Witch’s Night: Chapter 20 A Flashback Ride…
Weary gasps, the sweet smell of sweat, accompanied by violent shaking and jolting. Warm liquid dripped onto her cheek, carrying a pungent, foul odor.
Chris slowly opened her eyes, looking blankly at the scene before her.
A few bright stars dotted the dim yellow sky, hanging above, as if eternally watching over this land.
She was gently wrapped in a warm, soft embrace, and a rapid heartbeat echoed in her ears.
Thump, thump…
So real.
Where was this? Why couldn’t she remember anything…
Mom, where was Mom…
Tears welled up in Chris’s eyes, and childish cries followed.
“Alright, alright, don’t cry, I’ll take you out soon.”
A gentle voice sounded. Despite its heavy weariness, it was like a warm spring flowing through Chris’s heart.
Was this… Sister Qingling’s voice?
Wait… she knew where this was…
Chris struggled to turn her head and saw a pair of gentle eyes gazing at her, filled with pity and wonder.
“Wake up, wake up… why did you suddenly faint?”
Another light and indifferent voice sounded, and the gentle eyes instantly disappeared, replaced by a pair of cold, light blue eyes.
Luo Yan held Chris, who was about the same height as her, her expression a mixture of helplessness and… something else.
The moment they stepped into the Void, Chris collapsed.
The helpless Luo Yan could only pick her up in the simplest way, in what was commonly called a princess carry.
Then the unconscious Chris instinctively wrapped her arms around Luo Yan’s neck, but because they were in the Void, and Luo Yan was carrying someone, she could only let Chris hold her like this.
It wasn’t until they left the Void through a spatial rift that Luo Yan freed a hand and shook the unconscious Chris.
Finally, Chris slowly woke up and met Luo Yan’s eyes.
She was so startled that she jumped out of Luo Yan’s arms, stumbling to steady herself, but slightly averted her gaze.
The shadow cast by the previous experience was quite heavy; Chris still didn’t dare to look directly into Luo Yan’s eyes.
“I… what happened to me?”
Chris was a little confused. Her memory only lasted until the moment before they entered the Void; after that, it was as if she had entered a dream.
A very familiar dream, the scene when she first met Sister Qingling many years ago, when she was only seven or eight years old…
Wait, carrying someone through the Void?
After a long moment of confusion, Chris finally came to her senses and realized that this unbelievably terrifying act had happened to her.
“Did I just have a flashback…”
Chris broke out in a cold sweat. Could this be considered a brush with death?
But it was understandable. Even the powerful Rhine, with his strong will, and Lin Cheng, had almost the same reaction when they first encountered the Void.
The reason they hadn’t fainted directly was that they had been mentally prepared, but the discomfort after leaving the Void still made them vomit for a long time.
Chris had been spared from vomiting because she had a flashback…
“Are you alright now?”
Luo Yan asked with concern, although her tone was still as indifferent as ever.
“Mm…”
After casting “Siren’s Song” on herself several times to adjust her mental state, Chris finally recovered.
She looked up and saw Luo Yan staring at her, but this time, there was no fear like before. A dreamy aura flowed in her light blue eyes.
Wait…
What appeared before Chris was no longer a black-haired young man, but a stunningly beautiful girl with long, silver-white hair.
Her ethereal beauty was beyond words. Unlike the fleeting glimpse before, Luo Yan’s silver-white hair now had a few strands of ice blue, almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
Moreover, her figure was somewhat translucent, very similar to Chris in her Shadow Guard uniform, but even more so, as if she was hovering at the edge of the present world.
“Are you now…”
Chris said blankly.
“This is what I look like when using ‘End’.”
Luo Yan nodded. When she used the power of “End” with all her might, she naturally shed the guise of her Life Hacks.
“En-en-en-en… End?”
Chris’s eyes widened. A second demonic power!
My goodness… even Lannister’s records didn’t mention this, right?
