Chapter 201 147: Fire Witch

At his words, Noxia fell silent.

Luo Ge didn't speak either. He was waiting for her answer.

"...Mr. Luo Ge, I told you I would do everything in my power to help you..."

"And this may be one of the few things I can do to truly help you."

"So, I'm willing to do it, no matter the cost."

"...Please, allow me."

Determination shone in her eyes.

She hadn't answered Luo Ge's question directly, but the cost of her proposal was self-evident.

In response,

Luo Ge simply looked at her calmly and refused outright.

"No."

"There's more than one way to the Fire Element Divine Hall. I don't need anyone to sacrifice themselves for it."

Hearing Luo Ge's firm refusal, Noxia pressed her lips together, not ready to give up. "My Soul should be able to withstand several Prayers... It's completely worth it, Mr. Luo Ge..."

'So it's a Prayer that sacrifices the Soul...'

"Tell me the contents of the Prayer." Luo Ge ignored her plea, focusing his attention on the Prayer itself.

"..." After a moment of silence, Noxia recited the contents of the Prayer. She finished by shaking her head slightly and saying, "...This Prayer can't be substituted with any other method."

'Of course, I know a kind-hearted person like Luo Ge wouldn't easily allow me to sacrifice myself. But I also know that if I don't do this, it's nearly impossible to directly sense the Fire Element Divine Hall.'

"..."

Luo Ge paid no heed to the silly Witch's plea.

He began to focus, using the Spirit Candle's Power to analyze the Prayer's operational logic and how it was used.

After a moment, upon receiving feedback from the Spirit Candle, Luo Ge's eyes narrowed.

'I see...'

The Prayer Noxia wanted to use was called the Soul Fire's Return Song.

Its underlying logic was to consume a specific Soul as fuel in a sacrifice, then use a pre-existing connection within that Soul to find the destination.

In other words, for a Witch like Noxia, her Soul possessed a "connection" from the very beginning to the Fire Element Divine Hall and other important locations.

Therefore, by burning the Soul, a path could be found through the chaos.

The Witch would use her Soul as a lighthouse, guiding the way across a dark sea...

That's why this Prayer was so specific.

Only a Witch could use it.

Likewise, only by burning a Witch's Soul could one point the way to those connected places.

And this process—the burning of a Soul—was irreversible.

Even amnesia, like what Noxia had experienced, was merely a sign of one's Soul Power weakening over time.

It was like how a person who starves for a long time becomes physically weak, losing muscle and Physical Strength.

When this happened to the Soul, it manifested as amnesia and forgetfulness.

This was something that could be repaired and nurtured back to health.

But burning the Soul was like an amputation—it was irreversible.

This...

'Why was it designed this way?'

'Could it be that the Witches in these Daggers were trained from the very beginning to serve as guiding "lights"?'

'Does that mean the one behind all this created the Witches specifically for this moment?'

'Did they know in advance that the world was about to descend into chaos and ruin?'

'Or was it all just a coincidence...?'

Luo Ge's eyes narrowed as he rapidly connected the dots, thinking of more and more suspicious details.

"Mr. Luo Ge..." Seeing his expression, Noxia shook her head. "If I only burn it once or twice..."

"Be quiet."

Luo Ge glanced at her with a slight frown. He had been deep in thought, and Noxia had just broken his concentration.

"..."

At his words, Noxia silently closed her mouth. Her fair, slender hands subconsciously fiddled with the hem of her clothes, like a small child who had done something wrong.

However, Luo Ge quickly snapped out of it.

But it wasn't because he felt sorry for Noxia. Instead, he began to seriously question her about matters related to his recent thoughts.

"How much of your memory has returned? The origin of the Witches, their names, what you've seen and heard... Tell me everything you remember," Luo Ge said.

Seeing that Luo Ge didn't seem to be angry with her, Noxia felt a great weight lift from her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. She then composed herself and began to earnestly recount her memories to Luo Ge.

...

Witches—or, to be precise, Fire Witches, not Dagger Witches.

Every Witch in the Fire Element Divine Hall was a hand-picked candidate, chosen by the "Grey Mother" of the Divine Hall. The Grey Mother would venture into the world and select them while they were still in their mothers' wombs.

After a Fire Witch was born, she would be raised under the Grey Mother's tutelage in the Fire Element Divine Hall. There, they would diligently study the lore of the Land of Burning and the world, learn Prayers, practice Fire Phase prophecy, and so on.

Upon receiving a revelation from the Divine Hall, a Fire Witch would set out to find the Master of the Firewood, who was prophesied to revitalize the world.

On their long journeys, they had to endure loneliness, suffer great hardships, and even face death.

Some of these Witches, after losing their Ability to continue the search for various reasons, would establish chapels to pray for the Master of the Firewood's Descent.

Thus, the footprints of the Fire Witches spread across the entire Land of Burning and even to the surrounding Endless Sea.

But despite their arduous journeys, to this day, none of the Witches have found the prophesied Master of the Firewood.

Otherwise, the world would not have shattered as it did.

And Noxia was one of them.

After receiving her revelation and traveling for a time, she sailed away from the Land of Burning.

Along the way, she witnessed countless wars, hardships, sins, and tragedies.

The world... seemed to be getting worse and worse.

She grew more and more anxious, yet at the same time, felt a profound sense of powerlessness.

Finally, she stopped on an island.