Bustling.
Noisy.
Chaotic.
Allenson City today remains as prosperous as ever.
At the steel and gear-crafted city gates, merchants come and go in steam-powered magic carriages, their faces brimming with smiles and joy. The residents, too, chat with their families and friends as usual.
No one noticed.
Among the crowds entering and leaving Allenson City today, there wasn’t a single high noble.
To ordinary people, high nobles are incredibly rare, so even if they vanished, few would take notice.
Now, at this very moment.
This steam-powered city, standing tall in the northern part of the world.
Inside, only a large number of commoners and mid-level individuals, unqualified to know the truth, remain. The true elites have long since departed.
“I need… to buy what I need… quickly…”
In the sky above Allenson City.
Krisha no longer concealed herself, pushing her magic output to the limit as she cast a wind spell to fly faster, heading straight for the bustling market at the city center.
When she landed, she immediately drew gasps of surprise.
About Krisha.
About this girl with a lovely face.
The market vendors all knew she was connected to a formal mage, possibly as a relative or the mage’s personal maid.
It was precisely because of this ambiguous relationship that the witch had never been harassed.
But today.
Witnessing Krisha use magic firsthand.
The ordinary vendors in the market were utterly shocked, their eyes wide as they stared at Krisha holding her wand, their voices trembling.
“A mage, that child is actually a mage?!”
“Hiss… If I had known, I should have been more polite to her before.”
“Blessed be the Goddess of Harvest, this is truly unbelievable!”
People chattered away.
Some were envious, some jealous, and others completely dazed.
But soon.
As if in unison, everyone began showering Krisha with all kinds of praises, calling her beautiful, kind, and compassionate.
Some even boldly offered her free goods.
There were delicate mechanical pocket watches, crisp and fresh vegetables and fruits, and even outrageously gorgeous women’s clothing.
The vendors desperately.
Fought to be the first.
With fervent expressions.
Trying to force their best items into Krisha’s hands.
“…How dull.”
Krisha calmly watched the spectacle before her.
Was it because the thick steam from the machines no longer obscured everything?
For some reason, even though it was the same market, the same vendors, the same buildings, the ugliness and ferocity on people’s faces had become glaringly obvious.
Everyone crowded into the same space, flattering her to curry favor.
But.
Wasn’t this the very scene she had once longed for?
No one hitting her, no one spitting on her, everyone vying to be her friend, everyone eager to get close to her—wasn’t this the life she had dreamed of?
Why did it now fill her with such disgust?
“Ah, I see…”
Looking down at her delicate hands, then at the exquisite wand.
Krisha suddenly understood.
The people here, the surging crowd around her, didn’t like Krisha. They liked a beautiful female mage named “Krisha,” a mage with a bright future compared to ordinary people.
They didn’t like the witch, nor did they like Krisha herself.
From beginning to end.
The one who would extend a helping hand to the witch, who would embrace her like the sun, offering warmth and hope.
Was always that person.
Only him, just him, who didn’t care about getting his hands dirty, who would take the foul-smelling witch by the hand and gently lead her home.
“I need to finish Master’s task quickly,” Krisha thought, waving her wand and using wind magic to forcefully disperse the surrounding vendors.
Under the vendors’ fearful and cowering gazes, Krisha quickly identified various items.
Food.
Daily necessities.
Clothing and tools.
She swept them up with wind magic, sorted them into categories, and stored them all in her spatial ring.
The entire process took less than three minutes.
Magic was truly a convenient thing.
“Now I can go back.”
Krisha glanced at her spatial ring, sensing its fully packed interior, and nodded lightly before tossing out a bag of coins, distributing them among the vendors.
Equivalent exchange.
This was the first lesson Xu Xi had taught the witch.
The witch remembered it well.
“Wind spell, gather,” Krisha waved her wand without giving the vendors a chance to speak. The howling wind wrapped around her once more, carrying her back toward the courtyard.
She had completed her task quickly, the round trip taking less than ten minutes.
Perhaps she would earn her master’s praise?
With this thought in mind, Krisha increased her magic output, making the wind fiercer and her flight faster, eager to return to Xu Xi’s side.
But.
But why.
Did her chest feel so heavy?
“Whoosh—” The wind roared in the sky.
Krisha rode the gale, flying faster and faster as she approached the courtyard. She was almost there, so close, yet the unease in her heart grew stronger.
She clutched her chest, her eyes blank.
She didn’t understand, didn’t know why, but the weight in her heart was unbearable, and she instinctively sped up.
This familiar pain.
Made the witch panic.
“Return… return to Master’s side…”
“As long as Master is there, everything will be alright,” the witch, unable to comprehend what was happening, instinctively chose to rely on the person she trusted most.
Xu Xi, her master, her sun.
As long as she returned to Xu Xi, all her unease and pain would vanish. Krisha truly believed this.
Soon.
The rapidly flying Krisha caught sight of the familiar courtyard.
Just the thought of the man inside lessened the weight in her chest.
So, Krisha sped up, flying with a desperation she couldn’t explain, as if her life depended on it, even forgetting the caution Xu Xi had always taught her.
Faster.
Even faster.
Please, faster.
The witch frantically pushed her wind spell, and finally, she reached the vicinity of the courtyard.
But just then.
The sky darkened.
“BOOM!!!!!”
An unimaginable barrage of fireballs rained down from the sky, like thousands of falling meteors, suddenly appearing above Allenson City.
Roaring, raging, and destroying everything in their path.
And one of those blazing fireballs was headed straight for the courtyard Krisha was trying to reach.
“No, wait!… No, no… You can’t!”
Sensing something terrible, Krisha’s pupils contracted, and she let out a cry of panic she had never uttered before, her voice trembling.
The weight in her chest reached its peak at that moment.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
