Chapter: 265
One day, as everyone in the city was busy dealing with the aftermath of the fading barrier.
The phenomenon happened quite suddenly.
– Squeak… Squeak…
– Shwaaaaa!!!
“What, what’s going on? The animals…?”
“Why are they acting like this all of a sudden…?”
Animals in the zoo started rampaging with signs of unease as a group.
Clank.
“Hey?! Are you okay? Wait, don’t step on the glass shards on the floor… By the way, what happened? You just dropped the cup… What’s wrong with you? Your hand is shaking like crazy!”
“Ah, no, I don’t really know, but my body’s just… shaking on its own… Why is this happening…?”
Suddenly, some people experienced strange symptoms like stiffness or trembling.
For regular people, it was probably perplexing to understand why this was happening out of the blue.
However, those with heightened senses, the so-called heroes, instinctively felt it.
“What the hell… What’s going on…?”
“I’ve got cold sweat… What’s making me feel so anxious…?”
The air felt heavier, signaling that something bad was happening.
But they too couldn’t pinpoint the source of their anxiety.
Only two people in the city could recognize the cause accurately.
“Ms. Eve… Is it possible…?!”
The Witch of Wrath, Scarlet Evande.
[…Yeah, Evande. I felt it too.]
The Witch of Jealousy, Eve.
[…It seems like she’s really been resurrected.]
Moments ago, the two women sensed a massive presence appear from a distance and confirmed through their communication that an unthinkable event had become a reality.
As they felt momentarily despaired by this fact,
“Ah…”
[Hah…]
They both closed their eyes tightly and sighed.
The resurrection of the Witch of Gluttony was merely a forewarning of misfortune for them, and they realized that true misfortune had yet to approach.
“…Ms. Eve. We need to inform the people, right?”
[We must. Time is running out.]
The problem was that there wasn’t much time left before that misfortune arrived.
The witches sensed that the presence they felt from afar had started moving toward the city.
[The Witch of Gluttony is coming.]
A calamity was approaching.
*
“I understand. The Witch of Gluttony is heading this way.”
“Then we should prepare for a full-scale battle; I need to inform my subordinates.”
The Witch of Gluttony had been resurrected and was rapidly approaching.
Leon, Natalia, and Chief Martina of Astrape, who had received the news from me and Ms. Eve, nodded with serious expressions.
As they realized they needed to prepare for the impending battle with the witch, the leaders immediately got busy.
They seemed to be in a rush, especially as they also had to manage the ongoing evacuation of citizens.
Watching them, I restrained the words almost slipping from my mouth and ended the video call.
Just then, Ms. Eve’s voice came through, sounding concerned.
[Evande, is something wrong? You look uneasy.]
I responded to Ms. Eve, who seemed worried about me, with a troubled expression.
“…It’s just that everyone looks brave but doesn’t seem scared about fighting the Witch of Gluttony.”
I said this while recalling the reactions of the leaders a moment ago.
They indeed appeared tense but not terrified.
I found it hard to decipher that reaction, leading me to express my feelings that way, and Ms. Eve gave a bitter smile as if she understood and asked me.
[Are you afraid of fighting the Witch of Gluttony?]
“…Honestly, yes. How could I not be scared when I have to fight something like that?”
I nodded in response to her question.
I was genuinely scared.
Since learning that the Witch of Gluttony was resurrected and coming our way, I couldn’t stop shaking.
It felt unbearable, creating a deeper sense of discord.
How could I not tremble at the thought of facing the Witch of Gluttony?
To be fair, from an outsider’s perspective, that might seem like a reasonable reaction.
Just thinking about it, our strength includes two witches.
The Witch of Gluttony was an opponent humanity had once defeated; with two witches on our side, it seems reasonable to think we could overcome it this time too.
But people didn’t realize how naive that thought was.
After seeing the original depiction of the Witch of Gluttony, I thought, “Did we really beat that thing?”
The Witch of Gluttony as described in the original story was absurdly powerful—so powerful that it made me wonder if the whole “we won once” concept was a plot error.
Now, having felt the aura emanating from that being, my thoughts shifted from “Did we actually beat that thing?” to “…We have to win against that thing?”
You might say they are the same witch? Nonsense.
Calling it the same witch is almost absurd; it’s a being so extraordinary that just feeling its aura can intimidate even another witch, invoking despair simply by the fact that we have to fight it.
