Chapter 1099: Is It Strange for Me to Be Here?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1099: Is It Strange for Me to Be Here?
Following the Holy Angel's proposal, the Elves gave their tacit consent, and the Wizards offered no objection. If the Witch Academy’s 4th Combat Sequence did not wish to be isolated, accepting the proposal was their best option.
The Afuhemi Forest Elves compromised because they wanted to establish their right to speak as quickly as possible. Taking advantage of the fact that the Witch Academy’s primary forces had not yet fully assembled, they aimed to proactively seize the other side of the passage.
The Elves were so eager because they believed they held the home-field advantage. They were confident that the Afuhemi Academy’s main force would arrive much faster than the Witch Academy’s.
More importantly... they knew that the primary race within the world on the other side was also Elven.
According to their mentors:
The Afuhemi Forest Elf Transcendent Race possessed bloodline suppression and affinity over any other Elven race.
Such was the confidence of a Transcendent Race.
In the Void, where strength was king, a Transcendent Race represented absolute hegemony. The allure emanating from a Transcendent Race would naturally attract lesser races to submit. This was a bloodline instinct rooted in the very concept of their race.
Therefore, as long as the Afuhemi Academy side made contact with those Elven communities immediately upon entry, they would essentially hold more than half the power in that world.
With the situation at a stalemate, the various parties reached a tactical consensus with the shared goal of "first exterminating the Abyssal Demons."
For some reason, all four Transcendent Academies tacitly avoided mentioning a Witch Contract. Even though the constraints of a Witch Contract would have been the safest choice, no one brought it up.
The crowd looked toward the rift in the sky. Directly beneath it remained the "Heaven-Ascending Skeleton" abandoned by the Abyssal Demons.
Most demons hatched from Demon Eggs were flightless; only the Winged Lesser Demons, evolved through multiple cycles of cannibalism, could glide. Thus, the majority of the demons had used the most primitive method of "human ladders." Looking from a distance, the flesh and bone—utilized to their absolute limit—had formed a conical, tower-like pillar.
Parts that still retained a flicker of vitality twitched slightly, lending a grotesque "vibrancy" to this spent tower of husks.
"What a filthy creation..."
The Holy Angel was the first to frown at the sight, immediately stepping forward to purify the creation that so profaned life. The others did not stop him; after all, having such a thing standing there was indeed a drain on one's sanity.
Under the holy flames, the bone ladder turned to ash. At least now, it was out of sight and out of mind.
"Then... from here on, it’s every race for themselves."
It was the Holy Angel who spoke. When it came to flight, the Holy Angel race had the least to worry about; the wings on their backs were not mere ornaments.
Next were the Witches. Setting aside their mastery of flight spells, a flying broom was essentially standard equipment for a Witch. For members of a Combat Sequence in particular, being able to ride a broom was the bare minimum requirement; they usually carried more than one spare in their storage equipment.
The Wizards and Elves had to rely on their own respective methods. The Elves at least had Elven Magic, though not every Elf possessed it. For instance, very few Dark Elves mastered flight, but the Afuhemi Forest Elves, relying on their affinity for nature, could lift themselves with wind magic without any pressure.
In just a few moments, the four Transcendent Races used their various means to take to the sky, heading straight for the Void Rift torn into the firmament.
It seemed that after the incursion by the Abyssal Demons, the rift had been torn much wider than before. The opening, which had previously been a void, now seemed to reflect the landscape of another world.
Dolores led her group, charging at the very front with a complex expression. She watched the Void Rift passage, which looked like a pool of water, and plunged through.
Heaven and earth inverted; the scenery changed instantly.
The reversal of gravity brought a brief moment of discomfort to everyone. The upward momentum of their flight was suddenly converted into the acceleration of a free fall.
Within seconds, the group landed.
A few unlucky guys ended up landing on their heads, drawing looks of disdain from those around them. But in this moment, no one cared about such blunders.
They realized that the world they had arrived in was not quite what they had expected.
The Emerald Forest should have been a world of lush, verdant trees, but beneath their feet... was scorched earth!
