As a scholar studying witches, Ethan saw a witch from outside Lindong for the first time today.
Immortality became one of their symbols.
Palansi mentioned over the phone that the Nightmare was once an Imperial, born in a border city of the Empire. It was during the peak of the Empire’s external wars, almost every city shrouded in the shadow of war, with batches of knights embarking on expeditions and injured ones returning from the front lines daily.
Hospitals were almost entirely occupied by injured soldiers, corpses piled in the streets, emitting a stench of decay, awaiting mass cremation.
The Nightmare Witch grew up in such an environment.
She once had a prosperous family, born into nobility, which allowed her access to a wealth of magical and extraordinary knowledge from a young age. This environment persisted until she was twelve, when her father, obeying the orders of Henry III, led the Knight Order to intercept the enemy’s legion.
The troops involved in this mission were entirely wiped out, and with the loss of their pillar and the sabotage from hostile forces, the Nightmare’s family fell into disarray. Their home was raided, and her mother vanished; she went from being a pampered noble lady to an orphan wandering with her servant.
It was from that day that the Nightmare became obsessed with the study of magic, developing an unusual fixation on immortality, and even to the point of violating the church’s bans to delve into forbidden knowledge.
Ethan kept this information in mind.
Meanwhile, Lindong, who had a personality like a cat, seemingly didn’t welcome the arrival of the Nightmare. Upon learning of her intent to take her and Rowena back into the abyss, she immediately began to hiss.
If the Nightmare continued speaking, this angry kitty might truly take aggressive action.
Lindong’s eyes were filled with disgust.
This was supposed to be her and Ethan’s wonderful night; she had specially groomed and dressed up that afternoon, smelling nice, but all this beauty was shattered by the sudden emergence of the Nightmare.
Wherever Nightmare’s members arrived, there was definitely nothing good.
Fortunately, with his interaction with Lindong, Ethan had become adept at soothing cats. He patted Lindong on the shoulder, and when she turned her face in confusion, he placed his hand on her chin, gently scratching it.
The anger in Lindong’s eyes disappeared, she squinted, showing an expression of enjoyment, and let out a soft sound from her nose.
This scene greatly shocked the Nightmare.
That was her student, now being soothed like a house cat, seemingly completely tamed!
She had never seen Lindong show such an expression.
To the reserved Bazatous followers, only the closest of people would allow such touch, the Nightmare remembered Lindong having the quintessential Bazatous traits, valuing physical contact, disliking others touching her easily, not even allowing Rowena, her companion, to do so.
The Nightmare also remembered Lindong’s cat form was cute and charming, making one want to stroke her and hold her, yet such transgressions would only earn them an accumulation of icy arrows.
Rowena, persistent, had "fallen over" countless times because of this.
Yet, Ethan accomplished what she, as a teacher, could only dream of!
The soft nasal sound seemed to be her acting coy towards Ethan, and the narrowing eyes almost melted the Nightmare’s heart.
What a gentle and cute good kitty!
It was as if the one hissing at her, sending eye signals of "stab you" was no longer the same person.
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Ethan proactively invited the Nightmare, closing the door leading to the banquet hall, shutting out the lights and noise from the other side. At that moment, under the sparse moonlight and stars, the environment became much quieter. The terrace had several sets of tables and chairs, originally intended as a space for conversation beyond the banquet.
The Nightmare reined in her envy and jealousy, sitting opposite Ethan.
The hissing kitty was comforted, and the atmosphere for conversation eased significantly, but she still expressed her thoughts, "I won’t go back with you."
Since the time in Ximu Town, she and Rowena had planned to leave the Nightmare, except the organization had no formal system, and did not offer members the option to leave. It seemed once you joined the Nightmare, you had to be an Evil God’s Follower for life.
But on the other hand, the Nightmare’s management of its members was extremely lax, almost non-existent, Lindong and Rowena calculated that as long as they didn’t clearly state their intention to leave to the Elder Council nor actively oppose them, the Nightmare didn’t have any control over them.
And so it was, before the Nightmare’s arrival tonight, Lindong had almost left the matters of the Nightmare behind.
Receiving Lindong’s decisive reply, the Nightmare’s eyes darkened.
Her mind was a bit scattered, Lindong’s attitude towards her suddenly made her realize a serious question—did Lindong know she always saw her as a student?
The Nightmare prided herself on being an old-fashioned Bazatous follower, one of whose characteristics was extreme reserve in emotional expression. She thought Lindong was like her, able to sense her thoughts from many details of their interaction, thus in her imagination, she assumed the roles of student and teacher.
Since leaving the Empire to live in the Abyss, the Nightmare had never cared about anyone this much.
This was because she saw her own shadow in Lindong, and also because of the astonishing talents this student possessed.