【Outsider, you have stepped into the Time Corridor.】
【A message from the ancient god Father of Infinite Trees:】
【Fifth Epoch 5177, spring, Broken Islands, Lost Lake.】
【Event: The Witch who seeks eternal beauty.】
【Duration: thirty minutes (1/3).】
“Broken Islands? After the five continents of east, west, south, north, and central, this time, it’s on the sea?”
Xia De thought, somewhat surprised.
【You have gained additional information.】
【The figure of Father of Infinite Trees watches you.】
【The ancient god of Time gives you a trial.】
【Help mortals visit gods and learn the secret of eternal beauty.】
【Father of Infinite Trees will give you rewards: Ritual - moonlight water, Ritual - Sunlight Fire.】
“The reward this time is two rituals?”
Although he was a little surprised, past experience proved that any reward given by Father of Infinite Trees was very useful to Xia De, so even though it was a ritual, he was very happy:
“This time, the ancient god of Time has given Knowledge of the moon and the sun. I wonder what it will be next time.”
The familiar white mist around him had appeared more than once, and Xia De didn't think much about it. With an excited mood, he took a step forward.
The white mist silently receded to both sides, as if a grand curtain was opening. What was displayed in front of Xia De was the Great Lake under the night, and the thin mist lingering above the lake water.
“It’s night again?”
But looking closely at the night sky, the stars were covered by the mist, and even the moon became unusually hazy.
In front of him was the silent lake water in the night. In the center of the lake, he could vaguely see Lake Heart Island obscured by the mist. Looking back, there were low bushes and lush forests. However, there was also an abnormal mist in the bushes and woods. This mist was not particularly humid, but when inhaled into his lungs, Xia De felt his head getting a little fuzzy.
【There are ingredients in the mist that inhibit brain activity.】
“Is this mist a sedative?”
【A sedative with extraordinary power.】
The night was very deep, and there were no figures to be seen around. Although he was deep in the dense forest, he could not hear any insect sounds. On the contrary, strange rustling sounds were coming from the bushes behind him and rapidly approaching Xia De, who was standing on the shore. Xia De had no interest in knowing what it was, so he lifted his foot and walked into the lake:
“Walking on Water.”
This was a Miracle learned after absorbing the divinity hidden by the lord of the scarlet spiral in the golden pearl. Xia De had borrowed its power when he fought Joey Barton in death.
He successfully stepped onto the surface of Lost Lake and stood steadily on the lake water. But the next moment, an extreme chill surged from the soles of his feet to his entire body. Xia De froze there, only instinctively exhaling a breath.
Although the temperature here was close to midsummer, the breath he exhaled was white cold air.
Not only was his body frozen by the coldness coming from under the water, but even his soul felt sluggish. And as time went on, the cold air actually grew stronger and stronger, making Xia De feel as if he was about to be assimilated by the lake water:
“Sure enough, Lost Lake, like places such as Hope Town and Terror Castle, is not safe.”
The First Fire burning in his body tried its best to resist this strange coldness. The frozen Xia De barely lifted his leg and ran in the direction of Lake Heart Island. Each of his steps left a footprint-shaped thin ice on the lake surface, and the closer he got to Lake Heart Island, the more unbearable the coldness became:
“Raglai's Leap!”
Because he had prepared the casting materials in advance, he used the Miracle directly at this moment. But Xia De failed; this area actually prohibited spatial movement power:
“Transform into Red Butterfly!”
His entire being, in the mist on the lake water, scattered into a group of Red Butterfly. Butterflies emitting red glow and scattering red light spots flew above the water surface, naturally not touching the water. But the surrounding mist was not only a powerful sedative; Xia De, who had transformed into Red Butterfly, felt his consciousness assimilating with the Red Butterfly group in the dense fog in just a dozen seconds, so he had no choice but to transform back into human form.
He hurriedly ran a few steps forward, and when he felt the coldness becoming unbearable again, he transformed back into a swarm of butterflies.
As Xia De got closer to Lake Heart Island, he saw light in the mist. There was a not-so-conspicuous bonfire on the shore of Lake Heart Island, and the people by the bonfire also noticed a group of red-glowing butterflies flying towards them, and then saw the group of Red Butterfly transform into a tall figure in the mist, and the figure quickly transformed back into Red Butterfly:
“Someone else is here, help her.”
This was the language of the end of the fifth epoch, which Xia De had studied in his textbooks, but he was not particularly proficient.
As the clear female voice fell, a flying snake shot from the shore of Lake Heart Island towards Xia De, but Xia De quickly realized that it was a rope. The rope's flight completely defied basic physical rules, showing no tendency to fall. Unfortunately, after flying less than half the distance, it suddenly seemed to be pulled by an invisible force and quickly fell towards the water.
“Great Sin Chains!”
Xia De waved his hand forward, and the chains flying out of his sleeve also shot into the mist like flying snakes.
Just like the rope, the chains were also pushed towards the water shortly after flying out, but fortunately, the Great Sin Chains restrain all power, and that invisible force was also slightly affected, allowing the end of the chains to barely touch the end of the rope.
