NOVEL WEB chapter 173
98. Phoenix Overlord
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Cold liquid dripped onto her skin, bringing a nauseating sensation like a snake slithering across her body.
Anna had not yet opened her eyes, but she could feel the humidity and heat in the air, like the lair of some reptile.
The feeling of power sealed within her, the fatigue, had not faded; she could still feel the cold shackles on her wrists.
But this was certainly no longer the Silence Agency’s prison.
In her hazy memories, she only recalled the sound of a violent explosion that shattered the prison walls.
The sensation of blood splattering from the jailer still lingered on her skin.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
A familiar, detestable, sultry voice rang in her ears.
Anna lifted her head to see a provocatively dressed enchantress before her.
The siren held a still-beating heart in her hands, savoring it as if it were a delicacy, and upon noticing Anna’s gaze, she tilted her head and smiled alluringly.
“We meet again, Anna Carberlin.”
Anna remained silent, merely staring coldly at the woman before her.
“Oh dear, why so unfriendly? You should know that although the strong ones stationed at the Silence Agency’s division have been drawn away for some reason, leaving it vulnerable, we still paid a great price to rescue you, losing nearly a third of our followers. Can’t you show a bit more gratitude?”
“Gratitude? Gratitude for solidifying my guilt in collusion with heretics?” Anna replied, her expression devoid of emotion.
“Collusion? How can you say such a thing?”
The siren pouted her red lips in displeasure. “We are family, after all. Can we really use such an ugly term as collusion among family?”
“Who considers you family!” Anna’s hands suddenly clenched tightly, her knuckles turning white.
“Oh dear, shouldn’t family understand and tolerate each other? Or perhaps…”
The siren looked at Anna, a deep mockery glimmering in her eyes:
“Do you have any other place to belong now, Anna Carberlin?”
“…”
Anna’s expression darkened suddenly, her clear eyes transforming into chilling slits. The sound of her wrists rubbing against the shackles echoed like metal clashing, and from that seemingly fragile body, a terrifying killing intent was unleashed, sending shivers down the spine.
But this sight did not instill fear in the female demon; instead, it made her burst into hearty laughter.
“That’s right, that’s right! Just like that, Anna Carberlin, the more you resist, the less chance you have of turning back!”
“What do you want to do?” Anna suddenly felt a wave of weakness and asked dejectedly.
“Going around in circles, just to make me a wanted criminal?”
“What can I do? The academy and that Campbell’s protection are both troubles for us. We can only eliminate all of this from around you first. As for the purpose… haven’t I already said? I want to invite you to join us.”
“But there are other patients with snake transformation disease, why are you so fixated on me, even…”
Recalling everything the female demon had done, Anna’s delicate body began to tremble slightly.
“Even going so far as to attack the Silent Mechanism, what benefit does that bring you?”
“Oh dear, haven’t you realized yet? Anna Carberlin, you are special.”
“Special?”
“That’s right, special. Generally, normal patients with snake transformation disease have an incubation period of one to three years. The longer the time, the higher their adaptability to the power of the Great Moon after becoming a snake person. In other words, the longer the incubation period, the more blessings they will receive from the Moon.”
“Isn’t that a wonderful thing?”
“And you…”
The female demon suddenly leaned in closer, staring intently at Anna’s gradually pale face, a flash of jealousy flickering in her eyes:
“And you, from the moment you were born, have been a patient of snake transformation disease. So let’s calculate, how long has your incubation period lasted?
Twenty… one, you are twenty-one this year, exactly twenty-one years. Do you know what this means?
Before you, the longest incubation period for snake transformation disease was only ten years.”
“I…”
Anna’s face grew even paler, but she still took a deep breath, suppressing the panic and fear within her, and said:
“I don’t know what you mean. I only started showing signs of snake transformation two years ago.”
“Ha ha ha, two years ago? What a clumsy lie.”
The female demon laughed again, her body shaking with mirth as her hand brushed across Anna’s flawless cheek, the mockery in her eyes growing more intense,
“If you only showed signs of snake transformation two years ago, then tell me, with such a pitiful appearance…
Why were you abandoned by your biological parents shortly after birth?”
“…There are always some scumbag parents in the world, what does that prove?” Anna’s hands clenched tightly once more.
“Oh dear, oh dear, don’t be angry, don’t be angry, I’m just emphasizing a fact for you.”
