Chapter 98: The Phoenix Overlord

Volume Two

Chapter 98: The Phoenix Overlord

Drip. Drip.

Cold liquid dripped onto her skin, creating a sickening sensation, like a venomous snake slithering across her.

Even before Anna opened her eyes, she felt the damp, humid air, reminiscent of a reptile’s nest.

The debilitating sensation of her sealed powers lingered, and the cold shackles still chafed against her wrists.

Yet, this was undeniably no longer the Silent Watch’s prison.

In her hazy memory, she recalled only a violent explosion that had blown open the prison wall.

The sensation of the jailer’s blood splattering upon her skin still lingered.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

A familiar, yet utterly detestable, seductive voice echoed in her ears.

Anna lifted her head, her gaze falling upon the scantily clad Seductive Beauty before her.

Miss Siren held a fresh, still-beating heart, licking it with a look of blissful indulgence, as if savoring a gourmet meal. Noticing Anna’s gaze, she tilted her head, smiling alluringly.

“We meet again, Anna Campbell.”

Anna remained silent, merely staring coldly at the woman before her.

“Oh, why so unfriendly? You should know that although the strong cultivators stationed at the Silent Watch branch were recently transferred due to a certain reason, leaving the interior hollow, we still paid a heavy price to save you. We lost nearly a third of our followers. Can’t you show a little more gratitude?”

“Gratitude? Gratitude for letting me fully cement the crime of colluding with cultists?” Anna asked, her face devoid of emotion.

“Collusion? How can you speak such words?”

Miss Siren pouted her crimson lips in displeasure. “We are family. Can family members use such an unpleasant word as ‘collusion’?”

“Who is family with you!” Anna’s hands clenched abruptly, her knuckles turning white.

“Oh, shouldn’t family members be tolerant and understanding of each other? Or perhaps…”

Miss Siren looked at Anna, her eyes revealing a chilling mockery. “Do you have any other refuge now, Anna Campbell?”

Anna’s expression instantly darkened. Her clear eyes transformed into menacing vertical slits, and the shackles scraped against her wrists, producing a metallic clang. From her seemingly delicate frame, a bone-chilling aura of murderous intent erupted.

However, this display did not frighten Miss Siren. Instead, it made her burst into hearty laughter.

“Exactly, exactly! That’s it, Anna Campbell. The more you are like this, the more you won’t be able to turn back!”

“What exactly do you want?” Anna suddenly felt a wave of helplessness, asking wearily.

“You went through all this, just to make me a wanted criminal?”

“There’s no other way. The protection of the academy and that Campbell fellow were troublesome for us. We had to remove all of them from your side first. As for the purpose… haven’t I told you already? I want to invite you to join us.”

“But I’m not the only one with the Serpent Transformation Disease. Why are you so fixated on me, even to the point of…”

Recalling everything Miss Siren had done, Anna’s delicate body began to tremble slightly.

“Even going so far as to attack the Silent Watch? What good does that do you?”

“Oh, haven’t you realized yet, Anna Campbell? You are special.”

“Special?”

“Indeed, special. Typically, normal Serpent Transformation Disease patients have an incubation period of one to three years. The longer the duration, the higher their adaptability to the power of the great moon after transforming into a serpent-person.

This means that the longer the incubation period, the more blessings of the moon they will receive. Isn’t that a truly fortunate thing?”

“And you…”

Miss Siren suddenly leaned closer, gazing intently at Anna’s gradually paling face, a flicker of jealousy in her eyes. “You have been a Serpent Transformation Disease patient since birth. So, if we calculate, how long has your incubation period been?

Twenty-one… You are twenty-one this year, aren’t you? A full twenty-one years. Do you know what that means? Before you, the longest Serpent Transformation Disease incubation period was only ten years.”

“I…”

Anna’s face grew even paler, but she took a deep breath, suppressing the panic and fear within her. “I don’t know what you mean. I only started showing signs of serpent transformation two years ago.”

“Hehehe, two years ago? What a clumsy lie.”

Miss Siren laughed, her body shaking like a swaying branch. Her hand traced Anna’s flawless cheek, the mockery in her eyes growing more intense.

“If you only showed signs of serpent transformation two years ago, then tell me, why were you, someone so endearing and beautiful, abandoned by your birth parents shortly after you were born?”

