Chapter 977: Act 150 – The Black Moon Cassandra
Something major happened? Brendel’s heart tightened at the words of his wizard servant. Could it be that something was wrong with Kulur, or had something happened to his senior sister and Medisa? Charles’s voice continued in the communication crystal, “Lord, you better go out and take a look, and you’ll understand.” Go out and take a look? He felt a bit puzzled, but he at least felt relieved; it seemed it wasn’t a major issue. He grasped Romaine’s small hand beside him, activated the ‘Time and Space’ element, and the lines of the laws parted obediently. After flickering twice, he arrived outside the castle. Behind him, the black wolf Kehua disdainfully glanced at Merilietra on the ground, opened a light gate, and followed him out.
Once outside the castle, Brendel finally understood what Charles meant by “something major happened.” It was only around one or two in the afternoon, but the outside was already shrouded in darkness. Looking up at the sky, it seemed that Fatan City was covered by a thick curtain; there were no clouds above, just an impenetrable black hole, devoid of stars or moonlight, with surroundings so dark that one could barely see anything, even darker than the midnight before dawn.
In the distance, lights began to flicker at Fatan Port; the entire harbor seemed to boil over in a tumult of noise and screams.
“What is this…” Brendel murmured as he looked up at the sky.
“Eternal darkness has descended,” Kehua’s voice sounded behind him.
…
The Silver Queen Constance slowly opened her eyes. What greeted her was a pair of eyes resembling melted silver spheres, not quite human. These eyes belonged to a middle-aged woman in an ice-blue long dress, sitting across from her. The woman also seemed to have just awakened from a dream, her long hair cascading down as she frowned, her expression puzzling and confused. Beside her, the four women on the sofa gradually opened their eyes.
Among these four women were Agathlys, the Eternal Darkness Witch whom Gray Saint Mephistopheles had previously met, a pair of freckled twins around sixteen years old, and an old woman wearing a headscarf.
“How is it?” the Silver Queen asked.
“Unfortunately,” the middle-aged woman in the ice-blue gown still frowned and shook her head, “I couldn’t achieve full success.” She turned her head, noting that there were clearly two empty spots on the sofa. “Anwei is dead, Merilietra cannot return, the Star of Confession has lost its main star, the Throne of the Sages is also shaky, and Kulur has relinquished her powers voluntarily; thus the Throne of the Sword has also extinguished…”
“I have obtained the power of the Winter Moon, ‘Eris’,” the slightly smaller twin spoke, “Erielle has aged and no longer wishes to engage in the struggle, so I killed her and helped her fulfill her wish.” She glanced at the girl beside her who looked exactly like her and smiled slightly. “Sofia gave me her powers, so now I possess the powers of two moons; am I impressive, my lord?”
“Merilietra’s powers have returned to me,” the girl called Sofia replied coldly.
“You’ve done well, Roya, Sofia.” The middle-aged woman in the ice-blue gown relaxed her frown a little, smiling in approval. Then she turned her gaze to the gloomy old woman beside her. “Rodetta, what about you?”
“I couldn’t find Esoli. I heard she designated a girl as the inheritor of the Month of Death ten years ago; as for Jalo, she had already died three years ago without having time to designate an inheritor, and her inheritance remains dormant, which I have obtained.” The old woman succinctly replied, “It is the power of the Month of Decline.”
The middle-aged woman in the ice-blue gown nodded. “I also didn’t obtain the power of the Cup Moon; someone intervened in the lines of fate. I suspect this is related to that crazy woman Euphycileia, who is said to have been seeking something called Asgala in Aruchen under a pseudonym for thirty years. She is very likely searching for the next inheritor. I’ve long heard that she is quite dissatisfied with Anwei. All the witches from her line are lunatics, but they possess immense power. Anwei truly does not deserve the inheritance of the Cup Moon—”
“As for the inheritance of the Sword Moon… there was a slight deviation.” Her expression became grim. “Your Majesty, that young man does appear not to be my lord’s inheritor, but he possesses another fate, and it’s definitely not simple. I feel a very mysterious aura from him; I can’t see his future through that aura, nor can I sever the lines of fate linked to him. When Merilietra confronted him, her fate line clearly deviated. It was as if… as if…”
The middle-aged woman in the ice-blue gown recalled the crystal ball she had shattered in her hands, her expression growing even graver, the tone of her voice betraying uncertainty: “It was as if the whole world changed in that moment.”
