"I want you."
"...What?"
Just like Locke's previous exchange with Carrie, after Locke directly answered Cordelia's question, Cordelia's reaction was identical to Carrie's back then.
Only...
Cordelia didn't take a step backward like Carrie had.
Locke smiled and said, "If I tell you that I'm here to save you all, would you believe me?"
Cordelia said in a deep voice, looking at Locke with a hint of vigilance, "What do you think?"
Save?
"We don't need to be saved by anyone."
"Hiding in the shadows, being ruthlessly hunted by a group of ordinary people who call themselves witch hunters... if that is the way of survival for witches, then indeed it is."
"We can live in peace with ordinary people."
"A female version of Professor X?"
"...What?"
Locke chuckled. He looked down, staring at the corpse of Hank Fox beneath his feet.
"Even after knowing that your husband was a witch hunter, that he personally killed nineteen witches over the past few years, and even captured countless witches to be sent to the stake, you still think that way? You still think you can live in peace with ordinary people?"
Cordelia bit her lip, staring at her husband, Hank Fox, who wore a malicious expression and died with his eyes wide open—seemed to be staring at her with that venomous gaze even in death.
"Want to hear a story?"
"Hmm?"
"Once upon a time, or rather, in a certain parallel universe, there was a world where there were no witches. Instead, there was a group with the exact same plight as witches, known as mutants!"
Locke kept his hands in his pockets and let out a laugh. He made a gesture to Cordelia to take a walk outside, then looked back with a smile at Cordelia, who hesitated for a moment but followed anyway.
"Within that mutant population, there was someone just like you, holding onto the belief that they could live in peace with ordinary people. He was called Professor X. There was Magneto who was opposite of X."
Cordelia: "..."
It was still that same saying.
Locke preferred Magneto over Professor X.
In fact...
Locke felt that if Professor X hadn't been acting like a total meddler—worrying about ordinary people while being a mutant himself—mutants would probably have found a way to coexist with ordinary people long ago.
Beneath the moonlight.
Locke slowly narrated the love-hate relationship between Professor X and Magneto, as well as how much unforgettable suffering Professor X's naivety had brought upon the mutant race.
It could be said that almost every single disaster the mutants faced was caused by Professor X's soft-heartedness.
Therefore.
After Locke finished speaking, he looked at Cordelia with a smile, his tone gentle. "I don't like you acting like Professor X, Cordelia."
Cordelia paused in her tracks, looking at Locke, who resembled a noble young lord under the moonlight. "So, you're Magneto, Mr. Broughton?"
Locke shook his head. "No, Magneto is my father-in-law."
"Huh?"
"Destiny said so, not me."
Locke smiled and looked toward Cordelia. "I don't actually acknowledge it, but if you really want to be Professor X, I don't mind playing the role of Magneto. Trust me, nobody can stop me from doing what I want to do."
If this world had a Professor X witch but no Magneto.
Then...
What was stopping him from becoming Magneto?
Nobody could stop him from completing his quest.
If Cordelia wouldn't do, he would replace her immediately.
Those with different paths cannot make plans together.
At the very beginning, he had thought that this task, "Release That Witch," required him to open his arms, embrace the witches, and form a witch legion that believed in him.
But...
Locke had no such intention, or at least, he didn't have that thought right now. It was still that same saying—at present, his tasks were centered around farming academic points. He needed a stable environment more than anyone else.
A chaotic world would only hinder his rhythm of farming points.
However...
Yesterday, Locke thought about it again. If a witch wasn't under his control, it didn't seem to fit the rhythm of the task either. After all, this was his game; it revolved around him, and it wasn't meant for him to raise a potential enemy.
Therefore.
Locke felt that there must be some detail he hadn't noticed yet. After all, he was the protagonist, not God, and he didn't possess a God's-eye view.
Sensing the gaze Locke directed at her, Cordelia said in a deep voice, "I believe you would."
After all, Locke didn't hesitate in the slightest when it came to killing.
But...
Cordelia still frowned. "What exactly do you want to do?"
"I already said so."
"You don't need me at all."
Cordelia shook her head, looking at Locke. "You have a girlfriend, you said so yourself. And I can feel that you love her very much."
"Thank you."
Locke smiled slightly. He was very pleased that someone finally understood that his love for Gwen was enough to keep him from cheating or becoming a scumbag.
"I need you to become the Supreme Witch."
"What?"
"I'm not familiar with the other Salem witches. You're the only Salem witch I know, and you were also the first Salem witch to speak to me when I arrived here."
Locke spoke as such, "I feel that this is fate."
"I don't think so."
"Why?"
