【You have completed the ascension (Phase I): “Witch’s Attendant.”】
【Your Dusk Lineage rank has increased.】
【You have acquired the ability “Paradise’s Hymn Lv1.”】
【You have obtained the Trait: Witch’s Poise (Orange).】
【Due to being immersed in Dusk, you are affected by the status “Breath of Becoming (24h).”】
When Li Wen opened her eyes, these notifications floated before her, confirming that she had completed the ritual and officially stepped onto the first stage of the Terminal Path.
【Mephist – Terran (Duskkind) – Total Level 5】
【Radiance Lineage – Path of Lightchasing (Phase I) – Supplicant Lv4 / Dusk Lineage – Terminal Path (Phase I) – Witch’s Attendant Lv1】
【Life: 0%】
【Mana: 27/50】
【Dusk Corruption: 1%】
【Abilities: Radiance – Liturgical Speech Lv1 (18%), Radiance – Silent Arc Lv1 (8%), Radiance – Divine Invocation Lv1 (2%), Radiance – Craving for Light Lv1 (0%), Dusk – Paradise’s Hymn (0%)】
【Knowledge: Basic Rituals Lv2 (0%) …】
【Traits (6/6): Walking Against the Shadow (Blue), Blood of the Candleflame (Blue), Dexterous Hands (White), Professional Pickpocket (White), Necessary Sacrifice (Red), Witch’s Poise (Orange)】
【Status: One-Eyed, Breath of Becoming – 24h (While under this status, each spell cast consumes 1 extra mana but casting speed increases by 20%), Witchform】
【EXP: 220】
【Paradise’s Hymn Lv1】
【Dusk – Sorcery】
【Requirement: 5 Mana, Casting Medium】
【Range – Diameter: 10】
【Legend has it that when the world teeters on the brink of its end, witches and their followers will gather beneath withered trees and sing elegies of the final days—these are the hymns of paradise.】
【Chant the Witch’s Paradise’s Hymn to randomly inflict one of the following effects on all targets within range (excluding self):
① Fool’s Benediction – Target cannot move for [Skill Lv × 30] seconds. If they do, they suffer true damage per meter moved based on caster’s level. If they remain still the entire duration, their movement speed is increased by 25% for the next 30 minutes.
② Gift of Temperance – Removes all positive and negative statuses from the target, then causes them to lose 1% HP per second for [Skill Lv × 10] seconds. All lost HP is restored at the end.
③ Collapse of the Tower – Deals damage based on skill level, and inflicts statuses such as Fear, Confusion, Weakness, Slowness, Stun, Daze, and Paralysis for [Skill Lv × 5] seconds.】
【Witch’s Poise】
【Trait – Mythic (Orange) – Dusk】
【Strip away the mottled colors of life and let the power of Dusk flow through you. The Witch’s body is thus formed—ageless, immortal. An eternal blessing, or perhaps a curse.】
【While possessing this trait, you are immune to aging. You may enter Witchform through this trait.】
【Witchform: Your inner Dusk energy becomes hyperactive. Dusk Corruption replaces Life and Mana as your core resource. Damage or mana use no longer affects Life or Mana, but instead increases Dusk Corruption. While in Witchform, all damage you deal carries a trace of Dusk.
At 50% and 100% Dusk Corruption, you temporarily gain a random Transcendent Trait (not limited to Dusk Lineage).
If Corruption exceeds 100%, you will forcibly exit Witchform and die instantly—this death cannot be prevented by resurrection or revival.
After exiting Witchform, Corruption decays at a rate of 1% per hour. Until it reaches zero, Witchform cannot be re-entered.】
Paradise’s Hymn and Witch’s Poise were the two new gifts Li Wen received upon advancing to Witch’s Attendant.
Even at a glance, without further analysis, one could tell how powerful they were.
And when it came to testing their power in real combat, the demon before her was the perfect whetstone.
“So then, round two begins.”
Li Wen returned to the ground, spreading her arms.
The Book of Final Origins hovered above her head.
Paradise’s Hymn!
The witch engraved on the book’s cover turned outward, and a haunting, elegant melody poured out from within.
The demon, upon hearing the ethereal singing, looked as if struck by lightning.
Above his head appeared a radiant vision—an image of a brightly dressed traveler.
Paradise’s Hymn required only mana and a medium to cast.
No chanting, no gestures.
A true instant-cast spell.
Even someone as formidable as Tilrogzach, the demon, had no defense against it.
Tilrogzach blinked and regained his senses.
He didn’t feel injured or cursed, but a wild, irrational impulse surged inside him—an overwhelming urge to run.
What kind of sorcery was this?
There was no time to think.
The demon suppressed his impulse and used the short blade in his hand to invoke a curse.
Threads of twisted magic wrapped around the blade and stretched toward Li Wen like silk unraveling from a spool.
It was a curse designed for enchanters—stripping them of their will and ability to wield weapons.
What’s more, the caster couldn’t dispel it themselves.
It was a nightmare for Church warriors who loved coating their blades with holy wax.
Yet Li Wen made no move to evade.
She allowed the curse to strike her.
She was mid-cast—working on a long spell: Craving for Light.
So what if she couldn’t use a weapon?
She never intended to rely on one.
A flaming gray moth flew from the firelight and plunged into the demon’s pupil.
Tilrogzach froze.
In that fleeting moment of daze, he felt that Radiance was divine and beautiful—so much so that he had an irrational desire to walk into the flame and melt into its glow.
The demon involuntarily stepped forward.
And then—it felt like a blade drove into him.
A wound ripped through him, deep to the bone.
It wouldn’t heal.
Blood poured endlessly.
Tilrogzach’s expression changed instantly.
As a demon, his regeneration was unparalleled—he could even reattach a severed head.
But this wound ignored his healing entirely.
Yet more terrifying was the divine spell Li Wen had just cast—the one that made even a demon yearn to worship Radiance.
What kind of monstrosity was that spell?
Tilrogzach stood speechless.
A seed of Radiance worship had been forcibly planted in his heart—and it would take root and sprout within ten minutes.
Only because Li Wen had entered Witchform and her mana was now replaced by the Dusk Corruption gauge could she afford to cast such a mana-hungry, impractical spell as Craving for Light.
Ten minutes.
Li Wen glanced at her Dusk Corruption. It had only risen to about 5%.
Now the question was—would the demon kill her in ten minutes, or would he set himself ablaze when the time was up?