The defeated saint is also on the way to tame the evil god today

Then she said:

"what is that?"

"A kind of string mentioned only in hidden legends," Merlin said. "As for its function... well, first tell me what you think the string is?"

Xing Mo was stunned for a moment, then read in the tone of a good student:

"Strings are the fundamental building blocks of all things. The essence of everything in the world is due to the vibration of strings, from the smallest movements of air to the largest landslides and tsunamis."

"You've memorized the textbook well," Merlin smiled. "In other words, if you pluck the chord of all things with your wand, you can shake all things."

As he spoke, Merlin gathered his spiritual power, and several strings of different colors were instantly captured in front of him. Colorful light fell on the coffee pudding that looked like it had been eaten.

"Instead of searching for the strings, the essence of playing the strings is often that we use our spiritual power to 'capture' the corresponding strings."

Merlin said, playing a blue water string and raising his cup.

Suddenly, a clear spring of water surged into the air, fell into the cup, and filled the air with icy air.

Merlin drank the ice water in one gulp, put the cup down, and continued:

"They call it magic, and we call it 'stringing'."

"Its essence is an exchange between spiritual power and nature. We use corresponding spiritual power to capture the strings in nature, and these strings connect different things, from the most basic elements such as gold, wood, water, fire and earth, to things like light and shadow."

“To put it bluntly, the possibilities of strings are infinite. Many strings just haven’t been discovered by us, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist…”

Having said that, Merlin tapped the half patch on the plate with his spoon:

“If this pudding can become some kind of universal concept to a certain extent, perhaps it can also produce strings.”

"Pudding Strings, well... imagine the spectacle."

Listening to the principal's off-key words, Xing Mo's mouth twitched slightly, and he asked:

"So, what about the 'Shepherd's String'?"

"Ah, I thought you'd figured it out already," Merlin raised his spoon and pointed upwards, "Of course... the starry sky."

Controlling the starry sky...? Xing Mo was stunned, and inexplicably remembered a passage from Miss Perlis in her mind:

"Every star is a world, some alive, some dead."

Living stars...The red moon towering over the night sky echoed in Xingmo's mind.

If such beings can be considered stars... could the function of the "Shepherd Star String" be...

"Okay, don't think about it anymore." Merlin interrupted Xingmo leisurely.

"Why?" Xing Mo looked up blankly.

Merlin raised the spoon and pointed at Xingmo's nose:

"You have a nosebleed."

Xing Mo wiped her fingers with her hands and was shocked to find that her fingertips were stained bright red.

Before she could wipe it with her handkerchief, she saw Merlin wave his wand, and a little bit of clear water flowed out of her nose, washing away the blood, and then quickly disappeared without leaving a drop.

"Thank you...thank you..." Xing Mo only then realized that her body had become stiff.

What the hell is this... I was just chatting with the principal and was attacked twice by messages from people above me...

Forbidden knowledge may be the most terrifying hunter in the world, wandering in the ocean of information with a sharp knife in hand.

But making someone bleed from the nose is really very rude.

"I've seen a real moon," Xingmo breathed, "it's red."

"Oh? I'm really surprised. Even just a glance at it is a remarkable achievement." Merlin gestured as if to applaud. "Then, some things will be easy to talk about."

He cleared his throat and said:

"The goal of the Court of Redemption is to capture the Chord of the Shepherd Star. If that power falls into their hands... oh, my poor world."

"And the method to capture the 'Shepherd's String' requires a grand symphony orchestra... perhaps..."

“In that symphony, there are three main strings.”

Merlin raised three fingers:

"'Destiny', 'Truth', 'Life'."

When the three great concepts were recited, Xingmo's first reaction was to notice the last one:

"Life?" Xing Mo said, "I..."

"Are you talking about the String of Life that the little evil god captured?" Merlin smiled. "No, that wasn't the complete String of Life. Or rather, its status was limited to the Tree of Life, not fully pointing to the true Life."

"In our world, there are two other kinds of authority related to life..."

"As it happens, I happen to know which two they are..."

Merlin winked mysteriously at Xingmo, then solemnly read out:

"The 'Lost Realm' gives life to abandoned memories, transforming them into twisted entities in the form of strange mist."

"Song of the Sand" uses golden sand to simulate a 'living being' in a broad sense, turning it into one's servant."

When these two names came out, Xingmo almost stood up.

Because she happens to know everything!

The "Lost Kingdom"...gives life to abandoned memories, presenting them in the form of strange mist...Isn't that the power of the "Invisible Mist"!

As for the "Song of Sand", Xingmo didn't know much about it, but it obviously belonged to the "Golden King" on the other side of the ocean!

Not long ago, Aurora was summoned to the real world... Prince Austin also introduced the "Invisible Mist" into the Citadel...

Now, the Golden King prepares to start a war and enters the Citadel...

"Could it be that...the purpose of the Golden King doing all this..." Xing Mo murmured.

"Perhaps we're on the same page," Merlin blinked. "Yes, he wants to gather the complete Strings of Life for the Court of Redemption."

So that's how it is... Now everything makes sense from the perspective of motivation!

"How do you know this?" Xing Mo asked.

"You don't really think I've been out of town for so long just to clear the toilet for the Giant King's court, do you?" Merlin laughed dumbly. "That civilization survived from the Age of Gods. The things recorded in their ancient books are truly priceless."

