novellhall Chapter 1971: Butterfly
Chapter 1971: Butterfly
In the midst of the gale, Luviya shouted loudly to Megan beside her:
"Come over quickly."
"Can we too?"
"Why not?"
So Megan pressed down her skirt in the gale and walked over, her right arm writhing as she moved. When she arrived at the side of the other two pairs of "sisters," her right hand had already held Audrey’s hand, both wearing identical clothes.
Having been cleansed by the power of Edwards’ Ascension Technique, witnessing the radiance of Shard’s ascension firsthand, even though they did not substantively partake in the ceremony and battle, they also gained further power. At the same time, they manifested two bodies holding each other’s left and right hands, symbolizing that the sisters could never separate.
Thus, Lecia and Grace stood to Megan’s left, Audrey’s right, while Dorothy and Helen stood to Megan’s right, Audrey’s left.
Megan and Audrey first raised their overlapping arms, the sisters exchanged a smile:
"I am you."
"You are me."
Miss Danester noticed the ring on one of the hands which was the Year-End Festival gift she had given to Shard.
Standing opposite, Grace in a white skirt and Helen in a black skirt respectively placed their left and right hands on the backs of the Grand Witches’ hands, sisters across two eras smiled at each other:
"You are me."
"I am you."
Lecia and Dorothy finally raised their arms, overlapping their palms above their hands. Though wanting to meet but unable, ultimately meeting nonetheless. They smiled at one another, knowing they were content:
"I am me."
"I am me."
The six palms of the three pairs of sisters overlapped, and smiles blossomed on everyone’s face. One pair merged as one before birth, one pair pursued inseparable unity post-birth, the last pair though devoid of blood relation were destined to fuse into one.
Three pairs of sisters, three destinies, yet the same ending. As they stood together, the fluttering red butterflies had already scattered around them. The crimson glow illuminated their faces, their bodies slightly bent forward, the elegant and brave girls were ready to help their knight.
"Who’s coming?"
Holding the Girard Stone transformed "Love God’s Sting," Luviya asked, and all six answered together:
"Of course, you."
"I always feel like I personally gave him to you all."
The purple-eyed girl helplessly smiled, coming to their side, holding the tip of the sting:
"Are you ready, ladies? Three, two, one!"
The crimson crystal pierced through the six palms from above. Luviya immediately retreated, alongside Angelina and Miss Danester, to see the crystal tip of the Girard Stone forming the center, transforming the arms, even everything, into crystal. As the crimson tip glimmered, the six crystal statues shattered simultaneously, yet the crimson glow still outlined the image of the six girls with their hands held together, and the smiling girls became part of the blood-red glow.
"Not rays, but butterflies! Red butterflies!"
The glow on Lecia, Grace, and Megan joined into one, while the glow on Dorothy, Helen, and Audrey joined into another. The connection point of two glow patterns with three wing-like protrusions was the location of the crimson crystal short sting.
"Was it fate’s choice? Did he choose them, or did they just happen upon him?"
Luviya murmured.
"Materialization of soul? Or soulization of flesh?"
Miss Danester was perplexed.
With wings beating, under the surprised gaze of Angelina and Mia, the gigantic glowing butterfly, dancing in the gale, took flight toward the sky. Together with the normally sized glowing red butterflies that appeared under the moon, they soared like a dragon towards Shard in the sky.
Dong, dong, dong,
The bell tolled once more across the island, across the land of this Fairy Tale Kingdom. Thousands of red butterflies emerged under the lightless night sky with the bell, amidst the wind, someone sang that ancient and melancholic ballad:
[Red butterflies spread their wings,]
[Flying over towering mountains,]
[Crossing the dark river.]
[May the wind carry eternal longing,]
[Until the end of life and death.]
As the starry sky disappeared due to spatial shattering, a crimson full moon revealed its edge, illuminating the magnificent lunar red butterflies.
When "Edwards" at the top of the giant tree shot a blood-red light pillar at the approaching Shard, the enormous red butterfly that flapped its wings and instantly moved in front of Shard easily blocked the blood light.
Upon contact with the red butterfly, a ripple-like wave appeared on its surface. Then, the blood light behind "Edwards" shot out, forcing him to turn around to face his own attack.
The giant red butterfly was unharmed and came to Shard’s side to fly with him under the moon. Eventually, it kept parallel behind Shard, and the red moonlight blurred the silhouette of the butterfly and Shard until the red butterfly under the moonlight transformed into six interconnecting light points and merged with his body.
Six warm souls, three pairs of sisters with similar fates, embraced the soul of the Outlander together.
