Chapter 967: As Long as the Calamity Witch Lives, We Shall Never Have Peace!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 967: As Long as the Calamity Witch Lives, We Shall Never Have Peace!
"What’s going on? Why did I crash?! I was in the middle of a duel! I’m still on the battlefield! My account! My gear! Noooo!"
"Damn it! Infinite Group’s games are absolute dogshit! I just managed to pick up a beautiful NPC, she’d already finished bathing, I was already lying in bed... Why was I force-logged?!"
As the Terminal of Myriad Worlds initiated a forced expulsion and self-check, the sudden shift in authority immediately sent shockwaves through several worlds under its control.
Mass disconnections and players being purged by World Wills occurred on a grand scale.
In less critical areas like the Land of Chaos and the Ground Fissure Settlement Zone, users couldn't even log into the games at all!
Most of the affected players were in the middle of critical tasks, but regardless of the circumstances, the account anomalies had already taken place.
If a character died or was killed during this period, the avatars that players had painstakingly raised, spent a fortune on, and ground their lives away for would be utterly lost. It was easy to foresee that for the foreseeable future, the virtual inboxes of the Game Architects would be flooded with complaints and compensation claims.
As for compensation?
Aside from a few well-connected individuals who might get processed, the majority would simply be ignored!
The players had no recourse against the Game Architects anyway. Even if a member of the Supreme Council was responsible for the mess, ordinary people had nowhere to seek justice.
Expose it on the network?
People living in "information cocoons," where news and public opinion were strictly controlled, had no access to recommendation algorithms or exposure. Those who spoke too aggressively would find their comments blocked before they could even be posted.
No path forward on the web, no door open in reality...
Such was the fate of those living in a game world under absolute control. Even if they died, their deaths were meaningless.
These were the future arrangements of the Supreme Council. Though they hadn't happened yet, the fate of those whose interests were being violated was already sealed.
At this moment, the members of the Supreme Council were still breaking out in cold sweats. They didn't even dare to show their true forms within the council chamber.
What had just happened was simply too terrifying. They had actually dared to appear before the Calamity Witch in the guise of players!
Though they realized after calming down that the Calamity Witch had likely used their Game Qualification—their Luck—as a medium to lock onto them, and that such a channel shouldn't exist within the virtual space...
But what if?
They sat in these positions of power; who among them didn't cherish their life?
Looking back, their mood was foul.
Their first contact with the Calamity Witch... might very well be their last.
They would certainly never approach her in that manner a second time.
Her attitude was far removed from their expectations, and the personality analysis from the Terminal of Myriad Worlds had already been generated.
The Calamity Witch was no longer suitable for direct contact. The only ones they could reach out to now were the Wizard Apprentices.
Just as they thought the incident had concluded with the Calamity Witch being purged from the Terminal of Myriad Worlds by the Supreme Authority, a piercing alarm echoed through the council hall once more.
"What happened now?! We risked our lives to buy time—did those idiots actually mess up a simple task like mobilizing authority?!"
With a roar of fury, one of the councilors deployed a holographic projection.
The screen displayed the recorded surveillance logs from within the Myriad Worlds Space.
However, the image was a mess of corruption...
Frowning, several members accessed their permissions and rewound the footage to the moment they had made their undignified exit from the space.
Watching their own pathetic flight from a third-person perspective, the councilors involved acted as if nothing had happened, while the one controlling the playback decisively cut that segment out.
The screen then showed the Calamity Witch, standing alone.
Under the pressure of the Supreme Authority, the Calamity Witch seemed to use some special means to resist and remain for a brief moment.
Then, a nearly blurred spell array flickered, and the entire screen turned hazy.
"This... what is happening?"
"A Witch... a Witch is in our virtual space! How can she cast spells?! This isn't scientific!"
"How is spellcasting possible inside the Terminal of Myriad Worlds? This is fake! It has to be!"
But no matter how they denied it, the reality had already unfolded.
In the short time they spent hesitating, a violent upheaval occurred at the headquarters of the Terminal of Myriad Worlds!
