The Virtuous Dark Witch

Chapter 7

Of course, to become a being feared by the Andros progenitors, Elara Dessey wasn't a kind person. But the book didn't focus much on her. The reason she—an unnamed minor character—had chosen Elara Dessey was because, at the end of the story, the female lead, Roxane Mullin, had fallen into a mysterious coma in her seventh month of pregnancy.

The powerful male lead, Austin Corell, had searched for all the strong Light Witches, but none could wake her. He could only watch as his beloved woman and their child slowly lost their vitality. Finally, he gritted his teeth and broke into the West Sea Forest. But the ruler of the West Sea Forest was Elara Dessey.

Elara Dessey's role in the novel Dusk Dawn Love was like the "Sweeping Monk" in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils or the "Yellow-Shirted Woman" in Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber.

Austin Corell was the leader of the Andros progenitors, but the West Sea Forest was not a place for him to run wild. As soon as he broke in, Elara Dessey stopped him.

Recalling the book's description of Elara Dessey's appearance, Polina couldn't help but get excited. Her charming blue-gray eyes turned into the typical eyes of a fan as she imagined the scene.

A distant, ethereal laugh exploded in Austin Corell's ears—he was trapped and forced to kneel. Though the laugh was pleasant, it made the powerful Andros progenitor shiver all over. Wherever he looked, countless black mandalas bloomed. Those black mandalas were beautiful and noble, yet extremely dangerous.

Austin Corell slowly lowered his proud head.

A woman suddenly appeared, her black-gold cloak dragging on the ground. She looked as if she had just woken up, her silky black hair flowing freely. Her black-purple eyes still glistened with moisture. She yawned gracefully and asked softly: "Do you want to save them?"

“Yes.”

The woman smiled, stretched out her fair, jade-like right hand toward Austin Corell, and said: "Then give me your body." Her calm purple-black eyes glanced down into Austin Corell's eyes. "You were never meant to live."

"Ah!" Polina chewed hard on the bread in her mouth. She was so excited that she bit her lip, and tears welled up in her eyes from the pain.

Just then, the young woman came back after locking the door: "Be careful. Eat slowly."

"Okay," Polina could already taste blood. Though in the ending of Dusk Dawn Love, Elara Dessey hadn't really taken Austin Corell's body, she hadn't acted like a saint either.

She had demanded Anastas City and twelve other cities west of the West Sea Forest, all the way to the Alsace Mountains. That was enough to make Austin Corell's heart ache. And the Luohe Plain where she and her mama lived now would one day become Elara Dessey's territory. By then, they would be her people—supporting her and being protected by her.

Tap-tap-tap…

Elara leaned against the carriage wall, gently stroking Wūhēihēi's head with her small hand. It was already dark outside, and there was no lamp in the carriage—so it was pitch-black inside. This made her confused: "Mother, did we forget to bring a lamp?"

Merlyn sighed: "If I said yes, would you believe me?" They hadn't left the West Sea Forest for so long that forgetting things was normal. Besides, Witches didn't really need lamps anyway.

"Did you do it on purpose?" In the dark, Elara's eyes darted around. She turned her head slightly, pressing her ear tightly against the carriage wall to listen carefully to the sounds outside. "Are we 'fishing' now—waiting for some short-sighted Andros to attack us?"

"Pfft," Thea was amused by Elara. But she had to admit: "That's actually a good idea. Catching some small fish and shrimp to pass the time before entering Anastas City doesn't sound bad."

"Shut up," Merlyn glared at her reckless sister, then turned to her lovely daughter: "My dear, do you have some misunderstanding about our Dessey Clan?" She would never admit that her upbringing had been problematic—after all, she had turned out fine.

Elara shook her head: "No." Did the Dessey Clan even need a misunderstanding? "Mother, how much longer until we reach Anastas City?"

There was no sound outside, but that was normal. It was dark, and ordinary humans had long gone home to rest. The Andros population wasn't large, and under normal circumstances, natural-born Andros were supported by their families. They rarely went out to hunt unless they were injured.

As for turned Andros, that was hard to say. Compared to natural-born Andros, turned Andros had weaker control over their bloodthirsty nature—probably because they needed the power in fresh blood to constantly strengthen their bodies.

"We've already left the plain. If nothing goes wrong, we'll reach Anastas City in two hours," Merlyn reached out to Elara, her tone softening. "Are you sleepy? Mother will hold you while you sleep for a bit."

Though she wasn't sleepy, Elara didn't refuse her mother's kindness. She nestled into the familiar warm embrace, feeling the gentle pats on her back. The corners of her mouth curved upward unconsciously, and soon her eyelids grew heavy.

"My dear little one… Mama will show you the stars," Merlyn hummed a lullaby softly. She looked down at her daughter, who was almost asleep, her face filled with tenderness. She checked the temperature in her palm, then took the cloak Thea handed her and wrapped it around Elara. "Swaying gently… little crescent moon…"

Just as Elara's eyelids were about to close completely, the black crow standing on the treasure chest—dozing off—suddenly seemed to have its throat squeezed: "Coo… coo…" Its two claws gripped the treasure chest lid tightly, and its black bean-like eyes widened almost to the point of popping out.