The Silver Queen Constance reached out and gently patted her hand—only this Queen dared to do such a thing in this world; anyone else would have been immediately annihilated by this woman. Yet the latter felt no hint of impropriety and even appeared somewhat flustered. “Aismelada, you need not worry too much; at least half of our plans have succeeded, and besides, I now understand that this little fellow is not simple. Although we underestimated him, I will not give him another chance.”
“Your Majesty…” Aismelada—the Witch Queen of Burnoson deeply bowed her head.
“I don’t intend to play small tricks with that little fellow anymore. In my view, Ludwig’s nobility is not a concern. The White Legion is already near Fatan Port. I have decided to strike first against him. Subsequently, I will order the White Legion and the mountain people to redirect their spearheads to attack Fatan, allowing those anxious folks in the North to breathe a sigh of relief. Coincidentally, my dear son is also by his side, allowing us to capture them all.” Constance answered with great confidence: “Aismelada, the twelve powers of the witches, seven are already in my hands. Once that little fellow is destroyed, reclaiming Burnoson will be a matter of time. Some things cannot be accomplished all at once; you are too eager. In fact, the current situation is pretty much what I anticipated, even somewhat better, after all, he is Darus’s grandson. It can’t be that simple.”
“Your Majesty speaks true,” Aismelada replied, still somewhat worried.
Constance stood up and glanced at her, knowing full well that this setback had left its shadow in Aismelada’s heart. She felt a twinge of disdain; the Witch Queen’s performance disappointed her. In her view, this little trouble was nothing; those who truly accomplish great things do not care about immediate difficulties and setbacks. Ah, these witches who spend their days scheming have ultimately not seen grand scenes.
Suddenly, she found herself quite admiring that unknown little rival; at least he already possessed the aura of someone in power, which made someone like Mephistopheles willingly serve at his side.
She walked to the window, and the curtains seemed to have magical properties, parting automatically to reveal not a sunny scene but a blanket of darkness. Just like the pitch-blackness blanketing Fatan Port, the capital of the Cruz Empire at that moment was also plunged into boundless darkness, the entire sky appearing as a massive black vortex greedily sucking in all light, as if doomsday had arrived, with sun, moon, and stars no longer rising.
At some unknown moment, a frantic north wind began to sweep above the imperial capital, bringing with it snow and rain that fell from the sky.
“Eternal darkness has descended,” the Silver Queen observed the scene without a hint of surprise. “Just as described in the prophecy. Aismelada, I have heard that on such a day, the thirteenth moon, the Black Moon ‘Cassandra’, will rise in the sky, though no one has ever seen it. The myth says, ‘The thirteenth moon cannot be seen by mortals.’ But as witches, you should be able to see this moon, right? Aismelada, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you mention this moon. Does this moon also have an inheritor among the witches?”
Aismelada shuddered slightly, as if she had heard a terrifying term, but she obediently replied, “Yes, Your Majesty. The thirteenth moon’s inheritor is called the Witch of Nihility, but unlike us, her power does not come from Echis and her twelve daughters, but from the sea beast—Leviathan. Leviathan is the embodiment of the Sea of Magic. During the War of Dusk, one of its teeth pierced the elemental barrier between the Sea of Magic and the present world, forming the Mount of Storms’ Respite after breaking. When it rolls over the Sea of Magic, it creates massive magical tides. Our powers are twelve reflections of the Sea of Magic in the real world, while it is said that the thirteenth witch’s power is the Sea of Magic itself.”
“Then she must be very strong?”
“Very strong…” Aismelada paused, “I have not seen them. It is said that the inheritors of this lineage of witches are all called Sophia. Their last generation appeared during the end of the Saints’ War, when all twelve witches were by my lord’s side, but they were defeated by the thirteenth witch.”
Constance turned back, her delicate brows furrowed. “Isn’t she also a witch? Why would she stand opposed to you?”
“I don’t know, Your Majesty. This lineage of witches is very mysterious. Rumors about them are few even in Burnoson.”