"'Tree of Life'...'Lost Kingdom'...'Song of the Sand'...are these concepts that have existed since the Age of Gods?" Xing Mo frowned.

She didn't think Aurora looked like she had lived for tens of thousands of years.

Merlin's mouth curled into a smile:

"Of course not. For example, the 'Lost Realm' originated from the 'Formless Mist,' and the 'Formless Mist' was an evil god born from the spiritual remnants of the 'Golden Sun' after its fall. Naturally, it only began to exist after the Age of Gods."

"So, according to my speculation, the words recorded on the stone tablets in the Giant King's Court were written by a prophet."

"Prophet?" Xing Mo felt it was not very reliable.

"Yeah, who knows where all those prophets come from," Merlin shrugged. "But the point is, that stone tablet is from ten thousand years ago, and it did accurately predict the three powers that exist in the world today..."

"Now I have to believe it..." Xing Mo held his forehead.

So, even Aurora, the evil god, is not a complete manipulator of "life"...

If she could gather the other two powers, she would be able to manipulate the true "chords of life".

The "life" referred to by that string may not be within the scope of living beings.

The cycles of the sun, moon, and stars... the decay of matter... the longevity of civilization... perhaps all of this is revealed in them...

And this great power is just one of the three pieces of the puzzle to capture the "Shepherd's String"?

I have to tell Aurora this... I have to let her know that this world is dangerous...

And, if the other two powers were concentrated in Aurora's hands, would it be possible to stop the "Court of Redemption" to a certain extent?

"Then what about 'fate' and 'truth'?" Xing Mo asked.

Unexpectedly, Merlin waved his hand:

"I do not know either."

How come you don't know again? Don't you act like you know everything? Xingmo felt a frown fall on his forehead.

Looking at her like this, Merlin smiled awkwardly:

"The murals have been destroyed! Haha, it's all because the giants are so stupid, right? They can't even protect the material cultural heritage of their own civilization. Sigh..."

"I hope you haven't been assimilated by the giant." Xingmo sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm not senile yet," Merlin winked. "But I do have some theories of my own."

Merlin said, taking out a piece of parchment and handing it to Xingmo.

Xingmo opened the parchment and saw some distorted symbols copied in black ink... No, it was more like some kind of hieroglyphics.

Among them, the two largest symbols depict stars and the moon respectively.

"...!"

Xing Mo recognized the two symbols at once—they were the "blue stars" and "golden full moon" that had appeared in her eyes at the same time before!

"In these descriptions, the golden full moon seems to represent 'destiny', while the blue stars represent 'truth'..."

Merlin said quietly.

"Destiny and truth, perhaps both are related to you, ah, but now it seems that only destiny is related to you, isn't it?"

In an instant, Xingmo knew what Merlin had brought so many "bell guards" to protect.

"The key to the 'String of Fate' is with me?" Xing Mo murmured.

"Indeed, this is the only information we have," Merlin waved his hand. "As for the other half that belongs to the truth, it is currently in the hands of the Golden King."

"The Strings of Fate"... Xingmo felt awe just by reciting the name.

Can you transcend fate by playing a string?

Destroy the existing destiny... and create a new one...?

"Then...what should I do?" Xing Mo was suddenly confused.

"Of course I obeyed fate," Merlin smiled. "You were originally planning to go to Wintershire and trace the tombs of the 'Garden of Redemption' and the 'Winter Envoy', weren't you?"

"Yes..." Xingmo nodded.

"Then go. If you have the golden full moon in your eyes, which symbolizes destiny, your gaze will eventually be led by the flow of fate to where it should be."

Merlin said, finishing the last of his coffee pudding.

“To trace destiny, one must naturally begin at the point where its course changed.”

"Miss Xingmo, I wish you a pleasant trip to Winter County in advance."

......

After leaving the main square, Paris did not rush back to the cafe, but took a walk on the street.

It’s not because of anything else, the sun is quite bright today.

In autumn, there are not many sunny days like this. It seems that every remaining ray of sunshine is telling the girl about its temperature - that temperature is disappearing with the drifting of the seasons, from the migrating geese to the falling maple leaves, all faded in the white steam exhaled by the rail steam car.

No matter what, the sunshine is always worth enjoying.

Walking among the crowd, Perlis took slow steps, her pure white long hair surging like flames in the autumn wind.

Her figure seemed hard to be swallowed up by the crowd, which made sense. After all, she was a girl so beautiful that she seemed detached from the world, and she stood out wherever she was.

But the people around her seemed unable to see her, as if something had erased her presence according to her will.

"..."

Paris walked around the commercial district in the northern part of the city for a few rounds, looking at the beautiful handicrafts through the windows, then walked into the restaurant and ordered herself a steak with red wine sauce and a cup of fresh strawberry yogurt.

Through the glass of the restaurant, Perlis silently watched the people walking in the autumn sunshine, watching them rushing among the broken spots of light.

Civilization is such a vivid and beautiful existence.

There are sufferings and bitterness, but there is always sunshine blooming in the autumn afternoon.

"..."

After lunch, Perlis walked out of the restaurant and prepared to return to the entrance of the cafe at 69 Frame Street.