<p>Chapter Sixteen: I Am Here to Save You</p>
<p>Once a person is dead, they cannot be revived; this is another eternal truth of the Land of Rand.</p>
<p>Except for certain sinister evil cults and secret organizations that use the power of Evil Gods to promote such means, even Sorcerers and those in higher realms, including any potions, protections, and gifts, even the legendary Fairy Fountain said to revive all things, can’t achieve true resurrection.</p>
<p>Perhaps only a few orthodox Deities can accomplish this.</p>
<p>So when Shaya presented this reasoning, he felt somewhat anxious inside.</p>
<p>After all, the Witch had lived for so many years and held a divine-like status; her vast knowledge could easily see through lies.</p>
<p>However, upon careful thought, aside from concealing the system and its functions, it seemed that there were no other reservations, as strictly speaking, he truly knew nothing about the origin of the system.</p>
<p>Seeing that the Witch Miss continued to stare at him coldly, Shaya understood that she didn’t believe his earlier words.</p>
<p>So he paused, his face pale, and bitterly smiled as he said, “Lady Agnes, please do not doubt whether I was truly cursed, for it is a deeply ingrained experience of despair.”</p>
<p>“When I was on the brink of being cursed to death, I felt the Black Mist as if it was branded into my mind, ravenously devouring my body and soul. The pain was beyond description; I heard countless undead and eerie beings howling and wailing in my ears, as if trying to drag the cursed into the endless Abyss.”</p>
<p>“Then, I completely lost consciousness.”</p>
<p>“Yet not long after, I woke up again and was shocked to find that all the damage caused by the Black Mist, including the curse itself, had disappeared!”</p>
<p>“Perhaps what I said earlier wasn’t very precise… I don’t know whether this can be considered resurrection, but I survived that curse.”</p>
<p>His words contained seven parts sincerity and three parts inducement.</p>
<p>He tried to subtly link “I can revive from the Black Mist” and “I can make the Black Mist disappear.”</p>
<p>This was a bold attempt.</p>
<p>Though there was no particular reason for it, Shaya had been pondering the scene he witnessed during their last meeting: creating a vibrant scene only to have it ruthlessly destroyed by the Black Mist in the end.</p>
<p>Was this behavior simply for the sake of deriving satisfaction from destruction?</p>
<p>Though it fit the image of a great villain, Shaya vaguely felt that the truth wasn’t like that.</p>
<p>At least he couldn’t read any pleasure or enjoyment from the Witch’s expression.</p>
<p>If it was purely to destroy and witness death, she could easily create a more impactful scene and then annihilate it all.</p>
<p>Shaya looked up, then lowered his head.</p>
<p>The Witch’s expression remained unchanged, but her hands holding the book tightened slightly, her delicate, pale fingers unconsciously drawing inwards, as if lost in thought.</p>
<p>A brief silence ensued.</p>
<p>Feeling that the other party had not erupted nor made any substantial move, Shaya let out a slight sigh of relief and continued, “Also, I sincerely apologize, but there is something I deceived you about.”</p>
<p>“In fact, I am not your follower.”</p>
<p>Shaya’s understanding of the Witch was limited to the surface; he only knew her titles such as “The Supreme Empress of the Abyss” and “The Extremely Evil Demoness Representing Death,” unaware of her powers or the doctrines that needed to be followed.</p>
<p>This lie could easily be seen through, after all, it had only been mentioned offhand, so Shaya simply admitted it outright.</p>
<p>Upon hearing this, the Witch gently raised her head, her cold gaze slowly sweeping over Shaya’s face.</p>
<p>After a moment, she parted her crimson lips, her pleasant voice as chilling as a bone-chilling wind: “If you do not believe in me, why are you here, and why… did you release me?”</p>
<p>The Witch Miss he saw last time, while still possessing a cold and indifferent demeanor, did not carry the explicit hostility that she did now.</p>
<p>She was suspicious.</p>
<p>The timing of Shaya’s appearance and his actions were too coincidental, defying logic, which led the Witch to doubt his identity.</p>
<p>Having been imprisoned here for thousands of years without seeing any humans, why would the first one that appears happen to rescue her?</p>
<p>He hadn’t even made a wish.</p>
<p>This was not something an ordinary human could do.</p>
<p>Could it be… one of the Gods’ schemes?</p>
<p>Considering this possibility, her gaze directly locked onto Shaya without concealment; any hint of abnormality, and she would take action.</p>
<p>Feeling the oppressive gaze, Shaya took a deep breath.</p>
