Witch’s Night: Chapter 92 She is Happy, That is Enough
It seemed Illusion foresaw Shadow’s antics. After sending Luo Yan out of the illusion, Illusion directly closed the entrance.
With her current strength, it would probably be difficult even for the Gods to break through her illusion.
The life-saving abilities of the two sister races, the “Illusory Foxes” and the “Dream Foxes,” were unparalleled. Once they closed their doors, it was very difficult for anyone to find them.
However, during the disaster in the Land of Divine Advent back then, they didn’t hide in their illusions and dreams, but chose to fight back against the Gods in desperate resistance alongside countless other living beings.
These were digressions. Illusion simply didn’t want to appear before others in her current form.
Especially Shadow.
From the way Shadow was currently staring intently at the fluffy tail behind Luo Yan, it was obvious that if Illusion opened the illusion entrance, the first one to sneak in and rua (pet/rub) the tail would be Shadow.
Unfortunately, this fluffy tail was now on Luo Yan. Firstly, Shadow and Luo Yan weren’t familiar enough to casually touch each other, and secondly, Miss Luo Yan had been keeping a distance of ten meters from her…
“Actually… there’s no need for this, Miss Luo Yan.” Shadow said righteously, “I’m an upright person, I wouldn’t think about touching someone else’s tail or anything like that.”
Although she had forcibly averted her gaze from the tail behind Luo Yan, her peripheral vision never left it, constantly flickering over the large tail.
“This is Illusion’s tail, not mine.” Luo Yan sighed. “It’s just borrowed, just borrowed…”
As she spoke, the large tail moved randomly again. Luo Yan couldn’t control it at all and could only endure being occasionally patted by the fluffiness behind her.
“Borrowed” was meant literally. Luo Yan could at most utilize the illusion power contained within this tail, but the sensation and control of the tail were still in Illusion’s hands.
In other words, if Shadow recklessly reached out and rua-ed it a few times, Luo Yan wouldn’t feel anything… but Illusion, staying within her illusion, might.
Luo Yan didn’t have any malicious intentions, and besides, Illusion had gone to such lengths to help her. How could she not protect her tail? She absolutely couldn’t let someone with ill intentions succeed.
The person with ill intentions—referring to Shadow.
“Ahem, stop fooling around, Shadow.” At this point, even Noah couldn’t stand it anymore and coughed lightly as a reminder. “Shadow, you are the Eleventh Saint, how can you disgrace the face of the Saints like this?”
“I didn’t, and besides, I don’t have much face to begin with.”
Shadow rubbed her nose, her tone sounding rather proud.
These words silenced Noah. How many things must one have done to say such words so matter-of-factly?
Noah began to ponder why this person was chosen to inherit the position of the Eleventh Saint.
Of course, after thinking about it, he realized that besides her, there seemed to be no other candidates at that time.
“Truly a tragedy for humanity…”
Noah sighed deeply.
“What?”
Shadow looked completely bewildered.
“…Let’s not talk about this.”
If they continued, Noah’s already dwindling lifespan might shorten even further.
Noah looked at Luo Yan, not at her tail, of course, but noticed that although Luo Yan was still enveloped in a dream state, she was completely bound within a thin layer of illusion power.
Although the current Luo Yan seemed to still be standing in this world, she was actually almost the same as when she was in the illusion.
This way, the deterioration of her demonic power was suppressed, and at least for a short time, she could move freely.
However, this “free movement” still had great limitations. The deterioration was only suppressed, not reversed, and Miss Luo Yan’s waking time probably wouldn’t be long.
“Miss Luo Yan, we need to hurry.”
Noah whispered.
“Mm.”
Luo Yan nodded.
She could also feel the dreamless dream gradually approaching again. Even with the illusion power delaying it, it couldn’t fundamentally stop the arrival of this dream.
When the dream arrived, Luo Yan would fall asleep.
And the moment she woke up again, it would depend on luck.
What happened then, was hard to say.
The three were currently on their way to the peak of the Holy Mountain. The contaminated Sanctuary was filled with the mottled aura of the Gods, mixed with a thick “malice.”
Nauseating black sludge could be seen everywhere, and upon closer inspection, traces of flesh and tissue could barely be discerned, but mostly, they were indescribable, twisted things.
