Chapter 752: The Deeds of the Rebel Witches
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 752: The Deeds of the Rebel Witches
I watched Mentor Sheryl depart, only then allowing myself a quiet sigh of relief.
I didn't particularly like this mentor—and not just because she was a Rebel Witch. It was her abrupt visit and the manner in which she conducted it.
On the surface, she had brought a gift as an apology, but the item she gave me was useless. More importantly, the sensation my Sixth Sense, Heart Sense, picked up from her was deeply unsettling.
Heart Sense is a channel for perception and understanding, yet even with it, I couldn't distinguish her intent as good or evil. She felt like a patch of pure chaos—a sensation no other Transcendent Witch had ever given me.
Beyond that, there was the sheer audacity of showing up unannounced, especially when she was intruding upon a private territory!
But now that she was gone, there was no point in dwelling on it; it would only breed unnecessary negative emotions.
Thinking back... just like our first meeting, she asked a few strange questions and then left of her own accord. It was like a psychological test, as if she were trying to probe some fundamental part of my nature. It made my own responses to her sound utterly ridiculous in hindsight.
I’m still too immature... I thought, reflecting on the latter half of our conversation.
Even my emotions had been affected. Looking back, it was likely the result of her deliberate guidance—perhaps some technique to amplify emotions.
I leaned back, sinking lazily into the sofa and adjusting myself into the most comfortable position possible. This helped in soothing and releasing my pent-up feelings.
"Forget it. I won't go looking for Sister Bai in person. I'll just contact her directly..." I muttered to myself.
A spell projection flickered into existence before me. With practiced movements, I quickly navigated to Sister Bai’s communication page.
A moment later, the connection went through, and Sister Bai’s image appeared.
"Xiao Han~ Why the sudden call? Did something happen?" Sister Bai looked a bit surprised that I was contacting her at this hour. She was currently at the Body Cultivation room; in the background, I could see the familiar faces of several other Body Cultivation Witches.
"Mhm, something did happen. Sister Bai, do you know a Rebel Witch named Sheryl? She just showed up at your villa out of nowhere... I was so startled..."
"What?"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Sister Bai tore through space. In a single stride, she vanished from the screen and stepped directly into the villa.
"Eh?" I looked up at Sister Bai, who had suddenly materialized in the room, my face a mask of pure shock. "Sister Bai, you’re back already?!"
"Yes. Where is that Rebel Witch?" Sister Bai demanded immediately. Her eyes swept the room, and her nose twitched slightly, as if she could already scent the lingering trace of the visitor.
With a soft huff, she swept her hand, cleansing the air of even that faint residue.
"She already left..."
"Left, has she..." Sister Bai didn't seem surprised by the outcome. Nor did she regret her impulsive return; for someone who wielded Transcendent power, such a trip was trivial.
"Yes. Before she left, she just asked some weird questions," I added. "Sister Bai, you came back in such a hurry... do you know that Rebel Witch, Sheryl?"
"We’ve met a few times. Xiao Han, if this happens again, contact me immediately. It’s best if you aren't alone with her." Sister Bai’s expression turned uncharacteristically solemn, a sharp contrast to her usual gentle and easygoing demeanor.
"Is she... very dangerous?" I asked tentatively.
"All Rebel Witches are dangerous. Especially for a Little Witch like you—you can't handle their 'tinkering.' That’s what Dean Mei told me," Sister Bai said.
Her tone carried a heavy note of wariness, as if she felt that beings like Rebel Witches shouldn't even exist in a place like the Main World.
"Dean Mei told you that?" I asked, puzzled.
I remembered Dean Mei describing the Rebel Witches to me as an organization dedicated to hunting down Betrayer Rebel Witches. Though they were "rebellious" by nature, they were a group recognized by the Primal Witches. They even had their own dedicated Rebel Witch Project, which was a sub-project under the Great Witch Projects.
However, the perception from my Heart Sense didn't lie. I trusted Dean Mei’s account, and I trusted my own judgment, but those were just perspectives from a certain angle.
Unless the opponent was also a Body Cultivation powerhouse with Heart Sense, they shouldn't be able to interfere with my perception unless there was a massive gap in our Transcendent levels.
"In a manner of speaking. Did Dean Mei talk to you about them as well?"
"Yes. But the way Dean Mei described them... they didn't sound that bad."
"I’ve looked into the Rebel Witch Project myself," Sister Bai said. Ever since Sheryl had first made contact with her, she had researched the concept and consulted with Dean Mei more than once. "The Rebel Witches aren't 'bad' per se. Or rather, their existence is beneficial to the Witch race as a whole. But it ends there. Any romanticization of Rebel Witches only holds up as long as you haven't actually dealt with them."
