Millennium Witch

“No need, it’s too dangerous.” Yvette shook her head and looked at the corner of the ground.

It was a giant scorpion, the size of a small truck. What was truly chilling was that dozens of humanoid eyeballs were embedded in its back, which was covered by a thick black carapace. These eyeballs were hidden beneath the gaps between the carapaces, occasionally peeking out to take in everything around them in a 360-degree view.

Looking at its bizarre yet complete appearance, and its quiet demeanor as it lurked in the shadows, completely unmoved by the battles on the front lines, Yvette couldn't help but suspect that it was also a third-stage aberration, possessing a high level of intelligence like the Twinblade Demon, which was why it was specifically assigned to guard the Mother Nest.

“Teacher, there… the Twin-Edged Demon!” Just then, Rosalyn suddenly tugged at Yvette’s sleeve.

Yvette turned her head and saw a black figure with four wings on its back looking down at the situation in a building not far away.

Suddenly, it seemed to sense the gaze from the other end, and slowly, in an extremely eerie manner, turned its head, the muscles at the corners of its mouth beginning to twitch unnaturally, slowly pulling upwards.

But before it could even reveal that anthropomorphic smile that had given Rosalind nightmares all night, four blue and white runic rings lit up around Yvette, shooting several bursts of lightning at it.

The speed of this strike was unmatched by ordinary spells; the blue and white lightning struck the double-bladed demon in an instant.

Sensing this powerful potential, the Twinblade Demon's smile vanished abruptly. It immediately turned and fled, spinning in circles in mid-air like a mosquito fleeing from an electric swatter, looking utterly pathetic.

Finally, after hiding for so long, the double-bladed demon was still electrocuted, and a hole was burned in one of its wings. It dared not stay any longer. It gave Yvette a deep look, turned around and disappeared into the gap between the ruins of the building, leaving no trace.

……

In the evening, after the war between the mutants temporarily ceased, Yvette and Rosalyn, no longer bystanders, returned to Ish City in their hovercar.

The outcome of the war was somewhat unexpected; the embryos in the mother nest eventually emerged.

It was an obese giant, as tall as a four- or five-story building, with a huge mouth in its bloated abdomen containing countless thick tongues that could swallow more than a dozen mutated woodlice in one go and digest them rapidly.

By utilizing the power of this war giant, the Grey Harbor faction managed to reverse the tide of the war and forced the Tide Worm Army to retreat.

Including the giant scorpion that lurked beside the mother nest like a guard, two new stage three aberrations entered Rosalind's notebook and were named "Gluttonous Troll" and "Hundred-Eyed Scorpion Demon" respectively.

“It’s terrifying, the speed at which these mutated creatures are evolving…” Rosalyn sat down at the table with unease.

“If it were a mother hive, the Ish Mountains and the northernmost city of Luya might have had them long ago, but the mother hive in Grey Harbor must have appeared in the last few years.” Yvette lowered her eyes and began to think about her current situation.

"What should we do, teacher? Is there anything we should do?"

“Tomorrow we’ll go to the Ish Mountains and the area around Luya City to investigate and assess the situation,” Yvette said. “If there’s a significant power imbalance, we can consider getting involved on the fringes to support the weakest side and maintain their balance of power.”

This was the best solution she could think of at the moment. After all, considering their current combat strength as elite-type units at stage three, Rosalyn was roughly equivalent to an elite, and Yvette herself might be able to fight three or four elites simultaneously. It sounded good, but it carried a risk to her life. Rather than taking such a great risk, it was better to choose a lower-risk method of balancing.

However, just as this conclusion concerning future survival strategies was about to be finalized—

Yvette turned her head sharply, her icy gaze shooting like a sharp arrow towards the manor bathed in orange light outside the French windows.

Rosalyn followed her gaze, and her heart suddenly stopped beating.

From the shadows, a tall, dark figure with four tattered wings on its back slowly emerged and stood silently at the boundary between light and darkness.

Double-edged Demon!

Why does it appear here?

Almost instantly, Rosalind reached for the alloy battle blade placed by the door, and even Yvette narrowed her eyes, preparing to unleash a barrage of spells as she walked toward the main entrance.

To their surprise, the Twinblade Demon did not adopt a fighting stance, but instead stood still, waiting quietly.

Then, as the two approached, it slowly opened its mouth, and one after another, awkward and unfamiliar words in the Black Tide language, as if it had just learned them, were uttered from its mouth in a broken and intermittent manner—

"Human...mage..."

"A lord... is about to be born..."

"If we don't hurry...we..."

"They must all die...!"

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, where the teachers had captured some wild animals.

As dawn broke, Yvette sat quietly at a simple wooden table, her shadow elongated. In her hand, she held a slender syringe, the dark liquid swirling gently inside 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.

Chapter 34 is not the work of a wise man.

Standing atop the floating magical vehicle, Yvette gazed into the distance. The center of the Ish Mountains was covered by withered vegetation, exuding an aura of death in the afterglow of the setting sun. This must be the "Corrupted Forest" that gave birth to the lord.

Because soldiers were being deployed to two locations simultaneously, there were few signs of life in the decaying forest to the naked eye. The wind whistled through the skeletal branches, turning the entire forest into a huge, ominous tomb.

After a moment of silence, Yvette looked at the Twinblade Demon: "Around the Mother Nest... how many Stage 3 Aberrations are there?"

“The weakest are on the front lines. Besides the Hive Master who is still evolving, there should be four more... I can give you all the information about them,” the Twinblade Demon said. “If you want to take action, I can help hold one back while you attack the Mother Hive.”

"You're really that kind?" Rosalyn asked skeptically.

