Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 69: Its Name—Royal Authority

When Xia Ya descended into the city at the foot of the mountain, carrying Sylvia in his arms, the sight that greeted him was a sea of flames.

Blazing fire surged and roared, licking every inch of stone and every rooftop of the city. The howling wind carried smoke and ash, filling the air with the stench of decay.

Xia Ya frowned slightly, shifting his body to shield the unconscious Sylvia from the swirling dust with his trench coat.

The ancient royal capital of Cangting was teetering on the brink of destruction.

The fire was not the true disaster. In a world where extraordinary powers existed, mere flames could easily be extinguished—anyone could send a few Fourth-Ring water-attribute Monarch-tier beasts to put out the inferno completely.

The real catastrophe came from the beasts rampaging through the city.

Shrouded in a hazy yellow glow, these massive creatures stormed through the royal capital, trampling houses into dust. Through the shimmering light, their true forms could be discerned—wild beasts commonly seen in the wilderness of the Cangting Principality. Woolly mammoths with thick fur, massive land tortoises with ancient trees growing from their shells—ordinarily gentle herbivores that rarely attacked humans.

But under the influence of that eerie yellow light, their bloodthirsty instincts had been awakened. These once-docile giants were now frenzied, rampaging through the capital, destroying everything in sight.

On the city walls, the royal guard mustered in scattered formations, their Magitech cannons roaring.

Magitech shells exploded against the flesh of the beasts, sending blood splattering across the battlefield. Some creatures, their bodies torn apart by the bombardment, let out wailing cries before collapsing.

Yet, in mere moments, more beasts emerged—each one cloaked in that same ominous yellow glow—charging forward without hesitation, trampling over their fallen kin.

They defied the instinct of all living beings, showing no fear of death.

“Damn it… Do these things even know what fear is?”

A young garrison soldier slammed his hand against the stone wall beside him, sending dust cascading down.

Nearby, a Magitech cannon’s barrel had turned a searing crimson, its heat radiating unbearably.

The intricate Magitech formation embedded within the cannon pulsed with flashing warnings, alarm chimes ringing one after another. It had reached its operational limit—if it wasn’t cooled down immediately, it could explode at any moment.

Even with the cannons firing at maximum capacity, the tide of frenzied beasts showed no sign of slowing.

“This yellow glow… making summoned beasts lose control and go berserk…”

“It reminds me of the disaster from over a decade ago… It’s exactly the same.”

The old captain of the guard sighed as he gazed at the burning ruins of the capital below.

The Cangting Principality was in an extremely precarious position.

Its borders directly neighbored the Lost Kingdoms, leaving it constantly exposed to the threat of wilderness beast tides and abyssal incursions.

Because of this, most of Cangting’s elite forces—along with its high-ranking Beastmasters—were permanently stationed at the border, prepared for war at all times.

For the same reason, the guards left to defend the capital were little more than ceremonial forces—composed of the old, the weak, and the wounded. Even Third-Ring High-Tier Beastmasters were a rare sight among them.

With the monstrous horde now storming the city, their only means of fighting back was through Magitech artillery.

If they dared to engage these berserk giants in direct combat, their meager First- and Second-Ring Beastmaster strength would mean instant death—flattened into meat paste under the feet of those towering beasts.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion echoed from afar. Another Magitech cannon had overheated and detonated, shattering into pieces.

The powerful blast left several operators gravely injured, their comrades scrambling to carry them away for emergency treatment.

“Captain! Over ninety percent of our Magitech cannons are operating beyond their limits—”

“If this keeps up—”

The frantic report was cut short as the old captain raised a hand.

“No need to say it.”

“Abandon the Magitech cannons.”

“All units, retreat from the walls. Avoid combat. Focus on evacuating the civilians.”

The abrupt command left the soldiers frozen in shock.

“Is it… really over?”

“Is the capital… finished?”

A young soldier murmured in disbelief, his eyes filled with uncertainty.

This city was the heart of Cangting, their homeland.

Even in the great catastrophe over a decade ago, the capital had never truly fallen—it had rebuilt itself in the aftermath.

But now… they were being forced to abandon it.

Their hesitation lasted only a moment before the captain’s sharp voice snapped them back to reality.

“A ruined home can be rebuilt. A lost city can be restored. But dead men can’t come back to life!”

“What are you all standing around for? Get moving! Evacuate the people!”

The soldiers shook off their daze, snapping to attention before rushing off to the residential districts below.

The captain remained on the wall, gazing at the crumbling city with his weary, aged eyes.