Actually, the biggest controversy regarding whether Luo Yan was the incarnation of “malice” also lay in this point. Almost all products related to “malice” were ugly and evil, making it hard to imagine any connection with a beautiful and charming person like Miss Luo Yan.
The chaotic Sanctuary almost prohibited the use of all means of transportation. Ordinary spiritual energy circuits simply couldn’t operate in this environment, and Luo Yan’s Void Traversal was also unsafe. The node changes caused by the “malice contamination” were too unstable.
Luo Yan’s positioning skills weren’t good to begin with, and the few successful attempts were only after many errors. In this situation, she naturally wouldn’t be allowed to use Void Traversal alone.
As for why alone… ordinary humans would get Void sickness.
Technology like the library’s was completely beyond the scope of the New Era’s control.
However, only by personally walking through the Sanctuary could one feel the terrifying Calamity that had frozen time back then.
As they went deeper into the Sanctuary, things understandable to humans became fewer and fewer.
Building ruins were almost completely swallowed by “malice products,” appearing vividly under the Sanctuary’s seal, as if they would awaken in the next moment and devour the world again.
There were no longer any traces of humans, or rather, the humans seen had completely transformed into indescribable monsters.
“The Calamity back then erupted in the very center of the Sanctuary,” Noah explained, “No one knows the truth of the disaster. It’s speculated that the Saint, because the Artificial Witch Project was leaked, fought against the corrupted Gods.”
After passing through the most heavily contaminated area, what appeared was a strangely empty place.
Pointing at this empty area, Noah continued,
“This is where the battle erupted. Logically, this should be the most contaminated location… but for some reason, there’s no contamination at all.”
Luo Yan looked around. The surrounding area was only pitted land, untouched by the indescribable things from before.
Even the spreading contamination from outside… seemed to detour around this area?
“We analyzed the reason for the isolation of contamination here, but found nothing. It should be beyond our current understanding.” Noah said, raising his hand and pointing to the distance, “Miss Luo Yan, look up at the snow mountain in the distance.”
Luo Yan looked up, and Noah’s voice followed,
“Can you see the white temple at the foot of the mountain?”
“…Mm.”
Although Luo Yan’s eyesight was much weaker compared to Hua Qiling’s monstrous vision, identifying a target ten kilometers away was still possible by slightly enhancing her five senses as an ability user.
“We’ll go around, ascend from the other side,” Noah whispered, “The Witch of Absolute Death is sealed inside.”
“The Witch of Absolute Death…”
The Witch of Absolute Death, whose appearance was identical to hers, and also the first and last Artificial Witch.
Luo Yan gazed at the white temple, inexplicably feeling a certain heartbeat within it resonating faintly with hers.
Wait… do Gods also have heartbeats?
Before Luo Yan could ponder, Noah started walking again, beginning to detour around the white temple.
She had no choice but to follow, but then she saw that Shadow had stopped.
“What’s wrong, Shadow?”
Luo Yan turned around and asked.
Shadow stood there, looking gently at Luo Yan.
This was an expression never seen on her face before, giving off a strange feeling as if it wasn’t Shadow.
But… it was indeed Shadow.
“Miss Luo Yan.” Shadow spoke softly, “I can’t follow you any further, my path ends here.”
“…”
Luo Yan remained silent.
“Indeed, among us Twelve Saints, only Lord Noah possesses the courage to face the truth.” Shadow turned her face slightly and whispered, “When I stand here, when I look at the distant Holy Mountain, at the towering peak—
“My instincts as a living being tell me, danger, absolutely danger that cannot be approached!”
Noah also stopped and turned to look at Shadow.
“Saving the world, protecting the world, is the responsibility of the Saints, but we have never been able to truly achieve it.” Shadow smiled with relief and said, “But now, it seems we can again… because you are here, Miss Luo Yan.
“You are the hope of all humanity, although you are very likely not human.”
“At least for now, I am.” Luo Yan said seriously, “I accept my human identity… in the name of Luo Yan.”
Luo Yan, was her Luo Yan, not someone else’s Luo Yan.
A name was just a designation, and the existence that truly gave meaning to the designation was the meaning of the name.
“Goodbye… I hope we can meet again, Miss Luo Yan.”
“We definitely will.”
Luo Yan smiled brightly. Surrounded by the frozen, terrifying monsters, her silver-white, stunning smile bloomed, a breathtaking sight Shadow had never seen before in her life.
