Chapter 122: The Catastrophe Descending Upon the World

A piece of news that shocked the world arrived.

On the Night of the Sky Witch, Emperor Medusa went alone to the town of Berkley Cthulhu, fighting the Cthulhu Evil God who had largely recovered. Three hours later, Emperor Medusa died in the Berkley Cthulhu Mountains.

"Even an ancient existence from the Dark Ages..."

"The Evil God is about to fully awaken..."

The entire world plunged into panic.

Although Emperor Medusa held different ideals and was considered by countless academies and sects of wizards to be the most terrifying evil monarch emperor of the Wizarding Age, he was ultimately the world's only hope.

***

The Royal Capital of Babylon.

In the dark yellow twilight sky, over a dozen alchemical airships floated, displaying banners made of animal hide, all bearing prayers and blessings for the "Night of the Sky Witch" festival.

Inside the main hall of the Babylonian Royal Palace, powerful witch-ministers stood on both sides. Empress Almin sat high on her throne, instantly crestfallen, as if she had lost her soul. "There is no hope left," she murmured.

"We vow to live and die with the Babylonian Kingdom; its glory shall be inextinguishable!" The witch-ministers knelt in unison.

"We still lost."

Almin closed her eyes, remaining motionless on her high seat.

With Medusa's death, no one in this world could stop the Cthulhu Evil God's resurrection.

***

Steady footsteps slowly approached.

Almin slowly opened her eyes. "This aura... Charlotte?"

"It's the witch from the Rose Kingdom!"

The surrounding witch-ministers positioned themselves protectively, watching the figure entering the doorway with wary expressions. "They entered without a sound..."

"Step down," Almin said softly.

"Almin, long time no see," Charlotte said, taking small steps into the royal hall.

Charlotte looked at her childhood friend with mixed emotions. Back then, that naive, passionate, and righteous girl had grown to such a terrifying height; she had found a good teacher. However, Charlotte herself hadn't fared too badly in recent years. After integrating her second gene, she had regained her youth and just broken through to Level 7 Epic.

"I heard you're now in charge of Prison Island. Your master Medusa is dead, so coming to me won't do any good... By the way, have you still been striving all these years to revive Lucy?"

Almin sighed, leaning back on her throne as if reminiscing about their youthful trio. "You should know that the dead cannot be resurrected; that is the truth of the world. Lucy has ultimately left us both... But before the world is destroyed, it's good that we two can reunite."

"Hehehe..." Charlotte suddenly laughed, her voice low and complex. "What is truth? So-called truth is merely a rule wizards impose on themselves. To break the truth is to be a wizard – that's why you are not as great as the Alchemist Emperor or the Death Emperor. In their respective fields, they shattered common understanding. I forgot to tell you, three months ago, Lucy was already resurrected."

Almin's expression changed, and she shot up from her throne. "What?! Medusa's forbidden necromancy, this rule-breaking spell, has already been completed?"

Back then, the three academy students—Lucy, Charlotte, and Almin—shared a deep friendship. But Lucy's subsequent death was not only a thorn in Charlotte's side but also in Almin's. It was the fundamental reason for Charlotte's defection and their parting ways.

"Where is Lucy! Where is Lucy?"

Almin became frantic, losing all imperial dignity. Like her teacher, the Alchemist Emperor, she was unwilling to desecrate the dead or disturb the eternal slumber of those seven young witches. Yet, with the dead truly beginning to revive and appear before her, she inevitably showed excitement.

***

"It's not just Lucy; others have been resurrected too... like the mother of these two brothers." As a voice accompanied the dark, ink-colored longsword Charlotte held, a pair of brothers slowly emerged.

The elder brother was short, while the younger was a tall, imposing humanoid mechanical construct.

Almin frowned. "I've seen these two before; they were the 'Edward Brothers,' champions of a previous Wizard Academy Exchange Tournament... So that's it? Like Charlotte, you two geniuses had already pledged allegiance to Medusa to revive the dead."

