Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 145: Augustina: A Loser? How Could I Possibly Lose?

Inside the City of a Thousand Years, the once calm and easygoing atmosphere between Xia Ya and Augustina suddenly turned cold and sharp again.

Augustina slightly lifted her crimson-gold eyes.

The glow in them was no longer that of an innocent young girl—it was the gaze of a queen who stood above all.

Only now did Augustina finally reveal, for the first time before Xia Ya, a hint of the majesty worthy of the title "Queen of the Night."

Not merely a Legend, but a sovereign looking down on all from the clouds.

Even as he faced the overwhelming presence of the Queen of the Night—one that could rival even Sylvia—Xia Ya’s movements didn’t waver in the slightest.

He calmly extended his hand.

Pitch-black Undying Metal transformed into a thin blade.

With a light shhk, a small cut opened across his palm.

But before a single drop of blood could spill, the wound rapidly clotted and scabbed over, the scar fading and vanishing in moments.

“I’ve always believed that in this world, anything abnormal that occurs must have its own reason and principle behind it.”

Xia Ya’s eyes fell on the scabbed-over wound.

“This kind of immortality... it’s way too similar to the Blood Clan.”

“Of course, the standard resurrection abilities of the Blood Clan don’t come close to this level… I’m not afraid of sunlight, garlic, silver, or even holy water and crosses. None of them cause me the slightest discomfort.”

“Even when I was blasted to bits by a fully unleashed Holy Spear, I still regenerated without a scratch.”

“This ability isn’t just ‘resurrection’ or ‘self-healing’—it’s more accurate to call it conceptual-level immortality.”

Xia Ya raised his eyes slightly, calmly meeting Augustina’s gaze.

“Ordinary Blood Clan members can’t do this. Even Legendary Blood Princes aren’t capable of it.”

“But... if it were the Black Princess, chosen to become the vessel for the descent of the ‘Crimson Moon’—the Progenitor—then perhaps such a thing isn’t impossible.”

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“Just like how even if a True God is obliterated, as long as faith in them endures, one day they may return from the distant Starrealm.”

——

“You’re basing the idea that I’m your Fourth Soul Pact partner purely on this immortality theory?”

“As you said yourself, conceptual immortality isn’t exclusive to the ‘Crimson Moon.’”

Augustina’s raspy voice finally rang out again, full of interest.

“Well, there were some other clues too.”

Xia Ya thought for a moment, then continued, “For example, when I visited the Shadow Council’s outpost in the Imperial Capital—Dark Night Garden—your attitude toward me was... unusually off, Your Excellency Augustina.”

“A routine intelligence transaction, yet it caused your Shadow Avatar to descend in person... and later, you even suggested I repay the debt with my body.”

Xia Ya’s tone remained calm. “Back then, I wasn’t even a Fourth-Ring Master-tier Beastmaster. Talented, sure—but that’s about it… logically speaking, not someone a Legend—no, a Throne-tier—would take special notice of.”

“And then there was that banquet at the Borgia family… the Shadow Council had upheld neutrality for centuries, yet that time in the Starrealm, you personally hunted Guderian to death. Objectively speaking, that was clearly helping me eliminate an enemy.”

“I don’t believe in unearned favoritism.” He paused briefly. “Some people might ignore these anomalies… but my nature won’t allow me to.”

Xia Ya’s eyes were calm. “So, Your Excellency Augustina—would you care to explain?”

“The origin of the Soul Pact between us.”

“And what the true form of Aisgania’s history looked like, a thousand years ago, before Isadella altered it into an Imaginary Belt.”

——

Augustina didn’t answer right away.

She simply sat in her shadow-woven throne, letting strands of shadow twist into thorny vines around her pale fingers, absentmindedly toying with them.

Only after a long silence did her clear voice speak again.

“End of the First Era, beginning of the Second.”

“The Abyssal True God ‘Crimson Moon’ was defeated in the war that spanned both the First and Second Eras, between the Material Plane and the Abyss.”

“One of the original Eight Pages of the Black Tower destroyed Its divine body and most of Its Divine Kingdom. Crimson Moon had no choice but to retreat into the Starrealm, carrying Its remaining divinity, authority, and shattered Divine Kingdom fragments to lie dormant.”

