The other Witches of Deceit all betrayed expressions of dejectedness.
They all knew very well.
Only one witch could walk out alive from the Tower. As for what happened to those that didn't walk out? The rainbow lights that had streaked towards the Tower were the best explanation.
"You… why are you only First Grade?" Compared to the Witches of Deceit's concern for Snowlotus, the witches of the other branches were more concerned about the power of the new Witch of Fate. Third Grade and Fourth Grade also meant different approaches they had to take with regards to their negotiations.
However, all the witches were shocked to find Alice at First Grade.
The Alice that walked out of the Tower of Fate… was only First Grade!
"Are you here to celebrate my advancement to Witch of Fate, or are you here to doubt me?" The appearance Alice showed off right now was likely her real form. She didn't possess the facade of maturity that she used to put up as a girl. However, she didn't cower before the Second and Third Grade witches in front of her. Instead, her every action and word conveyed the pride and dominance unique to a person of authority.
Hesitation appeared on everyone's faces.
Such a thing had never happened before in the history of the Northern Witches.
The witches of the various branches had always tried to help each other, but they never interfered with the internal affairs of another branch. Whether Alice was First or Fourth Grade upon advancement was an internal matter of the Witches of Fate. It shouldn't matter to the other witch branches.
Thus, faced with Alice's harsh words, the high-grade witches only hesitated for a moment before bowing and paying their respects.
Even if there were something inappropriate to this situation and Alice's power, only their respective leaders had the right to doubt Alice's legitimacy. In the end, they were nothing more than messengers meant to establish initial contact with the new Witch of Fate.
The first ones to step forward were the Dark Witches that had always maintained friendly relations with the Witches of Fate.
A Third Grade witch named Kylie stepped forth and bowed her head slightly in respect.
"Congratulations on becoming the new Witch of Fate of our Northern Witches, Lady Alice. I represent Leader Circe of the Dark Witches and present to you seven apprentice witches, two resource sites, three human manors, and seven hundred accompanying servants and slaves."
A parchment filled with a list of the gifts flew to Alice as Witch Kylie read its contents.
Of course, Alice accepted everything with a broad smile on her face.
The next to step forward was the other allied branch of the Witches of Fate. The Death Witches.
A middle-aged Second Grade witch strode forward and also nodded respectfully towards Alice.
"Congratulations, Lady Alice. As the representative of our Death Witch Leader Khesuna, I bring you her most sincere congratulations. Furthermore, we of the Death Witches have brought you congratulatory gifts of our own. Six apprentice witches, three resources sites, two human cities, one orchard, and six hundred accompanying servants and slaves."
Alice accepted the gifts from the Death Witches with satisfaction.
With the two witch branches having taken the initiative, the other witch branches also took turns expressing their congratulations and presenting their gifts, after some slight hesitation. It was also true for the Witches of Deceit.
However, the situation of their group leader Rena was taken into consideration, and another witch was sent in her place to announce their gifts. Rena stood among the crowd, her face flashing green and white. Her emotions were clearly volatile.
Rena was a Second Grade witch, while the Alice who had killed her daughter was only First Grade. Yet, right now, this unqualified First Grade witch arrogantly stood near her and accepted the congratulations and gifts of all these witches. All of this should have belonged to her daughter Snowlotus!
"No… I'll never acknowledge your identity." Rena roared in anger, having reached her limits, "You murderer. You killed my daughter. I'll… "
Rena's eruption immediately caused chaos at the scene.
Alice might only have been First Grade, but she still represented the branch of Fate. If Rena's attitude reflected the intention of all the Witches of Deceit, then it meant that the cooperation and peace that the Northern Witches had maintained between them would shatter.
The various branches were very likely to fall into a long and lasting civil war!
The other Witches of Deceit hurriedly restrained the enraged Rena and prevented her from harming or doing anything to the newly advanced Witch of Fate.
Alice took a slight step back when she sensed Rena's hostility. Prismatic lights glowed around her body. One after another, delicate tarot cards with the scales of fate printed on the back appeared in a blinding flash. They slowly revolved around Alice.
At the same time, the Tower of Fate looming over them started to rumble. A strong surge of magical energy weighed down and crashed upon the witches. Their hearts skipped a beat when they felt the pressure on their shoulders.
All of the previous assessments and judgments of the Witch of Fate had only come from tomes and ancient records. It was just now that the witches truly understood what being a witch leader meant.
Even though Alice was only First Grade, she was still the absolute sovereign within any area covered by the Tower of Fate, while she was also the Witch of Fate.
If anyone wanted to harm her here, they would first have to bring down the Tower of Fate.
The older senior witches were all excited to see the tarot cards floating around Alice. It reminded them of the legends of the previous Witches of Fate.
Witch of Fate. Witch of Fate. It was an overwhelming witch that had mastered Fate!
Their combat abilities might be a complete mess, but no one was willing to become their enemies!
