The raging beasts of anger were initially ambiguous to me in how to approach them.
Currently, I am the Witch of Anger, but strictly speaking, they were all born from the former Witch of Anger, Evangeline.
In a way, they were beings that had no particular relation to me.
However, even so, the beasts of anger followed me loyally as if it didn’t matter much to them.
Like they thought of me as their master, or family.
Whenever I faced a crisis, they rushed to my aid, and when I needed help, they assisted as if it were a given.
Naturally, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of closeness to them.
I was even able to distinguish each one of them by their appearance.
Now, they were starting to feel less like strangers.
But,
“Not again───!!!”
Once again, the ones who rushed to save me from danger disappeared in an instant.
The cat-like one that carefully approached me and acted cute whenever Ari was not around.
The bear-like, sturdy one I had taken with me before to deal with the Witch of Lust.
They vanished, as if wiped away by something unseen.
And there was Beatrice, the one responsible for that act, smiling.
Despite having just witnessed the beasts being taken out in an instant, she boldly approached, including Ari among the other beasts of anger.
And upon seeing Beatrice laughing at them,
[Hehe, poor Evangeline. You’ve gone through something terrible.]
I felt someone’s memory overlap and flicker through my mind.
[It’s all because of me. Those bad people, unaware of that.]
It was the memory of the Witch of Anger, Evangeline, who had lost her precious ones to Beatrice.
Because of that, she had burned everything she held dear and had to endure endless suffering.
Ah, even back then, Beatrice had laughed like this.
She had laughed despite taking away something precious.
And now she was laughing while looking at what was precious to me.
Is she going to take it away again?
A hot, searing flame overflowed from my body.
“This time…”
The fearsome flames that were blazing fiercely shouted at me.
What those flames desired was singular.
Burn it.
Burn and kill the being in front of me that wanted to take away my precious existence.
“Are you trying to take my precious things away again──!!!”
With that desperate resolve not to lose this time, I, without a thought for the fear that had rigidified my body until a moment ago,
Spewed forth the most powerful flames I could muster and charged at Beatrice.
The intense flames that burst forth from me swallowed the place where Beatrice had been standing just a moment ago.
The firepower more than double that of when I burned the Witch of Lust.
It was an overwhelming flame that could turn any living being to ash in an instant.
“Uheh.”
However, amidst such flames, laughter could be heard.
“This time, too, Rani. If someone else hears this, they’d think I killed everyone before.”
And behind the sound of laughter, Beatrice’s perfectly intact voice could be heard, leaving me astonished as I spewed forth flames once more.
A blindingly massive pillar of fire shot up several times more.
Yet through the swirling flames, I glimpsed her.
“Well, in the past, it was mostly Evangeline who burned herself.”
That same smiling face of Beatrice remained unchanged within the ferocious flames.
“Ah…?”
Despite being a full-powered attack, Beatrice’s face bore no injuries, and I recalled.
That she was a monster that Evangeline, who had tried to kill her in the past, couldn’t even leave a scratch on.
At that moment, the fear I had briefly forgotten began to rear its head.
-■■■■■!!!
-■■■■!!
Before I knew it, I could hear Ari and the beasts of anger nearby howling.
And Beatrice’s gaze was directed toward them.
“Come to think of it, Evangeline got really mad over me killing a few of them and kept chasing me.”
Beatrice murmured as she looked at them.
“I wonder if killing a few more will spark your desire to chase me, Eva.”
As she said that, looking at Ari and the beasts,
“Wait a moment… stop… no…!”
I sensed the urgency of what was about to happen and desperately shouted.
But with a swift motion,
I couldn’t prevent some of the approaching beasts from disappearing due to something invisible.
“Ah…”
I could discern the identity of that unseen attack through the flickering forms amidst the flames.
What wafted through the flames was a massive four-legged beast.
Probably one of the beasts of Sloth.
Just now, the attack was the stomp of that huge beast whose size I couldn’t even gauge.
Even though it was that enormous, it could perform a stealth attack without making a sound; I felt chills run down my spine.
What was even more chilling was that I could see the giant paw preparing to stomp on the remaining beasts of anger.
“Not like this…!”
I shouted desperately, spewing flames to try to stop it.
Yet, that struggle was pointless.
The beast was so colossal that I could see it more vividly than when I had attacked Beatrice.
The moment my flames touched that invisible giant beast’s body, they disappeared as if wiped away.
Was it due to this incomprehensible phenomenon?
The massive beast showed no signs of being affected by my flames.
The Sloth beast I had fought in the gym had an ability to dampen other attacks.
That alone had made it practically impossible for any outside attack to work, and I had to sacrifice an arm to bring it down.
However, Beatrice and that gigantic beast showed capabilities that went beyond merely dampening attacks.
It was closer to the fact that attacks didn’t work at all.
That was an unfortunate fate for me.
“Damn it, stop…!”
I had to watch as the beasts were wiped out again.
Humiliation, emptiness, powerlessness.
In that emotional state, I screamed as if I were spitting blood, begging it to stop.
“Stop…!”
But no matter how much I shouted, the giant beast kept moving.
“Stop it!!!”
Desperately trying to block it, I spewed flames.
“Please, please…!”
It was all in vain.
No matter what I did, the beasts didn’t stop, and the beasts of anger were merely slaughtered.