A crescent moon of blade light, like a rift tearing through space, shattered the virtual pixels and sliced through the overcast sky!
Influenced by the Infinite Energy Perpetual Motion Machine, the skies above the Terminal headquarters were perpetually shrouded in dark clouds. That celestial-altering creation was now carved open by a single stroke of a blade.
A long-lost glimmer of light briefly touched the gloom-shrouded earth. Once the blade light broke through, the luxury of sunlight was slowly obscured once more.
In the fractured sky, countless virtual pixels tumbled down. It wasn't the spiderweb cracks of shattered Undying Glass, but a jagged breach composed of irregular pixel clusters.
The concept of virtual space was much like the material space built upon the void and the worlds; it existed truly, yet was abstract enough to be nearly imperceptible.
With this single strike, the arrogant confidence of the game world was severed, and their self-proclaimed invincibility was cut away.
They had immersed themselves in the security of their virtual constructs, never imagining anyone could breach the defenses they had built.
By the time this day truly arrived, it was already too late.
The Calamity Witch’s strike was a collision of Order, slashing directly into the "Expulsion" and "Self-check" protocols.
In a clash of Absolute Order, there was no room for mere permissions to stand.
From that moment on, the control that the Game Architects and Supreme Councilors held over the forced expulsion and terminal self-check authorities dropped significantly.
The Supreme Council did not dare—and could not afford—to publicize this battle. If it leaked, it would be equivalent to cheering for the Calamity Witch.
However, they weren't the only ones who knew of this confrontation.
Hacker teams composed of resistance forces from across the globe had witnessed this miracle!
Even though they were eventually purged by the Supreme Authority, it wouldn't be long before the information leaked out.
Something this severe happening at the Terminal of Myriad Worlds headquarters was impossible to suppress. Hackers specialized in breaking through information cocoons to find the data they needed.
Moreover, it wouldn't be long before they realized that the Terminal's power to expel them had weakened significantly, which would naturally lead them back to this event.
As for the weakening of the self-check capability, the Supreme Council absolutely could not let outsiders know.
The Terminal of Myriad Worlds had existed for so long that the techniques for its maintenance had gradually withered. The fact that it still functioned today was largely due to the terminal's self-check and auto-maintenance systems.
Faced with such an overwhelming defeat, while the councilors were debating how to respond, the doors to the council hall were kicked open.
"Who?! Who gave you permission to destroy the doors of the Supreme Council!"
"Still calling it the 'Supreme Council'? It seems you haven't realized exactly what kind of enemy you're facing." Several figures walked through the violently breached doorway.
They wore grey wizard robes that concealed bodies made grotesque by magical modifications, their faces hidden in the deep shadows of their hoods.
"With that sight hanging over your headquarters, I'm surprised you can still sit still. How was your first contact with the Witch... not very pleasant, was it?"
"How do you know so quickly? Are you spying on us?" several councilors, still in their player avatars, demanded angrily.
Events in the virtual space shouldn't have been exposed so fast, unless... these Wizards had other means of surveillance, or had even infiltrated the interior of the Terminal of Myriad Worlds!
"That isn't the point. The point is... you've been marked by that Calamity Witch. Your methods were completely countered by her. This was the equivalent of her slapping you across the face. Can you really stomach this?"
"Hmph! Do you Wizards think you could have withstood that strike?!" The councilors didn't back down.
"You said it yourselves—that technique has reached the Transcendent level. You aren't Transcendent Wizards, are you?"
"We are indeed not Transcendent Wizards, but our arrival represents the Wizard Will!"
"Wizard Will... we fail to see what's so great about it. Can that thing make your hunched bodies unleash an attack as powerful as that Witch's?"
"A Wizard's greatest strength is our wisdom! The body is merely a vessel to sustain the continuation of a Wizard's life," one of the Wizards replied with irritation.
His tone was a mix of anger and disdain, mocking these people for lacking even the capacity to recognize the greatness of Wizards.
