Witch’s Night: Chapter 28 The Starry Sky Within Reach
Contrary to Luo Yan’s expectations, Hamid didn’t experience any discomfort after entering the Void.
Or rather, this discomfort was within his acceptable range.
Hamid extended his wrinkled, broad hand, gently patted his clothes, and carefully smoothed out the wrinkles.
Then he turned around and made a prayer gesture towards Luo Yan with a pious expression.
“I am not your God of Hope.”
Luo Yan frowned slightly, while also sizing up Hamid.
From his appearance, this Bishop named “Hamid” wasn’t conspicuous, just like any ordinary commoner.
Whether it was his temperament or aura, he was quite unremarkable, an ordinary existence that Luo Yan wouldn’t even glance at twice if she encountered him on the street.
But… his composure in the Void wasn’t something an ordinary commoner could achieve.
Luo Yan suddenly felt that she had miscalculated. Besides her, could there be other humans immune to the Void?
Or rather… was this a talent?
Hamid didn’t know about Luo Yan’s random thoughts; he just smiled faintly and said in a low voice,
“Of course I know, you are not the God of Hope.”
“…Then you?”
Luo Yan became slightly wary. Although the old man in front of her had been respectful, she didn’t know what he was actually thinking.
“You have seen the God of Hope with your own eyes, haven’t you?”
Hamid looked up, his steady gaze filled with unconcealable fervor. “I sense the purest aura of the God of Hope on you… Ah, it’s the power She left behind.”
He seemed to half-close his eyes, sniffing intoxicatedly, a subtle smile playing on his lips.
“…I have.”
Luo Yan couldn’t help but take a few steps back. Hamid’s current appearance was a bit creepy…
Why hadn’t Cecilia mentioned this before?
However, Luo Yan had indeed seen the Witch of Envy, but at the same time, she had also defeated the Witch of Envy… Whatever this old man was planning, now that the Witch of Envy was gone, it couldn’t be realized.
“Oh, I apologize for my rudeness. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken with a young lady, I’ve overstepped.”
Hamid realized his behavior and quickly apologized.
He looked at the scenery of the Void around him, recalled the truth beyond the starry sky, and murmured,
“However, Miss Luo Yan, if you intend to let me witness the truth again, you didn’t have to bring me into the Void in this way. I am willing to see it again, even if it’s filled with pain.”
“What truth?”
Luo Yan blinked, confused.
“…Ah?” Hamid was stunned. “You brought me to the Void, not to let me witness the truth again and bestow upon us the oracle from the God of Hope?”
“What, what oracle?”
Luo Yan was completely bewildered. Had the Witch of Envy left an oracle?
If it was just words She had spoken… Luo Yan remembered, the Witch of Envy had said quite a bit.
If that could be considered an oracle, Luo Yan would have to organize it and write a short essay.
Hamid was momentarily speechless. He hadn’t thought that Luo Yan intended to harm him or anything.
Because humans who had seen the Gods and witnessed the truth would become fellow travelers of the Church of the End Gods, striving to destroy civilization.
“I brought you in here just to talk to you about Cecilia.” Luo Yan said, spreading her hands. “Unfortunately, I can’t beat you outside, and I didn’t expect that I can’t beat you in the Void either, so we can only have a normal chat like this.”
Luo Yan wasn’t stupid. The other party clearly wasn’t affected by the Void, so how could she be foolish enough to directly attack?
It was better to be cautious when caution was warranted…
“…Unexpectedly, compared to the oracle concerning the survival of the world, you are more concerned about an insignificant God’s Chosen.”
Hamid’s expression gradually calmed down. “Can I interpret this as your unique benevolence?”
“How absurd… If the God of Hope you’re referring to is the Witch of Envy, then yes, I’ve seen Her, but She’s dead.”
Luo Yan said indifferently, but at the same time, she was wary of a possible counterattack from Hamid.
Stating directly to a Bishop that his God was dead did carry such a risk.
However, this was the Void, her home turf.
Even if Hamid could stay in the Void, he definitely couldn’t move around as freely as Luo Yan.
