I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Having returned from her childhood as a black girl, she regained her spatial abilities. Because the Wishing Tree and the Wishing Fairy were tied up by Songyue, her abilities wouldn't be stripped away again for a while. While Amber couldn't turn the tide of battle, she was able to save her companions from danger. Cecil, the second person she rescued, was even able to directly intervene, using firepower superior to Bane's to temporarily suppress the battle.

Even with Amber and Cecil joining the fray, this balance can't last long... Seriously, Geyue, what kind of monsters are you summoning?! You've even killed dragons and Titans? Especially the latter, damn it, weren't Titans supposed to be extinct?

Duke quickly looked away, seized the opportunity to hold the black crystal shoe in his hands, closed his eyes, and focused his attention.

In fact, of the three, he spent the most time with Natasha.

Amber was someone Duke met after the social death incident, Cecil had only known her for three days before the incident, and Natasha was the second witch Duke met after arriving in the floating city. He maintained a good friendship with Natasha throughout that time.

But unlike Amber, who enjoys holding hands, Duke has never touched Natasha, not even within half a meter of the outgoing Cecil. This is because he is concerned about her fear of men; the gentle Duke doesn't want to do anything that would cause her pain, and Natasha, who is already fearful and insecure about men, is even less likely to touch Duke.

Because of her troublesome racial traits, Duke never even observed Natasha's body for long, lest her "succubus radar" react.

Therefore, despite spending the most time together, Duke had the shallowest impression of Natasha's body.

But this doesn't mean Duke didn't take Natasha seriously.

Duke knew that Natasha loved animals. She would often sit in front of the stray cats and dogs in the floating city, staring blankly. She was afraid to reach out and touch them, but worried that they would get cold and hungry. So she specially learned a spell that could keep the animals warm and carried food suitable for feeding them with her.

Duke knew that Natasha was grateful to the Lord of the Floating City for giving her a stable life and allowing her to escape the bottomless abyss. Therefore, whenever the Floating City needed her, Natasha would never refuse, not even in the perilous Crown-level Witch Game.

Duke knew that Natasha's androphobia was not because she was afraid of men, but because she was afraid of herself; she was afraid of being out of control.

Duke knew that although Natasha was a succubus, she was still a virgin.

Duke knew a lot, some of which Natasha told him willingly, and some he discovered on his own in just one month. Yet, Duke also knew very little; these things were definitely not all of Natasha's knowledge, and a mere month was insufficient to fully understand a person.

But Duke believed that Natasha was not a bad person; she was the first friend he had made in this world.

"My last Cinderella, come back."

The little black figure gradually took shape in front of Duke. She looked around blankly, seemingly not understanding what was going on. Duke, without hesitation, reached out and gently lifted her bare right foot, and focused intently on putting the crystal shoe on her.

“Natasha.” Duke greeted the succubus witch in front of him with a smile, “Long time no see.”

This is their first meeting in this timeline.

"Duke..."

Natasha looked at Duke, her eyes seemingly misting over.

The moment she saw him, countless memories flooded her mind—memories from the previous twelve cycles. She had personally experienced those twelve deaths, and the incredibly realistic death experiences made her want to scream. However, the awakening of some memories quickly calmed her down.

That was the scene of Duke desperately trying to save her.

That was a painful scene after Duke's defeat.

That was the image of Duke holding his dying self and weeping bitterly.

That was the image of Duke sacrificing himself and falling in front of him.

That was her hero.

Natasha looked at Duke and felt her body begin to heat up, her mind begin to wander, and her heart begin to race. Natasha was already used to these symptoms, but unlike before, she could clearly realize that her innate abilities had not been triggered.

Natasha… who claimed to have androphobia, reached out to Duke, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and leaned forward to get closer.

Duke was stunned.

The alluring fragrance wafted over as Natasha approached, and he, too, became somewhat dizzy in the atmosphere, momentarily motionless, letting Natasha bring her face close to his.

