Chapter 542: I Want to Keep Hugging Watcher Forever!

Ashe hadn't seen his teammates after entering the Virtual World, but he was far from anxious.

Prior to this, he had already selected all of his teammates for the Virtual World Exploration through his interface. More importantly, he possessed the Virtual World Map, allowing him to check their locations.

When he first opened the map, however, his attention was immediately drawn to a newly appeared unique mechanic.

Just as he was studying the mechanic, he suddenly heard someone call out, "Watcher!"

"Here!" Ashe instinctively replied, raising his hand while looking around.

And thus, he immediately spotted that flash of crimson among the crowd.

Watching her hurry toward him, lips tightly pressed together as she pushed through the crowd, her eyes fixed straight on him, the cult leader found it somewhat amusing. Hasn't it only been around ten days since we last met? Why does she look like she hasn't seen me for ten years? It's not like I'm going to disappear. There's no need to get this excited...

Despite the thoughts, he still could not stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

He lowered his head and ran his fingers through his bangs. In that instant, all the frustrations weighing on him in reality suddenly vanished.

Ashe quickly walked toward her, thinking about what his first words should be.

Before entering the Virtual World, he had specifically consulted Iger about how to quickly close the distance with friends after a long separation.

Shall I respond with a cheerful "Hehehehe"? Shall I stay calm and respond with "Let's go find the Witch?" Shall I tease her with "Do you miss me after so many days apart?" Or maybe I shall take the counterattack approach and ask her about how she did in her Meteor Calamity match. No wait... I shall flatter her with "Hey, you've become so beautiful that I almost didn't recognize you..." Or... or...

As the distance between them shortened, Ashe realized he would not be able to use any of Iger's prepared strategies.

His strangely accelerated heartbeat seemed to squeeze away his ability to think, leaving his attention fixed only on the person in front of him.

When there were no longer any pedestrians between them, Ashe noticed that the Swordswoman showed no intention of slowing down. He instinctively reached out his arms, preparing to receive her. And then...

"Wa—tcher—!"

With an urgent cry, a soft and delicate body directly threw itself onto him.

Ashe nearly fell over from the impact. When he caught the person rushing into his arms, a trace of surprise appeared in his voice. "Witch?"

Yes, the Witch was clinging to him like an octopus. Her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck, her head resting on his shoulder as she rubbed against him repeatedly. Her pretty face was filled with undisguised joy.

Ashe was surprised by the Witch's sudden display of affection, but the Witch's personality had always been unpredictable, so he was not particularly shocked.

Moreover, the happiness and dependence in the Witch's eyes reminded Ashe of another little girl currently waiting for him. At that moment, his heart became as sweet as ice cream slowly melting away.

The Witch called out his name like she was singing. "Watcher! Watcher! Watcher! Watcher!"

Ashe laughed. "Yes, yes, yes. I'm here. We have only been a few days apart, and you have gotten even cuter."

The Witch affectionately rubbed her face against his and laughed happily. "Mmhmm!"

Beside them, Sonya spoke coldly while holding onto her sword hilt. "Alright, I believe you can come down now. It's only been a little over ten days since we last met. Is it really necessary to be this excited?"

The Witch reacted intensely. "No! I'm not coming down! I want to keep hugging Watcher forever!"

Ashe and Sonya both stared at her in surprise.

Though the Witch did have a reason for hugging the Watcher, no matter how they looked at it, this reaction was far too exaggerated.

Besides, while the Witch was indeed somewhat spoiled and childish, she was not an actual child. She would not normally say something so willfully childish.

At this moment, a subtle change appeared in the Witch's expression.

The spoiled, playful innocence quickly faded away. She shyly climbed down from Ashe and hurriedly explained, "I was just too happy and got a little excited. Sorry."

In Dia's mind, Little Witch was currently being held by Black Butler, while White Queen pulled out Red Death Apostle's copper-skinned belt and whipped Lys' butt over and over again.

Lys cried out, "I was wrong! I was wrong!"

That's right. The one who had wrapped herself around Ashe just now was not Secret Princess, but Little Witch.

Now that Dia had become the Empress, there was no longer any need for a persona to remain stationed in reality. On top of that, Lys had constantly been clamoring about wanting to see Daddy in the Virtual World, so Dia brought her along and gave her younger sister the chance to indulge in their long-awaited reunion.

However, Dia also understood the importance of restraint.

She had to continue keeping the secret in order to maintain the Authority of Secrecy.

