Chapter 1495: Chapter 1495: Humanity (Copy World Concludes)

The twisted trees entwine as they stretch toward the sky, like the hands of the dying, grasping at the firmament, with screeching howls echoing beneath the dark red sky.

And amid these trees and cries, simple stone steles stand in the midst of the twisted wilderness.

Their material is not exceptional, and their luster is not strong — not ideal for making steles at all.

But they should be the strongest and most shape-retaining material available nearby.

They are deeply inserted into the ground, to prevent easy toppling or movement by exotic beasts roaming the wilderness.

They stand there, guarding the small mounds of graves behind them.

In the howling and twisting wind, these steles already show slight signs of weathering, yet the names engraved upon them remain clearly visible.

Thud—thud—thud——

From behind the elderly comes the dull sound of footsteps, with a trace of snow and ice spreading from behind and stopping beside him.

A white-haired girl, her hair touched by ice crystals, walks barefoot through the frost, standing by the elderly.

“Is the burial over?”

The elderly, with a dignified face, withdraws his gaze from those steles, softly asking.

“Yes,” the white-haired girl nods gently, “he had a significant reputation in Denno City; those coming to pay respects clogged every road in the vicinity.”

“The masses are a surprising presence,” the elderly lifts his head, sighing softly, “sometimes they can be easily swayed by public opinion, like an unrational swarm, yet at other times, they can exhibit unexpected, superior logic discernment, clearly distinguishing between good and bad people.”

“Perhaps, for ordinary people,” the white-haired girl gazes at those standing steles, sighing softly, “they just want to live, to live better.”

“Perhaps it’s exactly that, human civilization can survive so many disasters, yet always manage to reignite the flames of humanity.” The elderly sighs longly, speaking slowly.

The white-haired girl lifts her head, takes a glance at the elderly before her, and speaks softly, “Ever since Paxiu died, you seem to have a lot more sentiments.”

The elderly shakes his head with a smile, neither confirming nor denying the girl’s words.

He looks at the girl’s snowy white hair, speaking slowly, “Is this the Ice and Snow Princess? The fairy tale image from the Northern Borders legend?”

“Yes,” the white-haired girl nods gently, “in the vast majority of cities in the Northern Borders, there are legends about the ‘Ice and Snow Princess’ or the ‘Queen of the North.’ The exact time this legend started circulating is untraceable, but it’s highly likely to have hailed from the Era of the Great Cataclysm.

“A considerable portion of Wilderness Wanderers living near the Northern Ice Field believe the Ice and Snow Princess blesses those lost in blizzards, guiding them out of the snowstorms, even diminishing them, allowing gainful prey.

“Whereas in city fairy tales, the Ice and Snow Princess presents a different phenomenon, though she is always perceived as the Queen of the North and the ruler over the Federation’s Northern Ice Fields.

“Unlike the Wilderness Wanderers, who deem the Ice and Snow Princess as a bearer of good luck and blessings, city-dwellers’ fairy tales portray her more as a cold yet well-meaning judge,

“For instance, in the tale circulating Ankse City, the Ice and Snow Princess summons blizzards to punish misbehaving children, even featuring scenes of turning naughty children into ice sculptures.

“Other cities’ legends are milder but exist nonetheless.”

The white-haired girl explains softly, “And the Ice and Snow Princess tales exhibit a clear regional distribution, though the entire Federation’s north, from the West Storm Sea to the East Storm Sea, has legends of the Ice and Snow Princess circulating.

“But east of Ankse City, i.e., the Federation’s northern-central region, the Ice and Snow Princess fairy tale is most widely spread, with a denser atmosphere.

“Some cities even deify the Ice and Snow Princess as a sort of Divine Being, like in Xiqilelan east of Rock City, celebrating a Snow Festival in mid-November, said to be the Ice and Snow Princess’s birthday.”

She pauses, speaking softly, “In Xiqilelan, the Snow Festival is even of greater importance than the New Year.”

“What do you think of this ‘Ice and Snow Princess’?” Listening quietly to the white-haired girl finish speaking, the elderly asks slowly.

“On the whole, whether it’s her merciful side or her ‘authority’ aspect, they mirror the artistic ‘illusion’ of blizzards through ordinary people’s perspective,” the white-haired girl says softly, “Those residing near the Northern Ice Field have an inherent fear of blizzards, which naturally births blizzard worship,

“The Ice and Snow Princess clearly represents an embodied form of blizzard worship from the Cataclysm era, further comprised of numerous regional element adaptations.

