Chapter 542 Prologue: The North Wind Witch
The cold wind lashed the sea surface, the sound of the waves playing a frozen, hard melody between the castle’s sea alleys, a wisp of falling snow landed on the ground, dispersed by the whistling north wind.
In the deep night, the cold wind mixed with shattered snowflakes, whistling against the windows, condensing into crystalline frost on the transparent glass, only to be melted by the air heated by the indoor fire crystal, forming a hazy water mist.
The soft light of the crystal lamp refracted a crystal sheen through the mist. On the exquisitely carved Heraso elven elm desk, a heavy book lay open. The snow-white pages seemed to be recently published, with lines of delicate Common written on them, as if they were a young girl’s notes.
“In legends, in the extreme north’s severe cold, a terrifying evil is born—she condensed a pale robe with cold and deathly stillness, and turned the night into a scythe-staff that reaps life. Even the most ancient and evil demons would transform into gray crows on her shoulders…”
Delicate fingertips slightly turned the pages. In the hazy light and shadow, blue and pink hair fell onto her fair, fragrant shoulders, smoothly cascading into the soft lace trim of her nightgown. What was illuminated was the slender figure of a young girl.
Here, she no longer needed to conceal herself beneath a heavy exterior.
The slender and melodious voice of the young girl played subtly with the turning of the pages:
“…The northern witch will bring death and misfortune. The traces of frost wind, with her steps, devour every village along the way. Every time a storm passes, frost-white cold freezes the earth, and the cold evil strips away every molecule of heat and life…”
“Warriors who were sent to slay the witch entered the village after disaster had left it devoid of life, but they glimpsed the evil witch in her pale long dress standing on the frost that had taken countless lives, and gray crows devouring innocent lives…”
“Some sages speculate that this is a ritual of the witch sacrificing to an evil god, but more people believe that this is the northern witch’s attempt to strip the earth of its life and become a ruling evil god of the world…”
The pleasant girl’s voice narrated melodiously, but here it abruptly stopped, as if her delicate brows furrowed.
“Creak.”
The whistling northern wind beat against the castle windows, and suddenly, the tightly shut door of the room was gently pushed open.
The girl’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, but she didn’t react much. She knew that apart from herself, no one else could open this room.
“Tap, tap.”
The small patent leather shoes with their slightly high heels made a crisp sound on the solid wood floor. The purple-haired girl in a maid’s outfit, carrying a plate of warm black tea, handed it to the girl.
“Miss, are you reading… this, is it the North Wind Witch you copied the other day?”
“After all… I have nothing else to do right now, don’t I.”
The pink-haired girl picked up the black tea and took a gentle sip, then tilted her small face and stuck out her tongue playfully.
A hint of sadness flashed in the eyes of the black and white long-dress maid, but it was quickly concealed by a smile that appeared: “It looks like, Miss, you are very interested in the North Wind Witch…”
“Of course, even those old men in the Chief Council are afraid of her… afraid that a true demon god will appear and wipe them all out. Pfft, even though this witch hasn’t gone to the ‘Eight Great Cities’ for so many years, they’re still so scared…”
Tilting her snow-white little face, the pink-haired girl seemed to recall something else, pouting her tender lips: “But speaking of which, this North Wind Witch only appeared twenty years ago. Listening to her legends, it sounds like she’s an ancient monster from thousands of years ago.”
“That was before you were even born, Miss.”
The maid couldn’t help but smile. She gently stroked the girl’s hair, which was as soft and smooth as silk, and a hint of sadness appeared in her eyes:
“But as Miss said, they are afraid… That was twenty years ago, and the Carol League not only had the Eight Great Cities, but the most powerful Winterfall City State, because of ‘her’ appearance, was reduced to ruins of disaster.”
“Even now, the ‘frost cold’ that shrouds it is becoming denser, and even the most powerful Council Knights find it difficult to approach the core of that ruined land… Even though the North Wind Witch does not kill much now, who can guarantee that this is just the silence before the storm?”
“The silence before the storm…”
The pink-haired girl repeated.
She stood up and walked to the high window. The glass of the high window was covered in mist, reflecting her slender and beautiful figure. The girl’s eyes gazed for a moment, and her slender, fair hands reached out to wipe away the mist on the glass, revealing a scene of wind and snow under the clear sky.
“It’s snowing so heavily today… Is it, is that North Wind Witch here again?”
—
A blizzard of ice had passed through the night, and the once vibrant village had once again turned into a desolate scene. Frost-sealed ice shards devoured the village’s fields and paths, coating the frost and snow with their intended colors.
Even though the wind and snow had long since dissipated, the severe cold that ordinary people could not withstand, and the chaotic and strange demonic power condensed in the surrounding frost, symbolized the footprints of the North Wind Witch’s previous arrival.
