The Passage Created by the Witch
I stepped through, feeling as though I were crossing the River Styx, the boundary between the living and the dead. And the moment I passed through the portal, a landscape that could only be described as the underworld itself unfolded before my eyes.
If death had a color, it would surely be black. If so, what else could this place be called but the underworld? The sky, the earth, and even the objects standing around me were entirely clad in monochrome black, as if someone had robbed them of all color.
The sky was so heavily shrouded in a fog of thick Mana that even the sun was barely visible, and the ground was completely saturated with it, looking utterly inhospitable to any form of life. Towering trees stretched endlessly in every direction, clawing toward the heavens. No, they were no longer trees. The charred, carbonized corpses of what once was a forest hung their leafless, desolate branches over my head, serving as a grim reminder that nothing but death resided here.
It was a place where any ordinary person would have succumbed to Mana poisoning the moment they set foot inside, their body collapsing from the corruption. I braced myself for the agonizing end that was sure to follow. Yet, as time passed, the pain I had prepared myself for never came. In fact, what I felt was not pain, but...
"How does your body feel right now?"
As I stood frozen, my expression stiffening at the bizarre sensation, the Witch's voice drifted from behind me. Even through the deep shadow cast by her hood, her eyes sparkled with intense curiosity as she asked.
"It shouldn't feel too bad, right? Doesn't it feel refreshing? Like that stuffy feeling has finally vanished?"
"..."
I didn't bother answering her. ...To be honest, it was closer to say I couldn't answer. Because she was absolutely right. Right now, I was utterly bewildered by an inexplicable sense of refreshment. My body felt far more energetic than usual. An intoxicating rush of invincibility surged through my veins, making me feel as though I could accomplish anything.
Of course, even so, I was in no mood to give her the satisfaction of an answer. As I glared at her in silence, the Witch grinned and murmured.
"Hmm, look at that face. I hit the nail on the head, didn't I? It is refreshing, isn't it? I knew it. Being locked up in a place like that, of course you'd feel suffocated. Honestly, I don't know how you endured that stuffiness for so long. You looked like you could have collapsed at any moment."
The Witch spoke nonchalantly, then sat down right in front of me, observing me with a beaming smile. Her tone suggested she knew something about me. ...I had assumed she kidnapped me on a mere whim, but was there more to it?
"...What exactly is your purpose in bringing me here? Did you not intend to kill me?"
When I asked, the Witch burst into laughter as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"What? Ahahaha! Kill you? Me, kill you? Why would I waste something so incredibly interesting when I finally found it? Since you're asking about my purpose, you must think I brought you here without a second thought. Well, you've got it all wrong."
The Witch pointed a slender finger straight at me.
"My target, you see, was only ever you from the very beginning."
...She was targeting me from the start? But if I was her sole objective, too many of her actions earlier made no sense. She had told Jesse she was going to kill me. Furthermore, if her goal was simply to kidnap me, she could have just taken me by force without causing such a massive scene. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the Witch spoke up.
"Ah, so that's what's bothering you? Everything I did earlier was just an act. An act! Well, since you seem curious, I'll give you some answers."
She then added, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Saying I would kill you was a lie. I figured that human would only back off if I said that, and that way, I wouldn't be interrupted while talking to you. Besides, like I said earlier, I have no intention of getting my hands dirty to kill anyone. My taste leans more toward watching people dance on the stage of my script until they die."
She addressed every single one of my doubts.
"The reason I caused such a ruckus was because, well, for certain reasons, I needed you to follow me willingly. That's why I prepared those monsters to stage a crisis. Ahahaha! I really didn't expect them to be cleaned up so quickly, though. Honestly, I wanted to enjoy the terrified expressions of those humans a bit longer before taking you, but there were more strong humans than I anticipated, so I ended up rushing a bit."
It was as if she were reading my mind.
"So, has your curiosity been satisfied a bit?"
The Witch smiled faintly as she spoke. Goosebumps broke out over my skin. Does this chick have telepathy or something? The moment that question crossed my mind, the Witch burst into laughter again.
"Ahahaha! Look at your face. Don't be so scared. I don't have some special mind-reading ability. It's just a little trick I picked up back when I worked in a theater troupe, observing humans. I can tell what kind of personality someone has and what they're thinking just by looking at their face. Even if I don't understand why they think that way, humans are incredibly predictable creatures, after all."
The Witch replied, offering me another sweet smile.
...Honestly, having actual telepathy would be less creepy. I thought I was doing a decent job of maintaining a poker face, but facing someone who could read my expressions and see right through my mind was incredibly stressful. It felt like even if I kept my mouth shut, she would just keep reading my thoughts and carrying on the conversation anyway. So, I gave up on staying silent and asked the question that had been bugging me.
"...Is the reason you targeted me because I'm connected to a Witch?"
Out of all those people, there was no other logical reason for her to single me out. The fact that she seemed to know about me was likely because she had heard it from the Witch of Sloth, whom I had encountered before. As if confirming my guess, the Witch nodded.
"Bingo. Sloth told me about you. Said there was an interesting kin of ours. Ah, but seeing you in person, you far exceed my expectations! I never imagined a case like this could exist. Even though every Witch has a period before they realize their true nature, talking to you and looking at you now, you feel distinctly human rather than a Witch."