“Wilderness Wanderers often besieged by blizzards yearn for someone saving them in a storm, thus bestowing this fairy tale figure saving prowess.

“Conversely, with Ankse inhabitants frequently bullied within the Federation, their legend endows Ice and Snow Princess with a punitive power to freeze enemies.

“And the Xiqilelan’s ‘Snow Festival’ was only rediscovered over the last hundred years, simply crafted for tourism,”

She regarded the elderly, her snowy-white hair swaying gently with her movements, furthering, “This ‘Ice and Snow Princess’ appears as a classic primitive Divine Being figure born of storm worship.”

“I remember you rarely employed this fairy tale image before; you’ve made some other changes?” The elderly looks at the white-haired girl, continuing to question.

“Perhaps due to broad and diverse audiences, the Ice and Snow Princess’s imagery possesses greater power than any other fairy tale image,” the white-haired girl gazes down at the snow beneath, “But her power can’t be entirely controlled by me, will naturally spill over, affecting my actions, thus I generally refrain from utilizing this image.”

“Has your condition deteriorated?” The elderly watches the white-haired girl, finally voicing the question.

Upon hearing this inquiry, the white-haired girl pauses slightly, then nods gently, “The Ice and Snow Princess’s power can exert a forced ‘serenity’ effect, though uncontrollable, it does assist in regulating my physical condition.”

“Sometimes, stories and legends aren’t entirely baseless,” the elderly retrieves his gaze, sighing softly, eyeing the standing steles before a shifting to seemingly unrelated question, “So, have you made your decision?”

“I have,” the white-haired girl, or rather, Ines, takes a deep breath, her gaze absent staring at those deep steles, “Eight years, and I’ve always been grateful you pulled me from this wilderness, perhaps it’s time to confront what I need to face.”

“You must understand, the restless call within isn’t necessarily from your Talent Sequences or personal transcendent factors,” the elderly sighs softly, eying the girl, “You have no complete soul; normally, if you choose promotion, it almost certainly leads to madness.”

Reflected in his pupils is an alternative state of the beautifully white-haired girl before him.

She has no stable entity, instead a cluster of distorted brilliance.

Numerous diverse fragments adhere to this brilliance, fusing to form a complete entity.

“I’ve always understood,” Ines inhales gently, a tender smile gracing her cold cheeks, “I know, I am not truly a person, but a life ‘born’ from fragmentary soul pieces of this wasteland merged with the Fairy Tale Witch Talent Sequences,”

She regards the elderly, “Had you not just happened by and initiated inspection, activating the Fairy Tale Witch’s physical rebirth capability, I might never have been born.”

“No, you don’t understand,” the elderly slightly shakes his head, sighing softly, “This might not have been a ‘coincidence’, even though Paxiu’s tribe held a respectable reputation near Denno City, throughout the Federation, it counts little,

“Yet, that tribe’s ‘Dancer’ pathway man could easily obtain an Extraordinary Items containing the ‘Fairy Tale Witch’ Talent Sequences, occurring right before the Dark Lizard event.”

He Ao glanced at the white-haired girl in front of him, “You should understand that these might not be entirely coincidental.”

“But I can see his memories. He was indeed very lucky to find an ancient cave on the wasteland, where he came across the extraordinary item that was the crazed Fairy Tale Witch. Consequently, he also suffered severe pollution and a curse…” The white-haired girl slightly opened her mouth, but in the end, her words turned into a long sigh,

“I know, Director.”

She turned her gaze, looking at the tombstones one by one. Her fingers brushed over the marks on the tombstones, over the roughly carved names.

She gazed at these tombstones, “These are the tombstones set up by Paxiu. I recognize everyone here. I know Paxiu, remember his smiles from childhood to adulthood, remember him stumbling as a toddler to standing on his own, remember him transforming from stubbornness to smoothness.”

“Most of the memories and soul fragments you’ve obtained come from Paxiu’s tribe.” The Elderly man looked at the girl in front of him.

After a brief pause, he turned his gaze, looking at the tombstones standing in front of him, “In a way, this is your graveyard.”

