Chapter 45: The Guilty One, Agnes

"Clap!"

After a moment of silence, Miss Witch suddenly closed the book in her hand with a bit of force.

Her expression returned to its usual calm and cold state, and any trace of wavering that appeared while listening to the story had completely vanished.

"There is no prince, and there won't be a perfect ending. Reality is reality," she looked up at Char, her lips slightly parted, "And you should leave."

After saying these words, she casually lifted her head and glanced at the dark and profound top of the palace.

There, an endless black mist billowed, seemingly engaged in a hidden struggle against some kind of power under Miss Witch's control.

But Char was unaware of this.

He stared blankly at the expressionless Miss Witch.

After speaking so earnestly, implying so much, to be brushed off so lightly like this?

How infuriating.

Char thought indignantly.

But since Miss Witch had spoken, he had no reason to continue staying here. So he nodded and said, "Then, please cast a curse upon me."

I've been in the palace for quite some time today. I don't even know how much time has passed outside.

The informant had arranged to meet him in three days, so perhaps the time was getting close.

However, unexpectedly, the witch glanced at him and refused his request.

"The teleportation portal is already open. This time, you will leave from there."

Miss Witch stood up and walked towards a nearby bookshelf, placing the book she held back in its place. She spoke with her back turned to Char.

Char was stunned.

Although he had doubts about her ability to effortlessly open a teleportation portal while he himself couldn't escape the palace, what concerned him more was his experience points.

He was currently suffering from the aftermath of the "Explosive Battle Qi" technique, significantly reducing his combat power. Coupled with the potential clues and conflicts related to the "Sun" that might arise in the near future, Char's need for strength improvement had reached an unprecedented level of urgency.

He frowned and asked, "Is there any inconvenience for you?"

"I told you to leave this place."

The witch remained with her back turned, slightly turning her head to reveal a partial profile. Her face was partially obscured by her long, black hair, making it difficult to discern her current expression.

When she uttered those words, she even carried a hint of authority.

Char gazed at the witch's graceful and slender figure, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded gently. "Alright, I'll leave now."

With that, he turned and walked towards the passage leading to the entrance of the grand hall.

Soon, his figure disappeared within the palace.

Once the entire palace had returned to its usual tranquility, Miss Witch, standing in front of the bookshelf, let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

Her hand, resting on the wooden bookshelf, trembled slightly.

After a while, Miss Witch raised her head once again and looked towards the dark dome of the palace. Illuminated by the light source, her face appeared even paler, devoid of any color.

She seemed to be forcing herself.

In fact, this sense of strain had existed since she saved Char earlier, but because Miss Witch always maintained a poker face and never showed any signs of strangeness, he had not noticed.

Just moments ago, Agnes had unprecedentedly shattered the seal of the palace, repelled a horde of evil gods, and forced the departure of the elemental deity, Adrien.

She even managed to suppress the divine seal for a brief moment.

However, this very act triggered a feedback from the dormant seal that had endured for countless years, activating the deeper rules within.

These were the shackles jointly imposed by the various deities to restrain the witch.

"..."

Miss Witch waved her hand, dispelling the library scene within the palace, and slowly ascended the steps of the palace.

After reaching the platform at the highest point, she raised her hand and conjured a red velvet chair. She tidied up her slightly worn-out black veil skirt and gently sat down.

Silently, she stared at the spot where Char had vanished, her thoughts unknown.

The black mist on the palace dome slowly dissipated.

Since Char had already left, there was no need for her to continue forcibly suppressing the power from the divine beings.

The sound of a bell began to ring.

Once, twice, thrice... twelve times.

Similar to what Char had witnessed last time, the dome echoed with the tolling of twelve bells, drifting slowly throughout the palace.

It was as if funeral bells were tolling for her.

"Boom!"

A thunderous resonance, resembling the great bells of Lü, suddenly resounded through the space. The ground trembled violently, and even the once stable surroundings became precarious!

At the highest point of the dome, accompanied by an immensely powerful fluctuation, a gigantic pattern shimmering with golden light swiftly took shape within the void.

Miss Witch glanced at the pattern with a hint of mocking curve on her lips.

Then, she beckoned and materialized the heavy diary in her hand, gripping the quill feather, and turned to the latest entry without much hesitation.

She began to write lightly, without much thought.

[ That boy... has appeared again.]

[ Even after experiencing the agony of the Black Mist curse, he still chose to come here?]

In the sky, the dazzling golden emblem had been fully outlined, resembling a blooming sun, illuminating the evil forces within the palace, leaving no room for escape.

