"Power..." the Witch looked at her own hands.
"Aren't you cold?"
"What? I'm not cold at all..." The Witch suddenly realized what Xu Yang meant. She covered her critical points and hopped backward, hastily scanning the shuttle cabin. She grabbed a mercenary jacket off the wall, too rushed to put it on, merely holding it in front of her in an effort to maintain composure.
"What on earth is going on here!" she exclaimed. Moments later, she was angry because she saw a submachine gun on the wall, "It was this thing that hurt me."
Worried she would mishandle the firearms, Xu Yang struggled to his feet.
"I saw your power." He looked up at the Witch, "Save me."
"I can't help you," the Witch said, clutching the jacket to her chest, not bothering to cover the rest of herself, looking awkward.
"I saw you injured and then quickly healed. You said you would save me, our deal isn't finished yet." Xu Yang looked at her abdomen, which had been hit by a string of bullets, cutting her in half. She should have been eviscerated, but now her skin was smooth and unblemished.
"This is one of my inherent abilities, commonly known as 'Law of Recovery,' which reverts things back to their previous state."
"Is that so... Can you restore me to an hour ago? I was full of energy back then."
"The problem is, for some reason, I can't use any of my own powers right now." The Witch looked down at her hands, "It's as if they have disappeared."
Her power was not actually a healing ability, but rather the capability to restore the state of things.
Moreover, likely because Matteo used an "Anti-Witch Weapon" to shoot her, her Witch's Power had also been temporarily neutralized.
Thinking this, Xu Yang felt profoundly despondent.
Anti-Witch technology was very rare; only gigantic companies that valued military technology like Black Fire Innovation possessed it.
A miscalculation. How could the Witch help me with not a sliver of power left?
A wave of weakness overcame him, and Xu Yang felt even weaker than before he had passed out, with his life force slipping away bit by bit.
He pulled out his cash card from his pocket, looking at it, the digits on the top right corner were clear and amusing, more than 100 million, a fortune.
If only I could have spent it, if only I could survive and spend this money on the surface!
To be buried in an unknown grave...
Suddenly, Xu Yang heard a strange chanting sound.
Looking up, he saw the Witch murmuring softly, the contents beyond understanding.
The fragments of text she was praising seemed to awaken a resonating power in the air, gradually forming a subtle "spell."
Xu Yang felt enveloped by a gentle glow.
Like being wrapped in a warm robe, he felt comfortably warm all over, very cozy, minor wounds on his skin healing rapidly, spirits that were once lethargic now revived, his heartbeat pounding a hundred times more vigorously than before.
"...Do you feel better now?" the Witch asked. "I hope you feel better! Of course, I don't know how you feel right now! Ah, even if you're uncomfortable, you can't complain! After all, not just anyone gets healed by me!"
The Witch had previously worn that luxurious burial garment, appearing quite mature, her powers extremely lethal. Now, with her hair disheveled, her body bare, unable to use her Witch's power, she looked nervous and gave Xu Yang a completely different impression.
Strange, Xu Yang felt somewhat dazed. Was it really this Witch who had suddenly went berserk, unleashing her full power, and killed several mercenaries in an instant?
"Answer me quickly!" The Witch grabbed Xu Yang's shoulders and shook him, "You're zoning out!"
Perhaps it was an illusion, but Xu Yang heard the sound of metal parts clinking inside his body, fearing something else had fallen off.
"Ah—ah—" Xu Yang quickly replied, "Much better."
She sighed with relief. "That's more like it!"
Xu Yang, however, couldn't help but think of another question.
"You said earlier that your powers were sealed, but clearly your powers are indeed usable," Xu Yang pointed out, looking at his healed wounds, the skin as tender as a baby's. "Isn't that the Witch's power?"
"It's different," she said. "This isn't a Witch's power, but a Miracle bestowed by a deity."
Miracle... I've never heard of it before.
Xu Yang silently recalled information about Witches.
A "Witch" was a species different from humans.
In everything from abilities, physiological characteristics to lifespan, Witches were superior to humans. Yet they were born from humans, a normal man and a woman could potentially birth a Witch, with chances being completely random and mechanisms so strange they surpassed the realm of scientific explanation.
Since there were only female Witches, they couldn't reproduce on their own. Strangely enough, Witches wouldn't get pregnant from unions with human males either. Witches themselves were barren, almost a species derived from humans.
Every Witch possessed various powerful abilities, each controlling at least one.
Some could force organic matter to grow and evolve, completely changing the face of biotechnology; some could easily manipulate the movement of molecules, aiding companies in developing cutting-edge technologies; and there were Witches with bodily conditions comparable to human-shaped warships, trained to be "Battle Witches," participating solely in military operations. Among the most powerful, known as "Reality Manipulators," they could easily alter reality.
"I've never heard of 'Miracles,'" said Xu Yang. "Times have changed."