A fully equipped combat team advanced towards the center covered in frost. They wore black robes and a metal crest with a flame star cross—this was the mark that they were witch hunters.
Suddenly, a swordsman in the team squatted down. The face revealed from the edge of his cloak did not seem old, appearing to be just a young man. His hand, covered by thick fur armor, reached into the ground.
The frost cold brought by the witch, after the storm, was not enough to withstand the magic of a platinum-ranked individual. What the young man’s hand picked up was a shattered bone.
“This should be the remains of a villager who didn’t have time to escape… In just a few hours, they were devoured down to just bones.”
A middle-aged voice spoke. A mage in a similar black robe approached the young man from behind and said, “Although the North Wind Witch’s figure always appears before each disaster, there are always a few people who can’t escape in time.”
The mage said to the young swordsman, “However… Azer, a disaster of this frost might be unbearable even for the most elite Council Knights. For over a decade, wherever the North Wind Witch has been, no life has survived.”
“Yes, I know.”
The young man named Azer raised his face. His eyes were a crystal clear blue, like frost and snow, and he replied.
“That’s good then.”
The middle-aged mage put his mind at ease. He was worried that this young swordsman, known for his genius, would act impulsively due to his passionate spirit.
The mage turned around and instructed the young man, “Azer, Lord Hoburn sent us to this frozen village to investigate the whereabouts of the North Wind Witch… Perhaps, there are still remnants of her frost calamity, and even the witch herself might linger here. Be careful.”
The disaster of frost calamity… are the claws created by the North Wind Witch. Every time a disaster passes, on the frost-sealed land, avatars of disaster condensed from extreme cold are born, turning the place of disaster into a forbidden zone for life.
Swordsman Azer melted the hard ice shards with his sword, muttering in his heart.
“Witch Hunters,” aside from completely eliminating the North Wind Witch, also bear the responsibility of clearing the frost calamity avatars… He thought of his hometown, devoured by the storm of frost calamity when he was young, in the falling frost, until he was discovered by the Count who arrived.
The frost calamity devours the world’s vitality. This is a very common plot in this land. The only special thing is that he, with good luck, was adopted by the Count and met that young master…
Azer himself was aware that he had once glimpsed the pale witch with ice-blue hair and frost-blue eyes.
And, in the eyes of the witch who brought disaster, there was boundless calm, like a white frost plain… and, that hint of faint sadness.
Why would a witch who brings disaster have sadness in her eyes?
Therefore, Azer never dared to tell anyone what he had seen, even though he himself thought it was more like a dream.
He tightened his grip on the sword.
Azer turned down an alleyway, and in front of him was still a vast expanse of frost mist. Even with the protective magic, it made him feel a bone-chilling cold. There were no traces of life around, as if they had all been wiped out by that frost cold.
Even the frost calamity avatars seemed to have turned into a vast ice fog…
Azer suddenly thought… the frost calamity avatars were born in the footsteps of the North Wind Witch. Whenever her steps fell, she would bring disaster to the land, but why would her reflection return to those lands corroded by frost?
In the dense ice frost, there was still the demonic power of disaster, which not only eroded Azer’s magic but also greatly affected his vision. It was only when he got closer that he discovered a tall, slender figure standing at the end of the frost.
“Is this shadow a young girl… Wait, this is the frost domain of disaster, how could there be a living person!”
Azer’s pupils contracted, and he suddenly drew his sword. On the other side, the frost mist dissipated in the space. Under the pale robe, the witch with ice-blue long hair slightly lowered her head, and gray crows perched on her shoulders.
“The North Wind Witch—Cassleite!”
The voice echoed in the mist of frost. The witch of disaster slightly raised her head. In her frost-colored eyes, the action of the young swordsman suddenly drawing his sword was reflected. A torrent of golden light melted into the frost.
…
The extreme northern cold wind passed through the vast ocean and melted into a gentle sea breeze that softly brushed against the hotel window.
The soft moonlight cast slender shadows. The candlelight in the hotel flickered. A faint light fell on the girl’s exposed, youthful little face. The girl slightly widened her golden eyes, looking at the black-haired young man sitting by the bed, telling her a story.
“An ancient knight, unable to bear his people being swallowed by the frost, found his warhorse, donned his long-unused armor, picked up his dragon-slaying spear, and came before the storm. Then, the traces of frost and snow engulfed the entire world…”
Iget gently closed the book in his hand and looked at the girl nestled beside him. A gentle smile spread across his lips:
“The story of ‘The North Wind Witch’ doesn’t seem to have a perfect ending… Young Lady, how about I change the story?”
