Chapter 368 Newcomer, welcome to the space of the gods - Socially Anxious Witch in the Apocalypse

Gazing at the newly refurbished alloy staff, Su Miao felt quite satisfied. As for the remnant Witch's Travel Diary, Su Miao recalled that there is a tradition in anime and light novels where witches often lose their travel journals. Could it be possible that such stories stem from reality, or perhaps they have happened in real life and inspired the imagination that appears in later witch tales? Su Miao was curious about this. However, now was not the time to read, so she put the book away. She couldn't ascertain whether the things beneath the temple ruins were speaking truthfully. What if they said so much just to make her drop her guard, perhaps hoping she'd hastily open the Witch's Travel Diary? Since encountering magic, Su Miao's knowledge base had expanded significantly, giving her insight into more subjects. For instance, books. Some books could entice their holders into signing contracts, turning them into puppets, like "Blood Magic." Some books, once read, would corrupt the reader with the knowledge inside, transforming them into indescribable entities. Some books appeared as simple volumes, but opening them could transport the reader into the book's world, confining them to a specific character's role to live through that narrative. With a bit of luck, one might survive such a tale. If unlucky, they might perish from unknown battle aftershocks before much of the storyline unfolds. The most absurd would be the Librarian, able to transform people into books. With the Librarian's books, an uninformed person might accidentally release a character who could kill them in the real world. All these possibilities indicated that the entity beneath the temple ruins was not sincerely apologetic. Most importantly, there was still abundant resentment emanating from it. Yet, at least the hostility had dissipated. For some reason, Su Miao found herself hoping the entity would emerge from beneath the ruins. In such case, all the collections would be hers. Why did such a notion cross her mind? Elegantly, Su Miao looked toward the ruins below, pondering something unknown. The entity beneath the temple took a deep breath — wasn't a law-infused divine energy gem and a Witch's Travel Diary from ten thousand years ago enough? Alas, it had nothing more presentable to offer. Should it offer something unworthy of a witch's status, the earlier gifts would have been in vain. "I recall something," said the entity below the temple ruins. "Each of those who unearthed me holds something extremely dangerous, so do be cautious. The items are as follows." He condensed a map, revealing the trump cards of the Inner World's evil deities planning to eliminate Su Miao. All along, He was cautious, never giving her a direct chance to attack his true form. "Hmm," Su Miao acknowledged, then sat sideways on her alloy staff, flying toward the next ruin. She had realized that staying here longer would result in more commotion, increasing the chance of being discovered by other targets, which was counter to her original intention of exploring the vast ruins of the Frozen Wasteland, especially when these evil deities were plotting her demise. Who knew where these entities might be hiding, watching and tracking her movements? A few minutes later, Su Miao arrived at the second ruin marked on the Ice Wasteland map, the coordinates also provided by the being below the temple ruins. Predictably, the area was completely covered by bizarre gray mist, obscuring everything. An ordinary person with abilities would likely never find their way out if ensnared. Su Miao initiated Starlight Bloom, igniting the eerie gray mist below. Instantly, harrowing howls of anguish spread from below, echoing in all directions. As usual, powerful and strange creatures attempted to soar to attack Su Miao or flee the eerie gray mist, but they were all incinerated by Starlight Bloom, turning to dust in the blink of an eye. Less than a minute later, a city that had been desolate for eons appeared beneath Su Miao's gaze. Looking at the city below, Su Miao felt an illusion of time travel. The city seemed indistinguishable from one on Earth a century ago, except for the unique block script left behind. Staring at the city's ruins, she couldn't imagine how brilliant the civilization that had once thrived here must have been. Sadly, no matter how magnificent, it had all become fleeting clouds of the past at this moment. And no one even remembered it. Even if future generations saw it, what use would it be? Not to mention the Inner World being