“Even for an immortal True God, that kind of injury was unimaginable. If It were to wait patiently to regenerate, it would likely take thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years to fully recover.”

“And so, to rebuild a divine body—”

“Crimson Moon chose me, whose authority also specializes in night, shadow, and secrecy, as Its vessel of descent.”

“Or as the outside world calls it—the First Progenitor.”

The clarity in Augustina’s crimson-gold eyes faded a little, replaced by an ancient depth that seemed to stretch across time itself.

And Xia Ya simply listened calmly.

Most of the modern archaeological community focused on the current era, with very little knowledge—almost none at all—about the secrets of the old eras.

However, after obtaining the Knowledge Grail, Xia Ya had crammed a great deal of knowledge into his brain. What he knew now could rival even the ancient demi-gods and Throne-tiers.

The Fourth Era was the current age Xia Ya lived in, marked by the start of the Sacred Calendar.

The Historical Echo of Aisgania he was in now was at the junction of the Third and Fourth Eras.

As for the First Era, even the Knowledge Grail knew little—its power only extended to the present, and the First Era predated its creation.

The Second Era, however, was symbolized by the dawn of arcana, the establishment of the mage and Beastmaster systems—

And the founding of the Black Tower.

That’s right, although the modern West Continent grouped the Dark Tower, Crimson Tower, and White Tower together as the “Three Mage Towers,”

In truth, the White Tower was founded by “The Argent Witch” Sylvia midway through the Fourth Era and had only a 500-year history—a baby sister in the group.

The Crimson Tower, or Red Tower, was slightly older, having sprouted near the end of the Third Era.

Only the Black Tower was truly ancient, birthed at the close of the First Era and directly influencing the rise of the Second.

According to the Knowledge Grail—

The Black Tower was the origin of arcana, wizardry, and magic itself, arguably the beginning of Western Continent civilization.

Of course, the Knowledge Grail was born from the soul crystal of the Great Sage and had deep ties to the Black Tower—so it was hard to say how much of that was historical fact, and how much was bias.

“Tch, no wonder she knows the Snitch Cup—might’ve even been burned by it herself. Augustina came from the Second Era too?”

“And according to what she just said—”

“The Crimson Moon, in its full form, at the peak of its power, was crippled by one of the original Eight Pages of the Black Tower?”

“If it was one of the Eight Pages, that means they didn’t even ascend to godhood... a human crippled a True God? Were the wizards of the Second Era all this insane?”

“These days, the threshold to become a Black Tower Page is only Legend-tier… but taking down a peak True God? Even most Thrones couldn’t pull that off.”

“I wonder… who’s stronger—my teacher, or that original Page?”

Xia Ya pondered in silence.

On the other side, after a brief moment of recollection, Augustina began to speak again.

This time, however, her gaze fell directly onto Xia Ya’s face.

“The Crimson Moon needed a new body—or rather, a vessel for its descent.”

“But of course, any vessel chosen would never willingly allow itself to be reduced to nothing more than a shell.”

“Still, it is a True God… it has countless ways to erode and corrupt its chosen prey.”

A faint golden light shimmered in Augustina’s eyes.

“For instance, it gave me the urge to feed—vampiric hunger—in exchange for half of its divinity.”

“The identity of the Progenitor granted me far greater power, but the urge to feed was essentially a curse.”

“Every time that urge was triggered, it brought me one step closer to that descent—closer to becoming the ideal vessel the Crimson Moon desired.”

“To suppress the hunger, I had to spend an enormous amount of mental energy to keep it at bay… and that desire built up over time, forcing me into eternal slumber just to keep it contained.”

Her eyes drifted across the land beneath the City of a Thousand Years.

“The Crimson Moon’s followers all perished in that war at the end of the Second Era, when its Divine Kingdom collapsed.”

“But over the span of two eras, the Crimson Moon regained some of its strength, and with it, it created a new race of followers—what you now call vampires.”

“They are the Crimson Moon’s most devout slaves, and they’ve followed its will since their inception, constantly searching for me, hoping to push me into complete bloodlust—to turn me into the perfect, pure vessel their god desires.”

Augustina’s gaze swept over Xia Ya’s eyes, as though trying to read something in them—but in the end, she found nothing.

“I know that in the eyes of outsiders, I’m no different from those vampires.”

