[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-armed-witch":3,"chapter-armed-witch-armed-witch-chapter-24":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Armed Witch",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2353564,4604,"Chapter 24","armed-witch-chapter-24",24,"\u003Cp>“Alright, Dorothy, you’re old enough now—it’s time I told you everything.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to bear the weight of his daughter’s serious gaze, the middle-aged man on the sofa finally spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The story begins over twenty years ago... Well, that’s more or less it, Dorothy. You’re about to come of age—you can make your own choice. Whatever you decide, I’ll respect it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adam finished speaking in one breath, then looked at his daughter with hopeful eyes, waiting for her decision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorothy, meanwhile, frowned deeply, completely stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What the hell kind of bizarre plot is this? Should I just say you two really know how to play it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My father’s story was long, but boiled down it’s basically: “Rural Poor Boy Genius Mage Meets White Rich Beauty Witch Who Pays Big Money for a Baby,” “My Deal with a Domineering Island Mistress,” “Choice: Family or Future—Daughter or Career?,” “I Refused the Easy Meal Because I Didn’t Want My Daughter to Become a War Freak,” “Me, the Hard-Pressed Dad Being Hunted by a Domineering Island Mistress”...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The realm of the Dragon Witches is a vast alliance composed of countless witch domains, large and small, where there are both great lords and minor lords—some domains once shone brightly, while others gradually declined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dorothy’s mother, Euphelia’s family was one such declining lineage. Though their bloodline could indeed be traced back to the Dragon King, they were undeniably true descendants of the Dragon King, noble in blood, once glorious as one of the oldest and strongest branches in the Dragon Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But nothing lasts forever. Over the long passage of time, this branch declined for various reasons, and by Euphelia’s generation, it had dwindled to a single heir. Yet her family never abandoned hope of restoring their former glory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Euphelia grew up under the weight of her family’s expectations—and she truly lived up to them. She was an exceedingly rare ancestral-revival witch: the once-thin, nearly vanished Dragon King’s blood revived within her. At birth, she awoke ten powerful Dragon Talents, her innate magical power overwhelming—she was a prodigy born with over ten thousand mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, she was exceptionally capable—not some theoretical genius with no practical skill. As soon as she came of age, she took over as head of the family from her mother, and within just a few years, she lifted her family’s ranking in the Dragon Realm from the bottom to the middle tier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as the family slowly revived and lost territories were gradually reclaimed, Euphelia’s parents grew restless. Well, not exactly restless—they just did what most parents love to do: pressure her to marry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Things like: “Your bloodline is so exceptional, not passing it on is a waste...” “A ruler cannot be without heirs; without successors, the family’s future is jeopardized...” “Now that our territory has expanded, we lack enough hands to manage it—why don’t you have more children?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This intense pressure from her parents truly overwhelmed the genius witch Euphelia. Raised since childhood to be nothing but a tool for family revival, she had never once considered marriage or childbirth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, she never resisted the pressure. After all, in her eyes, where family interests came first, she truly ought to bear heirs—especially now that the family’s revival had hit a bottleneck. To climb from middle to upper tier, she would have to go to war and expand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And war is merciless. Even a genius witch like her couldn’t guarantee she’d return unscathed. If she fell and left no heir, all her life’s work would be wasted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet even so, Euphelia had no desire to fall in love. Family affairs consumed her every moment—she barely had time to handle official duties, let alone romance. Of course, purely from a family-interest standpoint, her best option would’ve been a political marriage with another family in the Dragon Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the proud genius Dragon Witch scorned such a choice. Her belief was that her family must revive itself through her own hands, like the ancestral Dragon King. She looked down on marriage alliances as a corrupt, secondhand path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So naturally, she decided—if she was to have a child, it must be a daughter even more outstanding than herself. But that wasn’t easy. Her bloodline’s ancestral revival was luck, not a guarantee her daughter would inherit the same—otherwise, the Dragon Realm would be overflowing with prodigies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, this was a magical world. When in doubt, don’t panic—consult a divination, listen to fate’s guidance. Perhaps the answer would reveal itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, after paying a tremendous price, Euphelia received the answer she sought from the strongest diviner in the Dragon Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Return and patrol your domain. The most handsome man you meet along the way is the one whose blood most perfectly complements yours. The child born of him will surpass your talents.