“She once defeated you all. As for the Witch Queen, if I remember rightly, during the era of the Saints’ War, you witches were still led by that supreme Witch Queen, right? Was she not even a match for the thirteenth witch?”
Upon hearing this question, Aismelada seemed slightly displeased. “Witches have never been ruled by any Witch Queen, Your Majesty. We obey her orders because each previous Witch Queen was the ruler of the Winter Kingdom and also my lord’s queen. Comparatively, the second identity binds us more. Being the ruler of the Winter Kingdom could actually change.”
“Oh, is that so?” The Silver Queen turned back to look at her. “I have heard that the Witch Queen was the founder of the Witch Kingdom.”
“The first generation Witch Queen indeed was, and she stole the power of the Moon of Magic from Echis. After that, every generation of Witch Queens were believers of Echis; their legacy is the Witches of the North Wind. In ancient mythology, the North Wind is the source of magic, for we witches believe that all North Winds in this world blow from the Mount of Storms’ Respite, the origin of real-world magic. Thus, the title of the North Wind Witch is already very noble. Yet like the inheritance of the thirteenth moon, both lineages of inheritance have been lost since the Saints’ War,” Aismelada elaborated.
After hearing this story, Constance fell into a long silence and quietly asked, “Is it really severed?”
“On the surface, at least, it seems so, but…” Aismelada hesitated for a moment, as if recalling something within her silver-sphere-like eyes. “But decades ago, there was a witch who was constantly searching for these two inheritances. Her name among the witches is Kundear, and she’s an odd one. By the way, she is the inheritor of the Moon of Lyres—however, we have lost track of her for at least twenty years.”
“The inheritor of the Moon of Lyres, I seem to rarely hear you mention that lineage.”
The Silver Queen suddenly raised her head, as if very interested to ask.
…
In the land of the dead, to the south of Burnoson, in a lifeless forest—
An old and a young witch silently watched the stars above them shatter, burn, and fall. Amidst the ruins of the disintegrating old star domain, countless new stars reignited, as if within just a few dozen minutes, the entire night sky had completely changed its appearance. The Star of Confession fell in the west, the Throne of Sages dimmed, ultimately extinguishing completely. Beneath the shadow of the shattered Throne of the Sword, an inconspicuous dark star was gestating, while countless other stars seemed to turn into shooting stars, wandering aimlessly through the night sky.
After a while, the elderly witch suddenly came back to her senses and gently patted the shoulder of the girl beside her, saying, “Let’s go, Aefilu. A new era has arrived; this is the prophecy I told you about. The prophecy of the saints is about to descend, and it is time for you to leave this forest.”
“Where am I going, Teacher?” the girl called Aefilu asked gently.
“To where you must go.”
…
In a noble’s private library in Fatan Port, a black-haired lady knight slammed shut the book in her hands. Under the cold light from the crystal lamp positioned in the lines of bookshelves, the title on the cover could be clearly seen—”The Book of Black Prophecy.” This book was a forbidden text designated by the temple and a sacred relic of the witches; the original was placed in the central hall of the Winter Kingdom, and the one in hand was naturally a counterfeit. It lacked the powerful ability to foresee the future, but the Book of Black Prophecy contained much history and secrets about witches, making it an excellent literature for studying witches and even Minren.
Nemeses put down the book, noticing that Princess QiYala of the Siphai family was having a loud argument with a sprite and a faux dragon next door, amid the perplexed attempts at mediation by Eynid, the countess’s daughter. However, what brought the lady knight back to her senses was not this noise. While reading her book, she keenly felt the changes in the surrounding world; the light darkened, but it was not due to the magic lamp’s illumination changing. She looked up and saw outside her side window.
The outside world was turning dark.
It wasn’t just the ominous heaviness of dark clouds before a thunderstorm; it was a pitch-blackness wherein one could not see their own hand. The artificial lights within the city sparkled like stars in the darkness, shining brightly on the ground.
At some unknown time, the arguing voices within the library had also stopped. Nemeses vaguely heard two little girls inhaling, but what caught her attention was not this sound; she faintly heard a buzzing noise rising from behind her.
…
