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

　Aurora then threw herself on Xingmo's chest and took a deep breath.

　"Are you nervous?" Aurora whispered.

　"Why do you say that?"

　"My heart is beating very fast."

　"Soon?"

　It's indeed a bit fast.

　Xingmo turned her head and looked at the night scene of the academic city outside the window.

　"It's true that I'm a little nervous."

　She was going to face it all.

　Ever since the day she boarded the K3 train to Winter County, Xingmo has never returned to the academic city she is familiar with.

　The prosperity and bustle of the past have now turned into a dead silence under the blowing wind and sand.

　The war surrounding the White Tower has never stopped for thousands of years. It is a secret war in the extraordinary world. All mortal things are turned into dust in this war and forgotten in the long river of history.

　And now, Xingmo has walked into the center of this war.

　She knew that everything that was happening now was history—history written by her.

　Regardless of whether the outcome of this war is good or bad, it will eventually be recorded in history.

　The history books record unparalleled achievements, ambitions and blood, and records of waves of generation after generation devouring each other and wheels after wheels crushing each other.

　But Xingmo did all this not for the purpose of being remembered.

　She just wanted to go back to those days that she could never forget.

　During those golden years, the streets of the academic city were bustling with people. She sold newspapers alone on the street, and after selling them, she sat down to eat a bowl of hot noodles with soybean paste.

　At that time, Xingmo might not have many coins in her pocket, but she had the bright sunshine of the entire morning.

　Everything that the big shots disdain is what Xingmo truly cherishes.

　"I want to protect them." Xingmo said in a low voice.

　Aurora looked at Xingmo's calm profile and smiled slightly.

　With a "bo" sound, she pecked Xingmo's cheek lightly:

　"I want to protect you." Aurora looked at Xingmo who turned around and smiled brightly.

　Xingmo also smiled. She gently stroked Aurora's temples and looked at her sparkling blood-red eyes.

　Some emotions cannot be hidden even if you don’t understand them.

　When that emotion spread from the hearts of the two people and blended together, it naturally formed an atmosphere as intoxicating as wine.

　In the noisy bar, everyone is drunk but unaware of it.

　So everything goes on so naturally, just like a drizzle in the middle of the night, moistening everything silently.

　Wait until this is all over, wait until all the stress is gone.

　It's time...

　We can't let the girl wait forever... After all... she is naive.

　Xingmo closed her eyes and gently hugged Aurora.

　"After the Citadel is liberated, let's go to Winter County to see the snow again."

　"What's so beautiful about snow..." Aurora muttered.

　The lights went out, and a dark atmosphere enveloped everything, with only the faint white light flowing outside the window.

　It's another quiet night, at least tonight, it's quiet.

　On the Caradorans Ridge, the sky was filled with blizzard and the stars were sparse.

　Amidst the vast expanse of white snow, a man wearing a black top hat and a black suit was walking as if he were walking on flat ground.

　His steps seemed to completely ignore the slope of the ridge. The blizzard had no effect on him, as if he did not exist in the world.

　Merlin looked towards the end of the ridge, the peak that reached into the clouds.

　Raven Peak, the highest peak in the Caradorans Mountains.

　It is shrouded in mist, and a blizzard with powerful spiritual pressure has always covered the area, and no one has ever reached the summit.

　Merlin was the first and only person to reach the summit, so he got the right to name the mountain.

　He comes to this mountain once every year on this day, alone, without greeting anyone in advance.

　Of course, considering the many lives he had seen in his long life, it was normal for Merlin to often disappear inexplicably. He was always elusive, and even his closest students never knew what he was going to do next.

　""

　A few faint golden stars were faintly visible in the blizzard, like eyes, watching the crows obscured by the blizzard curtain.

　The crow climbed up the mountain to speak to the dove.

　The flying snow seemed to swallow up even time. After an unknown amount of time, Merlin broke through the sea of ​​clouds and finally reached the top of the mountain.

　Above the clouds, there is finally no snow. The dark night shrouds the head. The pale blue crescent moon is not so bright tonight, and the sky is dotted with golden stars.

　The area of ​​the top of the mountain is not big, not much different from Merlin's office. There is a desk, a chair, and a bookshelf on the black rock.

　The surface of the furniture is covered with a faint golden starlight, and they can maintain their position in the strong wind above the clouds, unchanged for thousands of years.

　Who would have known that on top of this mountain that is said to be unconquered, there would be furniture that looks so out of place?

　There was only one regular here.

　""

　Merlin wiped the frost off the surface of the table, pulled out a chair and sat down.

　He looked at the swirling sea of ​​clouds in front of him and headed towards the far north.

　From the perspective of high-level spiritual vision, there is a huge spiritual power vortex at the end of the sea of ​​clouds. The vortex is constantly spewing, and even the sea of ​​clouds in the real world is rolled into a vortex.

　That is the source of the cold winds of the Caradorans Mountains, and it is also what this high mountain is really about.

　In Merlin's memory, the area north of the Caradorans Mountains was once a vibrant garden, where angels and people of the mist lived, as well as many extraordinary creatures that had disappeared in the long river of history.

　And now, white has covered everything.

　One third of the Vesta continent was swallowed up by the endless cold current.

　Merlin came to talk to the person hidden deep in the cold current.