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the diviner’s guidance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Euphelia followed it faithfully—and eventually found Adam, a human mage traveling through the Witch Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And here lies the divergence from Dorothy’s memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Adam told her this story before, he claimed his looks instantly swept her off her feet, that they fell madly in love, and that’s how he came to be—standard, classic poor boy meets rich beauty romance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now the truth revealed was that from the very beginning, there was no emotion—only cold transaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course. With Euphelia’s cold, regal queenly demeanor, she hardly looked like the giddy girl in Adam’s story. Dorothy had always wanted to call him out on this, but never thought much of it—now it was clear: it was all his lie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The real situation was: Euphelia found Adam and bluntly said, “Give me your seed, and I’ll make you my domain’s chief steward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a mere human mage to become the chief steward of a powerful witch’s domain? That was an irresistible temptation—no ordinary person could refuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adam, as a mage scholar, felt his scholarly dignity insulted. He rose in anger, ready to rebuke Euphelia for her arrogance—don’t think being a witch makes you superior and all that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But before he could protest, Euphelia raised the offer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My family’s library will be open to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adam immediately nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What could he do? She offered too much. Back then, Adam’s two greatest desires as a young man were: to rise above others and to pursue knowledge. Now, this beautiful rich witch laid his every dream before him—and all he had to give was a trivial amount of seed, something insignificant to any man. This was pure profit. Only a fool would refuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More importantly, he simply couldn’t resist. The Dragon Witch’s unwavering, domineering gaze made it clear: her decision was absolute. Even if Adam refused, he’d be forced to comply anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So why bother resisting? Since he couldn’t fight it, he might as well enjoy it. After all, Euphelia was a rare beauty. Adam had nothing to lose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what followed wasn’t nearly as pleasant as Adam had imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No romantic encounter existed. Human mating had too low a success rate and poor results—Euphelia wouldn’t accept such inefficiency. The moment Adam agreed, a sensation of being utterly drained swept over the young human mage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>God knew what kind of magic it was. One snap, less than a second, Adam was completely emptied, not a drop left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cold witch then left, taking a full vial of seed, leaving behind the nearly human-dried mage, clutching his waist, too weak to rise from the ground. He spent months recovering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adam was furious at being treated as a tool. But before he could even get angry at Euphelia, the agreed-upon payment arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This once-humble human mage became the second-most powerful man in the witch domain, and the vast, ancient witch family’s library delighted the knowledge-hungry mage—he forgot all about dignity, insults, and beauty. All he did was immerse himself in the library, studying magic and scholarship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until one day, as chief steward, he accompanied Euphelia to the battlefield—and for the first time, the young human mage witnessed the madness and cruelty of the witch race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a peaceful, tranquil plane, its people content, its nation harmonious and prosperous. But that day, the witches set their eyes on this beautiful, fertile land—and disaster descended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The human mage, who had only ever studied and researched, had never seen such brutality. Every book he’d read praised witches’ strength and glory. He’d always assumed witches were as gentle and elegant as their beautiful appearances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he witnessed those beautiful humanoid creatures fearlessly riding brooms, raining death and terror equally upon everything in that world, his former faith shattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This human mage, who had clung to romantic ideals, now understood with chilling clarity: witches were terrifying creatures. More cold than angels, more cunning than demons, more cruel than dragons. No matter how much books whitewashed them, no matter how much legend glorified them, they remained a cruel invading race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, they were gentler than the other three calamity races—they didn’t slaughter everyone to the last. But if I’m slightly less cruel than a psychotic killer, if I don’t dismember you and leave you a whole corpse, does that make me good?