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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It felt like I had woken up from a dream.
Looking around, all I saw was a barren wasteland, dust swirling in the air. I unconsciously held my breath.
A deep crater gaped before me.
At the bottom lay a skull mask and a mage’s staff, lying abandoned.
“Sharcal.”
Seeing the remnants of the archmage, the final testament to his death, I slowly regained my senses.
I would have been dead if it weren’t for the goddess’s miracle. A wave of defeat washed over me as I thought of the archmage, now reduced to dust.
‘……’
I had reached my limit.
This was undeniable.
In my past life, I had assumed I was weak because my body was ravaged from exploring the Demon Realm Forest.
But now, with a young, healthy body and years of training, I had believed I could overcome those limitations. I had tried to maintain my combat instincts, even outside the forest.
Although my senses, honed from years of living in the Demon Realm Forest, had dulled, my enhanced physical abilities should have made up for it.
If I had fought my past self, I was sure I would have won.
‘Yet, I lost.’
Was it because I couldn’t use mana?
That was part of it.
If I could manipulate mana, I might have been able to resist Sharcal’s distorted magic.
But I had a clear sense that this was my limit, the limit of ‘Daniel McLean.’
“Daniel!”
A girl’s voice, filled with warmth and concern, interrupted my thoughts.
Hayun wrapped her arms around me, her voice trembling as she called out my name.
“Daniel! Daniel!”
“Hayun?”
I wondered what had gotten into her, but seeing her trembling hands, her disheveled clothes and hair, I realized something must have happened.
“I thought you were dead! The Grand Witch said you were probably dead, and I was so scared!”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
I had practically died, so I apologized sincerely. If it weren’t for that whimsical Goddess of Time, I would have left Hayun alone in the Demon Realm Forest.
“Wait, where’s Kurika?”
He had been caught in Sharcal’s final explosion with me. Even for the King of Beasts, surviving at that distance… he would be half-dead at best.
But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find him.
I was certain he hadn’t simply vanished without a trace. He wasn’t the kind of person to die so easily.
“……How much time has passed since the explosion?”
I asked Hayun, my voice edged with urgency.
I needed to know how long the Goddess of Time had stopped time, and how long it had taken me to regain consciousness.
“About… an hour. The Grand Witch sensed something and rushed back to the witches’ village. I came here to find you.”
“An hour?”
That was too long.
Had Kurika escaped?
‘No, he wouldn’t just run away. If he had regained consciousness, he would have come after me first.’
I was the biggest obstacle to his plan of killing the Earliest Apocalypse.
Hayun hesitated, then spoke in a small voice.
“And Daniel… while you were gone, the Priestess of Time came to us.”
“……!”
I knew she was traveling with Kurika, but she had visited Hayun and the Grand Witch?
“She was caught in the explosion, but she seemed to come back to life even after dying… I think she’s still alive.”
“What in the…”
I was struggling to understand the situation, but suddenly, a loud explosion echoed in the distance, followed by a plume of smoke rising into the sky.
Such commotion wasn’t unusual in the Demon Realm Forest, but this felt different. It was the kind of power that could only be achieved by multiple people casting magic simultaneously.
I felt a strange compulsion as I said,
“Let’s go to the witches’ village.”
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“Haa… Haa…”
With Sharcal gone, she could now freely manipulate mana. The Grand Witch rode her staff, speeding towards her village.
The sound of magic that had echoed from the village moments ago made her heart pound. She prayed for her village’s safety as she flew through the smoke-filled sky, but…
When she arrived at the witches’ village, she could only stare in dismay at the two figures standing in the center.
One was the Priestess of Time.
She was strolling through the village, unharmed, her face adorned with a sweet smile, as she ruthlessly slaughtered the witches.
And the other… was the werewolf, Kurika.
He looked terrible.
Blood dripped from his wounds, his once-glossy black mane was torn and ragged, his skin exposed.
His eyes were open, but it was unclear if he was conscious. And on his forehead, the same mark that adorned the Priestess, the mark of the Goddess of Death.
