It was recorded in the 'Spear of the Thriving Witch'.
Year 214 of the Kingdom of Babylon. The Rose Kingdom rose and defeated the Kingdom of Babylon. The line of the true witches was reduced to vassals. The Kingdom of Babylon had officially entered a dark age.
"I need to go to the Rose Kingdom up in the mountains to serve the evil witches…"
"Don't miss me…"
Husbands were continuously bidding farewell to their families in the streets throughout the kingdom. Weeping and wailing were heard throughout the entire kingdom. They embarked on their doomed path of becoming sacrifices, after suffering the pain of parting with their loved ones.
They knew that being people of weak mental powers, they would definitely perish.
Farewells were happening everywhere.
Yet, such days would never come to an end. The Kingdom of Babylon was required to contribute 100 men every month as sacrifices.
In the days of the Kingdom of Babylon that followed, men were no longer needed to work.
All they needed to do was to breed in a frenzy. They had been reduced to breeding stock.
Despite that, the Kingdom of Babylon in the days that followed still saw women vastly outnumbering the men. The ratio of men to women was probably one to 10.
It was an insult like no other.
In the Palace of Babylon, Lilith sat on a bench by the door of the palace, looking completely dazed. She was no longer able to bring herself to sit on the throne.
"Lady Lilith…"
There were 16 wizards before her. They were about to be sent to the Rose Church and defiled.
They were not common men; they were conventional wizards of the orthodoxy. They were capable of withstanding the mental ravages which meant that they would not die easily, yet that, in turn, meant that they would be subjected to defilement for the rest of their long lives.
The fate that awaited them would be one of unbearable tragedy and pain.
"I'm sorry, to all of you…"
Lilith wore a bitter smirk and sighed. "Especially you, Garfield."
Garfield was a wizard and one of the most powerful to be found in the Kingdom of Babylon. He was only somewhat weaker in comparison to Lilith in terms of sheer power. He was the most handsome man in all of Babylon and sported a gentle and kind personality. Countless women throughout the kingdom fell in love with him.
However, he held staunchly to the Three Iron Laws of Witches, thus keeping himself on the straight and narrow.
Garfield sighed and comforted Lilith. His expression was a gentle one. "This is not your fault. Both of you are of comparable talents, but their evil ways of training sped up their rate of advancement to frightening degrees. It's only natural that she became a level five sorcerer before you did."
Lilith was silent for a while, before murmuring, "I will work hard to become a level five witch and save you all. I will avenge all of us."
Garfield shook his head bitterly. "That day will never come. The reason why she spared you and let you sit on the throne, instead of killing you, was because she knew that you would never surpass her. Her way of training ensured that they would always be able to advance faster than we do."
"Worse still, she now has 16 wizards at her disposal. Her speed at training will probably be three to four times greater than it is now already."
Garfield sighed.
He and Lilith had been a couple since being young. They grew up together and liked each other. Both of them undergone the ritual of sorcerers together, toughing out the blood of Evil Eye together and becoming sorcerers. They kept their relationship platonic, and there had never been any actual physical interactions between them.
Their love was beautiful and pure.
Many conventional sorcerers fell in love with each other, yet all of them kept their relationships platonic for the sake of protecting the Kingdom of Babylon. Those guardians of the kingdom had truly given up too much for the sake of their kingdom.
Yet at present, Medusa was about rob her of her lover, Garfield, and make him a member of her harem. There was just no way Lilith could stomach that.
Garfield sighed. "It's alright. Leave the rest to me. I would think of a way while enduring what she has to throw at us. I would change everything, and beat that seemingly unbeatable monster."
"I've failed you."
Lilith was unable to take it anymore and cried out loud.
The entire nation was in mourning on that day. All 16 wizards and 100 common men left their kingdom, with Garfield taking the lead.
"So, the heavens are going to watch the Kingdom of Babylon be doomed then?" Lilith mumbled to herself in a dazed state while sitting in the palace.
Year 265 of Kingdom of Babylon.
Over 50 years passed since the war was lost.
Over the past 50 years, Medusa was able to make a breakthrough and become a level six sorcerer, due to having 16 wizards to serve as tools to further her training, enabling her to finally reach the terrifying height achieved by the three witches all those years ago. She reigned over her Rose Kingdom as Great Lord Medusa.
Medusa the Witch of Death became known by the people in the world that year as the 'Great Lord who reigns over the highest power and death", and she completely became invincible all over the world.
60 years passed and the power difference between her and Lilith became increasingly pronounced. She trained diligently every day for over 10 hours. Despite being so steeped in training, she never progressed beyond level four and had only gotten to the edge of making a breakthrough to level five.
The Rose Church had been throwing their weight all over the place.
One by one the organizations of conventional witches fell into decline, and more and more sided with the evil witches.
"The Rose Church shall become the orthodox church of the world!" Someone proclaimed.
No conventional witches heeded the call.
"Circe the legendary witch had been reviled when she was alive. History after her death had proven that it had been the other two witches who had gotten it all wrong. Witches shall reign supreme over mortals, and they shall have any men they desire!" Someone else harped on.
The conventional witches hid in a corner. No one else dared to retort.
