Millennium Witch.

Chapter 39 - Master and Disciple

Although she ultimately won, Yvette's experience was far from pleasant.

From the moment she first encountered the six-armed demon, she pondered how to kill this incredibly fast, almost impossible-to-catch third-order aberration. She came up with the plan to use herself as bait to restrain the demon, and then blast it to death at close range.

However, as we all know, theory is theory and practice is practice. A plan that relies entirely on imagination will inevitably encounter unexpected things in actual operation.

For example, in a moment of desperation, in order to ensure 100% kill potential, she poured all her magic power into it, leaving herself almost no room for maneuver. Or, the power of this elemental fusion explosion was so great that it couldn't distinguish friend from foe, and her magical defenses were shattered.

So, when the eruption ended, only a small magical core of the six-armed demon, whose corpses had been annihilated, flew far away. Yvette, on the other hand, was like a basketball that had been slammed into the ground with a thud, creating a deep crater between the carpet of flesh and the soil.

As the smoke cleared, Yvette lay in the center of the pit, her clothes torn and stained crimson, her face covered in dust and dirt. Only her dark red eyes remained calm, like an emotionless machine.

Then she struggled to her feet and staggered toward the corpse of the jellyfish-like beast at the edge—the six-armed demon's magic core had flown away somewhere, and she needed to dig out the jellyfish-like beast's core, otherwise the "regeneration pump" would be unable to contain the spread of the aberration factor.

As expected, plans can't keep up with changes. Brainstorming is never enough, and the execution was poor. More safety margins need to be added in the future... As she reflected, she felt as if every bone in her body was broken, and she was in excruciating pain. She couldn't help but grit her teeth as she walked.

But just then, a series of heavy footsteps alerted her.

She turned her head and saw the Sowbug Queen, who had somehow gotten back up. Looking at the murderous intent emanating from her six scarlet eyes, her heart skipped a beat.

In the previous battle, the appearance of the six-armed demon prevented her from finishing off the Sowbug Queen. Furthermore, the intensity and tension of the battle overwhelmed her, causing both she and the six-armed demon to temporarily forget that the Sowbug Queen, lying motionless in the distance, seemed to still be alive.

Of course, the Queen of the Sowbugs wasn't in good shape either. She was recovering from her injuries, her body covered in cracks, possibly the work of the six-armed demon. Before she could fully recover, she was bombarded with magic by Yvette, leaving her massive lower body charred and broken, oozing thick pus as she walked.

But this obviously doesn't prevent it from becoming the beneficiary at this moment.

What terrible luck… Yvette’s heart sank. Along her journey, she had encountered the “Mechanical Tyrant,” the “Nightwalker Demon,” the “Jellyfish Mist Beast,” the “Wheel Worm Queen,” and even a “Six-Armed Demon,” arguably the strongest Tier 3 aberration on the island, but she had only managed to obtain the Nightwalker Demon’s magic core, recovering a paltry 20-odd points of mana. The rest of the magic cores—she either hadn’t obtained them or hadn’t had time to get them—leaving her completely exhausted. She was even helpless against a half-dead Weevil Queen; her misfortune was truly extreme.

She stopped, looking at the approaching Sowbug Queen, motionless, as if waiting for death. Just as the Sowbug Queen's anthropomorphic face revealed a cruel expression and she raised her scythe high, Yvette shoved a blue-white, not-so-bright, runic ring into its mouth.

In an instant, the Queen of the Woodlice's smile froze, and then her entire body was pierced by dazzling lightning, causing her to slowly fall to the ground.

At the same time, Yvette's body lost its last bit of strength and collapsed softly to the ground.

This was the last bit of magic she unleashed at the cost of abandoning the maintenance of the regeneration pump.

Now, dark and violent mutations are surging, churning, invading, and assimilating in every blood vessel in her body.

This was the signal that she was approaching the end of her life.

……

The sky was dark, with thick, heavy clouds pressing down on the horizon. A violent wind howled through the mountains, swirling up fallen leaves and dust, foreshadowing an impending downpour.

In the desolate forest, Rosalyn panted as she used her alloy battle blade to kill several approaching mutants. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, her brows furrowed with exhaustion yet her spirits remained high, her eyes bright.

After killing the Shepherd Sheep, she was in surprisingly good condition. Although her mana bar was empty, she picked up the magic core dropped by the Shepherd Sheep, which instantly restored her combat power to almost its peak.

Such excellent performance! If the teacher knew, they would be so happy, wouldn't they? They would definitely praise me, right?
Hey!
To receive the triple recognition of a teacher, guardian, and idol—there is no greater happiness in the world!

Speaking of which, I wonder how things are going with the teacher. But the fog suddenly lifted, so things must have gone smoothly...

Then, she checked her condition.

He recovered his strength, but then encountered some second-stage and first-stage aberrations, leaving him with 40-50 mana. However, the Alloy Blade's energy was exhausted, which had a significant impact, halving his combat power, leaving him with less than a third of his peak strength.

The magical skateboard was damaged in the battle, so the rest of the journey could only be covered on foot.

