Chapter 3539: The Lost Fate

Two thirteenth-ring sorcerers appearing together was certainly no small matter, so Xia De said to Claire and the others:

"You all step aside for now, I'll stay here and see how things stand."

"Then be careful."

Claire led the others away temporarily. About three minutes later, a group from the Prophets' Association and the Sun Church also arrived outside this delivery room, but only four people entered the door, two of whom were naturally those two thirteenth-ring sorcerers.

They were startled to see a strange young man standing here, but immediately realized this was the "God-Summoner," so the third-ring nun said in embarrassment:

"This gentleman let himself in."

"That's fine."

The blonde Miss Eden, who had angel bloodline, said, then went with the two behind her to check on the child's condition.

As for Association President Mr. Adelaide Lenorman, who had only met Xia De yesterday, he sighed:

"I didn't expect your information to be this well-informed either."

"No, my information isn't well-informed, it's just that the diviner beside me is very capable... It seems you know the reason for this matter."

The diviner wearing a crystal monocle nodded, his gaze shifting to the surrounded infant:

"Yesterday afternoon by the fire, after hearing about 'Mr. Snake,' we reported to the Church, and the Church immediately investigated clues related to this throughout the entire city. As a result, we learned about this child's family's situation."

He explained:

"Before the Year's End Festival, the child's grandparents both fell ill from a cold and nearly lost their lives, but after the Year's End Festival they both fully recovered. Their recovery was very rapid, so the family's neighbors grew curious about what treatment method they had used, and learned that they had obtained herbs from a witch doctor in Kyle-Todd Town.

But they had confided to their relatives that they had sought help from a certain miraculous being. Their relatives were devout believers of the Church, and yesterday upon hearing the Church was collecting clues, they immediately told the Church about the matter."

Xia De roughly understood:

"They also encountered 'Mr. Snake'? Made a wish and paid some price, causing the two elders to recover?"

Mr. Adelaide Lenorman nodded:

"We haven't questioned them yet, but that's roughly how it went. The matters entangled with the apocalypse's fate are many, so this lady of the 【Sun Emblem】 came representing the Church together with us. The Archbishop of the Misfortune Cult was right when he spoke with you—Mr. Snake is an existence entirely different from the World Tree Remnant in the woodlands. The latter is merely a remnant of the old days, something that should have long departed, but the former..."

He didn't continue, but Xia De could also understand:

"Is an enemy of the entire world."

But the matter was still somewhat different from what they had expected. The Church's people also hadn't discerned what the snake scales appearing on the girl's body signified, and that required further examination. And the subsequent questioning of the impoverished couple also confirmed that they had indeed sought protection from some strange being in the mountains.

They were city folk, but had also heard of the natives' worship of the snow mountain on this island. So when the two elders at home were critically ill and out of options, the couple went to the mountains to pray with hope, and encountered a temple at dusk.

Only unlike young Clement Klug's encounter, what they met was not "Mr. Snake" in traditional priestly robes, nor was there any spinning of a wheel:

"A snake, a massive black serpent coiled in the temple. Its eyes were larger than Old Geli's millstone, and when it opened its mouth, I thought it was going to eat us, but instead it asked if we needed help, saying it had heard our prayers.

We said we hoped the elders at home would recover, and it said that would require a price."

"What price did you pay?"

"... The child, the unborn child. That great serpent called itself 'Mr. Snake,' and it spat out a yellow gemstone, telling us to take it home and place it there, so the parents could recover. I knew it wasn't right, but there were still three children at home to raise, we had no choice."

"Why do you say that?"

"My father is a veteran of the Lagson Duchy, his retirement pension accounts for a third of our family's income, our whole family cannot lose him."

The different forms of "Mr. Snake" were easy enough to understand. Clement Klug was a university-educated grammar teacher, and someone like that required courtesy and affability, so "Mr. Snake" appeared in human form; whereas for the poor couple who had never left this island, a bit of intimidation better conveyed authority, so it became a giant serpent.

In that case, the so-called "wheel" didn't matter, but the yellow eye-shaped gemstone it gave was very important.

The Church had already sent people to retrieve the gemstone. The couple said that in the morning the gemstone was still a gemstone, not turned into some kind of stone.

"But I still don't understand—since the price they paid was this child, why was she still born? And why did she develop snake characteristics?"

The Sun Church's people conducted their investigation and questioning, so Xia De and President Lenorman stood in the hospital corridor continuing their conversation. 【Snake Heart Hospital】 was now half-sealed off; people inside could move about as usual, but no one could leave.

