Witch’s Night: Chapter 93 The Calamity Begins
“Back then, what deal did you actually make with the Witch of Absolute Death?” the Witch of Sorrow asked.
“…”
Marytis didn’t answer immediately. She wandered through the underground cavern, surrounded by the aura of death and corruption.
As the long-dormant consciousness of the Gods gradually awakened, the spiritual voice of the Witch of Sorrow, descending upon Marytis, also became clearer.
Her gentle yet sorrowful voice, no matter what it said, carried a tone of grief, capable of bringing tears to the eyes of anyone whose will wasn’t strong enough.
Even this faint trace of the Gods’ voice remaining in the world contained Their power.
The moment the Twelve Saints knew they could ascend the Holy Mountain, the moment they could witness and face the truth beyond the starry sky and the Saint’s death, was actually a brief awakening of the Gods from their long dream.
No one dared to imagine, only Illusion, due to her bloodline, had some awareness that this dazzling and beautiful starry sky was actually the Gods’ dream.
No, at this level, it could no longer be called a dream.
The ten Gods, before their wills were completely eroded by corruption, did their utmost to fall into eternal slumber.
Their wandering thoughts and consciousness during eternal slumber wove the most brilliant and beautiful starry sky from their memories, concealing the truth beyond the real starry sky.
The only one who had truly awakened was the Witch of Absolute Death, because She resolved to betray the Gods.
With the absence of the Witch of Absolute Death, a gap appeared in this false dream.
Although all the Sovereigns paid the price of deeper slumber to maintain the dazzling starry sky, a flaw inevitably appeared.
This flaw was completely torn open during the battle between the Saint and the Gods back then, and the real starry sky was completely exposed on the peak of the Holy Mountain.
While all the Witches continued to slumber, this flaw in the starry sky could barely be maintained.
But also because of the Witch of Absolute Death’s betrayal, the plan to exterminate human civilization couldn’t be completed, and this season of civilization was mistakenly allowed to continue.
Therefore, the slumbering Witches would choose to awaken at a certain moment, issuing Their oracles for the destruction of civilization.
This moment was called—”Witch’s Night.”
Hamid, who gained “enlightenment,” Marytis, who heard the scattered spiritual voices… and others, they were all followers of the Gods born during “Witch’s Night.”
Although the awakened Witches couldn’t fully revive from their slumber, they could interfere with the present world in more flexible ways, including accepting Devil’s Apostles and partial descents of their true forms.
Even the Witch of Envy, due to the nature of Her power, could influence the will of ordinary humans, causing another “Witch of Envy” to be born within their will.
Just like Qin Wen and Frick at the end of the Yan City war, which was why the Witch of Envy was also the most widely known Primordial Demon in the present world.
Now, “Witch’s Night” was about to descend again.
The Church of the End Gods had made ample preparations for this moment, pouring all their energy into the “Recreating the Gods” plan.
“Answer me, Marytis.” The Witch of Sorrow’s spiritual voice sounded again, faintly forming a purple phantom beside Marytis. “My true consciousness is about to awaken. In the past, I simply didn’t ask out of tacit understanding, but Absolute Death is, after all, a traitor.”
The Witch of Absolute Death’s betrayal dealt a heavy blow to the Gods, which was why the current human civilization managed to survive the aftermath of the first Calamity Tide, clinging to life.
Furthermore, because the Witch of Absolute Death combined with a certain Old Era human and became the Saint, leading humanity to resist the Gods until today, the second flourishing of civilization occurred after its near extinction.
Regarding the endless cycle, the nine Gods each had their own thoughts, but without exception, They all held deep resentment towards Absolute Death’s betrayal.
In other words, Absolute Death’s betrayal made the Gods work a lot of overtime…
On this point, regardless of whether the Gods approved of the endless cycle, they wouldn’t give Absolute Death a good look.
“The current Witch of Absolute Death is not the traitor from back then.”
Marytis said softly.
“…There’s no difference.” The Witch of Sorrow’s phantom slowly spoke, “One was for humanity, the other, even more ironically, is for our common enemy—that’s all.”
