Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1363 The Conflict of Consciousness

"Is it funny?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the dragon's three enormous, distinct heads turned toward the source of the sound without any two heads turning at the same time.

His self-awareness, which had been restored by the return of the Daoists from the "City of Calamity," no longer followed instinctive actions, but the sense of shock and bewilderment at the turn of joy still filled his mind.

Angel, whose size was equally enormous but still exuded a charm that transcended race, gender, and even life and death, had somehow appeared beside Him and was smiling at Him.

Then, she stretched out one of her delicate, boneless arms and pressed it against the expressionless face formed by the chaotic vortex in the middle of the evil dragon.

Angel did not truly die during the most powerful "catastrophe" in the universe that was created by the original creator.

This is partly because the symbol of "the original creator" itself comes from the original feminine and masculine aspects of the mirror that Angel contains and controls. Although Chik and Tudor, who are integrated into it, have a certain self, they are essentially still a part of Angel, a spiritual imprint that exists in dependence on her and Grey. This leads to the devastating catastrophe that erupts in the consciousness space due to the fusion of the four destroying the evil dragon first, rather than Angel, who is closer.

On the other hand, even if she did die in the explosion, she wouldn't truly die because her process of absorbing the source matter was different from the normal one. She didn't directly contact the "City of Calamity" with her body or integrate her consciousness into it to compete with the evil dragon. Instead, she began absorbing the source matter while her divine body remained outside the seal, and only her spirit and soul came to the Western Continent through a secret contract. This meant that even if her consciousness in this space perished, it wouldn't truly affect her body.

Compared to the evil dragons that can be resurrected repeatedly, but with increasingly longer intervals between resurrections, she has less of a burden and is less likely to truly face defeat.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Angel can engage in a "death game" with the evil dragon without any worries. If her and Gray's consciousnesses are completely destroyed, there is a high probability that they will leave this consciousness space and can only restart the process of accommodating source matter. However, once the evil dragon is resurrected and banishes the two of them, it will probably immediately reshape its physical body in the real world and become that complete, terrifying monster with source matter power again.

At that time, unless the Dao Masters of the Western Continent cooperate again to seal the opponent, Angel will probably find it difficult to defeat the activated consciousness of the Source Essence, given that no other deities can enter the seal on the Western Continent now.

Of course, the evil dragon was unaware of Angel's concerns. Just as its six eyes on its three heads lingered on Angel's charming and approachable face, it caught a glimpse of several figures almost overlapping behind Angel.

That was Gray holding the flag and waiting, Chick and Tudor entering a state of fusion again, and the yin and yang sides of the Creator in the mirror!

They did not perish in the disaster that seemed like a Big Bang, but survived into the current "new universe" because of the symbolism and concept of the "Creator"!
At this moment, the evil dragon felt that the consciousness of the Daoist from the "City of Calamity" that had just returned to its body was about to be frightened out of its body and scatter and flee.

Having acquired independent thought and no longer controlled by the instincts of mythical creatures, He forcibly suppressed the urge to continue fleeing. The near-black eyes on the black dragon head and the azure eyes on the woman's head simultaneously revealed a resolute expression, about to trigger the symbols of various natural disasters within the consciousness space, actively destroying Himself, Angel, and the "Primordial Creator" He was about to merge with.

Even if this is His third death and resurrection in a short period of time, with an interval that could be as long as decades, during which time the City of Calamity will give birth to a living consciousness that is simply driven by madness and instinct, the most important thing right now is to expel this challenger and make her unable to contain the City of Calamity.

If we don't do that, and allow the "original creator" to be born, even if it's just the original creator within the consciousness space, merely a concept and a symbol, the explosion just now would kill the evil dragon again, and Angel might be able to escape by relying on his own special characteristics.

At that time, only her existence will remain in the consciousness space. Ascending to the throne and truly accommodating the "City of Calamity" will be without any obstacles or difficulties.

For the wicked dragon, which was imprinted with the spirits of countless Daoists, such utter defeat was even more unacceptable than death.

Sensing the evil dragon's intention to perish together with him, Angel shook his head and spoke to it telepathically:
"it's useless.

"You think these natural disasters can kill me? Even if my consciousness perishes here, it will be reborn within my body. Even your curse and your chain of destruction cannot affect my true form outside the seal of the Western Continent."

