“Should this be considered a good thing or a bad thing?”
Tang Nai didn’t touch her slightly swollen cheek, only giving a bitter smile.
In fact, she was feeling quite smug deep down, even though her face remained expressionless.
Of course, this didn’t mean she had a hidden masochistic streak; she was simply glad she had found such a good method.
Technically, the one getting beaten right now was 007’s body.
However, Tang Nai did feel the pain, and she was using it to try and awaken certain dormant emotions in the depths of her heart.
“It’s not exactly a good thing for me,” Su Ya said coldly, though she seemed to have lost the desire to continue her assault.
“I’m just letting her step onto the path that was always meant for her.”
“And then what? To be overtaken by a power so vast it’s impossible to control, just like you? To suffer from a severe Magic Power disease?”
“It’s actually not as terrifying as you make it sound…”
Tang Nai tried to argue further, but Su Ya cut her off harshly.
“Whether it’s terrifying or not, you and I both know the truth. The reason I can still stand here and talk to you isn’t just a coincidence — it’s mostly because my obsession and rage are keeping me going.”
She grabbed Tang Nai’s collar tightly, dragging her frail body up from the lounge chair, her expression filled with resentment.
“If she regains her complete Authority, she will be more powerful than anyone in history…”
“Heh, that’s not necessarily true.”
This was the one thing Tang Nai dared to deny with absolute certainty.
“…Are you trying to show off your own power? If you’re truly intoxicated by it, then do it now. Show me exactly how strong that power you’re so proud of really is.” Su Ya snorted coldly and placed her hand on Tang Nai’s shoulder.
Just like every time she had used it before, she intended to drag Tang Nai down from her self-righteous pedestal…
But the result was that nothing happened.
“Don’t be surprised. The problem isn’t with you. Mortal Bone cannot affect me, just as death itself cannot find my trail.” Tang Nai spoke in a low voice.
She once again remembered the image of the white-haired, blood-eyed Witch sweeping a crimson scythe across her neck.
The kiss of death that was meant to sever her life hadn’t taken the slightest bit of warmth from her.
And now, as always, Su Ya’s will failed to stir even a single ripple in the lake of her heart.
A look of shock appeared in Su Ya’s eyes for the first time.
“I remember your Authority having something to do with wealth and the like?”
“That’s long since a thing of the past.”
“…Maybe I have to admit that you’re right sometimes, but on the matter of Su Mu, I will never back down.”
“Don’t you plan on asking for her own opinion?”
Su Ya froze slightly at Tang Nai’s question.
A flash of guilt crossed her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.
“I would rather she know nothing — I would rather she not understand me.”
“Senior, allow me to disagree. That is a truly selfish way of thinking. It’s like harm done in the name of love. To put it bluntly, you’re merely satisfying yourself.”
Su Ya’s pupils shrank slightly as she bit her lower lip.
She understood exactly what Tang Nai was saying, but she simply couldn’t stand by and watch her child walk the same path.
“Are you saying I should just watch her become like me? Watching her gradually lose control and become a puppet of her Authority?”
“What if I can guarantee that won’t happen?”
Tang Nai’s sudden words caused Su Ya’s eyes to light up for a moment before they dimmed again.
“What could you possibly guarantee? Aren’t you more dangerous than she is?”
Tang Nai blinked, her expression one of innocent naivety, “True. I can guarantee that if she’s destined to be unable to resist her own Authority, I’ll be the first to lose control. Then, I’ll drag everyone down to Hell with me…”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. To be even more blunt, once I lose control, everyone — including you and her — will die.”
Tang Nai wished it were a lie, but unfortunately, she knew that this “undying rabbit” of hers never lied.
Su Ya fell silent.
In the distance, Tang Mo, who had been eavesdropping, was also silent.
“My other, more annoying younger sister, can delay it to some extent. However, she seems even more keen on witnessing that moment than I am. After realizing she couldn’t convince me, she even began some frantic experiments using herself as the subject. So, right now, the only person I can rely on is Irina.”
The air stagnated for a moment.