Only here did Luo Yan have the confidence to speak frankly with Hamid.
“Miss Luo Yan, even if you are a messenger returning from the Gods, you absolutely cannot make this kind of joke.”
Sure enough, Hamid’s expression instantly darkened, but he didn’t attack. Instead, he continued in a low voice,
“The Gods will not perish, they exist eternally in the world.”
“Think what you want, anyway, my feeling tells me She’s dead.”
Luo Yan spread her hands. She didn’t intend to continue arguing with Hamid on this issue.
“…I only ask for an oracle, Miss Luo Yan.”
Hamid’s tone was no longer friendly, but he was still restraining himself.
“The Gods told you the truth, didn’t it move you even a little? Don’t you think humanity is straying further and further down the wrong path?
“If this continues, the enemy of the Gods will descend, and the entire world might cease to exist…”
Luo Yan crossed her arms and said, “I don’t think so.”
“…?”
Hamid finally showed a bewildered expression. He was certain that Luo Yan had seen the truth, but why… did she refuse?
Even a natural-born villain, after witnessing that truth beyond human comprehension, would become the most loyal follower of the Church of the End Gods.
“As for the oracle, She did ramble on quite a bit, but I didn’t remember much.” Luo Yan shrugged. “If you really want an oracle, I can’t help you.”
Hearing this, Hamid’s expression instantly turned ugly. He couldn’t see through Luo Yan, didn’t know how much of what she said was true and how much was false.
The Lord’s language was obscure and difficult to understand. Even though the Church of the End Gods had spent a thousand years trying, they could only discern a few usable words from those strange syllables, which, after some modification, became the Church’s unique “divine language.”
This counterfeit divine language was naturally nothing compared to the Lord’s true language, but it had already surpassed all languages humanity possessed so far.
Even some of the words derived from the true divine language carried the power of word spirits, and uttering them would trigger phenomena.
Under these circumstances… rambling? Even if the Gods possessed human emotions, how could their complex and fragmented divine language be easily understood by humans?
Even attempting to understand it was dangerous.
But Luo Yan’s expression and actions told Hamid that she wasn’t lying.
What was her identity?
“I can tell you everything about Cecilia, but we only want the oracle, Miss Luo Yan.”
Hamid took a deep breath. He knew that at this time, he could only follow her lead.
“Even just a few words from the Gods are a valuable treasure to us, and I am willing to pay any price for it.”
“Just for… a few words?”
The corners of Luo Yan’s mouth curled up slightly, then she smoothed her expression and said softly, “If this is a transaction, I have no objections.”
“You can consider it a transaction, but for us, putting an oracle from the Gods on the scales of a transaction is an insult in itself.”
Hamid said in a deep voice, “But since things have come to this, I believe the Gods will forgive our crude and offensive behavior.”
“She… heh, probably doesn’t care at all.”
Luo Yan shrugged. As the only “living being” who had truly faced the Witch of Envy, she was indeed qualified to say this.
“Even if the Gods don’t care, it’s not a reason for us to insult Them.” Hamid said in a deep voice, then paused, his tone becoming slightly awkward. “If possible, Miss Luo Yan, let’s… change the location and talk somewhere else.”
“Hmm?”
Luo Yan looked at Hamid again, and only then did she notice that faint beads of blood were seeping from his orifices.
This was the Void, the absolute forbidden zone for living beings. Even if Hamid had experience visiting the Void, he couldn’t sustain activity within it.
At most, relying on his “Destruction” level and experience with the Void, he could last longer than others; that was Hamid’s limit.
Someone like Luo Yan, who could move around freely in the Void as easily as eating and drinking, apart from the Gods, there was probably no other existence in the world who could do the same.
“That puts my mind at ease. I thought you weren’t afraid of the Void environment at all.”
Luo Yan breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.
Hamid: “…”
Normal living beings were afraid, right… But you…
Hamid also couldn’t understand why Luo Yan could stay in the Void for so long. Although he could sense the aura of the “God of the Future” (i.e., the Witch of End) on her, she was… still a living being.
