Millennium Witch

But why would the brood mound suddenly summon these low-level aberrations?

Thinking of this, suddenly, a word that had been dormant for a long time surged into Yvette's mind.

—The day of the end.

If she guessed correctly, then this moment marks the beginning of the Witch of the End's invasion and destruction of the Radiant Continent!

Chapter 97 The True Name of the Dragon

Beneath the shattered dome, a steel frame pierces the leaden sky, supporting this crumbling ruin.

Standing on the edge of the broken roof of the botanical garden, contemplating the possible scenario, Yvette fell into a long silence until a burst of hurried footsteps broke the stillness.

She heard Abella say urgently behind her, "Master, the day of reckoning... seems to have arrived!"

Yvette hummed in agreement. Neither she nor Abella had a mother nest, so they couldn't use it as a medium to receive the goddess's will, but by noticing the restless reactions of the lower-level aberrations, they could basically guess the situation.

"Shall we participate, Master?" Abella asked tentatively.

“What do you think?” Yvette countered.

“I…I think this is a good opportunity to do something for the goddess…” Abella hesitated for a moment, her gaze quickly sweeping over Yvette’s calm profile, “but I’m not in the best condition yet…”

For her, if her master could be chosen by the goddess on the day of the end and become a monarch, she, as his subordinate, would naturally rise in rank and become a leader in the future, all at her master's whim.

On the other hand, her current strength is far from returning to its peak, and she is not very motivated without anyone forcing her.

So the best-case scenario is that she can continue to lie in the Water Tower Kingdom while her master goes to the front lines of the New World to be a "thread-filling treasure"... oops, I mean to make great achievements and dominate the world.

If her master dies at the hands of a powerful figure in the new world, she won't care. But if her master actually achieves something, gains the favor of the goddess, and becomes a monarch, then she can still gain some benefits.

In summary—

Instead of pushing yourself, hope that your master will help you succeed!

“Then we won’t go.” Yvette shook her head, seemingly very considerate of Abella’s situation. Actually, she had just been worried that all the high-ranking aberrations would be forced to go, which would make it impossible for her to maintain her facade as leader. So, it turned out they didn’t have to go; that was perfect.

A few minutes later, a muffled whooshing sound grew louder as it approached. Yvette lowered her gaze and saw the enormous black shadow of Dugrabi soaring into the sky, landing steadily on the nearby broken wall, carrying the icy rain it had picked up along the way.

"Kind lady, did you see that? The aurora! The aurora has appeared!" Bingyu jumped off the black dragon's back, looking anxious. Over the years, she had long known that Dugrabi was an alien creature from the aurora, so she quickly understood the situation.

Eve nodded, then looked at Dugrabi and saw a complex mix of excitement, sadness, and grief in its expression. Suddenly, she shook her head and said, "I don't recommend you go back now."

Dugrabi was slightly taken aback.

Yvette sighed. "You should have sensed it too. This aurora came too suddenly and its scale is far beyond what is usually seen, because it is a signal that the 'Day of the End' is coming. If you go back now, you may be facing a battlefield that will sweep the world. Right now, you are not strong enough to influence the war. It is better to stay here, at least it is safer."

"The Day of the End?!" Dugrabi's vertical pupils suddenly contracted. It was excited just by seeing the aurora and didn't realize the strangeness in it at all.

If this is true, then going back now, what it would likely see is not the sunny, blue-water hometown it loves, but more likely an endless field of corpses and a living hell!

Yvette didn't speak again, but just watched it quietly, waiting for its decision.

Under the dim sky, the dark blue aurora seemed to come alive, flowing slowly down and staining the black dragon's eyes, settling into a mysterious and eerie darkness.

A full minute later, Dugrabi finally raised his head, his voice low and somber: "Teacher, I'm sorry, but... I still hope to go back. I can't just stand by and watch."

Yvette was not surprised by its answer. She knew Dugrabi's personality, and his previous persuasion was merely out of a teacher's sense of responsibility.

