Otaku Witch

"Um, what's wrong?"

Dorothy was startled by the violent reactions of the master and disciple. Her body shivered, and then she cautiously and slightly aggrievedly asked.

"Isn't this Rank not very useful? It's just a certification document, it can't really improve my strength."

The master and disciple were stunned for a moment as if they remembered something; their expressions eased a bit, and then the Angel Witch was the first to speak up.

"Miss, you seem to have always been studying at the Mage Academy, so perhaps you really don't understand. Actually, a witch's Rank not only proves her identity but also relates to another very important thing, which is the witch's Heavenly Mandate."

Sophia remembered the setting of the young miss before her as a veteran homebody and that she even graduated from the basic Mage Academy courses through online classes, rarely actually attending the academy. This had led to a certain lack of common sense for her.

Moreover, the secret of Rank and Heavenly Mandate wasn't really common knowledge after all. For witches above the Great Witch level, it was common knowledge, but for those below, it was a secret known only to a small number of individuals.

Generally, only genius witches would be informed of this secret by their elders in advance. Judging by the surprised expressions of the young miss's family during the recent duel, the miss hid her strength quite well; her own family didn't know she was so powerful, and it was no wonder nobody had told her this secret.

"Heavenly Mandate? What's that?"

Dorothy furrowed her brows, somewhat surprised. This was the first time she had heard the term, but it sounded very impressive.

"Simply put, the Heavenly Mandate is the degree to which the world favors you."

The Dragon Witch took over the conversation. She looked at the daughter in front of her who had repeatedly surprised her and felt the urge to simply take her by force back home. It was truly a waste to leave her to develop by herself; what if she spoiled her potential?

Still, Euphilia ultimately controlled herself and asked Dorothy.

"Do you know the relationship between us witches and the Witch World?"

"Of course, this is clearly written in textbooks. We witches are both the rulers of the world and its daughters. In the early days when the Witch Race was still weak, it was the Mother of the World who sacrificed her own life force to endow the Witch Race with limitless evolutionary potential."

Dorothy answered without hesitation. After all, she was someone on the Path of Omniscience, a scholar; such basic knowledge was not something she would be unaware of.

In this fantasy world, it was not only the major Races that had self-consciousness. Everything had spirit, and look, even her old Magic Wand that she had been using for a long time could nurture a creature like Buster from the Spirit race. Thus, the idea of the world itself birthing consciousness seemed not at all incomprehensible.

In fact, according to the history books of the witches, the reason the original primitive witches evolved from ordinary humans into witches was due to the help of the world consciousness.

The original Witch World was only an average, weak world, and at that time, the world consciousness was also naïve, without a sense of self. But then the invasion of external enemies stimulated the world consciousness and accelerated its self-awareness.

The external enemy that had targeted this weak world was none other than one of the old Calamity Races, the Angel Race. A powerful Angel who called himself the Lord of Glory had set his sights on this world, intending to conquer it and plunder everything clean.

He displayed Divine Power in that primal world, fooling the ignorant populace into worshipping him as a deity, building Churches for him, and actively offering the world's resources and wealth as sacrifices to him.

This was the old strategic maneuver of faith conquest by the angels.

Of course, there are always a few smart individuals in any world, always some warriors who stand up and think that this unknown deity is no good and initiate rebellion.

But how could mere mortals contend against the angels, part of the Calamity Race?

The feeble resistance was easily quelled by the Angels and their believers, and in order to snuff out any spark of rebellion, the Church began a bloody reign, sparking off a ferocious witch hunt.

Anyway, no one knows which little genius of the Church casually pointed at an innocent, beautiful girl by the side of the road and proclaimed, "This woman is so attractive, so charming, she must be impure, her heart must harbor a Devil, she must be a lover of Devils, a witch, we must purify her."

And then the ignorant masses actually put that innocent beauty on the burning stake; the girl, in despair as she faced death, cursed everything and even began to genuinely pray to the Demon, hoping the Demon would grant her the strength to become a true witch.

However, Demons, also being part of the Calamity Race, aren't so easily encountered; for this remote, desolate world to be discovered by an Angel was unlucky enough, let alone being targeted by a Demon as well.

Naturally, the innocent girl's prayers ultimately did not reach the ears of the Demon, but the still naïve consciousness of the world heard the voice of her despair.

The only trouble was that the world's consciousness itself was naïve and had been subjected to severe loss of strength due to years of plunder by the Angels, so much so that it was habitually dormant, awakening only on rare occasions. But, by a stroke of fate, at this very moment, as the girl was about to be burnt at the stake, the world consciousness on the brink of extinction heard her prayer.

And so, in that moment, the soul of the dying girl resonated with the dying world, and a miracle was born.

The naïve world, following its instincts, entrusted all its remaining strength and hope for survival to the girl who shared its plight.

The dying world and the dying girl formed the first covenant.

The world would grant her strength, and she, from then on, would take on the path to confront the outer deities and save the world.

Thereupon, the girl acquired the fundamental force of the world; this was the Creation Power, the Power of Creation and Transformation, the Power of Miracles, the Omnipotent Power, which is also what would later be known as Magic Power.

The first witch was thus born.

She was also the later Great Witch King—Divine King.

Then, as everyone knows, the witches ascended Heaven Mountain and plucked the feathers of the so-called Lord of Glory for their pillows.

The unfortunate Angel, who became a stepping stone in the rise of the witches, is still bound to the cross by the witches, kept alive by various means to forever endure the most cruel of punishments, eternally deprived of salvation.

Now, this is a famous tourist attraction in the Witch World, with free admission. If you pay a little extra, you can even administer the punishment yourself, enjoying the feeling of revenge alongside your ancestors.

Well, that's pretty much the origin of witches.

"Hmm, it seems you've studied your history well. So, what do you think was the key turning point in the rise of the Divine King?"

After listening to her daughter's recount, Euphilia nodded and asked again.

"It's obviously the world's gift."

Dorothy answered without hesitation.

Then she paused, bowed her head in thought for a moment, and more or less understood, realizing what Heavenly Mandate meant.

Seeing this, the Dragon Witch nodded in approval.

"That is the Heavenly Mandate upon her. Now you see the value and strength of Heavenly Mandate, don't you?"