Chapter 5: Friend
Inside Isaiah’s bedroom, the electric light flickered once. From her, Su Xiao learned about a black witch named Isa.
The relationship between Isa and Isaiah was somewhat peculiar. On the surface, the two were friends, commonly known as close girlfriends, but in reality, that wasn’t the case. The black witch Isa often extorted Isaiah’s belongings, and the white witch Isaiah dared not speak out against it, resigning herself to bad luck.
Isaiah hadn’t betrayed Isa earlier only out of fear of her. However, after initial contact with Su Xiao, she realized he was even more ruthless than her friend Isa, and the danger levels between the two were incomparable.
Although Isa was strong, her nerves weren’t quite right. With Isaiah’s intelligence, she could sometimes even exploit her. Su Xiao, on the other hand, was different. His method of dealing with Isaiah was simple: if she cooperated, he wouldn’t harm her; if she didn’t, he’d have Amu crush her to death.
Compared to potential future retaliation, Isaiah felt her immediate safety was more important, so this fence-sitter decisively sold out Isa.
“You’re very strong, aren’t you?”
Isaiah looked Su Xiao up and down, her earlier foolish and cute expression gone.
“...”
“You must kill Isa, please. I’ve betrayed her, and she’ll definitely retaliate, maybe even turn me into dinner.”
“Stop wasting time. Just tell me about that black witch.”
“Alright.”
Isaiah began introducing Isa’s basic situation. Isa lived within the city, but in a very remote location. According to Isaiah, Isa was an elemental witch. As for the power levels among witches, such a thing simply didn’t exist.
Witches’ abilities were diverse, and combat involved mutual countering. Even a witch famous for many years could fall if she encountered a natural counter, of course, assuming the power gap wasn’t too vast.
Some witches with ‘exclusive titles’ were outside this category. For example, the title ‘Dark Crow’ was both a name and the highest honor among witches. Only the strongest witch could possess the title ‘Dark Crow.’
The way to judge whether an elemental witch was powerful was simple: observe her ‘Incarnation.’
“Incarnation?”
Su Xiao looked at Isaiah with confusion.
“Yes, this is my Incarnation.”
A flicker of purple light flashed in Isaiah’s eyes, and an invisible consciousness appeared behind her.
“To become a witch is an extremely painful process. You have to go mad first.”
“...”
Su Xiao was even more confused.
“Hundreds of years ago, the first-generation witches drove themselves mad by torturing their bodies—drowning, whipping, exposure to the sun. The most effective method was to personally kill their own family. Doing so would create another self within the body.”
As she spoke, Isaiah touched her fair skin, indicating she hadn’t used such crude methods to transform into a witch.
“After another self appears within the body, you can absorb the power from the ‘Origin Stone.’ That power combines with the other self to form an Incarnation. Only with an Incarnation can you be considered a witch. This is a necessary process for all witches.”
After hearing Isaiah’s explanation, Su Xiao understood the transformation process for witches.
The first step to becoming a witch was to torture oneself into a state of mental fragmentation, resulting in a split personality. After that, things were simpler: use the secondary personality to absorb the energy from the ‘Origin Stone,’ thereby killing that personality and forming an Incarnation.
Elemental witches fought using their Incarnations. Through them, they communicated with the elements. Without the limitations of a physical body, their method of channeling elements was cruder and more direct, requiring no chanting or pre-drawn magic circles like mages.
“How should I describe what other witches’ Incarnations look like...”
Isaiah appeared contemplative. Aside from witches themselves, others couldn’t see the existence of Incarnations.
“No need.”
Su Xiao could naturally see the witch’s Incarnation. The one behind Isaiah was interesting—a blooming white jasmine flower.
“When are you planning to deal with Isa?”
Isaiah was now even more eager than Su Xiao to see Isa dead. Long-term ‘oppression’ had made her want to eliminate this ‘friend’ for a long time.
“...”
Su Xiao didn’t speak. He just silently watched Isaiah, judging whether she was using him to eliminate an enemy.
“I have to say, you’re not as weak as you appear.”
Su Xiao revealed a gentle smile. Seeing his smile, Bubu Wang covered his dog face with a paw. He bet five cents that this woman was probably done for.
“What?”
Isaiah looked at Su Xiao with confusion.
“By my calculations, your friend Isa might have already fled this city, considering how long you’ve been stalling for her.”
“What are you talking about?”
Isaiah was even more confused.
“You provided food to bribe the surrounding kingdoms, while that witch named Isa handled the military intimidation. In other words, you two collaborated to corral the civilians in this city. They were all commodities. I found it strange earlier—given the level of civilization here, every household had a house number. Now it seems those were slave tags.”
Su Xiao smiled as he looked at Isaiah. Before entering this castle, Bubu Wang had discovered numerous cages beneath it, empty but surrounded by human feces and blood.
The Madegao Human Settlement wasn’t the paradise Isaiah had described. The city walls were too tall, and there wasn’t even a basic city guard. This was abnormal.
The city was too simple, consisting only of civilians and rulers. This ecological model was essentially no different from merchants hoarding goods.
Moreover, Isaiah was a skilled actress. After realizing Su Xiao was strong, she immediately sent a message to her friend to retreat, staying behind to buy time with her life.
“What do you mean?”
Isaiah still looked puzzled, as if she didn’t understand what Su Xiao was saying at all.
From the moment Isaiah revealed Isa’s information, she had repeatedly asked when Su Xiao would go after Isa. This was to determine one thing: how much longer she could stall him.
Realizing this, Su Xiao drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist. Witches in this world were hard to deal with. Even Isaiah, who wasn’t strong in combat, was a skilled actress.
“Ah, it seems I can’t stall you any longer. You’ll never find Isa, let alone set foot in the Land of Death. You’re strong, and Isa is no match for you. But... you’ll never be able to harm her.”
As she spoke, Isaiah stood up and ran her hand through her waist-length hair.
“I forgot to tell you, I really don’t know where the Land of Death is. So no matter how you torture me, you won’t get any information about it from me. You...”
With a *swish*, the blade flashed past. Isaiah was clearly stunned. She had prepared a follow-up speech, but it was completely unnecessary. Her Charm Attribute, as high as 90 points, had no effect.
“Is that so? Then you’re useless.”
Su Xiao flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it.
“This... shouldn’t be how it ends...”
With a *thud*, Isaiah fell to the ground. Su Xiao had wasted so much time talking to her only to gather information about witches. Isaiah’s method of lying was familiar to Su Xiao: nine truths mixed with one lie. If he wasn’t mistaken, she had only concealed the location of the black witch Isa and the information about the Land of Death.