Chapter 559: Mother and Daughter

Witch Academy, God King Cathedral.

Life has not been easy for the Angel Witches lately. Not long ago, the Inquisition led a raid on their sect, causing the Son Faction—one of the three major powers within the sect—to be almost completely wiped out, dealing a heavy blow to their already declining overall strength.

But it never rains but it pours; before the matter of the Son Faction had even settled, one wave had barely subsided when another rose.

While the entire student body was happily participating in the Witch Night, the alarm bells of the God King Cathedral had not stopped ringing.

Something major had happened: the seal of the Lord of Radiance beneath the cathedral had loosened. The terrifying fluctuations of divine power kept the Angel Witches awake all night, forcing them to work overtime to guard the cathedral.

Although everyone knew that such guarding was essentially meaningless—if that terrifying King of Angels truly broke the seal, these on-duty Angel Witches wouldn't be able to withstand a single slap from her even if they all rushed up together.

Yet, the Angel Witches were truly helpless; this was the limit of what they could do.

Their clan was truly in a state of severe decline.

Those most ancient and powerful Angel Witches were the original followers of the God King. They were either stationed in the God King's Divine Kingdom or had long since retired into seclusion, ignoring worldly affairs.

During the Long Wang Era, the Angel Witches, unable to read the situation and acting too arrogantly by relying on the God King's prestige, were purged by the Long Wang. They nearly lost the God King Sect entirely, and it was only because the Long Wang showed mercy that they were left with this ancestral home, though the Angel Witches still paid a heavy price.

For instance, their most elite Angel Witches were scattered and sent to the front lines to guard the borders; they were not permitted to return to the God King Sect until they were pardoned.

Then came the current Demon King Era. The Demon King did not suppress them and even provided them with considerable support. However, due to the exile during the Long Wang Era, a generational gap in talent appeared within the Angel Witch clan, leading to a lack of leadership and resulting in even greater chaos.

Everyone was eager to achieve the revival of their race, but in the absence of a powerful figure to suppress the situation from above, the more eager they were, the more chaotic things became, as everyone felt they were the true leader of the revival and refused to submit to one another.

Consequently, various factions within the sect attacked each other, internal friction was severe, and morale was scattered. This caused many excellent young-generation Angel Witches to grow tired of the foul atmosphere and leave the ancestral home to seek their own paths outside.

In any case, with the old ones aging, the others exiled, and the rest leaving or scattering, the ancestral home of the Angel Witches—one of the three great royal clans of the witches—was now left with only a handful of members.

Let alone dealing with the Lord of Radiance breaking the seal, they were even wary of the Angel delegation that had come for "exchanges."

After all, the leader of the Angel delegation, the Ten-Winged Angel Sariel, was truly frightening. She was an existence even older than the God King; before the God King was born, this Angel had already served by the side of the Lord of Radiance for countless years.

Even in the entire Western Universe, this Angel was one of the most ancient existences.

And what about the Angel Witches? Although the Academy Principal, who served as the current Pope of the God King Sect, was also a Sage, there were gaps even among Sages. The Principal was a newly promoted Sage of the Demon King Era, and she was truly outmatched in front of an old senior like Sariel.

It is no exaggeration to say that without support, Sariel alone would be enough to single-handedly wipe out the entire Angel Witch ancestral home.

Under these internal and external troubles, the Angel Witches could only act like frightened paper tigers. Apart from baring their fangs and claws through "strengthened vigilance" and bristling with rage to scare off uninformed outsiders, there was nothing else they could do.

If this had been a few weeks ago, they at least would have had the "God King Protection Curse" as a trump card, but now, apart from putting on a show, they really had nothing else.

"Mother, are we really not going to ask the God King for help?"

Inside the cathedral, Dean Rosalind approached an elderly woman with a kind appearance and elegant temperament, then asked with some worry.

This elderly woman was the final pride of the Angel Witches, the current Principal of the Witch Academy, and the third seat of the Sage Council, Pririla.

In the more than 20,000 years since the Demon King Era, nine new Witch Sages have been promoted: three Demon Witches, four Dragon Witches, one Sea Clan Witch, and one Angel Witch.

Pririla was that sole remaining Angel Witch Sage. She was once seen as the hope for the revival of the Angel Witch clan, but clearly, even a Sage as strong as her was unable to support the crumbling mess that the Angel Witches had become.

Moreover, Grand Witches could maintain their youth and live forever, yet this last Sage of the Angel Witch clan appeared as an old woman, showing that her heart had ultimately grown old.

