Millennium Witch.

Chapter 53 - Before Leaving
As the instigator of the sudden incident, Yvette didn't intentionally create such a large-scale event. It was just that on her way to the Mother Nest, she mistakenly killed the Nest Master for a roadside Tier 2 Aberration, prematurely provoking the Mother Nest's attention and retaliation, which led to so many Aberrations piling up like a mountain—it can only be said that the Mother Nest's ability to gather monsters is too strong.

If you look closely, you'll find that in addition to the dried-up corpses that have been drained, there are also many traces of being bombarded by spells, though they are not so conspicuous.

Moreover, she did not expect that Bingyu would be so eager to go further the next day, venturing so far into the distance, which led to the premature discovery of the scene.

She thought she would have to hold back for a while, hoping it wouldn't attract the attention of the God of Machines.

Soon, after the emergency evacuation, along with the gunman's report, the entire mysterious incident spread like wildfire throughout the small Puppet Kingdom.

The description of the event gradually evolved from an objective fact into something akin to a supernatural occurrence, causing great anxiety among the town's residents. Wherever one went, discussions about the event could be heard.

"This must have been done by a vampire! I've read about it in human books!"

"How terrifying! What if tomorrow morning, we're lying on the ground like those mutated creatures?"

"Impossible, we're not human, why would they want to absorb us?"

"Maybe vampires also suck up engine oil?"

The Grand Elder took this matter very seriously and went directly to the sanctuary to communicate with the gods, but the final feedback he received was "investigate on your own first."

The Grand Elder dared not do so, for this was the first bizarre event the kingdom had encountered in 30 years.

Previous major events, whether it was infighting among the Mother Nest forces or the attack of high-level aberrations, all had traceable causes. How could so many people die suddenly overnight? And in such gruesome ways?
So it could only declare a few days of martial law, and everyone should stay inside the kingdom and wait for the aberrant ecology of the colored light zone to recover a bit before organizing people to go and take a look.

On the other hand, unlike the Grand Elder who was filled with trepidation, Yvette was much more at ease upon learning that the God of Machines had not paid attention to the matter.

During her conversations with the townspeople of Puppet Town, she learned that there was a combat force called "God's Graces" at the Holy Temple headquarters in Silver Mirror Continent.

The description states that those blessed by the gods are selected from among the most accomplished individuals in human cultivation. They undergo a transformation under divine grace, gaining powerful and new bodies to become top warriors who maintain the kingdom's peace. Furthermore, each blessed individual possesses combat power comparable to top-tier weapons before the apocalypse, capable of easily killing fourth- or even fifth-stage mutated creatures.

Based on this description, the Divine Grace is definitely a magical mech, not the old, weak, or disabled type like the "Gunner," but a brand-new, cutting-edge type.

These high-level magical mechs typically possess extremely strong military-grade magic barriers and weaponry, making them top-tier in combat. With only a civilian terminal capable of storing 6 rune points, Yvette strongly suspected that in the event of a conflict, her spells might not even be able to break through the opponent's shield.

Of course, it's different if you turn on "blackout".

Over the past 200 years, while the tentacles haven't evolved any new functions, their defensive and offensive capabilities have steadily increased, now far surpassing her spells and alloy blades. However, the mutated magic is dwindling with each use, and she doesn't want to waste it unnecessarily.

I wonder if there's a "Dream Mist" in the ruined city of Agash... I'll ask around later. If there is, I'll go in and get some military-grade equipment, especially the magic terminal. I can't let the 6 rune points limit me anymore...

Yvette thought quietly and decided to keep a low profile for a few days, make plans and gather intelligence, and continue hunting after the storm had passed.

……

And so, time slipped away quietly, and the cicadas' chirping at the end of summer was swept away by the autumn winds, leaving the branches golden.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye since Yvette took up temporary accommodations in this remote corner of the world.

During this period, the "mass death of aberrant creatures in the Color Light District" became increasingly outrageous and indistinguishable from a ghost story, destined to leave a significant mark on the kingdom's history books and become a lasting historical mystery.

