"Don't worry, I will help you."
Xia De made a gesture of invitation, and the witch walked towards the ice crystal that froze the human body on the far left side of the bonfire. However, when she took another step forward, the human-shaped witch actually turned into a snow-white unicorn in the swaying firelight.
It can be seen that the unicorn was also shocked, but this was not the first time, so she continued to move forward, and then suddenly hit the ice crystal with her golden horn.
Kacha~
The unicorn's horn has a unique ability to break the seal, and the ice crystals shattered with a blow from the glowing horn. But when the unicorn raised its head, its sky-blue eyes saw not a familiar figure, but a beautiful lady with long golden hair and a bewildered face.
She had an extremely beautiful appearance, and this alone confirmed that she was definitely a witch. If it weren't for the "what's going on" expression on her face, then Shade's evaluation of her appearance would be even higher.
"Unicorn? In the snowy mountains?"
She looked at the creature in front of her in surprise, but did not look at the people not far away. It was obvious that she could only see the snow-capped mountains, but not the scene of the lost forest with snow.
The unicorn wanted to explain, but at this moment he saw the blonde lady emitting holy white light all over her body. A golden beam of light descended from the sky and enveloped her. A golden ring appeared above her head and accompanied her up into the invisible void.
Pure white wings spread out behind her, and her expression of "what's going on now" quickly turned into a soft, loving smile. The witch slowly rose into the air and smiled at the shocked unicorn, opening her arms to her:
"My soul has passed the final test, and the Lord has opened his arms to me. You helped me, so what reward do you want?"
The unicorn was shocked by the scene and spoke quickly:
"I want to find my apprentice, my love!"
"no problem."
The soul that was about to become an angel gave a hint:
"She is in this snowy mountain. To find her, you need to make the travelers who pass by you become your companions. But finding the girl you are looking for does not mean you can take her away. When faced with the choice, which one will you give up, the ruby or the sapphire?"
After saying this, she disappeared into the light of the sky. All the strange visions disappeared, leaving only the shocked people watching this scene.
"Is that... an angel?"
The bard asked Shade quietly, and Shade, who was holding the cat and looking up at the end of the sky, nodded:
"Yes... I saw it once, but I didn't expect to see it a second time."
While the two were talking, the unicorn transformed by the witch had already lowered its head and crashed into the second ice crystal. But as the ice crystal cracked, Shade was sure that the target this time was not the person Miss Andriana was looking for, because that was an old woman with wrinkles on her face.
To be more precise, this is another humanoid relic. The whispering element swept around the moment the ice crystal broke. When Shade quickly stood up, the bonfire, tent and gods were gone. On the snowy ground, there was only him holding Mia, the unicorn, the parrot and the hound.
The wind and snow attacked everyone. If it wasn't daytime and the sun's thin shadow could be seen in the sky, Xia De would have thought he was back in the Silver Mountains. But he didn't have time to think about it. The old woman who came out of the ice crystal grinned and raised her hand to point at them.
A blizzard of snow like a blade flew out from her wide robe, freezing the parrot and hound in the ice in an instant. The unicorn cried out, and the glowing horn rushed straight into the other party, forcing the unknown humanoid relic to stop casting spells.
Xia De also rushed over and placed two pieces of ice next to Yin Luna's gold bracelet, which was still on the ground. The light and heat melted the ice and saved the shivering parrot and hound.
"Mia, don't run around, protect them!"
He put the orange cat on the hound's back. Although it was a bit ridiculous, the cat's fighting power was really stronger than the parrot and the hound in this environment.
"Moonlight Greatsword!"
Shade took out a luxurious silver sword that looked like transparent crystal from the void. He swung the sword at the old woman who was fighting with the unicorn. The latter quickly turned into wind and snow to dodge.
But when she regained her human form, Shade and the unicorn attacked her.
The golden unicorn power and the silver moonlight symbolizing the moon, in the snow and ice, tangled with the old woman waving her hands like a madman. The agitation of spirits and elements caused the snow higher up in the nameless snow-capped mountains covered by the blizzard to tremble.
Shade was very worried about the avalanche and wanted to end the battle as soon as possible, so he launched a more fierce attack with the witch who was becoming more and more proficient in using the power of the unicorn. In the story mode, the humanoid relic, whose power was greatly restricted, actually gradually fell into a disadvantage in the cooperation between one man and one beast.