“Miss Luo Yan… doesn’t seem to be your enemy.”
“Essentially, she is.” The beautiful purple phantom’s eyes looked directly at Marytis. “We created her with our own hands. On this point, we know better than anyone.”
“The tragedy of Dawn’s nine Misters…?”
Marytis had already heard the story from the Witch of Sorrow. Although the Witch of Sorrow’s knowledge of the truth was certainly less than that of those who experienced it, as the architect of the deception plan back then, She still possessed a lot of information.
Including why there were nine, not ten.
Because… Mister Zero back then was actually this tenth God’s Chosen.
Mister Zero was the world’s only God’s Chosen of the Witch of Absolute Death, the first and last Apostle of the Witch of Absolute Death.
After her, the Witch of Absolute Death completely detached from the position of a God, and thus no corresponding God’s Chosen was born.
The ten God’s Chosen, through a certain ritual, extracted the power of the “God of Malice,” condensing the white light of that time.
—If the Gods were corrupted by “malice,” then this white light was more like malice corrupted by the “Gods.”
A wondrous combination of World Will and God, born independent of the Gods, yet possessing the power of the Gods, “It.”
The appearance and existence of “It” was to destroy the civilization of this world, sever the foundation of the Gods, in order to restart the cycle.
Only “It” could sever the corrupted part of the Gods, even though doing so would greatly weaken the Gods, but it could prevent the world from falling into a situation completely controlled by “malice.”
Leaving the opportunity for the next civilization to be born.
But now, “It” had become her, possessing life, called “Miss Luo Yan” by this world.
Bearing a human name, the name of a foolish human who proclaimed herself a savior.
“How tragic.”
The Witch of Sorrow sighed, and the phantom gradually dissipated.
“It doesn’t matter if you refuse to speak, anyway… we will find out.”
“Yes, the Gods will know everything.” Marytis murmured, slightly lost in thought. “But I am still willing… to believe in her.”
Miss Luo Yan.
On the peak of the Holy Mountain, seeing the white flower slowly blooming on the monster known as the “Saint.”
From that moment on, Marytis knew that the one who would save the world… wouldn’t be her.
“Sorry… Absolute Death, I was actually deceiving you.”
Marytis gently touched the broken Absolute Death mark on her chest,
“Miss Luo Yan is humanity’s last hope, she must save the world.”
She knew that once Absolute Death learned of her lie, she would die without a burial place.
The reason Marytis didn’t want to tell the Witch of Sorrow about this was because she knew that once the Witch of Sorrow learned of the Absolute Death mark’s existence, She would definitely do everything in Her power to remove it.
At that time, the Witch of Absolute Death, who had fallen silent due to the deception, would inevitably be awakened.
Then… all her efforts over the past hundreds of years would be in vain.
This was a result Marytis was absolutely unwilling to see.
At this moment, a faint knock sounded outside Marytis’s room, along with a weak voice,
“Bishop…”
“Come in.”
Marytis said indifferently.
A young nun, looking about sixteen years old, walked in. She looked at Marytis with awe, then lowered her head,
“Bishop… recently the Church…”
She stammered, seeming hesitant or afraid of something.
“Speak.”
Marytis tapped the table, and the Sands of Time appeared.
The constantly flowing Sands of Time froze, and fluctuations enveloped the room.
The young nun had been by Marytis’s side for a long time and knew that Marytis was now using the time-freezing ability. All conversations in the room wouldn’t leak out, so she boldly mustered her courage and said,
“Bishop… no, Sister, I know I shouldn’t question the Bishops’ decisions, but isn’t our ultimate goal to save this world…”
Her voice trembled with tears, “Why release so many monsters… they… they…”
“They will bring contamination to this world, contamination that cannot be eliminated even if civilization is destroyed.”
Marytis said softly, raising her head, seemingly looking towards the ground,
“Indeed, the Church of the End Gods destroys civilization to save the world, but the corruption of ‘malice’ will destroy this already broken world.”
