"Are you mistaking me for someone else?" Lin Jie asked in bewilderment.
Having met a powerful witch like Silver, Lin Jie wasn't too worried about facing the Witch of Life who was an entity of a similar level.
While he might just be a bookstore owner, Lin Jie had seen quite a lot, stopped the Path of the Flaming Sword's extremist attacks, assisted in the establishment of the Sun's Faith, and had a former central figure of the police in his store...
Therefore, Lin Jie wasn't flustered in the face of that unfriendly attitude of the Witch of Life, though he was a tad surprised.
"Mistaken?" The Witch of Life's eyes narrowed, realizing that the situation was somewhat different from what she had imagined.
Observing the increasingly threatening austere aura of the Witch of Life, Lin Jie reckoned that not all witches were like Silver, who was both beautiful and kind.
The Witch of Life only had half a face that was human, while the other half was covered in scales. Her body was practically composed of flames, and these flames flowed like magma over her, emitting high temperatures like a cloak that could burn down the surrounding bookshelves at any time.
Isn't she scary looking?
"Yes." Lin Jie nodded cautiously. "You've got the wrong person."
Life hesitated for a moment. The figure before her did seem human, and although there was a hint of a nauseating evil mixed in with his aura, his intrinsic self seemed...
She glanced around at the vast bookshelves and that familiar and permanent darkness. This entire bookstore seemed like an endless black hole.
No! He's using words to trick me!
Thousands of years ago, she was devoured by the 'darkness' and fell. Life thought she could escape and left her tokens, awaiting the guidance of fate to resurrect her. However, she never expected that after thousands of years, she would be resurrected inside the evil god's belly today.
Lin Jie saw that the witch had stopped talking and appeared to calm down a bit. Perhaps, they would be able to have a conversation now.
Thus, Lin Jie cleared his throat before starting again, "My name is Lin Jie. I'm an ordinary bookstore owner but was fortunate to have some interaction with Silver previously and I learned quite a bit from her. You should know her too, right?"
Lin Jie talked about his own identity, but Life seemed to see through his current identity and view the darker place behind him.
His shadow continuously expanded, seemingly intensifying during his chatter, and eventually turning into a dark, boundless abyss. It was neither a terrifying monster nor a powerful force, just pure darkness, capable of devouring everything.
The cosmos, stars, all things, life... It would devour everything.
And this was the place Life feared the most. Her face was already half-human, and right now, within the flames, her whole face seemed to warp.
Life shut her eyes, a curtain of scarlet flame covering her pupils. She hoped to resist this powerful and terrifying fear by sinking into a darkness she created herself.
"So, what I'm saying is..." Lin Jie earnestly tried to explain about himself, but then he saw the Witch of Life had shut her eyes.
Lin Jie frowned and realized that the witch wasn't even listening to him. Moreover, the flames over her body were burning stronger and gradually spreading.
The first thing that came to Lin Jie's mind was worry about the books on nearby shelves. A tinge of anger surged in his heart, but he still asked politely, "Wait, could you please tone down your flames?"
For all his life, Lin Jie could tolerate others being rude, and he could forgive reckless transgressions. However, if someone were to destroy his books, he would get real mad...
With her eyes tightly shut, the witch uttered, "There's no way I would make a mistake recognizing you. I was born to be a destined enemy of yours. You can dream on extinguishing this flame!"
It had been many ages since she had lit the bonfire to illuminate the world. In the endless darkness, one could easily be devoured if they weren't careful. This was why she had raised countless humans—to gain a sense of security.
"Whether past or present, my flames will continue blazing brighter and brighter till all your evil lairs are incinerated!"
Suddenly, she opened her eyes, and the flame spread out wings, transforming her into a raging fire that swept everything in its path as it charged toward Lin Jie.
Lin Jie instinctively tried to use the aether stored within his dream realm to protect the books, but he forgot to save himself.
In the next moment, the huge shadow that had been lurking behind him suddenly expanded...
Rip—
Lin Jie's eyes widened in shock as he witnessed everything that was unfolding before him. His shadow morphed into a mysterious black substance that started to twist and materialize into countless tentacles. At the instant where the witch rushed him, those tentacles wrapped around her and tore her apart in a heartbeat.
Flame-like blood flowed freely, spurting about like scorching lava. At that moment, the witch's face was twisted in excruciating pain as she was torn apart.
However, the first thing that came to Lin Jie's mind was... whether the burning flames or blood would damage the floor and shelves.
But at this point where he had the thought, the floor, except for the bit that stood out, turned into a dark abyss, which absorbed the witch's lava-like blood before it even hit the ground.
"Aaaah!"
The witch let out a final shriek. She was unable to escape this time and couldn't even set a resurrection token like she did thousands of years ago.
Perhaps, the darkness had been waiting thousands of years for Life, or maybe, the concept of history of thousands of years didn't exist toward such an entity. Time couldn't wear away its power; it already knew everything and was just waiting for this moment.
The witch's head was crushed by black tentacles, and one of her eyeballs fell to Lin Jie's feet. Lin Jie glanced down and saw that the eyeball still seemed to be staring at him.
Honestly, she's still rather scary-looking... thought Lin Jie to himself as the eyeball was consumed by the darkness.
In mere seconds, the witch was completely swallowed up. The fire of Life, who had come from ancient times and protected humankind, had also completely extinguished.
After consuming the witch, the darkness that had swelled gradually started to shrink and resumed the form of a man-shaped shadow standing in front of Life.
Lin Jie looked around at his surroundings. It seemed like nothing had taken place, and even the books on the counter were just as they were before.
"Blackie, did you just... eat Life?" asked a dumbstruck Lin Jie.
Blackie didn't answer, merely standing facing Lin Jie like an apparition. However, Lin Jie already knew the answer.
Perhaps the witch hadn't mistaken the wrong person, but the one she feared wasn't Lin Jie but Blackie who was behind him... That meant to say, he had wronged the witch.
And the true reason Blackie hadn't eaten the stone fragments right away was so he could eat the Witch of Life fresh...
In the legends of the Witch of Life, there was always the tale of using the bonfire to resist the darkness. And that darkness was possibly the evil god that had destroyed the elven kingdom and made all creatures go crazy.
Does that mean Blackie is that evil god? Lin Jie had a complex look on his face.
However, Blackie had never harmed him. It had even helped him realize many trivial things that it could have easily just ignored. Ever since Lin Jie transmigrated, Blackie had always been on Lin Jie's side, and just now too...
Lin Jie looked at Blackie and wanted to ask him if he was bad. But then, he felt that such a question was a little too childish.
Perhaps there wasn't any justice nor evil in this world. Lin Jie considered himself a kind person who had helped countless others ever since he was born, in no way inferior to Vincent. Whoever it was who came to this bookstore, regardless of whether they were down and out or impoverished, Lin Jie always does his best to comfort and save them.
Lin Jie was a good man, and those who knew him wouldn't refute this claim.
But just now, Life had attacked him without justification and tried to… kill him.
Who was right and who was wrong?
Lin Jie glanced at the circular 'wedge' once more, which had lost its glow and became ordinary broken stone.
If it weren't for Blackie, he would be dead.
"Thanks for saving me just now, Blackie."