Chapter 146: The First Snow of Winter

“I can’t believe you actually think of me like that, woohoo, how sad…”

After a fake sob and wiping away nonexistent tears from the corner of their eyes, someone skillfully and quickly changed the subject before the Life Goddess could blow up.

“So you observed that the passage opening near the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons can lead to either the Upper Dimension or the Lower Dimension? What impact could that have? What level of strong beings can this passage accommodate?”

Faced with a barrage of several questions, Xi Fu Lin knew the Priestess’s intentions, but didn’t want to say much more and could only sigh as she explained each point.

“First of all, the foundational world and the material world have very different forms of existence and usually aren’t directly connected. However, if I recall correctly, that place you mentioned used to be the land guarded by the God Olivya. The Lower Dimension is closely related to the magical powers represented by the God, so it’s hard to say that there won’t be some special circumstances.”

“As for the capacity of such a large passage and the impact it could cause, I can only say that at least below True Gods, it should be completely unobstructed. Moreover, if the foundational world and the material world are forcibly connected, a large-scale conceptual fusion will occur. It’s difficult to describe the specifics, but it will definitely lead to suffering among beings. If it weren’t so, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to inform you about this.”

“Is that so… I see now…”

“What do you see?”

Xi Fu Lin looked a bit curious and confused. Vilyric didn’t hide anything and informed the Life Goddess about Mona’s situation and her foresight of two major disasters.

“How interesting… among mortal beings, there’s still such an individual as a God’s favored… hehe…”

Although it seemed she thought of something, Xi Fu Lin didn’t choose to speak it directly, but only cautioned.

“Since she has already predicted the disaster in the south, it’s very likely that the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons will also become a reality. Vilyric, you must be cautious, and… I know it might sound a bit inappropriate, but if possible, I hope you can lend a hand to those beings and prevent this great disaster from occurring… is that alright?”

Oh my, the Life Goddess is truly kind-hearted and cannot bear to see everyone suffer; this must be her true intention~

While Vilyric wanted to tease the adorable Xi Fu Lin a bit more, the latter had specifically made the call out of concern for this side, so Vilyric couldn’t keep up the act of discussing conditions. After all, this was precisely what she intended to do.

“Alright then~ I’ll think about intervening depending on the situation, so you don’t need to worry too much. The Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons have their protectors with solid strength and strategies. They have already foreseen the abnormalities and started preparing actively. If it really comes down to it, I can step in.”

“Okay, that reassures me. In any case, as I said, since this involves other unknown worlds, Vilyric, you must be very careful and never let your guard down. If you encounter danger, don’t forget to use the artifact I gave you.”

“Got it, got it! Xi Fu Lin, why are you nagging like a mom? If there’s nothing else, let’s hang up!”

“Huh? Um… okay, then… see you next time.”

Probably realizing that if they continued chatting, it would never end, the teal shadow appearing on the divine statue gradually faded away and returned to its body, the flickering light finally dimming into silence.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

With her index finger rhythmically tapping on the slightly damp surface by the window, Vilyric nonchalantly put the artifact given by Xi Fu Lin back into her backpack and looked up at the dark and endless outside world, like a stormy night ready to devour anyone, with her lips slowly curling into a distinctly joyful arc.

“Finally, it’s about to start~”

…

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, Vilyric and her companions had been residing in Moonshadow Valley for a full week.

During this week, the pouring rain continued for several days, showing no signs of stopping, and instead, intensified. The skies were filled with oppressive gray clouds, making it seem gloomy even during the day, with sunlight not having directly graced the mountains for days.

The Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons are located in the central part of the continent. Though not as warm and pleasant as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Azure, it wouldn’t be excessively cold either. However, with the continuous torrential rain, a cold current from the northern snow region seemed to be creeping closer. Over the past few days, everyone had been adding more layers of clothing.

Until today.

“Ah, this is… a bit nostalgic.”

As she reached out to catch a flurry of sparkling white flakes falling into her palm, the Priestess, still clad in her thin white robe, couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Wow! Snow! Is this snow?!”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect the snow to come this early this year; the weather here is really bizarre…”

Walking alongside Vilyric, Tilysha and Miss Edwina also gasped in wonder at the sudden appearance of white flakes in the sky. They had thought that the brief cessation of rain this morning marked the end of the downpour, but it turned out to be a precursor to the first snow.

“Miss Edwina seems quite calm about this; have you been through something like this before? Honestly, the weather in the Nobos Ironblood Empire is way too hot. This is my first time seeing real snow in my life.”

The Holy Knight nodded with a smile when asked.

“It’s true to some extent. The Holy Empire’s Holy City of Angels is even farther north than here, not far from the snow countries, and there is no natural barrier like the cold currents of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. It’s much colder than the United Kingdom, and it snows regularly in winter. I grew up in the Holy City, so I’ve seen snow many times.”

“Wow… that sounds great! I’m kind of envious.”

Looking at the sparkle in Tilysha’s eyes, Miss Edwina appeared somewhat unconvinced.

“Snow isn’t entirely a good thing. Once or twice, or if it’s a small scale, that’s fine. But if you encounter persistent heavy snow, it can easily block roads, collapse buildings, or freeze plants, requiring a lot of manpower and resources for relief efforts—it’s a huge drain on resources.”

“Is that so? I never thought about it that way… Miss Edwina, you really are a big noble from the Holy Empire.”

“What big noble?”

Hearing this, the Holy Knight immediately explained, half-annoyed yet serious.

“Tilysha, you mustn’t get it wrong. Our Holy Empire is different from the United Kingdom, Ost Empire, and so on. Even though we call ourselves an empire, there’s no such thing as kings and nobility. We’re all devoted and equal followers of the Goddess, and the church and divine families merely have the duty to guide the people, not rule over them.”

“When you get to the Holy Kingdom, you can’t just throw around the term ‘nobility.’ It’s quite taboo.”

“Oh…”

   

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