Chapter 373 Owl Sage - Socially Anxious Witch in the Apocalypse

On the stage, Lin Jiu Jiu was singing. Below the stage, the audience was wildly cheering! Even though they didn’t understand the language, Lin Jiu Jiu's performance as a beautiful young idol on stage completely charmed the beastkin. Meanwhile, Xia Xiao An swiftly reaped the lives of the unconscious beastkin. The goat-headed general tried to resist. But in the next second, Xia Xiao An pierced his heart with her blade, and struck his head with a thunderous blow, killing him thoroughly. Without the support of his physical body, his soul vanished into golden light in just a few seconds. Ten minutes later, the battle was over. Looking at the battlefield drenched in blood, Xia Xiao An’s hands trembled slightly. It wasn’t out of fear from killing too many; it was because she had killed so many that her hands were tired, triggering an involuntary muscle adjustment response. From this battle, Xia Xiao An realized a serious problem. Not to mention the gap with Sister Su Miao, the distance between her and Lin Jiu Jiu had unknowingly widened significantly. To give a simple example, she used to be confident she could defeat Lin Jiu Jiu in a fight, but now Lin Jiu Jiu could eliminate her in seconds. Moreover, in a battle of such scale, Lin Jiu Jiu only needed to stand in place and sing, waiting for enemies to come to her. Her actions to finish off the foes were actually unnecessary; without them, the beastkin would still die. Here, the difference became glaringly apparent. Xia Xiao An needed to get close to kill. Without getting close, the sword in her hand couldn’t exert its lethal force. Without getting close, her lightning couldn’t hit each target precisely. However, getting close meant danger; encountering an enemy who could counter her abilities could mean instant death. What should she do? Panting, Xia Xiao An pondered over this issue. She was intelligent and quickly thought of solutions. The first was to cultivate her Tai Chi Heart Flow to Sister Su Miao's level, so she could protect herself whether in melee or not. But Xia Xiao An was not Sister Su Miao. Training her Tai Chi Heart Flow to that level would take how long? The second solution was to specialize in controlling her lightning abilities greatly. Thus, she could attack from a distance or even take on multiple foes at once. Sister Su Miao had mentioned that among the various lightning attack modes, the most powerful was the lightning ball, and she hoped Xia Xiao An could utilize it one day. The third solution was to enhance her original abilities, mind reading, and mind control to their utmost. Even so, there would still be a significant gap with Lin Jiu Jiu. Thinking this, Xia Xiao An felt stuck. She didn’t want to be left behind. Affected by Xia Xiao An’s feelings, strange gray mist started to gather on the battlefield, silently drifting towards her. Especially from the fallen bodies, more eerie gray mist emerged. However, Lin Jiu Jiu approached Xia Xiao An at the same time, her vibrant idol aura causing the gray mist to withdraw, not daring to get close. "Xiao An! Xiao An!" Lin Jiu Jiu called out several times before Xia Xiao An responded. "Xiao An, are you okay?" She glanced at the river of blood and bodies on the ground, asking with concern. According to the books, a normal person suddenly killing someone would experience palpitations, nausea, and the more they kill, the more severe the symptoms, even to the point of wanting to end their own life. Having killed so many this time, it was normal for Xia Xiao An to feel uneasy, wasn't it? "Thank you, I'm fine." Xia Xiao An regained her composure: "These beastkin were organized and disciplined. They didn’t come here for no reason; they might return." Lin Jiu Jiu said, "Hmm, let's go back to the camp first." Xia Xiao An asked, "What about these bodies on the ground?" Lin Jiu Jiu and Xia Xiao An exchanged a glance. They didn’t have Sister Su Miao’s ability to incinerate all these bodies. But leaving them here, they wouldn’t just rot and stink; unforeseen tragedies could occur. The next day, when they awoke and returned to the battlefield, all the fresh bodies had disappeared, replaced by a field of bones, as if these corpses had died decades ago. Lin Jiu Jiu and Xia Xiao An were deeply shocked by the sight. What on earth happened overnight?! Looking back