Chapter 2247: The Appearing "Old Friend

Chapter 2247: Chapter 2247: The Appearing "Old Friend

Perceiving the turmoil of the elements, Shard pressed his hand on the forehead of the witch in his arms, attempting to help guide and regulate the spirit and elements, but he quickly realized that although Miss Belindel was not adept at combat, the total amount of spirit from the Eleventh Rank Grand Witch was beyond his expectations.

Fortunately, "she" softly reminded him again:

[Bracelet.]

Shard then stuffed the golden bracelet he had picked up earlier into her right hand. When there was no effect, he reached out to hold the witch’s hand:

"Miss Belindel, please say with me: May the hidden chaos, protect me who is a witch."

He didn’t notice that as he first uttered these words, the golden bracelet was already emitting a peculiar glimmer. It was precisely this relic’s glow that made the Great Witch of Destiny feel once more that fate was sheltering her:

"May, may the hidden chaos, protect me who is a witch."

Accompanied by a not very intense golden light from the bracelet in her palm, the powerful Miracle Element gradually suppressed the rampant Whisper Element. The Holy Emblem symbolizing the Ancient God [Chaos Witch] flashed across the now dry ground beneath them, then the light subsided. Miss Belindel’s body stopped trembling, and she finally opened her eyes.

Their eyes met. Her face flushed first, then she grabbed Shard’s sleeve in panic:

"Quickly, let’s go! Don’t stay here, quickly!"

"Breathe deeply, don’t be so scared. Breathe with me, relax, I’m here."

Shard gently comforted her, but the panic on Miss Belindel’s face did not diminish at all:

"This is not something we can handle, quickly! I heard from the Marchioness of Ankara that the Countess D’Armanin has always been mysterious, perhaps related to the Circle Sorcerers, so I thought about visiting her, she might be related to this situation, but I never expected, never expected..."

Her body’s shivers were completely uncontrollable, her mind unwilling to remember what she saw before passing out, truly making her feel insignificant.

"It’s alright, everything is alright, I’m here."

Shard tried through an embrace to calm her down, but clearly what she had just witnessed really frightened her. She buried her head in Shard’s chest, seeking safety in this way, yet at that moment heard Shard asking:

"Did you see a black crow this morning?"

"Yes, I didn’t pay attention at the time. But the crow isn’t important, take me away, we can’t stay here..."

"The crow is very important."

Shard corrected, aware of what she feared:

"I’ll handle the situation here, treat it as if it’s a dream. Close your eyes, I’ll keep holding you."

"But you don’t know at all..."

"I know, a mermaid, right?"

Shard stated confidently, slightly turning his body to look at the edge of the reef in front of the door beside the campfire. The waves were still crashing, and the abnormal thick fog continued to surround the area. A beautiful head had emerged from the water at some unknown moment, now smiling at them outside the reef.

Her black long hair clung to her skin due to being wet. Droplets slid down her cheeks, falling into the water and being pushed to the edge of the small campsite by the tide.

Her skin was as white as milk, and her vaguely glowing purple eyes were so enchanting. Even amidst the dim light of rainy days, her skin could still emit a misty and soft glow naturally. Shard could even imagine how wonderful the sensation of touching that skin would be.

Besides the head, her pale right hand also stretched out of the water, resting directly on the dirty reef in front of her. Certainly, Shard still didn’t see her shoulders.

Seeing Shard turn his head to look at her, the "mermaid" by the reef pursed her lips into a gentle smile, instinctively glanced toward Miss Belindel in Shard’s arm, whimpering slightly, burying her head deeper in Shard’s chest, not daring to look around anymore.

"Long time no see, fascinating soul."

The face, which combined the virtues of all the girls Shard knew, greeted him in a familiar raspy voice. The sound of water being slapped came from the sea shrouded in mist behind her, but it was definitely not made by feet.

Her every smile and frown, as before, caused Shard to instinctively react. Although the raspy voice carried no power, just hearing it made him feel as if a fire was ignited in his heart, one that could not be extinguished.

In contrast to the inner flame, the fire created by the Arcane Technique in the campfire suddenly shrank inexplicably.

"Desire..."

