Yveta had also noticed the woman behind him.
Leili even stepped in front of him, acting as Yveta's shield. That was far more loyal than certain witches.
Black Wolf drew his sword at the woman, too. "Who are you?"
Yveta prepared to cast the Triple Ring's Damage Curse at any moment. After turning to face the crouching woman, he slowly backed away.
The Old Witch thought for a moment, then said, "Don't worry. This thing won't hurt you. It's only an illusion."
"She must have lived thousands of years ago. But she left a spell on this stone wall. The trigger for it was probably opening the book in my hands here."
"And she wasn't human. She was a humanoid creature, like the Blood Birds and Eagle People."
"Heh. Thousands of years ago, the Ambrose Basin was full of these foreign races. Later, humans killed them all—or scared them off—and won in the end."
Only then did Yveta notice the black and silver feathers on the crouching 'woman's' neck.
She really wasn't human.
You just couldn't tell unless you looked closely.
The woman suddenly spoke. "Since when have even witches been so fond of the human race? Has the world changed in the past thousand years?"
The Old Witch puffed out her chest and declared proudly, "We witches have done every kind of wicked thing, but we've never betrayed humanity!"
"That's why the Druids were hunted until they nearly vanished, while we witches, though hated by everyone, still thrive."
"That's the reason."
The 'woman' crouching on the ground fell silent for a while.
"Actually, you did betray humanity. It's just that..."
"The Druids didn't side with nonhumans, either. The civilization they chose back then was just a little unusual, but it was still human. It's a pity..."
The Old Witch was puzzled.
Since this concerned events from thousands of years ago, she didn't know the details very well herself.
Even her teacher had been very reluctant to discuss the civilization the Druids had supported.
But this was only the words of an illusion from a thousand years ago. She snorted and chose not to believe her.
The woman suddenly looked at Yveta, at the obsidian ring on his thumb. "The Druids' Meeting Ring. Since you have it, perhaps we can be friends."
"The order of Viscount Ambrose is about to collapse."
"Everything here will soon be overturned. Will you join the Forest Son Alliance?"
Yveta looked at the Old Witch. She had said her Beloved Disciple had done something momentous.
But what exactly had her disciple done to throw even Viscount Ambrose's Independent State into chaos?
Even enemies from thousands of years ago had risen again because of it.
Yveta shook his head at the 'woman.' "I am the future king of Arthas. I won't betray humanity for a race that has already lost!"
To his surprise, the woman laughed when she heard this. "Hahahaha... No wonder the Druids gave you the Meeting Ring."
"You're a descendant of the Sinful Race of Arthas! Hahahaha... Someone from that family is still alive—and has survived all the way to the present."
"That's quite an achievement."
"But I doubt they'll make life easy for you Arthas Sinful Race."
"Someone from the Arthas Family claiming they won't betray humanity—ahhahaha..."
Yveta was completely bewildered. The Arthas Royal Family was the Sinful Race?
What had the Arthas Royal Family done to earn that name?
Thousands of years ago, it seemed humans hadn't yet gained complete dominance over this continent. They were still fighting the other races. What role had the Arthas Royal Family played back then?
Could there be more to the story behind the Arthas Family losing the throne?
And the Meeting Ring was so famous that even someone who had died ages ago recognized it at a glance.
What exactly was this Meeting Ring?
Was it really safe for him to go around wearing a Druid Meeting Ring?
He had so many problems now.
The Arthas Royal Family, the Druids, and the Old Witch at his side. Oh, and the Old Witch thought he was a demon god from Subspace.
He was practically a walking label for every anti-human faction.
The Hearthstone Great Witch said to Yveta, "Your Grace, don't listen to a thousand-year-old illusion spouting nonsense."
"Her time stopped thousands of years ago."
"Your Grace?" The woman turned around, revealing a face of breathtaking beauty—so beautiful it could even ensnare a person's soul.
She looked at Yveta in confusion. "You address this human child with the title used for beings from Subspace? That's strange. Wait, I can't see through his soul. I can only see his body."
"Even after crossing two thousand six hundred and twenty-two years, that shouldn't be possible."
"There's only one explanation..."
Suddenly, her expression changed. She bowed to Yveta, giving him a formal salute.
"The Forest Duke bows to one as great as you. I failed to recognize your identity before. It seems you, too, have sensed that the Thousand Year Fire has reached its limit, and so you chose a descendant of the Sinful Race as your vessel to descend into."
"The fire is about to go out, the law has weakened, and order is on the verge of collapse."
"I was meant to kill whoever opened the Ambrose's Forbidden Book, so that humans would never see it. My spell wasn't cast on the stone wall, but on the book."
"But since it has fallen into your hands, that means humanity will never obtain this book."
"Thank you for keeping the Forbidden Book safe for us."
Yveta: "..."
Don't make me sound like some ultimate anti-human menace.
Even this woman from a thousand years ago had been led astray by the Old Witch.
It was because he had borrowed the names of six Divine Kings that something about him was a little strange, but that didn't make him a demon god.
The Old Witch called him a demon god to everyone she met and led them all astray. What if word spread and attracted the Church?!
Hearthstone Great Witch! Will you be the one to explain it all to the Church when that happens?!
The woman suddenly tilted her head back. Blood ran from her eyes, and her body began to crack like a shattered mirror.
The blood flowing from the corners of her eyes turned into Blood Beads that drifted eerily upward.
She threw her head back and let out a hysterical scream. Her voice was hoarse like a man's, nothing like the beautiful, gentle voice she'd used before.
"I, the Sixth Rank High Priest, ruler of the Children of the Forest, and Forest Duke, make the following prophecy in my name."
"From now on, Ambrose will leave behind an age of peace and enter an age of blood and fire, an age of swords and betrayal, an age of human decline."
"The following disasters will befall this land."
"The first disaster: the land will begin to wither, and humanity will not get the food it needs."
"The second disaster: the Po River will be stained red with human blood."
"The third disaster: rats will overrun Ambrose City, and the bones of my people, buried beneath Ambrose for a thousand years, will claw their way out of the earth."
"The Children of the Forest's blood shed over a thousand years must be repaid with thirty times as much human blood."
Before you continue