"No, no, maybe you are stronger than her. But she was chosen by fate."
The dust figure interrupted the unicorn, but the unicorn and the hound were unwilling to give up like this. They both really wanted to sacrifice themselves in exchange for the petrified girl, and this was not a fake emotion.
"Wait a moment."
The silver cat on Xia De's shoulder said:
"Why don't you ask her for her own opinion?"
The claw pointed at the stone statue:
"Her soul is trapped inside, but now that her body has decayed, her psychic abilities should be useful to her. I'm not sure how long her soul can remain visible, but at least you can see her temporarily. Perhaps you can ask her what happened here. She knows the rules better than we do."
What Chloe Yin said made sense, because the unicorn state could not use the power of the undead, and Shade's magic communication was only an incomplete reverberation, so Chloe Yin should do the communication.
The spell was cast smoothly. The cat's tail swayed a few times, and then Chloe Yin jumped onto the statue's shoulder. As the cat's paws emitted a dim gray light, a transparent spirit with a face exactly the same as the statue slowly floated out.
The beautiful girl opened her eyes and looked around in shock. She first looked at Shade and the animals in confusion, and then somehow recognized her teacher and sister:
"Teacher, Clara, you..."
Her spirit was extremely unstable and was about to return to the stone statue. Obviously, using spiritualism to temporarily free her was not an allowed method:
"Don't mind me!"
She raised her hand to touch the weeping unicorn:
"As long as you are happy, I am happy."
The transparent hand touched the smooth white hair and then disappeared. Chloe Yin jumped back onto Shade's shoulders, and this time she couldn't do anything.
The parrot flew in the air and watched this scene. The soul of the bard sighed in the parrot's body. A tear fell from the corner of the unicorn's eye. She raised her head again and turned to scold her maid:
"Don't cry. Your sister is right here. Do you want to cry in front of her?"
Then he looked at Shade:
"Sir, you must have a solution, right? Please help us, no matter what it costs us, please help us."
"Shad, do you have any other ideas?"
Chloe Yin also asked, and Shade really nodded. He was very familiar with this situation. The dust figure on the other side of the table did not disappear, and the God of Journey led the story to this point, which means there is still a way to remedy it. The God of Journey is not the "God of Tragedy". He will not let a group of people have nothing to do at the end of the adventure, and can only watch the tragedy unable to change:
"You asked the wrong question just now. It shouldn't be about exchanging myself for someone else. The correct question is - how can we save this petrified girl?"
Shade asked, and the dust figure replied:
"The choice of fate must be redeemed by destiny. Give the fate that is worthwhile and place them on the table. If the fate is enough, then I will give you a chance."
"How to give destiny?"
The maid in black dress turned into a hound and asked impatiently, but this time, she didn't get an answer.
So she looked at her master, and the unicorn looked at the cat on Shade's shoulder, hoping that the demigod witch could think of some solution.
"Shad."
The silver cat asked Xia De again. Chloe Yin knew that Xia De must have a way, and she fully believed in this magical man.
Xia De also nodded:
"The story of a journey ends with the meaning of the journey. It is already the afternoon of the seventh day, and except for tonight, this is the last stop."
As he spoke, he took out the card representing "Moonlight Traveler":
"We traveled here probably for this."
When he placed the card in the rectangle formed by the notches on the table, they found that the area of the rectangle was exactly the same as the area of the card.
"So that's how it is."
The unicorn looked towards where everyone was sitting, and everyone's cards flew over.
"Will you help me?"
She asked her companions, and the parrot spoke first:
"I have come to the last step. I also want to see if fate can really be defeated."
So the parrot's card was placed parallel to the Shad's card.
"Give it a try. I came here to investigate."
The silver cat also said this, and her cards were placed on the table.
"I must rescue my sister."
The black hound took the initiative to stretch out its paw and pressed its own card, which had not yet fallen, onto the table.
"I will..."
Then the unicorn card also fell, and the five cards were arranged in a row. The golden and silver light flowed from the surface of the card, along the small rectangular grooves on the table, slowly lighting up the entire table.
