Chapter 954: Elder Sister

Dorothy: «.»

Hearing her elder sister’s birthday wish, the Zhaimonv was naturally quite happy.

But besides being happy, she was even more frightened, okay?

It felt like getting caught doing something wrong by your parents—you figured you’d at least get a beating with bamboo shoots and pork strips, but instead of hitting you, they actually took you out for a nice meal.

Can this last meal before execution really taste good?

Cough cough, pfft pfft pfft, that analogy isn’t accurate—I didn’t do anything wrong, okay?

Dorothy thought to herself.

Whatever, might as well just die—I’m just a pure-hearted Zhai , yet I’m stuck in the brutal rivalry between my domineering ancestral elder and my stern elder sister. What the hell went wrong?

The Zhaimonv gave up thinking and chose to lie flat.

Life is like that thing—if you can’t resist it, just enjoy it.

Well, at least DiNisha actually showed up and came to my birthday banquet—that’s definitely a good thing.

Dorothy thought to herself.

She’d already learned from her sister, the Underworld Shepherdess, that this divine king sister had been in poor condition, still tormented by guilt over her past loss of control; now that she’d stepped out, it meant her long-standing autism had finally improved—this was wonderful.

So.

«Hmm, DiNisha, I’m truly glad you came to my birthday banquet.»

The Zhaimonv smiled happily and replied via telepathy.

DiNisha: «.»

The Divine King, who had just barely suppressed the impulse to immediately beat Nidhogg and drag her sister home, fell silent.

Her gaze fixed on Dorothy, who was smiling at her, and for a moment she felt dazed.

She naturally saw right away that Dorothy’s bright, cheerful demeanor was all makeup—this lifetime’s sister had truly changed in character compared to her past life; the former sunshine and confidence were gone, replaced by a socially anxious slacker.

Even after confirming countless times that this was indeed Dorothy, her long-lost treasure, every time she saw this change, DiNisha’s heart ached, and her guilt deepened.

She truly didn’t know how to repay what she owed her sister, nor what face she, a murderer, could possibly show her—she had no right at all.

This time, she’d originally planned to slip in quietly, with no intention of appearing—she only wanted to silently witness Dorothy’s coming-of-age ceremony.

She couldn’t miss this pivotal moment of her sister’s growth.

After all, in that distant past, she should have personally placed a flower wreath on her sister’s head, smiling as she wished her a happy birthday and congratulated her on finally becoming an adult.

Unfortunately, she herself destroyed it all, and made her sister unable to ever reach adulthood.

Though now a miracle had occurred, and everything seemed to have a chance to begin anew, and her sister had finally received her long-delayed coming-of-age ceremony—thirteen thousand, five hundred and fifteen years and three hundred and fourteen days late—what did that have to do with her, a sinner?

DiNisha didn’t believe she had the right to place a crown of flowers on her sister’s head as she’d once dreamed.

So, she’d only wanted to sneak a glance from afar—if her sister was happy and safe, that was enough for her.

Hmm, that was the original plan—but Nidhogg was just too reckless, and that shadowy figure was acting far too wildly.

Did these two bastards really think of her as an emotionless cosmic law? Directly flashing their faces at her? Don’t they know that after the Night of the Witch, her shepherdess humanity, once completely lost, had returned?

So DiNisha, in a moment of impulsiveness, couldn’t hold back—she grabbed Gabrielle as a shield and mustered the courage to step forward.

Though the instant she appeared, she regretted it—she truly hadn’t prepared to face her sister directly. Even though she’d already met her sister several times using the Shepherdess avatar, an avatar was an avatar, the true self was the true self—whether or not that thin veil had been pierced was an entirely different matter.

Last time, in that chessboard world, she’d had a legitimate reason—she’d acted out of urgency, thinking only that she must make her sister learn self-love and stop self-sacrificing so easily.

But this time…

Honestly, the moment her sister’s gaze first landed on her, all grandeur of the Divine King vanished—DiNisha instantly became as nervous as that village shepherdess she’d once been.