Yvette regularly hunts in the ruined city, gradually increasing her distorted magic power from 40,000 to 43,000. However, she is too far away to be easily noticed by the residents of the puppet town.

Meanwhile, her long-term life in the town has made her increasingly familiar with the residents of the Puppet Kingdom.

For example, she taught the elder the details of the tea ceremony, how to prevent the tea leaves from getting damp, why it is important to keep the tea clean, why boiling water should be used to brew the tea, what posture is required, and so on.

She assisted the judge in studying a civil code left by humankind, helping her to better understand the historical context in which many laws were created.

In her spare time, she would observe the town's gardeners at work, learning their techniques for pruning flowers and plants. She would also watch the Royal Guard train, then be dragged along by Ice Rain to guess who would win. In these moments, she gradually rediscovered a sense of the life she had shared with her students in the manor. Only, this place was much more lively. Through her diligent performance, the Puppet Town seemed to have truly come alive with the warmth and vibrancy of human society, making her occasionally feel a little disoriented.

……

It was a late autumn morning, and golden leaves covered the entire town. Occasionally, a few leaves would be swept up by the wind, tracing graceful arcs, flying over rusty tin shacks, over the old church with its pointed roof, over the statue-like meditating puppets, and finally landing on Yvette's fluffy silver hair.

Then she shook her head from side to side, knocking the leaves off, and continued walking forward, intending to go to Mr. Film Roll to see his collection of many human books that had not yet rotted.

Soon, Bingyu appeared from the narrow alleyway beside her and greeted her, "Hi, kind lady! Good morning!"

"good morning."

Can I ask you a question?

"go ahead."

"I wanted to ask, having stayed here for so long... when are you planning to leave?"

"Long?" Yvette was slightly taken aback, only then realizing that what seemed like a fleeting three months to her seemed like a long time to the young puppet girl before her. She thought for a moment and replied, "Soon."

"Soon? How about we go together?" Bingyu asked expectantly, her eyes sparkling.

"Together?"

"Yeah, since you're traveling alone and I'm traveling alone too, why not travel together? It's definitely safer with two people than one, right?"

"..."

Yvette didn't want to argue with her, but she was also in a bit of a dilemma.

She didn't dislike the cheerful puppet girl, but she certainly wouldn't travel with her. The biggest problem was that Ice Rain's presence would restrict her ability to use her tentacles to devour the mutants. She didn't want to gamble on whether Ice Rain could keep her secret, and besides, who knew what tricks the God of Machines might have up his sleeve?

After thinking for a moment, she said, "I like being alone."

"Hey~~ why? Wouldn't it be better to go together?" Bingyu said disappointedly.

“This is my path of cultivation,” Yvette offered her invincible excuse.

This worked perfectly. Bingyu immediately fell silent. In the worldview of the machine race, in order to become human, each machine race has its own path of cultivation, and this path may be full of quirks that others cannot understand. So even the most unreasonable things will become normal under this excuse.

"Alright." She looked disappointed and said in a somewhat forlorn tone, "Then I'll be going now... Kind lady, I hope we can meet again in the future."

"Are you leaving? When?" Yvette asked.

"Tomorrow morning then," Bingyu said pitifully. "Kind lady, you must get up early to see me off, don't sleep until noon again."

"……understood."

The next morning, amidst the farewells of the residents of Puppet Town, Bingyu, riding her motorcycle, bid farewell to everyone and departed first. Although she was alone, her self-defense equipment was quite good, and her destination was another Puppet Kingdom a few dozen kilometers away. If she drove fast enough, she could definitely arrive before dark, so the danger wasn't that great.

After she left, in the following days, perhaps because she was the only outsider, or perhaps because she lacked the binding power of the ice rain, Yvette felt somewhat out of place here.

As expected, all good things must come to an end, and she thought it was time for her to leave.

But before that, she made a trip to the ruined city of Agasher, firstly to conduct a final, thorough hunt, and secondly because she discovered a hidden dreamlike mist there, which she planned to use to revisit the primordial civilization before leaving.

　I had some things to do during the day, and the loose structure of the second volume also caused me to experience writer's block, so I apologize for the late update.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)