Black Eyes

Ivette's consciousness was actually still clear; she was just deliberately not responding.

For one thing, she didn't understand what was happening to her in her extremely weakened state, infected with Aberration factors throughout her body, yet still conscious.

For another, she thought that if she appeared completely dead, it might give Rosaline a reason to abandon her, a reason to escape with a clear conscience, free from the burdens of favors, obligations, and other ties.

She thought that if she were Rosaline, she would definitely run. After all, Rosaline still had hope of returning home; why would she need to die here, protecting Ivette's life? Was her teacher's life more important than her own? Even if the situation were reversed, and Rosaline were the one dying, Ivette, as someone whose rational thinking surpassed everything else, would only try her best, but would never risk her own life for a student.

But as it turned out, this little girl was as stubborn as a mule, refusing to leave and insisting on staying here to be buried with her!

Damn it, she was so angry she was about to die—no, she was about to come back to life!

Afterward, stealing a glance at her student who was still fighting for her life, Ivette felt a strange emotion resurface in her heart.

Why hadn't she mutated yet?

She had given up on herself for so long; any other creature would have mutated by now. Why did she still feel like her thoughts were functioning well, without that maddening sensation of consciousness sinking?

Could it be that as an immortal Witch, she truly possessed an indestructible body, even immune to Aberration factors, a virus of apocalyptic proportions?

But…

That didn't seem right either. She could feel subtle changes happening within her, changes that were minute, not superficial, but closer to microscopic modifications. They made her body itch, her mind itch, as if she were about to mutate at any second.

Just then, as if to grant her wish, a powerful wave of drowsiness swept over her consciousness. Unseen threads pulled her awareness down, deeper and deeper…

It was as if she were falling into icy seawater, the last of the daylight above rapidly shrinking, transforming into bright spots.

For some reason, at that moment, she suddenly calmed down, looking at the scene with detachment, behaving not like a drowning person, but more like an observer.

Then, at the boundless end of the deep sea, she saw two strange things.

One was a mass of intertwined black and red, writhing incessantly like a living creature, a bizarre liquid utterly out of place with the surrounding seawater.

The other was a small, slippery, boneless, black tentacle, as if born from the purest shadow.

She hesitated for a moment, her gaze falling on one of the black tentacles. The next second, it moved like a fish in water, nimbly twisting its body and approaching her, then obediently stopping in Ivette's palm.

After continuing to fight for several more minutes, Rosaline, gripping her battle blade, finally exhausted her strength. Her magic was completely depleted, and the effects of the Scarlet Armor and Muscle Unlimit vanished, causing her battle knife to slip from her grasp and clatter to the ground. She was no longer able to pick it up.

Now, she had reverted to being a helpless noble lady, just like the first time she had crossed the Remnant Abyss years ago. However, this time, her teacher would not descend like a peerless hero on a colorful auspicious cloud to vanquish all terrifying things beside her.

Exhaustion washed over her like a tidal wave. She stumbled backward, towards where her teacher lay, and allowed herself to fall back. Whether she would become infected and mutate, or be gnawed into a skeleton, no longer mattered. Before she died, she just wanted to be close to her teacher.

But…

The next second, she felt a small, cold hand pressed against her torn back, holding her up.

Then, before she could snap out of her daze, she saw countless pale lines, like billions of embroidered needles scattered outward, precisely, coldly, and unerringly piercing through every detestable shell around her—whether it was the Tide Worms writhing and screaming on the ground, or the strange birds circling in the air, spewing acid.

Dense, covering everything!

The next second, an even more horrifying scene unfolded.

Those pale lines, embedded in flesh and blood, acted like activated, terrifying blood-sucking organs. The entire white line visibly swelled and undulated.

A greedy suction force madly extracted all the remaining life force from within the Aberration bodies. Hundreds of Aberrations, regardless of size or strength, withered and collapsed rapidly, like dried leaves instantly deprived of moisture… leaving behind only desiccated skeletons and skin.

Facing such a bizarre sight, Rosaline swallowed hard, a chill spreading from the depths of her heart. But when she turned around, she saw a face that was both incredibly familiar and strangely unfamiliar.

It was her teacher, but not entirely.

Compared to her teacher's usual appearance, the most noticeable change was in her eyes. The pure white parts of her eye sockets had turned into a black abyss. Although her pupils hadn't changed color, they seemed to have been lit up, emitting a bright red glow that was particularly striking in the darkness.

This mere change in her eyes completely subverted her entire demeanor. From an exquisite, unblemished, somewhat aloof doll-like girl, she had transformed into a chillingly beautiful Witch with an evil aura, much like… the sealed evil god from mythology.

And her teacher's methods also fit people's impressions of evil gods perfectly. Her soft silver hair, which once flowed like moonlight, had now completely "come alive," growing and extending, transforming into writhing siphons that sucked at the filthy flesh of the Aberration creatures to replenish herself.