The female demon laughed carelessly, “Anna Carberlin, aside from us, you have no other place to belong. Only we are your companions.”
“So I’ll ask you again, do you want to join us?”
“No.” The answer was still given without any hesitation.
“Oh dear, won’t you consider it a bit more?”
“Such things don’t even need to be considered.”
Anna lowered her gaze and said softly:
“I could never join you, even if I were to become utterly alone again.”
After all, loneliness is something I’ve long since grown accustomed to, isn’t it?
But…
Thinking of a certain figure, Anna let out a wistful sigh in her heart.
Junior, it seems there will be no more opportunities to teach you about potions. I hope you can continue to work hard on your own.
“Oh my, what an unexpected response. I didn’t think you would be so resolute. In that case, I suppose I’ll have to resort to a little trick.”
“What do you want to do?” Anna narrowed her eyes, feeling tense.
“Oh, nothing much. I just want to talk to you… about the story of your abandonment by your parents.”
The female demon leaned close to Anna, whispering softly, like the murmur of a devil:
“That orphanage, I’ve heard you haven’t returned in years. I wonder if that’s true.”
“You…!”
The armrest of the chair was instantly crushed in her grip, her eyes transforming once more into the fierce slits of a serpent. Anna glared at the female demon, momentarily losing her composure:
“I warn you, don’t touch the orphanage!”
“Oh dear, don’t worry. I won’t do anything. After all, having just taken over the Silent Agency branch, I wouldn’t want to draw attention to myself at such a tense moment.
But if you make me very unhappy, I might just act on a whim and do something regrettable.”
The female demon chuckled, continuing to lick her heart, her gaze unwavering as it met Anna’s cold stare.
“What do you say?”
After a long moment of staring, Anna slumped back in her chair.
“…Despicable.”
“Why, that’s the greatest compliment I could receive! But since we’ll all be family from now on, it might not be good to keep pressuring you like this, so I’ll graciously take a step back.”
The female demon deftly flicked her fingers, placing a vial of potion in front of Anna.
“You just need to drink this, and I won’t interfere further.”
“What is this…?”
“With your potion expertise, you should be able to recognize what this is.”
“…”
Anna reached out, uncapping the vial and inhaling the complex scent. In an instant, the name and effects of the potion flooded her mind.
“Evolution potion…”
“That’s right, it’s the evolution potion, capable of awakening the latent bloodline within a person.”
“Then why… must you make me drink this?”
“Because… time is running out.
I think you have already sensed that, according to the original trajectory, you still had a few years before you would fully mature and become the most perfect serpent person in this world.”
The female demon lifted her head, gazing at the dim ceiling, her expression revealing an overwhelming fervor as if she saw something beyond.
“But not long ago, the moon delivered a divine decree, the holy war is approaching, the divine realm is about to descend, and the esteemed one is coming to this filthy mortal world.
So before that, we must make all necessary preparations.
And you, Anna Carberlin, are the most crucial part of it.”
“The most crucial part…”
Upon hearing this, Anna’s delicate body suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably; she finally started to see the enormous darkness lurking beyond the fog of her fate, a darkness that seemed poised to devour everything.
I cannot let them succeed in their plan; I must, I must resist!
Otherwise, many innocent lives will be sacrificed.
But…
“What’s wrong?”
The female demon propped her chin on her hand, tilting her head, looking at Anna with a cute gaze like a young girl, playfully asking:
“Are you still going to choose to refuse?
Well, as family, I certainly won’t force you, so it’s perfectly fine if you don’t drink; at worst…”
The demon curled her lips into a smile, silently mocking like a venomous snake.
“At worst, I can still use love to change you, to warm the hearts of others with love, something I’m best at.”
The demon licked the still vibrant heart in her hand, smiling seductively.
Anyone could tell that the love she spoke of was not a good thing.
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Cold water droplets continued to fall, like the pendulum of fate counting down the sands of despair.
“…I’ll drink.”
After a long silence,
“I’ll drink.”
These simple words seemed to drain all of Anna’s strength; she slowly lifted the evolution potion before her with trembling hands.
So incredibly heavy.
“Remember your promise.”
“Rest assured, as I said earlier, at this critical moment, I will not take any unnecessary actions that could affect the plan.”
“I hope so.”
