Chapter 72: Mother and Daughter
The White Witch of Silent Demise.
Fiona wasn’t unfamiliar with this hellish Grotesquery True Name.
In fact, she was intimately familiar with it.
A High-Risk Grotesquery that emerged three and a half months ago, the first in history to replace an existing Sequence Grotesquery, its predecessor being the Puppet Ballad that wreaked havoc in Jiangcheng County.
Upon its appearance, the White Witch claimed the lives of 400,000 residents of Jiangcheng County as a sacrificial offering. Its brutality led both the Order-side forces and the Harbingers to unanimously classify it as the most dangerous Grotesquery in existence.
Although the White Witch’s Sequence 49 wasn’t particularly high, its demonstrated threat level and cruel nature made it the greatest concern for the currently vulnerable Victoria.
It didn’t need to defeat all the factions or even a single Authority Sacred Tool wielder.
The White Witch’s most terrifying aspect wasn’t its combat power, but its silent infiltration and unstoppable mass slaughter.
Simply by using its domination ability, which was incredibly effective against ordinary people, the White Witch could easily destroy Victoria, the “Origin Point of Change,” and plunge humanity into an abyss.
The most reliable information regarding the Puppet Ballad and the White Witch’s abilities came from the “Baiyan Village Operation Report.” Although written by the White Witch herself, several individuals involved confirmed its authenticity.
The report stated that dominated ordinary people appeared no different from normal humans. Only the fungal threads within their flesh and blood could confirm their status as Meat Puppets.
Therefore, shortly after the White Witch disaster, the Company, in collaboration with all Order-side organizations, launched a massive hygiene campaign across Victoria.
…Although it sounded absurd, this campaign allowed the Company to collect blood and tissue samples from ordinary people, checking for fungal threads and preventing the White Witch’s infiltration.
Fiona was, of course, familiar with the White Witch. Even disregarding her position in Victoria, she had been among the first rescue teams dispatched to Jiangcheng County when the disaster struck.
To everyone’s surprise, despite the team’s swift response, they were too late. Upon arriving in Jiangcheng County, they were met with a hellish scene of blood and carnage.
Only a few dozen survivors remained in the entire county, all mentally unstable except for Elsa, hiding in remote corners of the blood-soaked city.
The more they investigated, the more terrifying the Puppet Ballad’s abilities seemed, further confirming the horrifying nature of the White Witch, who had replaced the Puppet Ballad in the Sequence.
Especially the heavy blood debt of 400,000 further amplified the Grotesquery True Name’s bloody reputation. The small, white figure was the deepest nightmare for everyone who had witnessed the destruction of Jiangcheng County.
Fiona, as a firsthand witness, was no exception. Although she was an Authority Sacred Tool wielder, having experienced countless dangers and even entered cities destroyed by the Harbingers, she had never witnessed anything as horrifying as Jiangcheng County.
Four hundred thousand people, not a single intact body… no, not even a single intact limb. Everywhere she looked, there were only fragmented flesh and blood, and rivers of putrid blood.
And now, this nightmare stood before her, tilting her head slightly, staring intently at her with a serious, cute little face.
“……”
Luo Ling raised her hand, and Fiona instinctively took a step back, fear and wariness still lingering in her eyes.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Fiona. I’m still the Luo Ling you know. From the very beginning, the White Witch is Luo Ling, and Luo Ling is the White Witch.”
Luo Ling knew Fiona would be afraid of her current form, perhaps even suspecting that the White Witch had dominated the original Luo Ling. After all, thanks to the Company’s relentless propaganda, the White Witch’s image was practically synonymous with a demon.
Even the White Witch’s picture on the Company’s wanted posters had been altered, perhaps to avoid her delicate and beautiful appearance evoking unwanted sympathy.
Even Elsa had complained about this, saying, “They turned the cute and lovely Sister White into a monster that would make children cry.”
Fiona looked at the nightmare standing before her in silence, seemingly coming to terms with the truth.
She then looked at her daughter, Linna, who had become a Grotesquery, her expression filled with complex emotions. She twitched her fingers, wanting to reach out and caress her daughter’s face, but she couldn’t.
“I… can’t accept this,” Fiona whispered, her gaze lowered.
In the end, she voiced her true feelings.
Hearing this, Linna stepped forward anxiously, but Luo Ling stopped her. Linna wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
As her master, Luo Ling had absolute control over Linna. Linna couldn’t resist her will.
Linna could only look at Luo Ling with confusion, unable to understand why she wasn’t revealing the truth.
“Aunt Fiona, don’t you… want to hear my explanation?” Luo Ling moved closer, gently cupping Fiona’s face in her hands.
