"The Witch Master has returned."
Lady Morwen's face, which had distorted into that of a lycan, suddenly paused and looked Felix in the eyes like she was searching for even the slightest hint of lies, but beneath her bloodlust eyes, Felix could read fear.
At that moment, Lady Morwen suddenly had a trance of a dark realm with a foreboding dark castle. Beneath the castle was a temple and a tome, with the cracked statue of a beautiful woman—or demon—lying atop a tomb with her hands to her chest. Then the eyes of the statue suddenly shut open.
Lady Morwen was terrified and hurriedly blinked to see Felix was still before her and she was still in the land of the living. At that moment she knew the person standing before her had indeed not been lying and was more than just a Sage candidate. They had a strong connection to the Witch Master.
"Hail the Dark Lord."
Lady Morwen positioned her hand on her hand and was just about to snap her own neck. Now Felix couldn't let her take credit for her own kill and swiftly activated the [Witcher's Curse] on her.
"Die."
Thud!
Lady Morwen fell from the height, hit the side of the palace like a broken doll, and finally fell to the ground shrunken in her lycan form.
Everyone was too stunned to speak and could only stare at Felix. The five Sages were no exception. They didn't understand what had transpired between Felix and the boss to make her try to kill herself before Felix killed her. Though others didn't notice that part, they very much did see it all.
Felix on the other hand, wasn't disappointed with the turn of events and had learned something from Lady Morwen's reaction.
"Hail the Witch Master."
"Hail the Dark Lord."
The Sahuagin Elite and Lady Morwen had pledged loyalty to the two entities. Felix never really understood what the Sahuagin had meant till this moment. The Dark Lord was the current leader of the underworld and led the army of dark creatures. So all boss monsters' goal was to be a General in his army—just like Sekolah The Maw Crusher had revealed in his last villain monologue. But there was the Witch Master who was before the Dark Lord, like Aaron had claimed. The original king of the underworld.
From Lady Morwen's reaction to Felix's bluff, the Witch Master was indeed away, somewhere. Dead, or in solitary cultivation, or maybe he was even banished for some reasons—was that even a possibility? But Lady Morwen tried to kill herself after pledging allegiance to the Dark Lord probably to go inform the underworld king that his nemesis was back. 'Cause that was what it seemed like to Felix. The two kings were definitely not on good terms from the way Lady Morwen had chosen the Dark Lord and couldn't wait to kill herself to make the report which should earn her a few ranks in the underworld after failing her mission in Vastoria.
Just who was this Witch Master and what is his mission for me?
"Felix Thomasville!" one of the Sages finally recovered and bellowed from the deck of the ship. "You're in so much trouble. You all are."
In an unknown location, in a different realm.
The Underworld.
Lady Morwen found herself in a vast sea of blood crawling to the brim with grotesque creatures. The dead. Being the only thing in one piece within the dead sea. She wasn't the only one that had just arrived though; souls kept spawning endlessly in the sea of people who had just died somewhere in Vastoria and weren't worthy of Goddess Zemira's paradise. But those souls were hoarded by the grotesque creatures that tore them apart and devoured them. Lady Morwen wasn't an exception and was instantly rushed by these creatures.
She panicked and scrambled to her, running towards a tall hill at one end of the sea which held a tall dark castle similar to that of the one from her vision, but different in aesthetic. She fought off the sluggish creatures who tried to grab her while screaming at the top of her lungs, "I have a message for the Dark Lord!"
Her cries seemed to fall on deaf ears and just as she was about to be swallowed by the undead horde, a figure appeared and casually began walking towards her. The next moment, all the undead within the area burst into a matter of blood and flesh, freeing Lady Morwen who quickly scrambled before the figure and fell on her knees.
It was a stunning demoness in an all-black outfit with a passive expression as she stood before Lady Morwen.
"Do you have something for me?" The demoness asked with an alluring smile.
The question sounded strange to Lady Morwen—the phrasing: "Me". This wasn't the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord wasn't even a woman. So why had she said it like Morwen had a message for her specifically.
Morwen didn't think too much about it and quickly stated her business, "Yes, milady." This was definitely one of the Dark Lord's Generals. "I have a message for the Dark Lord… the—the Witch Master has returned." She said not daring to look in the eyes of the demoness.
But after not getting a reply or reaction from the demoness, Morwen slowly looked up to take a closer look at the face of the demoness who had an unwavering smile on her face. That was when she noticed the demoness's face looked very familiar like she'd seen her somewhere before. But this was her first time in the underworld and she couldn't possibly have seen her somewhere in Vastoria before. That was when it clicked with her. Her vision.
This was the same face of the cracked statue laying on top of the tomb in a dark castle that had awoken.
This wasn't one of the Dark Lord's General or subordinates like she'd thought.
"You look well, Morwen… I'd like to change that." The demoness finally said.