They all knew their Patriarch was Immortal.
But to these witches,
she was a Long-lived Species,
and one of the rare few on the entire Karim Continent who would never grow old.
They knew perfectly well that while being unable to age or die sounded wonderful,
it was also another kind of curse.
For proof,
they needed only look at what had happened to the Vampire Patriarch.
She had been imprisoned without seeing daylight for decades.
That was enough to break even a True Ancestor,
let alone those beneath a Patriarch.
They were not so arrogant as to think their minds were as strong as their Patriarch's.
And precisely because they felt so uneasy and insecure,
they were even less willing to see their Patriarch end up like the True Ancestor.
In truth, no rule could decide that for them.
After all, on a place like the Karim Continent, where everyone possessed supernatural abilities,
rules had very little power to restrain anyone.
That was exactly why rules were needed all the more.
A disorderly world would only breed disorder.
And disorder would greatly increase the cost of their research.
So no matter how chaotic the world became,
the witches' circle would not—and could not—fall into chaos.
It was the witches' firm refusal to let that happen that served as a foundation.
That was why the other races rarely acted recklessly.
Otherwise, they only had to imagine the consequences of disrupting a witch's research.
Some might call it selfishness.
But the witches knew better than anyone that it was not selfishness. It was greed.
They had an insatiable curiosity and hunger for Magic, research, and knowledge they did not yet possess.
The Black Witches knew that better than anyone.
And that was why they were all the more unwilling to let