"So, they’re like... admonishers? The type that damages the interests of individual witches to serve as a warning to the rest?"
"That’s one way to put it... but it’s not entirely accurate." Sister Bai sighed, then spoke again. "Let me explain with an example and a little story."
"Okay." I nodded quickly, settling in to listen.
"I saw this while digging through the archives. Xiao Han, you know there are many Witch Academies in the Void, right? Those are academies established by witches for the purpose of Witch Transformation," Sister Bai explained. "The threshold for establishing a Witch Academy is actually quite low. You only need one Transcendent Witch to act as a guarantor and register the intent with the Primal Witches."
"I knew there were many academies in the Void, but I had no idea the threshold was that low. Just one Transcendent Witch?" I said, surprised.
"Yes. If we're talking about the bare minimum to start one, one is enough. Though usually, they are founded by a group of witches—the original Deans."
"So, the gap between the strongest and weakest Witch Academies is actually enormous. Our Main World Witch Academy is already considered a massive, open institution... but I’m getting off track. Let’s talk about those academies built on the frontiers of Void expansion."
"Sure~ So, what happened there?" I asked curiously.
"The systems in the frontier academies are very different from the Main World. Most of the students they take in come from wandering races within that sector of the Void. And why are those lifeforms wandering? Because their worlds were destroyed during the witches' expansion into the Void."
"I see..." This reminded me of what Dean Mei had said about the systematic production of Dungeon Worlds. Those dungeons were likely the original homes of those beings.
With that kind of hatred, could those beings truly be transformed into witches?
"It’s strange, isn't it? Xiao Han, you’re probably thinking: if the witches caused all this, how can a race burdened with such hatred be transformed into Transcendent Witches?" Sister Bai asked with a smile.
"Yes." I nodded. It was indeed baffling.
"In reality, the transformation rate for Transcendent Witches in those frontier academies is extremely low. They rely entirely on sheer numbers. And the witches who do successfully transform are exactly as you imagined—they carry a deep-seated hatred for witches."
"Eh?"
"But that hatred is redirected because of the racial submission inherent in the Witchification process." Sister Bai took a deep breath. "According to the records, the Rebel Witch Project exists partly to transform this specific type of witch. They feel a sense of belonging to the Witch race, yet their hearts are filled with hatred and extreme emotions. Since the Primal Witches still recognize their status as witches, that hatred is forged into a force of extreme 'whipping'—a brutal stimulus for the Witch race itself."
"Hatred turned into a stimulus... so that 'whipping' can sometimes be a bit excessive, right?" I interjected.
"You could say that... but it’s not 'sometimes.' They are excessive all the time," Sister Bai said gravely. "So, now that you have the background, the story can officially begin."
"Right, the story." I nodded eagerly. In such a dark setting, what exactly would a Rebel Witch do?
"Void expansion is often a matter of luck. You never know if you’ll encounter a Small World or a Large World. More often than not, you find World Prototypes that aren't even Small Worlds yet. This story took place at a Witch Academy established in the Void. They discovered a cluster of worlds belonging to a Large World they had never seen before."
"And then?"
"They realized that a single Witch Academy couldn't swallow a Large World and its surrounding cluster alone. So, they teamed up with several nearby Transcendent academies to launch a joint World Expedition."
"Wait, are Witch Academies that densely packed in the Void? They can actually join forces?" I asked.
"I’m not sure; I’ve never been to the frontier. But... it’s certainly more brutal there than you can imagine." As she spoke, Bai Yu thought of Miao and He in her office. They seemed to have graduated from such academies. Even if they weren't from the absolute front lines, they certainly didn't come from a peaceful world like the Main World.
"This World Expedition lasted for over a hundred years. Sounds like a long time, right?"
"Yes. An ordinary person might not even live that long," I agreed.
"But that’s just a snapshot of a Transcendent race’s war in the Void. It wasn't just a war; it was an invasion of a world and a civilization. It wasn't just the attrition of war and lives, but the invasion and assimilation of cultures and ethnic groups."
"As time went on, more Transcendent academies joined the invasion. Their numbers reached over twenty, yet the war remained a grinding stalemate."
"Huh? Why?" I was confused. It felt like the outcome should have been different.
"Xiao Han, this is an old story. You can't judge it by the scale of our Main World Witch Academy, nor by the current influence of the Witch race. Furthermore, that Large World cluster belonged to an Elven race that had successfully ascended to a Transcendent Race. They had an Elven Royalty that could directly conceive and give birth to Transcendents."
