On the vast ocean between the White Kingdom and the Sea Kingdom.
The wind howled, thunder roared, and icy rain poured down.
The world was as dark as night, occasionally illuminated into day by a flash of lightning.
Lord Rhine stood at the center of the storm, having already guessed what had happened inside the gourd.
The voodoo doll he made from one of the three Fates' Stand-ins used hair from the corpse of the Old Witch he had killed!
Since a vengeful spirit of the Old Witch still existed in the world, when the stand-in was activated, it was naturally this vengeful spirit that exchanged places with Lord Rhine and took on the destructive fate in his stead.
Lord Rhine seemed to completely ignore the Eastern Witch and the Black Witch Maleficent, who was towering like a small mountain—these two powerful enemies—and slowly walked toward Aurora.
From the beginning, the storm had bypassed Aurora, not a single icy raindrop falling on the severely injured girl.
"Aurora, you've worked hard."
The silver-haired man revealed a smile as warm as spring.
"Next, just leave it to me."
Lord Rhine gently bent down, and pure white light bloomed from his hand, healing Aurora's injuries and dispelling the harm and pain caused by the curse.
"You rest here for a while. After I defeat Maleficent and the Eastern Witch, I will ask them about the Witch Society's leader."
"Who do you think you are!" the Eastern Witch cursed, "You don't think you can defeat the legendary Witch Maleficent, do you?"
That was someone even she feared!
And Lord Rhine, even when he teamed up with Aurora, couldn't take her down. Not to mention Maleficent, who was even more powerful than herself.
As soon as the Eastern Witch finished speaking, she faintly felt something was wrong.
Maleficent was too quiet.
The Eastern Witch turned her head and saw that the Black Witch Maleficent, transformed into a black dragon, stood like a wooden Carving in the wind and rain, her face so grave it looked like water could drip from it. Her expression was as if facing a formidable enemy, nervously watching the petite young man.
Throughout all these years, she had never seen Maleficent show such a grave expression.
This Black Witch had always been arrogant, cold, elegant, yet insane!
"No way, Maleficent… is she afraid?"
The Eastern Witch's heart tightened, and she nervously turned back, just in time to see:
The silver-haired young man stood up from in front of Aurora, revealing a gentle and serene smile towards them both.
The Eastern Witch's back suddenly tingled, and a chill rose from her spine. The young man's gentle smile appeared to her eyes like the smile of the Grim Reaper.
The Queen, the Sea Hag, the sailors, and the Soldiers' hearts were also beating rapidly, closely watching the scene of Lord Rhine confronting the two powerful Witches.
"Did Sage Rhine summon this storm? It must be!"
"Really? Is this a storm that can be summoned by human power?"
The surprised and uncertain sailor cast his gaze towards the distant, gloomy horizon.
"The area covered by this storm is endless. It's probably the size of an entire White Kingdom!"
Lord Rhine looked at the two great Witches and gently raised the azure scepter in his hand.
—This magical item, formed by the collective wishes of countless children of destiny and ordinary people from the Sea Kingdom and the Sea Kingdom, only displays its full power on the sea, capable of summoning storms and tsunamis strong enough to destroy an entire kingdom!
…
A few weeks ago.
In the palace of the White Kingdom.
Lord Rhine and Aurora were discussing their plan.
They were monitoring the enemy's movements using a magic mirror.
To avoid being directly detected by the Eastern Witch and Maglido, Lord Rhine set the target of his detection to Maglido's subordinates—the Soldiers of En De, using the instructions these Soldiers received to indirectly infer and reconstruct the two enemies' plans.
"So, Master, you set the trap for hunting the Eastern Witch at sea because the Sea Witch can drag enemies into the seawater with magic? To create the most unfavorable conditions for the enemy?" Aurora tried to guess Lord Rhine's thoughts.
"That's part of it," Lord Rhine said, flipping his right hand, and an azure scepter appeared in his hand.
"On the sea, I can possess the strongest power. Even a legendary mage like the Black Witch Maleficent cannot contend with me at sea!"
…
Whoosh, whoosh.
As Lord Rhine raised the scepter, the wind rapidly swirled, mixed with icy rain, surrounding the two Witches.
At the same time, few people noticed:
Behind Lord Rhine, somewhere on the ship's deck, several drops of green liquid were swept up by the wind, quietly flying towards Lord Rhine. This scene was obscured by the squall and the light of silver lightning, making it too inconspicuous.
That was the green dragon blood that flowed from the Black Witch Maleficent when Aurora, in the previous battle, was the only one to wound her!
Under Lord Rhine's deliberate control, the storm just now had not washed away those bloodstains.
Maleficent's supernatural intuition suddenly sensed danger, and the Black Dragon's eyes quickly narrowed.
The next moment, the few drops of blood in the air suddenly ignited, rising with emerald green flames—these flames could even burn in the icy wind and rain—and were completely consumed in a short instant.
"It seems my little trick was discovered?" Lord Rhine shrugged, "You quickly dealt with your bloodstains. A very smart move."
"If you hadn't done that, you might be a corpse by now," the young man's tone was colder than the biting icy rain.
As long as he obtained Maleficent's blood, he could take out one of the remaining two Scarecrows and quickly create a "Voodoo Stand-in" corresponding to this Black Witch, holding the opponent's life in his hands!
"Sage of Rose Kingdom, your progress is indeed beyond my expectation."
The Black Dragon looked up at the calamitous storm.
"But, so what?"
"Eleven years ago, I feared you not then, and it is the same today!"
"You and that little princess of the Rose Kingdom will both be buried in the sea today!"
As soon as the Black Dragon finished speaking, it broke through the encirclement of the surrounding strong winds and soared into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the giant dragon had already flown high into the sky, approaching the dark, thick clouds.
Maleficent opened her dragon mouth, about to cast the most vicious curse upon Lord Rhine!
Lord Rhine's expression was calm as usual, and he gently rotated the scepter in his hand.
The light of lightning illuminated the entire dark world.
Streaks of silver-white electric snakes darted through the air, densely packed, carrying a palpable aura of destruction, striking towards the Black Witch Maleficent.
"Ah!"
The giant dragon's scream echoed between the sea and the sky.
Rumble.
The dull thunder arrived late.
Silver-white currents surged through the Black Dragon that Maleficent had transformed into, making crackling sounds.
Even with the terrifying physique of a giant dragon, Maleficent felt intense pain and numbness, her movements and thoughts becoming sluggish as a result, and the curse that was about to be uttered was interrupted.