Marchioness Belline's treatment process had been a series of shocks, horror, and even awe, one after the other.
The unveiled evil in the Delarosa Household had been too shocking.
Arabelle couldn't even begin to describe how she felt after the whole ordeal was over; she was left numb and speechless.
Nevertheless, her eyes had been truly opened to the depths and profundity of magic.
True dragons were on a whole different level regarding understanding and using magic. They could cast so many high-level spells simultaneously and unrestrained.
On the other hand, witches like her were limited by the number of their mana rings.
Of course, a massive disparity existed between an Early-stage High Witch and a Rank 5 True Dragon. Thus, it went without saying that Zodreg could simultaneously cast more spells than her.
However, Arabelle also understood that even Transcendent Witches could not cast as many spells as Zodreg, let alone do so freely.
As such, She wondered where the problem lay for there to be such a huge existing disparity.
What made the dragons superior in magic?
…
Meanwhile, Zodreg's dragon roar caused an uproar not only within the Delarosa's estate but also the entire city.
Among the various forces that came to assist Linetta and Lillias in freeing the Delarosa Marquisate from High Witch Adeline's control, many battle witches had participated in the war.
While they weren't fortunate enough to receive direct guidance from Lord Vahn and ascend to the High Witch rank, they were still there to witness the might and majesty of the red dragons during the final battle.
The emergence of the red dragons had truly shocked all of them to the core; no one knew Lord Vahn had such a trump card hidden up his sleeves.
The Holy Knight Empire lost their chance to win the moment Lord Vahn decided to fight for their kingdom.
Although everyone didn't know what kind of relationship Lord Vahn and the red dragons shared, they knew the red dragons backed Lord Vahn. Most people believed they were friends. As for anything beyond that, no one dared to make assumptions.
It was already an amazing feat to befriend the legendary dragons and even receive their help.
How could mere humans ever dream of ruling them?
Nevertheless, once everyone, including the ex-supremacist witches, found out Vaan was backed by the mighty dragon race, the last trace of resentment regarding their forceful and humiliating swear of fealty disappeared.
They started genuinely accepting the reality of their situation that a man was their lord.
Whether it was Lord Vahn's power or the dragon's, neither of them were things they could fight against. Furthermore, Lord Vahn and the dragons were both wise and knowledgeable. The witch kingdom would definitely flourish under their lead.
"To think there would be a day where I would feel happy and fortunate about swearing my allegiance to Lord Vahn, even if it wasn't by choice…" an ex-supremacist witch in the city softly sighed after gazing at the two figures in the sky.
If you can't beat them, join them – the ex-supremacist witch thought.
The ex-supremacist witch felt she was shameless to think like that. Still, she had some self-awareness and recognized that times have changed.
Those that followed the flow would live, and those that went against it would perish.
…
…
…
In the sky, Vaan had met up with Zodreg after leaving the marchioness's bedchamber. He wanted to give Linetta and Lillias quality time to catch up with their soon-to-awaken mother.
"Supreme Leader, I have cured Marchioness Belline's illness per your instruction. However, I could only treat the root cause. To make a full recovery, my magic alone will not suffice," Zodreg reported.
"I know," Vaan nodded.
Although Marchioness Belline regained a healthy body through Zodreg's treatment, that was all there was: a healthy body.
Her cultivation and shortened lifespan weren't accounted for.
"Since Marchioness Belline has experience reaching the High Witch rank, it shouldn't take long for her to regain her power through practice. On the other hand, her shortened lifespan… is a little more tricky to resolve, Supreme Leader," Zodreg mentioned.
Vaan shifted his gaze to the magic cube containing the moving black goo and frowned.
Naturally, a shortened lifespan could be extended through medicine and higher attainments in cultivation.
But if that were all there was to it, Zodreg wouldn't have considered it a problem.
"Does it have something to do with this ungodly creation?" Vaan casually asked as he referred to the moving black goo contained in Zodreg's magic cube.
"Yes, Supreme Leader," Zodreg affirmed.
"When I diagnosed and treated Marchioness Belline, I discovered she also had another problem in her body besides the mutated corpse poison. The black goo you see now is a result of the two synergizing together to produce magical effects. We usually call this kind of thing a hex."
"More specifically, this one should be called a Life-bound Hex… Probably," Zodreg stated with some uncertainty.
Evidently, Zodreg knew a bit about hexes but not enough to consider himself an expert in the field.
As for Vaan, he was even less familiar with hexes. In fact, it was his first time hearing about hexes. None of the knowledge he acquired in the Kingdom of Black Rose had delved into such a topic.
"Hexes are mostly curses, except they aren't purely magic; they require mediums to create and activate. But it's also precisely because they require mediums that it makes them more troublesome to remove."
After noticing Vaan had little-to-no knowledge of hex magic, Zodreg explained the nature of hexes to him.
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm "So, simple dispel magic won't work, huh?" Vaan muttered with a frown.
Thanks to his inhuman comprehensive ability, he didn't even need to ask Zodreg about the effects of the Life-bound Hex.
One could roughly guess just by hearing its name.
A Life-bound Hex was a hex that could bind a person's life to the medium used. In other words, Marchioness Belline's life was bound to the living black goo.
If the black goo were destroyed, Marchioness Belline would also die along with it. This was most likely why Zodreg kept the black goo instead of eliminating it.
Even if the consequence weren't that serious, a reduction in Marchioness Belline's lifespan would kill her all the same.
Nevertheless, Vaan was made aware of a possible third-party involvement.
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