The concept of a "Transcendent Race" refers to a group capable of reproducing Transcendents among themselves, passing down a Transcendent bloodline. Many groups that aren't Transcendent Races still have Transcendent individuals, but for various reasons, they cannot produce "born Transcendent" offspring. Thus, they don't qualify.
Being able to birth "born Transcendent" children is the mark of a recognized Transcendent Race. The more such a race develops, the deeper its foundation becomes. Even Transcendent Races need time to grow.
Thus, there are tiers even among Transcendent Races.
"Okay~ Please continue, Sister Bai. What happened next? When do the Rebel Witches show up?" I asked.
"The Rebel Witches... weren't they there from the beginning?" Sister Bai said. "The main force of Void expansion and expeditions is the Rebel Witches. Only by constantly redirecting that hatred toward other races can those witches find a reason to exist. Xiao Han, not every witch is as carefree as those in the Main World."
"I see... so not everything a Rebel Witch does is harmful to witches, right?"
"From a racial perspective, yes. It’s just that their methods aren't acceptable to all witches," Sister Bai explained. "Actually, the frontier academies weren't always this savage. Originally, the goal was to discover new worlds and develop them through cooperation, assimilating them so they could become sisters."
"It was only after the Rebel Witches started their MO—destroying the world first and then taking in the refugees—that the witches' infamy began to spread. But it was also because of this approach that many academies gained a massive influx of prospective students and 'cannon fodder' to invade more worlds. The pace of Void expansion skyrocketed, and the circulation of Dungeon Worlds increased."
"..."
"Back to the Elven world cluster. Those twenty-plus Witch Academies were dragged into a quagmire by the Transcendent Elves. The Elves hoped the witches would retreat; after all, war is a battle of resources. The Elves had an entire cluster of worlds, while the witches only had their man-made academies. Naturally, the witches couldn't win a war of attrition."
"But they were disappointed?"
"Yes." Sister Bai nodded. "The intelligence that the witches couldn't afford the attrition was true, but it was the Rebel Witches who leaked it. On the front lines, the servant armies led by the Rebel Witches feigned weakness, luring the Elves into a massive counter-offensive. They used over a dozen Witch Academies as bait, allowing them to be destroyed along with the Elven main force. Meanwhile, the Rebel Witches infiltrated the Core World of the cluster to carry out a decapitation strike against the Elven Royalty."
"Wait... what? They used over a dozen Transcendent academies as bait?" I asked immediately.
"Literally. They abandoned and betrayed their fellow Transcendent Witches. They used those academies—including the ones they controlled themselves—as a sacrifice to pin down the main army. They made the Elven Royalty believe the witches would fall back to defend, but in reality, they were busy assassinating the royals in the Core World."
"What... what was the point of that?!" I asked, utterly baffled.
"Exactly. What was the point? We don't understand because we aren't Rebel Witches," Sister Bai said, shaking her head. "But do you know what the witches ultimately lost and what they gained?"
"I don't..." I shook my head.
"The expedition was a total victory. The Witch race gained a Large World cluster, established even larger academies, and obtained the precious bloodline of the Elven Royalty. This led to the birth of powerful Elven Witch branches with unique bloodlines. They mastered rare Elven racial transformation and summoning arts that the Elves had claimed could never be stolen..."
"They also plundered the Elves' racial foundation—their very essence: Elven Magic. They integrated it into the Transcendent Witch spellbook system. Otherwise... where do you think the Elven Magic category in our spellbooks came from, and how did it develop?"
"...And the cost?"
"The cost was... countless casualties. Over a dozen Witch Academies were wiped out. It sounds horrific, but..." Sister Bai sighed, yet continued. "But the loss of Transcendent Witches was minimal. Those who died were mostly Pre-Witches and servant armies... Their deaths aren't counted as losses to the Witch race itself. So, it was seen as a nearly 'lossless' victory. It’s just that the methods were so brutal that many witches find them impossible to accept. That is how Rebel Witches operate, and that’s only how they act in external wars."
"So... there are internal methods too?" It took me a long time to wrap my head around the Rebel Witches' logic.
Even if those who died were Pre-Witches, they were still people. This way of thinking was far more extreme than that of the witches in the Main World. At least the witches here treated the people of the Main World as human beings and were willing to maintain a peaceful social order.
"Yes. There are internal methods as well. For the ancient, conservative witches; for the new generation of young witches; for the 'seed' witches who haven't yet ascended to Transcendence... the Rebel Witches have their own judgments, their own tests, and their own codes of conduct."