Shard wasn’t surprised by her appearance at all. In fact, he had already guessed in the mansion who was behind all this. The knowledge recorded in "Charming Woman" is only available in the "Book of Pink" given by "Desire." The impulsive desire exhibited by Countess D’Armanin and the corrupting pink atmosphere and environment created by her and those Miss Maids were all too familiar to Shard.

If he hadn’t confirmed who was behind the Countess, he wouldn’t have impulsively come here:

"Long time no see. It’s the first time I’ve learned that beings like you also recruit believers."

"Believers?"

A fair arm lifted, and the right hand covered the tempting red lips. The laughter was light and enchanting, just like those purple eyes, seemingly able to penetrate directly into Shard’s heart:

"I’m not a deity; I don’t need believers. There have always been people who need my power. When the right person calls for me in the right way, I’m not stingy to provide help to him or her."

The right hand, covering the mouth, transformed into softly nibbling the right middle finger, with the pink finger color and red lip color complementing each other:

"Just as, I’ve never minded providing help to you."

She cast a captivating glance, and Shard swallowed, forcing himself to imagine the scene of Mia running to suppress his instinctive reaction.

The crackling sound of the campfire was completely drowned by the sound of the waves, as Shard held the blonde Countess tightly, daring not to move, striving to keep his gaze on her head without meeting those eyes.

He felt his own body temperature rising, the unnamed fire within him still boiling. Despite having encountered "Desire" so many times, she could still nearly make Shard lose control of his emotions with just a smile or a simple utterance. The scent on the witch in his arms seemed even more intense than before, and her body temperature was rising too, even though she dared not look, she was inevitably affected.

"Sorry, this time I temporarily don’t need your help. I just want to take her and those maids away."

Shard said lightly, as for the Countess and maids on the cliff, they had been completely corrupted by "Desire," some even transformed into succubi—these are a kind of demon, but not evil spirit demons. That Earl’s mansion is no longer transformable back to normal. Unclassified Level Relics are unimaginable to mortals, falling due to her temptation is total corruption, Shard couldn’t save those people.

"See, your desire is still growing."

The head in the water laughed again, and Shard raised his hand to cover Miss Belindel’s ears because he felt the witch was disobediently touching him amid the laughter. But touching the witch’s ears seemed a mistake, as the Countess let out a muffled groan, the body temperature making Shard feel like holding little Mia while walking on the snowy coldest winter night.

"You’ve become greedier, haven’t you? How many witches is this now?"

Raspy and distinct in the rain, it seemed as though the rain deliberately complemented her beautiful head, making her voice sound like a gentle chant. Just hearing her speak made Shard involuntarily recall Luviya’s lazy greeting sound in the morning, the breeze brushing through the treetops and green leaves under the moonlight, Mia’s soft meowing, and the gentle rustling sound of stockings rubbing against each other on the ladies’ legs.

[Cough, cough.]

The cough sound that came from his ears pulled Shard’s thoughts back from drifting, and the pretty head beside the reef laughed again.

Laughter mixed with the rain, water, and fire sounds, causing the witch in Shard’s arms to tremble more, but this time it was definitely not out of fear.

Shard originally wanted to say "My relationship with the Witch Council is none of your concern," but felt it would sound like he was being stubborn:

"I want to take them away."

He finally said just that, and the head in the water slightly tilted, blinking at him:

"Alright, take them away."

"Then what’s the price?"

Shard asked again, and she continued laughing, left hand also extending from the side of the head out of the water, like a white big snake, or like a naked dancing little girl. That arm seemed to deliberately show its beauty to Shard, straightened and then shrunk down, gently stirring the tide outside the reef:

"Am I in your mind just the kind of existence that only helps after receiving a price?"

The raspy voice carried an aggrieved emotion, yet she was clearly still laughing:

"You know, since you saved me from Coldwater Port, it’s almost been a year. Guess where I’ve spent most of this time?"

Those purple eyes were very like Luviya, and this discovery made Shard feel increasingly disgusted. He refused to see those eyes on a stranger’s face, those eyes belonged only to Luviya Annette:

"I’ve met you in different cities, I originally thought you’d never stay in a fixed place, now it seems, my previous view was mistaken."