Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 157: Yin — "Master, I Really Want to Get Stronger"

“So basically, Golden Dawn is using this black mist to deliver packages.”

“And now I’ve intercepted the delivery right at the transfer station?”

Xia Ya’s thoughts flicked, and in an instant, he fully understood his current situation.

The faint, illusory prayers in his ears gradually faded away.

Only emptiness remained.

From the churning black mist, a hazy point of light slowly emerged.

Then, it condensed into something solid and tangible.

It was a pale skull.

The skull was enormous and grotesque, appearing in the void before Xia Ya and nearly taking up his entire field of vision.

This wasn’t the size or structure of any normal human or humanoid creature’s skeleton. Atop the bone-white surface, two twisted horns curved at eerie angles. Between its teeth, faint traces of black cinders remained—evoking the image of its former owner gnawing magma and devouring flames while alive.

[Immortal Skull of the Nameless King]

Category: Pollutant | Extraordinary Material

Tier: Eighth

Attributes: Fire | Darkness | Curse

Description: This is the skull of a former Flame Giant King, who was defeated in the divine war against the Ash Lord over the dominion of flame. His head became the Ash Lord’s most glorious trophy.

Later, this skull was gifted by the Ash Lord to his followers, becoming the supreme holy relic of the Ash Cult and the vessel of its faith. Only the Pope of the Ash Cult is permitted to possess or touch it.

According to Ash Cult legend: When the hollow eyes of this relic are reignited with black fire, the Ash Lord will return from ancient history and descend upon the world once more.

To carry out a certain plan that may overturn the Western Continent, this relic was sent by the Ash Cult Pope… and has now ended up before you.

“Oho, the Ash Cult again?”

“Last time it was a left finger bone, and now you’ve brought me the whole skull?”

Seated on his golden recliner, Xia Ya raised his brows at the pale skull and the glowing blue screen of information that appeared in his mind.

Old acquaintances by now.

And the kind that bring you wealth.

He still remembered back when he was too weak to even reach Third Ring level. It was the Ash Cult fanatics who attacked Saint Roland Academy, and from that chaos, he obtained the polluted left finger bone that helped Yin complete her self-created skill Amaterasu.

It also happened to be the moment Xia Ya first shone brightly in the Imperial Capital, catching the eye of the Second Princess and setting the foundation for their first bond.

Later on—whether it was the final battle of the Historical Echoes in the Cangting Kingdom or the Borgias family banquet—Amaterasu proved invaluable to him.

Without that Tier 6 polluted left finger bone as its fire source, Amaterasu could never have become so powerful.

Of course, as versions updated and enemies became more terrifying—legendary, demi-god, and even hints of true gods—the old Amaterasu had started to feel a bit outdated.

Even little Snow Ferret had been sidelined, demoted to storage duty, occasionally popping out to toss a Tsukuyomi for fun.

But now? That was a different story.

“Come to think of it… didn’t I once pin the death of Dusk’s avatar on the Ash Cult?”

“And didn’t that result in them getting hunted down by Dusk’s people for like… centuries?”

“Hope the god’s doing okay.”

Xia Ya sincerely offered a silent blessing to the Ash Lord in his heart.

He really hadn’t planned on leeching this poor evil god forever. After all, the Ash Lord had helped him a ton—delivering pollution materials, acting as a matchmaker for him and Isadella… the man had put in work.

But now that even the cult’s high priest personally delivered a new relic, it’d be rude not to accept it.

As this thought passed, Xia Ya’s mental command stirred the air.

A faint silver glow lit up in the black mist.

The little snow ferret appeared in Xia Ya’s arms. At first, it was still groggy, lazily rubbing its head against his chest. After a good long snuggle, it finally opened its eyes—those clear red gemstone-like eyes.

Due to the chaotic, turbulent nature of time in the Fragmented Fantasy Belt, which ran differently from the material plane, not everyone could stay active.

Xia Ya could survive with his affinity for time and space granted by the Hourglass of Time. Airola had her Holy Lance contract.

But Yin and Shanshan were different.

Their souls couldn’t adapt to the warped time-space flow, so most of these past years, aside from Yui (a mechanical lifeform unaffected by such things), Yin and the others had spent their time asleep in the Soul Pact space. Only occasionally waking when breakthroughs allowed.

