Chapter 46
Chapter 46: Storm’s Cry
The opportunity would last only an instant.
Not seeking a fatal blow, but definitely needing to seize the initiative and advantage, Funis quickly climbed along the wall and hung herself from the door frame, waiting for the approaching person to push open the door and enter.
Thud thud — footsteps gradually approached.
“Click.”
The door lock opened.
Then came a series of low, sharp creaking sounds as a figure emerged from behind the slowly opening door.
When the moment arrived, action was faster than sight or thought. She dropped down gracefully.
The short blade struck like a bee’s sting, swift as lightning.
But when the brilliant golden curls flowing behind like a radiant sun came into view, Funis froze, her movements halting mid-strike.
The girl’s delicate features radiated heroic spirit, her dark green riding dress accentuating her graceful figure while fully displaying her dashing temperament.
Having been apart for barely a year, Funis wasn’t so forgetful that she’d fail to recognize her own adopted daughter, whose appearance hadn’t changed much. This was undoubtedly Charlotte herself!
In that brief instant, various thoughts flashed through Funis’s mind—
Those most likely to withstand high temperatures and thick smoke while entering and exiting the blazing glass factory and basement would be Extraordinaries who had embarked on the Jealousy or Temperance pathways;
Her earlier glimpse in the cemetery wasn’t a hallucination or case of mistaken identity—they had indeed experienced a “brush past each other”;
Including the familiar layout habits and pink, tender decorative style in this room;
All the clues connected, and now the truth was revealed.
The person who pushed open the door was Charlotte Fred—this fact suddenly became both surprising and extraordinarily reasonable. If the Temperance Academy was establishing a branch in Gray Cloud Fort, Charlotte wouldn’t be Charlotte if she didn’t come along.
So what now?
Should she reveal herself?
Tell her honestly: “My dear eldest daughter, I’m actually your father who’s been missing for a year, but I was cursed by an evil woman who took away my little brother that had accompanied me for forty years, then force-fed me a magic potion and performed surgery to turn me into a little witch. There are also many witches living in this city, and the witch Sandina who killed your birth father Conrad has opened an inn in the Black Water District. You need to run, or the evil woman and Sandina will definitely kill you…”
But would any person with a normal brain believe a twelve-year-old pink-haired little loli jumping out with a short sword saying “I’m your dad”?
She was now a witch.
Although the dream demon characteristics weren’t manifesting for now, the witch pathway was still genuinely retained in her body. Words spoken by a witch were inherently untrustworthy, and actively exposing her witch identity before being discovered was unwise rather than concealing it.
Moreover, Funis absolutely didn’t want her precious eldest daughter to get involved in this mess.
Charlotte should stay in Vatica, getting promoted and raising her sequence, ideally becoming the Temperance Academy’s director—essentially an archbishop—with a bright future and limitless prospects. Why would she inexplicably run to this broken place full of copper stench and kerosene smell?
Furthermore, how could Funis possibly let her precious eldest daughter know that she’d been transformed into a delicate, soft little dream demon who would turn into a fountain at the slightest touch of legs or horns? That would be too much of a social death.
Whether as Sera or as Funis, revealing herself would be the worst decision.
Fine, this instant was actually just that brief—only enough for Funis’s little head to think through all this.
Soon her sword point would pierce her precious eldest daughter’s handsome, clear features. If she didn’t pull back now, her precious eldest daughter might not die but would certainly be disfigured, and all that bright future and limitless prospects would be for nothing.
But at this distance, there was no time for Funis to release force or change direction.
She couldn’t stop!
However, Funis had overlooked Charlotte’s own growth.
This girl in a riding dress with a long rapier at her waist was no defenseless weak woman—she was a genius, one of the outstanding members of the Holy Capital’s new generation. In one year, she had advanced from Sequence 9 all the way to Sequence 7, keeping the beliefs of justice and harmony firmly in mind under the guidance of Archangel Raguel.
Water flowed like a snake around her waist and abdomen, suddenly twisting to draw the rapier upward from its sheath.
Ding dong — a clear ring.
Dazzling sparks scattered in the girl’s bedroom.
The slender blade precisely deflected the falling blade point, like a babbling brook. As the water danced, it exerted force again, and the short sword was knocked from Funis’s hand, embedding itself straight into the opposite wall.
Funis noticed that the drawn rapier wasn’t actually held by Charlotte’s hands—it was controlled entirely by a stream of water.
In such urgency, hands couldn’t make such flexible, swift movements, but the water drops, streams, and surfaces generated by the Temperance pathway were directly connected to the Extraordinary’s consciousness. With a thought, the crisis was instantly resolved.
Immediately after, Funis crashed down heavily in a prone position in front of Charlotte.
“Oof!”
Unable to suppress the pain, Funis let out a low whimper.
Her whole body was stiff and numb, but this couldn’t stop the excited, gratified feelings in Funis’s heart at this moment.
In less than a year, her precious eldest daughter had already completed her advancement and officially embarked on the Temperance pathway. Even in such a tense situation, she could remain calm and decisively draw her blade, flexibly using water flow to adapt to the situation.
It was truly…
Funis was so moved she almost cried.
But just as she tearfully raised her head, preparing to get another good look at her precious eldest daughter, the cold silver-white blade edge pressed against her throat, so close that even swallowing would cause it to pierce her pale skin.
At this moment, Charlotte’s sea-blue eyes seemed covered with a layer of frost—an expression Funis had never seen before.
The kind of look reserved for enemies.
Even… killing intent.
Being treated as an enemy by her precious eldest daughter, with a sword pointed at her throat, yet not daring to reveal her identity, immense grievance and helplessness surged through her heart, along with all the previous emotions and excitement.
“Wuu! Waahhhhh—!”
She cried.
And very loudly.
The level of wailing.
Funis had endured so much suffering at Cessya’s place for so long but had only ever whimpered quietly. Yet this reunion with her adopted daughter, unable to interact naturally as before, was even more painful than being separated and never meeting again.
And this body was still fundamentally a child’s body—tear ducts weren’t as easily controlled as an adult’s.
So she really cried, unable to suppress it at all.
Now it was Charlotte’s turn to panic.
When the girl had suddenly launched an attack, she’d suspected the girl might be in league with the witches, but after their eyes met briefly, the girl’s gaze clearly showed hesitation and regret.
Having vigilance after waking up in an unfamiliar environment was perfectly normal. She began to think she might have been too harsh.
Charlotte hurriedly threw her sword aside, dropping to her knees with a thud and pulling Funis tightly into her arms.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Big sister was wrong.” She gently patted the girl’s back while tenderly comforting her. “Big sister will throw the sword away now. Don’t cry anymore, okay? Are you hungry? Want something to eat? Are you cold without clothes? Want to wear a new dress?”
“Huh?”
Funis realized her precious eldest daughter really was treating her like a little girl, and her belly full of grievances surged even more turbulently.
She cried even louder.