He had kept something from the young soldiers—something they were not yet ready to hear.

This beast tide could have been stopped.

Though the capital’s garrison lacked high-ranking Beastmasters, the Branstat family—the ruling noble house of Cangting—had Fourth-Ring elders who had remained behind.

If they had joined the fight, using the full strength of the Branstat family’s hidden resources, they could have repelled these monsters and saved the city.

After all, the rampaging beasts were mindless, incapable of strategy or coordination. Against an equally powerful opponent, they would surely be overpowered.

Just as Grand Duke Branstat had done in the disaster over a decade ago.

Yet…

It had been over half an hour since the city fell into chaos. Even these low-ranking soldiers had realized the gravity of the situation.

And still—

The Grand Ducal Estate, standing tall in the heart of the capital, remained eerily silent.

Not a single sign of movement.

Something had happened to the Branstat family.

This was the chilling truth the captain had kept hidden.

Buildings could be rebuilt. Cities could rise again. Even people—cold as it sounded—could be replaced.

But if the ruling Grand Duke Branstat—the protector and leader of Cangting—was gone…

Then this kingdom, Cangting, would fall into history’s abyss.

And these soldiers, stripped of their homeland, would become nothing more than wandering refugees, doomed to drift across foreign lands, never again having a place to call home.

Xia Ya carried Sylvia in a princess carry, silently traversing the ruins of the royal capital.

A faint silver glow, like moonlight, swirled within his dark eyes.

One by one, the colossal Twilight Catastrophe Beasts stomped past him, their movements shattering everything in their wake. The thunderous destruction echoed through the city.

Yet, strangely, none of them paid any attention to Xia Ya.

Even a Flamelin Monitor, whose path directly overlapped with his, subtly adjusted its course at the last moment, allowing Xia Ya to pass without collision.

This unnatural phenomenon soon attracted the attention of keen observers.

The moment Xia Ya turned a corner, figures draped in yellow robes appeared soundlessly on the ruins around him, encircling him in secret.

One of them, seemingly the leader, stepped forward.

His sinister gaze swept across Xia Ya’s calm face, then—finding nothing unusual—he shook his head slightly.

But then, his eyes froze on the sleeping girl in Xia Ya’s arms.

“Sylvia Branstat… the only daughter of Grand Duke Branstat.”

“And at the same time— the key to unsealing the Lord’s prison and ushering Twilight back into this world.”

His hoarse voice trembled with an almost delirious joy.

As if this statement was some kind of signal, a flurry of Summoning Light burst forth.

Strong. Powerful. Shadowy. Mysterious.

Dozens of summoned beasts materialized, their presence locking onto Xia Ya in unison.

No words.

No interrogation.

The moment these cultists arrived, they unleashed a full-force attack on Xia Ya—without hesitation, without reservation.

They knew Xia Ya was likely one of Norton’s subordinates, sent to take control of Sylvia.

But just as Norton himself had said—

The alliance between Norton and the cultists only lasted until the chaos erupted.

Sylvia.

A key that might glimpse into the Divine Realm.

No one would entrust such a thing to another, not even to an ally.

Wind Blades. Thunderbolts. Fireballs. Water Pillars. Energy Blasts.

Countless offensive skills erupted at once.

The dazzling explosion of colors illuminated Xia Ya’s pitch-black eyes.

“I don’t actually like killing people.”

“Even if someone deserves to die, I’d rather knock them out with illusions, tie them up, and hand them over to the Order Bureau for a bounty.”

“But today… I’m in a very bad mood.”

“Seeing a girl who loves me to death… looking at me like an abandoned pet, praying for me not to leave her— that feeling is unbearable.”

A quiet sigh escaped his lips.

The next moment.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

Within a hundred-meter radius, every cultist who harbored hostility toward Xia Ya suddenly felt compelled to look up.

What they saw—

Were eyes of gold.

Somehow, Xia Ya’s black eyes had transformed—

Blazing. Dazzling. Like molten lava.

A pair of dragon’s eyes.

Or perhaps—a god’s gaze, descending from the clouds.

At that instant.

The unwavering faith that these cultists once held was shaken.

In its place rose a deep, instinctive urge to kneel.

For a fleeting moment—

Xia Ya was no longer an enemy.

He was the sovereign upon the throne.

And they—his subjects.

On the description of the ability "Monarch’s Heart"—

Only a single line was written:

"The potential to become king."

And now—

Xia Ya had awakened its advanced form at Perfect Mastery.

Its name—

「Royal Authority.」