“Yes,” the girl sighed deeply.

She gently brushed over the tombstone at the front of the graveyard. The name engraved on it was the deepest, the handwriting trembling, clearly indicating the person who erected it was very much out of control at the time. It was Paxiu’s father’s name.

“I’ve always felt these names seemed a bit strange, as if they are related to me and yet not,” she looked up, smiling at the Elderly man, “You always said I need to find an understanding of this world to stabilize my state, but I could never find it.”

She straightened up, quietly standing at the edge of the tombstone, “Now, I’ve found it.”

“So you’re going to respond to the summoning that’s been entangled with you since your birth? The summoning originating from the first extraordinary item?” The Elderly man looked at Ines, “Are you truly prepared?”

“I am,” Ines nodded slightly, “Whether this summoning is a trap or some kind of ‘bait’, I need to see for myself,”

She slightly shifted her body away, gazing at the dense tombstones, then turned again to look at the city standing at the end of the wasteland, “No matter how bad things get, this world always has miracles, doesn’t it?”

She lowered her head, her gaze seemingly piercing through the layers of Steel Jungle, staring at the quiet, simple coffin inside the city, “I need power, Director. Next time, I don’t want to be doing just some petty tasks, unable to protect anyone, only watching important people pass away. Also, my physical state is deteriorating, I may not have much time left.”

The Elderly man silently looked at her. After a long while, he gently spoke, “I only know that the angel-tier Talent Sequence corresponding to the ‘Fairy Tale Witch’ is Talent Sequence 273: Butterfly Mask. The Divine Beings’ tendrils extend across the universe. Be careful, you may already be very close to Them.”

Hearing his words, Ines took a slight breath, and finally said slowly, “Thank you.”

“There’s no need for such words. I can’t stop you from doing anything. Maybe you’re right, but you still have to be responsible for your choices,” the Elderly man sighed lightly, “However, when things reach the lowest point, perhaps that’s when a turning point arises.”

He turned his head, gazing at the distant city, sighing lightly, “Maybe there really are miracles in this world.”

“Mm.”

Ines gazed at the distant city, nodding softly.

The sunlight shone upon the sky, casting long, straight shadows of the city, people, and tombstones on the earth.

——

The scattered light disappeared from He Ao’s field of view.

He Ao looked down at the card in front of him.

The overall background of the card’s face was a hazy color, like dim void or thick night.

And in the center of this night, the diffused yellow brilliance collected and interconnected, forming a simple line drawing of an eye, which at this moment was staring intently forward.

And in front of it, at the place where this pencil-drawn eye ‘gazed’, a wisp of human-shaped illusion was suspended.

This phantom seemed fleeting, as if it had never existed, the more you tried to see it, the harder it was to catch its figure, unable to peer into its true shape.

However, watching this illusion.

The corners of the pencil-drawn eye were both upturned, like open arms, embracing the phantom.

But this card face wasn’t just night color, yellow brilliance, and illusion.

In the deepest part of the night color, trailing the direction opposite the yellow brilliance, there was faintly some permeating purple fog, extending from behind the brilliance.

The elements on this card face appeared slightly simple, with the presence of only two Divine Beings.

One was the big sister Witch of Desire, the other was, behind the scenes manipulating all of this, that pencil-drawn eye.

In the end, He Ao used [Dream Phantom] to open a channel, summoning the Witch of Desire.

According to his observation of the big sister, the Witch of Desire harbors significant hatred… well, attention, for everything associated with ‘Winding Hill’.

In the previous Copy World, just seeing the city created by He Ao using Daytime City Building, the big sister went straight into a frenzied rage.

So this time, He Ao directly used Dream Phantom, and used Dream Phantom again to open the channel to Fantasy Aines.

Only Divine Beings can defeat Divine Beings.

And to defeat a Divine Incarnation possessing part of its original power, it requires a Divine Being to spare no cost in bringing their true power over.

Fortunately, He Ao’s friends are very loyal, much better than the guy who’s been peeping since the start of this Copy World.

Of course, the final result was evident; the big sister came directly with her power.

Without any hesitation, directly came with violent advent at all costs.

Very loyal indeed.

The big sister, as always, very reliable.

He Ao always had a keen eye for picking friends.

His gaze gathered, looking at the name of this Character Card.

[Night Peeping]