The vast magical aftershock swept through the entire royal city, astonishing everyone.
Where all eyes gathered, above the Academy, red and black magical currents intertwined, unable to separate for a long time.
That area of the Academy was no longer recognizable, overgrown with thorns and scattered with broken black chains.
After the power receded, the chains dissipated into black mist.
“Lost?” Lulong was also puzzled.
This level of magic had far exceeded the scope of high-level magic; victory and defeat were decided in an instant.
In the current situation, the Devouring Witch’s magic power seemed to be a notch above the Nightmare Witch’s.
That made sense—after all, the Nightmare Witch was merely a will, how much power could she contain?
This also served as a warning: without the Nightmare Witch’s bloodline, even if there was a method, recklessly opening those ruins could bring immeasurable destruction.
But at this moment, what mattered was the current situation.
After the calm, the thorns remained unextinguished, still appearing endless.
Amid the clamor, Nie Qi, her skirt tattered, walked up slowly with small steps.
“Old thing from a bygone era, you’re nothing special.”
In front of her, Yilu, who should have also been affected by the magical aftershock, was safe under the protection of the figure behind her. But looking down, thorns had already spread beneath their feet.
The figure sighed, but without annoyance.
“You are indeed quite formidable, even more outstanding than the Devouring Witch I met back then.”
“Of course. I will become the most powerful witch,” Nie Qi declared confidently. This had always been her goal, and everything she did was for this.
She did not let her guard down, staring intently at Yilu and the figure.
She could sense that the original Nightmare Witch’s presence had grown faint. No matter how strong her soul was, this level of magic would consume her remaining power until nothing remained.
Most importantly, even she herself had been injured in the magical aftershock just now. Yilu remained unscathed solely because that entity was protecting her; otherwise, she would have been obliterated long ago.
“What can you do now? You will disappear, and the power you retain will fall into my hands. Your existence is a joke, not worth mentioning.”
Nie Qi continued approaching, raising her hand as thorns coiled around her arm, extending toward Yilu and the figure.
“With my current power, one more spell and I will dissipate.” The figure spoke calmly, unafraid of vanishing. She was already a person whose physical body had died.
If not for worrying about her bloodline descendants, she would never have kept this shred of will alive, preventing those curses from affecting them.
Nie Qi sneered. She had also anticipated this outcome.
Without a physical body, a will either remains sealed forever, but once it emerges, it cannot last long.
“So have you already given up? The road ends here. As fellow witches, let me see you off—consider it a sign of my respect.”
“Hard to say. Perhaps you will come along with me.”
“With you as you are now, or this incomplete bloodline, can you kill me?” Nie Qi laughed loudly. This was an enormous joke.
Having already lost before her, they still dared to say such things. She didn’t know what they were relying on.
“Don’t believe me? Try it.” The figure stepped out from behind Yilu and walked side by side with her.
When she looked at Yilu, her indistinct face revealed tenderness, like an elder looking at a younger generation.
“Do you remember the feeling from just now?”
Yilu hadn’t fully recovered from the previous situation. After a moment, she didn’t know whether to nod or shake her head.
At that time, it truly felt as if she herself had been driving those chains. That power was exactly what she had been seeking, but now she wasn’t that happy.
Without answering the question, Yilu said, “You are my ancestor? The witch Lyr mentioned?”
“Hmm? You only realized now?” The figure chuckled. “Have you heard of my deeds?”
“No,” Yilu shook her head. “There are no records of you in the family. I only learned of your existence recently.”
As for the so-called witch bloodline, Yilu had never heard of it or encountered it before.
If possible, she could have avoided being caught up in this turmoil and not appeared here.
“Yes,” the Nightmare Witch agreed. “That’s how it should be. When I left, I said not to speak of my matters and not to keep any records. It seems you have done well.”
“Is that so?”
Yilu finally understood. They called her and her brother witch bloodline, yet there were never any such records in the family.
“Because only then would you not be affected by me,” the Nightmare Witch said with emotion. “But just as I expected, you can’t wrap fire in paper. Even if you never spoke of me and hid my traces, one day you would still be noticed.”
Leaving behind those ruins wasn’t for the Academy, nor for the Kingdom.
She had already done much for this kingdom and had allowed herself to experience the life of ordinary people.
Thinking that her bloodline descendants would one day be affected by the witch bloodline because of her, she left that place.
There, she sealed her power and also her curse, as a support for her bloodline descendants, but also as a burden.
The Nightmare Witch took Yilu’s hand.
“Next, the Nightmare Witch will walk the mortal world again. And you, my lovely blood descendant, will bear this name in my place and continue to see things I have never seen for me.”
She smiled with relief and used her other hand to pat Yilu’s head.
This descendant she had never met before would bring another possibility to the Nightmare Witch.
“How sickening. But this is where it ends.”
Everything the Nightmare Witch had done went against the ways of all witches. This scene made Nie Qi want to destroy them as soon as possible.
Just as she was about to activate magic again to completely destroy everything, her entire figure suddenly stiffened, frozen in place. The agitation of magic power within her body was unbelievable—this had never happened before.
Having anticipated this, the Nightmare Witch looked at her.
“As your predecessor, I wouldn’t deceive you. Now do you believe what I said earlier?”
“What’s going on?” Nie Qi pressed her hand against her chest, trying to suppress the power rampaging inside her.
Crackling lightning emerged within her body, seeming ready to burst out, beyond her control.
“If you had seen a Thunder Fairy, you would know that it is a creature unbound by any power or law, and its power cannot be controlled,” the Nightmare Witch explained.
When Nie Qi absorbed the Thunder Fairy’s power, she knew this would be the outcome.