Chapter 62: Starry Sky p1
Grotesquery Sequence 49, High-Risk Grotesquery, the White Witch of Silent Demise.
An S-rank bounty target of the Company, she single-handedly annihilated the 400,000 residents of Jiangcheng County. Were it not for Jiangcheng County’s remote and insignificant location, such a horrific disaster, even outside Victoria, would have been enough to trigger a Boundary collapse.
As an Origin Point, Victoria was, in a sense, quite fragile, prone to Boundary collapses.
Yet, it was also incredibly resilient. Compared to other regions, Boundary annihilations were rare, with only a few small-scale annihilations in countless years.
The Company’s apprehension towards the White Witch stemmed from the fear that she might cause a disaster of similar scale in Victoria. Even a smaller scale event would be a catastrophic tragedy.
As the bounty description stated, the White Witch appeared to be an excessively beautiful, white-haired young girl. It was hard to imagine this ghostly figure as the perpetrator of a massacre of 400,000.
Regardless, as the most prominent terrifying existence in recent times, the first High-Risk Grotesquery to completely annihilate a Sequence Grotesquery and take its place, the White Witch, no matter how harmless her appearance, was absolutely not to be underestimated.
“However… it’s merely Sequence 49 of the Grotesqueries.”
After the initial shock and confusion, Cheng Jianming quickly regained his composure, standing with his sword, exuding a sharp aura, his expression returning to its initial sword-like indifference.
“I am… not incapable of fighting it.”
Cheng Jianming’s confidence wasn’t unfounded. His reliance stemmed from the sword in his hand, a companion through countless battles, as close as any comrade.
The Sacred Tool, “Time.”
It was a three-foot long sword, with black and white colors swirling within its blade, its spectral edge untouched by any dust.
Even though this sword had slain countless beings, it carried no trace of blood, like an immortal detached from the mortal world.
“Time” had an even more prominent reputation. It was one of the four Authority-level Sacred Tools held by the Torchbearers, its Authority derived from a High-Risk Grotesquery.
Grotesquery Sequence 22, Sui of Chaos, the embodiment of Time.
Although it didn’t contain the complete Authority, Time’s power ranked among the top five of the twenty or so Authority-level Sacred Tools in Victoria, only slightly inferior to those held by the three Company directors.
Dividing time, altering day and night, the passage of years lay within a single swing of Time.
Since obtaining this Sacred Tool, Cheng Jianming had carried it with him almost constantly, treating it with the respect of a comrade, seeking the recognition of the Time Authority within the sword.
Using an Authority and possessing an Authority were two different concepts, a common understanding in the Awakened world. But in Cheng Jianming’s view, the gap between the two wasn’t insurmountable.
Over the years, Cheng Jianming had become increasingly proficient in using Time, even earning the praise of the Company directors: “Even those who possess Time might not be able to achieve this level of mastery.”
Cheng Jianming had even participated in a crusade against a High-Risk Grotesquery ranked in the thirties in the Republican era Boundary, fighting alongside Fiona and Lu Fangling.
In the end, it was Cheng Jianming who personally killed the Grotesquery, sending it into Silent Demise.
It was this battle that allowed Lu Fangling to obtain the Authority-containing Sacred Relic from the Grotesquery, which Fiona then crafted into a Sacred Tool, making Lu Fangling the nineteenth High-Order Awakened One in the Company to possess an Authority-level Sacred Tool.
This was why Cheng Jianming and Fiona were present in the Boundary where Jiangcheng County was located. They had accompanied Lu Fangling.
After slaying that Grotesquery, Cheng Jianming’s sword heart had reached its peak, giving him the courage to face the White Witch with his sword, not to flee.
The White Witch was only Sequence 49. Even against a Sequence 30 Grotesquery, Cheng Jianming would have the courage to draw his sword. Against Sequence 49, he was even more confident.
“Time Domain, Realm of Ages, activate.”
Cheng Jianming whispered, his black and white sword carving out a domain. On the ground, a black and white yin-yang fish seemed to swim and play. Under the influence of the Realm of Ages, the flow of time around them subtly shifted.
A mere Authority Domain, he possessed one as well.
