“So, Little Zhou, I take it you didn’t come to catch up with your big sister today, right, nya?”
The Witch of the Gloaming led Liangzhou into her office, then turned back with a teasing, half-smile.
“Before anything else, release Dark.”
“Don’t be so cold. We haven’t had a sisterly reunion in forever, and now you want to bring out that lousy man, nya?”
The grand witch’s soft pink hair—styled like fox ears—swayed with displeasure as her apricot eyes narrowed.
Her voice dropped to a pitiful murmur, her expression evoking the image of a jilted beauty.
“Hm.”
Liangzhou crossed her arms beneath her chest, her tone icy.
“But I don’t remember ever being your ‘sister,’ old hag. I’m still young, thank you very much.”
The cold jab struck like a dagger to the grand witch’s pride.
Her once-playful expression darkened immediately, and the friendly curl at her lips twisted into something dangerous.
“Liangzhou dear, don’t think you can just gloss over certain things with words alone, nya.”
“Let’s not forget, your little mutt is still in my hands—”
“You wouldn’t want your little attendant to never make it out, now would you, nya…”
Crash!
Before the threat could finish leaving her lips, a large man suddenly dropped out of thin air behind Liangzhou, landing with a loud crash.
It was none other than Dark, the very one who had just been dragged into the shadows by the grand witch.
But he looked nothing like his former composed self.
His elegant formalwear now hung off him like rags, and his meticulously groomed hair looked like it had been mauled by some wild beast.
“My apologies, Lady Liangzhou. I was careless just now and—huh?”
Having barely escaped from that strange dimension, Dark immediately bowed to Liangzhou.
As her personal guard, being caught off guard and dragged away like that was a serious offense.
If the elders of his clan caught wind of it, even three days of confinement would be a light punishment.
Still, if anything truly irreversible had happened to Liangzhou, he would’ve taken his own life on the spot.
What face would he have left to return to the clan with?
So, the moment he saw she was unharmed, he exhaled in genuine relief.
But… who was the other woman in front of him?
“Ohoho~ I can’t believe this brat actually escaped my domain. Liangzhou dear, I have to say—your mutt’s quite capable, nya.”
The grand witch’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Who would’ve thought that, apart from those old relics around Liangzhou, she also had such a promising young man under her command?
“Hmph. There are plenty of things you can’t imagine. Enough talk—let’s get to the main point.”
Seeing that Dark had escaped the witch’s domain on his own, Liangzhou visibly relaxed.
Her back straightened, and she stared down the grand witch with renewed confidence.
“Sigh. Kids these days have no appreciation for a young lady’s heart, nya…”
“Stop ending your sentences with ‘nya’ to act cute. Aren’t you just a plain old human?”
Liangzhou finally gave in to her urge to ridicule, exposing the witch’s true identity without mercy.
She’d swear on her clan’s honor: the woman in front of her, with her fox-like appearance and cat-like verbal quirks, was nothing more than a purebred human.
Purer than even the most refined holy crystal.
“A human?!”
Dark, now crouched behind Liangzhou and eavesdropping while recovering, was visibly shaken.
He muttered the words under his breath in disbelief.
“Ah, but don’t you think it makes me cuter this way, nya? Liangzhou dear, if you don’t learn things like this, you’ll never get married, you know, nya~”
“But it’s okay if you never learn. I, your big sister, will always welcome you into a warm, cozy little home, nya…”
“Shut. Up.”
Liangzhou’s face turned frosty, her tone thick with murderous intent.
It was clear—she wasn’t just irritated. She was furious.
Dark, who was doing his best to focus on healing while stuck in the tension between the two, had just one thought:
Holy hell—a female deity!
Unable to break into their conversation, he grumbled silently in his heart.
The pressure rolling off Liangzhou was so intense it was suffocating.
Now he finally understood why his usually unshakable mistress considered this grand witch such a headache.
Being constantly teased by a woman she couldn’t even defeat—how could someone as proud as Liangzhou possibly endure that humiliation?
Unfortunately, Dark couldn’t defeat her either.
All he could do was sit back and let the woman ramble. It was tragic, really.
“Aiya, looks like I said the wrong thing, nya…”
Finally satisfied that she had gotten a rise out of Liangzhou, the grand witch plopped into the chair behind her desk and spoke with leisurely amusement.
“Let’s change the subject, nya.”
“For example… how about the matter of the Nether Martial God and his sacred sword, nya?”
“If you’d led with that, we’d have saved a lot of time.”
Now that the… grand witch (definitely not a young maiden) was acting more serious, Liangzhou pulled out the guest chair from beneath the desk and sat down across from her.
Her voice was cold and biting.
“Isn’t jumping straight to the point just boring, nya? Life needs a little surprise to keep things interesting, nya~”
The grand witch beamed, entirely unaffected by Liangzhou’s barely concealed disgust.
“Okay, okay, no more jokes, nya.”
Seeing that Liangzhou looked about ready to storm out, she quickly backpedaled.
“Your guess was right—yes, that bastard’s sword is at Jadecrest Academy, nya. But we only found out about it recently ourselves, nya.”
“And somehow…”
“It seems like everyone on the continent has found out about it through one channel or another. Now, they’re all flocking to the academy like moths to a flame, nya~”
By the end, even the proud and irreverent grand witch couldn’t hide the weariness in her voice.