Witch, Evil God

Witch, Evil God

Morning light slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows and spilled across the desk. Ivette's fair, slender fingers moved gently over yellowed pages as she leafed through a copy of Linguistics: From Beginner to Mastery.

After a while, she shut her eyes in pain, leaned back against her chair, and let out a delicate, anguished moan.

Over the past two days, she had exhausted every means at her disposal—gestures, written comparisons, phonetic symbols, reference materials—but she still could not determine where the language spoken by this blond little girl had come from.

It belonged neither to Emerald Language nor Silver Mirror Language, and it did not seem to match any of the hundreds of regional dialects derived from them, either.

The feeling of trying so hard and getting nowhere left her utterly exhausted.

Then she turned her head slightly and looked out through the floor-to-ceiling window at the estate. The girl was swaying on a wicker swing. As Ivette looked at her exquisitely made classical dress and its collar embroidered with intricate patterns, a bold thought gradually formed in her mind.

Could this little blonde be a transmigrator too?

Only, unlike Ivette, whose soul had crossed over, had she traveled here in her physical body? Was that why the clothes she had suddenly appeared in were so new and refined, with such a strong medieval style?

With that thought, Ivette, unwilling to continue her "Origin Civilization language research," gradually turned her attention to another field.

That was psychic magic!

Yes, in the Origin Civilization, telepathy and hypnosis were both very real restricted magics.

Their use came with many limitations: licenses, special conditions, and relevant equipment were all indispensable. Thus, they were generally used only to treat mental illnesses or interrogate criminals.

What Ivette intended to do now was use her years of rune design experience as a foundation to quickly develop a communication-focused psychic spell to meet their temporary need for conversation.

Half a month later, after visiting the ruins of psychiatric hospitals, police stations, and other places, and combining the information she had gathered with her years of accumulated rune design experience, Ivette's initial attempt at psychic magic finally bore fruit.

It was a large-scale spell of extremely high specifications, containing nearly fifty thousand runes. Even Ivette, a skilled mage whose mental strength had grown tremendously and whose total mana was nearing six hundred points, could not cast it independently.

Fortunately, her years of scavenging had not been for nothing. During the past two years, she had acquired a relatively undamaged Magic Guide Terminal called the Crucible Ring X3, manufactured by Ember Trace Chemical Industry.

That gave the situation a turning point after some study, research, and hands-on repairs.

"Rune capacity is five hundred thousand, but the system self-check says eighty percent of the channels are defective. That means the actual capacity is only a little over one hundred thousand... Barely acceptable, but enough..."

"Wait, why is the energy loss in the elemental capacitor so severe? A capacitor with twenty points of mana has degraded to only one percent? It needs to shut down the moment it powers on? Hah, good thing I have plenty of mana. Stable power supply for twenty-four hours..."

Rubbing the ring on her middle finger, Ivette spent some time studying it before inputting all fifty thousand-plus runes and naming the spell Heart's Language.

While she was at it, she also entered a new, unoptimized spell she had developed some time ago: the Vitality Technique. Its main purpose was to increase the body's recovery ability to heal external injuries and illnesses, and it contained around six thousand runes.

"With that, the remaining space has dropped straight to forty-four thousand... How extravagant. Where did the old me go, the one who spent years iterating spells at Abyss Base just to optimize away seven or eight runes?"

Silently lamenting, Ivette went downstairs and saw the little blonde squatting beside a flowerbed in the estate, seriously observing two squirrels mating.

When she saw Ivette come down, she lifted her head and gave her a sweet smile. Sunlight filtered through the lush branches overhead, scattering mottled patches across her face. It was a lovely scene.

Ivette quietly nodded in reply.

She had spent more than half a month with the little girl. Though they could not communicate verbally, their simple exchanges through body language had already built a decent understanding between them.

Furthermore, this little blonde was practically the most obedient child under ten Ivette had ever seen. She had never shown even the slightest hint of mischief, rebellion, or willfulness. Instead, she was cultured, well-behaved, and sensible, which greatly increased Ivette's fondness for her and made her even more curious about her background.

Ivette guessed that the little blonde must have received exceptionally good family education in the past. Otherwise, she would not have remained so calm and mature after arriving in a terrifying, unfamiliar world.

Walking over, she made a beckoning gesture. The little blonde immediately came obediently before her and patiently waited for instructions.

Ivette raised her hand. The girl understood at once and proactively lifted her palm, allowing Ivette to place her hand in it.

"..."

Ivette suddenly felt that this was a little strange. Why did it look exactly like the "shake hands" command used in dog training?

