"Huh?" The president of the Paw-Stretching Club blinked in confusion. "What kind of nonsense are you blathering on about...? I asked what your plan for the Void Realm is tonight."
"Void Realm plan, huh..." Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's just play it by ear as we go."
The sports car roared to life, surging in pursuit of the distant foot of the White Ox. Golden rain streamed swiftly into the Alchemical Throne like rays of light, converting into sorcery power for the sorcerers.
Feeling her sorcery power nearing full capacity, Sonia estimated that within a day or two, she would be able to completely coalesce her golden void wings and officially become a Two-Winged Sorcerer. Although there was no shortcut like a 'Vortex' to rapidly absorb sorcery power, the cultivation bonus from the sports car and the Alchemical Throne accelerated their absorption rate to more than a dozen times that of an average sorcerer. A little over a month on the Time Continent had covered ground that took others a year.
If the Sea of Knowledge required a ten-thousand-li voyage, the Time Continent demanded a ten-thousand-li trek. It was just that sorcerers had no options in the Sea of Knowledge: with few sorcery spirits and few miracles, they could only swim dutifully. But the Time Continent was different. After trekking on foot for a few days, sorcerers would feel it was utterly moronic, making acquiring a miracle of locomotion an absolute necessity.
The fact that Sonia still lacked a good miracle of locomotion was largely due to the Watcher picking her up and dropping her off every day like clockwork. In a sense, Sonia had been thoroughly spoiled; without the Watcher, she would probably find every single step on the Time Continent an uphill battle.
At the thought of this, the village girl settled on tonight's conversation topic with the Witch: *What if the Watcher abandons us?* This topic would not only continue to lower the Witch's favorability toward the Watcher, but it would also spark a sense of urgency in her, motivating her to intensify her training in reality!
However, she needed to weigh her words carefully. If the Witch interpreted it as *What if the Watcher abandons YOU?*, it would backfire, making it seem as though she and the Watcher were ganging up to persecute and exploit the Witch.
Therefore, Sonia had to summon genuine, heartfelt emotion, making it seem as though she herself was desperately worried about being abandoned by the Watcher, so that the Witch could truly empathize.
*If I were to be abandoned by the Watcher, what could the reason possibly be...?*
*My operator strength isn't enough? Impossible. He clearly just says that to scare me into training more; I saw through that ages ago...*
*An operator prettier than me appears? Completely impossible. I'm the prettiest one there is...*
*I can't even convince myself with these reasons, so how am I supposed to convince the Witch? But I really can't think of anything else...*
Just as Sonia was brewing a bellyful of scheming thoughts, she suddenly heard strange mutters beside her:
"Poisoning? The success rate is too low."
"In any case, we have to hold on and not let go. We can't give her a chance..."
"Call her mother over? Little Red, did you forget? Her mother wants it too."
"Although it's unlikely, what if they reach a compromise and choose to jointly develop and use it together? How could we compete with that? And her aunt is an enemy too, so that makes three people—almost enough to match our numbers!"
"Damn it, damn it! Every single one of them is wicked, all of them coveting my treasure!"
Listening to the White Queen's hushed murmurs, Sonia watched as the girl's smooth white hair gradually became tinged with vivid red and black, and her gentle expression turned dark and brooding. Sonia wondered what on earth had happened to the Witch in reality for her to be unable to suppress her emotional turmoil even after entering the Void Realm, causing her personas to clash in confusion.
And from the sound of it, someone was trying to snatch something precious away. The Red Apostle believed calling the other party's mother over could stop it, but the White Queen thought the mother and aunt wanted it as well... Could it be some kind of toy?
Sonia quickly held the White Queen close and softly comforted her. The latter realized she had lost control and rested her head gently against Sonia's shoulder.
"Are you alright? Should we—"
"I'm fine. We lost our composure this time. Since we have entered the Void Realm, we shouldn't dwell on matters in reality, and certainly must not bring personal emotions into our work."
Sonia felt a twinge of regret. With the Witch in such foul spirits, there was naturally no way she could bring up the topic of 'being abandoned by the Watcher,' lest she rub salt into the wound.
At that moment, the sports car pulled up outside a resource point. The White Queen gazed toward the depths of the mine: "I hope combat can help me unwind a little."