“…There are always some despicable parents in the world. What does that prove?” Anna’s hands clenched tightly once more.

“Oh dear, oh dear, don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I’m merely helping you emphasize a fact.”

Miss Siren chuckled indifferently. “Anna Campbell, besides us, you have no other refuge. Only we are your companions.”

“So, I’ll ask again: will you join us?”

“No.” The answer was still delivered without hesitation.

“Oh, won’t you reconsider?”

“There’s no need to consider such a thing.”

Anna lowered her gaze, speaking softly, “I absolutely cannot join you, even if I become utterly alone again.”

‘After all, I’m already used to loneliness, aren’t I?’

‘It’s just…’

Thinking of a certain figure, Anna sighed softly in her heart with regret.

‘Junior, it seems I won’t have the chance to teach you more about potions. I hope you continue to work hard, even by yourself.’

“Oh, what an unexpected answer. I didn’t think you’d be so resolute. In that case, I’ll just have to use a little trick.”

“What are you planning now?” Anna’s eyes narrowed, tensing up.

“Nothing much. I just want to talk to you about… your story after your parents abandoned you.”

Miss Siren leaned close to Anna, whispering softly, like a devil’s murmur. “That orphanage, I heard you haven’t been back in years. I wonder if that’s true or false.”

“You…!”

The armrest of the chair instantly shattered. Her eyes once again transformed into ferocious serpent pupils. Anna glared at Miss Siren, uncharacteristically losing her composure. “I warn you, don’t touch the orphanage!”

“Oh dear, oh dear, don’t worry, I won’t do anything. After all, having just raided the Silent Watch branch, I don’t want to do anything attention-grabbing during such a tense period.

However, if you make me very unhappy, I might just get a little hot-headed and do something regrettable, you know.”

Miss Siren chuckled, continuing to lick the heart, her gaze meeting Anna’s cold stare without a hint of fear.

“What do you say?”

After a long standoff, Anna slumped back into the chair in defeat.

“…Despicable.”

“That is truly the greatest compliment you could give me. However, since we’ll all be family in the future, it might not be good to keep pressuring you. So, I shall benevolently take a step back.”

Miss Siren deftly twirled her fingers, placing a bottle of potion before Anna.

“You only need to drink this. As for anything else, I won’t interfere much.”

“This is…”

“With your proficiency in potions, you should recognize what this is, shouldn’t you?”

Anna reached out, uncapped the potion bottle, and sniffed its complex aroma. Instantly, the name and effects of the potion surfaced in her mind.

“Evolution Potion…”

“Precisely, it’s an Evolution Potion. An Evolution Potion capable of stimulating a person’s hidden bloodline.”

“But why… do you want me to drink this?”

“Because… time is running out. I believe you’ve already felt it. According to the original trajectory, you should have had a few more years before fully maturing and becoming the most perfect serpent-person in this world.”

Miss Siren looked up, gazing at the dimly lit ceiling. She seemed to see something there, her face contorting with an intense fervor.

“But recently, the moon delivered a divine oracle: a holy war is imminent, the divine realm is about to descend, and the noble One is about to personally visit this filthy mortal world.

Therefore, before that, we must make all preparations. And you, Anna Campbell, are the most crucial link in this chain.”

“The most crucial link…”

Upon hearing this, Anna’s delicate body suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably. She was finally beginning to see the immense darkness hidden behind the mists of her destiny, a darkness that threatened to devour everything.

‘I cannot let their plan succeed. I must, I absolutely must resist!’

‘Otherwise, many innocent people will be sacrificed.’

‘But…’

“What’s wrong?”

Miss Siren propped her chin on her hand, tilting her head. She gazed at Anna with an innocent, almost childlike expression, asking playfully, “Are you still choosing to refuse?

Well, as family, I certainly won’t force you. So, it’s fine even if you don’t drink it, at worst…”

Miss Siren’s lips curled into a silent, venomous sneer, like a snake.

“At worst, I can still use love to enlighten you. Warming others’ hearts with love is what I do best, you know.”

Miss Siren licked the still-beating heart in her hand, smiling alluringly.

Anyone could tell that the ‘love’ she spoke of was anything but benign.

Drip, drip.