“But—those so-called nobles and princes of the Blood Clan... to me, they’re nothing more than the Crimson Moon’s puppets. And my enemies. Bitter enemies.”

“That’s why I slaughtered the entire ancestral homeland of the Blood Clan—the City of a Thousand Years. All six Vampire Princes, along with every ghoul, thrall, and blood servant within it, were wiped out by my hand.”

“After that, I continued to hunt down the surviving vampires while sealing myself inside the city, using eternal slumber to suppress the ever-growing bloodlust that came with time.”

“But ultimately, that was only a temporary solution. As time passed, the bloodlust required more and more of my mental strength to contain. At my worst, over seventy percent of my power was spent just holding it back.”

“And so, thanks to one of the Crimson Moon’s recent schemes, my bloodlust was finally triggered again.”

A faint smile curled Augustina’s lips. She extended her crimson tongue and licked the corner of her mouth.

“As you’ve seen… you became the first person I ever drank from.”

“Or, to use the terminology of the Blood Clan—you were ‘Embraced’ by me.”

“This is how ordinary vampires create progeny—those Embraced typically become vampires themselves, regardless of their original race.”

“Of course, I’m not a regular vampire, so I didn’t actually turn you into one. But through that Embrace, we did form an equal pact... and part of the Crimson Moon’s divinity and authority within me was shared with you.”

Her gaze held a smile, but beneath it was something Xia Ya couldn’t quite see through.

“There were many who fell in the Second Era’s war—True Gods who were utterly destroyed and could only await resurrection over the ages from the far reaches of the Starrealm... yet the Crimson Moon managed to preserve fragments of power and will. Its immortality ranks among the strongest even within the True Gods.”

“That is the source of the anomaly in your Fourth Soul Pact… and your immortality.”

Augustina pulled back her gaze, her eyes dropping slightly.

“Since you gained immortality through the pact, and inherited some of the Crimson Moon’s divinity and authority... then naturally, you’ve entered Its gaze. You’ve become one of Its chosen vessels.”

“And because of that Embrace, you and I will work together to oppose the Crimson Moon.”

“In the end, we will exterminate the last remnants of the Blood Clan from this land and defeat the current incomplete form of the Crimson Moon.”

“To use your own words—we’ll knock it back into the fountain, send it into respawn cooldown, and unless someone buys it back, it won’t return to the Material Plane for a good few thousand years.”

“And though Aisgania may mourn the loss of Kayin, a new empire will still rise amid the tide of history, and that Knight King will march resolutely toward death at the end of her days…”

“If the distortion of the Imaginary Belt had never appeared—then what I just described would have been the rightful course of Aisgania’s history.”

“Only now, that history has deviated.”

Augustina lowered her gaze, looking out toward the distant White Chalk City.

Xia Ya looked down as well, his eyes falling on the city that would one day be called “Camelot.”

To the eye, it was a vibrant, bustling scene—countless craftsmen working tirelessly in the heat of the day, full of life and energy.

But through Xia Ya’s “Starrealm Vision,” achieved via his spiritual connection to the Starrealm—

Even though it was noon, that magnificent and sacred imperial capital was cloaked in a blood-red night.

A crimson moon hung high above the sky.

Its blood-colored light poured down onto a tall, cold, and indifferent figure.

She held the Holy Sword. She wore that familiar military uniform.

But the Isadella now before him was nothing like the figure in Xia Ya’s memories.

Gone was the stern yet secretly girlish imperial princess.

What remained was pure divinity—the Crimson Empress.

Augustina hadn’t been wrong.

The Imaginary Belt carved out by the Holy Sword now existed outside the River of Time.

So even though Xia Ya had returned to the first year of the Sacred Calendar… nothing could be undone.

He wasn’t facing the familiar Knight King Artoris,

But someone twisted by a thousand years of obsession and the Crimson Moon’s corruption—

Someone paranoid, unrecognizable, and no longer anything like the girl he remembered—

The Queen of the Imaginary Belt.

“To pursue immortality… to wait for your return in the Hall of Heroes… Isadella chose to collaborate with the Crimson Moon.”

“She willingly accepted the Crimson Moon’s divinity and became Its vessel—in exchange for the near-endless lifespan of a True God.”

