Hate Me, Witch!

Fresta Empire, Deep Blue Territory.

Border city, Resa.

In a manor near the outskirts, the glow of magic lamps illuminated the grand hall brightly.

Xia Ya sat at a corner table, quietly observing the lively banquet unfolding before him.

The attendees were teenagers, around sixteen or seventeen years old, their faces still carrying the innocence of youth. Their coarse fabric clothing stood in stark contrast to the refined elegance of the banquet.

"We’re so lucky! I can’t believe we just arrived in Resa and were taken in by a noble lady."

"Yeah! Not only is she providing food and shelter, but she also promised to introduce us to a Transcendent Academy. Compared to the stingy and greedy lord back in my hometown, Miss Anlina is truly like an angel!"

"My uncle warned me that big cities are full of people who would chew you up and spit out the bones, but now it seems there are still plenty of good people in this world."

"I must make a name for myself in the city and bring prosperity to my hometown! The hopes of my entire village rest on my shoulders!"

The chatter reached Xia Ya’s ears, making him instinctively press his fingers against his forehead.

Are you guys seriously setting up flags for yourselves like this?

If nothing went wrong at this banquet, it would almost feel like an injustice to all those death flags being raised.

Of course, if this noble manor were truly peaceful, Xia Ya wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

He leaned against the table, quietly munching on sunflower seeds while reviewing the details of his target in his mind.

Anlina Tazera.

The owner of this manor. A hereditary baron.

Also a second-class wanted criminal under the jurisdiction of the Order Bureau, suspected to be involved in several missing persons cases in Resa. Her secret bounty under the Order Bureau was set at three thousand Rhine gold coins.

Of course, Xia Ya’s reason for being here wasn’t just for the bounty.

More importantly, floating clearly within his consciousness was a translucent, pale blue system screen.

【Heavenly Fate Villain System】

【Humans are merely beasts who will not cherish life without sacrifice. Only through pain do ignorant children grow into adults. Only blood and death can nurture the most beautiful blossoms.】

【So, let this world feel pain!】

【Beginner Mission: Make the naive and innocent Grand Duke’s daughter, Sylvia of the Cangting Principality, experience the betrayal of her dearest kin. Let her transform and be reborn in agony and despair.】

This system had appeared in Xia Ya’s mind when he awakened his memories as a transmigrator at the age of eight.

At first, he was extremely calm about having a "golden finger" system.

Sure, this system seemed inherently evil—maybe a bit too suited for a career in rebellion—but hey, transmigrators these days were never ordinary.

Some turned into slimes. Some became treasure chest monsters. Some were literally just talking skulls with nothing but bad puns to their name.

Then there were those who wanted to quit the hero’s party, those who aspired to be shadow rulers… and even those who played it safe, played as shields, or played as stick-wielders. All were fairly common tropes.

Being a villain? No big deal. If tradition held, he might even get a redemption arc later on. And if not? Xia Ya didn’t really care. Strength always came with a price—that was only natural.

In fact, he had already mentally tormented this so-called naive Sylvia in countless ways, using various cliché villain tropes—exile, betrayal, forced engagement, you name it.

But then, his calm demeanor shattered.

After scouring the entire continent’s maps, Xia Ya couldn’t find any mention of Cangting Principality.

Even after flipping through records on the Abyss and Elemental Realms, he came up with nothing.

Just when he thought he was on a direct path toward a doomed ending like the infamous Mad Flame King, he finally found a clue.

It was a single line in a dusty old historical record in the Imperial Capital’s Grand Library.

"Cangting Principality perished in the Twilight Catastrophe in Sacred Calendar Year 346."

Currently, it was Sacred Calendar Year 902.

In other words, that country had turned to dust nearly six hundred years ago.

According to records, Cangting Principality was founded in Year 1 of the Sacred Calendar, and it barely lasted three centuries before its downfall. Five hundred years had passed since then, so no wonder people had long since forgotten about it.

Using this as a lead, Xia Ya dug deeper into history and finally found information on the so-called Grand Duke’s daughter, Sylvia.

The Argent Witch, Sylvia.

A legendary Beastmaster. She had ascended to the legendary rank over five hundred years ago.

After establishing the White Chalk Tower, she vanished without a trace, never to be seen again.

Upon confirming the authenticity of these records, Xia Ya stared at the system’s quest description—

"Naive and innocent Grand Duke’s daughter, Sylvia."

—for a long time, utterly speechless.

At this point, he wasn’t sure if he had transmigrated five hundred years too late… or if this system had a five-hundred-year delay in its response time.

Initially, Xia Ya wanted to ignore this unreliable system entirely.

But in the end, he was only human. And no human can resist the true fragrance of irresistible rewards.

With the massive benefits promised for completing the quest, he ultimately chose to take on this mission—five hundred years late as it may be.

And after ten years of tireless effort, he had finally made progress.

The reason he traveled from the Imperial Capital to the border city of Resa was precisely for this.

—

The lively chatter in the hall suddenly quieted before fading into silence.

A woman dressed in an elegant white gown appeared at the center of the banquet. Her delicate features radiated a gentle beauty.

She was the very same Miss Anlina that these young people had described as a saintly, kind, and beautiful angel.

She was also Xia Ya’s target, listed on the Order Bureau’s secret wanted list.

And the moment she stepped into the hall, Xia Ya immediately sensed something else accompanying her presence—

A decaying aura of deathly stillness.

"The scent of an evil god."

Xia Ya instantly became alert, his sunflower seeds suddenly tasting a lot less appealing.

Woman, you have successfully piqued my interest.

According to the painstakingly reconstructed historical records he had pieced together from dusty old tomes, Cangting Principality had been destroyed by a Twilight God’s resurrection.

Too much time had passed, and the details of that disaster were no longer verifiable. All that was known was that some powerful entity had ultimately intervened to quell the revived evil god.

Based on the intelligence he had gathered, this noblewoman named Anlina likely possessed a relic—or perhaps a remnant contamination—of that very same Twilight God.

And that was one of the two final keys Xia Ya needed.

Yes—he had spent ten years, countless wealth, and immense effort, all for one goal.

He intended to—

【Mock History Itself】.