<p>Though he had just unveiled that lie himself, if he wanted to cover up his true intention, he would need another more impeccable lie to support him.</p>
<p>“It is to obey the voice of my heart,” he spoke calmly, revealing a hint of reminiscence, “When I was very young, I received an insight in a dream: one day in the future, I must rescue a certain person from despair, even if that would mean going against the whole world, becoming an outcast in everyone’s eyes, and forsaking my original faith.”</p>
<p>“I do not know who the insight came from, nor do I know why I must do this, but deep down, there has always been a voice urging me on.”</p>
<p>“But I… chose to escape.”</p>
<p>“Years have passed; to avoid that mission, I remained indifferent to the insights of dreams and the inquiries of my heart, living in self-reproach and guilt.”</p>
<p>“And when I finally resolved to follow my heart’s guidance and encountered you, it seemed that I began to understand the true significance of that mission— I am here to save you.”</p>
<p>“Perhaps the truth of the ability to come back from the dead is also related to you.”</p>
<p>“So in the end, I came here.”</p>
<p>His words were filled with implications and sounded quite ambiguous.</p>
<p>As for guidance and mission, they were entirely fictitious; however, Shaya believed that the other party had no means to verify them.</p>
<p>After all, having had so many dreams throughout his life, according to the field of mysticism, certain dreams often possess similar insights.</p>
<p>The only tangible evidence was that the lethal nature of the Black Mist was absolute, and he should be the first human in history to survive the curse, which inadvertently added credibility to his words.</p>
<p>And the clincher was that Shaya had indeed freed Agnes from the curse last time!</p>
<p>This was a fact that could not be covered up by any excuse or lie.</p>
<p>Only those with heartfelt passion can liberate the sealed ones.</p>
<p>He was that person, who genuinely wanted to save her from the bottom of his heart.</p>
<p>It was just that the ultimate goal was not as she imagined.</p>
<p>Of course, Shaya did not intend for the Witch to completely believe his earlier words; as long as he could vaguely plant the idea of “he is here to save me” in her heart, that would be sufficient.</p>
<p>This was done to provide a reasonable explanation for his visit and to draw the Witch’s favor, trying to get her to accept this human visitor who would appear regularly in the palace.</p>
<p>Moreover, the fact of coming back from the dead was impossible to hide.</p>
<p>If he had simply come here seeking death, Shaya had countless ways to provoke the Witch, but he believed that she would be more interested in why he could make the curse disappear.</p>
<p>What if he got imprisoned for research?</p>
<p>Especially since the flow of time here was different from the outside, he was afraid that after being locked up here for a year and a half, decades would have passed outside.</p>
<p>By then, what revenge would there even be, when the people he cared about were no longer there?</p>
<p>After saying this, Shaya silently waited.</p>
<p>The next moment, he suddenly felt a familiar cold aura envelop him, as if he were in the polar winds and snow, the chill penetrating to the bone.</p>
<p>The Witch, who had just been far away, appeared before him at some point.</p>
<p>Her cold, dark eyes slowly scrutinized Shaya from top to bottom, missing not a single detail, as if carefully examining something.</p>
<p>After a moment, she parted her crimson lips and coldly stated, “The ability of the Black Mist is not ‘to kill’, but conceptually ‘to erase’; no matter how many times one is reborn, they cannot escape the fate of being devoured.”</p>
<p>Shaya smiled and shrugged, answering, “But, I am still standing here perfectly fine, isn’t that the best proof?”</p>
<p>The Witch remained silent for a moment and then stepped forward, extending her delicate right hand; in her palm appeared a distorted, sinister mass of Black Mist, seemingly aimed at corroding the surrounding space to nothingness.</p>
<p>Just a glance at it brought a sharp pain to his skull, as if struck hard by a hammer.</p>
<p>“Prove it to me.”</p>
<p>The Witch’s voice carried a hint of coldness as she offered the mass of Black Mist, watching Shaya’s expression without flinching.</p>
<p>As long as he showed even the slightest fear or hesitation, his previous words would lose all meaning.</p>
<p>But Shaya’s eyes lit up.</p>
<p>To him, this mass of Black Mist was like a huge bundle of experience points waiting to be collected; as long as he simply reached out to accept it, he could level up several times.</p>
<p>As for the pain it might bring, that didn’t matter at all.</p>
<p>Was the Witch Miss being so proactive today?</p>