Now that the temporal storm was stabilizing and the river of history was returning to order, Yin and the others were slowly adapting—but still quite drowsy.

Then suddenly—

The moment Yin sensed the aura of the pale skull in front of Xia Ya, her ruby-like eyes flew wide open.

“Ying ying ying~ (Master, is this for me?)”

Still playing the part of a whimpering cutie, her fluffy snow-white tail had already lovingly wrapped around Xia Ya’s neck.

In her heart, Yin felt like crying tears of joy.

It had been so long, truly so long since she’d been in this familiar, cherished spot—whether as Xia Ya’s main pet cuddled up in his arms, or enjoying the pampering only a beloved daughter could get.

With Yui’s arrival, Yin had been feeling the pressure—big time.

I mean, come on. Black Knight mechs? Orbital kinetic weapons? Nuclear strikes?

What chance did a little snow ferret with fire spells stand in a head-on fight?

She’d been reduced to a sidekick—barely even getting to cast Tsukuyomi here and there.

But now, her master had come through.

Even though he never said much, he clearly still cared.

Yin could feel it clearly—the pale skull before her shared the exact same source as her fireseed for Amaterasu.

Which meant—

This was perfect timing!

Just when she thought she was about to be power-crept out of the meta and become a relic of the past, a power-up patch arrived!

This… this was what it meant to be the master’s one and only official pet! The true daughter of destiny!

Childhood companions always win!

She gazed at that pale skull, eyes burning with excitement.

“Look at you, getting all worked up.”

Xia Ya smiled and finally gave her a long-overdue head rub, resting her fluffy white tail gently on his shoulder.

Though Yin had spent most of the last ten years sleeping, their Soul Pact bond remained strong.

As Xia Ya’s spiritual power advanced, Yin and the others naturally reaped the benefits as well.

To put it plainly — Yin literally leveled up in her sleep.

“With your current rank, Yin, it’s still a bit of a stretch to absorb an eighth-tier pollutant directly,” Xia Ya said softly.

Seventh tier meant Legendary.

And eighth tier — that was the realm of Thrones and Demi-Gods.

Of course, just because something was eighth-tier didn’t mean it wielded true demi-god combat power. It just meant that some aspect of it had reached that threshold.

“That thing is the Ash Cult’s supreme holy relic — used to house the entire cult’s faith over the past millennium. It stores enough power to summon the Ash Lord himself. If you try to absorb it raw, it could scramble your soul and turn you into a little fire-spitting ferret.”

He patted Yin on the head, soothing the little snow ferret’s growing excitement.

“Ying ying ying~ (Got it.)”

“Ying ying, ying~ (Master, I really want to get stronger.)”

Yin wagged her tail and snuggled obediently back into Xia Ya’s arms.

She’d just been groggy from sleeping too long. Now fully awake and sensing the overwhelming aura from the Ash King’s skull, she was well aware of the risks and rewards involved.

“Don’t worry,” Xia Ya said, his gaze locking onto the pale skull still smoldering faintly with black cinders. “Handling this pollutant isn’t really a big deal for me anymore.”

Pollutants from evil gods were a death sentence for most supernatural beings on the Western Continent.

But not for Xia Ya. When it came to handling pollutants, he was a seasoned veteran.

Hell, he could probably say “nobody knows pollutants better than me” and get nothing but nods.

Ever since getting his first one — that polluted relic of the Dusk Old God from Anlina — Xia Ya had dealt with all kinds of them.

Back then, he was weak. Just a sliver of an evil god’s aura would put him on high alert. He had to seal pollutants inside mithril boxes just to handle them safely.

Now, after ten years inside the Fragmented Eden — things were completely different.

If this were the Ash Lord himself in full form, that’d be another story. But an eighth-tier pollutant?

That wasn’t even enough to stir the waters in front of present-day Xia Ya.

He placed his hand on the pale skull.

In the next instant, the white light radiating from the Immortal Skull of the Nameless King dimmed.

Then, countless specks of black cinder burst forth from it, rapidly crawling up Xia Ya’s arm and covering his entire body.

In his soul, a storm of twisted thoughts instantly erupted.

Flickering illusions filled his mind—

A world of endless fire, where the air shimmered with heat so intense it warped reality. Even the sky was cloaked in black flames — a hellish elemental plane of fire.

