Chapter 381: The Worst Outcome
Winona took Adele away so as not to disrupt the meeting, an important meeting that would decide whether to treat Adele as the “Light of Humanity” and cultivate her with all their resources. Judging from Adele’s current potential and the information and resume provided by Winona, the probability of her being selected was very high. And the reason wasn’t because she was obedient, sensible, or had a high level of ideological awareness, but rather, because she was emotional and not very scheming. Compared to rationality, Adele was more inclined towards sensibility. Under this premise, as long as the humans let things develop naturally and provided Adele with appropriate “investment” and assistance, they would gain a reliable ally, or at worst, not an enemy. Even if Adele might completely side with the Vampire Clan in the future, she would probably belong to the peace-loving dove faction like “Lady Chen Xi.”
“Headmistress Winona!” Adele followed Winona through the long corridor until they reached a secluded area, then she finally felt relieved and called out impatiently.
“What is it, my quasi-legendary mage, good student?” Winona stopped. This happened to be the break room where Enforcement Bureau personnel drank coffee and beverages. She brought Adele here for a temporary rest.
“Ugh…” This is clearly teasing me, Adele thought helplessly. I just…stole your cat… But Winona turned around and handed Adele a glass of juice, showing that she wasn’t really targeting the girl.
“Thank you.”
“If you have any questions, ask them now.”
“I’ll answer them as best I can.” Although Winona didn’t look very old, and her usual attire wasn’t serious, mostly wearing mage robes or casual clothes, her position gave her a naturally imposing aura. Adele also acted obediently in front of her.
Hearing Winona’s words, Adele’s eyes lit up instantly, forgetting to even drink her juice, and she replied eagerly, “Okay!” The next moment, she asked directly, “I want to know how Teacher Victoria is doing!”
“Is she okay!?” Although Winona had anticipated Adele’s question, her heart still churned. As someone who arrived late at the amusement park incident, she regretted not realizing True Ancestor Ron’s intentions sooner. If she had, Victoria wouldn’t have been alone. As for Yashi…her responsibility was to protect and evacuate the civilians. She couldn’t abandon her duty to protect Adele and the vampire girls. So Winona couldn’t really blame her. In the end, the only one she could blame was her own slowness.
She had later heard the report on the “amusement park incident.” Besides the Hell Queen Jormungandr and Adele, the report also included information about Teacher Victoria. Victoria, who escaped from the amusement park severely injured, wasn’t on the list of those to be protected and treated. On the contrary, the order issued by the elf True Ancestor Lislotte was: All senior agents of the Enforcement Bureau, listen up! If “Victoria” is found, arrest her if possible without endangering lives. If lives are endangered, you may act accordingly! This meant capturing her alive was preferred, but if not possible, she could be killed on the spot!
Winona’s eyes widened in shock at the time. Although she didn’t understand the reason behind Lislotte’s order, she trusted Lislotte, who had protected humanity for countless years. Her loyalty had been proven time and again. As for why she was so biased towards humans and devoted herself to them, that was another story. But her decisions were always made from the perspective of humanity, always in line with human interests…this was something everyone acknowledged and believed! So it meant that…for some reason, Teacher Victoria had gone from “Adele’s protector” to a public enemy of humanity, a dangerous existence that threatened all of humanity, even the entire world!
With complicated feelings, Winona secretly investigated. And the results of the investigation made her even more despairing. But she didn’t intend to hide it from Adele. As a witness to the incident, Adele had the right to know.
So Winona bit her lip, not even realizing it, and murmured, “Teacher Victoria…she’s probably not in good condition right now.”
“I haven’t seen her.”
“After True Ancestor Ron’s fall, she escaped from the amusement park during the chaos and is still at large.”
“Escaped?” Adele’s eyes were filled with confusion and puzzlement. Why use this word for Teacher Victoria? The only ones Adele could imagine being described as “escaped” were criminals. But how could Teacher Victoria be…? But at this moment, the scene from the day of the amusement park incident flashed through Adele’s mind. Just as Teacher Victoria was about to succumb to True Ancestor Ron’s attack, the life crystal on her Moon Sprout staff, representing her life force, shattered. Even the magic power that clearly carried Teacher Victoria’s aura completely vanished, replaced by countless dark tentacles rapidly extending from the shadows, blocking True Ancestor Ron’s attack in place of Victoria’s magic. But at that time, was Teacher Victoria…still herself?
Although Adele didn’t want to be suspicious, she had to respect the facts.
“That’s right, escaped…”
“The current Victoria, her body…has been taken over by the evil god who caused the ‘Dark Day’ in the magical world,” Headmistress Winona revealed the despairing truth in a calm tone. Her heart ached like it was being pierced by needles.
Adele involuntarily took a step back, her face filled with shock. The worst outcome she could imagine had now become reality.
Chapter 382: Offering a Position
Large teardrops welled up in Adele’s eyes. She knew, more than anyone, that Teacher Victoria had done this for her… If she hadn’t been careless and wandered into danger, none of this would have happened. However, Adele’s thinking was still naive. True Ancestor Ron had already targeted her and Xiao Ai and wouldn’t give up. Adele would eventually face the same danger, sooner or later. The only one who could change Victoria’s fate was the Hell Queen Jormungandr.
