/
Chapter 246 - Danger Ahead!
Sighing, all three guardian witches returned their gazes to their scrying bowls, which reflected the figure of a collapsed and unconscious Cecile.
“Does it make sense that she can wield the power of the archwitch to that extent without even going through the rite of succession?” the first witch muttered.
“Well, did the being called Cecile ever make sense to begin with?” the second replied.
“I suppose that is true.”
In each new world, the Archwitch had bestowed everything she could to the girl, but each time the world had failed. Knowing that this was the last world, the guardian witches believed that the Archwitch would grant an even greater power to Cecile. This belief was strengthened by the knowledge that the Archwitch was preparing to enter slumber, so they were convinced that she would completely transfer her powers to the girl. But to their surprise, the archwitch hadn’t done as they expected. Instead, the Archwitch mustered everything she had to seal away Cecile’s powers.
Still staring at her scrying bowl, the third witch clicked her tongue and chimed in, “The Archwitch even purposely searched for another heir so as to not pass on any powers to Cecile. Not to mention the countless restrictions she placed on the girl.”
“Indeed. You can’t imagine how surprised I was when I first laid my eyes on her at the royal villa. She looked fine even after shouldering all those restrictions! A single one of those would’ve been enough to send anyone else to their grave.”
The three witches recalled the distant memory—the Archwitch summoned them to leave a final message about the last Cecile before entering her slumber. She decreed that the child’s powers were completely sealed and that she moved Cecile to a place where she would live without any connections.
Hearing the news, the three guardian witches had hurried to find the last Cecile. In the ruins of the royal villa of Navitan, they discovered the young girl sitting all alone. Since the child’s existence itself couldn’t be erased, the Archwitch’s intention had likely been to conceal Cecile from the world in a place where no one would come looking. If Cecile had no way of meeting Estian, then perhaps the demise of the world and Cecile’s despair could be delayed, even if only for a moment. ‘If this is your will, then…’ Taking on the form of maids, the three guardian witches raised Cecile.
“Yet, who would’ve expected that she’d break through all the seals and draw out her powers by her own will.”
“I’m more surprised that the first thing she chose to do after awakening that immense power was to slap some men.”
The three guardian witches clutched at their heads. Reflected in the scrying bowl, they could see Estian dragging a drenched and unconscious Ruin back to where Cecile and Richard had been waiting. Snatching Cecile from Richard’s arms, Estian called out his wife’s name over and over.
Watching this scene, the guardian witches suppressed their urges to groan, when… Suddenly, Cecile’s body grew faint. Seconds later, she had disappeared from Estian’s arms.
“Huh? Where did she go?” they exclaimed. The bewildered guardian witches then noticed the twinkling light remaining in the spot where Cecile had just disappeared.
“Hang on. If she’s currently exhausted from forcefully breaking through the Archwitch’s seals, then…”
“I suppose she’ll try to recover?”
“Which means…”
The three witches screamed in unison, “That girl! Cecile… She’s gone to the World Tree!”
The guardian witches turned pale, knowing the full extent to which the World Tree disliked Cecile.
* * *
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the spirit realm…
“What’s the point of life?” Ayura muttered, wanting to cry. Naturally, the cause of its current bout of negativity was none other than Aled.
The blighter’s reappearance after several centuries had felt like an ill omen. Luckily, after asking a bunch of questions, the spirit had quickly disappeared. Still, Ayura was convinced that the spirit was bound to return again in another few centuries. ‘I swear I’ll move out before then,’ Ayura thought to itself. However, while the spirit was still brooding over where to move his home next, Aled suddenly returned.