Inside a cold drinks shop on the commercial street.
A handsome man and a food-loving girl sat across from each other, looking like an ordinary couple, yet the things they said would have been enough to scare any bystander to death.
But for some unknown reason, the surrounding customers and waitresses seemed not to have heard Leylin and the girl's conversation, continuing to go about their own business as usual.
Occasionally, a few pretty girls and waitresses alike would fix the girl across from Leylin with gazes full of resentment.
If looks could kill, that girl would have died many times over.
"Hehe… This is exactly the feeling I wanted! The feeling of being envied! It's so wonderful, so perfect, so blissful!"
The witch cheered, her eyes practically sparkling with stars.
But Leylin would not be fooled by this facade. He knew full well what kind of cunning, old monster sat across from him — the kind that could have even tricked Jessiah to his very death.
"Drop the act! So then — the Fifth Grade witch, the ruler of Jupiter's Thunder, what exactly did you invite me here to discuss?"
Leylin interlocked his fingers on the table, shielding his facial expression, and asked in a low voice.
The witch across from him was none other than the current ruler of Jupiter's Thunder, and quite possibly the one who had eliminated Jessiah to seize power.
Not long ago, she had taken the initiative to contact Leylin and arranged to meet here. Out of a desire to gather intelligence, Leylin had come anyway.
"Wait until I finish this ice cream strawberry pie first! I've been craving this new series for ages! Back in my era, this series didn't even exist — whoever invented ice cream was an absolute genius!"
The girl was still forcefully shoving a slice of strawberry pie slathered in cream pudding into her mouth, her fingertips covered in white ice cream.
"First, let me introduce myself — I'm Melinda! I was Jessiah's… half-teacher, I suppose!"
The girl said casually.
"Chip! Search!" Leylin's eyes flickered.
With the vast accumulation of historical records Leylin had now pillaged from the entire Sky City and the Bloodline Alliance, he still could not find anything connected to the witch before him.
Either she was using a false name, or she had a more well-known alias — as for her real name, it had long been buried beneath the dust of history.
"So then, Melinda, you called me here just to have cold drinks together?"
Leylin's eyes cooled slightly.
"Alright, alright!" Melinda struggled to swallow the pastry in her mouth, then took a satisfying sip of apple juice before finally ceasing her eating motions and picking up a few napkins to wipe the crumbs from her fingers.
After completing those small gestures, the impression Melinda gave Leylin suddenly shifted — as though the entire person had matured, radiating a unique aura.
"Young Wizard — being able to kill my disciple, you've done rather well for yourself!" She looked at Leylin with the warmth of a kindly mentor encouraging a junior.
Leylin rolled his eyes: "It was clearly you who killed him, wasn't it?" As for the other party's split personality, he wasn't particularly bothered by it.
Having existed as a spirit body for several thousand years, even the wisest of Wizards would inevitably undergo certain peculiar changes — what Melinda displayed was still considered mild by comparison.
In history, there had even been cases where spirit-body Wizards emerged from ancient ruins and immediately went on a frenzied killing spree, spreading crimson terror wherever they went.
"Is that so... Oh ho ho!!! I almost forgot — poor little Jessia! I did warn him that the creation of the Pool of Sighs was an extremely dangerous process. Especially when energy drops to the critical threshold, the backlash from all the spirit bodies becomes inevitable... Alas..."
Melinda switched once again to a near-tearful expression, appearing genuinely grieved for Jessia. Watching this performance, Leylin grew even more convinced that Jessia had been deliberately plotted against and killed by her, and he resolved to steer well clear of this woman.
"In any case, Jessia's fall and the ceasefire between Jupiter's Thunder and the Ring of the Ouroboros are all good things! So, what else did you invite me here for today?"
Leylin was already growing impatient and cut straight to the point.
"Very well! Are you interested in helping me slaughter the Throne?" Melinda seemed to sense Leylin's impatience and finally got to the matter at hand.
"Slaughter the Throne? You madwoman! Meeting you today was truly the worst decision I've ever made!"
Leylin's expression changed and he rose to his feet immediately.
"Hehe! Wait, little Wizard! Big sister was just joking earlier — but dealing with the Flame Throne together does genuinely serve both our interests, wouldn't you agree?"
Melinda seemed to have switched souls once again.
"Do you have some grudge against the Flame Throne?" Leylin appeared to have "suppressed" his anger and sat back down to ask.
"In truth, my fall all those years ago was closely related to the Flame Throne..." Melinda said with a bitter smile, revealing a long-hidden secret.