“…Monsters are scary.”
The young nun trembled. She had personally witnessed Bishop Hamid opening the sealed space and transferring out an astonishing number of coffins.
After the spatial seal was removed, terrifying monsters crawled out one after another, their eyes gleaming with the light of “malice.”
Soon, these monsters were released onto the surface, wantonly spreading the “malice” they had accumulated for hundreds of years.
This was a fear the young nun had never felt before, a terrifying scene incomparable even to the annihilation of a mega-city.
Countless ferocious, deformed monsters rampaged across the land, and wherever they went, everything was corrupted by “malice,” completely turning into dead land. Even some unfortunate followers of the Church of the End Gods were caught up in it, also transforming into mindless “malice” monsters.
“Are they planning to use the human alliance’s hands to extract the purest divine power from these predecessors’ remains?” Marytis narrowed her eyes. “A cruel yet efficient method.”
The human side definitely couldn’t ignore the invasion of “malice” monsters; they would surely do their best to defeat them.
And after these monsters were defeated, extracting the divine power within them would be much simpler. The Church of the End Gods had been studying the Gods for over a thousand years; they still had this technology.
If she wasn’t mistaken, many members of the Church of the End Gods had already set out with these monsters to collect the overflowing divine power.
“Sister… is this really okay?”
The young nun trembled slightly, the scene she witnessed becoming her nightmare.
“There’s nothing wrong with it.” Marytis said silently, lowering her eyelids. “To save, there must be sacrifice.”
Just some necessary sacrifices.
Marytis told herself this.
She had been saying this for hundreds of years.
What’s a little contamination?
Marytis placed all her bets on Miss Luo Yan. She believed that Miss Luo Yan, after retrieving the divine powers, could definitely defeat “malice,” using herself to “corrupt” the God “malice.”
From beginning to end, Marytis’s ultimate target was only “malice.”
“Malice” was the root of all these disasters.
Unlike the Twelve Saints, who wanted to learn certain truths from Miss Luo Yan to save the world through their own efforts, Marytis had already poured all her obsession with saving the world onto Miss Luo Yan.
The young nun stopped trembling. Marytis looked up and saw the fear in her eyes.
She was looking at herself, fearing herself.
…This didn’t seem wrong.
Marytis knew her own madness and paranoia better than anyone, but she couldn’t turn back.
She had walked this path for too long; she could only keep going.
The young nun took a few steps back in a daze, her eyes seemingly no longer recognizing Marytis.
Finally, the young nun stumbled out of the room, almost losing control.
The Sands of Time began to flow again.
“It seems I should also get going.”
Marytis stood up. She knew that soon, Hamid would come looking for her.
There was only one reason.
Because besides the Twelve Saints, only one person in this world could freely enter and leave the Sanctuary.
That person was Marytis.
To use Luo Yan as a vessel for recreating the Gods, this task could only be entrusted to her.
“Miss Luo Yan, I said…”
“We will meet again.”
……
The year 1327 of the New Era, early.
The New Year had arrived, but it wasn’t accompanied by the usual festivities, but by an expected, yet unforeseen, Calamity.
Powerful Calamity monsters suddenly appeared all over the land. These monsters were different from ordinary Calamity monsters, carrying strong contamination.
Even if killed, they would leave behind an uncleansable contamination spot.
Once contaminated, regardless of whether the affected part was promptly severed, one would transform into a new monster within three minutes.
Because “malice” was a rule, and upon contact with the rule, one had already joined it.
These terrifying monsters attacked countless mega-cities, threatening the safety of almost every one.
If it weren’t for the human united front established by the previous Ten Cities Council, the arrival of this catastrophe would have been enough to cause the collapse of more than half of the mega-cities.
But because of the human united front, after a brief period of chaos, the Free Federation successfully launched its first joint defense, effectively resisting the Calamity monsters’ attacks.
People cheered, celebrating the victory of this human community.
However, all the higher-ups of the mega-cities knew that this was just a prelude.
A prelude… before the arrival of a true catastrophe.