"Wait a moment," the Witch bustled about in the shuttle machine searching for clothes to wear as Xu Yang watched her back. While she dressed, she turned to look at Xu Yang, "You said the times have changed, what do you mean? How long have I slept?"
"Previously, people called you an artifact from the past, an Ancient Witch, so that's at least a thousand years," Xu Yang said, "That's what I've heard, which means you might be an Old Witch who hasn't decayed with the passage of time."
Having been healed by the Witch's miracle, he felt his strength had recovered a lot, and his mood had also improved.
In the blink of an eye, she charged over, fist raised, ready to strike him, but couldn't bring herself to do it in the end.
"If my magic power were still with me, I would have killed you."
"Too bad it's not."
"Does this face look old?" she touched her cheek, "How dare you say such rude things."
"My mistake," Xu Yang said, "You... you're very beautiful."
"No one has ever commented on my appearance," the Witch was curious, "What about my body then? You've had a good look."
"That's good too," Xu Yang said, " ...I'm at a loss for words, all I can say is that it's definitely the best, but don't just show it to anybody."
She suddenly jumped up onto the seat and hugged Xu Yang, examining him closely.
"What... what are you doing?" Xu Yang said.
"I'm going crazy," the Witch spoke rapidly, "I kill quickly, save lives quickly, I'm good at both, but now I've lost my magic power, what am I to do?"
"Live well."
"Hmm..." the Witch was exhausted from talking too much.
Her temperament seemed to shift constantly—before Xu Yang could react, she had moved away from him and was pacing around in the shuttle machine again, touching everything, giving instructions as if seeing the world for the first time.
"Your mind seems to be unstable..."
"Don't talk like that; I'm perfectly normal."
"Really?"
"What's normal for me is abnormal for you. How many years did you say have passed?"
"At least a thousand years," Xu Yang said, "Or even longer, in any case, you're a being from a long time ago to us."
"A thousand years..." the Witch mused while turning to the side, "Interesting."
"What's so interesting about that?"
"Such a length of time is enough to change everything. My enemies have grown old, eroded by time, or have exhausted themselves on the path of seeking eternal life. All the people I knew are dead, buried beneath the ground unseen by the sun. Everything I once familiarized myself with has been buried by time; the cities and trees have lost their luster. The legends of my time—princes, sorcerers, dragons, and warlocks—have all vanished, becoming 'history' in your memories. Thinking of these things... I feel a surge... of uncontrollable excitement," she approached Xu Yang, reaching out to caress his hair.
"I can't see what there is to get excited about."
"Because no one knows me, I can start anew, shedding the burdens of the past; I'm just a benign Witch seeing the light of day again," she held Xu Yang in her arms, "Let's get to know each other again, what's your name?"
"Xu Yang."
"I'm Farosa de Aquilia."
Farosa was sometimes full of smiles, speaking gently, and at other times she had a stern look that sent chills down Xu Yang's spine.
She investigated the shuttle machine, knocking and tapping here and there until the machine's AI commanded her to stop with an electronic voice.
"Please, passenger, take your seat and fasten your seatbelt. The shuttle machine is ready for departure," the AI said.
"Ah, this place has more than one phantom hiding in a metal shell," Farosa searched for the source of the voice, "How much resentment must you harbor to still linger in this world? Let me help you resolve it; whoever you want to kill, I can handle."
"It's not a phantom speaking, but AI, artificial intelligence," Xu Yang said, "We're about to leave, we have pursuers behind us."
"Pursuers? Then we need to prepare weapons." Farosa toyed with a submachine gun she had taken from the wall, "These are killing devices, right? Such exquisite metal, it hurt me quite a bit."
"Stop, stop," Xu Yang feared she might fire wildly and damage the shuttle machine, "A lot has happened in these 1000 years, you're probably not familiar with these things."
"What exactly happened in this history? Tell me," Farosa was extremely curious, "What about the Witch Council? How are they doing?"
"We should go," Xu Yang said, "We can't delay even a second."
"Quick, tell me," Farosa urged.
"...The Witch Council has been annihilated."
"Impossible," Farosa scoffed, "They must be hiding somewhere, still manipulating this world, you just know too little about the true face of this world! It's one of their common tricks, one of the continuation methods postulated after five types of imagined disasters. And the newly born powerful Witches, ambitious as they are, would establish a new Council even if one were overthrown."
"There will be no more powerful Witches," Xu Yang said, "Each Witch at birth is monitored by the Corporate Alliance, and companies within their jurisdiction bid to purchase them. They are trained by the companies. Their powers are strictly controlled, their heads filled with chips, their magic power limited to certain extents."
"Such serious overstepping! I see after a thousand years, the petty mortals are still the same, building city-states from dirt, abusing animals, killing each other, and oppressing our newly born kin. Occasionally, when they bring down a Witch, they praise their own deeds and record it in their annals. Once I regain my power and await the return of the gods, I will rebuild the empire of Witches and make the mortals return to their rightful place."