From a lake of erupting magma, a tiny fire elemental was born.

It swam through the lava, growing stronger day by day.

As it gained power, other fire creatures gathered around it.

Eventually, it began waging war against rival tribes, killing their leaders and devouring their elemental cores.

Thousands of years passed. That once-weak flame grew into a fire elemental lord, then a hellfire monarch…

And finally — the Flame Giant King, sovereign of the entire elemental plane.

Under the guidance of planar laws and the faith of all flame beings, it even condensed divinity and began walking the path of godhood, wielding conflagration as its divine right.

But that wasn’t enough.

It didn’t want to be just a local god-king.

It tore open dimensional rifts, seeking even greater evolution.

And just as it was about to reach full godhood…

A divine war broke out in the rift between dimensions and the Abyss.

The Flame King’s ambitions and years of effort were crushed in an instant.

The throne and grail it had built up for millennia were all stolen by a being named “Ash” — an intruder from the Abyss.

Even the elemental plane that once worshipped it turned its back, becoming part of the Ash Lord’s legion of followers.

“I will have vengeance! Vengeance!”

“Vengeance against Ash! Vengeance against the plane that betrayed me!”

“Burn every last one of Ash’s cultists! Rip that thief off the throne! Let all the Abyss be reduced to cinders in my fury!”

In a heartbeat—

Madness. Despair. Corruption. Rage. A torrent of negative emotions surged through Xia Ya’s mind along with an ancient guttural language — the tongue of the primordial giants.

If you translated it, it’d probably say something like “One night a madman sharpened his blade;the imperial stars fell, and Mars rose high.”

Along with the fury came the full memory of the skull’s original owner — the fallen Ash King.

A being who had nearly ascended to true godhood.

A being with thousands of years of memory.

In the face of such overwhelming memory — mere decades or centuries of human experience were nothing but a drop in the ocean. It could easily drown a person’s sense of self.

“They say true gods never truly die… and now I see why.”

“Even gods that fell eras ago left backup plans inside their own remains.”

“If I hadn’t gone through those ten years in Eden… I might’ve really been consumed. My identity wiped out. I’d be nothing but a puppet carrying the Ash King’s will.”

Xia Ya shook his head.

If he were really swallowed up by the Ash King’s memories, he’d no longer be Xia Ya, but rather a resurrected elemental monarch wearing his skin — a vessel for an ancient god’s rebirth.

“Too bad—”

He chuckled, then mentally equipped his radiant golden title: Godslayer.

“This kind of corruption? This kind of soul invasion? It’s not even a tenth of what my main wife and princess wife have survived.”

At that moment—

Hundreds of dim stars within his spiritual sea — fragments of the Sands of Time — began to resonate.

Dazzling starlight erupted across his mental world like a constellation lighting up the void.

All the chaotic whispers, all the fragments of ancient memory — were disintegrated by the light, wiped clean in an instant.

The black cinders on Xia Ya’s skin slowly faded.

“You already lost. You lost back in that divine war thousands of years ago.”

“With what little power you have left, you’re not even qualified to fight over my body — let alone avenge yourself against the Ash Lord.”

“But—”

“I can give you a chance.”

“A chance to get revenge on the abyssal thief who stole your godhood and seduced your worshippers.”

Xia Ya’s spiritual form stood in a sea of stars, his voice calm as he spoke into the vast silence.

“I know this skull is your last card, your final hope for resurrection. You must’ve left behind a hidden backdoor—one the Ash Lord is unaware of.”

“For example, a way to hijack the faith power stored in this relic without alerting the Ash Lord’s true body in the star realm.”

“Hand that backdoor over to me.”

His tone didn’t waver.

“In return, I’ll make you a promise—”

“If I get the chance, I’ll drag the Ash Lord down here for you. Let him keep you company.”

“You should know I’m not bluffing.”

As his words fell, the once-frenzied whispers, the black cinders, and all the scattered memory fragments slowly fell silent.

That was the will of the Flame Giant King, still lingering inside his own skull.

Just now, in their brief spiritual confrontation, the once god-bound Giant King was left stunned.

This man… was clearly just a human, not even on the path to divinity.

Yet his soul was more tenacious—more terrifying—than any demi-god the Flame King had ever faced.

