Chapter 19: Finally Someone Reliable
Su Xiao felt that the so-called Old Gods were actually just a term for certain special humans, not true deities.
"Gus, where is the Dominator?"
Su Xiao asked the question he cared about most. The second mission ring seemed simple and straightforward—just kill the Dominator—but this Dominator was hard to find, hidden somewhere unknown.
"You're still young, and not yet corroded by the darkness. Why go seek death?"
Gus didn't open his pale eyes again. Clearly, he knew where the Dominator was but was unwilling to say.
"Cherish the present time. You don't even... belong to this world, so don't go throw your life away at the Dominator."
"He took something that wasn't originally his. Find him, kill him—that's my goal."
Su Xiao lit a cigarette. Since his negotiations with Gus weren't affected by his Charm attribute, the conversation went relatively smoothly. At least Gus didn't suddenly blurt out: 'You vile criminal, I won't tell you anything.'
"Hahaha... what a madman."
Gus turned his body, chains clinking, hanging upside down with his back to Su Xiao.
Su Xiao shifted his gaze to the figure sitting on the stone chair. This was the Immortal Witch who created the Maiden of Sorrow and nurtured the Light of Hope, Nia—Dawn.
Stepping onto the stone stairs, Su Xiao arrived at the deepest part of the Old God Church. There was a stone chair over two meters wide at normal height, embedded into the wall, clearly carved from the local rock.
On the stone chair sat a withered figure. Her golden hair had turned yellow and split, a brown blanket draped over her.
Thick chains as wide as fingers extended from the stone chair, piercing into various parts of Dawn's body. It looked both bloody and brutal. Clearly, Dawn had suffered inhuman treatment, her body now broken and battered.
"Nia, sorry, sorry..."
Dawn murmured in her sleep. Su Xiao snapped his fingers, and the murmuring stopped. Dawn slowly opened her eyes. Her skin was completely withered, but from her brows and eyes, one could tell she had been beautiful in her youth.
"You are..."
Dawn's voice was very weak, as if she might die at any moment.
"Where is the Dominator?"
Su Xiao got straight to the point. He could already tell that these two Immortal Witches, having gone so long without seeing anyone, were a bit slow in their thinking.
"It's in Herlu City."
Dawn leaned forward, as if trying to sit up, but was restrained by the chains.
"Dawn, shut your mouth!"
Gus's hoarse shout came from behind. Dawn glanced at him and smiled apologetically.
"Strong one reeking of blood, I can tell you where the Dominator is. But before that, you need to know the 'story' of me, Gus, Nia, and Laurent. After hearing this story, you can decide whether to go after the Dominator. The choice is yours."
Dawn spoke very slowly, but she was clearly the reliable type—answering what was asked without beating around the bush.
"Fine, but speed it up."
"What?"
Dawn looked up at Su Xiao in confusion.
"What did you just say? I've slept too long, I can't hear clearly."
"Talk faster. I'm busy."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Baha, Bubu Wang, and Kaisa all turned their heads. Now wasn't the time to laugh—it wasn't appropriate.
"Where was I?"
"Hahaha..."
Laughter came from Gus's direction. Su Xiao's hand rested on the hilt of Dragon-Slaying Flash as he said, "The story of you, Gus, Nia, and Laurent."
"Are you curious? If you are, I can tell you."
"Hahaha..."
Gus had already cracked his face from laughing. This old man's style was completely different from Dawn's. Or rather, he was far stronger than her. Among the three Immortal Witches, Dawn excelled at creation, Gus at combat, and Laurent was more of a scholar. Laurent knew the most and suffered the worst fate.
Three stone chairs, two were empty. One belonged to Gus, who was currently hanging upside down. The other belonged to Laurent. And at the lower side of Laurent's stone chair lay Laurent himself.
At this moment, Laurent had turned into a blob, unable to even maintain a human form, faint sparks flickering on his body.
Clearly, all three Immortal Witches had once been Old Gods, and they had all lain inside a furnace, letting flames scorch their bodies to refine Holy Silver.
"Among 'them,' the only known ones are the Dominator and the 'White Goat.' The White Goat is even harder to find. Only Laurent caught a glimpse of it, but soon after, he became like this. He's splitting apart. If he doesn't suppress the splitting with his will, he'll become a slave of the darkness."
Dawn began to narrate their past story.
"Compared to us, Laurent knows more. This world is like this—the more you know, the more danger you face. Laurent, and... oh, what's your name?"
"Kukulin."
Su Xiao answered briefly. He didn't want to interrupt Dawn, lest she have to start over.
"Laurent, say hello to Kukulin. He's... a good person."
Dawn's voice grew weaker. Su Xiao looked at Laurent. The blob-like Laurent trembled slightly, and a tentacle extended from the rags on his body, as a greeting.
"Continue."
"Alright."
Dawn continued her narration. According to her, Su Xiao learned that this world had been like this for a very long time. Dawn, Gus, and Laurent were natural-born witches. Or rather, their parents had been witches, passing the power of witchcraft to them.
Natural-born witches were different from those who became witches by drinking potions later. They could also 'spiritually sense' the Witch's Eye, but they grew stronger very slowly, requiring years of accumulated 'spiritual sensing' to become Gray Witches. Subsequent advancement was even harder.
Initially, these three didn't know each other. It was Laurent who brought them together. At that time, Laurent was only 19, but he firmly believed that the world shouldn't be like this.
Through Laurent's investigations, he learned of the existence of the Old Gods. The Old Gods had been resisting something all along. Until one day, Laurent found an ancient codex in some ruins, which recorded that only natural-born witches could become Old Gods, and only Old Gods could resist 'them' and restore the world to normal.
If this were an anime world, Laurent would definitely be the protagonist, or at least a key figure around the protagonist.
Laurent overcame his selfishness and shared the ancient codex with Dawn and Gus. The three began to grow stronger at an astonishing rate, without needing to drink any potions.
Years later, Laurent revealed the idea hidden in his heart: he wanted to gather the witches to resist the known existence among 'them'—the Dominator.
It took 20 years for Laurent to establish the Witch Council. Their ideals gained recognition from some witches, because some things were too suspicious. Where did potions originate? Where did witches originate? None of this made sense.
Laurent had almost collected all the potion formulas. He even developed a potion called 'Dead Soul' that could temporarily calm witches down.
Laurent gave the potion formulas to his descendants, telling them to use potions and silver coins as a foundation to expand the Witch Council and become the rulers of this continent. Interestingly, Laurent's full name was Moen Laurent.
In that era, Dawn wasn't the protagonist. Laurent was the spiritual leader. Dawn and the Light of Hope, Nia, were the protagonists of the next era.