“I told you, the moment a lord appears, we're doomed…” The dual-bladed demon smirked, “At my stage, I’ll have a magic core within me… I think your teacher would be quite fond of that…”

"A mutant also has a magic core?" Yvette looked at it, quite intrigued.

The essence of the magic core is a solid energy body, which is very easy for nature mages to absorb. It can be said to melt in the mouth. If you can get it, you can use it directly as a mana potion to replenish emergency mana.

Of course, while elemental batteries and energy storage panels may sound similar, they are actually vastly different. These devices store energy using matter as a medium and are specifically designed for magical machinery. For mages to extract energy from them is like squeezing a sponge as hard as a rock; it takes forever to get even a tiny bit out, making them completely useless in a crisis.

“Of course…” The dual-bladed demon subtly distanced itself, saying, “I only need the corpses of those stupid dogs; the magic cores are yours…”

Yvette pondered for a moment.

According to the information from the Twinblade Demon, there are a total of six Stage 3 Aberrations in the Ish Mountains faction: one is the Hive Master, one is on the front lines fighting Luya City, and the remaining four are Hive Guardians... If its information is accurate and its actions are flawless, the actual situation will be that the Twinblade Demon and Rosalind will each deal with one, and she will take care of the remaining two Hive Guardians.

However, the hive master within the mother hive is also a significant threat, and it cannot be ruled out that there are additional guards hidden in the forest, unknown to the Twinblade Demon...

“Could we attack in batches? For example, take out a portion of them first,” Rosalyn suggested.

“Foolish! That would just send the insects back to guard the mother hive!” the Twinblade Demon retorted, his tone becoming smoother. “And the other two mother hives, along with their leaders, are just a bunch of idiots! You should know that expecting them to be effective is unrealistic. While they are currently weakened, with only four high-level forces, it is most important to seize the time to prevent the birth of a lord!”

"Teacher, what do you think?" Rosalyn, still fuming from being scolded, turned to look at her teacher. She still didn't quite trust this guy who had tried to stab her the moment they met, especially since his smile was so creepy, making him look like an evil villain.

“Prepare for five days.” Yvette lowered her eyes.

"I hope we have a pleasant working relationship, beautiful... powerful... mage lady." The double-edged demon curled the corners of its mouth and said this in a slightly flattering tone, then immediately flapped its wings and disappeared in an instant.

"Can we really trust this guy, teacher?" Rosalind asked anxiously after the Twin-Blade Demon left.

“No.” Yvette was silent for a moment before sighing. “But we can’t gamble, because we can’t leave this island. There’s no other option. Even if it’s a trap, we have to take a look before we can feel at ease.”

“Oh, right…” Rosalyn said dejectedly.

……

Over the next five days, Yvette expedited the optimization of the "regeneration pump".

At this moment, as a life-saving spell, it not only significantly enhances the body's regeneration speed, but also, the instant the wound is contaminated, condenses a phantom energy heart near the wound, absorbing all the infected blood into it. The phantom heart forcibly strips away and imprisons the mutated factors in the blood, then slowly pumps the pure blood back into the body. Finally, the filthy factors are compressed into a viscous black liquid, which is expelled from the body through vomiting or guided by magic.

This must be completed within 20 seconds; beyond that time, the distortion factor spreads rapidly, and the regeneration pump cannot save it.

But at least there was an emergency solution, and Rosalyn could now fight the mutants more boldly in close combat without being afraid of getting hurt.

Rosalind, on the other hand, has been studying the new information provided by the Twinblade Demon.

According to its description, apart from the Tier 3 Aberration in Luya City, the five Aberrations in the Corruption Forest, including the Nest Master, are the Nest Master "William Queen" and the four Guardians "Rotten-beaked Vulture", "Nightwalker Demon", "Mechanical Tyrant", and "Shepherd Sheep"!

—All names were given temporarily by Rosalyn.

The "Sowbug Queen" needs little introduction; she is the master of the hive, the creator of the swarm, and the true leader behind it all. She can use some kind of sensory connection to make sowbugs her eyes and ears. Although she is in a semi-dormant state, the Sowbug Queen can still maintain control over the swarm through the hive as a medium.

The Rotting-Beaked Vulture is a giant, mutated vulture with three heads. It has the ability to spray corrosive venom, and is also very robust, with a wingspan of over 30 meters, comparable to a flying dragon. It is also a formidable fighter.

The Night Demon, a bat-like mutant, is smaller than the Rotting-beaked Vulture, but still quite large. However, it lacks eyes and other organs on its head, possessing only a gigantic mouth that can split open to the base of its ears.

The Mechanical Tyrant is clearly a cyborg variant formed after being corrupted by the Magic Mech. In terms of evolution, the Twinblade Demon believes it may only be at stage two, not even having developed a brain. However, the Magic Mech itself is a small mech from the Origin Civilization era. Even without intelligence, it is still the strongest of the four guardians, even stronger than the Nest Lord. It must, and can only, be left to Yvette to deal with.

The Shepherd Sheep appears as a gigantic humanoid figure, seven or eight meters tall, but perhaps due to its sheep-like head, it lacks the intelligence of a dual-bladed demon. Its body is covered in thick, filthy white fur, and its limbs resemble those of a human. However, in battle, its bloated abdomen suddenly splits open, revealing numerous humanoid heads connected by tentacles, screaming in agony—these heads are its primary tearing weapons.

Of course, all of the above information comes from the Twin-Blade Demon's side of the story, and may only be the tip of the iceberg of the truth. But it is still very oppressive, making it impossible to relax.

……

On the sixth day, in the ruins of a small town outside the Ish Mountains, the master and apprentice arrived at the agreed location. As soon as they parked the car, they saw the head of a double-bladed demon peeking out from the window of an abandoned building next to them. Its smooth, jet-black head carapace gleamed in the summer sun.