<p>He looked earnest, slightly bowed, without a trace of fear or hesitation, and said, “If this is your wish.”</p>
<p>Having said that, Shaya stepped forward, reaching out toward the curse.</p>
<p>His movements were decisive and smooth, as if he hadn’t considered what would happen if he truly died.</p>
<p>Seeing this, the Witch’s beautiful eyes trembled slightly, and just when Shaya was about to merge with the curse, she suddenly withdrew her hand, lost in thought.</p>
<p>But Shaya felt anxious.</p>
<p>“Milady?”</p>
<p>“……”</p>
<p>The Witch looked deeply at him.</p>
<p>After a while, she once again spread her right hand and gently extended it toward him.</p>
<p>Only then did Shaya breathe a sigh of relief, slowly extending his hand to cover the mass of Black Mist, his hand overlapping faintly with the Witch’s delicate one.</p>
<p>The next second, black light erupted from the gap, and an endless pain immediately consumed him!</p>
<p>Compared to the last time, this pain was much more intense; at least Shaya collapsed to the ground immediately, his body convulsing, and even enduring it became a torment beyond limit.</p>
<p>He was drenched in sweat, his face pale and depleted, his body gradually disintegrating under the curse’s influence, and his spirit softly dissipating in the Black Mist’s corroding embrace.</p>
<p>The Witch understood very well that this was tantamount to the most terrifying punishment in the world.</p>
<p>But throughout it all, Shaya did not utter a single word, desperately suppressing himself.</p>
<p>Until he ultimately died, turning to ash and gradually vanishing.</p>
<p>Once again, there was only one person left in the palace; she looked at the place where Shaya had disappeared, gently pinching the edge of her black gown, the tattered fabric wrinkling.</p>
<p>Waiting was always long and boring.</p>
<p>Yet the beautiful and captivating Witch Miss stood quietly and lonely in place, just like in the endless years past, always living alone in this palace.</p>
<p>Time passed, though she did not know how long.</p>
<p>When the entrance of the hall was once again illuminated by silver flames, she looked up to see that familiar figure.</p>
<p>The Witch, who had remained indifferent and calm throughout, finally showed a hint of distraction in her expression.</p>
<p>The young man wore a humble smile, bowing in courtesy: “Respected Lady Agnes, good evening, we meet again.”</p>
<p>Once a person is dead, they cannot be revived; this is another eternal truth of the Land of Rand.</p>
<p>Except for certain sinister evil cults and secret organizations that use the power of Evil Gods to promote such means, even Sorcerers and those in higher realms, including any potions, protections, and gifts, even the legendary Fairy Fountain said to revive all things, can’t achieve true resurrection.</p>
<p>Perhaps only a few orthodox Deities can accomplish this.</p>
<p>So when Shaya presented this reasoning, he felt somewhat anxious inside.</p>
<p>After all, the Witch had lived for so many years and held a divine-like status; her vast knowledge could easily see through lies.</p>
<p>However, upon careful thought, aside from concealing the system and its functions, it seemed that there were no other reservations, as strictly speaking, he truly knew nothing about the origin of the system.</p>
<p>Seeing that the Witch Miss continued to stare at him coldly, Shaya understood that she didn’t believe his earlier words.</p>
<p>So he paused, his face pale, and bitterly smiled as he said, “Lady Agnes, please do not doubt whether I was truly cursed, for it is a deeply ingrained experience of despair.”</p>
<p>“When I was on the brink of being cursed to death, I felt the Black Mist as if it was branded into my mind, ravenously devouring my body and soul. The pain was beyond description; I heard countless undead and eerie beings howling and wailing in my ears, as if trying to drag the cursed into the endless Abyss.”</p>
<p>“Then, I completely lost consciousness.”</p>
<p>“Yet not long after, I woke up again and was shocked to find that all the damage caused by the Black Mist, including the curse itself, had disappeared!”</p>
<p>“Perhaps what I said earlier wasn’t very precise… I don’t know whether this can be considered resurrection, but I survived that curse.”</p>
<p>His words contained seven parts sincerity and three parts inducement.</p>
<p>He tried to subtly link “I can revive from the Black Mist” and “I can make the Black Mist disappear.”</p>
<p>This was a bold attempt.</p>
<p>Though there was no particular reason for it, Shaya had been pondering the scene he witnessed during their last meeting: creating a vibrant scene only to have it ruthlessly destroyed by the Black Mist in the end.</p>
<p>Was this behavior simply for the sake of deriving satisfaction from destruction?</p>