"not enough."
The dust figure spoke slowly, its body illuminated by the light from the table.
"Shad."
Chloe Yin said again, trying to jump into Shade's arms, but was "caught" by Mia again.
Xia De then asked the god who was still sitting in his original position, but he did not look at the table by the campfire:
"Excuse me, can our experiences along the way be considered fate? You have guided us through seven days. Is this the meaning?"
“You have to find the meaning of travel by yourself, but those experiences are of course destiny, the destiny you choose yourself.”
God said with his back to him, and then those old cards that had been turned over and gone to who knows where, flew to everyone in a line from the campfire. The candy house witch, the ferry, the snowy mountain cold... ... Twenty cards representing various events of the seven-day trip were divided into five rows and four columns and displayed above the five identity cards. The light emitted by the cards made the light on the table even stronger.
"Is that enough?"
Shade asked the dust figure at the other end of the table. It looked at the light on the table and the twenty-five cards in total, and after a slight pause, said:
"Equal fates, seven days of travel, so that's how it is. You are travelers from afar. Your fate is completely identical to hers, but nothing can be changed. Someone needs to pay the price."
He pointed at everyone, and before they knew it, everyone had turned back into human form. Perhaps it was because of the identity card they had paid, or perhaps it was because of the choice they were about to make:
"Use her in exchange for her sister."
The person he was pointing at was of course Clara, the maid in the black dress. She was not surprised at all. Instead, she felt a sense of relief.
The maid nodded and turned to the witch with short brown hair and said:
"Miss, please allow me to do this. My sister became like this because of my jealousy and greed. Now it is my turn to pay the price and get my sister back. This is my redemption and the end I deserve. Five people set out from the starting point of the journey, and five people reach the end of the journey. Only then will the journey have meaning."
"If you stay here, what's the point of our trip for me?"
The witch shook her head seriously:
"Remember what the angel said? Ruby or sapphire, I can only choose one. I knew what it meant then. Clara, don't you understand me?"
She raised her right hand and clenched it into a fist:
"I want them all. If I have to leave you behind in exchange for your sister, I would rather not make a choice. Now that I know this place, as long as I am not dead, I will have decades or hundreds of years to come here again and try again. You and she are equally important to me. I'm sorry that I didn't say this before, but now I want to tell you that I will not give up one for the other, no matter what."
Chloe Yin held Shade's hand and was lost in thought for a moment as he watched the scene. The bard was far away from the witches, and he took out a pen and paper and continued writing, seemingly wanting to record every detail of this story.
The petite witch queen with long silver hair asked Xia De in a low voice:
"Do you know what the furthest distance in the world is?"
Dorothy had asked Shad the same question two weeks ago, but the answer was obviously going to be different this time:
"You're right in front of me, and I can't take you away."
"No, you are right in front of me, but I know that you will leave eventually."
She said to Shade, who also looked at her, but the demigod witch laughed again:
"So I admire Andriana over there. She has enough determination. Fortunately, I have it too. We will meet again."
After that, he said to the witch master and servant:
"One person must stay here. This is something that fate has already decided and cannot be changed. Andriana, no matter what method you come up with, as long as you cannot break fate, these methods will be just like Shade's spell and my spiritualism. They are effective, but they are only effective for a moment."
"Your Majesty, are you saying that I want to find the power to override fate?"
the brown-haired witch asked.
"You already possess the power over destiny."
Xia De reminded:
"If there was no guidance, how could you enter the Lost Forest, how could you meet the gods, and how could you come here with us? Think carefully, think about the starting point of the journey. Not the starting point of the seven-day journey, but the starting point of your journey with Miss Clara to find Miss Lux. What has been guiding you all along? What has pointed out the direction time and time again, leading to all of us standing here?"
The answer is simple. In this way, even Shade's appearance this time was due to the guidance the witch received at the beginning:
"But you have to think carefully. The outcome of using that power may not be as good as you think."
"Guide me..."
She took out the Impermanence of Space, and everyone's eyes were focused on this seemingly ordinary card.