She smiled slightly and whispered, "Be careful."

“Yes, teacher.” Dugrabi nodded vigorously.

Time was of the essence, and no one knew how long this unusual aurora would last. Yvette said no more and silently shut her mouth.

Dugrabi immediately looked at Bingyu and heard her say, as if on the verge of tears, "Waaah... Mr. Dugrabi, are you leaving already... Will we ever see each other again..."

"All good things must come to an end." Dugrabi was a little embarrassed. It was usually quite rude to Bingyu and often mocked her for being stupid. It didn't expect her to be so reluctant to part with it. Then it gently comforted her, "But at most a few hundred years. I will definitely be able to come back. You should be able to live until then, right? We will definitely meet again. We made a promise."

"..." Bingyu sobbed, opened her eyes wide, and wondered if she could really live to see that time.

Then Dugrabi glanced at Abella again, this time with a completely different attitude. He snorted and said contemptuously, "Oh, maid, you're here too? Your master's important second disciple, the future legendary dragon king, is leaving. Do you have anything to say?"

"Get out of here! And you're going to die soon. The goddess will turn you and your father into live dragon sashimi right now," Abella sneered.

"Bah! You're dreaming!" Dugrabi roared in anger.

Bingyu stood there for a moment, then realized that the two of them were actually on opposing sides of the Day of Ending. One was a righteous dragon from another world, and the other was a villainous mutant from her own world. No wonder the conversation that happened was completely different from what she had imagined.

The air was thick with tension; anyone who didn't know better would think this wasn't a farewell, but rather an impending fight.

Having said what needed to be said, it was time to set off. After all, his hometown might be under attack, and Dugrabi was quite anxious.

Even so, before leaving, it brought its head close to Yvette's ear and, in a voice barely audible, uttered a long and strange melody, saying, "Teacher... please write this down; it's the only thing I can give you."

"This is... your true name as a dragon?" Yvette asked in surprise.

“Yes.” Dugrabi nodded seriously, then said nervously, “You can’t tell anyone.”

A dragon's true name is the greatest secret of every dragon, known almost exclusively to its closest relatives, such as parents; in most cases, no one will ever tell it. The name "Dugrabi," however, is similar to a common name and is more in line with the traditional concept of a name.

Before becoming the Dragon King, the dragon's true name has no function; although it is a secret, it is more like a cultural custom.

Only after passing the Dragon King's Trial does the Dragon's True Name have meaning—because the ritual magic for ascending to Dragon King includes a step of "engraving the True Name under the Dragon God's statue." At that time, the Dragon's True Name, as a bond, is both the source of power and a fatal weakness.

If a Dragon King abuses his power and instigates internal strife, the Dragon Kings can collectively pray to the Dragon God statue to strip the corresponding Dragon King of his status and return him to his original form.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Yvette said solemnly.

She believed that Dugrabi would definitely become the Dragon King, so the significance of this long true name of the dragon was very important.

It's as if he entrusted his life to her.

“I believe in my teacher,” Dugrabi nodded.

Having entrusted this greatest secret of the future, it wasted no more time, and after taking the three magic books, immediately flew towards the nearest abyss in mid-air.

At this moment, above the submerged city and even among the distant mountains, countless abysses, like scars on the sky, were densely torn open. The abnormal number clearly indicated that this aurora was artificially activated; even the number of accompanying abysses had been manually adjusted, appearing as numerous as apocalyptic rain.

Standing at the entrance to the abyss, for the last time, Dugrabi turned around and shouted in his teacher's direction, "Teacher—I will become a legend like my senior sister—!!"

After saying this, seeing its teacher nod in the distance, it raised its head and let out a few excited dragon roars. Then, carrying the three magic books, it flew into the abyss and disappeared.

Chapter 98 The Theory of Stealing Vegetables

After the black dragon disappeared, at the highest point of the submerged city, Yvette, Ice Rain, and Abella stared blankly at the still-rotating transparent vortex in the sky.