They were a strange existence that had leaped out of the system of world laws through their control over fate. They could swim in the river of destiny and use their powers to see the path that fate would take. Divination and predicting fortune and misfortune were child's play for the Witches of Fate. Their greatest strength was their ability to change fate!
Change other people's fate!
They didn't need to craft and carve out a new fate for someone else. All they had to do was lightly push you from your nodes of fate, and you would fall from a safe, paved, and known path to a dangerous trail filled with thorns.
Everyone who offended the Witches of Fate would forever be cursed to a fate of misfortune, misfortune, and even more misfortune!
From then onwards, luck would never be in their grasp.
Because every time fortune approached them, they would find themselves subtly shifted onto a divergent path without even knowing what had changed.
The Witches of Fate's strength might be weak, but they could shift the river of fate's trajectory without your knowledge.
Thus, the powers of Fate represented by Alice immediately sensed the hostility Rena gave off. An oppressive aura of fate directly caused shivers to run down the spines of every witch present.
No wonder no one dared to invade the Tower of Fate, even a thousand years after the extinction of their legacy. There was such a profound force hidden within the Tower.
The witches silently nodded as if they had understood something.
Alice abruptly smiled when she looked at the angry and sorrowful Rena.
"Do you still want to see your beloved Snowlotus?" Alice casually tossed an image-recording crystal towards Rena, "Why don't you take a look at this first!"
Rena's body trembled when she heard Alice's words. She immediately caught the crystal and used her Spirit to examine the contents.
A short moment later, she lifted her head in joy and surprise and asked, "Are… are the contents of this crystal real?"
"You can stay back later and verify it for yourself." A complex expression appeared
on Alice's face.
She then turned towards the other witches and calmly spoke, "The Tower of Fate has only just activated. Too many things inside require my immediate attention and cleaning up, so I won't be inviting you inside for a tour. The gifts presented by the various representatives can be slowly handed over to us, but the promised apprentices have to be sent over as soon as possible. I thank you for your efforts!"
The witches could hear Alice's intention to send them away. They looked at each other and turned to leave.
The Witches of Deceit debated for a moment and decided to leave Rena behind when they departed.
Soon, only Alice, Rena, Greem, and a Death Witch remained.
Rena's confused gaze fell upon the Death Witch that had stayed behind.
"I am Hela, Sofia's aunt. I know that asking about the Battle of Fate is an offense to the new Witch of Fate. But…but I still wish to know what happened to Sofia. If she is truly dead, then I can forget about it." The Second Grade Death Witch's face hid underneath her hood. She looked at Alice as she slowly explained her intentions.
As expected, Sofia was related to the Death Witches!
Alice exchanged looks with Greem before silently nodding.
"Since the two of you wish to know about your relatives, follow me! Sir Greem, please follow me as well!" Alice smiled at everyone present and turned to walk into the Tower of Fate.
The three adepts followed her into the Tower.
Rena was anxious and impatient. She marched right in front of everyone but Alice.
The Death Witch was leaning on a magic staff with a strange design. The staff clonked against the floor as she walked into the Tower.
Greem was the weakest of them all. He could only rub his nose in helplessness and walk behind them.
A sense of antiquity was the first thing that greeted the three guests when they entered the Tower.
Thick dust covered the floor, the pillars, the bookshelves, and the walls. Collapsed shelves and boxes littered every place they walked. Heavy crops of magical vines grew all over the place haphazardly. They had forcefully turned the arcane hall of the ground floor into a sinister and frightening garden.
And here, the marks of the Battle of Fate could still be seen!
Chapter 378 The Two Revived
Even though it had almost been a whole day after the battle, the scars left behind were still visible.
No corpses or blood stains remained, but there were shattered and severed vines all over the place. The remaining bloodsucking vines and magical thorns crawled away from the adepts when they sensed the magical aura around the adept's bodies.
The apprentices' skirmish had been the first battleground of the Battle of Fate.
You could see the marks left behind on the walls and floor by all the various spells when you walked through the halls, libraries, arcane halls, rooms, and corridors. Not a single door stood untouched. Not one location had been left unexplored by the candidates.
Along the way, the adepts also saw the fragmented remains of armored guards. They had been disassembled, reduced to pieces, and were scattered all over the floor like trash. The surface of these living armors had lost all their shine. Even their exposed joints looked to be rusted and corroded.
The lack of maintenance and upkeep had significantly impacted their combat ability. It was no wonder the guards had been so quickly put down by a group of apprentice witches.
They walked through dark corridors and passed by several ruined battlefields. After a long walk, they finally left the apprentice living area and arrived at the upper floors of the adept's tower.
The situation there appeared to be even worse compared to downstairs.
The traces of battle on the lower floors had been extremely obvious, but at least most of the magical facilities and architecture remained undamaged. But here, broken pillars and collapsed walls were everywhere. Rubble covered the entire place. It was hard to tell what all the facilities and rooms had originally been.
This place was an extremely run-down tower!
How powerful of a defense could an adept's tower like this still possess? Could it still be used without undergoing large-scale renovations, repairs, and the installation of a new magical system?