<p>Though it fit the image of a great villain, Shaya vaguely felt that the truth wasn’t like that.</p>
<p>At least he couldn’t read any pleasure or enjoyment from the Witch’s expression.</p>
<p>If it was purely to destroy and witness death, she could easily create a more impactful scene and then annihilate it all.</p>
<p>Shaya looked up, then lowered his head.</p>
<p>The Witch’s expression remained unchanged, but her hands holding the book tightened slightly, her delicate, pale fingers unconsciously drawing inwards, as if lost in thought.</p>
<p>A brief silence ensued.</p>
<p>Feeling that the other party had not erupted nor made any substantial move, Shaya let out a slight sigh of relief and continued, “Also, I sincerely apologize, but there is something I deceived you about.”</p>
<p>“In fact, I am not your follower.”</p>
<p>Shaya’s understanding of the Witch was limited to the surface; he only knew her titles such as “The Supreme Empress of the Abyss” and “The Extremely Evil Demoness Representing Death,” unaware of her powers or the doctrines that needed to be followed.</p>
<p>This lie could easily be seen through, after all, it had only been mentioned offhand, so Shaya simply admitted it outright.</p>
<p>Upon hearing this, the Witch gently raised her head, her cold gaze slowly sweeping over Shaya’s face.</p>
<p>After a moment, she parted her crimson lips, her pleasant voice as chilling as a bone-chilling wind: “If you do not believe in me, why are you here, and why… did you release me?”</p>
<p>The Witch Miss he saw last time, while still possessing a cold and indifferent demeanor, did not carry the explicit hostility that she did now.</p>
<p>She was suspicious.</p>
<p>The timing of Shaya’s appearance and his actions were too coincidental, defying logic, which led the Witch to doubt his identity.</p>
<p>Having been imprisoned here for thousands of years without seeing any humans, why would the first one that appears happen to rescue her?</p>
<p>He hadn’t even made a wish.</p>
<p>This was not something an ordinary human could do.</p>
<p>Could it be… one of the Gods’ schemes?</p>
<p>Considering this possibility, her gaze directly locked onto Shaya without concealment; any hint of abnormality, and she would take action.</p>
<p>Feeling the oppressive gaze, Shaya took a deep breath.</p>
<p>Though he had just unveiled that lie himself, if he wanted to cover up his true intention, he would need another more impeccable lie to support him.</p>
<p>“It is to obey the voice of my heart,” he spoke calmly, revealing a hint of reminiscence, “When I was very young, I received an insight in a dream: one day in the future, I must rescue a certain person from despair, even if that would mean going against the whole world, becoming an outcast in everyone’s eyes, and forsaking my original faith.”</p>
<p>“I do not know who the insight came from, nor do I know why I must do this, but deep down, there has always been a voice urging me on.”</p>
<p>“But I… chose to escape.”</p>
<p>“Years have passed; to avoid that mission, I remained indifferent to the insights of dreams and the inquiries of my heart, living in self-reproach and guilt.”</p>
<p>“And when I finally resolved to follow my heart’s guidance and encountered you, it seemed that I began to understand the true significance of that mission— I am here to save you.”</p>
<p>“Perhaps the truth of the ability to come back from the dead is also related to you.”</p>
<p>“So in the end, I came here.”</p>
<p>His words were filled with implications and sounded quite ambiguous.</p>
<p>As for guidance and mission, they were entirely fictitious; however, Shaya believed that the other party had no means to verify them.</p>
<p>After all, having had so many dreams throughout his life, according to the field of mysticism, certain dreams often possess similar insights.</p>
<p>The only tangible evidence was that the lethal nature of the Black Mist was absolute, and he should be the first human in history to survive the curse, which inadvertently added credibility to his words.</p>
<p>And the clincher was that Shaya had indeed freed Agnes from the curse last time!</p>
<p>This was a fact that could not be covered up by any excuse or lie.</p>
<p>Only those with heartfelt passion can liberate the sealed ones.</p>
<p>He was that person, who genuinely wanted to save her from the bottom of his heart.</p>
<p>It was just that the ultimate goal was not as she imagined.</p>
<p>Of course, Shaya did not intend for the Witch to completely believe his earlier words; as long as he could vaguely plant the idea of “he is here to save me” in her heart, that would be sufficient.</p>
<p>This was done to provide a reasonable explanation for his visit and to draw the Witch’s favor, trying to get her to accept this human visitor who would appear regularly in the palace.</p>
