Chapter 641
For Xia'er, it was the first time she had seen Remedais in reality. But for Remedais, her memories were a jumbled mess, and she could barely recall the events that had transpired before Xia'er summoned her to wreak havoc on a city.
Every time something changed in the other realm, it seemed to further cloud her memories.
“(Spirit Language) Go... back to the academy...” Remedais's eyes were vacant as she reached out and grasped Xia'er's sleeve, murmuring, “Eat...”
She instinctively glanced around, a hint of confusion crossing her face.
What was the academy? What was she supposed to return for?
Whenever she tried to dig deeper into her memories, all that greeted her was chaos. The overwhelming fragments of her past made it impossible for Remedais to piece them together.
On the bright side, at least she still remembered the concept of eating.
“(Spirit Language) Sadana is waiting for you.” Xia'er slightly turned, glancing at the massive shadow behind her, and asked, “Do you want to meet her?”
“(Spirit Language) Sa...dana?” Remedais furrowed her brow, a sharp pain shooting through her head as she raised a hand to her forehead.
She couldn’t recall, but she sensed that she had forgotten something very important.
“Go...” Remedais clutched Xia'er's collar, and in the next moment, she plunged into the shadow below, dragging Xia'er along with her.
In the blink of an eye, a shadow emerged from the waves above the sea, and the figures of Remedais and Xia'er surged forth.
The sudden shift in distance made Xia'er feel a slight dizziness, and the terrifying pressure of being near Sadana made her hair stand on end.
For a moment, Xia'er nearly succumbed to the overwhelming mental shock.
Fortunately, the icy sensation in her mind kept her grounded. In her line of sight, Remedais was looking up at something, her small face reflecting deep contemplation.
Before Xia'er loomed a massive mound of flesh, trembling ominously. At the epicenter of this tremor, she could feel the terrifying power that this “monster” possessed.
A slight misstep could mean that even a minor fluctuation in its psyche would result in Xia'er being torn apart by this frenzied force—this was a power beyond her comprehension, belonging to an ascendant.
As Xia'er pondered how to prompt Remedais to speak and awaken Sadana, she felt a cold left hand grasp her right hand.
Looking down, she saw that Remedais's left hand was holding onto her, while her right hand slowly rose to rest on the monstrous mound before them.
Remedais's expression was pained; the chaotic memories seemed to tear her mind apart, inflicting a torment that even her soul could feel.
She looked up, one hand clutching Xia'er while the other pressed against the giant creature, gasping for breath as she spoke:
“Witch... Dada...”
“Tonight...”
“What to eat...”
This was the phrase she often repeated at the Tower Academy, with “What’s for lunch?” being the most frequent, followed by “What’s for breakfast?” and “What’s for afternoon tea?”
Yet, this simple question gradually calmed the trembling monster that had been quaking incessantly.
Two enormous blood-red eyes slowly opened, gazing down at Xia'er and Remedais.
Chapter 328: The Ascendant of the Witch Academy
The once seemingly endless wailing began to fade, and the waves and storms subsided, leaving only a thickening mist over the sea.
The eerie fog nearly concealed the colossal creature entirely, significantly reducing the mental pollution that had been emanating from it.
It had stabilized...
Xia'er let out a small sigh of relief, finally able to take a closer look at the mountain-like horror before her.
At such close range, her vision struggled to encompass the entirety of the creature, her gaze filled with the grotesque growths that continued to expand wildly.
These growths would rapidly decay and die off for some unknown reason after reaching a certain size, piling up on the creature's outer skin, waiting for new tumors beneath to burst forth and die again.
Countless layers of flesh stacked on top of each other formed a thick shell, yet some growths still emerged from the cracks, bursting open, each inch of the shell seemingly soaked in dark red blood countless times.
As Xia'er watched, another growth nearby split open, and just the sight of it was enough to evoke a sense of profound suffering.
Beneath these layers of flesh, the original state of the alchemical life form buried within the heavy shell was no longer discernible.
It seemed that the technique of using human bodies for life alchemy was far from perfected. Over the long passage of time, what might have once been a stable form had mutated, entering a cycle of self-destruction and rebirth.
Sadana had endured this state, surviving until now, bearing the immense pain of bodily transformation and flesh tearing every day. As her size continued to swell, this suffering only intensified.
To be honest, Xia'er thought that the fact Sadana hadn’t gone mad by now could hardly be attributed to mere “willpower” or “determination.” It was as if, even when she truly wanted to give up, Sadana might not even be able to bring herself to end her own life.
The “wreckage” of the ghost ship that Elois had seen decades ago might have just been a part of Sadana's outer shell.
Xia'er imitated Remedais, placing her hand on Sadana's hard exterior.
Though she was reluctant to disrupt this moment of calm, she knew she had to ask some pressing questions.
Remedais couldn’t remain in reality forever; only half of her body had escaped to the other realm, and that half was gradually fading with the passage of time.
Eventually, Remedais would be dragged back to the other realm, and once she left, Sadana's mental state would likely deteriorate further, possibly reaching an irreversible condition.
Moreover, the future deity who wielded the power of “existence” and their minions might notice the anomalies here at any moment. Xia'er had to ensure that Sadana shared the memories and information she had preserved.
Only by doing so would Sadana's persistence and sacrifice not be in vain.
“Sadana,” Xia'er began slowly, directly calling out her name, “Can you hear me?”
Above, the two blood moons slowly unfurled, casting beams of light down upon Xia'er.
After a long pause, a chaotic and indistinct voice echoed in her mind.
Witch...
“Just call me Xia'er.” Xia'er looked up, offering a gentle smile.
Xia'er...
This was the first time Sadana had spoken Xia'er's name; until now, she hadn’t even known what Xia'er was called.
“What happened at the Tower...?” Xia'er asked, gazing into Sadana's eyes. “Why have you become like this?”
She refrained from probing into the matters of the Witch Academy for now. With Remedais present, directly asking about the Tower might help clarify some of her own muddled memories.
The Tower... what happened...
Sadana's voice echoed again in Xia'er's mind, and the crimson giant eyes began to flicker, as if, like Remedais, the act of recalling brought her pain.
The Tower...
Sadana repeated the word, and Xia'er waited calmly, not urging or interrupting.
After several repetitions, Sadana's voice gradually faded, and silence enveloped the air.
Time passed, and eventually, Sadana's weak voice returned to Xia'er's mind.
That... captive... symbiote of the Abyss... has been found...
It... it wants to... destroy all seeds...
It is...
At this point, Sadana's voice faltered, and after a long pause, she spoke with evident pain.
I... can’t remember...
Can’t remember...
The ascendant Sadana referred to, who wanted to destroy all “seeds,” was the very one who had initially captured the Abyss.
After leaving the old world, had Sadana and the others found him?
And then, had Sadana's memories of that symbiote simply vanished?
Perhaps Sadana's own memories had become confused... but there was another possibility.
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