Chapter 890: The Ability Changes Brought by Path Shifting (Thank You, kazamil, for the Silver Alliance Donation)

After explaining the "Fire of Destruction," Lu Mi frowned and said:

"I heard the Witch Cult has a tradition of turning their lovers into women—hasn't there ever been a Hunter-path adept among their lovers?"

This question, at its core, was still asking: "Why me?"

Why not just pick any Sequence 5 Hunter, coax them into shifting to the "Despairing Witch," and satisfy the requirement of 'yin within yang, yang within yin'? Why must it be me?

"Perhaps only you can easily enter the area around the 'Well of the Samaritan Woman' and obtain the residual aura of the 'Blood Emperor,' thus achieving mystical similarity with '0—01.'" The "Magician" lady fully understood what Lu Mi was concerned about.

Lu Mi continued, as if speaking to himself:

"The 'Red Angel' doesn't rely on mystical similarity to control '0—01.' Since that entity has no personal agenda and isn't afraid of retaliation from the 'Red Angel,' why not just directly reassert control over It instead of cultivating me, a 'weakling'?"

Isn't that a waste of time?

The "Magician" lady glanced at the field ridge beneath her feet:

"I can answer that. First, the 'Red Angel' cannot get as close to the apex forces of the two Disaster paths as you can—unless Its next step isn't to reclaim '0—01' and become the 'Red Priest,' but to replace the 'Primordial Witch.' Second, the birth of a 'Red Priest' inevitably brings competition, chaos, and disaster; only through Duofangzhengduo can a 'Red Priest' emerge in the shortest time and in the best possible way. If only the 'Red Angel' walks this path, it won't proceed smoothly."

"Do I compete with It?" Lu Mi curled his lips in a self-deprecating smile. "Then I must thank It for granting me this qualification."

As for power, I'm still far behind.

The "Magician" lady continued:

"Many members of the Witch Cult do have Hunters as lovers, but they rarely let such lovers shift paths at Sequence 5 to become women—partly because very, very few Witch Cult members can master two sets of 'Despairing Witch' unique traits, and partly because they seem to avoid such things. As far as I know, among the demigod-level 'Witches,' only one was once a Hunter."

"Who?" Lu Mi immediately went on alert as a Hunter.

The "Magician" lady smiled:

"'Green Witch' Yalena."

"She is Sequence 3, the 'Ageless Witch.' Her mother is the leader of the Witch Cult, 'Gray Witch' Judith, and her father was a Hunter who later vanished—suspected to have been killed by the 'Gray Witch.'"

Lu Mi paused, then said:

"Could the 'Gray Witch' have once been a Hunter too?"

"Her twin sister, Krismana, was born female, born a 'Witch.' As a contrast, could the 'Gray Witch' have been born male, born a 'Hunter,' and only transformed into a 'Witch' at Sequence 4?"

"The 'Black Witch' only mentioned that the 'Gray Witch' was born at Sequence 9—never said that Sequence 9 equaled 'Assassin.'"

"There's a possibility, but it can't be proven yet. The 'Gray Witch' is older than the combined ages of all the Major Arcana in our 'Tarot Society.' We know very little about Her." The "Magician" lady's face softened with a faint smile, as if recalling something.

Is that so? I thought you were an angel from the early Fifth Era—after all, your master was the strongest angel-king of the Fourth Era, Mr. 'The Door'… Lu Mi didn't voice the question about a woman's age.

He resumed walking slowly, musing:

"Does the Witch Cult—or rather, the 'Primordial Witch'—hate pure female 'Witches' purely due to inner corruption? Or is there another mystical reason?"

Pure female 'Witches' seem incapable of reaching the apex forces of the two Disaster paths; their threat to the 'Primordial Witch' should be among the smallest.

"Inner corruption is one reason, but my intuition tells me it's not the whole reason." The "Magician" lady turned her head toward the newly lit Silver City. "'Seven of Cups' is about to ascend to 'Pain Witch.' You might try extracting some information on this from Krismana's lingering shadow."

Lu Mi dropped the topic and returned to describing the changes in his abilities after becoming the "Despairing Witch."

This was also a necessary task now that his condition had stabilized:

"At the 'Despairing Witch' stage, 'Disease' became 'Plague,' covering a three-kilometer radius. I currently master three types of Plague. The first, evolved from the original 'Disease,' targets common organisms' bodies, primarily infecting the heart, brain, lungs, and other organs—progressing from incubation to outbreak to severity in just seconds, and potentially bringing the target close to death within a minute; exact timing varies by the enemy's rank and constitution."