The cold drops of water continued to fall, like the pendulum of fate, counting the sands of despair.

“…I’ll drink it.”

After a long silence,

“I’ll drink it.”

Those few simple words seemed to drain all of Anna’s strength. With trembling hands, she slowly picked up the Evolution Potion before her.

It felt incredibly heavy.

“Remember your promise.”

“Don’t worry. As I said, at such a critical juncture, I won’t make any unnecessary moves that could jeopardize the plan.”

“I hope so.”

Anna tilted her head back and downed the potion in the bottle.

A surge of heat flowed down her throat, into her abdomen, and then rapidly spread throughout her body.

One of the fundamental characteristics of potions was their terrifying absorption rate, designed to ensure that healing or mana-replenishing potions could take effect quickly in critical moments.

Thus, from the moment those crystalline liquids entered her body, there was no turning back.

In an instant.

Anna’s body suddenly became incredibly rigid.

The potion bottle slipped from her grasp, shattering into pieces.

Dark veins pulsed beneath her pale skin, and fine scales spread outwards from her sleeves. Her feverish blood gradually turned cold, and Anna could feel her heart beating slower and slower, as if encased in a layer of ice.

The world suddenly transformed. The colors in her eyes faded, leaving only an indistinct grayscale. Along the edges of all objects, red, yellow, and blue lines flickered incessantly.

And in the center of this grayscale world, one thing stood out with exceptional vividness.

It was… a heart.

Anna slowly lifted her head, staring blankly at the heart in Miss Siren’s hand. She gently flared her nostrils, as if smelling an intoxicating fragrance.

‘So fragrant. So fragrant.’

‘I want… to eat it.’

“Oh, you want to eat it?”

Miss Siren chuckled, placing the heart before Anna.

“You can have it. Consider it… a gift from me, your family.”

Anna reached out, slowly extending her hand towards the heart.

But just as her fingers were about to touch the heart, her other hand suddenly seized her wrist, pulling her hand back.

“No…”

Anna’s serpent eyes trembled uneasily as she gasped for breath. Countless whispers echoed in her ears, constantly eroding her will, yet she held her own hand tightly, refusing to let go.

“Absolutely not…”

“To think, you still have the will to resist?”

A hint of surprise flickered in Miss Siren’s eyes. “But it doesn’t matter. This is just the beginning, Anna Campbell. Indulge fully in the great moon’s favor for you.”

Miss Siren straightened up, but just as she was about to leave, she heard Anna’s unintentional murmur from her confused state.

“Ju… junior…”

“Junior? Are you hoping he’ll come to save you?”

Miss Siren cast a glance back, scoffing mockingly. “How naive. You are already a complete monster in everyone’s eyes. No one will come to save you, no one…”

****

After Celicia left, the entire ward became exceedingly quiet.

Ewan rose from the bed, put on his jacket, and walked out of the ward.

This was the familiar St. Mary’s campus hospital. Since most students knew a little healing magic, it was usually sparsely populated.

It was exceptionally desolate.

Ewan encountered no one to stop him along the way, save for the middle-aged doctor from last time, who gave him a look of concern.

Ewan paid him no mind and exited the hospital.

Faint clouds obscured the sun, and the autumn wind blew, carrying a chill.

Ewan walked on, like a zombie from whom the soul had been extracted.

He passed many students along the way.

It seemed the news had been suppressed, as the students were unaware of the major events that had recently transpired, still enjoying their pleasant campus life.

Ewan walked past the laughing and chatting young men and women.

No one deliberately detoured to avoid him anymore, nor did anyone show fear upon seeing him. There was even a bold first-year junior who actively greeted him.

Ewan forced a stiff smile in response, but he felt that every change, every greeting, was a cruel irony directed at him.

For Anna, the senior who had helped him the most on his path to change, now no longer even qualified to enter the academy.

‘But why are you still here, Ewan Campbell?’

Ewan wandered until he reached the plane tree grove he frequented.

It was quiet here, the golden leaves forming a shimmering sea on the ground.

He often came here to jog, read, or nap.

This place always calmed him.

But this time, sitting beneath the familiar plane tree, his mind remained in turmoil.

Everything that had happened last night, and everything that had happened today, kept replaying in his mind.