The Priestess of Time had taken control of Kurika, who had been injured in Sharcal’s self-destruction. Even in his unconscious state, Kurika struggled against the mark, his head shaking violently.
The Priestess, noticing the Grand Witch’s arrival, smiled and gestured towards Kurika.
“Amazing, isn’t it? Kurika, the Emperor of the Forest, is under my control. Of course, once his wounds heal, he’ll easily break free from this bind, but…”
Thud.
She plunged her bone sword into Kurika’s chest without hesitation. Her actions were filled with a chilling madness.
“If I keep injuring him like this, don’t you think I can control him forever?”
“You’re insane.”
The Grand Witch bit her lip.
The woman who had received the mark of the Goddess of Death and was now walking among them was truly mad.
There was no other explanation. Her madness instilled fear, but the Grand Witch couldn’t back down.
All the witches were dead.
Just like in the vision she had seen when she first encountered the Priestess of Time, they were all lying in pools of blood.
“Why? Why did you attack our village?”
The Priestess of Time clasped her hands together, as if in prayer.
“They were evil. I saw their underground chambers, you know? The terrible things they did… Keeping men as breeding stock, using humans as ingredients for magic…”
“……”
“How could you use your own son as a magic ingredient, just because he was a man? You’re incredible.”
“So you decided to judge us on behalf of the gods?”
“Hehehe, if that’s what you want to believe, go ahead.”
The Grand Witch couldn’t deny that their village was steeped in darkness.
She was no saint herself. But this was how the witches survived.
They had been banished to this harsh forest because the gods hated them for their gift of prophecy.
Only women inherited the gift, so the men abandoned them, leaving the village to seek a better life.
The men realized there was no reason for them to be trapped in this remote village, living under the watchful eyes of the gods, while others could simply walk away.
Jealousy and madness had become the roots of the Black Forest witches’ traditions.
“So, what are you going to do? If you beg for your life, I might let you live.”
“……What good is an old woman’s life, when everything else is gone?”
She had no strength left to rebuild the village. She believed this was the end for the Black Forest witches, their lineage extinguished, but…
“Ugh… Uh…”
A faint groan echoed from the distance.
Adriana, who had been in the infirmary, was trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building. Her forehead was bleeding, but she was desperately trying to free herself.
There was a survivor?
Had the Priestess missed her? But seeing the Priestess’s expression, the Grand Witch understood.
“Oh my, there’s one still alive.”
She had left Adriana alive on purpose.
The Priestess of Time had intentionally spared the young girl until the Grand Witch arrived.
Why?
The question burned in the Grand Witch’s mind, but the Priestess answered it immediately.
“How about this? I’ll spare this girl’s life, and in return, you grant me one small favor. It’s a simple request, really.”
“You… this was your plan all along.”
“Oh my, how can you say that?”
The Priestess smiled, covering her mouth with her hand.
It was true that the witches’ village had committed unspeakable atrocities, but that wasn’t the Priestess’s true motive.
It was simply a convenient justification.
“It’s really nothing. You might even welcome my proposal.”
“……”
“You have to accept, right? It’s the only way to save this girl. She’s the most talented of all the witches, isn’t she?”
She had figured that out in such a short time?
Logic and emotion battled fiercely within the Grand Witch’s mind, but…
For a woman tempered by centuries of experience, emotions weren’t a priority. She would swallow her pride and beg for her life if it meant saving Adriana.
The Grand Witch slowly knelt down.
“What do you want?”
It was humiliating to beg for mercy from the woman who had slaughtered her clan, but…
She had to save Adriana.
As the Grand Witch, she couldn’t allow her clan to be wiped out on her watch.
“It’s simple. Just warp us somewhere. It’s a bit difficult to travel with Kurika in his current state.”
Even now, Kurika was struggling against the mark, his head shaking violently. He didn’t have much time.
“You know, you would be dead if it weren’t for me. You should be grateful I saved your life.”
The Priestess plunged her bone sword into Kurika again and sighed.
“I’m going to a small village. Get ready.”
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This bitch is really getting on my nerves
Holly molly, the author really managed to create a despicable character.