In the Name of Empress-Chapter 425 - 297: Lover’s Snow

"Ah!!!"

The bone-chilling cold nearly froze Roland on the spot.

But in the moment he lunged forward, his nearly frozen soul ceased to tremble.

He could feel that Sif was still alive.

The battle was not over.

Just as Roland was about to use his body heat to share the severe cold, he felt a dizzying whirl and was sucked into a world ravaged by extreme cold.

Watching Roland leap onto the ice sculpture, enveloped by spreading ice, becoming a new ice sculpture, Christine was dumbfounded.

But she quickly recovered.

This scene was identical to the day Roland had struggled inside the ice sculpture.

Only it had shifted from a solo to a duet.

Christine didn’t know that even that day had been a duet, but with another Sif.

She couldn’t interfere in this battle, only retreating continuously as the cold spread.

After withdrawing to a safe zone, Christine began to pray.

"Great Goddess of Light, your supreme glory baths the world, you bestow the resurrecting Holy Spring of Light upon the ignorant, your most devoted adherent prays to you, please protect the Knight of Light."

"Roland has also contributed to the Holy Spring Revival, please save him."

Christine prayed incessantly, receiving no response.

Feeling unsettled, yet she dared not feel disappointed.

Roland, after all, wasn’t a devout believer; perhaps the Goddess had her considerations.

Christine didn’t know that if the Goddess saw Roland’s misfortune, she would not only refrain from helping but would even gleefully watch.

Gods are not omnipotent.

Those ordinary gods who cannot wield laws are merely mortals living in the Divine Domain.

The Goddess of Light doesn’t command the Light Law, but can adeptly use the Power of Light.

As Christine’s prayers faltered, Roland entered the world within the ice sculpture.

In the icy and snowy landscape, golden ginkgo faced the wind, a sea of flowers as lush and vibrant as brocade, exceptionally enchanting.

Sif stood at the center of the sea of flowers, her long hair blowing in the wind, her open arms like a general, directing the entire sea of flowers to resist the encroachment of cold.

The sea of flowers was like a boat in a cold wind, swaying precariously but not sinking.

Roland quickly ran to Sif.

Exchanging glances, they read each other’s intent.

This ring indeed had issues.

It was Sofia’s trap.

The first activation would release an attack equivalent to one-tenth of Sofia’s power, but due to the extreme cold, ordinary Tier Seven wouldn’t withstand it.

Sofia must have tampered with the ring, and once recharged, the power would multiply.

This was her true deadly move.

Only those who could block the second attack would be outstanding among Tier Seven.

Seeing Sif struggling yet composed, Roland was no longer panicked.

Now it was a remote battle between Sif and Sofia, he couldn’t directly intervene.

Sif’s feet had already penetrated the earth, like the roots of a plant, deeply buried, drawing on the earth’s heavy energy.

Roland barely survived one-tenth of the power, but Sif confronted one-third of the power with poise.

This didn’t mean Sif’s strength far exceeded Roland’s.

Because this was her home field, the Flower Sea.

In her home field, her combat power could increase at least fivefold.

The sea of flowers wouldn’t wither, the ginkgo wouldn’t wilt, she’d never fall.

Golden ginkgo + blood-red sea of flowers + Sif herself, that was her ultimate strength.

Unable to help Sif directly, Roland didn’t want to stand idly by.

He thrust the scepter into the ground, providing energy to the sea of flowers.

This was also indirect support for Sif.

Feeling the warmth from Roland’s scepter inserted, Sif’s lips curved into a smile.

If she faced Sofia alone, she’d likely not withstand it today.

But she wasn’t alone.

She had broad shoulders to lean on.

Sif’s eyes sparkled with bright light, with the verdant wilderness gradually appearing in her pupils.

The chill dispersed.

Victory was at hand.

The situation was under control, but Sif remained vigilant without a shred of complacency. The closer to victory, the more likely accidents occurred.

Too many tragedies of being overtaken on the eve of victory, she didn’t wish to experience it.

Before the chill fully receded, she had to stay alert.

Sif’s brow furrowed lightly, she couldn’t feel her feet.

Just moments ago, her feet were rapidly transforming into roots, burrowing into the earth.

She knew this was the usual manipulation of ginkgo trees and the sea of flowers by the Elf Imperial Family, not panicking.

Yet, her feet burrowing into the earth was somewhat exaggerated.

Beyond the chronicles in ancient texts.

If it were only so, she wouldn’t be too flustered, but she lost her sense of her feet once again.

Those fair and jade-like feet were too perfect, perfect unlike human.

The last time she traversed territories expanding the sea of flowers, she felt somewhat strange.

Now the feeling was even stranger.

These were her feet, yet didn’t feel like her original feet.

Could it be her feet had issues, was this actually a pair of prosthetic feet?

