Chapter 81: Aster In Midsummer
Dense clusters of White Bees swarm in the air, shifting and changing, the buzzing emitted by the swarm resounding like vibrating iron sheets, a dense crisp sound.
These White Bees form a shape resembling a palm, charging into the Temple Ruins, searching for possible living creatures. When Xilutiya sees them from afar, she quickly runs, preparing to leave this Temple Ruins.
But at this moment, not only behind her, but even ahead, there are swarms of Bees swimming about, just not on as large a scale as those behind.
Numerous swarms of Bees fly up from the Forest around the Temple, enveloping the entire Temple, forcing Xilutiya, who senses something is wrong, to retreat step by step back to the central Fountain.
This is bad, the Maiden thinks to herself.
Her current Sword Technique has little lethality against these swarms of Bees. The only thing that can probably harm these White Bees is the【 Weird Black Cat】
Without giving Xilutiya much time to think, the Bee wings vibrate, like a signal for an offensive charge. These jade-like Bees rush down like bombers, scraping off layers from the stone pillars and stone walls along the way, turning them into fine stone powder.
Facing the swarm about to engulf her, a light flashes in Xilutiya’s Eyes, and at the same time, the black Card on her soul Fate Plate also shines.
Pitch-black light overflows, countless Twisted strands rise from the Card, and the stationary Black Cat steps out from the Card once more, its lemon-yellow Eyes glaring in anger as it arches its back, fur bristling, letting out a cry.
“Hiss-ha——”
The Black Cat materializes from void to reality, blocking in front of the swarm, swallowed by these White Bees, turning into pervasive Twisted black mist. This Twisted black mist spreads like an Abyss, in turn devouring the attacking withered White Bees.
The black mist and white mist intertwine and slaughter each other. Countless jade-like Bees fall from the air, struggling on the ground, stained with black spots, their bodies undergoing unnatural mutations, then dying.
Although large numbers of withered White Bees die, the black mist in the air is also continuously consumed and diminished. Xilutiya is unsure if that Weird Black Cat can completely kill the swarm before her. She looks around, and finally can only choose the Pool behind her, jumping into it.
Ice-cold Clear Water instantly soaks her entire body. The Pool, which seems not deep, has a bottom like a bottomless Abyss below, making her sink continuously, while the light above the Pool grows ever more distant.
Xilutiya does not remember learning to swim. It seems she has no Experience in this life either, but in the Water, she does not feel uncomfortable. Instead, she feels increasingly clear-headed, and this clarity has a tendency to go overboard.
It is as if she lays out everything about herself completely. All thoughts and ideas are clear and distinct at this moment, countless Memories surfacing simultaneously. At this time, she can even recall the names of her kindergarten Classmates, the lunch she ate back then, the scene of the Teacher leading them in Games, and the taste and texture when she first ate Ice Cream that afternoon.
Everything that was once blurry becomes completely clear at this moment, and continuously spreads forward, tracing back past Cognition.
Is this the Power of ‘Brilliant Moon’? The ‘Brilliant Moon’ Nature in the pure Water gathers around her as the center, enveloping her entire body in a faint glow, especially her silver-snow long hair, which flows like Moonlight in the Water.
As if some switch suddenly turns on, her consciousness instantly Enters Dreams, fully awake as she steps into the Dream Realm.
……
……
“Tiya~”
“Xilutiya.”
“Miss Xilutiya.”
She abruptly opens her eyes and finds herself standing in a Sea of Flowers, with a bright Sunny sun overhead, a blue Sky, pure and magnificent like a Gemstone. This ‘clean’ ‘pure’ feeling in contrast makes her feel as if her previous life in Jiaoshi City was like living in a world polluted by coal ash.
Where is this? She is just thinking about this question when the Answer automatically comes from her mouth.
“This is Mother’s Garden.” She looks around and sees clusters of purple chrysanthemums blooming among the lush green Grassland blades.
The hue of these flowers is like that pure azure-purple at the edge of the sky at dusk; their name is ‘Purple Aster’.
Layers upon layers of Purple Aster flowers bloom under the bright blue Sky, swaying in the wind, their fragrance lulling her childhood self to peaceful naps and protecting the frail her in the Flower Bush.
Following the vague impression in her Memory, she lifts her small skirt and runs through the Sea of Flowers. Sunny weather makes it hard for her at that time to see distant Things clearly.
Her footsteps cross the green Grassland, stepping onto clean white marble Stone Slabs. She finds the path in the Sea of Flowers, and ahead stands a white round pavilion amid the flowers, with a serene figure sitting in the pavilion, back turned to her.
She runs forgetfully, and along the way, maids in black-and-white Uniforms bend down, forming a railing of black-and-white Uniforms to prevent this little Princess from falling.
She calls out to Mother, then spreads her arms, eagerly running toward that figure until she finally runs into the pavilion, hugging that warm back with both hands.
“What’s wrong, little Tiya~” Mother’s gentle and serene voice comes, she wears an elegant Long Skirt with white as the base and deep purple as accent, her countenance emerging in the hazy glow.
The same silver-snow long hair, the same dreamlike flawless features, but the other has a dignified and steady Temperament that Xilutiya does not yet possess.
“I…” Xilutiya cannot hear what she said at the time; it was probably something unimportant.
Mother gently strokes her hair, then holds her in her arms.
“Being bullied by Ilyxia again? Aren’t you best Friends?” She smiles and soothes the Xilutiya of that time.
“But I can’t beat her.” This sentence leaves a deep impression.
“Why fight? It’s not elegant for girls to fight~” Mother smiles and lightly pinches Xilutiya’s cheek.
“But, you have Power that Ilyxia doesn’t.”
“Look~”
With that, Mother’s wrist in the snow-white cuff turns lightly, a silver Rose appears, then this Rose turns azure-purple, then into a spinning Windmill, a small rattle, scattering dancing butterflies, a white dove soaring into the Sky.
“The moon is the embodiment of dreams, with endless possibilities. Though not as grand as the sun, it can give you ever-changing, free Power.”
With that, she takes Xilutiya’s little hand, simply steps forward, and the two arrive at the center of the Sea of Flowers as if passing through spatial folds, where Purple Aster flowers bloom everywhere.
“Does Xilutiya like to paint?” Mother gazes up at the Sky, lightly lifting her wrist, and the Purple Aster flowers in the entire Sea of Flowers float up, countless Flower Petals rising into the Sky bit by bit.
“I like watching Mother paint.” The young Xilutiya answers thus.
“Then you must learn to paint too.” Mother turns back with a smile, and those countless Purple Aster flowers shatter in the Sky behind her, turning into strange purple, as if dyeing the entire Sky, flowing in the celestial river.
Then, Xilutiya sees an utterly shocking sight: the entire Sky becomes like a canvas, outlining lifelike Purple Aster flowers one by one.
These flowers are edged with golden lines of sunlight, filled with soft serene purple, gradually filling the view until finally, blooming golden Purple Asters cluster around the sun in the center of the canvas, forming a grand and magnificent scroll of prosperity.
Finally, this scroll covering the Sky slowly descends, continuously shrinking until it finally spreads out before Xilutiya.
【Purple Aster Midsummer】（Seventh Order·Emerald Honey·Blazing Sun·Brilliant Moon）
‘Condensing sunlight, capturing midsummer, dyeing the Sky, a miraculous grand scroll worthy of Miracle, possessing unimaginable Magic Power, enough to change the climate, shift the seasons, create Sea of Flowers and Earth’
“Have you learned it now, Xilutiya?”
Mother’s finger lightly taps the Maiden’s nose tip, awakening her from this distant Dream Realm.