The heat in the air made even breathing feel agonizingly uncomfortable for their lungs. The Abyssal Demons they were supposed to be chasing were nowhere to be seen. The only thing they could perceive was the smell of char in the air and the brittle skeletons on the ground, incinerated by intense fire.
Looking further into the distance...
Two figures stood abruptly upon this ashen land.
One of them had long, silver-white hair and held a thick book in her hands. Just by standing there, she seemed to tell everyone... that she was terrifyingly strong!
Everyone stood frozen as if struck by lightning. The mere physical characteristics of that figure instantly triggered the deepest fears in the hearts of some!
"You... you, you! Why are you here?!"
The Holy Angel leader standing at the front did his best to control his trembling body as he shouted the question everyone was thinking. The Holy Angel leader, who had just been articulately proposing a joint front against the demons, was now reduced to a stuttering mess.
He was one of the survivors of the Earth-Sun Tragedy.
"Why am I here... what kind of question is that?" I looked at the Holy Angel, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching the corners of my mouth. "I escorted the entire Emerald Forest world here myself. Is it strange for me to be here?"
As I finished speaking, many felt as if they had been plunged into an ice cellar. At that moment, they seemed to realize one thing: they had been walked into a trap! They had personally delivered themselves right in front of this Witch in another world!
The shadow of death seemed to instantly shroud everyone. They could never forget the contemptuous smile of this little Witch—more terrifying than any demon—when she had flown before them during the tragedy, delivering death in the next heartbeat.
In this moment of crisis, someone reacted, shouting as if grasping at a straw:
"No! Wait! People from your Witch Academy are here too!"
They were truly terrified that this little Witch would, at the slightest disagreement, reenact the Earth-Sun Tragedy in this world. At this moment, they were incredibly grateful they hadn't completely marginalized the Witch Academy. Had they known this person would get involved, they never would have rushed here to their deaths!
"I know~ Did your dull brains really think I only deal in indiscriminate destruction?" I gripped the Book in the Box floating in my palm, the corner of the book pointing toward the crowd. "What is the difference between power you cannot control and power that isn't yours?"
As I spoke, my Heart State Domain fully unfurled.
However, the unfurled domain did not feature the phantom of the Tree of Great Knowledge. This was my Life Clone. My Life Clone did not possess my Tree of Great Knowledge; its domain was a pure Heart State Domain derived from Body Cultivation Heart Sense.
If I controlled the Land of Fool's Dream, I could even use Spell Life for targeted kills. But without mastering that specific [Transcendent Knowledge], I had the knowledge of the technique but lacked the power to execute it.
Therefore, my most effective tool right now was my domain. A pure Body Cultivation domain!
Now that my Life Clone had shed those other methods, techniques, and spells, its power had returned to its purest form. When I looked only at Body Cultivation and my spellbook, I realized that many of the powers I possessed had incredible derivative potential.
Before anyone could react, my Time Sense had already locked onto everyone who wasn't from the Witch Academy. A complete domain constructed with Infinite Mana allowed me to develop an even more terrifying power for the Body Cultivation domain.
I could even replicate the effect Sister Bai once showed—weathering matter and even life into dust. But I didn't want to kill them just yet.
As I tilted the Book in the Box, the concepts of the Five Senses intercepted by the Heart Sense Domain manifested as physical force.
What is a domain? A domain is turning an ability into an Order.
Much like a Fireball Spell Domain: within that Order, any location can serve as the medium for a fireball's birth. A single thought creates fire; a single thought extinguishes an opponent's fire that lacks the backing of the domain's Order. That is the Fireball Spell Order.
So, by adding Body Cultivation Five Senses to the Mindscape Order, and using the massive power of Infinite Mana as the pillar of that Order, I could... distort their Five Senses!
In an instant.
They saw endless flames consuming heaven and earth.
They heard the crackling of fire searing flesh and the screams of those around them.
They felt the agony of flames roasting their skin.
They smelled the scorching heat as fire was sucked into their lungs.
