Chapter 799: The Rebel Witch’s Interference
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 799: The Rebel Witch’s Interference
“Mei Lind, you’ve crossed the line this time.”
After the descending consciousnesses of the wizards were easily suppressed by Mei Lind, a voice tinged with suppressed fury echoed over Monopeng City.
“You’ve wised up, haven't you? Not a single one of you dared to descend in your true body. Or do you honestly think I’m incapable of dragging you out of your Wizard Towers myself?” Mei Lind huffed, ignoring the accusation. Instead, she maintained her grip on the wizard consciousnesses she had imprisoned beside her.
If these wizards were willing to abandon these manifested clones, Mei Lind wouldn't be able to do much to them—unless she actually followed through on her threat to hunt them down at their towers.
But these wizards couldn't bring themselves to do it.
These were no ordinary clones. If they were destroyed, the wizards themselves would suffer a massive spell backlash and incur irreparable losses to their power. Compared to the death of their main bodies, losing these clones was merely a way to keep their lives, but the cost was still staggering.
“If you want a Witch to come over alone, then by all means, try it.”
“Pfft… You actually have the nerve to say that?”
Mei Lind was almost amused by the absurdity. She wasn't foolish enough to fall for such a provocation. If not for the current situation, she would have gone over there just to slap the speaker before leaving. However, the circumstances didn't allow for such impulsiveness. Moreover, as a Dean, she had to be responsible for her mentors and students.
“Hmph! If you’re afraid, just say so.” The wizard’s side continued to talk tough. If one hadn't heard his previous words, they might have actually thought he was formidable.
“Since you, Mei Lind, have come in person, our Wizard Academy will give you this face. But now—immediately, right this instant! Take your precious students and mentors and get out!”
Ultimately, after barking out those harsh words, the Wizard Academy offered a graceful exit. This was, for now, the best possible conclusion for both sides.
“You’re asking the impossible. A Witch’s advancement ritual isn't something you can just stop or move on a whim.”
Mei Lind’s gaze remained fixed on the young girl whose body was currently radiating unstable energy.
Those traits were unmistakably the signs of someone who had just ascended to Transcendent status. The Transcendent pressure was still fluctuating—a clear sign that her consciousness or heart had not yet finished its metamorphosis and gained full control.
A normal Witch advancement shouldn't be this troublesome, nor should it cause such a massive disturbance.
Thinking of this, Mei Lind glanced at Bai Yu. The girl beside her was a classic example—she had ascended to Transcendent in an expansion realm without making a single sound.
Therefore, the unconscious girl’s path to Transcendent must have been of the particularly tortuous variety.
Given the situation, Mei Lind wanted to take the offered exit, but reality simply wouldn't allow it.
“What do you mean? Do you intend to keep occupying this place and causing more trouble?!”
“Is it so much to ask to borrow the place for a bit? Once the child finishes her advancement, we’ll leave. What is there to be worried about?”
“You make it sound so simple…” The wizards were practically exploding with rage. What else was there to say?
Not worried?
Just having these Witches here was a disaster!
They had to keep their eyes on them every second. It was like someone walking down the street carrying a three-meter-long blade saying they were just taking a stroll—no sane person would believe them.
“Since you don't think it’s simple, let me give you something else to do.” Mei Lind knew the situation wouldn't settle as long as she just stood there, so she decided to shift the topic. She gestured toward the imprisoned wizard consciousnesses. “Let’s talk about the ransom for these fellows.”
“Ransom?”
At the mention of that word, even without seeing the wizard’s true body, everyone present could practically visualize the veins popping on his forehead.
“Mei Lind! Get your facts straight! Your Witches came to our territory to run wild and cause chaos, you captured our wizards on our own turf, and you’re asking me for ransom?!”
“You’ve got the order wrong. Your Transcendent wizards attacked our students and teaching assistants first, and our Witch mentors merely fought back! If your Transcendents hadn't interfered, this would have remained a minor squabble between students or even ordinary people!”
Mei Lind completely ignored his protests, doubling down on the claim that the Transcendents had struck first. She was determined to set the narrative.