Anna tilted her head back and drank the potion in one gulp.
A warm current flowed down her throat, spreading rapidly into her abdomen.
One of the terrifying characteristics of the potion was its absorption rate, designed to ensure that healing or mana-restoring potions could take effect in critical moments.
Thus, from the moment those crystalline liquids entered her body, there was no turning back.
In an instant.
Anna’s body suddenly became incredibly rigid.
The potion bottle slipped from her hand, shattering into pieces.
Dark veins pulsed beneath her fair skin, fine scales began to spread from her sleeves, and the once heated blood gradually turned cold. Anna could feel her heart beating slower and slower, as if encased in a layer of solid ice.
The world suddenly transformed; the colors in her vision faded, leaving only an indistinguishable gray-white, while at the edges of all objects, lines of red, yellow, and blue danced and flickered.
And at the center of this gray-white world, something stood out vividly.
It was… a heart.
Anna slowly lifted her head, staring blankly at the heart in the demoness’s hand. She gently flared her nostrils, as if catching a whiff of an intoxicating fragrance.
So fragrant.
So fragrant.
I want… to eat.
“Oh dear, do you want to eat it?”
The demoness chuckled, placing the heart before Anna.
“Go ahead, consider it… a gift from your family.”
Anna reached out her hand, gradually moving toward the heart.
But just as her fingers were about to touch it, her other hand suddenly grasped her wrist, pushing it back down.
“No…”
Anna’s serpent-like eyes trembled anxiously, gasping for breath, as countless whispers echoed in her ears, relentlessly wearing down her will. Yet she clutched her hand tightly, refusing to let go.
“Absolutely not…”
“Is there still a will to resist?”
A hint of surprise flickered in the demoness’s eyes:
“But that’s alright, this is just the beginning, Anna Carberlin. Enjoy the great moon’s favor upon you.”
The demoness straightened up, but just as she was about to leave, she heard Anna, in her muddled state, unintentionally murmur.
“Junior…”
“Junior? Are you hoping for him to save you?”
The demoness glanced down, mocking laughter escaping her lips:
“How naive you are, yet you have already become a complete monster in front of everyone. No one will come to save you, no one…”
……
……
After Celicia left, the entire ward became eerily quiet.
Mu En got out of bed, put on his coat, and walked out of the ward.
This was the familiar St. Maria campus hospital, where very few students came due to their basic knowledge of healing magic.
It was exceptionally desolate.
No one stopped Mu En as he made his way out, except for that middle-aged doctor from last time, who showed him a look of concern.
Mu En ignored him and exited the hospital.
A thin layer of clouds obscured the sun, and the autumn wind blew, a bit chilly.
Mu En walked on, like a soulless zombie, as if his spirit had been drained away.
He encountered several students along the way.
It seemed the news had been locked away; the students were unaware of the recent events and continued to enjoy their beautiful campus life.
Mu En passed by those laughing boys and girls.
No one deliberately avoided him anymore, nor did anyone show fear at his presence. Even a bold first-year girl greeted him cheerfully.
Mu En stiffly curled his lips in response, but he felt that every little change, every greeting, was a cruel mockery of him.
Because the senior Anna, who had helped him the most on his path of change, now no longer even had the qualifications to enter the academy.
But why are you still here, Mu En Campbell?
Mu En wandered to the grove of sycamore trees he often visited.
It was quiet here, the golden leaves like a shimmering sea spread beneath him.
He often came here to jog in the morning, read, or take a nap.
This place would help him find peace.
But this time, sitting under that familiar sycamore tree, his mind was still in chaos.
Everything that had happened last night, everything that was happening today, spun endlessly in his head.
Like an invisible giant hand, tearing at his soul.
He had thought that the object of fate’s cruelty would be himself; he had long been prepared to face it.
But unexpectedly, that long-awaited fatal blow had fallen upon his senior.
Caught off guard.
“No, Mu En Campbell, you have to pull yourself together.”
Mu En slammed his fist against the sycamore tree, and the golden leaves rustled down. The pain in his fingers finally brought some clarity to his mind.
“Now the senior has been deemed an enemy of humanity by the Silence Mechanism, and a kill-on-sight warrant has already been issued. If you don’t pull yourself together, no one will be able to save her.”
But the word “save” is easier said than done.