"The Calamity Witch's power has indeed exceeded our imagination, but she merely used a clever trick to seize Transcendent power. I don't believe she can use such power without paying a price, and it's even more impossible for her to use it repeatedly..."
"Enough talk. Do you actually have a way to kill that Calamity Witch? As long as she remains in our world for even one day, we shall never have peace!"
When the impatient councilor cut through the meaningless rhetoric and struck at the heart of the matter, both the councilors and the Wizards fell silent.
Kill the Calamity Witch...
That was the one thing the Supreme Councilors wanted most right now. Her threat was simply too great.
With just a few moves, she had left them exhausted and struggling to cope.
They had to take this seriously; they could no longer lump the Calamity Witch in with the other Outsiders.
On the other side, the Wizard Apprentices had received direct orders from the Main World Wizard Transcendent Academy: use any means necessary to utterly exterminate this little Witch.
And it had to be the kind of death that even a Resurrection Spell could not undo.
These Wizards were not apprentices from the Main World, but rather those brought by the Wizard Void Caravan to coordinate with the Main World Wizard Academy's plans.
Though it was a grueling task, Wizards did not fear such things. They lived by the Rule of Equivalent Exchange. The merit accumulated from this mission, including the rewards from Transcendent Wizards afterward, would be exceptionally generous.
This accumulation, combined with their existing savings, might even be enough for them to promote to the Transcendent level and establish their own unique Wizard Towers!
If they could kill this little Witch, they would receive an incredibly massive extra bounty. There were even rumors that after killing her, they would be allowed to build their Wizard Towers within the Main World Wizard Academy!
Building a Wizard Tower within the Academy came with institutional support and systematic infrastructure, making it far more convenient than building one in isolation. How could they refuse?
For a Wizard, resources were never enough. One saved wherever one could.
Thus, at this moment, the goals of the Wizard Apprentices and the Supreme Councilors were aligned.
Due to certain accidents in the Main World, [Transcendent Knowledge] could not be used to trade for the "Terminal of Myriad Worlds," the foundation of the game world. That matter had to be shelved for now, but killing the Calamity Witch was a matter of extreme urgency.
"If the opponent were a Transcendent Witch, we apprentices would naturally not dare to covet her life. But she is merely a little Witch who has, at most, mastered some Transcendent-level power. We Wizards naturally have the means to slay her."
"You sound so hesitant. You don't have any certainty, do you?"
"We are Wizards! We fight with our brains. The opponent's methods are terrifying; only a fool would meet her head-on. What we want is to kill her, not to defeat her in a fair fight..."
"So you're saying you have a plan?"
"As far as I know, that Calamity Witch ambushed dozens of Outsiders, making it so that no one dares to set foot in Igesuo Surface City. We can similarly lure her into a trap we've prepared for her," the Wizard Apprentice side stated.
"Would that Witch believe you? She won't even step out of Igesuo Surface City. How will you ambush her?"
"Doesn't the Calamity Witch want to take the Real Protection Association for her own? She wants that branch to be completely loyal. There is one person she absolutely must meet."
"The spiritual leader of the Real Protection Association... Monroe?" the councilors asked, frowning.
But Monroe had already escaped their capture. How could he possibly work for them now?
He was the spiritual leader of a resistance force! How could such a man sell out the organization behind him?
"Correct—Monroe. It's just as you say; his influence on the Real Protection Association is vast and deep. No matter what means the Calamity Witch used to take over that branch, she must resolve the issue of him."
"How can you guarantee he will work for you?"
"Hehe... guess how he managed to escape from such a heavily guarded place of yours. No matter what he is, he cannot escape the fact that he is just an ordinary person. Under the great power we displayed, he has already thrown himself into the embrace of the Wizard Will!"
"It was your doing?! You want to control the Real Protection Association too?"
"That was the original plan. After all, your wavering attitude forced us to make secondary preparations. But now... since you have no other choice, there's no need to hide it anymore."
The Wizards felt no remorse for what they had done; it was merely a necessary measure.
"You... have more than just 'secondary' preparations, don't you?"
"That is not for you to worry about. Remember! Right now, you are the ones who need our help!"