The power struggles within the God King Sect over the years, the constant decline of the clan under her watch, the pressure of failing her ancestors, and the accident over a decade ago involving her eldest daughter—whom she had once pinned her hopes on—had ultimately caused severe wear and tear on the heart of this new-generation Sage.

With her talent, if she had focused solely on becoming stronger, her achievements would certainly have been far greater than they were now, but the clan and her responsibilities held her back.

"Rosalind, who do you think the God King is? Our nanny?"

Pririla glanced at the incompetent youngest daughter before her and said indifferently.

Rosalind: "..."

The Dean fell silent. She had feared this mother since childhood, and now, being rebuked like this, she dared not say another word.

Actually, she hadn't originally intended to ask the God King for help, as the God King's whereabouts were always elusive and impossible to find even if one wanted to. But with the Witch Night happening right now, if it were this moment, given her mother's status and power, she could actually make contact with that ancestor.

Moreover, the Lord of Radiance breaking free was a matter that clearly exceeded their capabilities; if they didn't ask the God King to intervene, who else could stop it?

She thought this in her heart, but under her mother's majestic gaze, she could only lower her head, feeling a sense of grievance.

Forget it, everything she said was wrong anyway. Her mother had never given her a kind look; if her sister were still here, her mother wouldn't treat her like this.

Rosalind thought to herself.

They were twin sisters, but it seemed her sister Agnes had stolen all the talent while still in the womb. Compared to that sister who was hailed as the Second God King, she, the younger sister, had always been unremarkable.

Everyone loved her sister, and no one paid attention to her.

Of course, Rosalind didn't envy or resent her sister because of this; in fact, she loved her sister the most, as her sister was the only one in the past who would comfort her.

But toward this mother, she actually felt some resentment. It was one thing for others not to care about her, but for her mother to be so biased was truly painful for her.

Furthermore, a large part of the reason her sister had an accident back then was because her mother had put too much pressure on her. Otherwise, with her sister's talent, how could she have been seduced by the Lord of Radiance due to impatience and become infected with the curse of knowledge?

Forget it, Mother, just keep your pride. I'm a waste anyway; if you have the ability to carry it, then carry it.

Thinking of this, the Dean chose to lie flat and give up.

On the other side, Principal Pririla looked at the youngest daughter who was bowing her head in silence, and a fire of frustration rose in her heart. She wanted to scold this increasingly unruly person, but the words reached her lips and she ultimately swallowed them.

Of her two daughters, she actually favored this youngest one more.

She herself had been bound by clan responsibilities her entire life and knew the bitterness of it, so when her two daughters were born, she didn't want them to walk the same path.

But her eldest daughter's talent was simply too outstanding, and her temperament was too much like her own, so even though she hadn't demanded it, her daughter had chosen to walk that difficult path of clan revival.

Regarding this, Pririla felt both gratified and pained. She was proud to have such an excellent daughter, yet regretted that she wasn't strong enough, forcing her daughter to share the responsibilities that she should have carried herself.

Therefore, to make her eldest daughter's path smoother, she was very strict with her.

As for the youngest daughter before her, her talent was average, so Pririla hoped she could live a life different from her own and her eldest daughter's. She should live freely, without being bound by responsibilities and obligations.

But clearly, such "good intentions" were met with her daughter's misunderstanding and even resentment.

And now, of her two daughters, one was insane and the other secretly hated her; clearly, she had failed completely as a mother.

Thinking of this, the Angel Sage sighed, and the wrinkles on her face became more pronounced.

She suddenly remembered her most excellent disciple, Yufilia.

This disciple was frighteningly excellent; at a young age, her achievements and strength were already approaching those of her teacher. But one could only say that like teacher, like student—this disciple had almost repeated her mistakes.

Yufilia's personality was exactly the same as hers when she was young—too domineering and aggressive. Such a personality was an advantage in one's career, but it easily caused problems in a family.

More than a decade ago, Prilila heard that this disciple of hers was pregnant. At that time, she was quite relieved and touched that her disciple would finally not be alone for the rest of her life, but only a few years later, she heard that Yufilia had lost her child.

Fortunately, not long ago, this disciple she hadn't seen in over a decade unexpectedly came to visit her, her teacher, after such a long time, and even brought good news: she had found the daughter who had been missing for years.