Cheng Jianming slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed on Elsa, his eyes narrowing.
Both the Company and the Torchbearers knew that Elsa was special in two ways. First, she was a well-known experimental subject of Scientist.
Second…
She was the person who had the most contact with the White Witch, and they seemed to have a good relationship.
Even the codename “White Witch” was given by Elsa, her own codename being the matching “Scarlet Witch.” It was hard to believe there wasn’t some connection between them.
For various reasons, this information had been strictly suppressed by the Company. Only a small group of people in Victoria knew about it.
Initially, they suspected a connection between Elsa and the White Witch, but after examinations and the first newcomer mission, “Eliminating the White Witch’s Incubation Barrier,” they dismissed the suspicion.
Until now, her hidden identity was completely exposed to Cheng Jianming.
Although the Company’s previous examinations had failed to uncover this, the answer was now obvious: Elsa… was the White Witch’s Apostle.
Slaying the White Witch might be difficult, but if it was just killing her Apostle…
Cheng Jianming was confident.
Confident of a sure kill.
Cheng Jianming raised his sword, pointing it at the red-haired girl behind the ghostly figure, and softly uttered,
“—Fleeting Dream.”
Fleeting Dream, a lifetime condensed into a brief dream, the scale of time shrinking, turning three seconds into the blink of an eye, unstoppable.
The sword glint appeared before Elsa, aimed directly at her heart, ready to bloom another blood-red rose.
“Even a High-Risk Grotesquery of Silent Demise cannot stop the mighty force of fleeting time. All existence will eventually turn to dust under the changing tides of time.”
At the same time, the sword glint carried another ability granted by the Authority.
“—Rotten Ke.”
Rotten Ke, a dream of a game between immortals in the mountains, while the mortal world undergoes drastic changes, a fleeting moment stretched into decades of time.
A faint smile appeared on Cheng Jianming’s sharp face. Even Silent Demise… let’s see how you save your Apostle under the power of time.
As long as he could worsen Elsa’s injuries in the blink of an eye, before the White Witch could heal her, even a god couldn’t save her.
“Is that so?”
As if seeing through the meaning behind his faint smile, the ghostly girl’s grey eyes looked at Cheng Jianming with a hint of pity, as if lamenting his ignorance.
“Ahh!”
Elsa was startled by the sword glint appearing before her and quickly covered her head.
But after waiting for a while, she saw the sword glint stop about an inch in front of her, not moving any closer.
No, wait…
It wasn’t stopped, but slowed.
The originally swift sword glint was now as if in slow motion, inching towards Elsa at a speed measurable in millimeters per second.
At the same time, Cheng Jianming was horrified to find countless streaks of grey appearing in his hair. Looking down, the handsome young man had become a decrepit old man.
“What’s… going on?”
Having used Time for so long, Cheng Jianming knew this was the power of Time. But why… could the White Witch use it?
Wasn’t the White Witch a Grotesquery of the Silent Demise Path? Why could she use an Authority belonging to the Chaos Path… Wait, could it be that she hadn’t mastered the Time Authority, but…
Cheng Jianming looked at his sword.
“Strange, isn’t it? Why did Time suddenly stop obeying?” Luo Ling said faintly. “I told you, this is my Kingdom.
“Where my Authority reaches, is my Kingdom. Those within my Authority’s reach are my servants.
“Surely you didn’t think… that the Time in your hand wouldn’t be subject to my Complete Control?”
Luo Ling raised her hand. Cheng Jianming heard his Sacred Tool tremble violently, fungal threads spreading and entwining around Time. His once trusted comrade now… seemed to have betrayed him.
“Impossible! This is my Sacred Tool, my Authority!”
Years of built-up confidence crumbled at this moment. Cheng Jianming’s mind, along with Time’s trembling, became disordered, teetering on the edge of collapse.
“It’s not your Authority,” Luo Ling sneered. “It’s merely an Authority you stole.”
Possessing an Authority and using an Authority were two different concepts. It had always been this way.
The gap between the two was as vast as a chasm, difficult to cross.
Moreover… the so-called Time that Cheng Jianming used wasn’t complete, its effectiveness significantly reduced.