Fiona’s gaze briefly rested on Luo Ling’s face. She stared at the unfamiliar face, listening to the unfamiliar voice speaking in a familiar tone, memories flashing through her mind.
The cold and indifferent yet kind-hearted black-haired girl had been a ray of light in her near-desperate life, but now she was one with the pale demon that had slaughtered countless lives, their images completely overlapping.
Had the White Witch completely dominated Miss Luo Ling, or had she always been the White Witch, everything a deception?
Either scenario was a devastating conclusion.
Fiona’s gaze shifted from the White Witch to the lifeless, armored figure standing behind her, grief and confusion flashing across her face.
Even her real daughter, Linna… had become a puppet of the demon.
Those dominated by the White Witch, although their appearance remained unchanged, were… no longer themselves.
Fiona had thought she had escaped the abyss, but she was met with even deeper despair, her heart turning to ashes.
As for the so-called explanation… anyone who had witnessed the carnage in Jiangcheng County would find it difficult to believe there were any extenuating circumstances.
But… what if?
Clinging to a sliver of hope, Fiona mustered her spirits, forcing herself to look at the White Witch calmly. “Go ahead.”
In her vision, the pale doll stared back at her, her grey eyes filled with sorrow, her delicate cuteness tinged with a pitiful fragility.
“Aunt Fiona, you seem to have… quite a few misunderstandings about me… about the White Witch. Actually, the Company is wrong. I’m not cruel, nor bloodthirsty. Everyone in Jiangcheng County… was simply… liberated.
“I just liberated them from their flesh prisons.”
Fiona remained silent for a long time, her heart truly dying, as if the scene before her was the ultimate, most despairing outcome.
Wasn’t this rhetoric just a justification for murder?
As expected, was this all… just a deception by the White Witch?
On the verge of collapse, she clung to the last straw.
Fiona turned to the lifeless Linna and whispered,
“So, Linna… has also been liberated by you?”
She would rather her daughter be like the others in Jiangcheng County, at least dying quickly, than suffering under domination.
“No.”
The pale girl tilted her head and suddenly smiled.
The vibrant smile, which should have been radiant, appeared eerie and terrifying on the pale girl’s face.
It was like a twisted smile on a delicate, lifeless doll, her terrifying eyes unwavering.
“Didn’t I just tell you, Aunt Fiona? Your daughter, Miss Linna, is now a part of the White Witch… a part of me.
“We’re best friends.”
Fiona’s heart plummeted into an icy abyss. She had reached the worst possible future.
Facing the girl’s twisted gaze, she slowly closed her eyes and whispered, “So, Miss Luo Ling… or should I say, White Witch, will I be the next ‘best friend’?”
She never thought she would end up like this, a puppet in the hands of a Grotesquery.
Seeing the uncontainable emotions on Fiona’s face, a glint of mischief flashed in Luo Ling’s eyes. “Making you treat me like Linna every day, humph…”
Linna, dominated and unable to move, was anxious, worried that Luo Ling would go too far and truly frighten her mother.
But she could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.
Just as Luo Ling was about to answer, a puzzled voice sounded from the doorway,
“What best friend?”
A small red head peeked into the room. Seeing Luo Ling awake, she ran over excitedly.
“Oh my, Sister White, you’re finally awake!” Elsa nuzzled against Luo Ling’s hair, then asked, “By the way, what best friend?”
“Uh…”
Just as Luo Ling was about to speak, she saw Fiona open her eyes, looking at Elsa with confusion.
Clearly, Luo Ling hadn’t anticipated Elsa’s sudden appearance and was caught off guard. This seemed like an uncharacteristic mistake for the all-controlling White Witch.
This meant Elsa wasn’t dominated, and their relationship seemed unchanged from their time in Victoria, even though Luo Ling’s appearance had changed.
So… what was going on between them?
Linna, seizing Luo Ling’s momentary distraction, forcibly broke free from her control and shouted, “Mother, Miss Luo Ling was just teasing you!”
Fiona immediately realized something more important. Linna also wasn’t completely dominated; she still retained her self-awareness.
Thoughts and suspicions flashed through Fiona’s mind, and she immediately acted on them.
She leaned forward abruptly, her face almost touching the doll-like pale girl’s, until she saw a flicker of panic in the girl’s indifferent eyes. A smile finally appeared on Fiona’s lips.
…As expected, even with her changed appearance, Miss Luo Ling was still the girl she knew.
Even if she was the White Witch.
“Knowing Luo Ling’s personality, her words just now… probably had a different meaning.”
With this thought, Fiona didn’t hesitate. She reached out and, as Elsa watched in stunned silence, wrapped her arms around the pale girl’s slender waist, lifting her up.