Before she completely mastered the divine power of Gospel, if she revealed the truth in front of Ashe, causing the Authority of Secrecy to collapse, all of her personas, even her own consciousness, would be destroyed by the overwhelming Divine Spirit, Gospel.

Therefore, Dia had established rules with Lys that she was not allowed to call him Daddy, only Watcher. She could not reveal anything about their circumstances, and she could not ask about Iger or Harvey.

Lys agreed to everything. And she did follow the rules.

But Dia and the others never expected that even if she could not call him Daddy, the moment Lys saw Ashe, she would react so strongly.

As much as the older sisters were all furious that Lys had crossed the line, Dia knew that deep down, everyone was still happy.

Even after being toyed with by fate, schemed against by the Divine Lord, and forced to wander through a broken life, she could still embrace Ashe once again.

However, one difficult problem still lay ahead of them.

Dia slightly turned her head and immediately met the Swordswoman's undisguised gaze.

She hurriedly looked away, pretending nothing had happened.

Yes, the Swordswoman. She could meet Ashe every night, and she was also a teammate Ashe had discovered himself. What's more, she had known Ashe for longer than Dia and the others.

Back when they were on the Continent of Time, the Swordswoman frequently argued and gave the Watcher the cold shoulder. What's more, she would constantly complain about him to Dia. Therefore, Dia had never been able to determine what their relationship truly was.

After all, in her eyes, the Watcher was not particularly impressive either. Compared to him, Ashe was much better.

But after learning that Ashe and Watcher were the same person, the Witch sisters' opinions underwent a complete reversal.

The reason? Because that was Ashe.

If even they had fallen head over heels for him, how could the Swordswoman possibly not like him?

Black Butler analyzed, "Her pretending to be in conflict with Ashe and constantly telling you bad things about him was actually a way of keeping you away from him. She must have developed improper feelings toward Ashe very early on. From the moment we joined the team, she had already been trying to prevent us from getting close to him.

"How infuriating! If we had realized earlier that Ashe is the Watcher, then perhaps..."

Dia did not want to imagine the Swordswoman as such a malicious person. But regardless of what the Swordswoman's intention was, any woman who appeared beside Ashe was an enemy of the Witch.

Compared to the Swordswoman, they had one enormous advantage, which was that they knew Ashe in reality, while the Swordswoman had never even met Ashe outside the Virtual World!

Unfortunately, because of the Authority of Secrecy, Dia had to keep this to herself. Therefore, this advantage was effectively useless.

Still, it did not matter. She might not be able to reveal that she was Lysdia, but she could still openly interact with Ashe as the Witch and pursue a relationship with him.

Upon deeper thought, this might not actually be a bad thing.

Dia had always wanted to separate herself from Lys. After all, based on Ashe's personality, if he discovered that Lys and Dia were the same person, there was a high chance he would immediately treat her as family, a family member bound only by affection, not romantic feelings.

Even without the issue of Authority of Secrecy, Dia's original intention had been to use a completely clean new identity to start over with Ashe.

Now she did not need to create one. Continuing to use the Witch identity to pursue Ashe was actually much more convenient.

Once she and Ashe established a new relationship, Dia would reveal her true identity.

Therefore, as much as the Authority of Secrecy was a restriction, it also became a source of motivation for her.

Meanwhile...

Staring at the blushing Witch, Sonya's heart filled with deep confusion.

The last time they explored the Virtual World, the Witch's attitude toward the Watcher had only been that of an ordinary teammate.

Why has she suddenly become so enthusiastic?

Since they had not met in the Virtual World during this time, the reason could only come from either internal or external factors.

The internal possibility was that the Witch's personality had changed dramatically. As for the external possibility... it could only be...

Reality.

It was also possible that the Watcher and the Witch had met privately in the Virtual World without her knowing.

However, Sonya would never consider that possibility. Not because she could not imagine it. Rather, if she did imagine it, she had no idea what she herself might do.

Hopefully the Witch is just overly excited for a moment... She better have been.

Sonya suppressed the irritation in her heart. Then she turned and saw Ashe looking around in every direction. She could not help asking, "What are you looking for?"

"Our new teammate," Ashe looked around and called out, "Orchid Weiser!"

A soft, delicate voice came from nearby. "I'm here."

However, neither the Swordswoman nor the Witch paid attention to the newcomer. Instead, they stared at Ashe in shock. Why do you call us by our code names but her by her actual name!?