As for the High-Risk Grotesquery he had slain before, whether it was truly slain was debatable.
Cheng Jianming’s eyes widened, desperately gripping the struggling Time, pouring all his strength into reclaiming control, freeing it from the White Witch’s domination.
“Damn it, damn it…”
Finally, as Cheng Jianming’s inspiration neared depletion, Time finally stopped trembling, all the entwining fungal threads severed by the sword glint.
Cheng Jianming could sense that the Realm of Ages was back under his control.
But… his mind couldn’t recover, sinking even deeper, as he clearly saw more fungal threads emerging from the ground, gradually consuming and dominating his body.
With his inspiration depleted, Cheng Jianming couldn’t resist this domination. The pure white fungal threads took root in his flesh, controlling everything.
Cheng Jianming’s consciousness remained clear, but he could feel his soul and body, under this domination, gradually losing themselves, becoming a cage imprisoning his consciousness.
…He had miscalculated.
Time’s betrayal had robbed Cheng Jianming of his reason. He had given everything to reclaim his comrade, the Sacred Tool Time, to free it from the White Witch’s control.
He had succeeded.
But the price was himself.
A soft scraping sound echoed, the sound of bare feet stepping on the gravel, gradually approaching him as he knelt on the ground.
Cheng Jianming struggled to raise his head. He clearly saw the dark sky of the Purgatory Incubation Barrier inevitably receding, replaced by a crimson crescent moon.
Under the blood moon, the ghostly girl’s grey eyes held no emotion. She casually held a short sword Sacred Tool, approaching him step by step.
“Continue, struggle,” her childish voice, usually endearing, now sounded like an echo from hell, a devil’s whisper, filled with terror. “Let me see what else you can do.”
At the same time, Cheng Jianming saw the Sacred Tool in the White Witch’s hand. It was a translucent black, like the deepest ice blue, a distinctive Sacred Tool he had seen recently.
It belonged to the Luo Ling he had shattered.
Considering the relationship between Luo Ling and Elsa, and Elsa and the White Witch…
And all the other details…
Cheng Jianming seemed to realize something, his eyes widening slowly. He realized a misjudgment by the Company, a mistake that could cost them everything.
The White Witch was Luo Ling.
Luo Ling was the White Witch.
…She was a Grotesquery in human form.
A rogue element had entered the Victoria chessboard.
And she could overturn the entire game.
“I see, I see…”
Cheng Jianming murmured, quickly regaining his composure.
This was crucial information. No matter the cost, he had to relay it, to inform the Company. Otherwise… the Awakened, and even all of humanity, would face utter ruin.
He stared at Elsa, who was making faces behind Luo Ling, his expression turning sorrowful. “Traitor to humanity, you will soon learn the tragic consequences of following a Grotesquery.”
As his voice fell, a malicious aura emanated from the sword Sacred Tool in his hand. At the same time, a ritual composed of complex patterns appeared in his pupils.
“As expected, a backup plan.”
Luo Ling stopped, quietly watching Cheng Jianming.
In fact, this battle was also quite challenging for Luo Ling. She wasn’t a High-Risk Grotesquery specializing in direct combat.
Moreover, because Luo Ling suppressed the Puppet Ballad’s instinct for unlimited expansion, she was still in a larval state, like Miss Iris’s beloved sapling, incomparable to her older “sister.”
However, a complete Authority still held a certain degree of suppression over an incomplete one. Coupled with the vast inspiration gained from devouring the Boundary, Luo Ling forcefully dominated Time, causing Cheng Jianming’s two ability activations to malfunction.
Of course, Luo Ling hadn’t anticipated Cheng Jianming’s subsequent breakdown. She had expected him to abandon Time and fight her directly.
If that were the case, Luo Ling wouldn’t be able to directly use Time either. All she could do was disrupt Cheng Jianming’s use of it.
The result was the current situation.
Of course… anyone whose trusted comrade of many years suddenly betrayed them at a critical moment would likely react no better than Cheng Jianming.
Now, the reason Luo Ling hadn’t immediately used Absolute Blade to end Cheng Jianming’s life was partly because using Complete Control on a Ninth-Order Awakened One, even one with depleted inspiration, required time.
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