Especially when her sister asked why she’d come, DiNisha panicked completely.

She felt as if her sister were accusing this sinner: how dare you show your face again?

She was terrified of seeing her sister’s hatred—or even dislike—toward her; this had been her heart demon for over a hundred thousand years.

Though she knew her sister wasn’t like that, those who fear ghosts often carry ghosts within—they were just feeling guilty.

And those who feel guilty tend to subconsciously avoid, bicker, shift blame, and try to posture themselves above others with snarling defiance.

That was the ugly humanity of the once-fragile, sensitive, and insecure shepherdess.

After all, she’d been a village girl—out in the remote backwaters, a widow-raised girl had to become fierce and domineering just to protect herself.

So even though she was terrified, trembling with fear, the moment she spoke, it came out as a bitter, accusing question—as if everyone else were wrong and she herself was innocent.

She even genuinely wanted to beat up Nidhogg—or rather, Emora—this bastard had already recovered but pretended to be meek for years; his intentions were truly vile.

She also truly wanted to snatch Dorothy away, to make this beloved sister her own private treasure, never to be taken from her again.

This was truly a vile, selfish humanity.

But DiNisha was no longer that former mortal village girl—she was now the Divine King, standing at the pinnacle of the Western Universe, closest to divinity; after a brief moment of panic, she quickly readjusted her mindset.

Since she’d already stepped out, there was nothing left to avoid—even if her sister truly hated her, it was her just deserts.

But no matter what, the proper blessing must still be given.

So she gathered her composure and sincerely offered this long-delayed blessing.

Yet the rejection and loathing she’d expected never came—facing Dorothy, smiling warmly to welcome her, DiNisha suddenly felt like crying.

The bright cheerfulness on her face was indeed makeup, but this sunlike warmth in her smile was identical to the one from that distant memory.

The sunlight scattered the shadows, and DiNisha’s restless heart grew calm once more.

There was really nothing to fight over.

Dorothy was almost certainly recovered by Emora—so no one had more right than her to host the coming-of-age ceremony.

Though she felt deep resentment, DiNisha could accept this calmly.

Emora, that cunning bastard, had schemed for so many years—he’d indeed won a small victory over her this time.

But the Shepherdess had confidence she’d win it back later.

This was the confidence of the Divine King, the confidence of the eldest sister among the three church sisters.

But their sisterly matters were fine—what about that rat sneaking around to steal a taste?

The Divine King’s eyes shimmered with golden light.

Beside her, Gabrielle frowned—the Lord of Light sensed a slight ripple in the River of Fate.

Hmm, it seemed someone was about to suffer.

Whatever, it wasn’t her concern.

But being a witch really was enjoyable—there seemed to be plenty of good shows to watch.

On the other side, Nidhogg outwardly appeared to be calming Gabrielle and Lucifer’s dispute, but in truth, she’d been closely monitoring DiNisha’s movements.

First of all, she absolutely wasn’t afraid of DiNisha.

She simply worried this mentally unstable creature might suddenly have a breakdown and ruin the perfectly good birthday banquet.

Sigh…

The perfect Dragon King sighed inwardly—she felt that if she hadn’t been tirelessly holding this family together, it would’ve fallen apart long ago; these two sisters were each more troublesome than the last.

What kind of “Number One Divine King” is this? Just a child with power but no emotional maturity, lacking even the courage to face her own weaknesses—has she grown at all after all these years?

She thought to herself.

Though DiNisha was in fact her teacher and the one who raised and educated her in this lifetime, that didn’t stop Nidhogg from thinking this way.

After all, in her view, Emora was the eldest sister among the three church sisters—since the other two sisters were younger than her by even a fraction.

But Emora of the past was unquestionably an unfit elder sister; now, Nidhogg would never repeat that mistake—she’d shed all burdens to gain power and growth precisely to better protect her family.

But DiNisha’s condition was undeniably dangerous, so Nidhogg had always acted secretly, merely trying to avoid triggering her traumatized sister.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario never came to pass—DiNisha had held back. It seemed she’d truly grown a little over these years.