The doubt was fleeting, she quickly sensed the sky dimming.

Heavy clouds gathered.

Sif looked up and saw a hand-sized snowflake falling.

Her face changed.

This snowflake was not only unusually large, but it also wasn’t the typical six-pointed shape.

A very rare twelve-pointed snowflake.

Normal snowflakes are six-pointed, but with the help of the wind, some snowflakes happen to collide and merge with each other, becoming a slightly imperfect twelve-pointed snowflake.

This type of snowflake has a melodious name, Lover’s Snow.

Two snowflakes collide and merge, forced to change but unable to let go, eventually forming a twelve-pointed snowflake.

Much like human love.

Full of bumps and obstacles, yet unable to let go.

In a heavy snowfall, there will always be a few Lover’s Snow, quietly merging into the snow, becoming part of the vast world.

While Lover’s Snow is rare, a standard twelve-pointed Lover’s Snow is one in a billion.

However, today’s snow is all Lover’s Snow.

Standard twelve-pointed Lover’s Snow.

This is clearly not snowfall from nature, but snow controlled by someone.

Lover’s Snow will reduce its power in the face of true love, but will cause more than double the harm to impure couples and single people.

Sif’s originally melancholic expression suddenly became radiant.

If it’s fated to end, being buried in this Lover’s Snow is quite romantic.

She turned to Roland, softly whispering, "Kiss me."

Ah?!

Roland widened his eyes. Did he hear wrong?

No matter what Sif said, even if it was to end her suffering, it would make some sense, but this "Kiss me" threw his mind into chaos.

"Five minutes left, I don’t want to leave with regrets."

Sif gently whispered, "I’m the center of this ice storm, you can leave. Actually, Miss Lisa also..."

"Shut up!"

Roland interrupted her roughly, holding her trembling body tightly.

Her body temperature was dropping.

Slowly but irreversibly.

No wonder Sif urged him to hurry, within five minutes she would freeze.

And her soul would be frozen and shattered at the same time.

Without any hesitation, he kissed her.

But he didn’t take off Sif’s clothes.

The snow was already so cold, he couldn’t bear to let her freeze more.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t do it.

Sif didn’t understand men at all, it’s too cold for some things to work.

An ice sculpture of them kissing, with smiles on their faces, would make everyone sigh.

A naked ice sculpture would become the world’s laughing stock.

At least Angelina would laugh herself out.

That scoundrel Roland threatened to turn her into a nude ice sculpture every day, and ended up having his own disgrace permanently preserved. How could she not laugh?

Roland still held a sliver of hope, what if they didn’t freeze to death and were saved? That would be a social death worse than dying.

How could he and Sif face anyone then?

Feeling Roland not taking things further, Sif felt a little regret, but she still immersed herself in Roland’s warm embrace.

At least in his arms, it wasn’t that cold, and she could hold on a little longer.

Sif inexplicably recalled the scene when she first learned Roland’s name.

The winning submission of the writing contest, "Oh my, the Empress is pregnant, who did it?"

Unfortunately, the Empress in reality would not become pregnant; she was about to freeze to death.

Sif sighed in her heart, continuing to enjoy the warmth from Roland, closing her eyes to await death.

If encountering wolves and leopards in the wild, a normal person would fight desperately. If faced with a tiger or even a T-Rex, what else can one do but pray the predator would be swift with their bite?

Upon seeing the Lover’s Snow, Sif already knew the outcome and stopped resisting.

Just quietly enjoying the last warmth of life.

This feeling is actually quite good.

It’s a pity five minutes is too short; if this warmth could have a duration, how she wished it would last a lifetime.

Feeling her body gradually cooling, a crystal-clear tear rolled down her cheek, freezing...

Wait, why didn’t it freeze?

Sif abruptly opened her eyes, looking at the sky in astonishment.

Roland lifted his head almost at the same time.

They embraced each other, exchanging warmth, breathing in each other’s scent, wanting to engrave everything about the other into their souls.

They were even envisioning the possibility of journeying together on the Nether River.

As they looked up, the snow stopped.

To be precise, the snow continued to fall, just no longer concerned with them.

Lover’s Snow whirled down, yet not a single flake landed on them.

The twelve-pointed snow destroys life but cannot shake the emotion of giving warmth to each other even in the face of death.

The snow kept falling ceaselessly.

Roland and Sif clung to each other and wept, celebrating their survival.

They didn’t notice, standing far away on the Peak of White Mountain, beside the heavy ice cliffs, was an exceptionally beautiful Ice Beauty.

Her gaze fell upon Roland and Sif, thinking something, murmuring softly.

"Interesting fellows, at least you are qualified to live until the Return Day arrives."

Watching the last snowflake fall, the Ice Beauty tapped her toe and vanished.

Arriving with the wind, departing with the snow, as if she had never appeared.