incredibly dangerous and Earth enduring apocalyptic calamities, which could someday make it resemble here. In such circumstances, expecting a specialized archaeological team to come here was impossible. Furthermore, after a few moments when Su Miao left, unknown creatures could reoccupy it. The thought was terrifying. Standing in the sky, Su Miao unleashed her magical senses, searching for the hidden evil deities. Unfortunately, despite the commotion, no deity emerged. She could feel their presence lingering here, yet she couldn't pinpoint their exact location for now. Eyes seemed to lurk in every shadowy corner of the city ruins. After all, it felt as though the entire city was the true form of the entity. If so, it was incredibly terrifying. Unlike the last time, Su Miao knew that the purple flames had little effect on this deity. So this time, she utilized a fully compressed magical power in Starlight Bloom. She intended to obliterate the city ruins. Her alloy staff aimed at the city ruins, channeling destructive magical energy that illuminated the sky with a river of starlight. The sky turned dark, with endless starlight falling from the void. Standing amidst this shimmering realm, Su Miao appeared exceedingly elegant and divine. According to her initial plan, Su Miao intended a friendly dialogue, yet the entity didn't reciprocate in the slightest. Therefore, she decided to bombard the suspected spots, trusting always in her intuition. "Witch!" Suddenly, a roar emerged from the city ruins, shaking the very fabric of space, attempting to disrupt Su Miao's attack. However, this horrendous sound wave was absorbed by a magical spatial array in front of her, incapable of harming her at all. “Damn it, it betrayed us!” The Dragon-shaped Demon emerged. At this point, hiding was meaningless; it needed to spread the message here to alert other evil deities. He hurled a variety of artifacts, interweaving them into a massive magical formation to try and block Starlight Bloom. But such a notion was too naive; just as the damaged artifacts formed a defensive array, Su Miao’s Starlight Bloom descended. In the dark sky, only the majestic starlit river remained, and countless brilliant stars plummeted, effortlessly piercing the deity's defensive magic, shattering his artifacts. In a flash, sound vanished, and all senses disappeared. Dumbfounded, the Dragon-shaped Demon deity stared at the gaping hole in his chest, bewilderment in his eyes. What just happened? How did he expire so suddenly? No, he died long ago. But why? The starlit flames crept from the wound, rapidly engulfing his form, unstoppable regardless of his efforts. In truth, he had sensed Su Miao’s approach, but the Starlight Bloom she unleashed at the first ruin was too feeble. Trusting his treasured artifacts could easily fend it off, he made no further preparations. In the end, was this Starlight Bloom like this? 【Despicable Witch...】 In the guise of the Dragon-shaped Demon, the deity fell, turning to ash. Starlight Bloom struck the earth, detonating within the city ruins, sending a starlit storm sweeping in all directions, rendering the city in utter silence. Su Miao stood in the void, watching the scene unfold clearly. Was that an evil deity? She doubted it, wondering if it was somewhat weak? She knew she hadn’t fully compressed her magical power in Starlight Bloom; she could unleash another similarly powerful Starlight Bloom without issue. However, if it wasn’t an evil deity, it would be challenging to explain the previous events. First, the Dragon-shaped Demon was in a soul form. Secondly, his aura resembled the entity beneath the temple ruins. Moreover, upon the Dragon-shaped Demon's demise, the omnipresent surveillance on her vanished. Su Miao’s gaze turned to the explosion's epicenter, where remnants lay, which were once the artifacts the Dragon-shaped Demon intended to withstand Starlight Bloom. Now, these artifacts were reduced to debris with no salvageable value. Was this trip in vain? Su Miao pondered for a second, then waved her alloy staff, and countless tendrils sprouted below. The tendrils proliferated, nearly covering the entire city. They began to rummage through the ruins. Three minutes later, a pile of fresh debris was presented before Su Miao. These were items unearthed by the magical tendrils through instinct, mostly junk. Seated elegantly on her alloy staff, Su Miao raised her hand gracefully. Instantly, the magical tendrils began to further sort through the spoils. After a moment, she managed to extract a few decent-quality melee weapons from the pile of junk. She stored these items away and flew