A massive black sphere appeared in the sky of the city, blocking the sun.
Clearly looking dangerous, the city’s heroes rushed to the spot directly beneath the floating sphere.
There, in the shadow cast by the giant sphere…
“Hello, I was waiting for you, but you just arrived now?”
A woman stood there.
Wearing her hood as usual, she stared at this place with her brightly shining golden eyes from beneath it.
Yoon Si-woo, who had encountered her not too long ago, half-confirmed his suspicion and asked her for clarification.
“…Is that thing floating in the sky your doing?”
“That thing? Yes, that’s my handiwork.”
When he pointed at the sphere, the woman responded with a smile, causing Yoon Si-woo to bite his lip.
He didn’t know what that was, but the woman in front of him was a witch.
Besides, judging by her past actions, there was no doubt she wasn’t a witch that was friendly to humanity. Yoon Si-woo asked her with hostility.
“I don’t know what that is, but you should get rid of it immediately if you don’t want to die.”
“Aha, threatening me to get rid of something without knowing what it is? How scary! But first, don’t you think you should know what it is?”
The woman said this with a grin and clapped her hands.
At that moment, the black sphere in the sky began to vanish as if its outer shell was peeling away, revealing what was inside.
“…Wh-what is that!!”
“Could it be all miasma?!”
What appeared as the black sphere disappeared was another black sphere.
However, the contents inside emanated an even more ominous energy.
That swirling mass in the sky was miasma that even heroes were familiar with.
“How about it? The miasma amplified using the sacred remnants from the hearts of two witches. No living creature can survive in there.”
But the amount inside was what startled them the most.
It was an amount of miasma so enormous that even seasoned heroes would be terrified.
“What will happen to this city if that falls?”
The woman casually said this, smiling as if it were nothing.
Yoon Si-woo gritted his teeth and questioned her.
“…What the hell are you? What is your goal that you would do something like this?”
Even though he asked with tension in his voice.
“My name is Auria. You folks like to call me the Witch of Lust.”
Auria answered all of his questions just like that.
“My goal? It’s ‘World Domination’.”
Yoon Si-woo couldn’t comprehend Auria, who casually spoke of domination, indicating that she would eventually want to kill them all.
However, when he met her brightly shining golden eyes from beneath her hood, he realized.
He couldn’t understand her nor did he need to.
And Auria clearly didn’t wish for anyone’s understanding.
Thus, Yoon Si-woo drew his sword and declared.
“…I don’t know much, but as long as I’m here, things won’t go the way you want.”
To protect the people and the girl who would be left alone in the room.
*
The people in my room suddenly all left the room, believing Yoon Si-woo’s words that it was nothing.
After waiting for a while inside the room…
It didn’t take long for me to sense that something unusual was happening.
“This is…!!!”
The overwhelming miasma felt from a distance sent chills down my spine.
It was so deadly that I realized Yoon Si-woo had lied to me before he left.
“That bastard Yoon Si-woo… he hates it when others lie to him…”
I muttered that quietly, but truly I didn’t hold any grudge against Yoon Si-woo for lying to me.
After all, I knew why he lied to me.
‘It’s nothing. You stay here quietly.’
The trembling handwriting left by Yoon Si-woo revealed the anxiety, worry for the others, and above all, an obsessive nervousness that asked if it was really okay to stay put while everyone might be in danger.
Yes, that’s who I was.
Even though I couldn’t hear or see, and even though I struggled to move around alone.
I still pondered if there was anything I could do for others.
Yoon Si-woo, understanding me well, must have even told that lie just to make me stay.
Worried, he wanted me to stay put this time.
“I understand, I will…”
Feeling as if I could hear Yoon Si-woo’s worried voice, I replied, relaxing my body.
Anyway, given my current state, trying to go help on my own was foolish.
So, I decided to believe that everyone else would handle it and wait quietly as Yoon Si-woo suggested.
However, as time passed…
“…Is it really okay?”
The anxiety and worry began to fill my heart.
The miasma’s energy felt extremely ominous.
Could it really be solved by just the efforts of others?
Normal means seemed absolutely impossible.
Still, Yoon Si-woo told me to stay put.
But if something were to happen to my precious people while I sat here…
When that thought crossed my mind, I realized.
“…I indeed can’t just sit still.”
I was someone who couldn’t remain still in such a situation.
“Sorry, Yoon Si-woo.”
I muttered a quiet apology, fully aware that Yoon Si-woo would undoubtedly be angry if he found out about my decision, and then I stretched my arm toward the side of the bed.
There lay the wheelchair prepared for me by Sylvia.
She often told me that staying in the room made her gloomy, and would take me for walks in the garden with it, but I never thought I’d use it alone.
After exhausting my powers in the fight against the Witch of Gluttony, my body had ended up in this state, yet I still had some strength left.
If miasma was the problem, my abilities would definitely help.
But to use my abilities, I had to reach the place where the problem was occurring.
Even if I couldn’t see, I knew exactly where that was.
I needed to head toward where I could feel the miasma.
So, I just had to use the wheelchair to get to where the issue was.
With that thought, I got out of bed and attempted to transfer myself into the wheelchair.
Well, I tried to.
“…Ow.”
A thud echoed as my body hit the ground.
I had tried to sit in the wheelchair alone but ended up tipping it over.
…Sure, I didn’t realize how hard it was to do alone since someone usually helped me.
I might fall and hit things along the way too.
But I knew that sitting still while my precious friends got hurt would be far harder to bear.
With that thought in mind, I struggled to lift the overturned wheelchair from the floor.
And then it happened.
Something round rolled across the floor and lightly bumped into my hand.
“…Huh, Ari?!”
I recognized it immediately due to the familiar sensation I always hugged closely.
Why? I had just left it on the bed before trying to get into the wheelchair.
“Could it be that it rolled off the bed because of my fall? I-I’m sorry! You didn’t break or anything, did you?!”
Worrying that it might have broken after rolling off the bed, I quickly pulled Ari into my arms and checked on her.
As I fumbled anxiously with my apology, Ari twitched.
And that meant,
“Uh? No, it didn’t fall because of that, I’m fine?”
That meant she was okay.
It was strange.
Usually, I couldn’t figure out why Ari was fidgeting, but today it felt as if Ari’s intentions were flowing directly into my mind.
Caught up in that mysterious sensation, I momentarily became dazed, and Ari tilted her head, asking me.
“…Are you really going to insist on going, even after nearly falling over?”
It was a question that seemed to scold me, but I could sense Ari’s heartfelt concern behind it.
Ari didn’t want me to go.
More precisely, she didn’t wish for me to suffer for the sake of others.
But knowing that, I could only respond to Ari like this.
“…Yeah, I have to go. No, I want to go. By any means.”
Upon hearing my answer, Ari trembled ever so slightly.
It felt like she let out a sigh of resignation.
And right after,
“…Huh?!”
A crack formed in the shell that was enclosing Ari’s body.
As I was startled for a moment, warmth from the flames escaping the cracks enveloped me.
Right then, I realized.
That it was the hatching and revival of Ari I had been waiting for.
With a sensation of slowly floating into the air, Ari’s voice echoed in my mind.
[…Then let me at least take you there, safely.]
“…Yeah, thank you, Ari.”
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