at the land, they were filled with reverence. … "Sage, none of the people we sent have returned." The secretary stepped into the deepest room of the Demon King's Castle to report the capture of the human girls to the Owl Sage. According to the information, the witch had left temporarily, so they planned to capture the three human girls she had brought and take them to the Demon King's Castle. They thought using these three human girls as leverage against the witch might make things easier. "I know," responded the Owl Sage calmly. The secretary was momentarily taken aback and tentatively asked, "Sage, should we send more people..." The Owl Sage said, "No need. The witch is a new god from another world. Those who can stay by her side are certainly not simple. Sending more will only result in more deaths." "Yes, Sage." The secretary nodded. The Owl Sage commanded, "Issue an order to have all kin leave the Demon King's Castle, evacuate as far as possible." Perplexed, the secretary asked, "Sage, why is that?" The Owl Sage replied, "The witch is a new god. You attacked the girls beside her, which she can sense if she chooses." The secretary trembled slightly. The Owl Sage assured, "Do not be afraid, or worry. This is my approved order." He stood up, turned to look out the window, and said, "The witch might already be on her way here. Arrange for the kin's evacuation quickly." "Understood, Sage!" The secretary hurriedly left the hall to declare the evacuation order. Soon, a large number of beastkin began to orderly leave the Demon King's Castle, which they had called home for many years. Having lived there so long, many beastkin shed tears of reluctance. Some protested, not wanting to leave. For these dissenters, the evacuation organizers typically resorted to a slap. If anyone was unwilling to leave and preferred to resist for dear life, they were left alone. The evacuation took a full day; most beastkin evacuated, leaving behind over a hundred thousand who stayed. The Owl Sage observed the entire evacuation clearly. He said nothing. These people were adults and responsible for their choices. By evening, the remaining beastkin amassed substantial supplies and held a grand gathering in the open space outside the Demon King's Castle. Around the bonfire, they sang, danced, ate meat, drank wine, and enjoyed themselves immensely. "Talking about imminent danger for the Demon King's Castle and evacuating, what a farce! Migrating this many people would result in countless deaths." "Stop complaining. Aren’t we still here? No one forced us." "Exactly." "We’ve lived here for generations. They’ve long despised it. Now they claim a divine battle is imminent. What a joke! Leaving a day or two earlier would make no difference if it were true." "Indeed, let’s keep drinking!" Around the bonfire, the beastkin drank with increasing fervor. Such scenes had occurred several times, and they did not believe their revelry would affect their guardian, the Owl Sage. The Owl Sage stood atop the Demon King's Castle, observing the bonfire gathering and listening to the kin's discussions. His thoughts involuntarily drifted back thousands of years. Thousands of years ago, after slaying the Demon King, he and the surviving kin held a bonfire festival in the same spot. However, there was one mistake in what the kin said below. Those willing to leave had all been teleported away. The teleportation was one-way and had been completely destroyed. Now, those remaining didn’t have the opportunity to leave. Some time unknown, a purple sun appeared in the sky. Under the purple sun, the pink-haired witch Su Miao sat sideways on her alloy staff, slowly flying toward the Demon King's Castle. “What is that?!” “Ahhh, Sage, save us!” “Where is the Sage? Hasn’t he acted yet?” “Help! Someone help us! I don’t want to die!” “Why panic?! With the Sage here, nothing will happen to us! Fight back together!” “……” Chaos engulfed the Demon King's Castle; agonized screams echoed endlessly. Since the bonfire was outside, many beastkin couldn't escape into the Demon King's Castle in time, getting scorched by the intense heat radiated by the enormous purple fireball. Some of the bolder beastkin dared to look directly at the purple fireball and saw the witch Su Miao beneath it. Then, they were blinded. Su Miao, sitting sideways on her alloy staff, had no intention of torturing the