Mystery: The Witch of Desire

With the help of her grasping the remaining imagery from the shards of the mirror, Livre managed to make out the figure: it was a corpse wrapped in white cloth, dripping with blood-red liquid, its scarlet eyes radiating a cold aura, as if they held resentment and hatred spanning a thousand years.

Tutankhamun's mummy has come back to life!

Liviel quickly switched her writhing hunger to the Priestess of Light, then prepared the mirror and wand for using the Substitution Jutsu, ready to deal with the mummy's attack.

But the mummy seemed not to see her at all; like a shark that had smelled blood, it rushed straight toward the messenger lying on the ground.

The messenger glanced at the mummy, a complex expression appearing in her eyes. She didn't flinch, but simply propped herself up on the ground, seemingly hesitating about something.

*Snap!* The mummy pounced on the messenger, its mouth wide open, dripping with foul-smelling saliva, and bit down on the messenger's shoulder.

The blackened molars pierced through the lantern sleeves of the messenger's dress and into her pale skin. The mummy, tasting the blood, became even more excited and let out a frenzied roar like that of an orc.

The messenger girl closed her eyes in anguish, her already weak body trembling even more, yet she still did not move.

Bang! Standing to the side, Livre pulled the trigger of 'Last Whisper', accurately shooting the mummy's head away. However, the mummy's filthy flesh quickly reformed, regenerating a male face without a shroud at an extremely fast speed.

The face was so withered that only a few fascia clung to the bone, the eye sockets were sunken, the gums protruded, and black mist swirled around it, as if it came from a thousand years of resentment.

However, upon seeing the mummy's true form, a tear slid down the corner of the messenger's eye:

"We met again."

“I am a foolish, stupid brother.”

The mummy froze, ceasing its grip on the messenger's shoulder. Instead, it trembled as it raised its ugly face, an indescribable emotion surfacing in its sunken eyes.

"elder sister……?"

His voice was dry and hoarse, as if it had traveled across a thousand years to reach the ears of his blood relatives.

And so, a headless woman and a mummy man, two beings who could no longer be called human, faced each other silently, their eyes seemingly seeing a distant past.

That was a thousand years ago, in a prosperous highland kingdom. Cities nestled in fertile river valleys, with towering altars and spires built of greyish-white boulders. Settlements dotted the mountain valleys, where brown-skinned citizens and the white-skinned royal family lived in harmony. In the center of the royal city, the altar of the Bound God burned perpetually, where priests presided over rituals of offering sacrifices to the gods, and knights guarded the kingdom's vast territory.

Returning to a thousand years later, everything has changed. The priest has become a headless monster, and the knight has become a slumbering corpse...

Just then, a warm and gentle ray of sunlight shone down from above. The Tutankhamun mummy struggled to raise its head and saw Livia holding a cluster of holy light in her palm.

The black mist surrounding him began to dissipate, and the blood-red liquid slowly vanished under the holy light.

He let out a painful groan, and a surge of resentful hatred welled up in his bloodshot eyes.

At this moment, the messenger girl put down her four heads and hugged her younger brother tightly.

Tutankhamun's body trembled slightly, and slowly, the resentment in his eyes faded.

Finally, this descendant of Tinicul, who was powerful even among saints, closed his filthy eyes and returned to his holy slumber.

On the ground, only a lifeless mummy remained.

The messenger picked up her four heads again, remained silent for a long time, and then said:

"here it is,

"King, country, old capital."

"We, together"

A long, large place.

Livre stepped forward, gently patted the messenger's back, and whispered:

“I also had family, family I can never see again… so I understand how you feel.”

The messenger nodded slightly, then gasped and looked up in pain at the wound on her shoulder.

The wounds torn by the mummy were stained with black grime, seemingly invaded by corpse poison, which was spreading into the body.

The messenger girl raised her palm and gently placed it on her shoulder. A spiritual fluctuation rippled through her palm, trying to promote the healing of the wound, but the filthy toxins clung to the wound like a bone-deep infection, preventing the flesh from healing.

"Waaah..."

The messenger let out a painful groan, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed, and cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

This corpse poison, formed from the death of high-sequence Beyonders among prisoners, happens to be a perfect counter to Beyonders of this pathway, who possess powerful healing abilities. The weakened messenger, unable to utilize her angelic powers, could only desperately watch her life slowly ebb away.

The messenger took a deep breath and, with her last remaining strength, spoke:

"I need to,

His body.

How can I help you?

Liviel quickly helped the Tutankhamun mummy to the messenger's side, but he could barely lift his head to look at her, and only weakly said:

"I am now..."

"I can't do it."

"First, detoxify..."

The messenger means that He doesn't have the strength to absorb Tutankhamun's mummy right now, and wants me to help Him detoxify first? But I don't seem to have any means of detoxification...

After a moment's thought, Liviel tentatively activated the power of the Priestess of Light. A blazing light gathered in her palm and enveloped the wound on the messenger's shoulder. The filthy toxins hissed as if stimulated, writhing frantically like maggots within the messenger's flesh.

"Ah...woo..."

The messenger clenched her teeth in pain, but a scream still escaped her lips. Cold sweat soaked her hair, flowing down her forehead along with tears of blood.