So, after once again shattering the silver moonlight slash, the old woman took out a broom from under her skirt, and then rode the broom into the sky farther away.
"Moonlight—Slash!"
Xia De clapped his hands together, and when he pulled them apart, a brilliant silver blade flew towards the old woman. But this attack did not work, and the old woman barely shattered the blade. She staggered and flew away, and at the same time, a shiny object fell from the sky.
"What?"
Suddenly, I felt a little dazed. When I came to my senses, the surroundings had turned into the Lost Forest again. The maid and the bard, shivering from the cold, quickly reached out to the golden bracelet to absorb the warmth. Mia meowed in confusion and squatted on Shad's cushion, while Shad stood by the campfire with the unicorn.
"In pursuit of her lover's hope, Unicorn resolutely chose to break the ice crystal. With the first one, she released the devout soul that had made it to the end of the trial, and received guidance from the angel; with the second one, she released the sealed evil, and the relic that escaped would become her crime, but the joint attack with the Moon Traveler also brought her unexpected gains."
As the god was telling the story, Shad was wondering what "harvest" meant. The unicorn took a step back, and a shiny little key appeared where its right front hoof had been.
Xia De bent down and picked up the key, looked at the key, and then looked at the box-like object in the last ice crystal.
He made a gesture of invitation, and the unicorn poked hard, shattering the last ice crystal.
The small rectangular copper metal box fell into Xia De's hands. Because it had been sealed in ice for a long time, the metal was very cold. Xia De inserted the key into it.
Kacha~
The box itself was not big, so the largest thing that could be put inside was no bigger than the cat that was curled up on the mat and waiting for Shade to come back. In fact, there was only a folded piece of paper inside, which disappointed Shade who thought there might be some secret treasure.
"Don't come to me."
He read out the only line of text on the paper, written in beautiful cursive letters.
"What does this mean?"
He handed the paper to the witch beside him, and then returned to their respective cushions with the witch. He picked up Mia again, and the cat squirmed excitedly in Shade's arms. He didn't know why it was so energetic so early in the morning.
"Your expression doesn't look right."
Teasing the cat, Shade looked up at the witch again, who silently handed the paper to her maid, who took a look at it and also fell silent.
The bard at the side asked tentatively:
"Is this... left by Miss Clara's sister?"
"Yes."
The maid in the black dress pursed her lips and looked at the paper in her hand, but Shade was puzzled:
"That's not right. How did your sister know that you would see this piece of paper? Isn't it hidden too well?"
Xia De asked in confusion, so the witch took the initiative to explain:
"Although Clara's sister Lacus is my apprentice, she is better than me in some aspects. She is an excellent fortune teller, and even the Prophet Association has praised her. Oh, the Prophet Association is..."
The Prophet Association in this era was not a very famous organization.
"I know. I know."
Xia De nodded:
"So, Miss Lux predicted in advance that you would come to find her one day, so she left a letter telling you not to look for her... Actually, I have always wanted to know what the missing lady was doing when she went out in the first place. Although it was said just now that it was related to Miss Clara, what was the specific reason?"
"She listened to Clara and wanted to find a way for me to break through."
The witch answered directly:
"Also to find a way to make Clara a witch. It's embarrassing to say that although she is my maid and apprentice, most of the time, she is the one who accommodates and helps me."
Thinking about the past, the witch's already bad mood became even worse:
"I didn't understand her feelings very well before. This is probably the furthest distance in the world. She was right beside me, but I didn't cherish her..."
Snap~
The sound of the black-dressed maid's big tears falling on the letter paper was covered by the sound of the bonfire and the snow, but everyone present except the bard noticed it. After the maid's tears wet the paper, a map outlined in black pen appeared in the blank area of the paper.
"Isn't this... a little too dramatic? Was this also arranged by Miss Lux? I'm not questioning her ability to predict the future, but this matter is strange no matter how you look at it."
Xia De asked the god who had been smiling as he watched everyone talking and communicating. The traveler with his back to the campfire gave him a smile:
"Travel is always full of surprises. Although it's good to be ordinary, wouldn't it be more exciting if there were stories? And this is a travel story, not a real trip. Didn't you understand this a long time ago?"