Translator: CinderTL
After a while, the Mysterious Woman gently pulled Ladia into her embrace. Their green hair intertwined naturally like vines, shimmering with a lustrous glow.
When the woman furrowed her brows in concentration, Ladia, still unconscious, mirrored the same expression. As the woman's breathing quickened slightly, Ladia's chest rose and fell in sync, as if their bodies shared the same life rhythm.
The woman's slender fingers traced the wound on Ladia's chest, and the curved horn on her forehead suddenly glowed with an amber halo. As the light flowed, the scattered Magical Power began to gather like a reversed hourglass, and ancient Runes, the same color as the woman's horn, appeared at the edges of the wound.
The most eerie part was that when the pain from the treatment made the woman bite her lower lip, Ladia's pale lips immediately bore the same teeth marks.
Where their skin touched, a mother-of-pearl-like sheen emerged, as if two mercury mirrors were about to merge.
As the amber light continued to flow, the gruesome wound on Ladia's chest healed at a visible rate, and Paul and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.
Eileen suddenly gasped—she saw a mark appear below the woman's collarbone, exactly where Ladia's wound had just healed, manifesting in the same shape.
A dark red light gathered, and Paul guessed it was the so-called Magical Force, forming intricate veins that disappeared beneath Ladia's skin. The girl's ashen cheeks gradually regained their color, her furrowed brows relaxed, and her breathing became steady and deep.
Paul exhaled deeply, his tense shoulders finally relaxing. Catherine's eyes shimmered with tears of excitement, and Eileen stopped her restless fidgeting. The blonde girl knelt beside them, her gaze fixed on this miraculous healing process.
"That's great..." Eileen murmured softly, her fingers unconsciously twisting a strand of her hair.
Coleridge's hands were tightly clamped behind her back by Catherine, her ice-blue pupils trembling violently. She watched as the fatal wound she had inflicted was effortlessly erased, as the two green-haired women breathed in sync like twin reflections. Her nails dug deep into her palms, but she felt no pain.
In this space that defied logic, where she couldn't cast any magic, she was completely suppressed, experiencing despair for the first time.
But the White-haired Witch had no intention of seeking mercy from her enemies; she was already prepared to sacrifice herself.
Suddenly, the Mysterious Woman looked up, the light from her horn gradually dimming. Ladia in her arms fluttered her eyelashes and slowly opened her eyes. Two identical pairs of emerald-green eyes met at an extremely close distance, reflecting each other's faces. The woman suddenly curved her lips into a bewitching smile and whispered in a voice only Ladia could hear, "Had enough sleep, my dear..."
Ladia's pupils contracted sharply, her lips trembling as if she wanted to say something but choked on the words.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she struggled to turn her head. When Paul came into view beside her, her heart instantly calmed. When she further noticed the moisture in the corner of the man's eyes, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, a sweet sensation flooding her chest, making her head feel dizzy.
"Ah, I must be dreaming," Ladia whispered, her emerald-green eyes still lingering in the haze of the life-and-death moment she had just experienced.
But when she realized she was being watched by everyone while naked, her pale cheeks instantly flushed crimson—even though she suspected she was dreaming. She sat on the ground, instinctively curling up her body. Her slender fingers frantically tried to gather her loose hair to cover herself, but it only made more magical glimmers faintly visible on her skin. Freed from the danger of death, the witch finally showed shyness like a normal person.
"D-don't look," her voice was much weaker than usual, carrying a rare hint of panic. Her fingertips subconsciously traced the familiar trajectory of an incantation, but it only sparked a few feeble sparks in the air. Ladia stared in shock at her trembling fingers—even the most basic Illusionary Garment Art had failed in this bizarre mental space.
She looked to Paul for help, but the moment their eyes met, she turned her face away as if electrocuted. The curves always hidden beneath her loose robes were now fully exposed, and her skin, untouched by sunlight for years, appeared exceptionally pale and translucent under the glow of her spiritual form.
"Damn it," she bit her lip and curled up even tighter, her green hair falling like a final barrier. This always calm and composed witch now trembled slightly like a helpless girl.
Even she hadn't noticed that after the life-and-death crisis, the emotional walls she had built over time had vanished as completely as her clothing.
"Don't waste your energy," the mysterious woman who looked exactly like her smiled slyly and explained, "This isn't the real world but a reflection of the mind and consciousness. Only our souls and the bodies bound to them can exist here. Anything external won't appear in this place."
"So that's it... Ah!" Paul suddenly widened his eyes, causing Catherine to glance at her husband in surprise.
Could it be... could this be some kind of subspace? Paul's thoughts churned violently.
Bro, please don't hit me with such high intensity! "But..." Ladia frowned, looking at the woman who was identical to her except for the horns, hesitating to speak.
The woman's slender fingers gently brushed Ladia's cheek, her touch warm. Her gaze suddenly softened, carrying a hint of pity and helplessness.
"Did you think those nights were just dreams?" she whispered, "When you woke up alone in the dead of night, your heart pounding, your skin burning, but unable to remember the dream... that wasn't an illusion. It was me."
Ladia's breathing quickened, her pupils slightly contracting. Uncontrollably, vague yet intense memories surfaced in her mind—the gasps in the darkness, laughter that wasn't her own, the unfamiliar touch lingering on her fingertips upon waking... She had thought they were just dreams, but now, those images became crystal clear with the woman's touch.
"Every time your magical power went out of control, every time you inexplicably learned a new spell..." The woman's thumb gently stroked Ladia's lips, her mouth curving into a bewitching smile, "That was me, trying to break through the barrier of the real world to return to your side."
Ladia's chest heaved violently, and deep within her soul, a series of resonant tremors echoed, as if something long sealed was awakening.
The woman watched her reaction with satisfaction, leaning in close to her ear, her breath scorching her nerves like flames—
"The me in your dreams was never an illusion," she chuckled softly. "It was the other half of my soul, forcibly severed, desperately trying to return."
(End of the Chapter)
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