"The second Plague is 'Weakness,' derived from the inherent mystical pathogen of 'Black Tear.' It gradually drains the target's strength until the heart can no longer beat, and simultaneously causes spiritual erosion—meaning it affects not only common organisms but also special beings and even the dead, as long as they rely on spirit."

"The third Plague is 'Stiffness,' which gradually causes corpses to stiffen and become rigid—this is a more mystical type of Plague."

"The fusion of Hunter traits with these Plagues grants them moderate fire resistance—they don't perish rapidly under flame and can persist longer. Among them, 'Weakness' Plague naturally survives high temperatures, making its fire resistance the strongest of the three."

"To counter these Plagues, Witch black flame and freezing over a certain area are more effective."

"I can also combine my traits, relevant mystical knowledge, specific ideas, experiments, and possible special materials to create unique Plague variants—this requires long periods and yields no quick results. Still, 'Witch' Plagues can only target entities possessing spirit—they cannot, like the demigods of 'The End of All Things,' cause rocks, metal, or other inanimate matter to weather, rust, or decay."

"When using Plagues, the Hunter's 'Precision' allows me to maintain two simultaneously, but it consumes three to four times the spirit needed to sustain one."

The "Magician" lady nodded slightly, not interrupting Lu Mi's self-assessment:

"The 'Despairing Witch' has achieved deep mastery over the Mirror World and mirror magic. I can locate mirrors within a five-kilometer radius and mirrors I've previously visited, move freely within the Mirror World, and transmit information through it to those located mirrors, manifesting there—far more convenient than messengers, though information may be intercepted by Mirror World entities; I must embed curses to avoid most complications."

"I can also project myself through located mirrors, appearing indistinguishable from reality—though currently, this projection is limited to within a single city."

"The Hunter's 'Precision' has also merged into 'Mirror Projection,' allowing me to create three to five projections simultaneously, each possessing some power and capable of performing tasks—though none can exceed the range of their corresponding mirror's reflection."

During his battle with the 'End of All Things' demigod Higton, Lu Mi used the power of a special Mirror World to create many 'Mirror Projections'—had Higton ignored them, these illusions could have inflicted real damage!

"Other mirror magics—such as 'Mirror Maze,' 'Mirror Substitute,' and 'Magic Mirror Divination'—have all reached Sequence 4 levels. Curses performed through mirrors include standard ones, ones fused with 'Harvest' that erupt violently in moments, and ones blended with fate's power to enact fate-based curses." Lu Mi mused, "Fate-based curses place targets in a state of misfortune for a period—hard to detect, useful against enemies with strong curse defenses."

Lu Mi paused, then continued:

"Like other 'Despairing Witches,' if an enemy cannot replace themselves with a substitute before I complete the curse after locking onto them, even 'Mirror Substitute' or 'Paper Substitute' won't transfer or share the damage."

"The Witch's silk has changed—stronger, more resilient, capable of more tasks: binding, restraining, disrupting, transmitting pleasure, black flame, and curses. The fusion of Hunter traits has also made these silks sharper, capable of inflicting direct damage."

"My hair is the source of the silk—when an enemy's body touches my hair, the contacted area develops petrification symptoms."

"'Detect Weakness' no longer merely identifies weaknesses in the body, soul, or defense, or fatal fate streams—it now includes emotional and desire-based weaknesses and triggers."

"'Harvest' has fused with the 'Witch' path's 'Full Power Strike,' producing far more terrifying damage—I can kill certain physically fragile demigods with a single blow."

"Physically fragile demigods often possess many mystical survival abilities—or make it impossible to locate their true bodies." The "Magician" lady warned.

Lu Mi nodded, acknowledging:

"Other abilities—including 'Invisibility,' ice manipulation, 'Wand Substitute,' and basic divination—are identical to those of a normal 'Despairing Witch.'"

"'Incitement' and 'Provocation' have merged, granting me the ability to manipulate targets' emotions and desires through language and added mystical power, compelling them to act as I intend."

"'Pleasure' can combine with 'Harvest' and 'Precision'…"

"…"

"That's about it."

The "Magician" lady nodded gently:

"Shifting to an adjacent path has indeed brought many strange changes and fused abilities—something no adjacent-path sealed object could achieve."

Lu Mi grunted, then asked:

"Should we keep Furanka undercover in the Witch Cult?"

PS: Thank you to kazamil for the Silver Alliance donation~

(End of Chapter)