Chapter 750: Witch's Echo · Violet
As his understanding of the ritual deepened, he discovered that the basic principles of the ritual left behind by the Witch Emperor were very similar to the principles of the small-scale sealing rituals Sister Devlin had taught him. The only difference was that the Sister's rituals were reduced in scale and bypassed the steps that required the use of witch power.
This meant that the [Spiritual Cult] to which Sister Devlin belonged had also inherited a portion of the knowledge from the Fifth Epoch.
In short, it took a full hour before the three of them barely managed to complete the layout of the ritual site. Shade's hands and feet were freezing, and the two witches looked as if they were reaching their limits.
Small bells hanging by the walls jingled in the black wind, and stretched silver threads entangled the witches' hair, forming a pentagram pattern centered around the well.
Most of the runes on the walls had been refilled, and the ground had been re-layered with ritual materials.
The witches were heavily exhausted, but they still braved the wind alongside Shade to reach the edge of the well. The power of death seeped into the Interstice from this spot; the golden afterglow on Shade's body and the light from the two witch accessories grew even brighter.
Even so, they knew they had to leave this place as quickly as possible.
Up until now, aside from himself, Shade only knew of two people who could stand in such an area unscathed: Priest Augustus, who possessed the power of the First Angel, and Sister Devlin, who possessed the [Primal Fire].
"Miss Aurora, I'll do it. Don't come any closer."
Shade reached out his hand, and the lady with long, wavy brown hair could only hand the comb to him. He walked straight to the edge of the well against the wind, pressing his hand against the outer wall of the well to keep himself from being blown over by the cold, piercing black wind that felt as if it wanted to freeze his very soul. The wind pulled the golden light from the cracks in his body backward; to the two witches, it looked as if golden flames were erupting from him.
"I'm dropping it now, get ready!"
Shade shouted loudly, but his voice sounded muffled due to the characteristics of the Interstice.
His right hand, holding the comb, moved directly above the mouth of the well. The golden afterglow and iridescent light particles surged upward with the black wind. Knowing he could not delay any longer, he let go, and the comb fell.
Almost simultaneously, a golden light flared behind him. Miss Aurora's twelfth-tier golden stairs and Grandma Cassandra's tenth-tier golden stairs appeared at the same time.
The light of the stairs illuminated the area, lighting up the mottled murals and the peeling runes.
The witches' power permeated the surroundings, and spiritual light spread outward along the silver threads. Simultaneously, rainbow-colored light erupted from the mouth of the well, briefly illuminating Shade's face and the circular space.
Using this light, Shade noticed some antique wreckage and stone carvings of unknown purpose by the wall; he figured the Witch Council would likely move them all away later.
"Looks like it worked."
Shade breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to retreat to a safe distance to wait for Grandma Cassandra and Miss Aurora to restore the ritual.
But at that moment, a voice whispered a reminder in his ear
【By the well, there is a handprint.】
"What?"
It wasn't that Shade had been unobservant, but the wind was blowing so hard he could barely keep his eyes open. Fortunately, "her" senses were not limited by such things.
"Where?"
【Feel to the right... a bit higher... slowly down... yes, very good. You should have felt the finger marks.】
Shade did indeed feel the finger marks. The handprint on the outer wall of the well looked as if someone had used raw power to press it into the hard black stone. One must realize that even these winds representing death had failed to leave a mark on the well over the span of two epochs.
The witches were busy controlling their power, clearing the ritual veins along the fragmented traces, and had no time to notice Shade. Thus, Shade overlapped his own hand with the slightly smaller handprint, wanting to see what would happen.
"Oh?"
The woman's hesitant voice sounded in his ear, and Shade received a prompt
【Outlander, you have obtained "Witch's Echo · Violet Marshall, Guardian of Witton".】
"What?"
Surprised, he pulled his palm away and saw the handprint on the well wall emitting a faint golden glow.
"That Witch Emperor... died here?"
"She" had said that Shade could only absorb echoes from the locations where witches with voting rights had died.
【A witch powerful enough can leave an echo while still alive. For example, Mana Felianna.】
"But Miss Felianna is..."
He wanted to say that Miss Felianna was a genius witch of the Fifth Epoch, but thinking carefully, a witch capable of becoming the Witch Emperor at the end of the Fifth Epoch might not have been inferior to Miss Felianna in talent or power.
Looking down at the handprint on the well wall, it was still glowing, and the light was growing brighter. Shade stepped back for a moment, then heard a strange sigh in his ear. It was a woman's voice, and she sounded young
"Is the seal finally about to give way?"