　"White Dove, I didn't bring any stories this time, because you've already heard all the stories about the Citadel."

　"You'll be arriving at the Citadel soon, right? It's been over two thousand years, and you'll have to fulfill some of your long-cherished wishes."

　"You often told me that you'd seen the ending, and you believed that you only needed to use various means to create a flow that matched that ending in order to reach it... This is a gift your mother gave you. When you listen to a story, you are always able to keenly perceive the development of the plot and guess its ending."

　"I've told you...over two thousand stories. How many have you guessed?"

　Merlin chuckled, tapping his index finger on the table repeatedly.

　"Your projection never sees me. Of course, I understand you. After all, even if you are an archangel who is almost godlike, you will be penetrated in front of me."

　"You know I still love you, but we're always fighting, aren't we?"

　"For so many years, although everything seemed to be as I wished, you have long since eroded the entire peaceful world into a mere shell... Your influence is spread across the entire world. Most of them don't even know the name of the Court of Redemption, yet they are all directly or indirectly controlled by you."

　"Redemption, yes... You believe that all living beings need to be redeemed before the red moon shines, so the Shepherd's String is the key to redeeming the entire world."

　"And you believe that what you do is in accordance with Mother's way. Only by condensing the souls of all beings into a single string and achieving the so-called great harmony can that garden bloom again."

　"But have you ever thought... that the ending you see... is never the only ending?"

　After Merlin said this, he smiled as if mocking himself:

　"Oh, actually, I also thought that what you expect is the only possible outcome. No matter how much I do, it will be in vain. I will always be a prisoner of fate."

　"But you've met that girl, right?"

　"That golden full moon... you and I both know it's more than just a sign of divine favor... You've heard me tell you about the sinking of the Sea Cloud, so you should know the true purpose of that ship..."

　"That day, on the beach at the salvage site, I saw that frail child for the first time. I saw the intertwined golden and blue light within him, and I remembered everything I had engraved on the royal court mural according to the prophecy."

　"That child didn't grow up to be a prisoner of fate," Merlin shook his head gently. "She possesses the power to weave specific probabilities, something neither you nor I can do. You excel at determining outcomes, while I excel at severing fate. Before she appeared, you were able to influence fate from a directional perspective, but after she showed up, you were so frightened that you even wanted to place a chain of fate on the string of truth..."

　"Yes, I think you know what Xingmo's existence means. It means that the authority of destiny has been divided into three parts."

　"Originally, you could control both the direction and the outcome, but now... the direction is passing through her hands..."

　"Isn't it interesting? The ending you see may not be the only ending."

　"You don't know all this, and I don't know either..."

　Merlin stood up and pointed at the moon overhead.

　In his vision, a crimson light swept over like an overwhelming force, turning the sea of ​​clouds into a scarlet hue:

　"...Mother always knew."

　"She is the one who wrote the script. You and I are just puppets in the play, waiting to burn out on the stage."

　"Then why not see what kind of ending is worthy of this supreme duel?"

　Merlin straightened his hat, stood up, bowed towards the far north, and turned to leave.

　A sudden gust of cold wind embraced him and then quickly dissipated.

　Merlin paused briefly, raised his head, and murmured softly:

　"Cain, we'll see you at the end."

Chapter 356 White Tower (Part 2) -4k- (Two updates in one)

　Three days later, at night.

　Xingmo pushed open the door of the Observatory, and the evening breeze from the terrace blew towards her, mixed with the moisture of the waves.

　A man was standing on the edge of the terrace with his back to Xingmo. His black windbreaker fluttered in the wind, making his shadow look a bit like a bat.

　Xingmo had met him here many times, first for some extracurricular astronomical research topics, and later for the plan to exile the evil god.

　Every time she stepped into the door of the Observatory, her mood was different.

　This time too.

　"Xiaomo, you're here."

　Lucius turned his head, his lake-blue eyes twinkling with faint starlight:

　"Things have changed, so I'll keep this short... What is this?"

　"It's just hot tea," Xingmo put a teacup on the table and poured hot tea into it, "I have a feeling this will take some time."

　Lucius looked at Xingmo pouring tea with a complicated expression.

　He wanted to laugh, but was also embarrassed, and finally shook his head slightly:

　"I said, I don't deserve you to treat me like this, I..."

　"You even said you weren't worthy enough to step into Nefera Beta's gate," Xing Mo muttered. "Come on, don't be like a painstaking monk. Since everything you've done is to atone for your sins, and you've never thought of escaping, why not give yourself... at least a break?"

　“When you need to relax, you can better complete what you need to do.”

　"You taught me a lesson," Lucius sighed with a smile, "Well then."

　He picked up a teacup and raised it slightly towards Xingmo, as if for a moment he had turned into the gentle and peaceful old professor again.

　The two of them spent time together peacefully in the Observatory, drinking tea in the evening breeze without talking.

　Looking at the mentor's expression that relaxed briefly, Xingmo felt mixed emotions.

　In fact, she didn't know what feelings she should have towards Mentor Lucius.

　To be fair, Lucius allowed the Steam Man to be created, allowed it to kill so many innocent people in the city, and almost made the entire Academy become sacrifices in the October Rain incident.

　What he did was evil. He was a complete villain and a lunatic.

　Even if everything he did was for Miriam, it still cannot justify his behavior.

　Evil is evil.