“Look for yourself! Does this look like a minor squabble? You caused such a massive commotion that you’ve nearly leveled Monopeng City! Do you have any idea how many resources it will take to rebuild?!”
“The commotion was caused by the internal strife of a Monopeng City family, wasn't it? Did you think I just arrived and don't know what happened?” Mei Lind activated the Ley Line Identification Art. The information from the ley lines manifested as a visual playback, leaving the wizards momentarily speechless.
“Our teaching assistants and mentors were merely visiting a former assistant who had been pressured into leaving. The families around your Wizard Academy certainly seem to hold a lot of power, don't they? To hunt down a former assistant, they mobilized the entire city’s Shi’an Bureau and armed forces. Aren't you afraid that one day these families might decide to tear down your Wizard Academy’s towers?”
Mei Lind’s tone was dripping with sarcasm, even though what she said was, to some extent, the truth.
Her final remark effectively pinned a label of incompetence on the secular family forces while simultaneously insulting the Wizard Academy. Even if the families could never actually pull down a tower, the Wizard Academy would certainly crack down on them now.
The Hawthorne family, having walked right into the line of fire, would undoubtedly be the first to be sacrificed.
Even if the Witches had technically instigated the event, the Wizard Academy was the one that had officially crossed the line in principle. After another round of arguing, the wizards were so frustrated by Mei Lind’s retorts that they were tempted to resort to violence.
But violence would be disastrous for both sides, so everyone remained restrained. That was the only reason they had been trading barbs for this long.
The final resolution was that the wizards captured by Mei Lind would have to pay their own ransoms to buy themselves back. If they didn't want to pay, they were free to commit suicide.
In short, every confrontation with Witches was an exhausting ordeal for them.
It was already a win that the Academy’s core interests hadn't been damaged this time. It was those wizards' own fault for acting on their own; if they had successfully killed the little Witch, it might have been worth it, but since they failed, they had to face the consequences!
Any grievances would have to be settled slowly once they got back.
All in all, the matter seemed to be ending this way—which was far better than the last time the Witch Academy had swindled them out of a World Fragment. Even though that fragment had been of the lowest value, the wizards still felt a pang of phantom pain whenever they thought about it.
I, who had stayed out of the argument the entire time, instinctively took a step back.
Ariel had reached the final stage of her Great Soul Subject—the sublimation of the soul. This was the step I was most interested in!
The formation of the soul!
This metamorphosis was directly related to the most critical part of my Soul Depiction technique.
As the fluctuations originating from her life essence grew increasingly violent, I knew that Ariel was gradually waking up from "her world." No, it would be more accurate to say she was "returning through rebirth!"
From this moment on, Ariel would bid farewell to her past self and become a brand-new Transcendent Witch!
Perhaps the family rumors were right for once—a Witch who ascends to Transcendent is no longer the same clanswoman she once was. But for Ariel to reach this point… wasn't it the family’s own doing?
“Soul sublimation… yes, that’s it…” I watched Ariel as she slowly began to stir, unable to stop myself from speaking aloud.
If I could just understand this process and summarize that soul sublimation ritual, it would be the final piece of the puzzle for my Soul Depiction technique!
However, the extreme pressure brought about by Ariel’s debut as a Transcendent also placed an immense burden on me.
Previously, the suppression had been between non-Transcendent life levels, which I could resist using my Body Cultivation power. But once it reached this qualitative Transcendent change, it felt like a dimensional strike from an entirely different level of existence!
Even as I fought back with my Body Cultivation power and domain order, Ariel’s uncontrolled, unintentional pressure caused me significant trouble.
At that moment, Sister Bai stepped in to shield me.
“Hmm? It’s you? I recognize you.” The first person Ariel saw as she regained consciousness was the person directly in front of her—me.
Though she had only spoken a single sentence, I realized that the Ariel before me was completely different from the one I knew. Every gesture and movement she made caused me to lose the confidence I once had to manipulate the course of her life at will.
This was Ariel’s most intuitive transformation—a fundamental shift in mindset and self-assurance. Being the target of her gaze, even briefly, made my entire body feel uneasy.
But when Ariel’s gaze shifted to Dean Mei and the Transcendent wizard consciousnesses she was confronting, she inevitably slipped back into her old perceptions for a moment.