"...I'm not a Witch, I'm a human. More importantly, what on earth do you plan to do with me here? You said you didn't intend to kill me."
I snapped at the incredibly talkative Witch, who was answering things I hadn't even asked. She burst into laughter once more.
"Ahahaha! A human, you say? Sure, maybe for now. Well, don't worry. I don't plan on doing anything to you. My goal is strictly to spectate. I've already set the stage, so from now on, I'll just watch. Besides, it looks like the time is almost here anyway."
"What do you mean, the time is—"
Just as I was about to snap at her incomprehensible answer, my eyes locked with the Witch's beneath her hood. Her eyes were filled with an inexplicable anticipation. With the gaze of a deeply curious child, she asked me.
"Hey, how does your body feel right now?"
In that instant, with a violent, booming thud of my heart, a bizarre heat surged through my entire body.
Burn it.
The refreshment and exhilaration I had felt earlier instantly morphed into excruciating agony. It felt as if a wildfire starting from deep within was incinerating my entire body. Unable to even scream, I thrashed on the ground. I could feel the Witch's gaze looking down at me as I writhed.
"Ahahaha! It's finally starting! Ah, this is what I wanted to see. I'm so incredibly lucky to witness this. You know? You really might have been closer to a human than a Witch until now. Your body is incomplete, but you had a human heart in a body closer to a human's than a Witch's."
It was hot, so hot, so incredibly hot. The pain, the pain, the pain... and yet, an even greater sense of fulfillment began to cloud my mind, making me feel lightheaded.
"But what is incomplete always yearns to become complete. Even if you don't want it, your incomplete body has always been waiting for this. Do you know how much energy a pupa needs to emerge as a butterfly? Your body is the same. It has been waiting all this time for the power to become complete—for a sufficient amount of Mana."
I will burn it.
I felt something inside me melting. The things embedded in my head, my chest, my stomach, my legs, and my arms were dissolving, coalescing in the center of my chest, attempting to replace the very core of my life. This was not the destruction of my body from Mana poisoning; it was a reconstruction. To become something other than human. I instinctively knew that once this was over, there would be no turning back.
"If your body becomes a Witch, can your heart remain human? Ah, how could I not be curious about that?"
The voice I had always desperately suppressed began to overflow in my mind.
Once more, I will burn it all to ashes.
Suddenly, the surrounding landscape began to look familiar.
This is the forest I burned down once before.
No, I've never done that—
It was the forest I burned to the ground.
I felt the presence of a Witch before me.
Ah, the Witch. Yes, my revenge is not yet complete.
Revenge... I must burn everything to ashes for my revenge.
A left arm made of black iron caught my eye.
The one Jesse... made for me.
The final remaining piece was right there.
Stop...
I will take it and resurrect.
And this time, my revenge will be complete.
St... op...
To return the pain inflicted upon me.
The Witch, this world...
Every last bit of it, completely.
I will burn it all to ash.
"Scarlet!!!!"
...I heard a voice. I felt like I had heard that voice desperately calling out the name "Scarlet" somewhere before.
...Ah, that was Yoon Siwoo's voice.
...Yoon Siwoo, who was he again?
Yoon Siwoo is Scarlet Evande's friend. My... precious friend.
...Ah, I see. Thank goodness. I was still Scarlet Evande.
"Huh, I didn't expect an interloper to make it all the way here... Hmm, looking at you, it seems you stopped right on the brink. How disappointing. If I had just a little more time, the transformation would have been complete."
"...Oh dear, they brought those annoying pests with them. Well, nothing can be done. Actually, stopping right there might make things more interesting to look forward to later. I suppose I'll take my leave for today."
...As her presence vanished, I felt someone hoist me up onto their shoulders.
"Scarlet! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?!"
"Yoon Siwoo! Now that you've got her, run! I can't buy us any more time!"
"But what about you, Captain Martina?!"
"Ugh, does that matter right now?! Don't worry about me, just get back to the city as fast as you can!"
...My head throbbed. As I slowly opened my eyes to the shouting around me, I saw a giant firebird spewing a blinding torrent of flames from its beak.
Martina was barely holding back the terrifyingly destructive flames with a barrier of magical energy. Traces of coughed-up blood stained her lips. Her body was trembling so violently that anyone could tell she would die if this continued.
Did they... come to save me? Knowing how dangerous it would be? Both Yoon Siwoo and Martina were truly good people. They shouldn't have to die because of me.
"Hurry!!!!!"
"...Ugh, I'm sorry!"
With a look on his face as if he were about to cry, Yoon Siwoo turned around and bolted with me on his back. Behind us, a deafening screech echoed.
"Tsk, this bastard is suddenly ignoring me...! Yoon Siwoo, it's heading your way! Watch out!"
Along with the massive roar, I felt the searing heat of flames closing in from behind.
...Shut up. You're the one who needs to stop.
Pushing off Yoon Siwoo's back, I slipped from his grasp and stood to face the incoming torrent of fire.
"?! Scarlet!!"
Simultaneously with Yoon Siwoo's horrified shout, the flames struck me head-on. It was a little hot, but bearable. Glaring through the fire at the blazing bird cloaked in flames, I muttered.
"...Get lost."
The firebird stared down at me in silence for a moment, then, with a low cry, soared up into the sky and flew away.
...And with that final memory, my vision faded into pitch black.