Chapter 3575: Stars and the Moon

That evening, Dorothy had originally planned to do nothing so that Xia De could rest up for tomorrow's operation. But after the two of them returned to the bedroom shortly after ten o'clock to rest, the blonde-haired Young Lady writer lay beside Xia De, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

She chatted with Princess Lei Lei Qianya in her mind for a while, and was then "mocked" by the Princess:

"Dorothy, the one you want to interact with isn't me—would I not know what you're thinking?"

Dorothy didn't want to disturb Xia De, who was resting beside her, but she knew her thoughts had been seen through by Lei Lei Qianya, so she carefully turned her body and lay on her side to look at Xia De, who had been silent for quite a while.

Then, in the dim bedroom, she saw that Xia De was also looking at her; the moment their eyes met, both understood the other's thoughts.

The Young Lady writer then complained that her "reserve" had wasted time, and her hands emerged from the quilt to wrap around Xia De's neck.

At the same time, in her own room at Yoeder Palace, Princess Lei Lei Qianya smiled, "watching" the situation over there while preparing to take a bath—she knew it would be her turn soon.

As for the little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya at the bedside, the cat had originally been fast asleep; now awakened by the sound, she wriggled like a worm, turned a circle on the spot, then draped her tail in front of her and sank back into dreams.

And that night, a strange situation also appeared in Xia De's dream.

As on countless nights before, he stood on an endless wilderness bathed in silver moonlight, feeling the cold yet gentle wind as he looked up at the moon. And the starry sky, which usually only twinkled, tonight was streaked with shooting stars.

The meteor shower in the dream was indeed beautiful—Xia De had only ever seen such a scene on the day the "Darkness" Chosen One, Ivan Dac Dac Nisi, died—but Xia De didn't understand what this dream meant:

"Is this dream-space becoming unstable, about to collapse?"

【Of course not.】

"She" whispered softly in Xia De's ear:

【The revolving stars symbolize ever-changing fate, but the true owner of the starry sky is the moon and the night.】

Xia De nodded:

"I understand—it's just that I've been focusing on the power of the moon itself, and haven't involved myself much with the powers of night and stars."

For "night," he at least possessed the Spirit Rune and the "Nightfall Seal"—in fact, it was the power of stars that he hadn't touched at all.

"Her" voice remained gentle:

【To destroy the "Falling Star Beast," besides brute force, perhaps one could also approach it from the angle of the starry sky.】

Xia De looked up and continued watching the spectacular meteor shower—the scene truly was beautiful. If this dream could keep appearing, he would very much like to invite Flora into his dream to paint the falling stars at this moment, then hang it at home as a decorative painting.

"But the operation is tomorrow—even if I obtained some kind of miracle right now, there wouldn't be time to learn it. Besides, does a miracle specifically targeting stars really exist?"

The World of the Era was structured quite simply: only the material world and the small sub-spaces attached to it. But in the distant ancient epochs, the Astral Plane, the Shadow Plane, the Elemental Plane, and many other worlds coexisted with the material world at their core.

The legendary Astral Plane was a semi-energetic special world composed of stars; it was said to contain alien beings born with demigod-level power—the Star Spirits, all followers of the Moon Goddess, who held many secrets related to the gods.

But the Astral Plane had been gone for far, far too long; the star-related powers preserved by later generations were mostly astrology and fire-and-stone secret arts such as "Meteorite Art" and "Starfall," created by imitating the trajectories of falling meteors.

"Shattering stars" was, in the eyes of the Ring Sorcerers of the Sixth Epoch, no different from myth—and Xia De had never even heard of any power specifically meant to counter the stars.

"She" continued to answer:

【Perhaps when you truly see that star, you will understand the connection and difference between stars and the moon.】

"I hope it will be so."

Xia De looked up and continued watching the meteor shower streak across the night sky, his heart utterly calm.

Friday's operation was to begin at dawn, so that morning both Xia De and Dorothy woke very early. It was only five in the morning, and not much time had passed since they fell asleep.

Xia De had already told the Misses at the foot of the snow mountain that they would eat breakfast there, so they didn't need to prepare breakfast—after washing up and changing, they could set out directly.

"Meow~"

Cats aren't used to waking this early, but seeing Xia De looking like he was about to go out and do something big, the cat also woke up early that morning, meowing as if wanting to follow Xia De.

This cat always had a few days each month when she was willing to go out—today seemed to be one of them. Since no one at home could prepare the cat's breakfast and lunch today, Xia De took her along as well.

When they emerged from the ruins beneath Sylvia's Gao Ta, the sky above the snow mountain was still full of stars. Dorothy let out a small sigh of admiration at the scenery, then prepared with Xia De to go through the Gao Ta's teleportation gate to the Ice Castle, and then on to the town.

Rita and Grandmother Cassandra's followers weren't participating in the operation, but they still waited for Xia De in the castle and saw him off. On the way to the town with Dorothy, Xia De also mentioned last night's dream to her.