"Shard~"
"Shard~"
"Shard~"
The red moonlight illuminated him, and in the glow, two giant butterfly wings grew from Shard’s back, with six blood-red eyes on the wings opening and closing as they flapped. The swarm of butterflies attached to him, transforming his attire into a blood-red robe.
The blood light surged, Grace and Helen’s long and ancient stories, Megan and Audrey’s knowledge and wisdom, and Lecia and Dorothy’s enlightening fairy tales all transformed into Shard’s power amidst the radiance surrounding him.
Grace and Helen’s powerful soul force, the Twelfth Rank Witch power of the witch sisters, the enlightening power of Lecia and Dorothy, all instantly stabilized the Maze Lock that was almost reaching its end. Moreover, the resonance of the six souls produced an even older power, making the Maze Lock space more real than ever.
The wings flapped, the red butterfly swarm disappeared with Shard from the spot and appeared in front of "Edwards" atop the tree.
The man in the black robe extended his finger at Shard again, but before the dark light beam could touch Shard’s body, it appeared behind him, blasting his right arm into dust.
The right arm regenerated, the right palm clenched at Shard among the butterfly swarm, the space-crushing power even twisted the light and shadow produced by the red butterfly swarm. However, the rotating butterfly swarm merely gently danced to form a halo, a power stronger than the "Spatial Stabilization Aura," already calming the abnormal spatial force.
The blood tree surged with crimson ripples, the power to twist time transformed each fallen leaf into "Edwards." But every red butterfly in the swarm welcomed those leaves, and each collision between butterfly and leaf triggered a sound resembling a bell toll.
"You once said you wanted to save the world, what are you doing now?"
Shard asked, the vortex under "Edwards" looked at his hands covered with pitch-black lines, marks of a curse:
"When your bell tolled, I already knew that I failed."
He looked up at Shard again, his face not showing loss or hatred, but really quite peaceful:
"If your soul can accommodate the soul of The Chosen One, then I know, your emergence, even more so than the birth of the princess and the writer, holds greater significance for this world."
He lifted his right hand, the rotating black light point transformed into a dark light orb. The black light orb, capable of annihilating most matter, was casually thrown at Shard, but among the butterflies surrounding him, one bravely collided, and the light orb disintegrated into red luminous fragments scattered across the sky.
The blood moon illuminated the island after hours of battle, red butterflies danced under the blood moon, covering the entire night sky. "Edwards" continued looking at Shard:
"Using that card to call my past self, breaking space-time rules to gain more powerful strength while losing the identity of The Chosen One, was my contingency plan a long time ago. I wasn’t sure if it would work, it was just a trump card to deal with other unforeseen circumstances, but unexpectedly it was used here. Both good and bad, now it proves the existence of that vanished space-time."
"Actually, you don’t need to prove, I already know."
The Vortex Shard Diviner slightly shook his head, surprisingly, a calm expression could be seen in his completely black eyes:
"Do you know everything?"
He did not really intend for Shard to answer this, because the next moment he pointed at his own head:
"But now, I truly see some things. Since you have proven to me, you hold more possibilities than I do, then now defeat me, and I will tell you what exactly I know."
"As you wish."
Within the phantom of the red butterfly, hundreds of blood-red vortices appeared above Shard’s head at the same time. In the next moment, hundreds of "Great Sin Chains" stained blood-red shot out from those vortices.
"Edwards" wavered to attempt spatial movement, only to find his surroundings already fixed by the dancing butterfly swarm. He tried to retaliate against those chains but each attack was countered by the butterflies.
The blood-red chains wrapped around his hands and feet, around his neck and body, and around the Ring of Fate on his back.
More chains surged toward the blood-colored giant tree below, entangling the dense branches attempting "Edwards" aid.
Before the other High Ring Sorcerers, "Edwards’" avatars vanished completely. They looked at the two atop the tree, at the blood-red chains, which seemed to spontaneously extend a series of branches atop the giant tree.
The chains controlled "Edwards," descending him toward the ruins of the banquet hall in the tree crown, Shard would handle his affairs later.
Looking up at the increasingly powerful vortex in the night sky, Shard knew he couldn’t delay, he had to quickly restabilize space and seal the island:
"Are you all really prepared? Prepared to be drawn into the vortex of fate?"
He asked softly in his heart, then heard their laughter:
"You are not someone who hesitates."
"Alright."
Shard nodded softly, as "Seven-in-One" Bloodwing Moth, the effect of Maze Lock - Clock Tower Lovers was mutual fusion, and in this state, the items originally on them were all present on Shard.
He took out the red crystal Treasure Bead that the elders of the "Twin Order" had given Helen and Grace, then took out the Relic monocle "Rift" prepared by Luviya for Lecia and Dorothy, and finally, the Girard Stone once obtained from the "God’s Gift Box."