In that sense of powerlessness, I couldn’t hold back my frustration and wept.
“What the hell…! What is it…! Why won’t it stop!!”
“Hehe. It’s impossible to stop either me or Bai, Eva. No one can. That’s my ability.”
Beatrice’s voice came triumphantly mocking me.
“Eva, do you know what the most annoying thing in the world is? Being interfered with by someone you don’t like. But you know, I detest this world. Maybe that’s why I ended up with this power.”
As she said that, she approached me, still spewing flames toward the beasts.
And as she got closer, I began to see more clearly.
Even amidst those raging flames, not a single strand of Beatrice’s hair was disturbed.
Upon a closer look, there seemed to be another world unfolding beyond a faint boundary around her body.
It felt as if nothing could reach her, existing in a separate realm.
Displaying such a sight, Beatrice spoke to me.
“Isn’t it amazing? To put it simply, it’s the ability to reject unwanted interference. If I don’t want it, nothing can bother me. And when someone tries to touch me to disturb me, this is what happens.”
Beatrice continued speaking as she dragged her foot across the ground.
And then, as if nothing had existed where her foot had passed, the ground was erased.
There unfolded a sight where the laws of action and reaction were lightly disregarded.
So, if she didn’t want it, she had a defensive barrier that allowed no attacks.
And moreover, if it touched that barrier, it wouldn’t be deflected; it would be erased instead?
If all this were true, then in a sense, she possessed an ability that was even more absurd than that of the Witch of Gluttony.
Realizing that Beatrice’s abilities could only be described as invincible, I was beyond disbelief and muttered in a daze.
“That’s… unfair…”
“Exactly. It’s absurd and unreasonable. That’s why the world sucks.”
Beatrice nodded as if in agreement.
I couldn’t help but despair at the absurd and unreasonable reality she described.
Even while she spoke, I had been trying to block the beasts, but all the beasts of anger that had come with Ari had been wiped out.
The last remaining Ari was evading the attacks skillfully, but ultimately, she was struck by the claw of a swirling beast and was plummeting to the ground.
If time permitted, she could regenerate her wings with flames again, but the enormous beast seemed intent on ending her life right now, lifting its leg high.
“Not like this… Ari, no…!”
I desperately ran to save Ari, who had fallen, and clutched her.
I thought Beatrice, who had just mentioned hide-and-seek, wouldn’t kill me here.
Fortunately, it felt like the giant beast paused for a moment to look at Beatrice.
Seeing an opportunity to save Ari’s life, I pleaded with Beatrice.
“Beatrice…! Please, can you just let her go…? I’ll do whatever you want, be it hide-and-seek or anything…!”
Beatrice looked at me and murmured while smiling.
“Hehe. It seems you care a lot for her. The more you do, the more I want to kill her. That way, Eva will have even more motivation for hide-and-seek.”
“I… I won’t back down here! If you want to kill Ari, you’d have to kill me, too!”
I thought such words would prompt Beatrice to back off.
After all, she had shown considerable obsession with me.
“Is that so? Then just die there.”
But Beatrice looked at me with a seemingly indifferent expression.
“I came here intending to finish you off anyway. If you want me to do that, I might as well just kill you and finish off the rest of humanity today. Ah, what a disappointment.”
Despite saying it was disappointing, Beatrice was smiling as usual.
Something I couldn’t quite put into words suddenly clicked.
Even while she was smiling, it felt as if she wasn’t really smiling at all.
Though she had shown such an obsession with me, in reality, I didn’t matter to her whatsoever.
That indifference she now displayed was, in fact, her true feelings.
Feeling that she would really kill everyone, including me, I quietly turned to look for Ari.
-■■■……
Ari looked at me with sorrowful eyes, crying and pushing me away with her head.
She seemed to be pleading with me not to die here.
“Ugh… Huh…”
With my heart breaking, tears streamed down my face.
At the same time, the helplessness filled my chest.
The reality that I could do nothing with my own power made me feel utterly miserable at this moment.
In that horrible state, I turned away from where Ari was.
As I distanced myself from Ari, I saw Beatrice grinning and giving a nod to the beast.
I could see the giant beast’s leg descending upon Ari amidst the smoke created by the extinguished flames.
I simply watched that scene with my tear-soaked and powerless gaze.
At that moment.
With a sound like a slicing wind,
A brilliant golden light that had flown from somewhere struck directly at the descending leg of the beast.
Seeing that light of a familiar color, I muttered as if enchanted.
“Yoon, Si-woo…?”
“……Are you okay, Scarlet?”
Yoon Si-woo, who had rushed from somewhere and stopped beside me, asked in a stiff voice.
Upon that question, I couldn’t nod my head.
Then, Yoon Si-woo quietly turned his gaze around.
From me to Ari lying on the ground.
From Ari to Beatrice.
And then to the giant beast, still intact despite being struck by the Holy Sword, visible only in silhouette due to the smoke.
And back to me.
Yoon Si-woo, as if understanding the situation, nodded and spoke in a chilling tone.
“…I was trying not to use it unless absolutely necessary.”
Already gripping the white sword tightly until the veins popped from his hand.
“If you’re crying, it’s now or never.”
Before I could say anything, I sensed something from his expression, and Yoon Si-woo mumbled.
The Holy Sword, Class Change.
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