Liviel activated the Priestess of Light's purification power to its maximum, her palm pressed close to the wound, only a hair's breadth apart, the brilliant light scorching the toxins with a holy halo.

However, at that moment, the filthy toxins seemed to come alive, leaping up and biting at Livre's palm like venomous snakes.

Livre quickly withdrew her hand, her heart sinking.

No, this toxin seems particularly stubborn... Wait a minute...

Liviel carefully recalled the scene she had just witnessed: when the filthy toxins transformed into venomous snakes and bit her palm, they seemed to temporarily detach from the messenger's body...

At that moment, a bold idea popped into Livre's mind: to use her physical body as a vessel to transfer the toxins away from the messenger girl!

The moment the thought crossed Liviel's mind, she broke out in a cold sweat: How could I have thought of that? This is the vengeful spirit of a demigod-level mummy...

However, if the toxin is not transferred, the messenger will die... and I will lose a valuable combatant who is at the demigod level and may even recover to the angel level in the future.

Livre tried to convince herself from a utilitarian perspective, but after a few seconds, she resolutely asked:

"Miss Renette, if you successfully fuse with that mummy, will you be able to resolve these toxins?"

Upon hearing this, the messenger nodded her four heads with difficulty at the same time.

"Alright, let's take a gamble! I will use my physical body to transfer the toxins away from you."

Upon hearing this, the messenger's eyes flashed with astonishment, and she managed to utter a few words with difficulty:

"You're insane..."

At this moment, Little White, who was hiding under Livre's skirt, also popped out and cried out in terror:

"Livia, you've gone mad! This poison is extremely potent; you'll die!"

Livr turned to look at Little White, her eyes softening with emotion, and said gently:

"Little White, thank you for being my extraordinary pet. Although you always get tired and collapse early on, we still had a lot of happy times together..."

Tears welled up in Little White's tiny snake eyes:

"No, Livia, no, I don't want you to die..."

Livre's eyes also welled up with tears. She held Little White tightly and said emotionally:

"Yes, I don't want to die by myself either..."

"So, thank you for your hard work."

"Um...wait? What!?" The previously tearful Xiaobai froze, looking at Liviel in disbelief. "You, you're going to take me...?"

"Don't worry, Xiaobai. Miss Renette will treat your poison as soon as she recovers."

Livre gently stroked the little white snake's head and extended it toward the messenger's shoulder.

"Hey! Wait, Livre, no, no... Ah!"

As soon as Xiaobai's body approached, the filthy poison seemed to smell the scent of its prey, and suddenly leaped up, rushing straight towards Xiaobai's body.

Whoosh! A cloud of black mist wrapped around Little White. Taking advantage of the moment, Liviel yanked it out, flinging out a string of black, poisonous liquid. She then quickly threw Little White away along with it.

"Ah! I'm in so much pain, Livre! Help me!"

Little White screamed in anguish, like a sharp knife piercing Livre's heart. She quickly helped the messenger up and anxiously asked:

"How are you feeling now?"

The messenger's expression had softened considerably, but she was still weak, and there were still traces of black poison lingering around the wound on her shoulder.

He raised his palm, gathering spiritual energy in it, wanting to have a mystical relationship with his brother's mummy. However, after trying for a while, his hand fell limply to the ground.

"no."

"Life, vitality, scarcity, lack."

The messenger was pale, bloodless, and her aura was extremely weak.

vitality?

Liviel's heart stirred. As a prisoner-transferring pathway closely connected to the pathways bestowed by the Mother Tree of Desire, what the messenger craved, like the fallen tree spirit, was that power of the primordial life force. It was a comprehensive power encompassing spirituality, mind, physical strength, and even lifespan.

As a fallen tree spirit, I can draw life force from it, and I can also try to infuse life force into the messenger girl...

Liviel immediately took action. She first threw the Bloodthirsty Hand onto Little White to slow down the rate at which its body was being eroded by the toxins. Then, she channeled the power bestowed upon her by the Desire Mother Tree, placing the surroundings into a hazy, green dreamscape.

Liviel's dress was tinged with a vibrant new green, her fair skin sprouted green leaves and budding flowers, and fine roots grew from her feet, taking hold of the soil, as if she were a spirit who ruled over this dream world.

However, in this familiar environment, Livre was in a dilemma. In her dreams, she was always the one in control, drawing life force from others. Now, however, she had to pass on her own life force to the messenger girl... Should she make the messenger girl take the initiative?

After a moment's thought, Livre gently approached the messenger and cupped one of her heads in her hands:

“Miss Renette, the life in this dream is all produced by myself. It’s fresh and delicious. Please enjoy it.”

She placed the messenger's head in front of a delicate flower bud. The messenger, attracted by the rich fragrance, immediately parted her red lips and greedily sucked on the delicious nectar.

Seeing the messenger's satisfied expression, Livre felt a sense of joy. As a flower cultivated by a hardworking gardener, she brought a wonderful experience to others. Wasn't that a kind of happiness?

People say witches are greedy, manipulating emotions and stealing people's essence, but the noblest virtue in the world is actually selflessness. Selflessness brings more happiness than taking.

As Livre pondered the philosophy of life, her heart grew increasingly joyful.