Moreover, during their long-overdue heart-to-heart talk, what surprised Prilila a bit was that this disciple, who was even more forceful and overbearing than she had once been, actually turned around to advise her teacher to be gentler with her family, to communicate more, and not to keep everything bottled up inside and carry it alone, saying that some things actually become very simple once they are explained clearly.

The Angel Sage could tell that the experience of searching for her daughter over these dozen years had changed this disciple a lot.

This was naturally a form of wear and tear, but not all wear and tear is negative; after all, growth is also a form of wear and tear.

As the saying goes, only the one who drinks the water knows whether it is cold or warm.

Although in Prilila's eyes, this disciple had become weaker because she had gained a soft spot and was no longer the Dragon Queen who once had no weaknesses, the proud and warm smile on her beloved disciple's face when mentioning her daughter also made the Angel Sage feel a bit heartbroken.

She once had such a smile too, but she had lost it herself.

Perhaps Yufilia was right; she should communicate more with her daughters.

The Angel Sage thought to herself.

So...

"Rosalind, actually, the one who loathes the God King Sect the most is not the Long Wang who has suppressed us, but rather the God King we worship herself."

Prilila was silent for a moment, then spoke to the daughter who was bowing her head in front of her.

"That's impossible. We worship the God King so devoutly, and we are her descendants after all..."

The Dean, who had been lying flat and giving up, immediately raised her head upon hearing this. As a devout believer of the God King, even Mother could not tarnish the glory of the God King.

However, when she looked up and saw the face of her mother, which could not hide its exhaustion, she could not continue her words.

Mother was a Sage, and both her status and ability far exceeded her own; the Sage must know some information that she did not.

"But, this shouldn't be... our faith is so devout, and we have divine blood flowing in our veins..."

For a moment, with her faith shaken, she found it hard to accept reality, and she muttered to herself as if she had gone mad.

This was dangerous, as it was a precursor to the collapse of faith, and for Angel Witches, whose primary power was the power of faith, once faith collapsed and they were backlashed by it, they would either die or be crippled.

Fortunately, just as Rosalind was about to reach her breaking point, she was gently embraced by someone.

It was actually Mother.

For a moment, the Dean was so shocked by this impactful fact that she couldn't even care about her faith; after all, my mother couldn't possibly be this gentle—from the time I was born until now, she had only hugged me once.

"The Lord does not care, Rosalind. The God King has never needed our faith. Whether we believe in her or not does not diminish the greatness of the God King."

Mother's somewhat weary voice rang in Rosalind's ear.

"The fact is that we are too weak and have to cling to the glory of the God King to gain power and status. We are actually just parasites sucking blood from the God King's body. Do you think we are qualified to ask the God King for help?"

"It is my fault. I should have told you these truths long ago, but I was afraid you wouldn't be able to accept them, so I kept hesitating. Otherwise, your sister might not have gone mad."

"She was too smart and too talented, so much so that when she was able to face the glory of the God King and understand the truth, she grew arrogant, just like our ancestors who stole divine blood, and harbored fantasies she shouldn't have, thinking she was qualified to enter the sight of the gods."

"But, where is there a place for mortals beside true gods? Envying the glory of the gods too much will only lead to falling into a hell of unrequited longing, like a moth to a flame, ultimately burning itself to death."

Prilila embraced her daughter and said this.

And in her eyes, there actually flickered a fanatical faith; the glory of the God King, which she had only seen once, had long been deeply engraved in her heart, making her spend her whole life chasing that unreachable light.

It was just that her talent was limited, so she still had self-awareness, but Agnes—what a good daughter she was, exactly like her mother. But the tragedy was that this child's talent was too high, so high that she lost this self-awareness for self-preservation.

Rosalind: "..."

The Dean was numb; at this moment, she was so impacted by these truths she hadn't known before that her brain was in chaos.

However, just as she wanted to further ask Mother for clarification, she suddenly felt a change in Mother's temperament.

"Who?"

She heard Mother's interrogation.

And Rosalind followed Mother's gaze toward the corner of the church, but she couldn't see anything, until the uninvited guest who had intruded rashly revealed their figure.

Immediately, the Dean's pupils contracted; after all, she was too familiar with these two figures, familiar to the marrow of her bones.

"Ahem, sorry, Academy Head, Dean, for interrupting your mother-daughter bonding. We came at a bad time; we'll be leaving now."

The masked clown nodded and bowed like that, then grabbed the pure white witch beside him and prepared to slip away.

... Clown is taking his leave....