Setting aside the murder accusations, the cultists, and the Silent Month—each of these alone is enough to make one’s head spin—there’s an inescapable crux to saving the senior.
—The Serpent Transformation Disease.
If the Serpent Transformation Disease can’t be cured, then everything else is moot.
Yet, whether from Celicia’s words or Mu’en’s memories of the original book, the Serpent Transformation Disease, as a means of spreading disaster during the Silent Month, is said to be incurable.
Even the Black Book is silent at this moment.
“Damn it… If only I could finish reading the entire original book.”
Mu’en is once again engulfed in regret for not having completed the original book. Although the plot has veered off course by a thousand miles and can no longer serve as a reference, the information it contains is still quite useful.
“And… thinking back, the reason the senior is suddenly facing her current predicament is largely because of me.”
“Because of me, the blonde villain, causing a shift in the fate line…”
“The Silent Month, as a malevolent god that only starts causing trouble in the mid-section of the original book, shouldn’t have exposed the senior’s Serpent Transformation Disease so early. After all, she later interacts with the protagonist, Ariel, under the guise of a mysterious shopkeeper.”
Huh?
Wait?
Shopkeeper?
Ariel?
A spark of realization flickers in Mu’en’s mind, as if he has suddenly grasped something.
“Mu’en Campbell? What are you doing here?”
Just as Mu’en is about to seize that fleeting thought, he suddenly hears a familiar voice tinged with annoyance.
Turning around, as if summoned, he sees Ariel, holding a large bag of black bread, looking at him with a displeased expression, as if she had stumbled upon trash on the road.
“Ariel? What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing here? Is this your house? I’m just passing by! You’re blocking the way, Mu’en Campbell!”
“Oh, oh.”
Mu’en realizes that he is indeed standing in the middle of the path.
However, this path is usually deserted; how could Ariel be…
Glancing at the black bread in her arms, Mu’en decides it’s better to play dumb.
“Hmph, running to a place like this in broad daylight, it’s really infuriating.”
Having failed to obtain the ancient dragon’s essence and spent all his savings on promotion materials, he can only sneak into the cafeteria to grab black bread to eat, only to encounter the last person he wants to see… Ariel glares at Mu’en fiercely, nudges past him, and continues on her way.
“Wait.”
But she has barely walked a few steps when Mu’en calls out to her.
“Do you have something to say? Mu En Campbell!”
Ariel turned around in anger, only to find Mu En staring at her with the wide-eyed gaze of a big bad wolf spotting a little rabbit, his eyes sparkling with intensity.
“What… what are you doing?”
Ariel was startled by Mu En’s gaze.
He looked like this…
“Mu… Mu En Campbell, have you finally been unable to suppress the beastly soul you’ve hidden for so long?”
Glancing around the secluded path, a sense of crisis washed over Ariel. She quickly pulled out the black baguette from her arms and elegantly twirled it like a sword.
If this beast dares to do something bad, I’ll smash him to pieces with this baguette!
The legendary breadstick that has killed countless foes is no joke!
But Mu En didn’t do what she expected. He simply scrutinized Ariel with an odd gaze, looking her up and down repeatedly, as if he had discovered something, the light in his eyes growing ever brighter.
“Ariel, may I ask you a question?”
“Wha… what question?”
“If a girl, with whom you’ve had many exchanges but whose true identity you don’t know, were to fall ill with an incurable disease, what would you do?”
“Incurable disease?”
Ariel paused for a moment, then asked seriously, “Is the girl beautiful?”
“Beautiful.”
“How beautiful?”
“Hmm…”
Mu En thought for a moment:
“More beautiful than that blonde beauty you met a while ago.”
“Cure her, it must be cured, even if I have to sell everything I own!” Ariel slammed her thigh, “Incurable disease, what nonsense! This world has so many powerful magics, there must be a way to heal her!”
“But that illness is related to an evil god…”
“So what if it’s an evil god!”
Ariel’s brows furrowed fiercely as she declared:
“Dare to interrupt my pursuit of girls, no, dare to interrupt my strategy, no, dare to interrupt my creation of a crystal palace… no, dare to interrupt the happiness I bring to beautiful girls, even if it’s an evil god, I’ll chop you down!”
Ariel’s domineering words echoed, stirring the birds in the forest.
“…”
Mu En opened his mouth slightly, gazing at Ariel, the light in his eyes growing ever brighter.