“And once you die, you will be trapped in a rebirth cycle that lasts for a hundred years. During this period, the new consciousness of the City of Calamity will be unable to resist the fusion process. I can try to defeat it again. Even without me, there are other cultivators, extraordinary individuals who have retraced the divine paths of the ‘Red Priest’ and the ‘Witch’.”

Her words weren't entirely true, but they did highlight the predicament the evil dragon was currently facing.

This immediately made the evil dragon, which was summoning concepts of natural disasters such as supernovae and black holes, hesitate. Through the thinking and consciousness bestowed upon it by generations of Dao-aligned beings in the "City of Calamity," it was able to think about long-term matters, weigh the pros and cons, and also had emotions and thoughts such as hesitation, fear, and consideration, rather than blindly acting on instinct.

Seeing this, Angel continued to "incite":

"Perhaps before you can even be contained, the barrier of the original Creator will break. After the end of the world, there will be more than one Great Old One who covets the 'City of Calamity'. Once you are devoured by them, your consciousness will have no chance to resist."

"But when you merge with me, you will still retain a part of your consciousness. You can see the two sides of the original creator in the mirror, as well as Chik and Tudor."

Upon hearing the last name, the dragon head on the left of the evil dragon, covered in black scales and with hair that rose like flames, turned to look at the consciousness of "Blood Emperor" Tudor, who was almost completely integrated with Chik, and had black armor and red hair.

He remembered the favored one of this city of calamity, the god who often sought power from him through the seal, and who ultimately wanted to use the special nature of the "Red Priest" to pull all the source matter of the Western Continent out of the seal.

In this matter, He is equivalent to the priest of the "city of calamity," the executioner who spreads destruction, disaster, and war.

Looking at that sharply defined, rugged face, the evil dragon was momentarily lost in confusion.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Angel raised his other hand and, together with the hand already pressed on Chaos's head, used the connection between the head and the black-and-white body of the evil dragon to pull its massive body toward himself.

Or rather, it's about pulling yourself towards the other person.

As the evil dragon reacted and began to struggle desperately again, Angel had already used brute force to tear the chaotic head, which separated the black dragon head from the white female head, off the dragon's body.

Deep red, flame-like blood and black, rust-like scales rained down. The head, which originated from the power of "God" and prevented the true fusion of the two paths of power within the city of calamity, was thrown by Angel with an invisible body towards the four figures, including Chik and Tudor, who were in the process of fusion.

The allure of the concept of "chaos" instantly drew the head into it, making the four figures merge into one at an even faster pace.

Another catastrophe is about to strike, destroying the entire space of consciousness and "recreating" everything again.

Just then, Gray, who held the uniqueness of the "Red Priest" and had not joined the conversation, nodded to Angel and disappeared directly from the consciousness space.

She returned to the real world. With her departure, one of the four figures that had absorbed the Chaos Head and were about to become one also disappeared.

That was the masculine side of the Creator in the mirror, a white-armored man whose face still retained Tudor's features and incorporated a little of Gray's style.

She did not have her own physical form, but existed in relation to Grey. Because she was not yet a true "Red Priestess" and had not become male, she could not truly merge with him. Therefore, she naturally disappeared when Grey left.

The once stable fusion, with a figure in each of the four directions, was missing a crucial piece and immediately collapsed. The symbol of the "First Creator" vanished, and Chik and Tudor, as well as the negative aspect of the Creator in the mirror with Angel's appearance, separated from each other.

The catastrophe that destroyed and created everything also ceased.

Chik, who was about to become one with Tudor but was stopped at the last step, looked reproachfully at Angel, who had torn off the chaotic head in the middle of the evil dragon, and showed a helpless smile. Tudor beside him sneered and shook his head.

They also disappeared, leaving this space of consciousness.

Above the steps, only a head of pale golden hair remained, with an appearance identical to Angel's, and purple eyes revealing the innocent and curious negative side of the "original creator".

If Gray had left a few seconds later, He would have truly merged with His own masculine aspect, thereby giving birth to the consciousness of the original Creator in the mirror. This is an Old One who possesses the status of that Creator, but only has a single source and corresponding pathway. It is a form of existence designed by the original Creator before His fall, which allows Him to maintain a stable state and not spontaneously split or destroy Him.