They tasted the parched dryness of their bodies being evaporated.
But this was only the beginning. Once their endurance for these sensory distortions gave way to submission and fear, the stripping of their Five Senses would begin.
Amidst the extreme torture of sensory distortion, the stripping of their senses would actually feel like a mercy. Bit by bit, they were handing over everything—including the right to govern their own lives—to me.
Of everyone present, only the members of the 4th Combat Sequence stood dazed, watching this play out. They had no idea what was happening. There were no traces of spells, no visible magical effects, yet the people around them were collapsing as if being burned alive.
They howled in agony. Some, relying on what little logic and consciousness they had left, tried to pour water on themselves, but it did nothing. It was as if they were separated from the Witches by two different worlds.
the Witches stood dazed on the scorched earth.
The others were trapped in a world of raging infernos.
Eventually, their movements became purely instinctual, but their occasional stress responses made it look as though they had fallen into a nightmare from which they would never wake.
"If I remember correctly... you are the 4th Combat Sequence? And you are Dolores?"
At that moment, my voice rang out.
Even though Dolores was battle-hardened and possessed great mental fortitude, she could not remain calm in the face of such methods.
"Present! Yes... yes! Teaching Assistant Yang Yuehan!" Dolores answered almost instinctively, her unsteady tone betraying her inner tension.
"Just call me Teaching Assistant Xiao Han," I said with a wave of my hand, subsequently smoothing over her emotions.
In that instant, not just Dolores, but everyone else in the 4th Combat Sequence felt an invisible force subtly calming their hearts. Even though they had just witnessed something so horrific, they suddenly felt a strange sense of composure.
"Yes! Teaching Assistant Xiao Han!" Dolores quickly corrected herself, then asked again, "May I ask what your instructions are, Teaching Assistant Xiao Han?"
Before crossing worlds, Dolores knew that Teaching Assistant Xiao Han would be involved in the struggle for the Emerald Forest world, but she hadn't known when. It was only at the final moment before they crossed over that they received details from the United Club Headquarters.
Teaching Assistant Xiao Han would be there to meet them in the Emerald Forest world.
The moment they learned the truth, they understood why the United Club had been so indifferent toward the struggle for this world. It turned out that from the very beginning, someone had already secured the situation for them!
"Instructions? First, secure these fellows. We'll use them as bargaining chips later," I said, pointing to the figures on the ground.
Bargaining chips were far more valuable than pure resources.
Eventually, the United Club would inevitably build a World Passage at this rift. The Dark Elf territories, including the buffer zones bordering the Witch territories, would have to be brought under the Witches' sphere of influence. If they couldn't be traded for, then an Academy War would be declared; there was absolutely no room for negotiation on this matter.
Without my intervention, the Witch Academy would never have been able to monopolize the Emerald Forest world. And as it happened, I didn't want to monopolize it either.
This was a brand-new battlefield. Naturally, I had to give the other side a suitable reason to gain entry; otherwise, it would just be the Witch Academy entertaining itself. I wasn't some philanthropist looking to hand out benefits to the guys at the United Club.
My goal was to drag the three top academies into the fray. As the scope of the Emerald Forest world's involvement expanded, my first target was Afuhemi Academy.
Their Afuhemi World Tree was one of the most critical components of the Staff of World Destruction. It was also a vital medium for contacting the World Navel.
Plotting against Afuhemi Academy was perfectly logical.
Now, I just had to wait for the harvest from those Rebel Witch sisters outside the Main World. I wondered which unlucky soul would be caught. Once they were tossed into the Emerald Forest world, another Transcendent Academy could be dragged down with them. If luck was truly bad and the captive was an Elf from Afuhemi Academy, then the Elven faction would be completely mired in the Emerald Forest war.
Since I knew about the "Seed Migration Plan" of the three top races, it indirectly proved that the consensus on the "Transcendent Non-Interference" rule—dominated by the Witches—would become even more binding.
After all, everyone needed to buy time. Naturally, the threshold for tolerance would be raised.