Chapter: 319
The Fury Beasts were initially the kind of creatures I found tricky to deal with.
As of now, I am the Witch of Wrath, but if we get technical, they all originated from the previous Witch of Wrath, Evangeline.
In a way, they weren’t really connected to me.
Yet, the Fury Beasts followed me as if it mattered little to them.
It was as if they regarded me as a master or family.
Whenever I was in danger, they rushed to my aid, and when I needed help, they acted like it was a given.
Naturally, I couldn’t help but develop some inner closeness toward them.
I could even start to distinguish each of them by appearance.
They were beginning to feel less like strangers to me.
But then,
“Noooo—!!!”
Once again, the creatures that rushed to save me from danger vanished in an instant.
The cat-like one, which would cautiously come closer to me whenever Ari was not around, showing its cute side.
The sturdy bear-like one I had brought along to combat the Witch of Lust before.
They disappeared as if erased by some unseen force.
And I could see Beatrice laughing, the one responsible for their actions.
Despite having just witnessed the beasts wiped out in the blink of an eye, she was boldly approaching with a smirk, along with another group of Fury Beasts that included Ari.
Looking at Beatrice smiling at them, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
[Aww, poor Evangeline. You’ve been through quite a lot.]
I felt someone else’s memories overlapping in my mind.
[But it’s all because of me. Those poor souls don’t even realize.]
It was the memory of the Witch of Wrath, Evangeline, who had lost her precious ones to Beatrice.
Because of that, she had to burn everything precious and suffer eternal agony.
Ah, back then, Beatrice had also laughed like this.
Laughing even after taking something precious away.
And now, she laughed while looking at what was precious to me.
Was she going to take everything from me once more?
A hot, blazing flame surged within me.
“This time…”
The terrifying flames roared within me.
The flames demanded but one thing.
Burn it.
Burn and kill that entity trying to take my precious existence once more.
“This time, are you trying to take my precious things away again—!!!!”
With a desperate determination not to lose anything this time, I forgot even the fear I had felt before.
I dashed towards Beatrice, unleashing the most powerful flames I could muster.
The intense flames that burst forth from me engulfed the spot where Beatrice had stood in an instant.
It was more than double the firepower I had used to burn the Witch of Lust.
A ferocious blaze that could instantly turn any living creature into ashes.
“Eh.”
But amidst those flames, I heard laughter.
“This time too, huh? If someone heard this, they’d think I killed everyone back then.”
And I was shocked to hear Beatrice’s calm voice behind the laughter, as if she were unaffected by the flames.
I unleashed even more fire.
A brilliant pillar of fire shot up multiple times.
Yet, through the chaotic flames, I caught a glimpse.
“Back then, it was mostly Evangeline burning herself.”
Even in raging flames, Beatrice’s smiling face remained unchanged.
“Ah…?”
I realized that despite my full-powered attack, Beatrice bore no wounds at all.
She was a monster that even Evangeline had failed to scratch during her attempts to kill her.
As fear, which I had momentarily forgotten, began to creep back up,
-■■■■■!!!
-■■■■!!
Suddenly, I heard the howls of Ari and the Fury Beasts approaching nearby.
And Beatrice’s gaze was fixed on them.
“Speaking of which, Evangeline was furious and kept chasing me for all the people I killed.”
Beatrice muttered while looking at them.
“If I kill a few more, will Eva feel more inclined to chase after me?”
Beatrice said that while staring at Ari and the beasts.
“Wait, please… stop… no more…!”
I desperately shouted, sensing the calamity about to unfold.
But,
Swoosh,
Some of the approaching beasts vanished without my ability to stop it.
“Ah…”
Through the flickering figure amid the blazing flames, I began to realize the nature of the invisible attack.
That transparent silhouette flickering within the fire appeared to be a giant four-legged beast.
Most likely the Sloth Beast.
The previous attack had been the massive stomping of that nearly incomprehensibly large beast.
Even though its body was enormous, the fact that it could launch a silent attack without being seen sent chills down my spine.
What terrified me even more was the sight of that giant foot rising again, seemingly poised to stomp the remaining Fury Beasts.
“No…!”
I screamed out desperately, unleashing flames to stop it.
But it all felt futile.
The beast’s sheer size allowed me to watch more vividly compared to when I attacked Beatrice.
I witnessed my flames dissipating and vanishing the moment they touched the massive, unseen beast.
Was it some incomprehensible phenomenon?
The colossal beast appeared completely unaffected by my flames.
The Sloth Beast I had faced at the gym before had an ability to dampen other attacks.
Just having that ability made it exceedingly difficult, requiring me to sacrifice an arm to overcome it.
But what Beatrice and that giant demon beast demonstrated was far beyond mere attack mitigation.
It was rather akin to not allowing any attacks to connect at all.
That was unfortunate for me.
“Damn, stop…!”
I had to watch helplessly as the beasts were erased before my eyes once again.
Despair, helplessness.
I screamed for it to stop as if I were spitting blood.
“Stop…!”
But no matter how much I cried out, the enormous beast kept moving, and
“Stop it!!!”
I desperately spewed flames trying to block it.
