Chapter 997: Suppression
“She — she woke up!”
The cry reached Zooey first, and then the swords.
Several blades at her throat.
“Don’t move.” Alethea’s voice arrived through the mind-link. “Stay still until we confirm who you are.”
Of course. Her hands and feet were shackled, iron locks against stone. She was on the bed where the demon had been. Around her, her partners stood with drawn weapons.
This is exactly right. You don’t ask someone who might be the enemy to identify themselves. You make the determination yourself. A soul transfer means any answer could be a lie — so you don’t rely on the answer.
They decided without asking. That’s a mature choice.
With partners like these, she really had nothing to worry about.
She was about to close her eyes and let them work when something in the crowd stopped her.
Another stone bed had been placed beneath the magic core. She couldn’t see who lay on it from this angle, but the witches clustered around it like a knot, and the answer assembled itself without effort.
They’re going to use the Dream World to confirm my identity.
No — no one here could force Roland to do that. If it’s real, he offered.
But this is wrong. How could Alethea agree to this? Does she not understand what Roland means to the God’s Punishment Witches? And the demon — its understanding of magic power is far deeper than ours. If the Dream World is also constructed from magic power, letting a Senior Demon in is an enormous risk.
I spoke too soon when I praised her.
“Wait,” Zooey said. “Don’t open the Dream World. I’m Zooey.”
Alethea glanced at her. Said nothing.
“Listen — Kabradhabi can alter the properties of magic power. If it enters the Dream World, there’s no telling what it might do. Wake His Majesty. Now. Please.”
“Hmm.” A voice she knew, from somewhere behind her. “Lying on a stone slab like that does sound cold. Hard to sleep without a blanket. But then — if you were the demon, you could say exactly this.”
Zooey strained to raise her head.
A grey-haired man stood behind her.
Roland Wimbledon. The mortal king. Not on the other bed. Right here, on his feet, watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.
The relief that moved through her was embarrassingly thorough.
He hasn’t lain down yet.
Good.
Something in the body that was not really hers — the body she only inhabited — felt briefly warm. Not the warmth of pain, not the warmth of effort. Something calmer. She didn’t have a clean name for it. It was simply that the emptiness was less empty, and she hadn’t noticed the emptiness until it wasn’t there.
“Then my method is simple,” Zooey said. “Have Lady Camilla reconnect the Mind Resonance. Restore the link between the demon and me.”
“I… did notice a soul displacement,” Camilla said from somewhere in the cluster. Her usual composure had cracks in it. “I suspended the Resonance at that point. But I cannot tell which soul belongs to which body.”
“Are you certain you want to re-enter that state?” Roland asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty. There is no third soul here. Once the demon reveals itself, you’ll know. And the demon will reveal itself.”
“The demon will just… admit it?” The crowd exchanged looks.
“No matter what happens next, it won’t be worse than it is now,” Pasha said. “If Zooey is on the other side, I’ll be able to tell. It’s worth attempting.”
“Then—” Roland scanned the room and made the call. “Reconnect them.”
The familiar sensation closed around her immediately. Zooey pushed her awareness directly toward Kabradhabi’s mind: I said it before. I won’t stop until I’m satisfied.
“Female — don’t think you’ve won anything!” The demon’s voice blazed back almost simultaneously. It was furious. Destabilized.
Good.
“If you’d rather not discuss that, I’ll change the subject. You know what I’m thinking right now?”
“Why would I admit anything? Try your own method. Let’s see how you distinguish souls without any knowledge of the stream of consciousness.” The demon sneered. “I’d like to watch you try.”
“If you won’t talk,” Zooey said idly, “then I’ll simply come over.”
“What — what does that mean?”
“It means I’ll use the resonance channel to transfer myself into the stream of consciousness. I just realized I can probably do that. You keep calling us bugs — but Extraordinaries are just as sensitive to the flow of magic power as you are. I may not be able to explain it, but I can try to imitate what you did.” A beat. “Do you remember what I told you? If you don’t give me a reason to stop — the rest ends.”
The demon’s voice changed register entirely. “No — female, I — wait—”
“It doesn’t matter which shell you’re in. There are only two here. I’ll find you either way.” Zooey kept her voice careless. “Besides, this time it won’t be a few dozen days. Are you ready?”
Mind Resonance didn’t prevent lies. But when the demon felt the weight of her intent — when it recognized that she meant every word — it finally went quiet.
Then it laughed. Through the damaged mouth of the God’s Punishment soldier, with a sound that was half-panicked and wholly unconvincing, it said: “Enough! You bugs, to press lord Kabradhabi this far — ! Fine. This time — I concede.”
“Keep quiet,” Zooey said through the link. “You’ll frighten His Majesty.”
“Ahem, female—” The demon choked on its own response. “You are trampling on the dignity of an advanced race!”
“Have you had enough rest?”
A long, suppressed silence. Then, voice dropping to something between bitterness and resignation: “Don’t think this is your victory. Wars like this are trivial setbacks for us. You low-grade bugs have no idea what waits on the other side of the continent. The army of the Sky-sea Realm is consuming the land piece by piece, turning the whole world into an abyss. If we were not occupied stopping them, you and all your meager power would have been ground to dust four hundred years ago.”
Chapter 997: Suppression
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“She, she woke up!”
Zooey heard a cry of astonishment and then saw several sharp swords held to her neck.
“Don’t move!” Alethea’s voice also appeared in her mind, “You’d better stay still until we confirm who you are.”