But Victoria’s desire to save Adele transcended everything, including her own life and soul. So she unhesitatingly used her body as a vessel, making a contract with the evil god Iä! in exchange for her intervention. Bound by the contract, Iä! could only choose to protect Adele, protect…the prey she craved.
So, in a sense, Victoria’s sacrifice averted two major crises for Adele: the crisis caused by True Ancestor Ron, and the crisis posed by Iä!. In Iä!’s mind, Adele was a feast of the highest order. She even suspected that if she devoured Adele…she would understand everything! Everything about this world! As for why, Iä! didn’t know, only attributing it to her instincts as an apex predator from another world.
But now, unfortunately, to obtain Victoria’s body, she had made a contract to stop True Ancestor Ron and protect Adele, never harming her. This meant that Iä!’s desire to devour Adele was thwarted! She couldn’t harm Adele, so how could she dissect and digest her?
However, this contract wasn’t absolute. Iä! couldn’t harm Adele for a long time, but as she continued to devour the knowledge of this world using Victoria’s body, continuously growing stronger…once she reached a certain point, she would regain her former power, even surpass it, and the backlash from the contract would become insignificant.
………………
Winona rarely saw her usually carefree student cry so sadly. It turned out that it wasn’t just her who valued Teacher Victoria. Adele…also cared about her. A sense of camaraderie welled up in Winona’s heart. She raised her hand, and a tissue flew from the coffee table into her hand. Then, she handed the tissue to the girl before her.
“Wipe your tears. It’s not time to give up yet.”
“Although Teacher Victoria’s body is now occupied by the evil god Iä!,”
“It doesn’t mean her soul is completely gone.”
“There have been cases in history where the original owner’s consciousness regained control after the otherworldly parasite was killed!” Winona’s words were like a shot of adrenaline for Adele. This comfort was indeed very effective.
Adele stopped sobbing and, after wiping her tears, showed a determined expression, as if saying…
“I will definitely save Teacher Victoria!”
“Just like how she…selflessly saved me!” Well, it wasn’t “as if saying,” she had already said it.
If it were the past Adele saying this, Winona would just think she was being…delusional. But now it was different. Adele truly had the right to say this. As a quasi-legendary mage, she possessed powerful elemental magic. For a while, she might even have a chance against a weakened, lone evil god. Only after Iä! fully recovered would the huge gap in their power be revealed. But Winona wouldn’t let Iä! hide and recover completely.
She suddenly thought of a “suicide attack” method: using Adele as bait to lure Iä! out. If Adele could defeat her, great. If not…there was still the Hell Queen Jormungandr! Winona believed that Jormungandr wouldn’t save Adele for no reason, nor would she give her the power of a True Ancestor without a reason. Perhaps she had ulterior motives, but at least for now, she should protect Adele, intervening when she was in danger. Otherwise, wouldn’t all her previous efforts be wasted?
Adele wouldn’t know that Winona was actually thinking of using her as bait. Although according to Winona’s explanation, this was a risk-free attempt, if Adele knew, she would definitely look aggrieved, then willingly accept the responsibility of being bait. Because she and Winona had the same thought: to find Teacher Victoria as soon as possible and free her from the evil god’s control.
“I’m glad you have such thoughts, but this kind of thing should be left to the adults,” Winona said, seemingly reasonable, but actually subtly provoking Adele.
Adele, as expected, took the bait. Of course, even if she didn’t, Winona wouldn’t give up.
“This isn’t just a matter for you adults!”
“I must repay Teacher Victoria’s kindness…”
“Anyway, it’s settled, Headmistress Winona, don’t stop me!”
Winona thought, I wasn’t planning to stop you. But to maintain her pretense, she looked at Adele with concern and sighed, “Sigh, then be careful.”
“It’s best to choose an instructor from the Enforcement Bureau and undergo special training first.”
“Special training!?” Adele asked in surprise.
Winona nodded matter-of-factly. “That’s right, special training.”
“Otherwise, what if you suddenly lose control of your newfound power at the academy?”
“Don’t worry, we’re not trying to control you. Your freedom will be absolutely guaranteed.”
“No matter what you do, who you like, or where and with whom you do it, as long as it’s not in public and doesn’t violate the rules or laws, it’s your personal freedom.”
“…Ugh, you make it sound like I’m only driven by my lower body! Why is my freedom only emphasized in this aspect!?” Adele complained.
But what couldn’t be changed was that Headmistress Winona had already handed over most of Adele’s recent records and information at the academy, excluding particularly private details, to the human high-ups. And this meant that Adele’s reputation as a harem king had spread throughout the Enforcement Bureau’s upper echelons. This would also deeply influence the humans’ future policies towards her. For example, they saw through Adele’s behavioral pattern, which was heavily driven by emotions. Simply put, she responded to kindness with kindness, and if you treated her badly, she wouldn’t care about humanity’s greater good. After all, she was also half-vampire and could switch sides at any time. It was for this reason that investing in Adele was a sure-win, or at least a no-loss, situation.
Moreover, they had to supervise Adele, who suddenly possessed great power, to a certain extent. Otherwise, it would be irresponsible to the students of Cromwell Academy and ordinary people. So the solution proposed by the Enforcement Bureau was to teach Adele the rules of conduct in daily life and how to control and use this power through special training, letting her learn self-management. Of course, there was also the most crucial and important step: offering her a position.
It was that simple, crude, and irresistible.