People, they just don’t know.
“…Earlier, I almost asked if we’re really going to fight.”
When I said this, Ms. Eve asked with a wry face.
[…Isn’t there no other choice but to fight?]
“…There’s always the option to run away.”
In the original story, they actually chose to abandon the city and flee from the Witch of Gluttony.
However, Ms. Eve seemed to question whether I really thought that way.
[Run away… But where? Until when?]
“….”
At her words, I couldn’t respond.
Even though I said it, I knew that running was not a viable option.
There’s a saying from some manga: ‘There is no paradise where you escape to.’
In this world, that really rings true.
Even if we flee the city, what awaits outside is nothing but a magical wasteland unfit for human life.
While there might be a clean area without miasma thanks to the World Tree in the north, if the Witch of Gluttony invaded, it would be covered in miasma again in no time, rendering it a meaningless refuge.
Running away, running away.
In the original story, Silvia and Yoon Si-woo had used her powers and the abilities of the Holy Sword Yoon Si-woo possessed to somehow protect people from the miasma while fleeing from the Witch of Gluttony, but that too had its limits.
Without adequate food or rest, people, starting from the weak like children and the elderly, began to die one by one.
Eventually, when there was no one left to protect, Yoon Si-woo and Silvia faced the Witch of Gluttony in a life-or-death final battle.
And they lost. Pitifully.
The end awaited at the end of their escape.
I know that.
Moreover, although many do not realize it, there is a follow-up to that saying in the original work.
The place you escape to is also merely another battlefield.
Ultimately, if we have to fight, we must fight to protect our only remaining paradise.
I understand that.
Better than anyone, which is why I remained silent and didn’t speak earlier.
To inform others about the horror of the Witch of Gluttony, to share that desolate reality, would not be a warning but an act of crushing their spirits.
Despair steals the will to fight from people.
To preserve the hope that we can win.
To ensure that tiny glimmer of hope that we might actually be able to win.
Both I and Ms. Eve, aware of reality, had to keep our mouths shut and bear the despair on our own.
Finishing the call with Ms. Eve, I headed toward Yoon Si-woo’s sleeping quarters.
Yoon Si-woo, unaware of what was happening, lay asleep as if dead.
Normally, he should have been the one leading the charge against despair, the hope of humanity, but since he was protecting me…
Therefore, the things Yoon Si-woo was meant to accomplish naturally fell to me.
Hadn’t I promised him?
That I would definitely protect you and this world you’re in.
Thinking that, I took Yoon Si-woo’s hand gently.
And then, I let out a small laugh.
“Seriously, this is insane…”
Looking at our hands, trembling uncontrollably.
Mocking my own pitiful self.
Someone once said.
What matters is an unwavering heart.
Yet here I am, struggling to maintain that resolute heart, despite promising Yoon Si-woo.
“Can I even do this?”
So, I asked Yoon Si-woo, trying to gather my wavering heart.
If Yoon Si-woo told me I could do it, I thought I could somehow hold on.
“Please answer me…”
But of course, Yoon Si-woo didn’t respond.
Gaining control over my heart was completely up to me.
Regrettably, as I struggled not to let my heart crumble, time slipped away uncontrollably.
Eventually, that day arrived.
*
At the dim dawn when the sun was just beginning to rise, many heroes lined up at the frontline of the Southern Border Area, responding to the call.
I stood silently in between them, closing my eyes, trying to suppress my trembling body.
At that moment,
“…Huh.”
Someone let out a panicked voice.
I opened my eyes at that startled sound.
After that surprised voice, the surroundings fell completely silent.
Even the mere sound of breathing created an eerie silence, as if everyone held their breath.
Everyone was likely feeling it.
The sensation of prey standing before a predator.
Far away, in the horizon where the sun was rising and the darkness was slowly retreating.
As if time was reversing, a black dot suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
A single dot like black ink dropping into the dawn that was approaching.
Gradually, it began to spread, as if it were dyeing the morning.
Pushing away the morning, the night arrives.
That sight was as if the natural order was reversing.
I swallowed hard, muttering softly.
“…It’s coming.”
And right after that.
-■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!!!!!!!
The roar resonated, sending shivers down my skin, signaling that doom had arrived on this land.
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