Questions arose in the guests' minds when they saw the state of the Tower.
However, everyone knew better than to ask these questions that concerned the secrets of the Tower!
Alice didn't continue to take them up the structure. Instead, she wound through the piles of rubble and finally arrived at a secret stone room that had survived all the damage.
Two stone platforms had been placed in the room, side by side. Two naked women were lying atop the platforms. Apart from that, there were no other objects in the room.
It was a gorgeous young witch that was lying on the platform to the left. Her skin was smooth and white, and her figure was very well-defined. Her breasts weren't large, but they were firm and supple. Even though she was only lying down on the platform, it gave everyone who saw the sight a feeling of crystalline beauty. It was the unique feeling of tranquillity when looking at a refined work of art.
On the other hand, a strong woman no less muscular than a man laid atop the platform on the right. The reason 'she' was described as a woman was because of the undeniable female traits of her body. If it hadn't been for those traits, Greem would have thought of her as a man.
Well-defined lines of muscle, pieces of flesh as sturdy as iron ingots, thick veins that ran through her body like tiny serpents, and healthy, firm arms and legs. Greem swallowed his saliva with a little difficulty. He thought his body had been sufficiently muscular already. When faced with the woman before him, he couldn't help but feel completely outclassed!
The two witches were Snowlotus and Sofia, who had become candidates alongside Alice. They laid upon the stone platform without a single movement. Not a trace of life remained in their bodies. A cluster of light the size of an egg floated above each of their heads. The adepts vaguely saw two small soul human figures that looked like Snowlotus and Sofia within those clusters of lights.
"Snowlotus!"
Witch Rena rushed forward and cried out in anguish.
She might have been a materialistic and pragmatic person in most circumstances, but she still had a trace of genuine attachment to her daughter. It was clear how upset she was upon seeing Snowlotus' soul separated from her body.
Sofia's aunt, Hela, also stepped forward. A semi-translucent girl in a red dress suddenly floated out from within her body. The girl wandered around Sofia's body and the cluster of light like a phantom. She finally returned to Witch Hela's body after completing her examination.
Witch Hela closed her eyes as if she was communicating with the spirit. She then sighed and turned to ask, "Lady Alice, what price do I have to pay to revive Sofia?"
Witch Rena was concerned about this as well. She turned and stared at Alice, waiting for an answer.
They were all veteran Northern Witches. They knew very well the course of events that had taken place during the Battle of Fate. Alice hadn't absorbed Snowlotus' and Sofia's powers of Fate. In fact, she had exhausted her own powers of Fate to reform their bodies and gather their shattered soul pieces back together. This action would have undoubtedly drastically reduced her powers.
No one would have performed such a foolish act as harming their own benefit for the sake of someone else!
At this moment, Witch Hela had to understand Alice's intentions. It didn't matter if she had to lower her pride a little. It was for the sake of her relative. After all, the two girls remained suspended in this unique state of body-soul separation. That cluster of the power of fate was forcefully maintaining their life. Even the Second Grade Death Witch had no guarantee that she could revive the two girls without Alice's help.
The Death Witches were only good at turning live humans into 'dead' humans, not the other way around!
"The two of you know very well what a severe loss it would be to m
e if I allow Snowlotus and Sofia to live! I will be direct in speaking my thoughts here. I need your sincerity, and I need them to serve me for a hundred years!" Alice, who had reverted to her adult appearance, was unusually calm and decisive at this moment. There was a sense of maturity in every one of her actions.
The two Second Grade witches fell silent immediately.
They thought for a long time and finally exchanged looks. Both of them saw the trace of helplessness in each other's eyes.
They might have been Second Grade witches, but it was impossible to fight against a witch leader approved by the laws of fate within the Tower of Fate.
Even if she was only First Grade, it was impossible!
A witch leader was a witch leader. Her noble status remained! If they tried anything against Alice, they would not have any advantage against her. Fate's powers supported the Witch of Fate, as did the abilities of the Tower. Perhaps this was why Alice allowed them into the Tower without a second thought!
Every witch branch had their own towers of origin. These towers served unique functions different from those in an ordinary tower. There, the innate talents of the respective witch branches were significantly amplified. These towers also served as essential legacy sites.
And the Tower of Fate was undoubtedly Alice's home ground!
Here, in this tower, the Witches of Fate would have their abilities amplified by magnitudes of hundreds and thousands of times. The powers of the other witches, on the other hand, would be suppressed to their weakest. Trying to snatch Snowlotus and Sofia away from this place was a fantasy.
"I can agree to all your conditions as long as Sofia is revived!" Witch Hela finally spoke.
"I can agree as well! I will agree to anything if you can bring back Snowlotus!" Rena replied hastily.
"I have faith in your promises!" Alice nodded, "I'll treat them like true sisters!"
Alice then waved her hand, and the two clusters of light with Snowlotus' and Sofia's souls in them slowly dropped and entered their heads.
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