To Shade's stunned expression, a phantom figure of a woman wearing silk robes emerged from the light of the handprint. Her long hair flowed down, and her features were exquisite yet solemn. She wore a pentagram-marked earring in her left ear, while the right was empty.
Miss Aurora and Grandma Cassandra looked over in astonishment.
"Shade, what did you do?"
The shadow merely spoke to herself, having no intention of acknowledging the three of them. With a leisurely pace, she walked from the well to the wall, then circled the circular wall once. As she walked, the golden hue of her body left clear marks on the wall, further reinforcing the effect of the seal.
Finally, the figure of the Witch Emperor, Violet Marshall, walked back to Shade's side.
"The situation is very grave. Witches of the later generations, it seems you are truly in great trouble."
"Are you talking to me? But I'm not a witch."
"I am not talking to you. This is merely a speaking shadow that recorded my words, and it must be triggered by a witch of the Council. Besides assisting you in reinforcing the seal, this shadow can also detect the state of the Interstice. From the current situation, it is almost on the verge of collapse."
The shadow looked at Shade as she spoke. Shade hesitantly took a step to the right, and the shadow turned slightly. Clearly, this mark could track the person who triggered it.
"I do not know how far your era is from mine, but based on the current situation, the best solution is..."
Shade and the two witches looked at her expectantly.
"...Run away quickly. The material world is so vast; abandoning such a small area and designating it as an inaccessible forbidden zone wouldn't be a great loss. After all, safety first."
The shadow spoke with a serious expression. As a top Great Witch of the Fifth Epoch, Miss Violet Marshall's appearance was absolutely top-tier. She had a standard oval face, long hair draped behind her, and though the details of her robes were unclear, one could tell how luxurious they were.
"Run?"
Shade hadn't expected such a suggestion. While the advice was practical, they certainly couldn't do that.
"Of course, it's not that there are no other ways. The boundary between life and death is almost a natural phenomenon and cannot be completely solved, but we can change our approach. If we cannot solve the Interstice, then solving the myriad undead within the Interstice can also rebalance life and death."
This was actually a good line of thought. The cause of the impending great disaster was the excessive accumulation of the power of death. If the majority of the undead in the Interstice were cleared, the outbreak would not occur.
A smile appeared on that face again.
"However, in our era, no witch was confident enough to achieve this. The specific steps are as follows—
First, open a massive gap from the material world leading to the outer space. The scale must be large and sufficiently stable."
This single point was already impossible to achieve in the Sixth Epoch.
"Subsequently, at that gap, splice a passage leading to True Death."
This was even more impossible. Even Shade could only open a crack leading to death; splicing was out of the question.
"Finally, venture deep into the Interstice, find a way to lead all the undead within the Interstice into the material world, and then lead them from the material world into that opened passage, thereby stepping into Death."
The final step was even more absurd. Setting aside how to guide the undead, simply bringing that many souls into the material world would be a disaster in itself.
"The souls in the Interstice cannot enter Death through the passages of the Interstice because this is the boundary. Therefore, a gap must be reopened in the material world to allow the souls stranded from ancient times to the present to complete the process of Material World to True Death once more. I do not know what powers the people of this era possess, but in any case, I wish you luck, future witch. May the Ancient God [Chaos Witch] be with you."
With a light laugh, the figure of the Fifth Epoch Witch Emperor dissipated into golden light particles.
"Besides that comb, I have left a roll of parchment. I hope it can help you."
Most of the light particles scattered into the ritual site, using the last of the power to assist in strengthening the seal. A small portion of the light converged in front of Shade's chest and slowly entered his torso.
That warm power swept away the discomfort he had felt since entering the Interstice. Simultaneously, the enlightenment-type [Witch's Light] spirit rune responded to the power from the Fifth Epoch, and a brand new power was conceived.
"Hmm? Only a comb and parchment? Then where did the [Time Key] come from?"
The [Time Key] had no fixed method of appearance; it was always discovered by people in remote corners. The key from earlier had likely appeared silently after the Fifth Epoch seal was completed.
The witch's power permeated his soul, following instinct, as the spirit rune linked to the new power. Shade pointed his right index finger at the ground, and a searing beam of light shot out, leaving a bright trail in the air, though the heat vanished quickly in the black wind.
However, the beam left no mark on the ground.
【Outlander, you have obtained the Oddity "Sunbeam".】
【Outlander, you have obtained the Witch Emperor's Blessing: The malice of the Interstice undead toward you is greatly reduced. Duration: approximately one week.】