He stood almost touching her, Duke could even see how many eyelashes were on her eyes, and at that close distance, where they could feel each other's breath, he heard Natasha softly utter a syllable, in the language of the ancient magical empire, meaning—

"The Gate of Truth".

The transcendent door opened behind Natasha, behind which lay the knowledge of countless planes. No ordinary person could read through that endless knowledge, but the key to the door of truth was in the hands of an ordinary witch.

Natasha, the Witch of Truth.

Her signature spell is called "Gate of Truth".

Its sole effect is to summon the Gate of Truth, which can fully analyze all the truths of the world.

Then, before he could even comprehend what was happening, Duke felt a soft, sweet touch land on his lips. Only then did he belatedly realize that Natasha, who had been so close, was now even closer.

Chapter 87 Sleeping Beauty

Duke gradually came to understand everything.

This sentence is simply the literal meaning.

The truth was successfully conveyed into Duke's mind through Natasha's reckless kiss.

He gradually recalled everything that had happened in the previous twelve cycles. A flood of memories rushed into his brain, causing Duke to drift into a drowsy state, lost in the tender embrace of his long kiss with Natasha.

Although she possesses the key to open the Gate of Truth, Natasha lacks the ability to comprehend it, which severely limits her unique magic. Therefore, in most cases, Natasha is merely an ordinary mage. Even so, she remains one of the most important witches in the entire floating city.

The Gate of Truth.

The truly high-ranking beings are those who possess all the truths of the world, which even legendary mages cannot reach.

Even if Natasha herself cannot understand the Gate of Truth, as long as she opens the Gate of Truth once, there will always be capable people in the floating city who can understand the truth and bring out enough knowledge from the Gate of Truth. Each time, it can improve the magical energy technology of the floating city for several years.

This exclusive spell is equally powerful in conquering the Witch Game, as it can directly reveal the core of the game. However, its usage is too difficult, making it insufficient for the Floating City to risk having Natasha participate in the conquest. After all, arriving in a completely new world, even the Gate of Truth requires a considerable amount of time to fully decipher.

This game, which gives the Gate of Truth a full thirteen playthroughs, is a truly rare opportunity.

"Duke!" Cecil glanced at Duke's situation during the battle and then couldn't take his eyes off him. The innocent Guangbao blushed and screamed in surprise, "What were you two doing in the middle of this crisis! Amber, you should talk to them too."

After she finished shouting, she turned to look at Amber, fearing that her best friend would go berserk, but she never expected to see the expressionless elf princess.

Amber glanced at her, then at Duke and Natasha, who were still locked in a long kiss, before glancing at her again.

He remained expressionless throughout, constantly moving through space, diligently assisting his companions in the battle.

Although Amber didn't say a word or make a single expression, Cecil, who was glanced at by her, immediately shuddered, turning his head away trembling, and hurriedly began casting Holy Light Cannons while muttering to himself:

"So scary, so scary, so scary..."

After a kiss that seemed to freeze time, Natasha stopped what she was doing, pulled away from Duke as if fleeing, and covered her equally flushed face. It was unclear whether she was ashamed of her bold actions or savoring the triumph she had mustered the courage to achieve.

But Duke, who had the complete memories of thirteen playthroughs, slowly exhaled.

This crown-level witch game was incredibly dangerous. If no one survived in any loop, the game would be completely destroyed. Moreover, in the first twelve loops, no more than three members ever survived. However, the near-legendary Kazuki became a safety valve, perfectly protecting everyone and ensuring that everyone survived until after midnight in every loop.

Thinking about this, Duke suddenly realized a problem.

How did they defeat Kagetsu in their first playthrough?

Duke initially thought he had succeeded because of the unique characteristics of this alternate dimension... but seeing Kagetsu fight the Wishing Tree and the Wishing Fairy one-on-one, he realized that this guess was completely wrong—even if he did his best, he could only achieve the second playthrough at most, with everyone else wiped out and himself on the verge of death, yet still unable to defeat Kagetsu.