"Our great lord of witches, Medusa, the Great Lord who reign over the highest power and death, shall reign supreme over all the world!" Someone else smirked.
All the conventional witches remained silent.
Their time had long passed.
…
Xu Zhi was utterly baffled.
It had all happened so quickly that he was unable to react to it all in time.
"So, they are done for then?"
"Only a single night passed, where I checked the forum and tried to get an upper hand on those guys, and you people had already been taken down by Circe's disciple? How could you people face the two witches who fought to a tie with Circe all those years ago, eh?"
The line of evil witches brought about an age of darkness.
While advancements achieved through such evil, heretic paths were undoubtedly fast, but such a way of going about it would be akin to draining the pool to catch the fishes. The path of civilization had been derailed. Without advancements from the true witches, it would be difficult for Xu Zhi to get the alchemy that he wanted so badly.
So, there goes my cure for cancer.
"Some genius has to step up and save the day." Xu Zhi felt his head hurt. Being a maker was indeed hard.
Gilgamesh emerged in the age of barbarians and led the westerners out of their predicament.
The three witches emerged after the decline brought about by the great flood, leading the westerners out of their predicament once again.
In the current age of the dark witches, the glorious past faded and there had not been a genius unlike any other, emerging to save the day and becoming a hero that blazed the trail of a new era.
Everything was just too scary after all.
Medusa the Witch of Death, the so-called 'Great Lord who reigns over the highest power and death' who was a level six legendary witch of terrifying power, was just someone deemed too powerful for any to take her on.
It was worth noting that the height achieved by Gilgamesh all those years ago, was comparable to a level seven epic sorcerer in their current system of sorcery. None of the three witches had been able to make it to level seven. Medusa, as she was at the moment, was only one level weaker than that king of heroes back then.
"I initially thought Lilith would be able to rise. She was the most hopeful candidate, one who knew how to bear with the pain and forge on. They said that no one could stay on top forever, and one should belittle the underdog. That had apparently been the beginning of the underdog fighting back… yet, 60 years passed and her lover taken away from her, and she still is not doing anything."
Xu Zhi wore a bitter smirk, finding the turn of events to be rather reasonable after all.
While Lilith was indeed a genius, she was not the kind that was one in a million that emerge only once in centuries. As such, the power difference between her and Medusa would only grow increasingly great.
The Phoenix, on the other side, was unable to help as well.
The Phoenix in the desert was only beginning to develop a vague, early capacity for intelligence. Her IQ was comparable to that of children who were only several years of age. The Great Lord witch, Medusa, however, was beaten once when she headed out to the dessert after reigning supreme all over the world.
"Well, well, I never thought there would be such terrifying beings emerging in the world. The thing had only been born not all that long ago, yet it already sported powers comparable to a level seven epic sorcerer eh? Is that to say that Gilgamesh, that king of heroes, had been a god at a young age, coming down from the heavens then?"
Medusa was utterly shocked. If it had not been for the Phoenix not having any intentions of killing her, she would have been rendered dead in an instant. The power difference of just a single level of difference was unbelievably huge. She went back to her royal palace and spent several years recuperating.
Xu Zhi was getting speechless.
That witch was already mimicking what Gilgamesh did all those years ago—venturing out to explore the world after reigning supreme.
"God**amn it! Is there no hero out there emerging to save the world? Is there no one out there coming out to teach her a lesson? This is just insane! So, now evil rules over the world and good is getting doomed? Is there no justice in the world anymore? Is the world devoid of sensible reasoning now? Is there no justice from the heavens to punish the wicked?"
What the hell!
This doesn't fit socialist values at all!
Xu Zhi was feeling very, very troubled. "My alchemical potion…"
60 years passed and Lilith looked like she was completely hopeless.
He had to do something given that there would be no indisputable genius out to save the world. He wondered if he had to make one such hero undertake the endeavor.
"So how do I go about it?" He frowned. "Only the likes of Gilgamesh and the three witches, the likes who are the cream of the cream of the crop, who possess wisdom, power, and temperament unlike any other… could begin training and have hope of defeating someone as terrifying as the most powerful level six sorcerer out there."
Where could I find someone like that?
A rookie who trained from the beginning and was capable of taking on the most powerful in the world.
No way I could find someone like that!
The likes of Gilgamesh and the three witches are just too few and far between!
Xu Zhi gave it some thought and flashed a faint smile on his face. He looked at the lesser sandbox and managed to come up with something.
Well, well, well. Isn't there someone like that over there already?
One could easily tell just how much of a walking cheat he is, judging by his profile alone. A terrifying genius like no other, someone who has already dabbled with multiple fields of expertise and research at just over 40 years of age, and a renowned technological entrepreneur who is worth billions.
Xu Zhi looked at the scientist who was still immersed in the game and trying to climb the tree of technology in the lesser sandbox, the scientist who was currently having a great time working his fields in his compound. "Good thing I've done the groundwork back then. Now, time to help me get rid of some problem, dude… in the world of the sorcerers, knowledge equals power. I guess I'd just let you cross over to the sandbox world of the sorcerers, and climb that tree of technology as much as you want to."