Hate Me, Miss Witch!

The night had grown deep.

The blood-red twilight that once dominated the sky was now replaced by a heavy, dark shroud of night.

On a cliff overlooking the sea, Xaya had stripped off his soaked clothes and was wringing them dry piece by piece.

"The infamous Grant Sea doesn't disappoint," he muttered to himself.

"Playing the hero and saving a damsel in distress isn't easy. Without that life vest, I might've ended up like Jack Dawson in Titanic."

He sighed wistfully. "Moments like this make me wish I had a water-type pet beast with a Surf ability."

A disgruntled squeak came from a golden-furred monkey sitting nearby, staring at its Beast Tamer with reproachful eyes.

What's with that look? it seemed to say. You're the one who insisted I evolve along the spatial-temporal path, and now you're longing for some random water beast? How ungrateful!

If you had just given me water-type evolution materials back then, I could've learned Surf too! But if I had, would I have turned into... a water monkey?

The thought seemed off somehow, leaving the little golden monkey scratching its head in irritation.

A soft cry from Silver interrupted the interaction between Xaya and his indignant pet.

"I knew it," Xaya murmured, his brows furrowing as he sensed the information transmitted through their soul bond. "That old fox Norton didn't have anything good planned."

Turning his gaze, he looked toward Sylvia, the young girl sleeping peacefully not far away. Her chestnut hair, damp and clinging to her cheek, did little to detract from her striking beauty.

Even the most critical eye would find it difficult to deny her appearance, one that seemed almost crafted to inspire pity and admiration alike.

That is—if you ignored the ominous, shapeless shadow behind her.

The shadow, intangible and suffused with an unspeakable, tainted aura, radiated an invasive malice that corroded everything around it. Even from meters away, its presence weighed heavily on Xaya's chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Worse still was the sudden onset of whispers in his mind—disjointed mutterings that spoke of madness, despair, and rage.

It was as if a thousand chaotic voices had flooded his consciousness, each screaming their truth:

"The empire crumbles under the blood-red star..."

"Nature gives its bounty to man, yet man gives nothing back..."

Even with his mental fortitude as a Tier-2 Beast Tamer, it took Xaya considerable effort to suppress the torrent of negative emotions.

"Half-body of the Dusk God," he murmured grimly.

The cryptic hints Norton had dropped now made sense. Xaya, with knowledge from 500 years in the future, had verified the truth with his collected intel.

Sixteen years ago, the Cangting Duchy faced a catastrophe—a god descended upon the mortal realm.

The being known as "Dusk" wreaked havoc, turning half the duchy into desolate wasteland.

While the combined forces of the Grand Duke and nearby kingdoms managed to suppress the god's manifested form, they could not destroy it. At great cost, they sealed it instead.

Most of the god's power was locked beneath the ducal family's great array. But a fragment, for reasons unknown, had settled within the body of the duke's newborn daughter—Sylvia.

For the ignorant masses, Sylvia became the perfect scapegoat. Her occasional outbursts, during which the fragment's power breached its seal, only confirmed their fears.

With the truth buried and public opinion manipulated, the young noblewoman was branded as the avatar of the Dusk God—a harbinger of calamity. All the hatred, fear, and resentment of the people were heaped upon her shoulders.

From birth, Sylvia carried the fate of a "Jinchuriki."

But unlike a certain seventh Hokage, who would eventually win over his village, Sylvia's story—at least in the timeline Xaya knew—did not end with redemption.

These thoughts flitted through Xaya's mind before he turned his focus back to the sleeping girl.

The task before him—containing the godly fragment—was the hardest part of his third-stage novice quest.

The chaotic essence invading Sylvia's body was but a sliver of the Dusk God's full power. Yet even this fragment, though sealed by layers of powerful enchantments, was dangerous.

During moments of Sylvia's mental instability, this essence leaked through the seals, twisting reality and causing devastation. Entire neighborhoods could be obliterated, or victims transformed into grotesque, mindless thralls praising the Dusk God.

But Xaya wasn't unprepared.

Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a small vial of alchemical liquid and downed it in one gulp.

[System Notice]

You have consumed a Temporary Mental Fortification Potion (Alchemical City).

Mental strength temporarily enhanced. All mental-based pet abilities are strengthened. 30 seconds later, you will enter a "Mental Fatigue" state for 30 minutes.

Xaya paid no heed to the notifications. He handed the vial to Silver, who sniffed it curiously before emitting a soft, resonant hum.

"Right," Xaya muttered, steel in his voice.

"To handle a tailed beast like this, illusions are the way to go."

In both his and Silver's eyes, a silver moon began to emerge—spinning, expanding, its light spilling into the night.

Bit by bit, the phantom moon crossed from their vision into reality, bathing the sleeping Sylvia and her ominous shadow in its silvery glow.

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