The King’s strength had been eroded over thousands of years. Against Xia Ya, it couldn’t even shake his soul, let alone possess him or hijack his body.

And more importantly—

The Flame King had sensed something in Xia Ya.

Something chilling, suffocating. A mark that made him instinctively recoil.

The mark of a Godslayer.

To any mythical being who chose the path of godhood, that mark meant one thing: death. Eternal opposition. The fear of a natural predator.

Xia Ya wasn’t bluffing. This terrifying human… he had really slain a god.

Finally, after a long silence, a voice crackled through Xia Ya’s mind like fire devouring dry wood.

“Since it is a promise made by a Godslayer…”

“Then I… will trust in it.”

The Flame King’s shadow cast one last look at Xia Ya’s calm face.

Then, the mad black flames receded, gathering and fading.

Until they vanished.

Where they had been, a faint ethereal rift began to form—a hidden passage the Flame King had left inside his skull. A secret path that could bypass the Ash Lord’s perception and let someone siphon away the faith stored in this holy relic for themselves.

By opening it, the Flame King paid the ultimate price—his final wisp of consciousness dissipated completely.

It wasn’t because he had some saintly belief in Xia Ya’s character.

Godslayer or not, character had little meaning in divine realms. Even gods lied and betrayed. Hell, there was an actual God of Deception.

But this… was simply the only choice left to him.

His remnant soul had been dwindling for centuries. If Xia Ya hadn’t triggered it by touching the skull, it would’ve dispersed on its own in a few hundred more years.

Meanwhile, the Ash Lord’s power only grew, fed by more followers and greater faith.

Deep down, the Flame King knew—revenge was nothing more than a hollow obsession.

And since he had no hope of returning himself… he might as well give this weapon to Xia Ya.

After all, anyone who bears the mark of a Godslayer is destined to clash with beings like the Ash Lord.

Whether Xia Ya succeeded or not didn’t matter.

At least it would disgust his old enemy. Watching the faith of a thousand years fall into someone else’s hands—that alone made it worth it.

“…Smart choice.”

Seeing the remnant will finally scatter, Xia Ya arched a brow.

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The skull was still a relic crafted by the Ash Lord himself—a vessel for faith.

If it weren’t for the Flame King’s help, trying to tamper with it without being noticed would’ve been… annoying.

He gave the little snow ferret a pat.

“The skull’s safe now. Go ahead and absorb the black flame.”

Yin flicked her fluffy tail, eyes gleaming like rubies.

Three blood-red tomoe spiraled into view within her eyes, rotating gently.

From the skull, wisps of dim black fire began to float out, drawn toward her gaze.

They flowed into the tomoe, feeding her unique skill—Amaterasu—with a powerful new core.

Xia Ya, meanwhile, let his awareness slip into the phantom rift the Flame King had left behind.

What lay beyond—

Was a world of total darkness.

A single, shadowy flame floated at the center—the heart of this faith realm.

This skull, remade by the Ash Lord, housed more than just a scrap of his divinity—it contained a sliver of his divine kingdom.

And that flickering flame?

It was the Ash Lord’s divine sense, bound into the relic.

Over the years, the Ash Cult had rampaged across the land, kidnapping and sacrificing victims. They offered pure souls in fire rituals, feeding them to this very flame.

Their final destination?

Right here. Inside this shattered divine realm.

And the moment Xia Ya’s spirit entered—

The flame trembled with joy.

To it, this new arrival was just another sacrifice. A soul offered by its faithful.

The black flame surged forward, eager to engulf Xia Ya’s spirit and claim it for the Ash Kingdom.

But—

It stopped.

The black fire froze mid-air, confused.

In the star realm, a being’s soul projection is called a stellar spirit. Its strength varies based on lifeform and soul power.

Usually, stellar spirits are subconscious—barely controllable.

Only Legendary beings, with fully-formed spiritual seas, can exert any real control. That’s why only they can wander the star realm freely.

But now—

Before the Ash Lord’s flame could even start the conversion ritual—

Xia Ya’s stellar spirit—a golden little humanoid—charged at it head-on.

A pure, mutual pounce.

Something was wrong.

Even with incomplete awareness, the divine sense instinctively knew this wasn’t right.

It had no time to react.

Because a moment later—

Xia Ya’s golden figure dived headfirst into the black flame.

…