Please, The Other Me! (Part 1)

"Great Fire God, on high."

"Please grant me, temporary authority."

"Allow the flames to attach to me."

"Colonize Armor!"

As Eugenia uttered the final two words of the incantation, spiraling flames ignited from her feet, instantly enveloping her entire body.

The strongest magic at the "Mortal" level of "Tier Three" varied for each element. For wind, it was the [Tornado] magic, "Gale, heed my command," a massive AoE spell. Earth had the [Seal] magic, "Heavy Rock, Eternal," a most infuriating silence spell. Water possessed the [Resurrection] magic, "Raindrops, All Things Grow," a healer's essential healing spell.

As for fire...

As you can see, it was a specialized enchantment magic for a single target – the [Colonize Armor] magic.

The first thing to emerge from the flames was the woman's bare feet.

Following that, her previously magnificent Bishop's robes vanished, replaced by a crimson coat woven from flames, as if constantly burning.

This wasn't the end.

Most striking was the terrifying, ten-meter-long fire whip she drew from the void with one hand, seeming to have molten lava flowing within it.

"Boss... Boss, this crazy woman looks like she's... a little bit strong." The players inside the iron cages were stunned.

They were still playing in the mud, and these NPCs were already like gods descending to earth?

"Boss, you said your goddess, can she still beat her?"

The players in the iron cage had been full of confidence in Vivian before, but after seeing Eugenia's current appearance, they all began to feel uncertain.

"Hmph, joking, who is my goddess? Vivian definitely has a trump card!" Chang Lu Man Man secretly swallowed, pretending to be stubbornly confident.

"But... Boss, why are you stuttering too?"

"Are you the only smart one? You talk too much! You talk too much!"

So, what was Vivian's actual situation?

Liao Zixuan had already sent multiple thoughts to the young girl, asking "Do you need help?" when Eugenia, without playing fair, was chanting her Tier Three magic.

However, the girl's reply to Liao Zixuan was...

"Wait a little longer."

Wait a little longer?

What exactly was Vivian waiting for?

Perhaps only the young girl herself knew.

"Heh... Hehehe." Eugenia, holding the flaming whip, looking like a queen of purgatory, was amused to the point of laughter.

This was because, even at this point, she saw that Vivian, unrepentant, was still channeling her magic to sustain the heavy iron cages imprisoning the foreigners.

Originally, Bella, which was Eugenia's name, had thought that if the girl became scared and chose to abandon everyone in the cages, letting them fall into the lava to die, and then used her magic shield to resist her with all her might, she would also hold back appropriately and not truly harm this future witch seedling.

But now, the rationality in Bella's eyes was diminishing, and madness and chaos began to take over.

Because Bella saw her own past self in the current slender girl.

Both were incredibly talented magic prodigies, both were poor girls from humble backgrounds, and both chose to help the weak when facing a powerful enemy.

But Bella clearly remembered that her ultimate fate was to be drugged and fall unconscious by the villagers she had saved from the villainous nobles, and then delivered to their castle.

That night, the entire castle was engulfed in flames.

Also consumed was the heart of the innocent girl named "Bella."

"Since you're so willing to help them, then you can go with them..."

"All of you die!!"

Swish!

The ten-meter-long flame whip was raised high by Bella's hand. The molten lava crawling on the whip, with its terrifying high temperature, caused the surrounding air to distort.

Bella didn't go all out immediately.

Instead, she chose another method that was more torturous, and in a way, could be considered a final chance for Vivian.

Crack!

The fire whip, merely swung casually, struck the girl's magic shield. The damage caused was no less than a complete Tier Two spell, the Flame Spear Technique.

And more fatally, this time Bella didn't give Vivian any time to repair her barrier.

After the first whip, the fire whip slightly curved in the air. The second whip followed, whistling through the wind as it struck again!

Crack!

Bang!

The magic barrier, unable to withstand the load, shattered the instant it made contact with the second whip. Vivian was sent flying backward by the intense impact.

And the iron cage, which was being held in mid-air solely by Vivian's magic, immediately lost its support and began to fall again.