It felt like an invisible giant hand tearing at his soul.

He had always believed that he, himself, would be the target of fate’s cruelty. He had long prepared himself to face it.

Yet, he never expected that the long-awaited fatal blow would fall upon his senior instead.

It was entirely unexpected.

“No, Ewan Campbell, you must pull yourself together.”

Ewan slammed his fist onto the plane tree, sending golden leaves rustling down. The pain in his fingers finally cleared his mind somewhat.

“Now that Senior Anna has been deemed an enemy of humanity by the Silent Watch, with a kill-on-sight warrant issued, if you don’t pull yourself together, no one will be able to save her.”

But ‘save’ was easier said than done.

Ignoring the murder charges, cultists, and the Silent Moon—each a headache-inducing problem on its own—there was still an unavoidable core issue in saving his senior:

—The Serpent Transformation Disease.

If the Serpent Transformation Disease couldn’t be cured, nothing else mattered.

Yet, both from Celicia’s words and Ewan’s memory of the original book, the Serpent Transformation Disease, as a means for the Silent Moon to spread calamity, was incurable.

Even the Black Book remained silent at this moment.

“Damn it… I wish I had finished the entire original book.”

Ewan once again fell into regret over not having finished the original book. Although the plot had deviated by a hundred and eighty thousand miles and couldn’t serve as a reference, the information it contained would still be invaluable.

“And… now that I think about it, Senior Anna’s current predicament is largely because of me, isn’t it?”

“Because of the change in the timeline caused by me, the villain…”

“The Silent Moon, as an evil god who only started causing trouble in the mid-stages of the original book, Senior Anna’s Serpent Transformation Disease shouldn’t have been exposed so early. After all, she later had many interactions with the protagonist, Ariel, as the owner of a mysterious shop.”

‘Huh?’

‘Wait?’

‘Shop Owner?’

‘Ariel?’

A flash of inspiration struck Ewan, as if he had suddenly grasped something.

“Ewan Campbell? What are you doing here?”

Just as Ewan was trying to seize that fleeting thought, he suddenly heard a familiar voice tinged with displeasure.

Turning his head, he saw Ariel, as if summoned, approaching with a large bag of black bread, looking at him with the same disgusted expression one might reserve for roadside trash.

“Ariel? What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing here’? Is this your private path? I’m just passing by! You’re blocking the way, Ewan Campbell!”

“Oh, oh.”

Only then did Ewan realize he was indeed blocking the middle of the path.

However, this path was usually deserted. Why would Ariel be here…

Glancing at the black bread in her arms, Ewan decided it was best to play dumb.

“Hmph, running around like a lunatic in broad daylight in a place like this, how annoying.”

Having failed to obtain the Ancient Dragon’s Heart Blood and spent all her savings on advancement materials, she had resorted to secretly taking black bread from the cafeteria. Now, she had run into the last person she wanted to see. Ariel glared fiercely at Ewan, then squeezed past him with a shoulder bump.

“Wait.”

However, she hadn’t gone far before Ewan called out to her.

“Do you need something, Ewan Campbell!”

Ariel turned back in annoyance, only to find Ewan staring at her with wide, gleaming eyes, like a big bad wolf spotting a little white rabbit.

“You… what are you doing?”

Ariel was startled by Ewan’s gaze.

‘He looks like this…’

“E-Ewan Campbell, have you finally given in to your long-hidden beastly nature?”

Glancing at the secluded, deserted path, Ariel immediately felt a sense of danger. She instantly pulled out the black bread from her embrace and swung it with a flourish, as if performing a sword dance.

‘If this beast dares to do anything bad, I’ll beat him into a pulp with this black bread!’

‘The legendary breadstick, responsible for countless killings, is no joke!’

However, Ewan did not do the bad thing she expected. He merely scrutinized Ariel over and over with a strange gaze. As if he had discovered something, the light in his eyes grew even brighter.

“Ariel, can I ask you a question?”

“Wh-what question?”

“Suppose a girl you’ve interacted with many times, but whose true identity you don’t know, contracts an incurable disease. What would you do?”

“Incurable disease?”

Ariel paused, then asked seriously, “Is the girl pretty?”

“Beautiful.”

“How beautiful?”

