This, of course, included Greem's right to enter the Death Witches' lesser plane and wait until the activation of the Tower of Fate. On the other hand, Alice would move into the Greenwood Plane for training. This was a well-developed mid-sized plane. There were special facilities created for the preparation of newly advanced adepts.
Usually, the right to train there was reserved for the witches of the Death branch. However, seeing that Greem's 'ticket fee' was of really high value, all the witches agreed to allow Alice into the Greenwood Plane to strengthen her survival skills.
Other than that, an array seed of the Dead Soul Array from Witch Silvia was successfully handed over to Alice. With four months left, Alice had more than enough time to master the use of this array and further increase her power.
…………
Time slowly passed and the day of the Tower's activation neared!
In this period, the entire Northern Lands had erupted into chaos by the upcoming Battle of Fate. Troubles and conflicts happened all over the place.
According to the Witch Council's investigation, the number of candidates that had entered the Northern Lands had reached triple digits. A rough count gave a total of around a hundred and thirty of them. There were thirty among them who had advanced to witches. The rest remained stuck at the apprentice stage.
With the nearing Battle of Fate, more and more apprentice-level candidates would advance to become witches.
As the Witch Council had strictly forbidden the witch branches from intervening in the affair, all the candidates behaved in an extreme manner. They all knew their lives were most likely nearing their end.
It didn't matter how many of them there were. Only one witch could rise above the rise and sit upon the throne of the Witch of Fate. The rest were doomed to be the stepping stone of the victor. Which candidate could possibly wait for Fate's choice in peace under such dire circumstances?
They would still have some ability to fight for the title of Witch of Fate if they managed to advance before the Battle. However, for the candidates that weren't able to advance by then, the Battle of Fate would be the day of their sacrifice.
They knew they would die, and that their flesh, soul, and knowledge would become the foundation of another person. Who could tolerate such an ending to their lives?
Thus, as the days passed by and the Battle drew closer, all the candidates that thought their chances were insufficient, and those who had yet to advance, started to behave in mad, insane, and extreme ways.
Nobody was quite sure when, but the names of the three favorites for the Witch of Fate had finally surfaced to the public.
The three terrifying name had then become a nightmare for all the other candidates!
Snowlotus, the Dancer of Ice and Frost!
Sofia, the Berserk Witch!
Alice, the Scrying Eye!
Sages, diviners, and prophets of all seven witch branches continuously repeated these names.
If nothing out of the ordinary happened, the true Witch of Fate would necessarily emerge from among these three individuals. The others could only remain in the background and become accessories to the three of them.
All the candidates in the Northern Lands flew into a frenzy once certain scheming parties leaked the list.
Again and again they had defeated their enemies against all odds. Again and again they had turned danger into opportunity. Again and again, they had survived countless deaths. These candidates, who had grown and become stronger through all the obstacles they had faced in their life, naturally thought of themselves as those blessed by Fate.
Yet, at this moment, they were hit by the truth. The truth that they were not the main characters of the story, but instead was the feast that Fate had prepared for the actual main characters. This massive disparity between reality and their expectations was enough to drive people insane!
Countless weaklings that had just been trying to kill each other suddenly realized what they needed to do. They stopped their infighting and gathered together to form an alliance. They scoured the Northern Lands to find these three witches who were the real recipients of Fate's blessing.
Snowlotus, the Dancer of Ice and Frost, fought decently against these hostile candidates. With the clan supporting her, and her taking shelter in her mother's adept tower, Snowlotus had been able to deflect all sorts of attacks and schemes directed at her. Even so, the number of plots and attacks that she dealt with every day was far too much.
While all of these attacks were deflected, it was still an unpleasant feeling to be continuously harassed.
Snowlotus hid in her clan's lesser plane, with no other choice left to her. It was only then that she managed to find peace in her daily life again.
Strangely enough, there had been absolutely no news of Alice the Scrying Eye.
It wasn't just the sages and the diviners of the witch branches that failed to locate her. Even the candidates were barely able to find out that Alice wasn't present in the World of Adepts, despite coming together to host a large-scale divining ceremony.
Thus, with no way of catching Snowlotus and no way of finding Alice, these mad candidates turned their fury towards the only candidate remaining– Sofia, the Berserk Witch!
Sofia had no one to rely upon and no massive background or clan that could back her up. She instantly became the target of the candidates' continuous attacks.
Countless divination spells targeted her daily, trying their best to dig out every single secret Sofia held. Naturally, all sorts of schemes and plots were designed for her in this manner!
Thus, Sofia would step into magical traps when she walked, be poisoned when she drank, find poisonous bugs in her bread when she ate. Even when she tried to sleep, she faced dozens of sneak attacks.
A single apprentice-level candidate wasn't all that scary. Even if she managed to figure out Sofia's weakness through the use of divination, she could not harm a powerful berserk witch. However, even a berserk witch would fall when a hundred candidates came together. After all, there were one or two dozen adept-level witches within the ranks of the candidates.