Even at that time, the new creator, who does not possess the symbol of "omniscience and omnipotence," would have to relearn and adapt to everything. Moreover, He, who only has a negative aspect and is deliberately sealed and isolated in the depths of the mirror world by the "Primal Witch" Chick, would not be able to do so.

The current "negative side" not only lacks normal thinking, but also the ability of a person in a mirror to automatically learn relevant knowledge based on the experiences of their original self. Instead, it is like an underage girl or even a child.

This caused Him, having lost Chik as the target of His hatred, to subconsciously become close to Angel, as if becoming the latter's little follower. It also gave Angel the idea to briefly bring out the symbol of the "original creator" in the consciousness space to threaten and defeat the evil dragon.

Of course, even if this is just a space of consciousness, Angel wouldn't dare to risk truly merging the yin and yang aspects of the "original creator." Otherwise, destroying this space would be a minor matter; if the creator were to be born, the Earth, the solar system, and even the entire universe could be completely destroyed just like before.

Seeing that Gray had left the consciousness space with his positive side, interrupting the fusion process of the original creator which lacked key symbols, Angel breathed a sigh of relief. Her body shrunk to a normal size, replacing the chaotic head that she had ripped off, and stopped between the dragon's head and the human head.

The two heads that instinctively wanted to move closer were suddenly separated by her. As a result, the evil dragon's body also merged with Angel, turning her into a new head.

This is the space of consciousness. Angel's consciousness has merged with that of the evil dragon, signifying the beginning of the final stage of their struggle.

In an instant, Angel felt a violent, insane, and surging desire for destruction raging within him—the instincts and tendencies accumulated over millennia by the awakened consciousness of the "City of Calamity."

Furthermore, it contains the spiritual imprints of countless Dao-aligned individuals. Some are bloodthirsty by nature, believing in "calamity" simply to fight more efficiently; some are born disregarding others, climbing to high positions only to "conquer"; some use their own advantages to "charm" others for pleasure; and some are drawn into the vortex of "chaos," becoming sacrifices against their will...

Under the onslaught of thousands of consciousnesses and spirits, Angel seemed to give birth to another self within her. She wanted to abandon her original beliefs, to wield power and succumb to it, to kill and conquer according to her instincts, and to treat others as playthings.

However, the self formed by Angel's memories of the two kings was not affected, and although she had few anchors, they were very stable. Among them was an individual of extremely high status and close connection. With the help of the anchor's cognitive positioning, she quickly broke free from that false self and faced the crazy and violent consciousness of the "evil dragon".

This time, she did not choose to fight Him directly, but instead directed part of it towards the feminine side of the "original creator" who was still looking around and occasionally glancing at Angel.

The evil dragon from the source consciousness was like an infant in front of the "original" persona, and was almost instantly covered and destroyed.

The remaining part was gradually digested, weakened, and replaced by Angel.

The dragon's body, which was originally black and white but merged together and coiled on the steps, slowly shrank and its shape gradually changed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At the base of the ancient wooden tower, beside a stone tablet inscribed with "Gathering the power of the world, sacrificing half of the heroes, and locking the evil dragon here," Gray's figure quickly emerged.

Her body was outside the seal of the Western Continent, but due to the influence of the "City of Calamity," the location where she appeared after leaving the consciousness space was still next to the city to which this source matter was attached, under the Tower of Dragon Locking.

The "Celestial Master" carrying a whisk, the "Holy Monk" with ordination scars on his head, and other Daoist practitioners immediately looked at her, their expressions full of doubt.

They could see that the person before them was not the complete "Goddess of Calamity," Angel, but only a part of Him.

Finally, it was the Celestial Master, wearing a tall crown and with a face as beautiful as jade, who asked:
"Will the evil dragon be brought to justice?"

They could sense the battle within the seal and knew that the monster's physical body had been destroyed, but they had no way of knowing anything about the consciousness space.

Gray smiled slightly and said:
"Not yet, but I believe in her..."

Before the words were even finished, the Daoists and Gray became spiritually alert and looked up at the distant sky.

That is where Angel pulled the phantom of the "City of Calamity" from the city below and merged it into himself.

The Celestial Master, the Holy Monk, and other Daoist practitioners sensed the true dissipation of the Dragon-Locking Seal, which meant that the target of the seal had disappeared and there was no need to maintain it.

Gray, however, had a sudden realization:

Angel has become a "city of calamity".

(End of this chapter)