Oh right, there are also a few elemental bombs in my waist pouch, but their power is about the same as ordinary spells. Their main purpose is to throw them into the sky and release four signals: "request for help," "warning," "retreat," and "victory," based on the colors red, yellow, blue, and green.

However, the fact that no signal flares have exploded in the sky for so long suggests that the teachers are also embroiled in a fierce battle.

If the teacher hasn't been able to solve it for so long, could it be that a "lord" has been successfully created?

Filled with speculation about the tense situation and worry about her teacher, she ran through the forest, which had turned completely crimson, and arrived at a clearing covered with a carpet of flesh and blood.

Then she saw the limp, enormous corpse of the Sowbug Queen, and beside it, a scarred, frail figure with silver hair that seemed as if it could be broken by the wind. "Teacher!!!" Her pupils contracted, and she instinctively ran over and hugged her teacher tightly.

It seemed that her anxious calls had an effect; after a moment, she saw the teacher's eyelids open slightly, revealing lifeless, dull, and numb red eyes.

"Teacher, how are you? Are you alright?" Even though she only had a little magic left, she still took her teacher's hand without hesitation, palm to palm, trying to transfer her magic to him—Regeneration Pump was a self-rescue skill that could be cast continuously and could not be applied to others for the time being.

Surprisingly, the teacher did not accept it.

"The mutation factor in my body has exceeded the limit of the regeneration pump and has spread," the teacher said softly, but the words struck Rosalyn like a thunderbolt.

She knew what this meant; even someone as powerful as a teacher couldn't resist the corrosive influence of this strange thing.

Her eyes instantly reddened, and she felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her chest. Then she heard the teacher continue in a calm tone, as if indifferent to her own life, "I will try to stop the mutation, but you must leave here immediately."

Before the words were finished, a chilling rustling sound surged in from all directions. Although the woodlice queen was dead, the mother hive was still alive. Even without a hive master, the mother hive could still issue commands to the surrounding area and summon an army composed of low-level aberrations.

Clearly, if they didn't leave this place soon, the two would die in the vast tide of insects, devoured and left without a trace.

“I will take you back,” Rosalyn said in a promise-like tone.

"Think it through," the teacher said, looking at her. "You still have family, and you still have a chance to go home."

Upon hearing the word "go home," Rosalyn's resolve wavered.

But in just a second, that distracting thought vanished. She fell silent, hoisted her teacher's frighteningly light body onto her back, steadied herself with one hand, gripped the cold hilt of her knife tightly with the other, and rushed off towards the planned retreat route.

—That was a route planned before the operation, a suitable escape route leading to an abandoned town, where there were pre-prepared magical vehicles.

Since the insect swarm came from behind, there weren't many aberrations on the escape route. A few scattered ones would come from the shadows and be easily swatted away.

Even so, it was still too difficult for her in her current state. Carrying her teacher made her movement difficult, while the enemies could come from all directions. In addition to the swarm of insects behind her, flying aberrations would also appear in the sky, spraying scalding acid onto the ground, and she was completely helpless against them except to try her best to dodge.

Gradually, the dark clouds in the sky grew thicker, condensing into indistinguishable black clumps, and the long-brewing downpour finally poured down.

The cold rain and mist soaked through my clothes, making the rugged, muddy road slippery like fish scales.

As they rounded a bend in the valley, a downward slope appeared ahead. Rosalyn slipped and fell, rolling several times on the ground before her forehead struck a jagged rock, causing her to let out a suppressed groan of pain.

But disregarding her own pain, she forced herself to get up and rushed to check on her teacher. She found the silver-haired girl with her eyes closed and her chest not rising or falling, like a broken doll abandoned by the world. Apart from the rapidly spreading gray-black under her skin, there was no sign of life.

"teacher……?"

no respond.

In an instant, time seemed to stand still. Rosalyn felt her heart pound violently, and rainwater streamed into her eyes, blurring her vision.

Even now, she still can't believe that her teacher may have passed away, just like a little girl who lost her parents in an accident and still hopes that her parents will wake her up the next day.

The six years she spent with her teacher exceeded a third of her life so far. In her heart, her teacher was never just a teacher, but also an idol, a benefactor, and a family member. She was still completely unprepared and unsure how to face a world without her teacher, a desolate and lifeless world where she was all alone.

A hoarse voice, unlike anything she'd ever heard before, escaped her lips as her slender fingers gripped the hilt of the alloy battle blade, flashing as it sliced ​​through the icy rain and howling wind.

After repelling wave after wave of attacks from the mutated creatures, she knelt wearily beside her teacher and reached out to wipe the mud off her face.

As her consciousness grew increasingly hazy, a relieved, liberated smile suddenly appeared on her beautiful face.

She thought, if death is destined to take her teacher today, then let it take her with it. Her teacher is usually so lazy and leisurely, she can't even cook, and she needs someone to wake her up. She will definitely not be used to living in the underworld by herself, and she will need someone to serve her.

and so--

She will stay here, stay here forever, until her blood soaks this rotten earth, until her marrow is drained, until her soul fire is extinguished in the cold wind, and she and her teacher become two withered skeletons, forgotten and clinging to each other.

The wind will carry away her story with her teacher and tell it to the next traveler from another world.

(End of this chapter)