The battle on Snowdrift Plains was a bloody and brutal one!
Sofia the Berserker Witch fought fourteen witches and sixty-seven apprentices alone. She escaped with grievous wounds and hid deep within the plains. Of the party that had surrounded her, three witches and twelve apprentices had died.
This battle allowed the candidates to understand the power of those favored by fate. They finally realized how weak and insignificant they were when compared to the stars of the show!
Just as the candidates were busy considering forming yet another party to pursue Sofia, a rumor came out of nowhere. It was a rumor that caused the entire group to splinter and fall apart.
It was said that every candidate of the Witch of Fate had, to varying degrees, some trace of the power of Fate on their bodies. If a candidate personally killed another candidate, they could absorb the opponent's Fate and strengthen their own.
The rumor might have sounded ludicrous, but it was extraordinarily well-reasoned and descriptive. Moreover, it struck right at the deepest fears of these candidates.
Thus, no one insisted on the idea of pursuing the favored candidates. In fact, no one dared to even come close to another candidate. They all had to fend for themselves. They were all at risk of being attacked by one of their own.
The alliance instantly fell apart, and the candidates once again went their own ways.
However, there were always people who wanted to try and verify the rumor, regardless of how ridiculous it sounded.
The apprentice candidates quickly gathered together and worked together to escape from the witch candidates. Still, the apprentices continued to play tricks and schemes on each other, even as they ran away from the more powerful witches.
Those with insufficient power and those who were not smart enough were the first to die to verify the rumor.
When the news was finally proven false, they
were no longer able to take back that unity and harmony they had previously maintained!
There were those who gave up on life and ran to the human cities to enjoy what was left of it. There were some who tried their hardest and settled down to accumulate more power. There were also candidates who traveled far and wide, continuously visiting powerful witches in hopes of enhancing their abilities.
The massive number of apprentices and adepts that ran through the various areas of the Northern Lands caused an uproar wherever they went, creating tremendous trouble and disasters for the locals.
Rice fields were destroyed, and forests were set on fire, one after another. The villages were ravaged beyond repair by the various conflicts of the witches.
All sorts of frightening spells, plagues, and underhanded means were employed in their fights with each other. If the Northern Witches hadn't fanned out across the land to extinguish the fires and stop the plagues, then the entirety of the Northern Lands would have been turned to dust by these madwomen!
Finally, four months later, when the Northern Witches were at their limits, the day of reckoning arrived! The Tower of Fate was activated!
Chapter 359 The Tower Opens
The Tower of Fate.
The building was a unique tower that had been sealed for a long time.
This place was in Dragonblight, a land far more barren and rural than even the wasteland known as Desolace.
Any outsider that entered the Northern Lands would have to go north of Dian City, through the territories of the Death Witches and the Coldwinter Witches, and then through the dangerous area of the Chittering Hunting Grounds before they could step foot on Dragonblight.
The Tower of Fate stood tall in the center of Dragonblight.
The only reason why this area was known as Dragonblight was due to the actions of the First Witch of Fate when she had built the Tower of Fate. Nine mighty dragons had been sacrificed here. If one was lucky enough to tour Dragonblight, they might dig out the shattered bone remains of ancient dragons in the hills nearby.
This event was why this place was also a land cursed by the dragons that no outsiders dared to enter without good reason!
At the peak of the era of the Witches of Fate, the radiance of the Tower of Fate was what illuminated the path forward for all Northern Witches. Moreover, the territory that the Witches of Fate owned included five large cities, countless followers, and a million citizens.
Sadly, all of this had vanished and turned into the past as the light of the Tower slowly dimmed!
The Witches of Fate had been extinct for a thousand years due to internal conflict. With their leaders gone, the followers and citizens of the Witches of Fate had died, one by one. What remained of those who survived were absorbed by the witches of the other branches. The territory of the Witches of Fate had also been split up and turned into the property of the other branches.
Year 32,767 of the Era of Adepts. The twelfth day of the second month of the year.
On the day rumored to be the birth date of the First Witch of Fate, a thunderous rumbling rang out from the lonely Tower of Fate that had slept for a thousand years. The light of the gray Tower of Fate once again lit up, despite the thick dust that clung to its walls. Its doors opened and invited the candidates and Northern Witches from all across the Northern Lands.
Most of the witch branches had prevented their subordinates from coming to this area in the past. Consequently, after a thousand years, a place such as Dragonblight, where fate gathered together, had naturally attracted countless powerful monsters and magical beasts. They lived here in this place and had, surprisingly enough, formed several dominant tribes.
That said, they knew well enough never to touch the Tower of Fate that stood at the depths of Dragonblight.
Thus, these creatures and the ancient security systems of the Tower of Fate kept out most thieving witches that harbored any thoughts of breaking into the silent Tower.
However, today, with the opening of the tower gates, liveliness once again returned to Dragonblight!
Today was the day the Tower of Fate activated, and today was the day the Battle of Fate came to an end. There were over a hundred candidates, but only one could step out of the Tower alive.
