Bloodied Rebirth

Every fallen wizard had experienced a desperate struggle.

Nikita vaguely remembered the first time she tore open a wizard's throat.

At that time, she was wandering at the end of the Nile River. The scorching sun baked the earth, and the sand beneath her feet felt like a swamp, sucking her forcefully into the depths of darkness.

A young wizard had been trailing her for over a month. Hunters always possessed endless patience with their prey, and he watched her stagger and falter through the desert from a distance.

She hadn't eaten in a week.

The demon blood had completely transformed her, both physically and mentally. Wizard, or rather, human food, would be vomited out in a more violent manner after entering the mouth. Only blood could be accepted by a demon's body.

Animal blood and flesh could barely sustain her, of course, but the more she ate, the stronger her hunger became. Every upright-walking creature seemed like a moving candy, emitting an alluring sweet scent.

She resisted this desire.

So she fled into the depths of the desert.

There was no one here except for ugly insects.

Except for the wizard trailing her from afar.

Lying on her back in the scorching sand, Nikita stared at the boundless blue sky, her gaze unfocused. The insects in the desert were unusually tough; beneath their resilient carapaces, they contained bodily fluids like sulfuric acid. These fluids burned her tender lips and irritated her tongue. But what truly left her utterly broken was the young wizard's loud curses.

She knew that was a common tactic among hunters. Wizards corrupted by demons became mentally very fragile, easily driven to madness by stimulation and acting irrationally. When she studied at First University, she had been one of the top students.

The young wizard was not far away.

Nikita turned her head, looking at him with slightly reddened eyes.

What a handsome young man. A wave of daze washed over her. If they were still at the academy, such a young man would surely blush and become flustered if he received such attention from her. But now, this young man only watched her warily, flipping open his spellbook, ready to hurl a lightning spell at her at any moment.

I can never go back.

She looked back at the sky and closed her eyes.

The young man's short scream reached her ears, followed by the heavy thud of his body falling to the ground.

Nikita struggled to sit up.

Beside the sand dune, an old man shrouded in a large black robe was looking at her with scarlet eyes.

"He's dead." The old man's voice was dry and hoarse, like a cold wind blowing through withered trees. He raised his slender staff from beneath his robe and pointed at the body prostrate before him.

Nikita hesitated, then scrambled to the young wizard's side and felt his neck.

His pulse had indeed vanished.

The old man affectionately patted her head, as if petting a small dog. He raised his iron-staked staff and pierced the dead wizard's neck.

Blood flowed out softly from the black hole, emitting an alluring aroma.

It was like the black bread she had received from that old magician when she was little.

Nikita lowered her head and began to suck.

Then, sobbing, she tore open his throat and drank greedily.

From then on, she had a new teacher. He was a staff member of the Lich King, and the old man let her call him Sir Ulrich.

Sir Ulrich led her out of the Sahara and back to the Lich King's territory.

Days passed, and Nikita seemed to have grown accustomed to the lich's life. However, in the eyes of other demons, she had become Sir Ulrich's disgrace.

This was because she only ate the corpses of wizards.

"Take your time, don't rush. Everyone starts out like this," the old knight always comforted her.

Until Zhou Zhou arrived at the Lich King's territory. Facing her ill-intentioned demon companions, Nikita found that she still couldn't face the death of a wizard directly.

So she fled again with the little witch.

Now, on the Misty, with nowhere left to run, Nikita suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Perhaps this was Sir Ulrich's true intention.

Demons who had fallen into darkness could only survive by sinking even deeper.

The memory lasted only a brief moment.

But it felt etched into her bones, as if it were eternal.

Nikita prostrated herself at the captain's feet, her expressionless face revealing eyes that seemed crystal clear in the darkness.

"Please let me stay on the ship."

The captain of the Misty sat silently behind the table, a wooden plate that had previously held 'memories' placed before him. In the plate lay the little witch's brain, resembling a luscious, ripe peach, its snow-white flesh coated in pink juice.

The Raven Spike in the captain's hand swiftly probed the brain's folds, and tendrils of ethereal blue mist snaked into his nostrils.

After a long while.

This vibrant peach gradually lost its luster, revealing its grayish-blue core.

"Although you've offered a sacrifice and boarded my ship, it doesn't mean you can stay," the captain's gentle voice slowly resonated. "So you need to give me a compelling reason."

Nikita remained silent for a few seconds.

"I want to live well!" she gritted out.

"Hoh!" The captain's lips curled up, and he examined the witch before him with great interest. A strange gleam flickered in his dark red eyes. "That's a good reason, but it's not enough."

"I can sneak onto First University's flight," Nikita said with unusual calmness.

This was a secret between her and the boy with emerald green eyes. By revealing this secret, she had severed all ties with her past self.

Indeed, there were no ties left.

The Nikita of the past had just died; the one standing here now was Nikita Zhou.

The captain toyed with the Raven Spike in his hand, gazing out the window in a daze.

The afterglow of the sunset painted the sea with an alluring layer of jam. The dark blue sky was like a giant tablecloth draped over this enormous cake.

Many interesting details had flowed from the young witch's memories just now.

Deep within the distant Silent Forest, in that black hole-like prison, an ancient tree had sprouted new shoots. This was a very significant event. Yet, First University had only assigned a dean to guard the Black Prison.

In the captain's memory, when that old tree bloomed, First University would at least assign a vice-principal-level Archmage to watch over it.

This meant that some changes had occurred at First University that greatly interested him.

The captain looked up and said gently to Nikita, "Since you can get onto that flight, then go ahead and do so."

Nikita slowly nodded.

"If there's nothing else, go upstairs and help out. Tell them we're heading north."

Nikita didn't leave immediately.

The captain watched her quietly.

"I want her," Nikita said, staring at the shriveled peach on the wooden plate on the table.

This was the last remnant of the young witch Zhou Zhou left in this world.

"That's a strange request," the captain replied, shaking his head as he agreed.

Nikita cupped the withered brain, bowed her head meekly, and quickly departed from this dark world.