Luo Yan hadn’t revealed her identity and used “End” until the final moments of the Yan City war. At that time, the rescue teams from other mega-cities had already retreated a certain distance. They only knew that something had happened on the battlefield, but not the details.
Therefore, Lannister hadn’t recorded this aspect either, only knowing that Luo Yan could enter the Void. But being able to enter the Void didn’t necessarily mean using demonic power.
If they learned about this… Luo Yan’s danger level would probably be even higher.
“Yes,” Luo Yan nodded. “Don’t mind it, I’m not very proficient in using it, I can’t use it as freely as ‘Envy’.”
Actually, Luo Yan also had a third demonic power, “Absolute Death,” but she used it even less, because its only function so far was to cause instant death.
“Miss Luo Yan, being able to… stay conscious like this while mastering two demonic powers is already remarkable.” Chris twitched the corner of her mouth.
Forget it, Miss Luo Yan was already outrageous; being a bit more outrageous didn’t matter.
Thinking of this, Chris composed herself and focused on observing the surrounding environment.
Although this Void Traversal was relatively short, and the distance wasn’t far, and Luo Yan’s deviation was relatively small, there was still some deviation.
Spencer Manor was located in the core district of Lannister, but Luo Yan and Chris were now surrounded by refugees in ragged clothes and with sickly complexions.
“This should be… the Lower District, about seven or eight districts away from the core area.”
Chris exhaled. The surrounding air was filled with a foul odor, but unlike most noble ladies, she didn’t show any discomfort.
“Lower District?” Luo Yan tilted her head, puzzled.
“The place where Lannister accepts refugees. It’s not covered by the energy of the ‘Ember Formation,’ and most of the resources it receives are discarded garbage from other districts. But… at least it allows these refugees, who should have perished in the Endless Wasteland, to survive.”
Chris said in a low voice, an unreadable glimmer flickering in her eyes.
Lannister’s Lower District was somewhat similar to District Nine in Yan City.
But the difference was that Yan City’s District Nine was the result of a planning error during the city’s construction, while Lannister deliberately built such a district to accommodate refugees.
As long as they passed the Calamity test, confirming that they didn’t pose a risk of triggering a Calamity outbreak, they could enter Lannister’s Lower District.
However, they had to wear a specially issued refugee permit… But this wasn’t really necessary; the characteristics of a refugee were obvious and could be recognized at a glance.
Unless they were like Anna, but Anna had already reached a certain level and couldn’t be considered a refugee anymore.
Because the Lower District basically had no public security or sanitation management, the smell of decay and a faint smell of blood permeated the air, and everything in sight was a mess.
Although the refugees on the road were thin and haggard, their eyes held a fierce glint; they didn’t look like good people.
Wherever there were people, there would be conflict, but usually these conflicts were limited by certain rules, either self-restrained by morality or suppressed by the law hanging overhead.
But the Lower District didn’t need these. Here, pure strength was the most powerful truth.
However…
“There seems to be no trace of Devil’s Minions anymore?”
Luo Yan withdrew “End” and used the power of “Envy” again, enveloping herself and Chris in a barrier of cognitive distortion.
When they first emerged from the Void, they attracted many curious gazes, but then these gazes, upon touching Luo Yan’s face, turned into pure malice.
To avoid trouble, using Life Hacks was the most convenient method.
Soon, these gazes were replaced by confusion and incomprehension, and finally, they all turned away.
“The Church of the End Gods… They wouldn’t come to this kind of place.” Chris said in a low voice.
“Why?” Luo Yan asked.
“Because… they’re not worthy, I guess.” Chris chuckled mockingly. “They want to destroy human civilization, and the Lower District… and the refugees, have already been abandoned by human civilization.”
Without the mega-cities, organized one after another through civilization, only refugees struggling to survive in the Endless Wasteland would remain. Then, although the human species wouldn’t be extinct, civilization would be.
“I will disappear, but ‘Hope’ (true name) will live forever.”
“Civilization may be destroyed, eras may be annihilated, but this world… will never give up its struggle.”