Dorothy had read many ancient myths and stories, and on this topic she truly had her own insights:

"Some parents tell their children that people become stars in the night sky after death. Although that's a way to help children understand death, it also reflects the relationship between the starry sky and mortal fate.

In the myths, those skilled astrologers could change fate by influencing the trajectories of the stars; some powerful beings could even directly summon stars from the Astral Plane to attack enemies—this isn't Meteorite Art, it's truly summoning stars.

Of course, the more common view is that the stars are decorations on the hem of the Moon Sage's skirt, or chess pieces when the Moon Sage plays against the other gods. The stars belong to the moon's domain, the starry sky shifts with the moon phases, and by simulating the moon phases, one can control the power of the stars."

The two flew hand in hand low above the cedar forest, while Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya, complaining about the low temperature, had already hidden inside the inner pocket of Xia De's coat.

"That's a very romantic way of putting it—so the method of controlling the stars through moon phases surely hasn't been passed down, right?"

Xia De asked again, and Dorothy laughed:

"Everything I've said is just legend and story—if you want to know more, why not go ask Dannister?"

And when Xia De arrived at the Brilliant Messenger docked at the town's pier, he was quite surprised to find that both Dannister and Emilia were actually there.

"Something this important, and you didn't come find me to help?"

The red-haired female sorceress asked Xia De quite displeased; the pointy-eared elf beside her snickered, but to avoid being dragged in, quickly ran off to the unicorns' side.

The witches on the ship had also just woken up; the familiar long table was once again set up in the banquet hall, and Matilda was directing the Young Lady maids to bring up the steaming hot breakfast.

Xia De apologized:

"You always need the power of a relic to travel back and forth to Fatum Island—it's very inconvenient. And Emilia's been so busy lately, so I didn't call you both."

Dannister snorted, glanced sideways to confirm that no one nearby other than Dorothy could hear them speak, then said:

"I've obtained the Space Spirit Rune."

Xia De was pleasantly surprised:

"Last time we went to the library together you obtained the miracle 【Mythology】, and now you've gotten 【Space】—have you found the direction toward the path of demigod?"

"Not quite."

She then slightly lowered her voice:

"The appearance of 【Space】 was rather inexplicable—I feel as if it's after... having that kind of relationship with you, that I touched new power from your soul."

"The others don't seem to have this situation."

Dorothy said, and Dannister continued to lower her voice:

"Perhaps because we are both moons?"

This was hard to explain, but Dac Dac Nisi also obtaining 【Space】 was ultimately a good thing. Only Xia De ultimately did not let her come along, instead having her stay on the ship to guard against demons:

"Amelia is coming with us; with her there, you can rest easy."

Of course, Xia De also consulted Dac Dac Nisi on the topic of moon phases and stars before breakfast, and the latter was happy to explain this knowledge to Xia De:

"Dorothy was right. The astrologers of antiquity could indeed influence the stars by simulating the power of the moon phases. But this knowledge was not passed down to the modern era. The information related to this that still exists today is probably only this."

As she spoke, she stepped back a few paces, then raised her right fist high and lowered her left fist downward:

"This posture represents the 'Full Moon'."

Then she spread both arms parallel to the cabin floor beneath her feet, both hands still clenched tightly:

"This posture represents the 'Half Moon'."

Both arms raised together: "New Moon."

She also carefully demonstrated the representational methods for the first quarter/last quarter moon phases and so on. In antiquity this belonged to the introductory course for astrologers, but in the modern era these postures only carry symbolic meaning.

This was all Dac Dac Nisi knew. Modern users of the moon's power rarely pay attention to the stars anymore; the secrets of the stars in this age are mostly studied by diviners. Xia De felt regret about this, but even without the power to manipulate the stars, he was still confident he could defeat the Fallen Star Beast.

The six Great Witches gathered together, and with Dac Dac Nisi, Xia De, Miss Ilessa, Dorothy, and Amelia added in, the breakfast table was finally lively again.

During breakfast, the large ship rounded the island from the small town dock to the south of the island, finally reaching the island's northwest. By the time breakfast was finished, Miss Ilessa, Dac Dac Nisi, Dorothy, and Flora stayed behind on the ship, and everyone else disembarked.

Besides the five Great Witches, the two apprentices Stella and Matilda, along with over twenty high-ring Misses, followed along. Of course, of the unicorns only Ellie came; Amelia could ride her if needed.

Xia De had originally wanted to leave little Leaving Xiao Leaving Xiao Miya on the ship, but that cat absolutely refused to be separated from Xia De, so when they finally set out, Xia De had an extra cat plushie on his person.

The group crossed the desolate tidal flats, and in the dawn's faint light joined up with the 【Jester Troupe】 and the 【Winter Hymn Choir】 waiting at the predetermined location. The Jesters sent four people—besides Mr. Mottis, the other three were all high-ring. The Hymn Choir likewise sent four people—besides the thirteen-ring "Winter Singer," the other three Misses were also all high-ring.