As if something had suddenly become clear.
“Right, how could I not have thought of that?”
“What… what?”
“You are Ariel!”
Mu En stepped closer to Ariel, suddenly grabbing her shoulders and shaking her excitedly.
“You are the ultimate yuri sea king, you are the invincible Feng Ao Tian, you are the woman who aspires to build a crystal palace, you are the true protagonist Ariel Bugalde, embodying both hacks and destiny!”
Although he didn’t know what would happen next, since he had a connection with Ariel as the shop owner, how could the senior easily die?
Or rather, how could she so easily become a puppet of the evil god?
In a yuri Feng Ao Tian novel, sending a knife to a beautiful female character would definitely earn the author a barrage of criticism from readers!
He believed that the original author wasn’t that foolish!
It was even possible that the senior was an important character in the storyline of the Silent Moon, which was why those evil cultists would go so far as to attack the Silent Mechanism just to take her away.
In other words… the snake transformation disease might not be uns”What… what?”
“You are Ariel!”
Mu En stepped closer to Ariel, suddenly grabbing her shoulders and shaking her excitedly.
“You are the ultimate yuri sea king, you are the invincible Feng Ao Tian, you are the woman determined to build the Crystal Palace, you are the true protagonist Ariel Bugarde, embodying both the cheat and destiny!”
Although he didn’t know the subsequent plot, since he had established a connection with Ariel as the shopkeeper, how could the senior sister possibly die so easily?
Or rather, how could she become a puppet of the evil god so easily?
In a yuri Feng Ao Tian novel, giving a beautiful female character a knife would surely earn the author scorn from readers!
He believed that the original author wasn’t that foolish!
It was even possible that the senior sister was an important character in the original plot of the Silent Moon, which explained why those evil cultists were willing to attack the Silent Mechanism just to take her away.
In other words… the snake transformation disease might not be unsolvable!
“Haha, the senior sister is saved, Ariel, I love you to death… Ow! That hurts!”
Overwhelmed with excitement, Mu En hugged Ariel, almost going in for a kiss.
Naturally, he was met with Ariel’s iron fist, instantly curling up on the ground like a boiled shrimp, clutching his abdomen.
“Mu En Campbell, what on earth are you going crazy about!”
Ariel’s face flushed with embarrassment as she said angrily:
“I warn you, don’t think of doing anything inappropriate to me, I’m only interested in beautiful ladies!”
“Haha, right, only interested in beautiful ladies… that’s right, I’m also only interested in beautiful ladies…”
After taking a punch, Mu En was even more excited. He sprang up and was about to run towards the club classroom building.
But after just a couple of steps, he suddenly turned back, walked up to the bewildered Ariel, snatched the black bread from her hand, and threw it on the ground.
“How can you keep eating this? Your chest will get smaller.”
“Mu… Mu En Campbell! What are you doing—”
Ariel stared at her dinner that was now gone, momentarily stunned. But before she could get angry, she felt a stack of something slapped into her hand.
It was a dark green, neat stack of cash!
The fresh ink scent of the new bills snapped Ariel out of her daze, and she exploded in anger:
“Mu En Campbell, are you trying to humiliate me with money? I warn you, I am not that kind of person…”
Before she could finish her sentence.
A second stack.
A third stack.
…
The hundredth stack.
Mu En pulled out all the cash he had on him, a total of one million, and threw it all at Ariel.
“Go, take it all, buy something good to eat. I suggest milk with papaya for every meal. Ariel, don’t give up, believe me, you can still be saved!”
Mu En patted Ariel’s shoulder vigorously, giving her a thumbs up:
“You don’t have to pay me back. This is my gratitude to you!”
“…”
Ariel gaped, staring blankly at Mu En, who had thrown the money and run off, once again plunged into utter confusion.
Wh… what just happened?
Ariel lowered her head in a daze, looking at the pile of cash beside her, her mind a blank.
…
Drowning in money, at a loss.
…
…
A gentle breeze rustled through the forest.
The sun had somehow pierced through the clouds, casting a soft twilight.
At the end of this golden path, Mu En walked briskly, stepping boldly into the unknown ahead.
“Please hold on a little longer, senior.”
This time, Mu En’s gaze was firm, no trace of confusion left:
“I’m here to save you.”