The corridor was very quiet, and President Lenorman shook his head:

"I think we'll have an answer soon."

Soon Old Man Charlatue also arrived at the hospital. After greeting Xia De and President Lenorman, he went to check on the child's condition. It was already eleven in the morning; the girl had been born two and a half hours ago, and more snake scales were appearing on her body. At this rate, her entire skin would eventually be replaced.

And Old Man Charlatue's eyes, which could see through fate, truly provided the answer:

"This child has no fate."

"You mean she'll die soon?"

Miss Eden asked. She was a female sorcerer who appeared very approachable. Whether it was Xia De's illusion, ladies who wielded the power of the sun—such as Yi Lu Na, Claire, and this 【Sun Emblem】, and even little Mia who bore the "Sun's Son" bloodline—all possessed this warm, sun-like quality.

Old Man Charlatue shook his head gravely:

"No. Even those about to die have a 'fated death,' but her fate is blank. To be precise, her fate is rapidly becoming blank. Every one of us, as long as we exist, must have a fate; there is no one who completely steps outside fate.

Yet she is losing her fate, which means she will cease to exist. I have never encountered such a thing, nor do I know what she will become afterward—perhaps she will vanish completely until even everyone's memory of her no longer exists, perhaps she will become some kind of fate-related monster."

"Can it be reversed?"

Ms. Eden immediately asked, and Old Man Charlatue shook his head:

"Prophets can only peek at and divine fate, and influence it within limited bounds. We cannot create a fate for someone out of nothing—that is something only gods can do."

Mr. Lenorman glanced at Xia De, but although this involved a life, summoning a god for this matter was still too extreme. If a god were to rashly appear, what it would involve would be more than just one life.

"Since you can see her fate flowing away, can you see where it's flowing to?"

Xia De suddenly asked. Old Man Charlatue looked again toward the infant's direction, then nodded:

"I can only see where the flowing fate goes within five meters around her. So if we carry her and search, we might be able to find the endpoint of where that fate went."

"The Temple of Fate?"

Miss Eden asked, and at that moment a new voice came from behind the group:

"Then let us go search. A newborn child should not vanish like this."

The cool, clear voice belonged to Sister Sister Daifulin. She "looked" toward the child being held by the nun, who had now been soothed to sleep. Even though she had been busy lately completing the final preparations before her advancement to the thirteenth ring, with something like this happening at 【Snake Heart Hospital】, she absolutely could not ignore it.

The endpoint of this search might well require facing "Mr. Snake" directly. But to prevent the other party from abandoning "fate" and vanishing without a trace, the two thirteenth-rings in the hospital, Sister Sister Daifulin, and Xia De, each with their own people, set out immediately, with Old Man Charlatue's eyes guiding everyone.

At the same time, the request for aid had already been sent to various places on the island. By the time the group prepared to enter the mountains, a squad of twenty ring-sorcerers above the eleventh ring dispatched by the Wushen Sect, the witch follower team led by Claire/Megan/Hilvey, and the high-ranking diviners of the Prophets' Association successively joined them.

Currently the Church's only thirteenth-ring on the island was Miss Eden of the 【Sun Emblem】, after all—the Lagson Duchy had the Prophets' Association, so in ordinary times this place didn't require an additional thirteenth-ring stationed here. And currently, considering the complexity of the fate matter, and that other regions also had their own troubles, the Church had not yet transferred more thirteenth-ring sorcerers here. This was not a lack of importance—a thirteenth-ring with angel bloodline was already powerful enough.

As for the High-Ring Diviners, only five had arrived; Mr. Lenormand admitted that these were all the people on the island:

"I haven't yet transferred personnel from headquarters; I originally planned to have everyone arrive gradually during the ritual preparations, but I didn't expect things to happen so quickly."

But even so, the current manpower is more than sufficient. Xia De even wrote a letter to the 【Clown Troupe】 to inquire whether they wished to come assist. Soon after entering the mountains, these gentlemen wearing clown masks also joined the procession.

Thus, the group now included two Thirteen-Ring practitioners, three candidates, plus Sister Sister Daifulin, Xia De, the witches, numerous High-Ring sorcerers, and the unicorn Elie—Little Liana was officially registered by the Academy as a unicorn; even if they couldn't resolve the trouble, they should have no problem withdrawing unscathed.

The elder Zalatu carried the child wrapped in the bundle and led everyone upward into the snowy peaks.