“Hmm…”

Ewan thought for a moment. “Even prettier than that blonde beauty you met a while ago.”

“Cure her, absolutely cure her! Even if I have to sell everything I own, I’ll cure her!” Ariel slapped her thigh. “An incurable disease is nothing. There are so many powerful magic spells in this world; there must be a way to cure it!”

“But the disease is related to an evil god…”

“So what if it’s an evil god!”

Ariel’s eyebrows shot up, and she declared fiercely, “Anyone who dares to interrupt my flirting—no, my conquest—no, my harem building—no, anyone who dares to stop me from bringing equal happiness to beautiful girls, even if it’s an evil god, I’ll cut them down for you to see!”

Ariel’s domineering words echoed, startling the birds in the forest.

Ewan opened his mouth. He stared at Ariel, the light in his eyes growing even brighter.

It was as if something had suddenly clicked into place.

“That’s right, how could I not have thought of it?”

“Wh-what?”

“You’re Ariel!”

Ewan walked towards Ariel step by step, then suddenly grabbed her shoulders, shaking her excitedly.

“You are the ultimate Yuri Harem King, you are the invincible Phoenix Overlord, you are the woman determined to build a crystal palace, you are Ariel Bouchard, the true protagonist with cheats and destiny all rolled into one!”

Although he didn’t know the later plot, since Senior Anna was connected to Ariel as the shop owner, how could she die so easily?

Or rather, how could she so easily become a puppet of an evil god?

In a Yuri Phoenix Overlord novel, harming a beautiful female character would surely incur the wrath of the readers!

He believed the original author wasn’t that foolish!

It was even possible that Senior Anna was an important figure in the Silent Moon’s plot in the original book, which was why those cultists would go so far as to attack the Silent Watch just to take her away.

This meant… the Serpent Transformation Disease might not be incurable!

“Haha, Senior Anna is saved! Ariel, I love you to death… Ouch! That hurts!”

Overwhelmed with excitement, Ewan hugged Ariel, almost kissing her. The result, naturally, was Ariel’s iron fist. He immediately curled up on the ground, clutching his abdomen like a cooked shrimp.

“Ewan Campbell, what on earth are you going crazy about!”

Ariel’s face flushed crimson as she said in exasperation, “I warn you, don’t harbor any ill intentions towards me. I’m only interested in pretty ladies!”

“Haha, that’s right, interested in pretty ladies… that’s correct, I’m also only interested in pretty ladies…”

Even after taking a punch, Ewan became even more excited. He sprang up like a carp jumping out of water, ready to run towards the club building.

But after only two steps, he suddenly turned back, walked up to the bewildered Ariel, snatched the black bread from her hand, and threw it to the ground.

“How can you keep eating this? Your chest will get smaller.”

“E-Ewan Campbell! What are you—”

Ariel, seeing her dinner gone, was momentarily stunned. But before she could get angry, she felt a stack of something slapped into her hand.

It was a stack of dark green, neatly bundled banknotes!

The smell of fresh ink on the new bills jolted Ariel out of her daze. She flared up in anger, “Ewan Campbell, are you trying to humiliate me with money? I warn you, I’m not that kind of person…”

Before she could finish her sentence,

A second stack.

A third stack…

The hundredth stack.

Ewan pulled out all the cash he had on him, a total of one million, and dumped it all on Ariel.

“Here, take it all, go buy something delicious. I recommend milk and papaya with every meal, Ariel. Don’t give up! Believe me, you can still be saved!”

Ewan clapped Ariel hard on the shoulder and gave her a thumbs-up. “You don’t need to pay me back. This is my thanks to you!”

Ariel’s mouth hung open, staring blankly at Ewan, who had thrown the money and then run off. She was once again utterly bewildered.

‘Wh-what just happened?’

Ariel dazedly lowered her head, looking at the small mountain of banknotes piled beside her, her little brain completely blank.

‘Drowning in money, utterly at a loss.’

****

A gentle breeze rustled through the forest.

The sun, at some unknown moment, had pierced through the clouds, casting a soft twilight.

At the end of this golden path, Ewan strode forward with light steps, heading towards the unknown.

“Please hold on a little longer, Senior Anna.”

This time, Ewan’s eyes were resolute, devoid of any confusion. “I’m coming to save you.”