Mostly, she felt a sense of displacement regarding the current situation.
“What… what happened?” Faced with such a complex scene, Ariel finally asked.
“Oh? You’re awake? Congratulations on becoming a member of the Witch family. If I remember correctly, your name is Ariel, right?” Mei Lind was delighted to see Ariel awake. At the very least, this meant they could leave immediately and stop bickering with the wizards.
“Don't worry about any of this for now. Just leave everything to me. Your Sister Mei is very reliable.” Mei Lind didn't mind showing off a bit in front of a new sister; she had even changed her self-address to "Sister Mei."
It had to be said, the sense of security provided by the Dean was absolute.
But just as every person and Witch thought the matter was settled, another accident occurred at the eleventh hour.
“Damn it… Mei Lind, what is your Witch Academy playing at?! You’re here distracting us while you sent another group of Witches to cause chaos at our Wizard Academy?!”
“What?”
Mei Lind, who had been preparing to escort Xiao Han away, was stunned by the wizard’s words.
This was truly something she hadn't anticipated.
“Speak clearly. We haven't done anything of the sort. Is your Wizard Academy looking for a fight that never ends?!” Mei Lind’s aura flared as she pushed back against the wizard.
However, seeing that the other party’s emotional outburst didn't seem faked, a bad feeling began to brew in Mei Lind’s heart.
“You bastards! It’s your Witches! Your Witches actually ran to our Wizard Academy to cause trouble! Are you trying to start an Academy War?!”
“I guarantee, in my name as the Dean of the Witch Academy, that I have arranged no plans to raid your Wizard Academy. Or do you think that at a time like this, our Witch Academy is the type to just act recklessly?” Mei Lind countered.
While the Witch Academy certainly didn't like these guys and had ambitions of driving them out of the Main World, now was definitely not the time to create unnecessary complications.
“Then who is this?!” The wizard angrily projected a magical image showing the current events at the Wizard Academy.
Setting aside the towering Wizard Towers and the ring-shaped academy structure, a female figure was clearly visible in the center of the frame.
More than one person present recognized that figure. Even I knew exactly who she was.
It was the Rebel Witch currently loitering around the Witch Academy—Sheryl.
“It’s her?” Seeing that figure, even Mei Lind lost her previous confidence, leaving only a massive headache.
“I knew you’d recognize her!”
“I do recognize her, but I must state one thing: that person is not a Witch of our Witch Academy.”
“Who the hell are you trying to fool?! You just admitted she’s a Witch! How could she not be from your academy?!” The Transcendent wizard was practically fuming. This was no longer just a matter of being played.
Did they really think the Wizard Academy had no temper?!
“She is a Rebel Witch. You know what Rebel Witches are like, don't you? That woman doesn't even listen to me. She’s a headache for me too.”
“What?! A Rebel Witch?” Hearing that title, the wizard’s breath hitched, and he forcibly stifled his previous rage.
“ I don't care! Get this plague of a Witch out of there!” The wizard’s expression flickered through a dozen emotions—conflict, fury, desperation—before he finally took his frustration out on Mei Lind again.
He knew he had to drag the Witch Academy into this mess. Otherwise, despite Mei Lind’s look of helplessness, she was probably laughing her head off inside!
The Rebel Witch was ravaging their Wizard Academy!
“If you don't go and get rid of her, we will declare an Academy War! If we have to, we’ll go down together!”
“Calm down. The Main World has been peaceful for so long; do we really have to take it that far?” Mei Lind quickly tried to soothe him. Now was not the time to flip the table. “Rebel Witches act erratically; they don't even care about their fellow Witches. How about this… I will accompany you to the Wizard Academy to resolve this. How does that sound?”
“…Fine.”
The wizard gritted his teeth and squeezed out the word. But even then, he seemed to think of something and added, “But before that, we must sign a Non-Aggression Witch Contract! God knows if you two are in cahoots…”
“Fine… It’s your time you’re wasting anyway. You draft the contract. I’ll send my student back first.”
“No! You can send a clone at most. Your main body must stay here, or I’m afraid you’ll just run off and leave us with the mess!”