Before Luo Ling could react, she found herself enveloped in softness, warm breath tickling her ear, a gentle voice whispering,
“Weren’t you going to make me your ‘best friend’ too, White Witch?”
“Wait, Aunt Fiona…”
Luo Ling tried to struggle, but a force pushed against her back, sending her deeper into the soft embrace.
“……”
Luo Ling turned her head slightly and saw the knight’s face inches away, her eyes curved into crescents, a triumphant smile on her grotesque, fungal thread-covered face.
Linna, taking advantage of Luo Ling’s momentary panic, also embraced her. Mother and daughter sandwiched Luo Ling between them, soft embraces on both sides.
“Now, let’s begin,” Fiona said with a smile. “White Witch… Miss Luo Ling.”
Elsa was dumbfounded. She frantically tried to pry Linna and Fiona apart and rescue her Miss Luo Ling, but against two Ninth-Order Awakened Ones, what could her meager strength accomplish?
Even Elsa was almost pulled into their embrace. Together, she and Luo Ling in her White Witch form were probably smaller than either Linna or Fiona.
They were both undeniably older sisters, even taller than Luo Ling in her Naraku form.
Only after Luo Ling recovered from her panic and reasserted control over Linna did she manage to escape their terrifying embrace.
“Ugh…”
A rare blush appeared on Luo Ling’s face, her breath slightly ragged, her cheeks burning.
Elsa quickly stepped forward, protectively positioning herself in front of Luo Ling, her small face frowning as she glared at Fiona and Linna, as if declaring her ownership.
“A petite Miss Luo Ling… is also quite nice,” Fiona said, wiping a bit of moisture from the corner of her mouth, as if savoring the feeling, her smile unwavering.
Linna, looking quite pleased, stood behind her mother with a mischievous grin.
Miss Luo Ling had finally gained the upper hand, but under the combined assault of mother and daughter, she had been defeated, escaping only through her White Witch abilities.
…Actually, it was Elsa’s sudden appearance that had broken her concentration. Otherwise, she could have held out longer.
However, seeing the little girl bravely standing before her, glaring at Fiona and Linna protectively, Luo Ling couldn’t say anything, only sighing softly in regret.
She had wanted to see Aunt Fiona break down and cry in her arms. What a pity.
Luo Ling composed herself, her expression returning to its usual calmness, only a faint blush remaining on her ears.
“So, what exactly happened?”
Fiona asked seriously, her smile fading.
She still couldn’t understand why Miss Luo Ling, with her personality, would massacre the entire population of Jiangcheng County, taking 400,000 lives.
“It’s difficult to explain in simple terms. Let you experience it yourself.” Luo Ling’s white thread extended, brushing against Fiona’s cheek.
The next moment, Fiona found herself in Jiangcheng County, surrounded by crumbling walls and the residents going about their daily lives beneath them.
“This is…”
Fiona’s eyes widened slightly, shocked by Luo Ling’s ability to transmit memories so vividly that it felt like she was truly there. Was this also an ability of the White Witch?
This wasn’t just a metaphorical “being there.” Fiona could even smell the blood and dust in the air.
The next moment, an even more terrifying scene unfolded.
Fiona’s vision turned grey, like a black and white photograph, everything falling into another world. The people wandering among the ruins underwent a strange transformation.
Fiona saw fungal threads filling everyone’s flesh and blood, even though their wounds only bled normal blood.
At the same time, countless pained cries echoed in Fiona’s mind, all from the consciousnesses trapped within their flesh prisons.
Fiona’s head throbbed, her mind close to collapse. Sensing Fiona couldn’t handle it, Luo Ling quickly withdrew the Puppet Ballad’s vision and hearing.
“They are all…”
Fiona murmured, terror still lingering in her eyes.
“They are all Lambs, lost Lambs under the Puppet Ballad’s domination,” Luo Ling’s sorrowful voice echoed in Fiona’s mind. “I have to admit, ‘living’ like this… was true suffering for them.”
Death… was sometimes a form of liberation.
Especially under a Grotesquery of the Silent Demise Path.
This was true for Guixu, and also for the Puppet Ballad.
Fiona remained silent. Returning to the present, she looked at the frail, pale girl, an urge to embrace and comfort her rising within her heart.
Such a cruel reality, even a brief glimpse was almost unbearable for her, yet it was Miss Luo Ling’s lived experience.
The sorrow and despair contained within this memory were beyond anything Fiona had ever witnessed. In this regard, Miss Luo Ling… was more like Jiangcheng County’s savior, not the bloodthirsty butcher everyone believed her to be.
“…We misunderstood,” Fiona sighed softly.
She didn’t ask why Luo Ling hadn’t explained this to everyone, because she knew that any explanation regarding the White Witch would be futile.
Even sharing this memory wouldn’t help.