“Please, please…!”
But all my efforts proved pointless.
No matter what I did, the beast did not stop, and the Fury Beasts were being slaughtered.
In my helplessness, I could no longer control my frustration and cried.
“What the hell…! What is going on…! Why won’t it stop!!”
“Heh. Stopping either me or the Beast is impossible, Eva. No one can. It’s my power, you see.”
Beatrice’s mocking voice echoed in response to my plight.
“Eva, do you know what the most annoying thing in the world is? Getting interfered with by someone you don’t like. But you know, I hate this world. Perhaps that’s why I got this ability.”
As she said that, she drew closer to me while I was shooting flames at the beasts.
The closer she got, the clearer I could see.
Even in the midst of those roaring flames, Beatrice’s hair was not even ruffled.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed that around her body, a minuscule barrier was in place, creating an impression of a different world.
A world apart, implying that nothing would touch her.
Beatrice flaunted this as she said to me,
“Isn’t it amazing? To put it simply, it’s an ability to reject unwanted interference. If I don’t want it, nothing can bother me. If you try to mess with me, this is what happens.”
As she said this, she casually scratched the ground with her foot.
The ground seemed to vanish as if it had never existed where her foot had passed.
Before my eyes unfolded a scene that completely disregarded the laws of physics, of action and reaction.
So it seemed that if she did not want it, no attack could be allowed past her barrier.
Moreover, if something touched that barrier, it was not merely repelled but erased?
If all this were true, then in some sense, it was a power that trumped even the Witch of Gluttony in absurdity.
Having heard such an explanation of the Sloth’s ability, I stood in utter disbelief, muttering to myself.
“That’s… cheating…”
“Exactly. It’s ridiculously absurd and unreasonable. The reason the world’s like trash.”
Beatrice nodded in agreement.
Like her, I had no choice but to despair at this absurd and unreasonable reality.
Even within the brief moment while she spoke, I had kept trying to stop the beasts, but all the Fury Beasts that had come with Ari were annihilated.
The last remaining Ari was dodging the attacks elegantly, but ultimately, a swinging beast’s snout struck her wings, sending her crashing to the ground.
If there was time, I could recreate wings from my flames, but it seemed that the giant beast was intent on ending Ari’s life right then, lifting one leg into the air.
“No… Ari, no…!”
I desperately rushed to embrace the fallen Ari, trying to save her.
I thought that Beatrice wouldn’t kill me here, considering she had mentioned something about hide-and-seek before.
Fortunately, it seemed the giant beast paused for a moment and turned to look at Beatrice.
Feeling that this was my only chance to save Ari, I begged her earnestly.
“Beatrice…! Beaa! Would you please just let it go…? I’ll do whatever you want, be it hide-and-seek or anything else…!”
Beatrice observed my plea and chuckled softly.
“Hehe. You seem pretty fond of that one. The more you care, the more I want to kill her. That way, Eva will be even more motivated for the hide-and-seek.”
“I… I won’t back down! If you want to kill Ari, you’ll have to kill me too!”
I thought that declaring this would deter her, considering how fixated she had been on me.
“Is that so? Then just die there.”
But Beatrice looked back at me with a nonchalant expression, as if she had no reservations.
“I came here intending to finish things myself anyway, so if Eva really wants, I might as well just kill you and finish off the rest of the humans. Ah, what a pity.”
For someone expressing pity, Beatrice kept smiling away as usual.
Somehow, I understood.
Though she was smiling, underneath she was not really smiling.
She had shown some fixation over me, but truthfully, I felt I meant little to her.
That indifference she displayed was, in fact, her true feelings.
Realizing that if I let this go, she would truly kill everyone, including me, I quietly turned to look at Ari.
-■■■……
Ari gazed at me with teary eyes, nudging me away with her head.
She was pleading not to die here.
“Wah… wahhh…”
My heart felt like it was shattering, and tears streamed down my face.
At the same time, I was overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.
The realization that I could do nothing left me wretched at that moment.
In a dreadful state, I stepped away from where Ari was.
As I distanced myself from Ari, Beatrice smirked and motioned to the beasts.
From the clearing smoke left by the extinguished flames, I saw the giant beast’s leg descending upon Ari.
I could only watch blankly, drenched in tears and despair, as that scene unfolded.
Then, it happened.
With a slicing sound through the air.
A brilliant golden light dropped from somewhere, striking directly on the beast’s leg poised above Ari.
Seeing that familiar hue of light, I mumbled in a daze.
“Yoon, Si-woo…?”
“……Are you okay, Scarlet?”
Yoon Si-woo, who had come running and stopped beside me, asked in a stiff voice.
I couldn’t even nod to his question about whether I was okay.
Then, Yoon Si-woo quietly turned his gaze around.
From me to Ari lying on the ground.
From Ari to Beatrice.
Then to the massive beast that had been struck by the radiant Holy Sword, now merely visible through the smoke.
And finally back to me.
Yoon Si-woo, having grasped much from the scene, nodded his head slowly with an icy expression.
“……I didn’t want to use it, but.”
Before I could say anything, he chanted softly.
The Holy Sword, reversal.
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