He scratched his head, only then realizing that his memories of the first timeline were a little hazy. He tried to recall for a moment before realizing that in the first timeline, someone seemed to have single-handedly killed Kazuki. That person... was Joan?!

Duke suddenly looked up at Joan, who was fighting. At this moment, she was clearly unable to keep up with the pace of the battle. If it weren't for Amber and Joseph's help, she would probably have followed the same path as the replicant.

He suppressed his astonishment and forced himself to focus his attention back on what was in front of him.

At the end of the previous playthrough, Duke maxed out Natasha's affection level, making her affection for him reach the "Passionate" level. He then obtained the "Scripture of Truth" through the affection system and asked it a question:

What is the 'core' of this witch game?

The "Gate of Truth" summoned by Natasha could not actually solve this witch's game, because no one could find anything useful in the complex truths it contained, not even Natasha herself. However, the "Book of Truth" that Duke obtained from the system could, and the Book of Truth impartially stated the answer.

"Midnight."

"When all miracles cease."

"Only a true all-powerful wish-granting machine will reveal its true nature."

Duke understood.

The Wishing Fairy and the Wishing Tree? They didn't actually appear in the first playthrough! It was only when I made a wish at midnight in the first playthrough that these two elements, which are clearly related to Cinderella, came into being, and thus, in this thirteenth playthrough, the story of the three Cinderellas could be completed from two dimensions.

The foreshadowing that spanned thirteen playthroughs has been resolved.

His memories of the first playthrough were very vague, but Duke was now certain that what happened in that playthrough was completely different from what Joan had said. He clearly survived to the end with Joan. Joan wanted to leave after completing the game, disregarding the dead Joseph, and it was Duke, who wanted to save everyone, who stopped her and made the world reset.

"What do the mute people want?! Joan, what do the mute people want?!"

He suddenly raised his head and shouted loudly at Joan in the sky.

Time in the entire alternate dimension stopped, and the world fell into silence.

No, it's not that time has stopped, it's a dream.

Kagetsu, Natasha, Amber... everyone was captured by this dream web and fell into a deep sleep.

Not only them, but also the Wishing Tree, the Wishing Fairy, and even the entire alternate dimension were enveloped in this dream web that had just been woven.

In the dead of night, the crown-level witch game fell into a deep sleep.

In this grand dream, only Duke and Joan remained awake.

The latter took out a pocket watch from her bosom, and stiffly turned the hour hand of the watch with her fingers, moving it back three hours. Then she slowly walked up to Duke, grinned, and said in a tone completely different from "Joan's," "Hello, Mr. Duke, it's nice to see you again."

Have we... met before?

Time passed silently past midnight.

“Didn’t we meet during our first playthrough?” Joan swayed smugly and said with a smile, “We also met once at the Casino Tower—I was in the body of that child named Jasmine back then.”

"Jasmine... Jasmine?!"

"Yes, Jasmine, I took that child with me later... But judging from your expression, you've already forgotten about it. Never mind."

Joan shook her head with some regret, then answered seriously:

"The answer you want is simple: what the mute wants is this alternate dimension—this unnamed omnipotent wish-granting machine."

She paused for a moment, then suddenly said with a smile:

"Hmm, let's call it 'Cinderella'."

Chapter 88 Soul Requiem 3K

Beads of cold sweat began to appear on Duke's forehead.

Before "Joan" uttered the name Jasmine, he had truly put the strange incident at the Casino Tower out of his mind. Duke, who had originally planned to visit Lady Thunder Witch, completely forgot about Jasmine after a short, dreamless night's sleep.

If the Witch of Dreams hadn't mentioned Jasmine herself, he probably still wouldn't have remembered the witch apprentice who had disappeared from his and Cecil's minds.

"Who exactly are you?"

"My name is Joan now, and I'm Mr. Joseph's fiancée." The unknown entity that had taken over Joan's body respected its own character setting very much. "Oh, I should call Mr. Joseph 'Little Joseph,' and you 'Little Du,' right?"