<p>Moreover, the fact of coming back from the dead was impossible to hide.</p>
<p>If he had simply come here seeking death, Shaya had countless ways to provoke the Witch, but he believed that she would be more interested in why he could make the curse disappear.</p>
<p>What if he got imprisoned for research?</p>
<p>Especially since the flow of time here was different from the outside, he was afraid that after being locked up here for a year and a half, decades would have passed outside.</p>
<p>By then, what revenge would there even be, when the people he cared about were no longer there?</p>
<p>After saying this, Shaya silently waited.</p>
<p>The next moment, he suddenly felt a familiar cold aura envelop him, as if he were in the polar winds and snow, the chill penetrating to the bone.</p>
<p>The Witch, who had just been far away, appeared before him at some point.</p>
<p>Her cold, dark eyes slowly scrutinized Shaya from top to bottom, missing not a single detail, as if carefully examining something.</p>
<p>After a moment, she parted her crimson lips and coldly stated, “The ability of the Black Mist is not ‘to kill’, but conceptually ‘to erase’; no matter how many times one is reborn, they cannot escape the fate of being devoured.”</p>
<p>Shaya smiled and shrugged, answering, “But, I am still standing here perfectly fine, isn’t that the best proof?”</p>
<p>The Witch remained silent for a moment and then stepped forward, extending her delicate right hand; in her palm appeared a distorted, sinister mass of Black Mist, seemingly aimed at corroding the surrounding space to nothingness.</p>
<p>Just a glance at it brought a sharp pain to his skull, as if struck hard by a hammer.</p>
<p>“Prove it to me.”</p>
<p>The Witch’s voice carried a hint of coldness as she offered the mass of Black Mist, watching Shaya’s expression without flinching.</p>
<p>As long as he showed even the slightest fear or hesitation, his previous words would lose all meaning.</p>
<p>But Shaya’s eyes lit up.</p>
<p>To him, this mass of Black Mist was like a huge bundle of experience points waiting to be collected; as long as he simply reached out to accept it, he could level up several times.</p>
<p>As for the pain it might bring, that didn’t matter at all.</p>
<p>Was the Witch Miss being so proactive today?</p>
<p>He looked earnest, slightly bowed, without a trace of fear or hesitation, and said, “If this is your wish.”</p>
<p>Having said that, Shaya stepped forward, reaching out toward the curse.</p>
<p>His movements were decisive and smooth, as if he hadn’t considered what would happen if he truly died.</p>
<p>Seeing this, the Witch’s beautiful eyes trembled slightly, and just when Shaya was about to merge with the curse, she suddenly withdrew her hand, lost in thought.</p>
<p>But Shaya felt anxious.</p>
<p>“Milady?”</p>
<p>“……”</p>
<p>The Witch looked deeply at him.</p>
<p>After a while, she once again spread her right hand and gently extended it toward him.</p>
<p>Only then did Shaya breathe a sigh of relief, slowly extending his hand to cover the mass of Black Mist, his hand overlapping faintly with the Witch’s delicate one.</p>
<p>The next second, black light erupted from the gap, and an endless pain immediately consumed him!</p>
<p>Compared to the last time, this pain was much more intense; at least Shaya collapsed to the ground immediately, his body convulsing, and even enduring it became a torment beyond limit.</p>
<p>He was drenched in sweat, his face pale and depleted, his body gradually disintegrating under the curse’s influence, and his spirit softly dissipating in the Black Mist’s corroding embrace.</p>
<p>The Witch understood very well that this was tantamount to the most terrifying punishment in the world.</p>
<p>But throughout it all, Shaya did not utter a single word, desperately suppressing himself.</p>
<p>Until he ultimately died, turning to ash and gradually vanishing.</p>
<p>Once again, there was only one person left in the palace; she looked at the place where Shaya had disappeared, gently pinching the edge of her black gown, the tattered fabric wrinkling.</p>
<p>Waiting was always long and boring.</p>
<p>Yet the beautiful and captivating Witch Miss stood quietly and lonely in place, just like in the endless years past, always living alone in this palace.</p>
<p>Time passed, though she did not know how long.</p>
<p>When the entrance of the hall was once again illuminated by silver flames, she looked up to see that familiar figure.</p>
<p>The Witch, who had remained indifferent and calm throughout, finally showed a hint of distraction in her expression.</p>
<p>The young man wore a humble smile, bowing in courtesy: “Respected Lady Agnes, good evening, we meet again.”</p>