That emblem was a "Libra" pattern adorned with exquisite designs.

If Char were here, he would have immediately recognized that this pattern came from the Tower of Judgment, representing a powerful and legitimate deity.

The God of Justice and Judgment!

However, Miss Witch paid no attention to the scene before her and continued to write, indifferent.

[ It seems that there was an error during the teleportation process, causing him to fail to enter the palace. After being tainted by Adrien, his first reaction was... using his body to block the intangible magic that sought to break the seal.]

[ It's strange. I, who have been feared by the world since the day I was born, experienced the feeling of being protected by someone for the first time.]

[ The irony is that the guy is as weak as an ant.]

[ Has the world outside changed?]

[ Why are there such foolish people living in this world?]

The Libra pattern trembled slightly, and then a majestic female voice resounded through the hall, announcing the judgment upon Agnes.

"Guilty one, Agnes, you have violated the laws established by the gods within the Abyssal Palace. From this moment on, the punishment shall be executed."

She remained indifferent to this, continuing to write in her diary.

But at the same time, black mist gradually gathered around Miss Witch's body.

"The first offense, trespassing the seal in this place is forbidden!"

The voice was solemn but filled with mechanization. Because the palace was a place where even the deities couldn't gaze upon, even the Elemental God could only cast a vertical gaze from the outside.

Therefore, this voice seemed more like the punishment will following the arrangement of the gods, without self-awareness.

With the pronouncement of the first offense, the Libra pattern trembled violently. Then, a miniaturized version of the Libra symbol transformed into golden light and descended, shooting towards Miss Witch's chest!

"Boom!"

Black mist surged up, forming a black mist giant hand that grasped the golden light in its grip!

As the two forces collided, faint black cracks appeared in the void, a sign of spatial destruction.

The golden light and the giant hand struggled against each other for a while before the two forces slowly dissipated in mid-air.

At the same time, Miss Witch's delicate hand, holding the quill pen, trembled slightly. Her already pale face became even more devoid of color.

"The second offense, desecrating the divine beings in this place is forbidden!"

The second Libra imprint transformed once again into radiant golden light and descended from the sky.

This offense was directed at Agnes for having driven away the Elemental God.

In the eyes of this will, it was a blatant act of sacrilege.

The black mist converged once more, forming a vortex that enveloped the golden light, rapidly spinning, attempting to dissipate this power originating from the divine beings.

After a long time, the two forces finally dissipated into nothingness.

Miss Witch, sitting on the chair, remained expressionless and lightly coughed twice.

Around her, the manipulable black mist had nearly vanished.

Yet, she continued to write with her pen.

[What's even stranger is that I would actually suppress the punishments imposed by the gods, just to listen to a fairy tale told by a weak human, until I could barely hold on, and then let him leave.]

[And that story...]

As Miss Witch wrote up to this point, a hint of reminiscence flickered in her eyes.

[In the past, it seems that I also had a title similar to "The Ashen Witch."]

At the moment Miss Witch's pen touched the paper, a brilliant golden light radiated between the palaces!

It seemed that after being completely resisted by Miss Witch twice before, the punishment will could no longer bear the humiliation.

"The third offense, unfounded bestowal is forbidden in this place!"

Unprecedented intense golden light broke through the black mist that had condensed before Miss Witch, transforming into a coin-sized mark, deeply branded on her smooth and fair chest like a branding iron!

"..."

Miss Witch frowned, her face growing even paler.

The Libra imprint, after being imprinted on Miss Witch's chest, didn't dissipate but continued to emit a golden light, enveloping her completely under the majesty of the divine.

The God of Justice and Judgment was the deity in charge of law and punishment.

If the rules were violated, punishment must be received.

Miss Witch's body trembled lightly a few times before weakly collapsing onto the chair. The quill pen in her hand fell to the ground, as if enduring a dual torment originating from both the physical and mental realms.

The mark flickered, each emergence transforming into a tide of power, gradually eroding Miss Witch's spirit and body inch by inch.

This was a one-sided torment, with the sole purpose of inflicting intense pain upon her.

This pain was even more severe than slowly shattering every bone in one's body.

However, there seemed to be no regret on Miss Witch's face.

She gently closed her eyes.

Just then...

A sigh suddenly emanated from the entrance directly in front of the hall.

"Miss Witch..."

"How can I leave this place in a dignified manner if you do this?"

The figure of the young man walked slowly out of the shadow curtain, gazing up at Agnes, who was alone bearing punishment and pain. His eyes were filled with a complex expression.