“So that was why…” She noticed that her hands and feet were tied with iron locks, and she was lying on the stone bed where the demon originally was. Her partners were wielding swords, standing guard around her. She thought, “This is indeed a wise decision. It’s quite necessary to confine me before they’re clear whether it’s me or the demon who occupies the shell of the God’s Punishment soldier. They did not ask for my identity. Instead, they decided to make the judgment by themselves, which is a mature decision.”
After all, since the demon has occupied my body, any answer might be a lie.
If Kabradhabi did not make it up, the dozens of days in the dark stream of consciousness was equivalent to only a few minutes in reality. It must have been Alethea who made the correct judgments and took countermeasures in such a short period of time.
With such partners, I really have nothing to worry about.
When Zooey was about to close her eyes and leave it to them, what she saw in the crowd made her frown.
What are they doing?
She saw another stone bed beneath the magic core. Though she could not see who was lying on it, the answer was almost self-evident as the witches were crowding beside it.
She soon came up with a possibility—
Do they plan to confirm my identity through King Roland’s Dream World?
No, no one here can force Roland to do it. If it’s real, then it can only have been prompted by himself.
But… this is too inappropriate! How can Alethea agree with this plan? Doesn’t she know what the mortal king means to the God’s Punishment Witches? What’s more, according to the demon’s words, their understanding of magic power is far better than ours. If the Dream World is also built by magic power, then it’s a risky move to allow a Senior Demon into it.
I shouldn’t have praised her!
Thinking of this, Zooey could no longer keep quiet. She cried,”Wait. Don’t open the Dream World. I’m Zooey!”
Alethea took a look at her but didn’t respond.
“Listen, Kabradhabi can revise the effect of magic power to a certain extent. If you let it enter the Dream World, we don’t know what will happen. Wake His Majesty up. Quickly!”
“Oh? Really? To be honest, lying on that stone board is chilling. If I don’t put a quilt on it, I really can’t fall asleep. But if you were the demon, you could also say that.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed behind her.
Zooey tried to raise her neck and look backward. Then she saw a grey-haired man— It was Roland Wimbledon, the mortal king.
She immediately felt relieved.
It turns out that he has not yet lied on it.
Great.
For some reason, her senseless body felt a hint of warmth and satisfaction, as if it were no longer empty, though she did not know how to describe it. Compared with the pain which reminded her the suffering she’d been through, this completely different feeling made her feel calm and contented.
Zooey lightly sighed and said, “Indeed, if the demon occupied this body, it might see this information. So my method is very simple. Just let Ms. Camilla reconnect the demon and me.”
“I… I did notice a soul movement just now, so I suspended the Mind Resonance.” Noticing everyone staring at her, Camilla Dary hesitatingly replied, “But I can’t tell which soul belongs to the demon.”
“Are you sure that you want to enter the Mind Resonance state?” Roland asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty. There isn’t a third soul here. Once it admits, you’ll know the truth.”
“Make the demon… admit?” The crowd did not know how to respond.
“No matter what happens, it won’t get worse anyway,” Pasha said. “It doesn’t matter if you try. If Zooey is on the other side, I’ll be able to tell.”
“In that case,” Roland looked around and quickly made a decision. “Connect them again.”
The familiar sensation quickly enveloped her. Zooey directly transmitted her thoughts to Kabradhabi’s mind, “I said before. I won’t stop until I’m satisfied.”
“Female—don’t be too proud!” Almost at the same time, she heard the angry voice of the demon.
“If you don’t want to talk about this, then I’ll change a topic. You should know what I am thinking now?”
“Well, why should I admit? Use your own method to tell.” The demon sneered, “I would like to see how you’ll distinguish between different souls without knowledge of the stream of consciousness.”
“If you don’t say it, then I’ll just go directly,” Zooey said carelessly.
“Wait, wait… What does that mean?”
“Of course, going to your side. I can use the resonance channel to transfer my soul and enter the stream of consciousness. I suddenly realize I can also do that. Though you keep saying we’re bugs, actually, the Extraordinaries are similarly sensitive to the flow of magic power. Even if I can’t explain it, I can try to imitate it.” She chuckled and said, “Do you remember what I said before? If you don’t tell me, then it’s the end of your rest.”
The voice of Kabradhabi suddenly changed. “No… female, I mean… wait!”
“Even if you transfer again, it doesn’t matter. I can still catch you easily. After all, there are just two shells.” Zooey said carelessly, “Well, this time it’ll be far more than a few dozen days. Are you ready?”
Mind Resonance did not mean you couldn’t lie, especially when one side was in a weak situation. When the demon felt her overwhelming evil intent, it finally closed its mouth.
A moment later, it grinned—using the shell of the crippled God’s Punishment soldier. Though it sounded a bit panicky, it still tried its best to bluff, “Enough! You bugs, how dare you to force lord Kabradhabi! But it can’t be helped, this time, I’ll concede that to you!”
“Keep quiet. Don’t scare His Majesty,” Zooey said unhappily through her consciousness.
“Ahem, female—” The demon was choked by her words, “You’re trampling on the dignity of the senior race!”
“You’ve had enough rest?”
“You—” It glared at the Extraordinary hatefully and decided to swallow what it wanted to say. It lowered its voice and said bitterly, “Don’t think that you can always win. Wars like this are just trivial setbacks for us! You lowgrade bugs, you have no idea what’s on the other side of the mainland. The army of Sky-sea Realm is engulfing the land little by little, trying to turn the whole world into an abyss. If it were not to stop them, you, with such poor power, would have been crushed into ashes by us 400 years ago!”