The wind came too suddenly, and Xia De, unable to dodge, watched as the black snowflakes struck his face. He wanted to raise his hand to cover his face, but it was already too late.
At the moment, it was as if time slowed down. He could even clearly see the crystal-clear structure of the black snowflake that was about to enter his eyes.
Time still flowed normally. Xia De, struck by the black snow, fell straight backward onto the ground, leaving a large human-shaped imprint on the pitch-black snow.
Everything seemed to be moving away from him. The snow-falling sky was so vast, so empty. At this moment, he thought of many things, many people, but only of himself, he...
“Lying in the snow will make you catch a cold.”
A soft whisper reminded him.
So, Xia De, who had been blown down by the strong wind, propped himself up with his hands on the ground, patted the black snow off his body with his gloved hands, and then walked against the wind towards the distant firelight, bending at the waist:
“That really scared me just now.”
The wind still howled, and snowflakes drifted past him, as if accompanying him at this moment. The black snowflakes were filthy yet possessed a strange, dazzling beauty, but Xia De could profoundly feel how terrifying these snowflakes, seemingly drifting from the True Death, truly were.
“Fortunately, for me, who has truly died once, this death is too False.”
A strange black spiritual light gathered from around him. Because he had once touched death, the now undying Xia De, in the midst of the swirling black snow, vaguely understood some things:
“False Immortality, it turns out, exists because True Death exists.”
“The black snow symbolizes the end of all things. These envoys, leading souls to their final demise, are now walking with you. Outsider, they regard you as one of their own, for the power of death already flows within your body. Immortality is a False appearance; you, who have died and been resurrected, have personally witnessed the final demise.”
“Miracle - False Immortality, affected by the Ling Rune.”
“Outsider, the Miracle has been sublimated; you have obtained the Miracle - False Immortality.”
The Miracle 【False Immortality】 obtained from the Old God 【The Innocent Creator】 successfully sublimated after Xia De came into contact with the instant-death black snow.
The Three-Ring Ling Rune 【True Death】 was thus linked to 【False Immortality】. Compared to the many special effects brought by the successful sublimation of the Miracle 【Blood Echo】, 【False Immortality】, while maintaining its original effects and requiring stronger re-injury to break the undying state, only added two small functions—
Firstly, 【False Immortality】 is still an active Miracle, but for the caster Xia De himself, it has become a passive permanent effect. When he suffers a fatal blow, he will automatically enter the 【False Immortality】 state. Of course, if he suffers fatal damage again afterward, he will still die.
Secondly, from now on, Xia De is immune to any instant-death effects.
This does not mean that Xia De will not die, but rather that effects such as the current black snow, the High-Ring Miracle 【death Finger】, the ritual 【Song of death】, etc., have no effect on Xia De.
High-Ring Sorcerers can also resist instant-death effects with their own power, but they will suffer physical injuries. Similarly, while Xia De is immune to instant-death effects, it does not mean that he will not suffer additional damage.
When he fell into the snow just now, in addition to the fright and the strong wind, the instant severe pain also made him unable to maintain his Balance. But the pain only lasted for a very short time, and it returned to normal when the snowflakes no longer touched his skin.
“Many strange relics have instant-death effects. Now I don't have to worry about suddenly dying. I just didn't expect my second sublimated ability to be 【False Immortality】; I was still hoping for 【Time Perception】.”
He thought to himself as he struggled forward against the blood, but at the same time, his right hand plunged into the air beside him, and the silver Moonlight Greatsword was slowly drawn out. The black snow in the wind tried to touch the sword body, but it melted under the glow of the Silver Moon.
And in front of Xia De, the walking skeletons and frozen corpses had slowly turned towards him.
Looking up at the direction of the flickering bonfire in the distance, Xia De raised his left index finger:
“Moonlight!”
The momentary brilliance even melted the snow layer under his feet, but this also seemed to become a signal, as the resurrected undead surged from all directions like a tide.
His right hand swung the greatsword, cutting off the withered bones extending from beneath the snow layer. His left hand left streaks of light in the air, but the flying Silver Moon Slash was just a drop in the bucket against the tide of undead.
These undead were imbued with the power of the black snow, far beyond what normal undead could compare to.
Xia De could initially run in the snow, his right hand greatsword attacking enemies who had gotten close, and his left hand constantly unleashing Silver Moon Slashes to attack individuals trying to block his path; then, he could only walk quickly, his right hand greatsword almost touching enemies as soon as it swung, while the Moonlight Greatsword summoned by 【Blade of Chaotic Time】 also constantly stabbed from various angles; finally, surrounded by the tide of undead, he could only stand still, his active offense completely turning into passive defense. In less than half a minute, the surrounding undead skeletons almost made Xia De seem like he was standing on a small hill.
Fortunately, the evil spirits were wary of the silver Moonlight and did not come close, otherwise the situation would have been even more complicated.
“Roar~”
The hoarse roars of the undead almost merged into one. Beneath the swirling black snowflakes, dense masses of corpses lunged at Xia De, eventually completely engulfing him.