Luo Yan looked up at the dazzling starry sky faintly visible in the dim sky.
She thought of Her, and the words She had spoken.
The Church of the End Gods… it seemed they weren’t just a simple cult; they could actually contact their Gods, the Malice of All Worlds, the Primordial Demons.
“What?”
Chris was still observing the surrounding environment and vaguely heard Luo Yan muttering something.
Although she couldn’t hear clearly, she still couldn’t help but shudder.
“Nothing, just thinking about something the ‘Witch of Envy’ said. Perhaps I understand what She meant now.”
“Don’t scare me, sis,” Chris broke out in a cold sweat. “Seriously, stop it, if you understand any further, I’ll be finished too.”
She truly believed Luo Yan’s words, but it was precisely because she believed that she felt so terrified.
“Don’t worry, I know my limits, and I don’t think Her path is the right one.” Luo Yan nodded. “Anyway, let’s find Magistrate Norian and regroup first… Should we do another Void Traversal?”
“…Please, no.”
Another trip, and it might not just be a flashback…
“Oh.”
Luo Yan’s tone was somewhat disappointed. She still wanted to try Void Traversal more, otherwise she would always make mistakes.
But since Miss Chris didn’t seem to like being in the Void, she could only give up.
However, what Luo Yan didn’t notice was that, when she silently recited the words of the “Witch of Envy,” the dazzling starry sky above dimmed slightly for a moment.
……
All the followers of the Church of the End Gods looked up at the starry sky at this moment, each recalling the truth they had witnessed behind the stars.
A familiar feeling emerged in the minds of all the followers, including Bishop Hamid Surian.
“This is… an oracle from the Gods!” Hamid stared at the sky, his voice trembling. “Are They… about to return?”
This feeling… Yes, it was almost exactly the same as when he witnessed the truth.
In the current Church of the End Gods, only Hamid had truly come into contact with the Gods and learned the truth from them. The images other followers saw were relayed by him.
Therefore, Hamid’s feelings were even more profound.
“It’s time to welcome the Gods.”
Hamid sighed softly and gradually withdrew from his demonic avatar state.
His appearance visibly aged, his gray hair seemed even messier than before. Using the power of a demonic avatar, even a Devil’s Apostle couldn’t avoid paying the price.
Hamid hadn’t used his demonic avatar to deal with Granny Zoya.
To put it arrogantly, Granny Zoya wasn’t worthy of Hamid showing this form. Back then, she was the straggler among the Saint candidates of the same period, while Hamid had always been in the top three.
Until a certain someone, who had come in through the back door, rose to prominence, Hamid had been one of the most promising contenders for the next Saint “Shadow.”
The reason for such a big fuss was that Hamid wanted to use this to sense the presence of “Miss Luo Yan.” This was why he had been absent-minded during this battle.
But until the end… it still ended in failure.
Even the avatar of the “Sovereign of Terror” couldn’t sense or summon her, and the faint divine words Hamid sent out with all his might didn’t receive any response.
But this was to be expected. Even the Witch of Envy had to pay the price of her consciousness dissipating to barely manage to use divine words to awaken Luo Yan’s divinity, and she ultimately failed.
With Hamid’s half-baked demonic avatar, and his even more half-baked divine words, it would be a miracle if he received a response from Luo Yan.
However, the current result wasn’t unacceptable. Luo Yan had appeared, and clearly brought the oracle of the Gods.
Seeing that Hamid was about to leave, Granny Zoya was startled and immediately used her own soul node to expand her spiritual domain, trying to pull Hamid in and delay him for a while longer.
However, when Granny Zoya touched Hamid’s soul, her ability suddenly stalled and she couldn’t use it anymore.
“How could this be…”
It was a broken soul, pieced together from many fragmented thoughts, forcibly squeezed together.
As if someone had clumsily tried to mold the shape of a living being, but could only create a distorted, monstrous thing.
This was… Hamid’s soul.
It was the only part of his soul that remained after he encountered the truth.
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