Ain was quick to notice the subtle anomaly Erylin was trying so hard to hide.
Erylin looked quite weak. A faint puff of frosty air escaped her lips, and her small hands were shivering uncontrollably from the cold.
Even when Erylin's mood had been at its worst before, she had never shown this kind of physical weakness.
Rather, ever since he first saw Erylin this morning, Ain felt that her condition was already somewhat off.
She was clearly in a good mood, and it looked as though she possessed more positive emotions than negative ones today.
Yet, the mark belonging to the 【Lament of the Frosty Breath】 in the depths of the girl's eyes remained like a stubborn disease, refusing to fade.
“Erylin?”
“I'm fine, I'm okay...”
Erylin said weakly.
“Maybe I just didn't sleep well...”
Soon, Erylin squeezed out another smile toward Imeve.
Seeing how well Imeve treated Ain just now, Erylin was already content.
She didn't want to drag Ain down with whatever illness she had.
A girl as beautiful and willing to give everything for Ain as Imeve should be more than enough for him.
Besides, Lillian was also by Ain's side.
An Ain like this probably didn't need her anymore, did he?
Ain and Imeve noticed the anomaly at almost the exact same instant. Erylin's current emotional state seemed to have completely deviated from normal.
Bone-chilling frost spread wildly across the girl's pale skin, consuming the fabric of her upper clothes like a living thing.
Accompanied by soft, crackling sounds, the extreme cold flowed downward at an incredible speed, freezing the soft fabric of the girl's clothes inch by inch.
Seeing this, Imeve hurriedly took off her coat and draped it over Erylin's body.
In the next second, Erylin's strength failed her, and she fell to her knees. Ain quickly reached out to support her.
With a few ragged breaths, the frozen fabric on Erylin's upper body shattered completely. Ain knelt down in front of her, using Imeve's coat to keep her covered.
At the same time, Ain used his own body to completely shield Erylin from view.
And finally, Ain saw what was underneath her clothes.
Ain's mouth parted slightly as he stared at Erylin in disbelief.
The girl squeezed out a bitter smile.
“You saw it after all...”
Beneath the girl's beautiful exterior, countless terrifying ice crystals were intricately woven together.
A few ice crystals broke off from under her skin, revealing bloody scratches left behind by the sharp ice.
“Hey... it's disgusting, isn't it, Ain?”
Erylin's consciousness was slowly fading.
“It must be so disgusting...”
“This ugly... side of me...”
“Ain, I'm sorry...”
This is fine...
This is enough.
She had caused trouble for Ain again.
He would probably like her even less now, wouldn't he?
Ain stared blankly at Erylin, his mind going completely empty.
The Ice of Aret, a power that uniquely belonged to Erylin in the original game.
In the original game's setting, although the negative emotions generated by Erylin's body would continuously make her stronger and unlock various special abilities, there were absolutely no side effects.
But looking at the current situation, things were different...
The memories in Ain's mind flashed before his eyes like a film reel.
He finally remembered that in the CG at the end of Act Three of the original game, Erylin was in this exact state!
This was the very scene that played at the end of Act Three, when Grace, the vessel of the holy spear, died in Erylin's arms.
The game's explanation was that Erylin's failure to absorb the holy spear caused its power to go out of control, triggering a backlash from the Ice of Aret within her.
This backlash was clearly supposed to be caused by the harmful invasion of the holy spear's power!
Ain immediately began to cast a Tier 4 healing magic, but the layer of hard ice on her body did not melt even a fraction.
Dammit...
Cold sweat beaded on Ain's forehead.
Erylin clearly hadn't even touched the holy spear, so why was she turning out like this!
No, none of that mattered!
According to the original plot settings, the backlash of the Ice of Aret could not be easily dispelled.
Only after losing Grace and all her closest friends, falling into an abyss of despair, did Erylin manage to barely offset the fatal backlash at the cost of her heart-wrenching grief.
But now, the plot had been changed.
Could the Erylin before him, who had never lost anything...
...still hold on?
...
At the city gates, sunlight poured over the white stone walls, heating the towering arched gateway until it was slightly warm to the touch.
On the stone path inside the gates, heat rose along with the bustling noise. A wooden cart piled high with fresh vegetables and hay slowly rolled over the flagstones. A few women in coarse linen skirts stood in line, holding woven baskets and talking in hushed tones.
Boisterous shouts and various noises drifted from the tavern. Not far outside, the shadow of an old tree fell like a curtain. Ain sat beneath its shade, biting his thumb, his brow furrowed deeply.