“Then, it’s a promise… Miss Luo Yan.”
……
“Thump, thump, thump…”
A heart was beating.
She was still alive.
Alive as a living being.
She opened her eyes once again.
Endless silence and deep darkness appeared in her eyes. Just one glance, and a soul would sink into the abyss of eternal death.
Absolute Death looked up, towards some unknown direction.
The surrounding suppression formation inhibited her perception, but the symbiotic life still responded.
Their hearts beat together.
The small white flower was connected to her life, making her willing to stay in this lonely temple.
The other Saints in the white temple had already finished reinforcing the seal. Due to the absence of the strongest, Noah, they could only leave one awake Saint to monitor the formation’s movements.
The usual faint chatter was gone. In the terrifyingly silent white temple, it seemed only this surging darkness could be considered “alive.”
But ironically, she was the Witch of Absolute Death.
Artificial Witch… wasn’t simply artificially creating Gods, but artificially interfering with the birth of a God.
She, who inherited the body of Absolute Death and the consciousness of the Witch of Absolute Death, was the true Witch of Absolute Death.
She transcended the constraints of a conceptual entity—the World Will—and possessed power comparable to the Gods while in a mortal body.
The tragic War of the Witch of Absolute Death hundreds of years ago began because of her and ended because of her.
She wasn’t defeated; she chose to lose.
At least the current humans… couldn’t defeat a complete God.
Why, why did she make such a choice…
Absolute Death closed her eyes. She recalled hundreds of years ago, when the fruitless War of the Witch of Absolute Death was about to end, a determined figure stood before her.
Named… Marytis.
A Devil’s Apostle favored by the Witch of Sorrow.
This was Absolute Death’s first contact with other Gods. Like the previous Absolute Death, she was considered a traitor by the Gods, even though she started the War of the Witch of Absolute Death.
Because the War of the Witch of Absolute Death was fundamentally not a war to exterminate humanity.
At that time, after hundreds of years of searching, Absolute Death finally found traces of the white flower.
She insisted on breaking through the Sanctuary’s seal, attempting to reach the peak of the Holy Mountain, but was detected and intercepted by the Noah Holy Church, and the war thus began.
Absolute Death, unleashing her power for the first time, brought an immeasurable disaster upon the land. The Church of the End Gods took the opportunity to act, further expanding the scale of the war.
Nearly eighty percent of human territories were forced into the war, which lasted only three months, but in just three months, more than thirty percent of the mega-cities were destroyed.
Obsessed with finding the white flower, Absolute Death ignored the casualties and suffering of humanity. Almost all human experts who stood in her way died at her hands, only a few escaped.
But when she reached the foot of the Holy Mountain, the aura of the white flower disappeared.
Appearing before Absolute Death was Marytis, the only one who had seen the Saint’s remains.
Marytis told Absolute Death everything she saw on the peak of the Holy Mountain and promised that she would find the white flower and take her away from all this, not letting the white flower bear the responsibility forcibly imposed by the Saint.
The premise was that Absolute Death must remain permanently silent and no longer interfere with the mortal world.
Absolute Death agreed to this request and made the “Absolute Death Contract” with Marytis, leaving a broken black Manjusaka flower on her chest.
—Marytis had shown it when facing Illusion.
After an unknown amount of time, the white flower finally reappeared in the world. In their life-linked heartbeats, Absolute Death could feel the white flower’s mood.
She was happy.
She was happy.
That was enough.
Absolute Death closed her eyes contentedly.
“Save the world? Why… must we save the world…”
“The responsibility the Saint evaded, why should we bear it?”
“No… this is all the Saint’s fault.”
“What we need to do is just live well.”
“Always.”
————————————————————————————————
Author Notes:
Organizing the timeline:
—War of the Witch of Absolute Death begins, Absolute Death senses the white flower’s aura => Luo Yan’s consciousness begins to awaken.
—War of Absolute Death is about to end, white flower’s aura disappears => Luo Yan awakens in Ghost Town.
Clues from another timeline:
Previous Absolute Death and previous Luo Yan, one body, two souls => Artificial Witch Project => Plan detected by Gods and fails, Old Noah destroyed => Nothing Left to Ask For (End of Volume 1)
Cat knows it’s a bit complicated, but the outline was clearly very simple when writing (crying)
(T/N: 😭)