The Witch manipulating the rope on the shore of Lake Heart Island also seemed to understand the Miracle of Living Rope Trick. The front ends of the chains and the rope were tightly tied together with dazzling methods, and then a huge force came, the rope and chains simultaneously straightened, and Xia De instantly had both feet in the air, actually being directly pulled to the shore by that force.
“Oh~”
He stumbled from the water to the shore, kneeling down by the bonfire and shivering, reaching out to warm himself. If that rope hadn't appeared, he truly felt that he was about to be assimilated into water by that coldness. That feeling even made him almost touch the edge of the Ling Rune 【Water】.
“A man?”
While the pale-faced Xia De was warming himself, a voice beside him said, but then another voice retorted:
“Your Majesty, this should not be a man, otherwise how could the curse not take effect?”
“But it really looks like a man. Miss Teresa, Cerces should have taught you not to be misled by common sense... although the current situation is indeed very strange.”
The first voice that appeared said, this voice was also the one that said to help Xia De.
The Witch, referred to as “Your Majesty,” softly asked Xia De, whose heart was still beating violently, as if afraid her voice would scare him:
“Sir, since we saved you, would you mind introducing yourself?”
“Excuse me, I... I need a moment. What is beneath Lost Lake? Besides the cold, I can sense something even more terrifying.”
Only after speaking did he realize that the two Witches beside him probably wouldn't understand him, but he didn't expect the second voice, the lady referred to as “Miss Teresa,” to answer:
“There is more than one thing beneath Lost Lake. As long as you don't touch the water, they won't awaken. You are truly brave to dare to walk across the water.”
“If there was another way, I wouldn't have wanted to.”
Xia De's body temperature gradually returned to normal. He leaned on the ground, trying to stand up, while looking at his surroundings.
This was indeed the edge of Lake Heart Island. The island itself was not large, covered with low bushes, and even with the mist, he could almost see the whole picture at a glance.
In the center of the island was a dilapidated tower, a black obsidian building, which appeared even more abrupt in the dark night. Xia De only glanced at it before immediately shifting his gaze, and then gasped loudly again.
A great existence, an existence even “greater” than this island, this lake, and this overseas jungle, was in the tower. That was a true god. He could definitely sense the few people by the lake, but He had no ill will towards them, so He should be a benevolent god.
Looking at the Witches around him, Xia De was very surprised to find that there were not just two Witches by the bonfire, but eight ladies.
However, except for two of them, the other six were all dressed in black and white maid outfits.
They were doing their own things with their heads down, either maintaining the bonfire, or using their power to dispel the white mist, or setting up rituals to guard against danger.
And the two Witches who were not wearing maid dresses, the two ladies who were talking to Xia De, were both looking at Xia De cautiously.
The Witch referred to as “Your Majesty” stood closest to Xia De. Xia De knew with just one glance that this was another Thirteenth-Order Witch.
She wore a purple robe, and her wavy long hair fell behind her to her waist. She wore three gem alchemy rings on each hand, and a pointed hat adorned with white, black, and pink crushed diamonds on her head.
Her eyes were brown, with sparkling specks of light in her pupils. Seeing her beautiful face, Xia De was stunned, but immediately adjusted his expression and said very respectfully:
“Thank you for saving me. I think if it had been one second later, I might have truly been lost in the lake.”
“Although your power is not strong, you are truly brave. We also only used a special method to directly open a door to Lake Heart Island in Lost Lake. In all these years, you should be the first person to dare to walk from the water.”
The tall lady with the pointed hat said, curiously scrutinizing him:
“These maids are all my servants.”
She introduced, and the weakest of these maids were at least Six-Tier, with the two strongest being Ten-Tier. Although the maids were all doing their own things, Xia De could feel that they were secretly observing him.
This was the most people he had encountered in his past adventures.
“This is Miss Schultz Teresa, a tenth-year student from Cerces Medical College, and also my distant niece.”
She pointed to the young girl beside her, whose appearance was nothing like the Witch who was speaking. She wore a pair of round-framed glasses, and her golden long hair was tied into more than ten braids. She was scrutinizing the man in front of her.
After introducing the people here, the Thirteenth-Order Witch referred to as “Your Majesty” asked Xia De again. Although there was a gentle smile on her face, there was no smile in her eyes at all:
“Then, Sir, may I ask who you are?”
“I am a traveler from another land.”
Xia De said, patting the dirt that had gotten on his clothes from kneeling by the bonfire, then looked at the Witch and softly asked:
“May I ask who you are...?”
The Great Witch's lips curved, and her eyes narrowed slightly:
“Although I don't know your gender, since you are using extraordinary power, do you really not even know me?”
“You are...?”
Xia De pretended to ponder, then suddenly realized:
“The ruler of Witten?!”
“Yes.”
The Witch, wearing a pointed hat, with all her clothes and accessories reacting with spirit and elements, said softly:
“I am, Witch Emperor - Violet Marshall.”