“But the price for that choice… was that her humanity would be slowly consumed by the Crimson Moon’s divine nature, until she was fully deified and became—”

“A new god. ‘The Crimson Moon.’”

——

As Augustina’s words ended, she looked at Xia Ya.

Xia Ya, in turn, looked up slightly, a faint smile on his face.

“In that case, what we need to do becomes all the more straightforward.”

He pointed toward the sacred city bathed in the crimson moonlight—toward the heart of the throne.

“Just two enemies.”

“One is the Crimson Moon. The other is Her Highness the Imperial Pri...—oh wait, correction—Her Majesty the Empress.”

“If that old b***** of a True God already got wrecked in the Second Era, then it should have the decency to get off the stage. Quietly die, and go back to the Starrealm to queue up for resurrection like everyone else.”

“As for Her Highness—if she can come to her senses, great. If not, then I’ll beat her awake with the power of friendship and a well-placed fist.”

Xia Ya smiled, spreading his hands. “See? It’s a simple plan. The path to victory’s already laid out.”

“Of course, I can’t solo this—so Your Excellency Augustina, you’ll help me, won’t you? After all, we’re taking down your old enemy.”

“I will. Even though the Crimson Moon has chosen another vessel now… if it ever truly returns with a new body, descends again into the world—

That’s something I absolutely cannot allow.”

Augustina gave a slight nod.

But then, her gaze locked onto Xia Ya.

“But do you really understand what you're doing?”

“I know, as Kayin, you've pulled off countless outrageous feats—like that battle in the Valley of the End—and always walked away alive.”

“But you should also know, all of that was possible because of the Crimson Moon's immortality blessing.”

Her eyes dimmed with a shadowed glow.

“Once you become its enemy, regardless of whether you win or lose... you’ll lose that blessing.”

The Queen of the Night’s gaze swept across Xia Ya’s face. “Your base strength is only Sixth-Ring… and even with the boost from that magitech construct, which lets you fight on par with Legends, even someone like that scum Prince Fland had a heart-piercing ability. Other Legends will have ways to bypass external defenses and strike at your core.”

“Let alone the fact that what you’ll be facing… is no ordinary Legend.”

“But a Throne-tier... who wields the Holy Sword.”

Augustina’s soft voice echoed through the quiet garden of the City of a Thousand Years. “You’re not afraid of dying?”

“Of course I am.”

Xia Ya answered without hesitation.

“But getting killed leads to death. That’s just common sense.”

“If I didn’t want to die, I never would’ve chosen to come back a thousand years in the first place.”

“Besides…”

The runes of Yui flickered in Xia Ya’s eyes.

In the arsenal that had already reached “Transcendent Mastery” proficiency, a massive streamlined metallic construct gleamed with silver-white light.

On its curved metal shell, a neat line of Chinese characters was engraved:

‘Tsar Bomba’

Looking at his overflowing weapons cache,

And reading the path Yui had passed on to him via Soul Pact—refined through millions of simulations and trials to find the only successful route—

A faint smile played across Xia Ya’s lips.

“Even without immortality… I’ve never once thought I’d lose.”

“If we’re talking odds out of a hundred, I’d say the Crimson Moon and Her Highness probably don’t even have a fifty percent chance of winning.”

His eyes rose toward that eerie crimson moon.

He might’ve been slender, not physically imposing in the slightest,

But in that moment, Augustina clearly felt a powerful aura surge from Xia Ya’s body—one no less intense than her own.

“The legend of the Knight King… it’s time for it to end.”

——

“I’ll need some time to make preparations and set everything up.”

“So then—Your Excellency, Queen of the Night…”

“Seven days from now. Camelot.”

Xia Ya casually waved a hand at Augustina.

Then stood and walked out of the City of a Thousand Years.

As she watched the young man’s back grow more distant, a glimmer flickered in Augustina’s beautiful eyes.

That was the mindset of someone certain of victory.

And the resolve of someone prepared to die.

That overwhelming confidence and determination… overlapped perfectly with the figure in her memory.

“To go to such lengths… all for that little girl Isadella?”

She gave a small shake of her head, then looked again toward the receding Xia Ya, speaking softly.

“But in that case…”

“What am I to you?”

Xia Ya’s steps halted.

He understood perfectly what Augustina was implying.