directly towards the next ruin. --- In the northern part of the Frozen Wasteland, there's a gorge with an extremely complex terrain. For the first time, when Su Miao visited a deity known for sleeping, she needed only one Starlight Bloom to make the entity bow in submission. Such behavior made the others disdainful, lucky that this weakling wasn't part of their plan. A weakling doesn't deserve resurrection. But who would have thought that upon leaving, Su Miao would head straight to the second ruin, attacking without hesitation? The Dragon-shaped Demon believed he was capable, only to be swiftly defeated. This scene roused the nerves of the surviving deities. Was this a joke? Whether they had a physical body or were in soul form, they were fundamentally strong as gods. So how could one witch's spell slay the Dragon-shaped Demon? Sensing the lingering traces of Su Miao’s Starlight Bloom, the deities’ expressions changed; her magic inherently countered them. Starlight Bloom was more profound than it appeared — possessing a dimensional law strike effect. Even at their peak, with bodies, they couldn't withstand the witch's attack. Could someone explain — was she truly a new deity from another world? Undeniably powerful, yet she acted overly feeble. Cunning, shameless witch! Moreover, they had heard the Dragon-shaped Demon's dying words: "Damn it, she betrayed us!" They understood now that the entity they had unearthed had betrayed them. But now there was no time for retaliation. "Ladies and gentlemen, this witch's power exceeds our expectations. We must develop a long-term strategy." "Long-term strategy? Do you think this witch will give us time to prepare? She’ll find her way to us soon." "Then what do we do? Her magical attack carries invincible law forces; even in our prime, we can't contend with it." "Damned witch! Wasn't she supposed to have just stepped onto the godly threshold according to the prophecy?" "Prophecy? Who even spread such a prophecy?" The deities pondered and to their surprise, they couldn't recall anything. Their only memory was of an entity predicting that a new god from another world, just stepping into godhood, would soon arrive at the Frozen Wasteland. Upon receiving this prophecy, they devised another plan, trying to have the owl sage champion of Demon King City act first. However, the owl sage did not act, and the witch approached them directly. "Damn, I understand now!" "Why?" "We've become her trial targets. According to an ancient book I once read, in some worlds, there’s a tradition where upon becoming a god, one must slay other divine beings to prove their existence." "Honestly, our state is the best choice." "What kind of joke is that?!" "Ridiculous! I don't even remember who I should hate." "Forget it, folks. What's done is done; we need to act, otherwise, she'll soon address us directly." "I have a plan, though it’s a gamble. If it succeeds, we might seriously injure the witch and could even obtain her blood. If it fails, it means our complete erasure." "We must all make a full effort — that provides a chance." "......" The Ancient Sea Dragon spoke in cryptic divine tongue: "■■■" The other deities' expressions changed once more, but they hesitated only for a moment before saying, "Hahaha, let’s offer ourselves up as the fuel to kill the witch. Let's do it!" The Ancient Sea Dragon declared, "Then let's begin!" --- Just as the deities foresaw. After slaying the Dragon-shaped Demon, Su Miao went immediately to the next ruin’s coordinates. Halfway there, she noticed a ripple in the air ahead. Just as she prepared to retreat and strategize, her surroundings transformed. She found herself inside a train carriage, still clad in her elegant witch’s robe, unchanged. Only, the surrounding environment was bizarre. The sound of the train was loud, yet a middle-aged man across the table slumbered peacefully. Using magic to sense her surroundings, she discovered there were 23 people in this carriage. Only six were awake, while the others slept. These people were potent, seemingly strong powers, yet distinctly different from those on Earth. "Hey, another one woke up." A middle-aged man in mercenary garb with a scar on his face approached, scoffing, "Twelve minutes and only five of you woke up — you're the worst batch I've brought." "Hey, a newcomer?" Eyeing Su Miao, he said, "Newbie, welcome to the Divine Space. If you wish to understand the situation, check the holographic watch on your wrist where you'll find everything you want to know." Su Miao extended her hand — her left wrist had no watch. Her right hand held no watch either. What? (End of Chapter)