The players' screams of weightlessness within the iron cage erupted simultaneously.

Just as they were about to touch the bubbling, scalding lava below, with the heat already scorching their backsides, the descent suddenly stopped, as if pulling back from the brink.

A miracle?

No, it was just Vivian, who had rolled a few times on the ground, covered in dust and injuries, getting up and reaching out to the iron cage again.

Chang Lu Man Man was moved.

Many players in the iron cage who had been indifferent to Vivian were instantly won over, deeply touched.

As bystanders, they might have looked down on the girl's stubborn behavior. You can't even save yourself, why worry about others?

But as participants.

Damn!

They were practically begging to kowtow to the young girl.

It was a pity, however, that their emotions couldn't translate into strength to improve the situation. On the contrary, Vivian's action had thoroughly enraged Bella.

"Good, very good."

Bella's eyes flickered with a scarlet glow.

They, the witches, did lack fresh blood, but only if the other party had the potential to grow into a witch.

"I'll ask you one more time."

"Will you release him..."

"Or not!"

Bella truly didn't care about the Fire God Cult, the Purple Crystal Grass, or the growth-promoting ritual, after all, she wasn't the real Bishop Eugenia.

The only thing she cared about was the girl in front of her, whether Vivian was willing to give up the iron cage, to give up the laughable kindness in her eyes.

And the usually polite Vivian did not answer her this time.

Or rather.

She had already answered with her actions.

The girl, just like at the beginning, held up a Magic Shield with one hand, and maintained the magic suspending the iron cage with the other. The only difference from the beginning was that Vivian looked much, much more disheveled, her clothes having large burnt and torn holes. Coupled with her already thin and small body, it gave the impression that she would collapse at any second.

There were only two attacks left out of the agreed-upon five.

But Bella didn't want to waste any more time. Utterly disappointed in Vivian, she didn't need the fifth attack.

She no longer held back.

Bella gathered all her strength into her arm, raising the Flame Whip high above her head, like an executioner carrying out a death sentence, beginning the final judgment on the girl.

The soaring Flame Whip was like a venomous snake coiled around a treetop, waiting for the final moment to pounce from above and bite the prey below to death.

No!

This is going to be the end!

Even Chang Lu Man Man, who had faith in Vivian, couldn't sit still. They, the players, had countless lives, but the NPCs in this world truly died when they died.

"Damn it, I'm going all out!"

"Eugenia, you son of a bitch, I'm going to risk it all with you today!"

"Still got balls? Then all of you delete your accounts!"

After roaring in the iron cage, Chang Lu Man Man proved to be a man of mettle. To avoid becoming a burden to Vivian, he actually chose to delete his account.

In this way, even if the female bishop had used some method to bind their spawn points within the iron cage, now that their game accounts were gone, their characters naturally vanished into thin air, completely escaping her control.

If it were just a few minutes ago, even if Chang Lu Man Man was their leader, they would have hesitated for a long time before deleting their accounts.

But at this moment...

Looking at Vivian's burning whip marks, at the girl's dusty but still incredibly determined eyes, and at the young girl's small body, which seemed to protect them behind it like a great mountain.

In reality, they might be selfish cowards, but in the virtual world, they also wanted to be heroes, even if only for a moment.

Swish!

The second person also disappeared from the iron cage.

Then, it became an unstoppable trend.

Swish swish swish!

More and more white lights, symbolizing account deletion, formed a chain within the iron cage.

The commotion was so great that Bella had to stop her brewing attack, turn her head, and look at the now empty, desolate iron cage with a frown.

What trick are these outsiders pulling now?!

Their souls were sealed by my witch's secret art, making escape impossible!

How did they do it!

No!

Bella suddenly clawed at her head with both hands, as she realized something even more terrifying that made her lose control and fall into madness once more.

That was...

Why were these outsiders doing this?

What were they trying to achieve?

If they had this method of escape, why didn't they use it before? This indicated that this method was definitely extremely harmful to them, to the point where they would rather be imprisoned than use it.

But...

But, but, but, but!

Why...

Why were they willing to use it now!

