Chapter 46: When Happiness Begins, Sadness Is Already Counting Down

Disaster struck.

Without any warning.

Without any signs.

In an instant, the once clear blue sky was burned away by terrifying magical power.

It was a hellish scene, crimson fire meteors appeared out of nowhere, numerous, like an endless sea of blood, dyeing the entire sky a despairing deep crimson.

“Sizzle—sizzle—”

The heavenly fire hissed.

What reached the ears and eyes was the horrifying sight of meteor showers falling from high above.

Buildings were constantly being blasted into ruins.

Countless people screamed in terror for help in the face of death.

No time to think.

Before the Witch could figure out what was happening, her body moved first, like a moth to a flame, charging towards the fireball approaching the courtyard.

Waving her magic staff.

Releasing magic.

“Water Shield!!!”

It was all futile.

A weak moth cannot shake a fierce flame.

The water magic, which she poured all her strength into, even using the reserve magic in her staff, was easily shattered by the meteor.

Cressa failed.

Utterly failed.

She could only watch helplessly as the meteor fell, and she could do nothing!

“Boom——”, a deafening roar.

The fire falling from the sky brought destruction, the shockwave from the explosion lifted thousands of impacts, the courtyard filled with countless beautiful memories, vanished in an instant.

Even Cressa herself was blown far away by the shockwave.

Colliding, tumbling, finally stopping against a brick wall.

Pain, so much pain.

The Witch fell to the ground, her body submerged in endless pain, every bone wailing, every muscle tearing and bleeding.

That struggle, that torment, made the 16-year-old Witch almost unable to breathe.

But.

But…

But, but.

Compared to the pain in her chest, in her heart, the pain that tore her sanity apart, the physical pain was nothing.

It was true despair, just imagining it, her personality was about to collapse and scatter!

“Mentor…”

In the burning brick wall ruins, black smoke filled the air, dust flying.

The young Witch staggered to her feet.

Her eyes were still empty, her face still expressionless, but somehow, a sense of urgency and panic could be seen.

She grabbed the no longer exquisite, even chipped magic staff, and cast magic again.

“Wind Riding Technique.”

A calm yet trembling voice sounded, the wind elements once again wrapped around Cressa, lifting her injured body with difficulty, flying towards the direction of the courtyard explosion.

The previous explosion shockwave had blown Cressa far away.

So she had to make her way back.

This path was not long, very short, but for the already injured Cressa, it seemed like an endless abyss.

Burning houses, collapsed ruins, and a large number of dead and injured ordinary people.

This was all the Witch saw.

Very tragic, very terrifying.

She sped up, flying towards the courtyard.

Suddenly, the Witch’s body felt intense pain, the Wind Riding Technique was interrupted.

She fell heavily from the air, rolling several times on the ground, not only were her clothes torn, but her delicate skin was also covered in abrasions.

Face, hands, legs… wherever there were wounds, it looked extremely miserable.

Blurred flesh filled with gravel and dust.

But the Witch didn’t care.

“Mentor, mentor, mentor…”

She muttered these words, her gaze pure, only focused on the burning ruins in the distance, doing her best to get closer.

If magic couldn’t be used, then walk.

If even walking was impossible, then crawl.

Must.

Must see him again.

With this belief, Cressa struggled to her feet again, she didn’t bother to look for the lost magic staff, staggering towards the courtyard.

Only concerned about Xu Xi’s safety in her mind.

Cannot be injured, cannot die, cannot have any mishaps.

Not even a tiny wound.

The girl absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen.

Even a lowly creature like her, a discarded waste, could survive in this world, how could someone as warm as the sun die like this.

Ah…

Ah ah ah…!

Just imagining such a thing, her heart violently contracted, transmitting a pain that made the girl tremble.

“Faster, even faster… not fast enough…”

Cressa quickened her pace.

This sudden acceleration caused her injured body to lose balance, tumbling to the ground.

But it didn’t matter, such things were already unimportant.

Ignoring the intense pain in her calf after falling, ignoring the cheek scratched by small stones, ignoring the body that unknowingly began to twitch.

The Witch continued forward.

Fall then get up, fall again then get up again.

Finally, after bypassing a large collapsed building ruin, she saw the courtyard she wanted to reach.

No longer the tranquil beauty of the past.

No lush flowers and trees.

And no longer the only person she cared about in her heart.

What met her eyes was a burning, no longer familiar, broken ruin, even the most solid Meditation Room inside was shattered.

Flames surged, smoke rushed high into the sky, radiating and spreading, the hot wind blowing against her face, drying it out.

Dead silence.

Nothing left.

Yes, nothing left.

“Thud——”

As if all strength was drained in an instant.

Cressa suddenly stopped moving, her legs went weak, kneeling on the spot, staring blankly at the distant ruins, the flames rising, reflecting on her face, scorching yet cold.

Her eyes were still calm.

Because she was a Witch who didn’t understand joy or sorrow, without emotions.

But, in that beautiful fragile shell, in that lonely shrinking soul, was there really no emotion at all?

Cressa didn’t know.

Because the only person who could answer, the only sun that could give the Witch courage, was no longer visible.

Ah, why is this…

The young Witch knelt on the spot, with those even more empty eyes, staring at the burning courtyard, trying to find an answer in the raging flames.

Why did the master die, while she, a “personal item,” still lived.

Why couldn’t she have been faster, more determined to block that fireball.

Why couldn’t the one who died have been her.

Why… why is this…

Without the master, the item has no reason to exist; without the sun, the Witch has no future; without that warm gaze, Cressa cannot move forward.

Her person, her soul, only continued because of that person’s existence.

If that person no longer exists, even if the Witch survives, life would be meaningless.

“…”

The Witch tremblingly reached out, covering her chest,

Feeling the overwhelming sorrow.

So.

She too.

Could feel sadness.