Millennium Witch.

Chapter 33 - Pressure
If it was already strange that the aberration would visit without launching a sneak attack, then the fact that the aberration spoke human language was a shocking revelation.

Although it spoke the Black Tide language, and its pronunciation was strange, making it quite difficult for Rosalind, who only knew a simple version of the language, the impact was no less. She stammered, "You...you...how can you talk?"

Yvette, as if struck by a sudden thought, asked, "You've regained your memories from your human days?"

“After the third…evolution was completed…I could see some…fragments of information remaining in the brain…” As the dual-bladed demon spoke, his tone gradually became more fluent, as if he had found the feeling of speaking human language.

Then, seeing Rosalind's hesitant and nervous expression, the Twinblade Demon wanted to laugh again, but seeing Yvette's expressionless face beside it, it suppressed its impulse and said, "I already knew about your... living area... those in the Brood faction... also knew... so they... wouldn't come near... I was just testing... your level yesterday..."

The "probing" likely refers to yesterday's sneak attack on Rosalyn... The Mother Nest faction? They should be the two sides in the Grey Harbor Wars... but why does it sound like it's absolving itself of responsibility?
Yvette pondered for a moment, while Rosalind, hiding behind her teacher, used her spoken language skills learned in the dream to ask, "Are you still human? And what is this lord you mentioned?"

“I can only see…a little memory and knowledge…I am different from those stupid dogs that have undergone three evolutions…I have more intelligence than them…and a stronger body than humans…I am a higher, limitless…perfect being.”

The Twinblade Demon finally couldn't hold back any longer and revealed that smile that terrified Rosalind once again. But this time, Yvette didn't suddenly attack it.

It's clear this guy keeps a very clear line between himself and the aberrations... He calls himself a perfect being and the other three-stage aberrations "stupid dogs"... Considering his knowledge comes from memories of his human past, does this mean that humanoid aberrations are more likely to gain knowledge and wisdom when they enter the third stage... Yvette wondered.

After a pause, the double-edged demon continued, "The Lord... is the fourth stage of evolution... Once it is born... it will be the ruler of the island... At that time, my best outcome will be... losing my freedom... The worst outcome will be becoming nourishment... And your existence... is too much of a threat, you will definitely be eliminated..."

"Why are you the only one who came to us for cooperation? What about the other three stages of aberrations?" Yvette asked.

"They're all stupid dogs, incapable of communication, and know nothing... Those who know the truth are slaves of the Mother Nest, whose evolution was accomplished only through the Mother Nest... My evolution is solely due to myself." The Twin-Edged Demon's tone had become much more fluent, and a strong sense of superiority was clearly evident in his voice.

The Hive can help aberrations evolve, but at the cost of being controlled by the Hive… The Twinblade Demon entered the third stage through its own strength, thus becoming a lone wolf among the Hive's forces…

Yvette understood the implied meaning in its words, but she was still puzzled: "After the lord is born, is it the lord or the mother nest that controls you? Or are they both?"

“When the Mother Nest is first born, it is very weak and will choose a… collaborator as the Nest Master… There can only be one Nest Master… As long as he is alive, he cannot be changed and is not controlled by the Mother Nest… Only the Nest Master can evolve into a Lord,” said the Twin-Blade Demon.

So that's how it is. It must mean that the early Mother Nest lacked capabilities and needed external investment to grow. This is what the "Nest Master" is, someone who can form a contract with the Mother Nest and establish a symbiotic relationship... And once the Mother Nest grows up, it feeds back at the Nest Master, helping it evolve into the fourth-stage "Lord" and establish aberrant power... Yvette asked, "How was the Mother Nest born?"

"I don't know." This time, the Twinblade Demon answered surprisingly readily, then added, "...luck."

"Do you know where the first mutant creatures came from when the apocalypse came?" Yvette asked again.

This time, the dual-bladed demon didn't even answer. After shaking its head, it silently looked at her. Although the enormous white compound eyes didn't have any kind of gaze, its human-like facial features still conveyed a sense of speechless questioning—how should I know?

