Chapter 28: The Calamity Witch’s Despair

Shreds of fabric drifted in the air, yet Mo Ya’s attention was not on the woman before him.

Beside him, Blood Princess’s face was ashen, looking as if she wanted to tear the woman into pieces. Mo Ya fixed his cold gaze on the woman’s pale face, his voice a low rumble.

“Why did you choose her? She’s just a child.”

The woman paused, then immediately reacted. She burst into laughter, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

Her voice was hoarse, far from pleasant.

“You are truly benevolent, aren’t you? Does this even require a reason?” She shot Mo Ya a contemptuous smile.

“Do you know, she truly is a wonderful toy! Every tear, every sorrow, brings me a surge of power! Heh, heh, do you know, that girl is a treasure bestowed upon me by fate! That’s why I love her; I will torment her in every conceivable way. Only then can I become stronger, truly stronger!”

The woman’s words were laced with madness, her facial expression twisting wildly as she spoke.

Mo Ya sighed softly, placing his hand on her head.

Killing intent flared in his dark eyes. For the second time, he ended the woman’s life. Her head separated from her body.

“My King…”

Blood Princess looked at Mo Ya with concern. It had been a long time since she had seen him display such an icy, formidable demeanor.

Mo Ya flung the severed head from his hand, his eyes filled with coldness. The headless body crumpled before him, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

“Benevolence? Such an emotion, I lost it long ago.”

Mo Ya meticulously examined the fallen body, hoping to uncover some information. And then, he saw it—a subtle clue emerging from the corpse.

A faint factor of Corrosive Power slowly drifted from the body.

Using the corpse for cover, it swiftly vanished into the forest. Mo Ya closed his eyes, using his own power to sense the factor’s movement. Finally, he pinpointed the hiding place of this audacious Corrosive entity.

“I didn’t expect it to be so close.”

He uttered the sentiment, turning his face toward Blood Princess.

“Your second task: look after that sleeping idiot.”

***

The moonlight was obscured by branches and leaves, with only faint rays spilling down onto the entrance of the vast tree hollow.

Feng Ling gazed at the menacing horde of Corrosives in the forest, yet she showed no great fear. Instead, a wry smile touched her lips.

To say she wasn’t scared from the start would be a lie.

She had been chased by villagers, fleeing into this place. Feng Ling had once believed she would die in the jaws of the Corrosive horde.

However, her curse had protected her. The very curse that had brought her so much torment also affected the Corrosives.

Any Corrosive that approached her died without exception.

Over time, even the Corrosive horde stopped bothering her. She simply sat there, alone in the boundless forest.

Such days were to continue for another nine years. In these nine years, how many more sins would she have to bear?

The girl was deep in thought when the events of that afternoon suddenly resurfaced. Mo Ya’s brother-like actions had left her somewhat unsettled.

Though he had only spoken a few words, he had torn open a small crack in the darkness that enveloped Feng Ling’s heart.

Salvation—the word echoed in the girl’s mind.

“Can I… truly be saved?”

She murmured to the sky, her eyes filled with confusion.

Why was this happening? Hadn’t she clearly decided to live alone? But…

“What is this… expectation?”

The girl quietly clutched her chest, feeling a warmth spread from her heart.

The wind began to blow, and the dappled tree shadows danced like grotesque spirits in the night. A strange voice echoed in her mind, indistinct, neither male nor female.

“No, you can’t. The Calamity Witch cannot be saved.”

“Who?”

The sudden voice made Feng Ling feel a slight tension. She took a few steps, searching left and right, trying to find the speaker.

However, apart from the Corrosive horde, there was no one else around.

Anxiety and tension spread through the girl’s heart. She desperately wanted to find the person speaking, because… the unknown was always the most terrifying.

“I feel it now, the power you bring. You truly are the best, more satisfying than the combined total of those villagers.”

The voice spoke a second time. This time, Feng Ling clearly heard its source.

She turned her head in disbelief; her own shadow was smiling back at her.

“This…”

The shadow showed no surprise at being discovered. It merely continued to grin, its red eyes fixed directly on Feng Ling.

A tiny Corrosive Power factor drifted from afar, merging into the shadow. Then… the shadow spoke to the girl.

“Hello there, murderer.”

“…”

Feng Ling found herself unable to move. Black, viscous substances seeped from the shadow, steadily climbing up the girl’s body.

“Ah, I wanted to play a little longer, but there’s no time now. What a pity, because… your struggles are truly beautiful, truly beautiful.” The shadow’s tone conveyed regret, but the black, viscous substances did not halt their advance; they had already covered the girl’s face.

“Why…”

Suffocation and dizziness flooded the girl’s mind. The substance climbing her face filled her with nausea and terror.

She felt as though she had fallen into a swamp, helplessly reaching for reeds along the bank.

But… there were no reeds for her to grasp. No one would come to save her.

“Please, become my body! I will take your place in the magic academy. And then, I will find new toys! Ha, haha, hahaha!”

The shadow laughed, but the sound seemed so distant to her. Her consciousness was already blurring. How much longer could she hold on?

How ironic. In the end… could she not even achieve her dream? Was she merely a plaything of fate?

She lay still in the swamp, allowing herself to sink deeper and deeper.

The girl shed tears, she who had learned to be strong and solitary, now wept.

No matter what, she was still just a girl with a slightly mature mind.

“Brother…”

She didn’t know Mo Ya’s name, but in her most desperate moment, she thought of him. The girl cried out to Mo Ya for help.

“My apologies… I am not your brother.”

In the swamp, she hadn’t grasped the reeds. But… from the edge of the swamp, a pair of hands quietly reached out.