Nidhogg relaxed her clenched fists, feeling a quiet sense of relief.

Hmm, now wasn’t the time to reveal her true power.

But DiNisha was one thing—this rebellious disciple…

The Dragon King’s gaze flicked toward the Greedy Demon God nearby, also watching the spectacle.

Heh.

In any case, the birthday celebration could finally proceed smoothly.

Seeing her elder sister had calmed down and showed no intention to attack, Dorothy sighed in relief.

Then she gave a wry glance at the Dragon King beside her.

Sigh, though Nidhogg wasn’t Emora, her nature as a problem child hadn’t changed at all.

Thinking that she’d lived three lifetimes and still had to be caught between DiNisha and Emora’s covert battles, Dorothy felt utterly drained.

In your past lives you were both children, so it was understandable—I, the mature transmigrator, had to raise you.

But now you’re both ten-thousand-year-old monsters—can’t you be mature and steady like me? Stop scaring people like this, okay?

Sigh, being an elder sister raising kids is hard.

And thinking of children, Dorothy frowned—her intuition told her things were far from simple.

After all, DiNisha had shown up, but that bastard Athi hadn’t stirred—was that reasonable?

When the child is silent, something’s definitely brewing.

Even though Father Lucifer had just said he and Mamon came on the Demon King’s orders to extend birthday wishes, that demon’s words were only good enough to fool ghosts.

Dorothy, using Hermes’ brain, knew that rebellious disciple was definitely plotting another scheme.

If Athi could truly hold back and do nothing, then tomorrow’s Hermes’ “Witch Daily News” would be all true headlines.

In any case, stay alert—don’t let that rebellious disciple ambush you.

The Zhaimonv thought to herself.

But the banquet that followed was genuinely normal.

Nidhogg placed a crown of flowers upon Dorothy’s head in front of all the guests.

This was also a custom of the witch’s coming-of-age ritual, somewhat akin to Dorothy’s previous life’s guanji ceremony.

Elder witches typically gifted their juniors a witch’s hat as a blessing, but since young witches might receive too many hats in one day to wear them all, refusing to wear one while wearing another would be improper.

So instead, no one wore any hat—replacing the tradition with a wreath woven from flowers.

A pretty little witch wearing a floral crown always looked lovely.

Of course, such a coronation ceremony was usually performed by the eldest and most venerable elder of the witch family.

As the Dragon Witch, no one was more fitting than Nidhogg, the Dragon King himself, to place the crown upon Dorothy’s head.

This was the Dragon King himself placing the crown upon her.

Dorothy could clearly feel the envious, jealous, resentful stares from the guests below—after all, for Dragon Witches, this was a glory worthy of boasting about for a lifetime.

Still, the Home Witch felt something was odd about having Nidhogg crown her, since this bloodline ancestor was none other than the foolish little sister from her previous life who had trailed after her.

Sigh, perhaps Adam would have been more suitable to crown her—but that timid old father had fled the night after delivering his gift.

Dorothy felt a slight grudge whenever she thought of it.

Yet as soon as she thought this, her peripheral vision caught a familiar golden figure in the corner of the banquet hall, raising a glass toward her from afar.

But when she blinked and looked again, the corner was empty.

Huh, was Adam really just here?

No way—he was still playing human games; he shouldn’t have the ability to hide in a place where three kings gathered, demons and sages clustered, and peak experts walked everywhere.

Tsk, this father of hers was becoming increasingly mysterious.

The Home Witch clicked her tongue inwardly, but her mood improved considerably, and she went over to sit beside Long Ma, chatting with her mother.

After the coronation ceremony, the banquet naturally entered its usual eating-and-drinking phase.

Oh, and gift-giving.

Dorothy received gifts with great delight.

Every guest here was a big shot, and they were all generous—exquisitely wrapped gift boxes piled up into mountains.

Unfortunately, opening gifts on-site would be impolite, so the Home Witch began eagerly anticipating the evening after the banquet.

She really enjoyed unboxing things.

Dorothy looked forward to it.

Ati in action.jpg