Elara's eyes snapped open, and she sat up abruptly. At the same time, Merlyn and Thea also noticed something was wrong with the black crow. The three of them watched silently as the black crow struggled desperately.

But the force squeezing the crow was extremely strong. Soon, its wings drooped, and its two black eyes looked at Elara, begging for help.

Seeing this, Elara narrowed her eyes slightly. Her pink little mouth finally moved as she began to summon it: "Anashensite…"

"Coo… coo…" The black crow's claws scratched the treasure chest lid, leaving deep marks. Its wings fluttered weakly, and the light in its eyes faded.

"It's dying," Thea frowned tightly. This black crow was definitely strange. Merlyn channeled a wisp of Witch Power and injected it into the black crow's body—but as soon as the Witch Power entered, it dissipated. "It didn't work?"

Seeing the crow was about to die, Elara stopped chanting, grabbed it, took a thin silver needle, and felt around the crow's head with her fingers. Then, treating a dying crow as if it's alive, she pricked its head with the needle.

Caw… caw…

Instantly, the crow—who had been on the verge of death—seemed to be injected with a shot of adrenaline. Its wings flapped violently, scaring Elara into letting go immediately. Then, they watched as the crow—with a needle sticking out of its head—fluttered around the carriage like a headless fly. Gradually, the light returned to its black bean-like eyes.

"That actually worked?" Thea couldn't believe it.

Elara shrank her hands. Had she pricked the right spot? But the crow looked like it was in so much pain?

After a full quarter of an hour, the black crow finally calmed down. It lay on the long table like a dead bird—but Elara was sure it was still alive. Seeing it didn't move for a long time, she stretched out a finger and gently poked it: "Wūhēihēi… Wūhēihēi…"

"Caw!" The crow suddenly looked up and cawed.

Elara quickly pulled her hand back.

The black crow stood up, shook its feathers all over, then walked toward Elara and lowered its head—its meaning was clear: let her pull the needle out of its head.

Elara clicked her tongue, hesitating: "Wūhēihēi, first I need to tell you—I can't guarantee you'll still be alive after I pull this needle out." When she saw the crow still lowering its head, she stopped talking. "I'm going to pull it out now." She carefully touched the silver needle with her fingers, held her breath, and pulled gently.

The carriage fell silent. After a long time, Thea spoke to confirm: "It's still alive. But why is it standing there motionless? Is it frozen?"

Merlyn stared at the black crow, her mood complicated. It seemed their Dessey Clan had been stuck with it—or rather, this thing had stuck to her daughter.

Elara reached out to poke the black crow again, but before her finger could touch it, the crow jumped away and flew back to the treasure chest lid, where it continued to zone out.

"It looks like I have a talent for being a healer," Elara put away the silver needle, happy that the knowledge she had spent so much money learning in her past life could be used directly in this life.

"Dear," Thea turned her gaze away from the black crow and pinched the little one's cheek. "Healing is what Light Witches do. Our Dark Witch Power is dark—it's not suitable for healing."

"Nothing is absolute," Elara was full of confidence now and couldn't accept any opposition. "Didn't I just save Wūhēihēi? If I can heal a bird today, I'll definitely be able to heal people in the near future."

Thea chuckled: "Wūhēihēi is different—it's a dark spirit by nature." But she was quite interested in the silver needle. "Was that needle forged by Mond for you?"

"Yes," Elara moved her little butt closer to Wūhēihēi. "I have a lot of silver needles—sharp and thin." She hadn't hidden it from her family when she asked her father to forge the needles.

After all, Dessey Witches were good at forging dark weapons, especially small hidden weapons. There was a secret chamber under the castle in the West Sea Forest, sealed with dark weapons forged by generations of Dessey Witches. There were nearly ten thousand recorded weapons inside.

But according to her grandmother, the weapons sealed at home were all useless. The powerful ones were buried in the Ancient Tomb of Dessey Witches—among them, the most intimidating was the Demon-Hiding Snake Staff of Selah Dessey.

"Okay," Thea ruffled Elara's hair. "When we get back to the West Sea Forest, aunt will give you a Dark Night Box to hold the needles."

"Thank you, Aunt."

A cry of shock came from the Holy Temple on A Luo Holy Mountain in the Alsace Mountains: "What did you say? The resurrection failed?"

A woman with white hair reaching the ground, wearing a white robe, leaned on a silver mirror with both hands. Her silver eyes were filled with unwillingness as she questioned the Witch Hag in Indian-style clothes in the mirror: "Why did it fail? Where is the Witch Ancestor?"

"I don't know why it failed either. The Witch Ancestor's soul has fallen into a deep sleep in Austin Corell's body," the Witch Hag raised her hand and touched her aging face. "There are still secrets about Austin Corell's body that we don't know. We must figure out this secret—otherwise, the Witch Ancestor will never wake up."