"It definitely will. When you're in a bad mood, slaughtering a few Fishcleaver Dragons feels immensely satisfying," Sonia said with a smile. "I've even set personal challenges for myself now. My current record is annihilating five Fishcleaver Dragons in a single sword strike. Why don't you set a challenge for yourself too, like seeing how many pieces you can chop a Fishcleaver Dragon into with one attack?"
...
After expertly wiping out the inhabitants and plundering the site, Sonia seized the opportunity while the White Queen went off to search for essence materials, pulling Yaxiu aside. "What was up with you just now?"
"W-What was up with me?" Yaxiu asked nervously.
"Why did you cast Healing Sword and Strengthening Sword on me so many times?" Sonia crossed her arms. "I could have recovered from those minor scratches just with soul energy; I didn't need Healing Sword at all! And Strengthening Sword lasts over twenty seconds, yet you refreshed it on me in less than ten seconds. It's really annoying, you know that?"
Sonia had always found the Watcher's Strengthening Sword utterly bizarre. Buffing was one thing, but for some reason, it produced an intensely visceral sensation. Every time she was buffed, Sonia felt as if she were being wrapped in his embrace. It wasn't that she hated it, but having it happen repeatedly in the middle of battle threw off her rhythm.
"I'm sorry!" Yaxiu immediately pressed his hands together in an apologetic bow. "I'll let you have all of my essence materials tonight!"
"I'm not asking you for compensation..." Sonia furrowed her brow slightly. "Why are you acting so weird tonight?"
"I'm not! I've always been like this—"
"Then look at me and don't move."
Under Sonia's piercing gaze, Yaxiu managed to hold on for barely two or three seconds before he couldn't help averting his eyes. He opened the Void Realm Map and said, "Sword Princess, I think we should head over to—"
"Stop fussing over minor Void Realm business." Sonia pinned Yaxiu against the wall and grabbed his hand. A cluster of shimmering red light emerged at her fingertips, touching against his. "Look into my eyes."
"Sword Princess, the Witch is coming back soon—"
"Look! At! Me!"
Miracle: Treat People with Sincerity!
Sonia had only used this miracle—built upon the 'Sincerity' sorcery spirit—once before, when she shared her emotions inside the cabin of lost memories to let the Witch and the Watcher feel her heart and earn their trust. But this miracle could also be used in reverse. As long as the other party dared not resist, she could read their emotions instead.
Right then, Yaxiu's sharp eyes spotted the Witch emerging from the mine. He immediately used 'Rushing Toward' to teleport outside. "I'll wait in the car while you two finish looting!"
When the White Queen stepped out, she saw the Sword Princess standing alone at the mine entrance, feeding stones to her sorcery spirits. Approaching, she asked, "Sword Princess, where's the Watcher...?"
The moment the Sword Princess turned to look at her, all words died in the White Queen's throat. Her mind was blasted completely blank by an icy, suffocating murderous intent. Managing to gather her wits with great difficulty, she adjusted her spectacles, and the makeup, clothing, and hair on her body instantly turned pitch-black into the Black Butler.
The Black Butler looked at the Sword Princess, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. She took a deep breath: "Sword Princess, you... No, I'm still terrified!"
She adjusted her spectacles once more, stepping aside for the aloof, arrogant battle fanatic, the Red Apostle. The Red Apostle took one look at the Sword Princess and shook her head: "I'm not stupid."
After going full circle, it was ultimately left to Secret Princess Diya to handle the situation. Yet even Diya dared not look directly into the Sword Princess's eyes, which seemed crimson with a condensed sea of murderous blood. She threw her arms around the Sword Princess, burying her head against Sonia's chest, and stammered, "S-Sword Princess, did something happen? Why do you seem in such a, such a terrible mood...?"
"Nothing happened."
The Sword Princess's voice remained soft and melodious, plucking at heartstrings like a feather brushing against the ear. Gently stroking the Witch's little head, she smiled and said, "I just had a strange thought out of nowhere, and I got a bit lost in thought."
"W-What kind of thought?"
"A very silly thought... Just, what if the Watcher abandons me?"
The uneasy restlessness of averting his gaze.
The lingering warmth of a secret joy.
And a crushing weight of guilt.
Though it was the first time she had ever sensed such an emotion, Sonia's intuition—the 'Pitch-Black Mind's Eye,' as the Watcher called it—had already seen through everything.
He had someone on the outside.
Chapter 468