But as the Destiny Ring, representing a Three-Ring Arcanist, appeared above the tide of corpses, a golden light, in a posture of dissolving everything, opened a gap in the crevices of the corpse hill.
“Felianna's Witch Light!”
Leaping high with the Miracle 【Frog's Leap】, and fortunately no flying undead appeared temporarily, Xia De used another Miracle:
“Raglai's Leap!”
Stepping in the air, he forcibly moved into the gap outside the corpse hill. After landing, he quickly ran forward, while maintaining the effect of 【Felianna's Witch Light】. The golden light emanating from his body caused all hands reaching out to him or weapons swinging at him to melt in the light.
This was still not enough. The undead, resurrected by the black snow, surged continuously. Xia De only ran a few more steps before being trapped again by the surrounding undead. But he had already bought enough time. In the distance, at the bonfire, with the appearance of the Thirteenth Ring Golden Staircase, a huge orange-yellow Moon actually appeared under the daytime snow-falling sky.
The movements of the undead immediately became sluggish, and even the black snow floating in the sky became sparse.
A gigantic orange-yellow Moonlight Greatsword, as if wielded by a giant, swept horizontally across the ground. Then, a small Moon was thrown above Xia De, and as that Moon exploded, the orange-yellow Moonlight almost turned the entire earth into Moonlight.
The Thirteen Ring Sorcerer's subsequent strike temporarily cleared the undead around Xia De. Blainey Oranode flew from a distance, grabbed Xia De's outstretched hand in the air, and pulled him into the sky:
“Xia De, dispel the undead!”
Her voice was very anxious; even she could not move for too long in the Dead Silence Valley during the black snow period.
“Moonlight!”
His fingertip pointed forward, and the holy silver light temporarily drove away the dense spiritual bodies in the air. Miss Olanorde embraced Xia De, almost transforming into a streak of light, and flew back to the entrance of the Library.
“Oh!”
As the two fell into the huge hall where the bonfire was lit, the Thirteenth Ring Golden Staircase, which had temporarily suppressed the black snow, completely collapsed. Violent black snowflakes fell from the sky in a denser manner, and the roaring undead, having lost their target, made terrifying sounds, one after another.
The snowflakes were becoming their armor, and the chill of death gave them more powerful weapons. But no one noticed that the living were hiding inside the building. The Zaras Society Witch Peggy Samuel's warning ritual not only protected them from evil intrusions but also prevented the undead from noticing the location of the living.
“Miss Olanorde, thank you very much.”
Xia De, who fell in front of the bonfire, stood up, and at the same time pulled up the yellow-haired Witch beside him.
Looking around, the place seemed to have become even more dilapidated. Miss Peggy Samuel, wearing round-rimmed glasses, and Miss Olanorde, seemed to have even older clothes.
The blazing bonfire still flickered in the center of the spacious hall, and a solid yellow Moon floated above the bonfire. The clear yellow Moonlight made Xia De clearly feel his stamina and spiritual power rapidly recovering.
Around the firelight were the Witches' luggage. On the old pile of books, which resembled a throne, shadows constantly trembled on the surface of the tightly closed shrine.
Miss Samuel of the Zaras Society gazed blankly at the bonfire, only standing up when she heard the sound. In her pure white eyes, her pupils gradually returned to normal; she had been using this bonfire for divination just now.
Further away, the dilapidated stone bookshelf remnants leaning against the wall were now covered in dust, and the already mottled frescoes were almost completely unrecognisable.
Darkness lingered in the distance, a corridor leading deeper into the Library. And the only new addition in the firelight was an ice coffin.
The ice coffin was a standard cuboid, its surface unusually smooth as if polished. The sliding lid had an arched shape, and around the ice coffin, the emblem of Zaras Academy, which Xia De had seen in the sixth epoch, was actually engraved.
The ice coffin was transparent, and by the light of the fire, Xia De could see a red-haired girl sleeping peacefully inside with her eyes closed.
He immediately widened his eyes:
“Miss Fiona Drago, she...”
Miss Olanorde avoided his gaze, and Miss Peggy Samuel lowered her head to look at the flames.
Xia De walked over quickly, only feeling that the chill on the ice coffin made his heart tremble more than the snow-falling valley. He pressed his hand on the sliding lid of the coffin and slowly pushed it open.
The girl slept peacefully in the ice coffin, her hands clasped together on her chest, and her thick red tail wrapped around her waist, coiling around her.
Her eyes were tightly closed, and in the ice coffin, her eyelashes appeared so charming. Xia De could hardly believe what he was seeing. He reached out and touched the back of the young Witch's hand, who had Red Dragon blood, but 【False Immortality】 had no effect.
And this Miracle only had no effect in two situations: a non-critically injured state, or already deceased.
“She...”
Although he had not known the young Witch for long, Xia De still could not accept that she had died here like this.
“I'm not kidding with you anymore.”
Laughter came from behind him, and Miss Olanorde and Miss Samuel both walked over:
“She’s just asleep.”