Almin sharply noticed that the alchemical construct, the younger brother "Alphonse," had an empty body, clearly indicating he was dead yet still able to walk like a living person.

"What is this principle?" Almin asked, her disbelief evident. "A disembodied spirit?"

"Esteemed Empress Almin," Charlotte's rectangular black sword spoke, explaining the principle, "this also shatters the understanding of truth. This is soul alchemy! His outer shell body is constructed from a spatial magic box! It creates a gentle internal mental space within, similar to a human 'brain,' where a person's soul can reside and even cultivate."

"Deceased cultivating?"

Almin's mind went blank, overwhelmed by the rapid succession of revelations. Could Medusa have researched the domain of death to such a degree over the years? Not only can the living cultivate wizardry, but also the departed, the dead?

However, being immensely intelligent, she understood the principle in a flash. After all, a wizard's cultivation is the cultivation of mental power, and the deceased still possess souls, so naturally, they can cultivate mental power. But it wasn't possible before. Even if a deceased person's soul revived, without the protection of a body, the mental power generated by "meditation" couldn't even keep up with the rate at which the soul dissipated. However, if the magic box's space could provide a suitable and gentle environment for the soul, cultivation would naturally be possible.

The magic box, which was also called Pandora's Magic Box, continued with a laugh, "And the wizard capable of researching this type of soul cultivation isn't us, of course. It's a genius who is truly terrifying throughout history! Not even a living person, because how could a living person have the experience of the dead and research the path of necromantic cultivation?"

"Not a living person?"

Almin's mind suddenly conjured an incredible thought. If her guess proved true, it would be a colossal conspiracy spanning the entire Babylonian era, over eight hundred years.

"You've already guessed."

A spectral form slowly floated out of the magic box, revealing a faint, transparent face.

"This face..."

Empress Almin suddenly turned her head, looking at the ancient "Three Witches" mural in the adjacent royal palace. Of the three women depicted in animal hides and flower wreaths, one's face was an exact match.

"It truly is one of ancient Babylon's three legendary witches, Circe!"

Almin abruptly stood up, for a moment instinctively not daring to sit on the Babylonian throne. Because Circe was the most ancient existence who founded the Babylonian Wizard Dynasty, the first King of Babylon. Even the entire wizard civilization's cultivation path from levels one to six was pioneered by her and two other legendary witches.

Almin exhaled deeply, realizing the terrifying implication. "The invasion of the old gods into the wizarding world has actually uncovered a shocking conspiracy from an ancient era—an ancient being who had already awakened from the past and has been secretly plotting in the shadows all this time..."

Just when one thought the clouds had parted to reveal a clear sky, it seemed there were even deeper layers of mist beyond.

The evil witch Circe was, throughout history, one of the most brilliant minds. Back then, Circe had already planned to live a second life, pioneering the rudimentary form of the forbidden "resurrection of the dead" necromancy, which she entrusted to her disciple Medusa to perfect before her death. And it had been completed in recent years. It should be known that when Medusa was defeated by the Alchemist Emperor, he had already completed most of it, able to summon a remnant shadow of Gilgamesh. During the four centuries he was suppressed, he naturally brought this wizardry to full maturity!

***

"Then, the other two great witches from ancient times, and even the older Gilgamesh..." Almin's voice trembled slightly.

"They cannot be resurrected. Over the long ages, their souls have vanished into history. Even if summoned back, they would only be remnant souls like Gilgamesh's, without consciousness."

Circe smiled sweetly, standing in the royal hall and looking at the frightened witch-ministers around her. She said faintly, "The reason I could fully revive is that before my death, I not only laid groundwork for my disciple but also had my corpse laid to rest in a special coffin, preserving my soul from severe dissipation."

"Then, while those ancient heroes dissipated over long ages, my teacher, the Alchemist Emperor, only recently passed away!"

Almin was overcome with excitement and couldn't help but step forward. "Please revive my teacher from death! If my teacher lives again, we might not be without hope against the Cthulhu Evil God!"