beastkin. As she hovered over the Demon King's Castle, she sent the purple fireball downwards. This purple fireball was not just intensely hot; it contained the laws of fire and destruction that Su Miao was beginning to comprehend. Thus, the entire purple fireball appeared extremely volatile, as if it would explode if not released. It was incredibly hazardous. As the purple fireball neared the ground, many beastkin ran and wailed, bursting into flames and turning to ash. A few beastkin roared defiantly, trying to use their powers of ice or petrification to resist. The result was the same—they turned to dust. Some beastkin who had a moment to think before dying regretted their decisions. They should have evacuated when the secretary informed them; neither the secretary nor the Owl Sage had deceived them. They had not believed the secretary and had doubted the long-absent Owl Sage. But why, as the purple sun descended, did the Owl Sage not intervene to save them? Had the Owl Sage abandoned them? In truth, Su Miao was also surprised. She noticed the Owl Sage, who remained in the Demon King’s Castle, simply avoided the descending purple fireball. When the purple fireball fell, it exploded with a thunderous boom, flattening the vast Demon King's Castle and transforming it into a molten hell. A distinctive mushroom cloud soared into the sky, the intense heat illuminating the desolate land far and wide. Except for Su Miao and the Owl Sage, no other living beings remained at the scene. Elegant and composed, Su Miao stood from her alloy staff, grasped it, and calmly looked at the Owl Sage. The Owl Sage appeared human to some extent. He retained the appearance of a middle-aged man, with a few feathers atop his head affirming his owl identity. "Witch, you’ve arrived!" The Owl Sage said, "If you don’t mind, please allow me a moment to introduce myself." Without waiting for Su Miao's reply, the Owl Sage began, "My name is Freyda Petersen. I have miraculously survived over 7,800 years on this frozen wasteland as a sage of the beastkin." "Long ago, my kin were human like you... Oh, but now you've entered the divine realm, and shouldn't be simply defined as human. Please pardon my language." "It’s been so long since I’ve spoken with anyone normally." "In this icy wasteland, I've led my kin to a meager existence, always seeking a way to purge their corruption, to undo their beastkin transformation, their mutations. But as you see, I can’t even solve my dilemma, let alone theirs." "I finally understood that as long as we live on this frozen wasteland, in this world, resolving this issue is impossible." "So when a few delusional ancient deities spoke through prophecy about your arrival, I didn’t fall for their schemes." "Such a promising event would never have been revealed to me by them." With a self-deprecating laugh, the Owl Sage, Freyda Petersen, continued, "But my kin's situation was dire, leaving me no room for hesitation. Whether there was a chance or not, I desired to acquire a portion of new god’s blood to try." "Much like ages ago, when I devoured the Demon King within this castle, using his power to delay my kin's transformation." "It’s likely yet another failure—no, undoubtedly, a failure!" "This sounds like bad news, but behind the bad news lurks a good one." "For the first time in 3,000 years, I divined my fate. The divination revealed I would meet death, meet release." "Witch, do you have any questions?" Su Miao asked, "You all call this the frozen wasteland. Isn't this part of the inner world?" The Owl Sage, Freyda Petersen, pondered momentarily and replied, "The frozen wasteland is simply the frozen wasteland. It's a planet as vast as the world you came from, teetering at the brink of desolation, not part of any inner world." "Given your power, you should have often looked up at the starry sky during your flights, realizing how swiftly you could traverse from this frozen wasteland to other parts of the planet." "This isn’t the inner world?!" Su Miao was deeply shocked, staring at the Owl Sage. If this truly wasn’t the inner world, what world had the Twelve Guardians opened up? What were those distorted space nodes? Owl Sage Freyda Petersen elaborated, "As for the inner world, I think you have strayed from it, which is actually fortunate because the inner world is a hell filled with grotesqueness!" （End of the chapter）