Why!!

It shouldn't be like this! It absolutely shouldn't be like this! Kindness would never be rewarded! Kindness was just self-deception! All of this was fake! It was fake!

Something must have gone wrong in the middle, yes, it must be like this!

Witches, the embodiment of chaos, they create chaos, and their minds are also extremely prone to confusion. Clearly, Bella at this moment had completely descended into madness.

"Die."

"Die, die, die! All of you, die!"

Amidst the frenzied screams, a magical chant suddenly stopped Bella's mad shouting.

As soon as she was broken through by the players and went mad, a fluctuation that she was extremely familiar with inexplicably came from Vivian.

"Great Fire God above..."

"Please allow me to borrow your authority..."

"Let the flames attach themselves to me..."

Impossible.

This was absolutely impossible!!

Bella's expression was several times more shocked than when the players had suddenly disappeared from the iron cage. Her eyes widened, and she stared intently at the girl chanting the spell, causing the elements to fluctuate violently.

Bella recognized this spell, Liao Zixuan, who had been silently observing the battle from behind, also recognized it. Even Big Watermelon and Melee God of Magic, the only two player sparks present, recognized it.

Because, this was the strongest power that could be used by a "mortal" that the woman had personally chanted just a few minutes ago – Tier 3 magic!

"Colonize Armor!"

The last two words of the incantation were uttered from the girl's mouth.

In an instant, rising flames ignited from the ground and enveloped Vivian's entire body in the blink of an eye. After a moment, they transformed into a burning cloak and...

A giant, fiery red scythe.

Bella, gradually regaining her composure and analyzing the situation calmly, quickly spotted a flaw. Although Vivian and she had both chanted Tier 3 magic, compared to her own, Vivian's clearly had much less momentum. It was less like a Tier 3 magic, and more like...

A pirated, low-quality imitation?

But even as an imitation, it was still astonishing enough.

"When did you..." Bella questioned the girl opposite her in a cold voice.

Hearing this, the little wolf cub shook her head.

Unexpectedly...

She really didn't expect this!

She originally thought Vivian was just a silly girl, but it was this silly girl who managed to keep a real witch completely in the dark! She hadn't even aroused the slightest suspicion from her the entire time.

Amazing!

This little girl's growth rate seems to be... really damn fast!

As an observer, Liao Zixuan also took quite some time to finally understand what Vivian meant by "wait a little longer."

In fact, Bella was wrong from the beginning. Vivian wasn't multitasking; she was doing three things at once!

As if suddenly realizing this, Bella's expression became unpredictable.

She recalled a detail: when she sent Roer to intercept the girl earlier, the girl didn't know Flame Impact. But after Roer used it once, the girl also used it in the end.

"You can imitate other people's magic!?" Bella's brows were tightly furrowed.

And imitation required time and secrecy. So, Vivian played along, deliberately targeting her weaknesses, using her hatred of good deeds to constantly distract her with those outsiders!

At the same time...

She could also make Bella think she was a naive sweet girl, thus completely lowering her guard. She never thought that Vivian's true intention wasn't to play games with her or passively defend, but...

To counterattack!

Liao Zixuan silently filled in the last piece of the puzzle in his mind.

"Heh."

"Hahaha."

"Vivian, I have to say, this is the first time I've ever misjudged someone so badly."

"You're quite good."

"However, I still have one last question," Bella said, raising her flaming whip high.

"From my observations, you don't have a single bit of combat skill, no experience or talent in this area whatsoever. Even if you can cast the same magic as me, but..."

"How can you possibly defeat me?"

As Bella, who stood high and mighty, asked this question, below, Vivian's small face, which had turned dusty and gray earlier, revealed a happy smile from beneath her hood.

She proudly lifted her small head, looking at Bella, who was Bishop Eugenia.

Then, the girl softly spoke, as if to Bella, but more like...

to herself.

"Then, as we agreed just now."

"Next..."

"Please, I'm counting on you, my other... self!"

Yes, even Liao Zixuan had guessed wrong.

Vivian had never been using three minds at once; she had been using four minds from the very beginning!