But she could swear she had done nothing of the sort, so she could only attribute it to the child being too perceptive, able to understand her intentions at once.

Without dwelling on it, she immediately activated Heart's Language. Through their skin contact, she created a subtle connection between her spirit body and the other girl's.

Five seconds later, the Rune Array finished loading, and the curtain over the spiritual world was abruptly thrown open—

When will this life of flattering and pandering ever end...

When that thought, brimming with irritation, echoed through her mind, Ivette's gaze stiffened slightly.

She looked at the girl's obedient, adorable face. Those big, watery eyes met hers without evasion. Beneath her composure was a trace of timid vulnerability that tugged at the heart.

Ivette fell silent and continued listening.

What is this evil god doing? She keeps staring at me. It's so scary... Can't she just let me be alone?

Evil god? Ivette was slightly stunned. She had clearly saved the girl, so why did this child see her as an evil god?

Was there any logic behind that?

Damn it. To survive, I have no choice but to fawn over an evil god like a dog. How could I be so pathetic...

"That isn't my fault, is it..." Ivette could not help defending herself.

Then she saw the girl's expression instantly turn terrified.

"W-who said that?! Was it her? Can she understand my thoughts?"

"This is a magic that enables mental communication. It can bypass language barriers." Ivette no longer remained silent.

What she did not tell the little blonde was that she had hidden a backdoor in the spell. Whenever she needed to think, she could selectively mute herself so her own thoughts would not be heard, while she could learn everything the little blonde thought.

At the end, she added, "Also, I'm not an evil god."

"Y-yes, I'm sorry, Lord Evil God. I didn't mean it just now, I only... I only..."

The little blonde changed expressions incredibly quickly. With a thud, she dropped to her knees, her face white as paper and her body trembling like a leaf.

From the turbulent emotions surging within her, Ivette could also sense genuine fear. The girl truly seemed convinced that Ivette was an evil god, rather than an angel, a deity, or anything more positive.

"Why are you so certain that I'm an evil god?" Ivette helped her up and restored their physical contact to ensure the spell remained active.

"Because... because this is the Land of Finale, the place where the legendary evil god, the Witch of Finale, was sealed."

As she answered, the little blonde's heart was clearly filled with resistance, yet she did not dare refuse. "I... I found that only you live here, and you're also a beautiful woman, so I thought the legendary Witch of Finale could only be you..."

Before Ivette could respond, the girl's thoughts immediately turned self-abandoning, as if her heart had already died. Anyway, I won't betray humanity. Give up on that... Y-you can just kill me!

"..."

For a moment, the estate fell silent.

Looking at the little blonde before her, whose eyes were tightly shut as though she were waiting to die, yet who could not resist peeking at Ivette's reaction, Ivette was silent for a while before changing the subject. "How did you get to this world?"

She was now utterly certain that this child was a transmigrator from another world. It was simply that her world seemed rather underdeveloped, leaving her with significant limitations in her thinking; she did not even possess a concept like "planet."

"Remnant Abyss." The girl gave a name that revealed nothing.

"What is that?"

"I read in a book that there is a celestial phenomenon called an 'aurora' that appears once every hundred years... When it appears, you can find a Remnant Abyss nearby. It's a spiral-shaped entrance connected to the Land of Finale, and it only lasts for a few minutes... These entrances appear and disappear unpredictably, and sometimes terrifying Filth Demons come out of them... I came here by passing through a Remnant Abyss..."

Aurora... Ivette savored the word and immediately recalled the brilliant sight she had seen in the night sky three months ago.

At the time, she had not thought much of it and had simply admired it as natural scenery. Then she heard the little blonde scream. She had never imagined that the aurora that night had been the opportunity for a connection between two worlds to open.

She asked again, "What are Filth Demons?"

"They're the monsters outside that you've destroyed before... The books say those monsters are called Demons of Filth. They occasionally emerge from the Remnant Abyss and attack people and livestock. Their bodies carry evil filth, and once they scratch you, you'll be assimilated..."

Though more than half a month had passed, the aberrations' grotesque appearances had clearly left a deep impression on the little blonde. The moment the topic arose, Ivette could feel fear surging through her consciousness.

That did match the way aberrations infected other animals... Though she did not know how they had once infected mechanical constructs, bloodborne transmission was now their main method of creating more aberrations...

Ivette silently nodded while muting herself internally, then continued asking, "When did this phenomenon begin?"

She suspected that the world on the other side might have some connection to the Origin Civilization.

"I don't know. The books didn't say, but it seems to have existed for several thousand years." The little blonde shook her head blankly.