Erylin had already been sent to the nearest Titan Prosecution Office medical room, where she was being treated by a professional healing mage personally appointed by Imeve.
There were only two hours left before departure.
All the teams were outside the city.
And the students who had been called earlier had already gone to join their new teams.
At this moment, the only ones left inside the city were Ain and Imeve.
Ain bit his thumb until it bled, his face practically overflowing with anxiety.
According to the original plan, as long as they eliminated Harrison, took Grace to find the compass, and obtained the holy spear, Act Three would be considered over.
The compass was also the key item to rewriting Erylin's bullshit setting of "only growing stronger by losing her loved ones."
They only needed to get the compass...
But now, Erylin had inexplicably suffered a backlash from the Ice of Aret within her.
This was a plot point that was only supposed to happen after she came into contact with the holy spear!
More importantly, he had no idea whether the compass could actually help Erylin break out of her current state.
Calm down, calm down...
Ain took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and gently extended his right hand.
“Fato...”
“...gvidas min.”
Forty-eight Cards of Canal materialized in the air, spinning continuously around Ain.
He had originally thought that the currently derailed plot had nothing to do with Erylin...
But now, it was glaringly obvious that this wasn't the case.
“Just like Lillian's plot in Act Two, I have to play a puzzle game again...”
Ain's gaze turned cold as he let out a long breath.
Currently, there were several points where the plot had gone haywire...
The early appearance of the church and the Pale Silver Dragon.
The rescue team, a new squad that had never appeared in the original game.
Erylin's strength growing ahead of schedule.
And the fact that the reason for Erylin's backlash did not match the settings of the original game.
Ain quickly muttered in his heart.
Everything happening right now has changed because of me.
Spirit Card (White Card)
【5】 White Dragon
Upright: Assistance, sympathy, grace and protection from a superior.
Reversed: False information, misguided goodwill.
“Ha, I knew it...”
This card was Reversed.
Ain's head felt like it was about to explode.
He had originally wanted to deduce the divination step-by-step from a macro perspective, but he never expected to be wrong on the very first step.
The plot... didn't change because of me?
Did this mean that Erylin's current condition, the inexplicably added rescue team, and everything happening now that didn't align with the original game were actually developing along the established path of fate?
Shaking his head to completely toss aside his chaotic thoughts, Ain muttered in his heart once more.
Erylin became like this because of the holy spear.
White Dragon, Reversed.
Erylin fell into her current state because of me.
White Dragon, Reversed.
The real time Erylin's backlash from Aret began was last week!
Erylin...
With a confused mindset, Ain could only try to find the answer through trial and error.
But starting from the fourth divination, the results he obtained were, without exception, all...
Spirit Card (Black Card)
【8】 Nightmare
Upright: An inescapable nightmare, a mist that cannot be cleared in a dream, the materialization of fear.
Reversed: The moment of waking up, the dissipation of fear, clearing the mist and illusions of the dream.
This meant the divination had failed.
And there was only ever one reason for a failed divination.
The mist was too thick, and the clues in his hands were far from enough to piece together the outline of the truth.
It seemed that just like Act Two, Act Three still had a lot of hidden information!
But none of this could be connected at all!
Was it because he saved Lillian? Was it because Erylin obtained Tier 4 strength ahead of schedule? Was it because he received the Blessing of the Goddess of Light...?
Ain constantly searched his memories, comparing them one by one with the current situation. Confusion and anxiety surged endlessly from his heart.
Dammit...
Dammit, dammit, dammit!
What on earth did I miss...
Why was it completely different from the plot of the original game, yet the results still showed that fate was heading in the established direction?
Could it be that in Act Three of the original game, Erylin's final state would have ended up like this even if she hadn't been harmed by the power of the holy spear?
Ain bit down on his thumb harder and harder, until a few drops of blood seeped through his fingers.
Just where did it go wrong?
When did Erylin start acting strange?
Was it her meeting with Grace last night?
She was clearly so normal this morning...
The heart in his chest spasmed violently, dragging him down into an abyss of panic and confusion.
What refused to fade was the frozen frame of Erylin's death in the original game's defeat CG.
That brutal moment of death replayed in his mind over and over like a stubborn disease, nearly crushing his sanity.
Suddenly, a pair of slender hands cupped Ain's cheeks.
Looking at the deep confusion and fear in Ain's eyes, Imeve softened her breathing. Her gaze was warm as she slowly spoke in a gentle voice.
“Hey, Ain.”
“I'm right here.”
Rate on N.U.
