on earth did you recognize me?"

Its arms turned into flesh whips and stabbed at the two elders, but at the same time, its right foot kicked out, sending the fire seed toward the pile of firewood.

"Freeze Ray!"

"Freeze Ray!"

Xia De and Claire cast spells simultaneously. The ice-blue light from Xia De's fingertips was blocked by the imposter's body, but Claire's incantation hit the kerosene lamp precisely.

The kerosene lamp was frozen in ice. Only then did the witch notice that the kerosene lamp wasn't made of metal, but of flesh:

"What is the fire seed inside the lamp?"

The two flesh whips were blocked by the elders, but caught off guard, they were still knocked flying.

The flesh whips continued to strike at the elders, but then, with a *swish*, 【Night-Watcher】 turned into a whip and hit the imposter's flesh in mid-air. The flesh entangled the bright silver whip, and then the raging moonfire spread along the sword-turned-whip, igniting the imposter's flesh.

It immediately abandoned that part of its body, twisting space to dodge the moonlight that followed. But after its body reappeared, a Sun Spear pierced its chest.

It tried to struggle, but the golden electric arcs jumping on its body caused the flesh to lose control. Claire continued to cast spells, and with a rustling sound, ice layers wrapped around the imposter's body.

Blood light floated on the surface of its body, neutralizing the electric arcs of the Sun Spear before shattering the ice. But by now, Xia De had reached it. He stomped his right foot, 【Space Stabilization Aura】 prohibited spatial movement, and then 【Night-Watcher】 swung down, sending the imposter's head flying into the high air.

Before the head could land, its body was already engulfed in raging flames. The head immediately flew away from Xia De and was shattered by a fireball thrown by Claire the next moment.

"The bonfire!"

Elder Ursa, who had crawled out of the snow, shouted. Only then did Xia De notice that the dry firewood pile had ignited with scarlet, foul-smelling flames.

The smell of blood filled the air, but more importantly, the blood-red flames ignited at the summit caused the low-whisper elements—which were already chaotic in the peak area—to suddenly overwhelm the other three types.

It was as if an Angel-level relic had gone out of control nearby. Elder Ursa, Elder Ulla, and Claire all felt their own elements being affected.

"Thunderclap!"

Xia De waved his palm forward, dispersing the strange flames. As the smell of blood was blown away by the morning wind, the abnormality of the low-whisper elements finally subsided slowly. But the abnormal element tide in the summit area still hadn't dissipated; the sky had even turned a dark purple, and a few moments later, snow with a faint purple hue began to fall. Every snowflake that landed on them caused the elements within the four people at the summit to stir.

"What do we do now? Are there any other climbers?"

Xia De asked quickly, walking over to help Elder Ulla up, while Claire helped Elder Ursa. The only climber who had approached the summit was an imposter, which already suggested that it was unlikely anyone else would reach the summit.

The elders were encountering this situation for the first time, but Elder Ursa quickly made a decision:

"Since the flames brought by that imposter can affect the ritual, other flames should work too. Although this doesn't comply with tradition and ritual procedures, go to the location of the bonfire just now and relight it."

"Try not to use flames with strong elements; keep the nature of the flame as peaceful as possible."

Claire looked at Xia De:

"You do it."

The bonfire had been scattered by the Thunderclap, but Xia De had other wood on him. While "Moonfire" was holy, its nature could hardly be called peaceful. And the "Primordial Fire," which had devoured many types of flames and firewood, seemed extremely violent on the surface, but in terms of elements, it appeared relatively balanced.

After quickly building a brand-new bonfire, scarlet flames, under Xia De's gaze, shot upward from the pile with a *whoosh*.

He prepared to disperse this bonfire again, but fortunately, when the flames ignited this time, although the four elements still changed due to the appearance of the fire, this change caused the restless elements to gather toward the flames.