Seeing that the two no longer asked questions, the Twinblade Demon smirked again and said, "This information... is my sincerity... That corrupt forest between the mountains is where the lord was born... The Nest Master is already evolving, and its war against the two nests is a cover to buy time... All the elite guards have been deployed near the mother nest... I suggest you make a decision quickly... Otherwise, it will take at least half a month... Hehe..."

Having said that, it fluttered its four wings slightly, transformed into a blur, and silently merged into the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

……

The next morning, Rosalin, who hadn't slept well all night, came downstairs with dark circles under her eyes and saw that her teacher had already gotten up early.

It was an area that could barely be called a livestock pen, containing some wild animals captured by the teachers. In the soft morning light, Yvette sat quietly at a simple wooden table, her shadow elongated. In her hand she held a slender syringe, the dark liquid swirling slightly within the glass tube, as she intently and slowly injected it under the skin of a gray rabbit.

Rosalyn didn't make a sound to disturb her, because she knew the teacher was conducting an experiment.

Three years after developing the "regeneration pump" technique, the professor has been researching how to use a virtual heart to filter out aberrant factors from the body as a life-saving method after aberrant infection. However, due to a lack of understanding of the nature of the aberrant factors, the fact that the required knowledge is too advanced, and her own somewhat excessive laziness (basically conducting experiments only every few days for one or two hours each time), the optimization process of the massive "regeneration pump" has been stuck for three years with little progress.

It was fine to be so leisurely before. For a powerful mage who has lived for countless years, what can't wait until tomorrow to do it?

But after witnessing yesterday's battle and the visit of the double-edged demon last night, the teacher didn't sleep in this morning and started doing experiments early in the morning. This indirectly shows that the "lord" who is about to be born in the Ish Mountains is putting a lot of pressure on the teacher.

She tiptoed into the kitchen, tied on an apron, and began preparing breakfast. When she placed the warm plates beside the teacher, she noticed a strange look on the teacher's face.

"How is it, teacher?" Rosalyn asked.

“We’ve found a clue.” Yvette breathed a sigh of relief. “It wasn’t a waste of my time studying here all night.”

"Teacher, did you study this all night?" Rosalyn asked in surprise.

"Ah."

"So when you get serious, the teacher is a genius!" Rosalyn smiled.

Is this implying that I was too lazy before...? Looking at the angelic smile on the girl's face, Yvette was a little suspicious.

After breakfast, the two set off again, almost circling the Ish Mountains in the very center of Ish Island. Starting from Ish City in the south, they went to Grey Harbor City in the upper left, then passed through scattered town ruins to Luya City in the north, and finally returned to Ish City in the south via the East Ring Road on the right.

—The whole process took a day, and the magic motorcycle's energy storage plates were completely drained, relying entirely on Yvette's nearly 650 points of magic power to recharge it.

During this process, the two mainly observed from the edge of several battlefields. First, they confirmed that the Ish Mountains were indeed simultaneously fighting against the Gray Harbor and Luya factions. Second, during the battle, the Slug army fighting against the Gray Harbor did not have a Stage 3 Aberration leading the way, while the Slug army fighting against Luya had a Stage 3 Canine Aberration leading the way. It was unclear whether this was a deliberate attempt to bluff.

Finally, on their return journey along the 150-kilometer-long East Ring Road ruins, while gazing at the Ish Mountains, the two encountered the Twin-Blade Demon once again.

It flew to the hovercar, chuckled, and said, "Hehe, now you should know... I didn't lie to you..."

"We're not sure if everything you're saying is true..." Rosalind was about to say when she heard the double-edged demon continue, "I am indeed the most intelligent and perfect being..."

For a moment, the master and apprentice fell silent. They couldn't refute this, because when they were observing from the sidelines in Grey Harbor City and Luya City, they had both tried to communicate with the Tier 3 Aberrations or Broodmothers of those two factions. However, perhaps due to the lack of a human brain, the other party behaved no differently than a wild beast, unable to speak human language or understand sign language, only repeatedly panting, and attacking directly when approached...

Therefore, it seems that, as a humanoid aberration, the Double-Edged Demon is much stronger in this respect, at least in terms of communication.

(End of this chapter)