Chapter: 121
The passage created by the witch.
With a feeling of crossing the river that separates this world from the afterlife, I stepped beyond.
And the moment I passed through the passage, what unfolded before me was a landscape that truly resembled the afterlife.
If death had a color, it would surely be black.
Then what would we call this place, where the sky, the earth, and everything around me was entirely coated in black, if not the afterlife?
The sky was so hazy from the thick miasma that even the sun hanging above was barely visible. The ground was completely tainted by miasma, appearing as a place where no life could survive.
And all around were towering trees, stretching high into the sky.
No, the clusters of charred remnants that had once been trees ominously hung their branch-less limbs overhead, as if to signify that only death resided here.
It was a place where, the moment an ordinary person set foot, they would surely be poisoned by the miasma, their bodies beginning to collapse; thus, I braced myself for the painful end that was sure to follow.
However, as time passed, the pain I had anticipated did not arrive.
Rather, what I was feeling was not pain, but…
“How’s your physical condition right now?”
As I was lost in this strange sensation, a voice from behind broke through.
The witch peeked out from the shadows created by her hood, her eyes sparkling as she asked.
“I don’t think it’s bad? Doesn’t it feel refreshing? Like that stuffy feeling has vanished?”
“…”
I chose not to reply to her question.
…To be honest, I was closer to not being able to answer at all.
Because she was right.
Right now, I was bewildered by this inexplicable refreshment.
I felt far more energetic than usual.
There was a strange buoyancy in my whole body, making me feel like I could do anything.
Of course, even though that was the case, I wasn’t in the mood to answer, and as I stared at her in silence, the witch chuckled to herself.
“Hehe, you definitely seem hit by the nail on the head. You feel refreshed, right? I knew it. Being trapped in a place like that would be stifling. I have no idea how you endured that suffocation for so long; you were probably in a state where you could collapse at any moment.”
With that calm statement, the witch positioned herself in front of me and began to observe me with a smile.
It was as if she knew something about me.
…I had thought she had just kidnapped me on a whim, but was that not the case?
“…What was your purpose in bringing me here? Didn’t you intend to kill me?”
When I asked this, the witch burst into laughter, as if she had heard a funny story.
“What? Hahaha, kill you? Me? I wouldn’t do something like that, not when I finally found something so interesting. Seeing how you’re asking about my purpose, I guess you thought I brought you here without much thought. But that’s not the case.”
The witch pointed at me with her extended finger.
“My purpose, you see, was you from the very beginning.”
…She had been targeting me from the start?
However, there were too many inconsistencies in the witch’s behavior for me to reconcile that with her claiming I was her goal.
Earlier, she had also told Jessie she would kill me.
Furthermore, if it was just about kidnapping me, wouldn’t it have sufficed to forcefully take me without all this commotion?
As I pondered this, the witch spoke up.
“Oh, so those were what you were concerned about? Everything I did before was just an act. Well, it seems you have some questions, so I’ll answer them.”
And she responded as if it were obvious.
“What I said about wanting to kill you was a lie. That human seemed like he needed to say that to stop, and it would prevent him from interrupting my conversation with you. From the very beginning, like I said before, I had no intention to kill anyone myself. My preference is to watch others play out my script until they die.”
Regarding my doubts…
“The reason for all that commotion was simply that there was a need for you to voluntarily come after me. So, I prepared the demonic beasts to create a crisis situation. Hahaha, I didn’t expect them to be taken down so quickly. I had planned to enjoy watching how terrified humans could be before bringing you along, but it turns out there were more strong humans than I anticipated, so I got a bit rushed.”
As if she could read my thoughts.
“So, have some of your curiosities been resolved?”
The witch said this with a beaming smile.
I felt chills run down my spine.
Did this girl have some ability to read minds?
The moment I entertained that question, the witch laughed out loud.
“Hahaha, look at your face. Don’t be scared. I don’t actually have the ability to read minds. I just used to work in a troupe, and I picked up some tricks by observing humans back then. I can generally tell what kind of traits they have and what they are thinking just by looking at their faces. Even though I might not understand why they think like that, it’s obvious that they’re a bunch of predictable creatures.”
The witch answered, smiling brightly at me.
…Wouldn’t it be less unsettling if she actually did have mind-reading powers?
While I was trying my best to maintain a neutral expression, facing someone who could read my expressions and presumably my thoughts was quite stressful.
No matter how tightly I kept my lips sealed, it seemed she would continue talking as if she could read my mind.
So, I decided to give up on keeping quiet and asked her what I had been wondering since earlier.
“…The reason you targeted me is because of my connection to the witch, right?”
Among all those people, the only reason she would zero in on me was that.
As for how she seemed to know about me, I guessed she had heard about me from the Witch of Sloth that I had seen before.
As if confirming my thoughts, the witch nodded her head.
“That’s right. I heard about you from Sloth. She said there was an interesting fellow in our kin. Ah, but seeing you in person exceeds my expectations even more! I never thought I would encounter someone like this. Even though witches do indeed have their own past before they realize they are witches, you seemed a lot more like a human than a witch in the story I heard.”
“…I’m not a witch, I’m a human. More importantly, what exactly are you planning by bringing me to this place? You say you don’t plan to kill me.”