No one would believe a High-Risk Grotesquery would make such a choice. They would rather believe it was a grand, bloody sacrifice.
Even Fiona, only because she understood Luo Ling, was willing to believe that the deaths of 400,000 people in Jiangcheng County were a liberation, not a massacre.
However, within this memory, Fiona also saw more information.
“Luo Ling, the White Witch’s domination… doesn’t it… leave the flesh and blood untouched by fungal threads?” Fiona asked tentatively.
“Yes, when using Complete Control, no matter the detection method, it will only appear as normal flesh and blood,” Luo Ling replied softly, her eyes flickering.
This didn’t seem to be an inherent characteristic of the Puppet Ballad, as even Ji Ying hadn’t known about it. Her team had nearly eradicated the Puppet Ballad’s main body, but hadn’t discovered this.
Moreover, none of the Eggs that appeared in Jiangcheng County exhibited this characteristic. They all used fungal strains to replace flesh and blood for domination.
This terrifying concealment ability seemed more like… an ability possessed by her sister, that special Puppet Ballad individual. This was how Luo Ling could use Complete Control.
Fiona gasped, a bitter smile appearing on her lips as she shook her head. “So, all along… the Company’s efforts to defend against the White Witch were… futile.”
It wasn’t the Company’s vigilance that had stopped the White Witch, but the fact that she… had never intended to destroy Victoria. This Origin Point had been spared by her choice.
“But what about Linna?” Fiona looked at Linna, who was standing behind them with her hands on her hips, her gaze fixed on the fungal threads on her face.
“Her situation is even more special,” Luo Ling said, rubbing her temples. “Forget it, I’ll just let you see for yourself.”
“No!” Linna immediately jumped forward, stopping her. “Just tell her, Miss Luo Ling! If it’s too troublesome… I’ll relay it!”
“No, I want to see it.”
Before Luo Ling could respond, Fiona said with a smile, glancing at Linna, silencing her daughter with maternal authority.
“It’s nothing much…”
Luo Ling packaged the memories and sent them directly to Fiona’s mind.
After a few moments, Fiona opened her eyes, looking at Luo Ling with gratitude. She had clearly seen what happened in the Incubation Barrier.
And all the circumstances surrounding it.
Everything Miss Luo Ling had experienced during her month and a half of disappearance was finally revealed, a heartbreaking and sorrowful past.
Especially Linna’s calm words, “Please use Complete Control on me, Miss Luo Ling,” and the pale girl’s subsequent refusal, gripping her hand and enduring the pain, desperately trying to save Linna’s life, deeply moved Fiona, bringing tears to her eyes.
She hadn’t expected her daughters to have gone through such an experience…
Fiona’s gaze shifted between the embarrassed Linna and Luo Ling. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth and said, “I agree.”
“I disagree!” Elsa, who had been ignored, jumped up and down, puffing out her cheeks. “Miss Luo Ling, I want to see too! You haven’t shown me!”
“Haven’t I?” Luo Ling paused, thinking back. “Oh right, I haven’t shown you… It’s nothing much, really.”
After sending another package of memories to Elsa, finally appeasing the little girl, Luo Ling looked up and saw an unreadable emotion in Fiona’s eyes.
It had been there before, but not as strongly as now.
“Can I keep this memory? I want to… revisit it occasionally,” Fiona asked with a smile.
“Mother!”
Linna was almost frantic. Just thinking about that incident made her scalp tingle, especially the thought of her mother reliving it. It was mortifying.
“That’s not a problem.”
Luo Ling took out a few white hairs, stood on tiptoe, and attached them to the back of Fiona’s head. “Just use this ability when you want to see the memories.”
“So thoughtful, Miss Luo Ling, just like a little padded jacket,” Fiona said, looking down at the pale girl and gently kissing her forehead, leaving a soft mark.
Thankfully, Elsa was currently immersed in the memories, otherwise, seeing this scene would likely trigger another jealous outburst.
“However… I’m curious, when you saved Linna, you didn’t seem to be using the White Witch’s abilities?” Fiona asked, puzzled. The memories she saw were from Luo Ling’s perspective, so she hadn’t seen Luo Ling’s transformation.
“Oh, that’s right, I wasn’t. It was another Grotesquery’s ability,” Luo Ling said after a moment’s thought, transforming into her Naraku form.
Instantly, the small figure transformed into a tall, mature woman, a flash of purple disappearing as quickly as it appeared, a pair of terrifying black eyes with pinpoint pupils staring at Fiona.
Fiona looked at the purple-haired woman, only slightly shorter than herself, her face filled with astonishment.
Luo Ling… had this form too?
“The ability to rewrite reality comes from Naraku,” Luo Ling said calmly.
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