The Devil's Cursed Witch

The next morning, Honeyharbor City, the main city of witches…

A red-haired woman was sitting in front of a mirror, mindlessly brushing her long hair, her eyes swollen as she stared at her pale image without really seeing it. There were no streaks on her cheeks, but it was apparent that she had been shedding tears for hours prior. 

Her heart was empty, yearning for the one she had just lost. Though she knew they were never meant for each other, she was satisfied by his mere existence, catching a glimpse of him from time to time… and now, even that was no longer possible. 

She had to prepare herself to go to him, to see him one last time. 

Ever since the day of mourning, Cornelia Grimm had locked herself in her room. She had no courage to go to Morpheus' wake, as unlike others, she could not face reality. 

But now, she had to. It was time to bid farewell to the man she could only silently admire in her heart.. 

She put on a simple white dress when she heard a knock on the door. 

"Lady Cornelia?" Her servant, the apprentice witch Silvia, entered her room. "Everyone is waiting to leave."

Cornelia nodded and stepped out of the room. Silvia followed her quietly but could feel the pain her master was in, who had just lost her comrade and friend. 

The Head of the Witches led her people towards the Divine Eagle Clan. With a heavy heart, she entered the crowded mourning hall where the man she loved was lying there with no sign of life. 

With each step, her feet felt like they were stepping on thorns. It was painful, agonizing even, but her face showed not a hint of her emotions, maintaining the dignity of the Head of the Witches. 

'Morph…'

She looked at his handsome but lifeless face. Memories from the past two hundred years flashed in her mind. Cornelia was but a young girl following her master when she first caught a glimpse of the gray-winged warrior fighting valiantly in a battle against humans. Especially when he took on his battle form, his wings and hair turning golden, her breath was simply taken away. The winged warrior robbed the innocent young witch's heart.

Easygoing and charismatic, powerful yet kind, Divine Eagle Morpheus was the idol of every warrior, a hero loved by the people of Agartha.

Unable to stare at that lifeless face, Cornelia closed her eyes.

Just then Cornelia felt something and she opened her eyes in shock. 

Before she knew what she was doing, her hand moved towards him, grabbing his wrist. 

The people standing beside her were taken aback.

"Lady Cornelia?"

"Head Witch, what are you—" 

However, Cornelia could not hear them. The loud heartbeats in her chest were drowning all the sounds around her.

'I am not mistaken!' She closed her eyes and focused her energy, gripping his hand so tightly it would have bruised had Morpheus been alive.

There was no pulse and not a single hint of vitality on his body, but as the person with the deepest knowledge about souls in the kingdom, Cornelia would not doubt her own senses. Morpheus's soul…

Her behavior caught the attention of Agraleus and the other high-level figures of the other clans and races. The entire hall was dead silent, waiting for Cornelia to explain herself.

Some more time passed by but the witch didn't move. Agraleus found the three newly arrived senior witches from the Spirit Circle. He wanted to know what was going on, whether they should disturb Cornelia or not. However, they were clueless as well.

Zelda was the one who blocked Glinda from approaching Cornelia. "Let us wait patiently."

Glinda asked her, "Do you know what is the matter with Cornelia? It's almost time—"I think you should take a look at

Cornelia opened her eyes and faced the crowd gathered before her. A trembling smile hang delicately on her lips. "We cannot proceed with the funeral, senior."

"What do you mean?" 

The tears she was holding back finally left her eyes as she found Agraleus. "He is not gone. Your nephew is not gone, Chief. His soul, I can feel the presence of his soul…"

What did it mean for a soul to remain on its body?

That meant…the body is not dead? 

Morpheus is not dead?

"Cornelia, child," Glinda began to say, "I know you treasure him—"

"Senior." Cornelia looked at her, laughing while crying as she shook her head. "I can feel his soul. I do not understand how or why but as long as we do not give up, he can still be saved."

The crowd stirred, and those from the Divine Eagle Clan rejoiced. However, they quickly quieted when Glinda approached Morpheus and held the wrist Cornelia held.

"Child, lend me a bit of your magic," she told Cornelia. Glinda's energy core had been crippled in the past, and she could only have Cornelia temporarily insert her own magic into her broken body. With her help, the senior witch was finally able to faintly detect the fragments of a soul inside Morpheus.

"A miracle!" Glinda could only exclaim.

"When I checked on Morph's body after the palace incident, I could no longer sense his soul but now... We can still get him back. We can get him back!" Cornelia repeated as she could not help but show her happiness on her face. 

Upon having two witches' confirmation, Agraleus lost his calm. Tears streaked down the Chief's eyes. "What does it mean? Is Morph alive?" 

"Strictly speaking, Commander Morpheus is neither dead nor alive," Cornelia replied, "still, it means there is a small chance we can save him."

"A-Are you sure?" the Chief asked as he could not believe it. He badly wanted to believe that Morpheus could be revived, but he was terrified to hope only to lose it again.

"Yes," Cornelia assured and Glinda assured them as well. 

The dead silent hall was now filled with the low voices and cries of people. Outside, one could hear some warriors cheering as the news spread.

Zelda also walked forward to confirm Morpheus' state. 

'Did something go wrong with the birth of that divine weapon? Destiny was changed once more? It should be impossible but…' 

The happiness warming her chest erupted out into tears. Relief, joy, hope—all these feelings made her dizzy. Her elbow was supported by Glinda while the one-armed Maria was hugged by the similarly crying Thala. Thala was crying like a little girl, her proud nasty persona nowhere to be seen. 

Zelda and Thala blamed themselves the most for Morpheus' death. Both of them had no way to express their relief aside from bursting into tears. 

As for Aureus…

The golden eagle too was in the embrace of his crying granduncle, but he was in too much shock to react. He was only standing like a rock statue, praying in his heart what he heard was real and not an illusion. .

"What do we have to do? When would he wake up?" Chief Agraleus asked Cornelia as soon as he regained his bearings.

"I want to move his body to Honeyharbor as I would need the help of my fellow sisters to understand this phenomenon. Though his soul has not left his body, something has to be done to merge the two together. I will have to keep his body purified in the meantime, and that would require some materials to revive the vitality of his body as well as some items related to the soul. I ask Chief Agraleus to help us collect the list I will send."

"According to whatever you say, Lady Cornelia," Agraleus laughed as he could not contain his happiness. "Not only the Divine Eagle Clan, the entire race of shapeshifters will be at your beck and call."