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No. I’m still a great evil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether others could accept this brutal reality, Adam couldn’t. The young mage, who cherished equality and romantic ideals, couldn’t bear it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even began to despise the witches he had once revered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But something even more unbearable soon happened: Euphelia became pregnant. The child was Adam’s. Those seeds he’d thought insignificant were now becoming a living being—and inevitably, she’d raise the child into a new war fanatic, a merciless executioner on the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adam couldn’t accept any of it. The thought that his bloodline, his daughter, would one day become those terrifying beings who laughed wildly as they spread destruction and death nearly broke him. He woke countless times from nightmares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And thinking of that future, Adam realized all the power he’d once craved, all the knowledge he’d once adored—none of it mattered anymore. If he could go back, he’d rather die than agree to that deal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But reality was cruel. Time’s power was beyond the reach of a human mage like him. And against the far stronger Dragon Witch Euphelia, Adam had no choice. He knew he could never convince that terrifying Dragon Witch to abandon raising their daughter as a war fanatic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Dragon Witches were born the finest warrior witches. The brutality of dragons was etched into their genes. Their instincts called them to the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, just as Adam was on the verge of despair, he discovered something surprising: Euphelia, that terrifying witch, seemed indifferent to his weakness. She had no intention of discarding such a feeble man. The witch seemed to want to give her daughter a complete family—and didn’t want Adam, the father, to vanish. Instead, she unexpectedly trusted him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even more, Euphelia bluntly told him that after the child’s birth, she’d need him as a father, because she herself might have to return to the battlefield and wouldn’t have time to care for the child. She admitted she might not be a good mother—and hoped the child would have enough paternal love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that moment, Adam realized: this witch, fierce as death on the battlefield, mighty as a god in his eyes, had surprisingly low emotional intelligence. This idiot didn’t understand human hearts at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the terrifying witch’s weakness—and the only opportunity his weakness could exploit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Adam agreed. He deliberately demonstrated to Euphelia all sorts of parenting techniques he’d just learned on the spot, convincing this powerful yet strangely naive witch that he was a master of child-rearing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Adam’s plan succeeded. After five years of pregnancy, Euphelia gave birth to a healthy daughter. The newly minted Dragon Witch excitedly called Adam, the father, to welcome their daughter’s arrival—and generously allowed him to participate in the naming ceremony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, the witch domain was facing a crucial war. Victory would elevate the family into the upper tier of the Dragon Realm. After giving birth, the already weakened Euphelia would soon depart for battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the ecstatic Dragon Witch still expended tremendous magical energy to immediately bestow her daughter’s true name, then entrusted the child to Adam, the “child-rearing master,” before calmly heading off to war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before leaving, this emotionally detached Dragon Witch playfully cooed at the sleeping infant in Adam’s arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stay home and wait for me. After I win this battle, I’ll come back and raise you myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The newly become mother made this promise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then there was nothing after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Euphelia returned victorious, she discovered her home had been stolen—her newborn daughter and that despicable human mage had vanished. No one knew where they’d gone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even that damned human had stolen from her treasury the most powerful anti-divination artifact, making it impossible for Euphelia to use even the all-powerful divination to find them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furious and helpless, the Dragon Witch channeled her grief into action, wildly expanding her domain to gather enough manpower to search the entire world for her daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Witch Realm was too vast. This needle-in-a-haystack approach had virtually zero chance of success.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was a world of belief—faith was the greatest magic. A powerful witch’s obsession could sometimes become a miracle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just sixteen years later, after tracing countless suspects, Euphelia finally sensed, in this remote backwater town, a magical resonance identical to her own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To this, Dorothy: “...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She rolled her eyes like a dead fish, utterly numb to her bizarre lineage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Life is hard. Witch sighs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sigh. What sin did I commit in my past life to end up with you two as parents?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Don’t ask. Ask and you’ll just feel exhausted.\u003C\u002Fp>",2271,"2026-06-21T03:49:44.850Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","de908febac58c1d3c8d54042ecc0f019a8e15016025ff5542a0dccd93e8570a4","armed-witch-chapter-25","armed-witch-chapter-23",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Farmed-witch-cover.jpg"]