In fact, ever since what happened with Sylvia, Xia Ya had become incredibly sensitive to this sort of thing.

A mysterious woman shows up, shows him special affection or favoritism—

It was exactly like what happened with Sylvia.

Combine that with what Augustina had said earlier about the “untwisted, correct version of history”…

It didn’t take a genius to guess what happened: they probably fought side by side against the Crimson Moon, and then his “Pretty Boy EX” passive skill got triggered again.

But Xia Ya didn’t turn around.

“Well…”

“I don’t know what happened in that version of history that made you, Your Excellency Augustina, develop such a fondness for me.”

“But whatever it was… it’s something I’ve never experienced.”

Xia Ya understood clearly what it meant for a Throne-tier, the master of the Shadow Council since the Second Era, to show romantic interest.

All he had to do was be a little ambiguous in his response, and he’d have a brand new, powerful backer—and a lifetime of easy living.

But that “correct” history Augustina spoke of… whether it was his past life or just another possibility—

He had never lived through it.

And if he had no romantic feelings for the Queen of the Night standing before him—

Then he couldn’t respond to her expectations. Not even leave a trace of ambiguity.

Yes, Xia Ya was a flirt.

But if he acted like that now, it wouldn’t just be flirtation—it would be scummy.

The only reason he’d accepted Sylvia’s feelings and even responded with a confession—

Wasn’t because she was the White Tower Master or a Throne-tier.

It was simply because he’d genuinely grown to care for her through everything they went through in the Historical Echo of the Cangting Ancient Kingdom.

That was it.

“To be the contract partner and ally of Your Excellency Augustina is an honor.”

“So for now, I see you as a trusted friend and comrade… or a trading partner.”

“Nothing more.”

With that, his figure swiftly shrank into the distance—

And vanished at the edge of the City of a Thousand Years.

——

“…So I’m the loser in this story?”

Augustina watched Xia Ya disappear into the distance, slightly dazed.

But her expression wasn’t that of someone grieving a loss.

On the contrary—her icy, delicate features curved into a smile.

“Well, of course. If he really flirted with me like a typical two-faced scumbag in a situation where we had zero emotional foundation…”

“Then he wouldn’t be my Xia Ya—the Xia Ya I know and am loyal to.”

A trace of nostalgia surfaced in Augustina’s eyes, her gaze distant.

That sharp confidence, unwavering in his convictions…

Completely the opposite of an “idiot simp” or a “nice guy.”

“This is the Xia Ya I remember…”

Only after a long moment did she come back to herself, her lips tugging into a faint smile.

“But… I still tricked you.”

Augustina raised her pale hand—

And tapped lightly at the air.

Most of what she had told Xia Ya was true—

Except for two things she had deliberately hidden.

First, their so-called “equal contract” wasn’t formed during that incident where the Crimson Moon had schemed against her, forcing her into the bloodthirst of the First Embrace.

Second, the affection and partiality she felt toward Xia Ya…

Didn’t originate from this slice of Aisgania’s history at the tail end of the Third Era.

It came from much earlier than that.

From a time when the Black Tower hadn’t yet been founded.

Before the divine war between the Abyss and the Material Plane had ever broken out.

Before that annoying Knowledge Grail even existed—when it was nothing more than a theoretical idea whispered among Grand Arcanists.

Back then, she hadn’t even been called Augustina.

She was just a newborn being, freshly hatched into the world.

Eyes wide, dazed, and innocent—

Looking up at the first living soul she ever laid eyes on.

A soft breeze swept through the City of a Thousand Years.

And in that moment, the shadows and night that had cloaked Augustina all this time gently faded away.

Revealing the true form that had always been hidden beneath that hazy veil of twilight.

Crimson-gold slit pupils.

And nestled in her jet-black hair, the faint, gleaming silhouette of a horn.

Unlike the enchanting pink and elaborate horns of succubi,

The horn at Augustina’s forehead wasn’t menacing—but it held a quiet, dignified arc.

Most people regarded vampires as a separate race altogether.

But as the original Progenitor—before she was chosen as the vessel of the Crimson Moon—

Augustina had once belonged to another race altogether…

“You said it yourself back then—

You were going to become a dragon knight.”

“…Tch. A loser? How could I possibly lose?”