"I don't have that kind of potential to become the Supreme Witch. You've found the wrong person."
"No."
Locke shook his head. "You have the potential, so you need to become the Supreme Witch. There is only one way for you to avoid becoming the Supreme Witch, and that is if you still believe witches can live in peace with ordinary people even after they plunge a blade into a witch's chest. If you want to be Professor X, I wouldn't demand this of you. So, are you Professor X?"
Cordelia looked at the gaze Locke directed at her.
And very cold!
Cordelia didn't doubt for a second that if she said yes, she would become just as cold as the two corpses in the warehouse behind her in the next second.
But...
Cordelia bit her lip. "This world belongs to ordinary people. While witches should abide by the laws of ordinary people, but if they make a move against us, we are not pushovers either."
If she were truly standing on the side of ordinary people, she wouldn't have remained completely indifferent while watching Locke kill Hank Fox.
Either abide by the laws of ordinary people, or if ordinary people flip the table, they will flip it too.
Or launch another slaughter.
Of two evils, choose the lesser.
Cordelia had simply chosen a path that seemed slightly easier to achieve peace.
Locke smiled slightly. "I can't say I'm fully satisfied with this answer, but it's acceptable."
Professor X didn't think that way.
Even though Professor X said so with his mouth, every single time humanity flipped the table, and Magneto finally received the blade and intended to flip the table back, Professor X would always reliably stand in the camp of ordinary people despite his previous words.
Every single time!
But Cordelia?
Just now, when her husband died, Cordelia had already proven that she wasn't a hypocritical person like Professor X.
She was alright.
Locke thought as much in his heart. He smiled, turned around, and prepared to leave.
"Wait!"
"...Is something the matter?"
Cordelia looked at Locke, who was preparing to walk away. "You're just leaving like this?"
Locke chuckled. "Hasn't the Coven not begun yet? You will become the Supreme Witch, Cordelia. Before that, I need to handle a few matters."
The Delano Church over here needed to be dealt with.
Otherwise...
It wouldn't be good if that bunch of guys ran out to cause trouble during the Coven.
"We will meet again very soon."
Locke spoke with a smile, "Cordelia, I trust you will keep my identity secure. Only you know my identity. If a third person finds out, trust me, I will be very angry."
With that said.
With a loud boom.
Locke vanished right from the spot.
Looking at Locke who had disappeared like a phantom, Cordelia opened her mouth, her mind filled with countless question marks.
Right at that moment.
Cordelia snapped out of her daze. Turning around, she walked back into the warehouse, her gaze landing on Hank Fox, who lay on the floor having died with his eyes wide open, his soul completely sent down to Hell.
Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies!
Boom!
Cordelia stepped out from a cloud of white mist carrying Hank Fox's corpse. Then, with a heavy thud, she tossed Hank Fox's corpse straight onto the floor.
The sudden appearance of Cordelia startled several witches in the main hall.
Especially the three student witches.
"Cordelia, this..."
"Hank, her husband."
Fiona spoke to the overly curious Zoe, then stood up and looked at Cordelia, her brow furrowing. "You carry the scent of darkness and a vampire on you."
"He isn't a vampire!"
"Who?"
Cordelia shook her head and looked toward Fiona, pointing at Hank on the floor. "Dispose of him."
"What happened?"
"He was asking for death."
Looking at Hank on the floor at this very moment, Cordelia felt nothing but unfamiliarity; there was no other feeling left. "You were right, a mouse's son knows how to dig holes!"
Fiona blanked slightly, and subsequently understood something. "He was killed by a dark witch?"
"No."
Cordelia shook her head. "The dark witch was his mistress!"
"What?"
The sheer amount of information was a bit too much for Fiona to keep up with the rhythm. She waved her hand, extinguishing the cigarette in her grasp. "What exactly is going on?"
Cordelia raised her head to look at Fiona. "I said so, he was a witch hunter, and that dark witch was his mistress. Now, they are both dead. The dark witch's corpse was burned, and as for his... I don't know fire magic, so I need your help. That's why I brought him back."
That was all there was to it.
She had absolutely no intention of using witch magic to resurrect Hank Fox.
Unless she had completely lost her mind.
Just the thought of having once shared a man with that dark witch made Cordelia feel itchy all over, as if her entire being had been defiled.
Cordelia raised her head and walked toward her bedroom, speaking without looking back, "Remember to dispose of him!"
Fiona turned her head to look at Cordelia, feeling as if her daughter had suddenly become a stranger.
Meanwhile, the curious Zoe and the other two girls widened their mouths, processing the massive amount of information they had just received.
...