With her rapid-fire answers, even to questions I hadn’t asked, I spoke with annoyance.
At this, the witch laughed as if she had heard something funny.
“Hahaha, you’re a human, huh? Yes, that could still be a possibility for now. But don’t worry. I don’t have any intentions of doing anything to you. My purpose is strictly to watch. The stage has already been set, so from now on, it’s just a matter of watching. After all, it seems the time has come.”
“The time has come? What do you mean by that…”
In my moment of confusion, as I was about to express my irritation at her incomprehensible reply, my gaze met that of the witch hiding beneath her hood.
Her eyes were filled with an unexplained anticipation.
With a childlike curiosity, she asked me.
“By the way, how’s your physical condition right now?”
At that moment,
A thumping sensation reverberated through my heart, accompanied by a strange heat coursing through my body.
[Burn it.]
The refreshing and buoyant feeling I had been sensing earlier suddenly transformed into excruciating pain.
It felt as though flames starting from within were consuming my entire body.
I rolled on the ground, unable to even scream.
I could feel the witch’s gaze above me, looking down as I writhed on the ground.
“Hahaha, it’s finally begun. Ah, I wanted to see this. I’m truly lucky to witness such a spectacle. You know, you might have still been closer to being human than a witch until now. With an imperfect body closer to being human and a human heart.”
It was hot, hot, hot, so hot.
Pain, pain, pain,
And a sense of fulfillment that surpassed those feelings.
It spiraled my mind into chaos.
“But imperfection always craves completion, right? Even if you don’t desire it, your imperfect body has always been waiting for that. Did you know it takes a lot of strength for a cocoon to transform into a butterfly? Your body is the same. It has been waiting for enough miasma to become complete.”
[I’m going to burn it.]
I felt something melting away inside me.
The things embedded in my head, chest, abdomen, legs, and arms melted away,
And they began to gather again at the very center of my chest, trying to substitute for something that was the source of life.
This wasn’t a bodily collapse due to magical poisoning, it was a reconstruction.
To become something other than human.
I instinctively knew that if this ended, there would be no turning back.
“If your body becomes a witch, can your heart remain human? Ah, that curiosity is bound to arise.”
The voice I had always desperately suppressed began to overflow in my mind.
[Once more, I will burn it all away.]
Suddenly, the surrounding scenery began to look familiar.
[It’s the forest that I burned down once.]
No, that was never the case,
[I was the one who burned down that forest.]
I felt the witch’s energy in front of me.
[Ah, witch. Yes, I haven’t fulfilled my revenge yet.]
[To burn it all down in revenge.]
[My left arm, made of black iron, caught my eye.]
It was Jessie who created it.
[The last remaining piece is over there.]
Just…
[To take that and revive.]
[Now is my chance for revenge.]
Stop, dance…
[To return the pain I received.]
[To the witch, to this world.]
[Everything, all of it.]
[I will burn it all down.]
“Scarlet!!!!”
…Someone’s voice echoed.
I felt like I had heard a voice calling the name Scarlet somewhere before.
…Ah, that was Yoon Si-woo’s voice.
…Who was Yoon Si-woo again?
Yoon Si-woo is Scarlet Evande’s friend.
My precious friend.
…Ah, right.
What a relief.
I still was Scarlet Evande.
“Well, I didn’t expect a meddler to come this far… Hmm, it looks like you stopped at a precarious spot. How delicate, with just a little more time, it seemed like it could have completely transformed.”
[■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]
“…Oh dear, it seems I brought those annoying ones along too. It can’t be helped. In fact, stopping here might be better for future expectations. Should I leave for today?”
…The moment that presence vanished, I felt someone lift me up suddenly.
“Scarlet! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?!”
“Yoon Si-woo! If you’ve rescued me, run quickly! There’s no more time for stalling!”
“What about Captain Martina?”
“Cough, is that really important right now? No need to worry about me, just get out of here to where the city is as fast as you can!”
…My head hurt.
As I slowly opened my eyes to the shouting voices around me, I saw the enormous firebird spewing forth a blinding torrent of flames from its beak.
Martina was somehow managing to block that fearsome firepower with a magical barrier.
Her mouth was filled with traces of blood.
Anyone could tell that she was on the brink of death.
Perhaps she came to rescue me.
Knowing it would put her in danger.
Both Yoon Si-woo and Martina were genuinely good people.
They can’t be allowed to die because of me.
“Quick!!!!!”
“…Ugh, I’m sorry!”
As Yoon Si-woo turned away from me with a face that looked on the verge of tears, I heard a loud cry from behind us.
“Ugh, this jerk suddenly ignoring me…! Yoon Si-woo, I’m going over there! Be careful!”
[■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]
With a loud roar, I felt the heat of the flames rise behind me.
…So noisy, it’s you who should stop.
I shoved Yoon Si-woo’s back and faced the incoming flames head-on.
“?! Scarlet!!”
At Yoon Si-woo’s horrified shout, the flames struck my body directly.
It was a little hot, but I could withstand it.
From within the flames, I glared at the firebird wrapped in flames and murmured.
“…Get lost.”
The firebird stared down at me for a moment, then flew away into the sky with a low cry.
…With that memory, everything went dark before my eyes.
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