As such, countless candidates immediately rushed towards Dragonblight when they felt the Tower of Fate activating. They dreamed of being the first to enter the Tower and being the one to obtain the initiative.
Sadly, the wild monsters around Dragonblight were massive trouble for most of the apprentice-level candidates. It was virtually impossible to reach the Tower without slaying a bloody path through the hordes of magical creatures!
Meanwhile, all seven witch branches had sent their representatives to observe the ceremony and its results. They wanted to know the identity of the new Witch of Fate as soon as possible. Of course, more importantly, they wanted to know which of the seven witch branches' side she would take.
…………
The Tower of Fate.
Nobody knew what material it was made of, but the body of the tower was a gray-white color. It was three hundred and twenty-seven meters tall. Not exactly the largest of the adept towers, but definitely the most mysterious.
With the rejuvenation of the powers of Fate, and the reactivation of the energy pool and the defense system, all the dust, cobwebs, and dirt fell off the tower due to the revival of the defensive forcefield.
Blinding magical lights started to appear around the body of the Tower. Mysterious magical runes flashed within the sea of radiance. The altar lamp atop the Tower let out a beam of light that stretched into the distant horizon. The beam of light pierced through the clouds and dispelled the gray darkness that had hung over Dragonblight for the past thousand years. The Tower of Fate once again appeared before everyone with its magnificent and perfect architecture.
Several powerful witches sat on their glowing brooms and magical carpets, hovering in the sky. They looked down at the slowly opening gates.
The gates might be open, but there was still a thin layer of light covering the outside of the tower.
Before the Witch of Fate came to be, no visitors were allowed in the Tower of Fate. Only the candidates could enter through their resonance with Fate.
Countless visitors had appeared in Dragonblight since dawn.
The candidates for the Witch of Fate fought their way towards the gates as they deflected the attacks of monsters. Some traveled in groups, and others alone. The weaker ones died before they even made it to the Tower. Several spots of light would exit their body when they died. These lights would brightly glow as they soared through the sky and plunged into the gray walls of the Tower of Fate.
Most of the candidates still managed to make it through the trial on the outside and arrived at the light barrier. They hesitated for a moment before extending a hand towards the boundary. They were then sucked into the Tower.
By noon, a total of seventy-two candidates had already made it into the tower, including the odd witch known as Sofia, the Berserk Witch!
She was a mighty witch with a large build and a pirate's eye patch over one of her eyes. She wore green leather armor and carried a thick wooden staff behind her shoulders. If it weren't for how recently she had advanced, she could probably have made it to the rank of an elite group leader within most witch clans.
It was evident that the brutal battle that had happened two months earlier had left permanent scars on her body.
Her blind eye had been turned to stone by an enemy using a strange spell. Moreover, this effect was permanent. Sofia wasn't able to reverse the change to her eye, regardless of what potions she used. She couldn't even regain her sight in that eye through the use of a transplanted one.
The scars on her body were countless. Still, these scars did not weaken her will or ability to fight. In fact, they made her seem all the more intimidating.
Sofia had walked to the gates of the Tower of Fate with the head of a Winged Nightshade placed on the to
p of her wooden staff. It was clear that she had just plucked the head of the Winged Nightshade off of its dead body. There was still purple blood dripping out of the wound where its head was severed.
Moreover, she didn't seem to like the high-grade witches in the air either. She glared at them with a fierce look in her eyes as she walked by. Her eyes flashed with provocation.
The witches wanted to teach her a lesson, but given the strict orders of their leaders, they could only suppress their anger.
Berserk Witch Sofia stood before the barrier of light. She turned to look at the witches with contempt in her eyes before finally touching the gate and disappearing into the Tower.
"Isn't that brat way too arrogant?" One of the witches growled silently. The flames of anger burned brightly in her eyes.
"Well, she does have the right to be arrogant," Another witch shook her head and explained, "It is either death or survival once she enters the Tower! If she dies, then everything is over. Would she be concerned about us torturing her soul over something like a provocation? If she lives, she becomes the leader of the Witches of Fate in the blink of an eye. She might not be all that powerful still, but her status would be equal to our leaders. Then, it's probably us who will have to bow and pay respects."
"Bowing to her? A Second Grade witch like me having to bow to a First Grade like her?" A high-Grade witch that had only advanced for two hundred years yelled.
"There's nothing odd about that!" A senior witch shook her head and sighed, "As long as she obtains the acknowledge of the Tower of Fate, she will be the leader of the Witches of Fate. Even Third Grade witches would have to pay their respects to her as they do to their own branch leaders. Even if the new Witch of Fate is only First Grade, she will have equal authority as the Fourth Grade witch leaders in the Witch Council. She will have the power to decide the future of the Northern Lands. These are the rules left behind by Her Majesty, the Queen Witch! No one dares to go against them!"
The witches who were unfamiliar with the ancient rules gasped. It was only now that they vaguely grasped the significance of the Tower of Fate's activation.
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