However, Yvette and Bingyu had similar emotions, just to varying degrees. Only Abella was getting happier and happier, thinking that no one would compete with her master's favor anymore. If she worked hard, could she become her master's student like that stinky dragon?

It's a pity that the master doesn't intend to participate in the destruction of the new world, and a lot of merits will slip away before his eyes, which is really regrettable.

Moreover, the master is too lazy. With this kind of personality, how did she become a commander-level powerhouse?

Abella silently complained to herself.

Just then, a violent ripple spread across the sky. Before the three could react to what had happened, the aurora in the sky suddenly vanished, disappearing without a trace along with the countless remnants of the abyss, as if wiped away by an invisible giant hand. The entire event lasted less than an hour.

The blinding, long-absent blazing sun poured down again without any obstruction, and the clouds seemed to have been brushed by an invisible brush, piling up into huge white cumulus clouds like waves.

"Huh?" Abella was stunned, and Bingyu also opened her mouth, both of them caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.

Why did the aurora suddenly disappear? Wasn't this the door to a new world opened by the goddess? Or could they have made a mistake?

Yvette was also surprised, but after a moment's thought, she immediately realized what was going on and showed a very worried expression.

In her judgment, the door opened by the Witch of the End wouldn't disappear for no reason; it couldn't have been a technical glitch, could it? So it was obvious that the opening of the door was interrupted by some force, and most likely, it came from external interference.

The question is, who exerted the external force?

The three true gods of the Radiant Continent?

The mysterious demon god of the Demon Abyss Continent?

Or……

Is that you, Rosalyn?

……

The sunlight became scorching and harsh again, and the birdsong and insect chirps sounded exceptionally clear, even somewhat noisy.

The three remaining figures atop the ruins were shrouded in an eerie silence, with only the mournful sound of the wind whistling through the broken steel bars.

Finally, Bingyu spoke first, stammering, "Uh... what's going on? Where's the aurora? Miss Kindhearted, Miss Abella, do you know why this is happening?"

Abella subconsciously shook her head, indicating that she was also confused. Yvette pondered for a moment before offering her guess: "It must be that the arrival of the Day of Ending was disrupted... most likely the work of the other world."

"I see." Bingyu breathed a sigh of relief and was somewhat happy. She thought that the mutated evil invasion plan had been thwarted, so wouldn't it be much safer for Mr. Dugrabi to go there?

Abella also thought it was alright, not because she was happy for Dugrabi, but simply because she was currently too weak to participate. Now that the Day of the End had been suddenly canceled, it was most likely postponed to a later date, which was naturally better for her.

Moreover, perhaps influenced by her master's cautious nature, she felt that it was not a sure thing for the goddess to launch a forced attack on the new world while the monarch's position was still vacant.

Since the divine offspring have no natural enemies, wouldn't it be better to let them continue to develop for a while until all nine monarchs are born?

Only Yvette remained somewhat troubled after giving her conclusion. She felt that Rosalind, who had already reached the pinnacle of the human world, would definitely be involved in such a major event as the descent of the End Witch, and might even be one of the main executors of the destruction of the Aurora Gate. Although the outcome was good now, who knew if Rosalind had been injured or even sacrificed in the process?

However, until she gets concrete facts, she tries to think positively.

……

And so, after the abrupt and unsatisfying end of the day, life in the Water Tower Kingdom returned to normal.

Those low-level aberrations that were summoned to the Mother Nest, after losing their target, mostly returned to the Submerged City and continued to be regulars at Yvette's fishing rod.

In her later leisure time, sitting by the river and watching the fish float on the surface, Yvette would inexplicably think of Dugrabi. For a while, the black dragon seemed to have fallen ill and would bring her trash all day long. At the time, she was quite speechless and gave it a stern warning. Now that she hadn't seen it bring her trash for a long time, she actually felt a little nostalgic.

For her, Dugrabi was a completely different feeling from Rosalyn. If Rosalyn was a warm and caring daughter whom she had raised herself, then Dugrabi was a domesticated dog. She was happy every day. When she was in a good mood, she would reach out and pet it, and it would be very happy. When she was in a bad mood, she would let it entertain itself, and it didn't mind.