Ultimate evil… yet exuding a breathtaking, suffocating beauty.

As expected of her teacher, even after mutating, she was still so unique, unparalleled in the world!

Rosaline suddenly felt a surge of emotion, raising her hand to wipe away her tears. She thought that if she were to die at the hands of such a teacher, to be consumed by her, it would be a death without regret.

Then, after meeting her teacher's evil black eyes with red pupils for a moment, she closed her eyes expectantly, waiting.

But…

To her surprise, the expected death did not come. Instead, she heard a very surprised question: "Why are you closing your eyes?"

She dazedly opened her eyes, her long eyelashes, still wet with rain, trembling violently. She stammered, "I was waiting for you to kill me."

"Why would I kill you?" Ivette asked, confused. She had thought the little girl was asking for a kiss, which had made her, a supremely experienced virgin, a little shy. With great effort, she had managed to control her emotions and correct her taboo thoughts.

"Didn't you mutate, Teacher?" Rosaline suddenly realized, her tear-streaked face instantly turning to surprise and joy. "Teacher, you didn't mutate?"

"I... mutated, but I maintained consciousness and wasn't corrupted," Ivette said, sensing her current state. Her heart was churning, and she couldn't calm down for a moment.

This was truly incredible.

However, noticing that more Aberrations were approaching continuously, she used her regained magic to ride the wind, taking Rosaline with her, and quickly fled the area, heading towards their retreat point.

The fierce storm, characteristic of summer nights on the island, raged on. Lead-gray clouds tumbled and tore across the low sky. Amidst bursts of thunder, torrents of rain lashed violently against the windowpanes, as if another apocalypse were knocking at the door.

After shutting the storm out and washing away the blood in the bathroom, Ivette and Rosaline finally sat down in the softly lit living room to debrief on the day's operation.

The primary focus, of course, was Ivette's unprecedented mutated state.

"Teacher, how are you feeling now?" Rosaline asked, rubbing her wet blonde hair with a towel, her gaze cautiously sweeping over Ivette. "Do you feel like you're going mad, like you want to devour everything around you?"

Ivette shook her head. She carefully felt her body's condition. After a moment, under her conscious control, the darkness in her eyes began to recede, and her scarlet irises stopped glowing, returning to their original dark red.

"You... you're back to normal!" Rosaline exclaimed in surprise.

"I just tried it in the bathroom. 'Black Eyes' is a switchable state, and there's no magic cost involved," Ivette said.

"So, Teacher, you essentially have two forms now? The normal 'White Eyes' state and the mutated 'Black Eyes' state?"

"As it stands, yes."

"So cool... Just as I'd expect from Teacher!"

"Next is the second ability." Ivette spoke as she switched to her Black Eyes state. Her silver hair behind her instantly became like living, spiritual snakes, elegantly floating, undulating, and extending. "My hair, but more accurately, it should be considered a simple tentacle transformation. And it seems I can now generate a tentacle from every inch of my body and adjust its size..."

She opened her palm, and soon, a white tendril emerged from the skin of her palm, touching her hand. It twisted and contorted flexibly, its diameter able to shrink to a thread or expand instantly to the thickness of a python.

Rosaline couldn't resist reaching out to touch it. It felt cold and slippery, a little frightening.

Ivette continued, "...These white tendrils have two known abilities: one is hardening, which can be used as a weapon, and the second is absorption, which can consume flesh and blood. If it's an Aberration, it can directly plunder mutation factors. For non-mutation factor parts, like regular biological flesh and blood, it can also directly devour them and convert them into magic."

"Isn't that invincible?" Rosaline was greatly shocked.

"Not entirely... Because every use of the tendrils consumes mutation factors. In other words, by continuously using the ability, I can exhaust all the mutation factors in my body, then completely lose the Black Eyes ability and become an ordinary person."

"Eh? Mutation factors... they don't replenish?"

"That's the strange part. Mutated creatures only need to eat normally to slowly increase the concentration of mutation factors in their bodies, but I can't. I can only rely on external plundering to maintain this ability," Ivette was also very perplexed by this.

In short, it felt like she had mutated, but not completely.

"I see, that's really strange..." Rosaline muttered. But after a moment, she suddenly thought of something and asked with some concern, "Um... Teacher... this must be a very important secret for you, right? Are you really okay with me knowing..."

Ivette glanced at her without speaking.

Rosaline froze for a moment, then understood, smiled slightly, and didn't press the topic further. Instead, she began asking about the cause and effect of the Mother Nest battle, sometimes looking focused, sometimes cursing the Twin-Blade Demon for its treachery, sometimes marveling at Teacher's strategic deception, and sometimes lamenting the unexpected twists and turns of the conclusion.

As they reviewed everything in detail, the heavy rain outside gradually subsided. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling window, a bright, clear moon peeked through a gap in the thick storm clouds, casting a serene silver frost upon the two figures inside.