Chapter 77: United! Third Update
The light of dawn spilled over Arendelle.
The figure of the princess appeared on the astrological platform, dressed in a simple azure gown, looking just like an ordinary girl at home, lacking the aura of a higher being, yet exuding a hint of feminine grace. At this moment, her expression seemed somewhat weary, as if she hadn’t slept all night. Autumn had arrived, and the temperature should be quite high, but for some reason, the air around her was very cold, as if a layer of autumn frost had settled on the observatory.
This was not something that should occur.
Because everything before her indicated that the princess’s power was somewhat out of control, seemingly altering the surrounding environment just a little.
She had once created an ice fortress from thin air; such peak-level magical control skills could not possibly descend into chaos to the point where her own energy overflowed and affected the surrounding air.
“The power of the divine.”
The princess stood on the astrological platform, overlooking Arendelle, with a trace of worry in her eyes, murmuring, “Such an elusive power!”
Ever since she mysteriously vanished for a while and then returned, her power had grown increasingly stronger.
Sometimes.
When Princess Anna faced her, it felt as if she were confronting a lofty deity, but it was also from that time that Princess Anna began to sense something was amiss with her sister. She increasingly preferred solitude, often staying alone on the observatory and forbidding anyone from disturbing her.
The princess was a bit troubled at this moment.
Not only because of Soren’s matter, but also due to some problems she was encountering herself.
During that mysterious period of disappearance, she ventured to another plane, where a carefully plotted conspiracy targeted her. Although she successfully unraveled the opponent’s schemes and gained immense power, another dilemma followed. That was, she was still just a mortal; a divine favor sorcerer could possess immense divine power, but she had no divinity at all, and even her divinity relied merely on a trace of inherited bloodline.
Unlike Soren, who could absorb divinity and divine status, the overwhelming divine power led to her own strength gradually spiraling out of control.
If a metaphor were needed.
Now the princess was like the Fear Witch Lilian at her peak; relying on her powerful will, she could still control herself without being affected by the power. However, when manipulating this divine power, it was no longer as effortless as before, and an excess of energy caused divine power to overflow, which is why a layer of cold frost was unnaturally forming around her.
The investiture of gods was imminent!
The princess felt her power approaching the brink of losing control, a massive force beyond the grasp of mortals.
Only by borrowing the template of a deity could she truly control this force.
However!
The investiture of gods was certainly not an easy task.
Firstly, the princess’s divinity might not be sufficient; secondly, she had almost no divine power, and finally, she lacked an appropriate divine profession suited to herself. As long as the Winter Maiden had not fallen, gathering any divine professions related to ice and snow would be quite challenging for her.
The only thing she didn’t have to worry about was her divine power value.
Due to certain reasons, the divine power accumulated within her was even close to the level of a Medium Divine Power deity.
The paladins had always hoped for the princess to help them repair the Holy Avenger, but under these circumstances, how could she assist them with such a troublesome task? Repairing an artifact was an extremely intricate process; now she couldn’t even fully control her power in her usual state, let alone fix the Holy Avenger, which was all the more difficult. But she absolutely could not reveal this to the paladins, nor could Soren find out. The princess could only hide everything in her heart, quietly searching for a solution.
She was very strong-willed.
As the ruler of Arendelle, she absolutely wouldn’t allow herself to show any weakness in front of others.
“Maybe I should confront her head-on.”
The princess seemed to have made a decision, her gaze turning to the distance as she softly said, “Only the ice and snow divine profession can align with my power; there must be a battle between me and the Winter Maiden!”
“Soren!…”
“Perhaps I could attempt to ally with him!… Because of Anna, he should be trustworthy!…”
The Holy Avenger couldn’t be repaired.
But assisting Soren against the God of the Hunt was something she could consider; Soren was unaware of the power of the Holy Avenger because he was merely a half-baked spellcaster, not understanding how much energy it would take to repair the most powerful artifact of the material plane. However, the princess was well aware of this fact: if the Holy Avenger were completely restored, she herself would likely fall into a prolonged state of weakness. Given the current chaotic situation in the continent, the peace of Arendelle relied entirely on her power to intimidate the surroundings. If the princess fell into an extended weakness, the entire Frozen Kingdom would likely suffer severe repercussions.
The Holy Avenger!
One of the powerful weapons in the material plane.
Even unrefined, it possessed such astounding strength, and if fully repaired, the Good Faction would yearn for it, while the Evil Faction would fear it and wish to destroy it.
In the princess’s view, Soren was somewhat careless in this matter.
If the Holy Avenger were completely restored, it might send a shiver through all the organizations of the Evil Faction on the continent, as they feared the power of the Holy Avenger and might take unpredictable actions.
This was akin to how the Time Flail was repeatedly disassembled into pieces.
This matter might well attract other deities; after all, the last component of the Holy Avenger was the ‘Eye of Tyr’, a piece taken from the previous Justice God (Strong Divine Power), having been excavated before his fall.
The fully functional Holy Avenger was a 6th-level artifact; many deities holding it could not match its power now!
This artifact was indeed a hot potato.
The princess had been delaying the paladins, precisely because she believed the Holy Avenger should not be repaired, especially since the attitudes of the Lord of Radiance and the Justice God’s church were still unclear.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
A rush of footsteps came from outside.
The princess immediately frowned, for this was a place where she could be alone in quiet contemplation; unless it was an exceptionally important matter, others were not allowed to disturb her.
“Your Majesty!”
A young and beautiful court lady hurriedly ran up, holding a document in her hand, somewhat incoherently saying, “Not good! A plague!”
“A serious plague has occurred in the south!”
A plague?
The princess’s expression instantly darkened as she quickly took the document and scanned it, her face immediately turning serious.
The plague had truly broken out.
What was even more frightening was that this time the plague would not only infect humans; even trees and plants could be afflicted! In this near-harvest season, all the crops in the southern part of the Frozen Kingdom had withered completely!
This was absolutely not a natural disaster!!!
………………(To Be Continued ~^~)