However, this question wasn’t important right now. There were many mysterious phenomena in this world that even he, at several hundred years old, hadn’t seen before, so it wasn’t surprising.
After this exchange, which couldn’t really be considered friendly, Luo Yan and Hamid temporarily reached a consensus.
Knowing that Hamid couldn’t stay in the Void for long, Luo Yan felt more confident. And since the other party did have an incomprehensible yearning for the oracle, she didn’t have to worry about Hamid causing any more trouble.
Anyway, if you cause trouble, I’ll just escape into the Void, what can you do to me?
Hamid buried his doubts deep in his heart and followed Luo Yan’s steps, enduring the discomfort until Luo Yan found the corresponding node and tore space to return to the present world.
But after taking a step out, he froze, and then an unconcealable fear washed over him.
This… where was this?
Hamid looked around, a sense of emptiness enveloping him. This was a familiar feeling etched deep within his heart, yet he didn’t dare to touch it.
Looking up, twinkling lights seemed to be right in front of him, the starry sky within reach.
This was the starry sky! The starry sky just one step away from the truth!
Why did Luo Yan bring him here? Was there some deeper meaning?
Hamid suddenly remembered what he had just said. He had only asked to change the location to talk, and Luo Yan hadn’t objected. Was this the reason?
Did she intend to tell him the oracle of the Gods in front of the easily broken truth?
Hamid tremblingly turned to look at Luo Yan, but saw a bewildered expression on the beautiful girl’s indifferent face, then she touched her chin and said,
“The corresponding location is correct, but the altitude is wrong… Sorry, Hamid, I got lost.”
“…”
Hamid still couldn’t be sure whether Luo Yan was telling the truth or not.
However, he didn’t have time to worry about this. The momentary stupor from leaving the Void passed, and the two began to fall from the sky.
……
Meanwhile, in Lannister.
Without Hamid’s leadership, the Calamities caused by the followers of the Church of the End Gods were also being extinguished one by one, and the seemingly endless stream of Calamities finally came to an end.
In just half a day, Lannister had suffered no less than ten “Ruin” level Calamities, countless “Calamity” level Calamities, and a “Peril” level Calamity in Restricted Zone Seven (both Hamid and Zoya were deliberately controlling themselves), the losses immeasurable.
Any other mega-city, even Noah, would struggle to withstand such a heavy blow.
But the disaster wasn’t over yet. The greatest threat, Bishop Hamid of the Church of the End Gods, was still missing, and Granny Zoya, Lannister’s only “Destruction” level ability user, was seriously injured and still undergoing treatment.
Tina, the Shadow Guard lurking in Lannister, who was also Chris’s mother, had been secretly assisting the various ability user squads in eliminating the Calamities. While the Lannister command was worried about the situation, she was actually quite relieved.
“Little Tina~ I’ll be there soon, remember to wash up and wait for me~”
Shadow’s playful voice suddenly sounded in Tina’s ear, carrying her usual teasing and banter.
“Saint Shadow, please show some respect to a married woman, and besides, I have a daughter.”
Although hearing this voice put Tina’s mind at ease, she still said with a straight face.
She had just called her Auntie Tina, and now it was Little Tina… Saint Shadow really was… childlike?
“However, Saint Shadow, your shadow avatar only has thirty percent of your strength, isn’t it too much of a stretch to deal with Hamid?”
Tina frowned slightly. “I’ve seen Granny Zoya’s condition. Even with all her strength, she’s no match for Hamid, he didn’t even take her seriously.”
“That’s what stragglers are like, I don’t take her seriously either.” Shadow agreed.
“…Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to talk about a pillar of humanity like this behind her back?”
Tina had heard a lot of gossip about important figures from Saint Shadow, making it difficult for her to look at these once revered pillars with the same respect.
“I say the same thing to old woman Zoya’s face. Who told her to always mock me for getting in through the back door back then?” Shadow said indifferently.
“Anyway, she can’t beat me—neither can Hamid. Don’t worry, he lost to me back then, and he’ll still lose to me now. Once my defeated opponent, always my defeated opponent.”
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