Now that Gouzi has gone on a long trip, even though she has three magic books as a protective shield and is a dragon with a lifespan of up to 2000 years, she can't help but worry that she might not be able to meet him again in the future.

But it should be possible, right? Rosalind, with her human body, could become the strongest person in the world, so there's no reason for Dugrabi, as the dragon prince, to die halfway through.

In addition, she will continue to compile the next installment in the Grimoire series, "The Grimoire of Earth," and the final book, "The Grimoire of Heavenly Punishment." However, without the reason of "writing textbooks for students," her motivation will be much less, much like a novelist without a deadline, and her progress will become increasingly slow.

……

In December of the same year, which was the fourth winter since Yvette and her companions arrived in the Water Tower Kingdom, Yvette, who had grown tired of the beautiful scenery, finally decided to bid farewell and leave.

Over the past four years, she has gone into the mountains every now and then to devour a small portion of the mutants, and she has only managed to clear out less than a third of the mutants so far.

The reason for proceeding in such a slow and low-key manner is due to another matter.

Upon her initial arrival, her hasty actions in devouring the mutants caused such a commotion that it shocked the local governor, Ed.

He quickly borrowed the shrine in the sanctuary and contacted the headquarters of the Black Tide Continent Sanctuary, who then sent a gracious person to investigate the matter.

This gracious person's name is "Elite White Dove," known in the underworld as "Detective White Dove." He is said to be very professional and has participated in on-site investigations in similar "Agashe mutant sudden death incidents," making him very experienced.

At the time, in Agasher, his judgment was that "this must have been done by some high-level aberration passing by," which made the local puppet villagers of Agasher breathe a sigh of relief and return to their peaceful lives.

Now that he has arrived in the Water Tower Country, he still adheres to his principles and immediately ruled out the three outsiders, Yvette, Ice Rain, and Abella, as suspects. After investigating, he concluded that "it was that high-level aberration that did it again."

This made Yvette admire him greatly. She thought to herself that it was something that anyone could understand at a glance, yet he still meticulously went through all the reasoning processes. This Mr. Elliott was indeed very professional.

Afterwards, in order to follow in the footsteps of that mysterious mutant, the patriotic detective White Dove left after only a few days.

He codenamed the mysterious aberration "Blood Demon" and believed that if this monster grew up, it would become a threat to the peaceful lives of the machine race, so it had to be arrested and nipped in the bud as soon as possible.

After the White Dove Detective left, Yvette immediately reflected on the incident and took it as a lesson.

She thought that even the mechanical races, who had no conflict of interest, would notice the unusual things during her large-scale devouring. So what about the aberrations?

Wouldn't the Mother Nest forces, higher-level monarchs, or even the Witch of the End, notice her because of similar situations?

Perhaps she was distracted by the preparations for the Day of the End and didn't notice me, but now that the Day of the End is over, she might have time to properly examine the situation in the Land of the End... If I were to stand out too much at this time, wouldn't I easily be targeted?

Therefore, based on the above-mentioned complicated and turbulent thoughts, Yvette made a groundbreaking summary of a "vegetable stealing theory".

She planned to treat the Land of the End as a large vegetable garden, but she wasn't the owner; she was just a petty thief stealing vegetables. She would steal a bit from every place, then move on to another spot and continue stealing.

She can steal a little at a time and slowly wear herself down. As long as she doesn't get caught by the garden manager, one day she'll be able to grow strong by stealing vegetables. At that time, she might even be able to take over the entire garden.

What a flawless plan! She secretly marveled at her own talent.

The only downside might be that it takes a bit of time.

Chapter 99 The beauty hidden in the golden house

Having decided to leave, Yvette planned to pick an auspicious day, preferably after winter had passed, before setting off.

In the remaining days, she actually had one very important thing to do: to explore the dreamlike mist of the submerged city.