Then, Su Ya spoke in a dry voice, “At least tell me what you saw. What does your Authority actually mean? Otherwise, I’ll find it very hard to believe you.”
“…My original authority did indeed stem from wealth, but its true form is a bit embarrassing to mention. For now, let’s call it ‘Happiness.’ But later — well, you know. Ever since I killed my father with my own hands, I’ve come to hate myself especially. I realized that everything I did was actually in vain. Everything I obtained from life would eventually amount to nothingness. Even the process of my worrying would only yield a meaningless answer.”
The hint in Tang Nai’s words led Su Ya toward an ominous realization.
She held her breath.
At that moment, she suddenly realized that perhaps by letting her heart be entirely consumed by Su Mu, she had owed this girl — once a savior — far too much.
“I tried to categorize these symptoms within the realm of medical science — suicidal tendencies caused by depression. I thought it all stemmed from insufficient hormone secretion. If the medicine didn’t work, at most it would just be death. But the moment the thought of dying appeared, it was already too late.”
Tang Nai’s pitch-black hair faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few moments, it turned completely grayish-white.
Similarly, her eyes became dim and gray.
The person sitting before Su Ya was the Tang Nai Su Mu was familiar with, but she wasn’t the one Su Ya knew.
Right now, she was like a night-blooming cereus about to wither — blooming for a single breath, only to decay in a flash.
“At that time, only Mo was with me. You know she’s quite special. Back then, her thought was that her ability could bring me the sweet release of death, so she tried. The result is that I can still appear before you now.”
Tang Nai spread her hands, gesturing to her body.
She was so petite she could be described as frail, yet the scythe that had easily cut down Edma passed right through her neck without drawing a single drop of blood.
“So my authority is ineffective against you too…”
“Exactly. Because the very act of trying to target me is impossible. My Authority is now — Nothingness.”
***
“You mean you gave her that stuff — which is basically poison — to drink?”
Irina’s gaze was like a sword as she gripped Yang Siqing’s collar.
If she could, she wanted to throttle the Witch’s throat, but she resisted the urge.
“Her condition seems very good…”
The brown-haired girl spoke with difficulty.
In the next moment, countless dark purple Threads of Dominion pierced her limbs, suspending her like a marionette.
Her hands were forced behind her back and pressed inward, and her expression immediately filled with pain.
“You should be glad. If anything had actually happened to her, you’d be dead by now. So, does that wine have side effects?”
“There are some…”
A heavy punch struck Yang Siqing’s abdomen, making her double over.
However, it still did nothing to alleviate the rage in Irina’s heart.
“What side effects?”
Irina knew that this level of physical pain meant nothing to a Witch, so she continued to press her.
‘I shouldn’t have let these people run wild from the start… They should be bound by the strictest laws and stripped of all their extraordinary abilities.’
“The wine… hah… the wine. She must stay in a ‘drunk’ state at all times. That’s the only way to maintain her mental stability.”
“You mean the alcohol content in her blood is constantly over the limit?”
Yang Siqing’s right wrist was twisted until it snapped.
The Threads of Dominion pushed through her skin, taking over her fragile sensory nerves and inflicting every pain imaginable on her mind.
Even with a Witch’s mental strength, she almost couldn’t bear it.
“Give me the simplest solution. I’ll give you ten seconds to organize your words, or I’ll use you as an experiment.”
Irina’s face was grim.
At some point, a bottle of strange, neon-colored liquid appeared in her hand, and she brought it slowly toward Yang Siqing’s mouth.
“There’s a way! There is! Find someone to take over her Authority, and the effects of the wine will dissipate on their own!”
“Then you’ll do it…”
“It’s impossible! Only someone with the same bloodline can do it! No one else can!”
Hearing Irina’s words, Yang Siqing began to struggle frantically, as if Su Ya’s Authority were some kind of vile curse.
But her actions were completely useless.
Irina’s expression shifted between light and shadow as she unconsciously bit her silver teeth.
‘It’s impossible to give it to Su Mu now. Does that mean I’m the only one who can… After all that, have we ended up right back where we started?’
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