Chapter 438
Chapter 438
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 438
Chapter Title: Wandering
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1.
I couldn't say what I wanted to say,
nor convey what I longed to express.
It was agonizing.
It was lonely.
I tried to set things right, to correct what had gone awry.
Just like Clara had said, there were things that wouldn't get through unless spoken exactly as Clara would speak them.
I knew that.
But I was afraid.
Afraid of being abandoned again, rejected, met with those cold, averted gazes.
Amelia couldn't bring herself to go straight to Si-woo.
As if pretending it was a chance encounter—or perhaps, deep down, hoping they wouldn't cross paths at all—she clung to her half-hearted resolve and fearful heart, wandering aimlessly through Gehenna.
Wandering.
It was the perfect word.
Foolish lateral steps, unable to plant her feet or stride toward any clear destination.
The listless stroll that began in Lenormand Town dragged on until it reached Tarot Town.
That's where she spotted him.
And beside him was a witch.
Dark green hair, mint-green eyes, a bubbly smile—she stuck to his side without fail.
"……."
They exchanged warm, affectionate glances as they talked, their gestures toward each other brimming with deep trust and fondness.
"Amelia…."
Clara, watching the scene alongside her, gently stroked her shoulder.
It didn't matter anymore.
She stood there dazed, feeling time slip past her.
When she came to her senses, she realized she was watching him from afar.
It was sadder than she'd expected.
And emptier than she'd imagined.
All that lingered was a dull, throbbing ache, like her pounding heart had finally frozen solid.
It wasn't the first time.
She'd felt that same dull sting when she'd glimpsed him entangled in lewd acts with the Jemernai twins.
And when she'd seen him bedding Yebin Smirna, whom she'd invited to heal him.
But probing that sting like a fresh wound revealed the root of this emotion was different.
Back then, there had been ignorance.
Amelia hadn't known love, hadn't acknowledged it.
Back then, there had been hope.
A sliver of a future where she could apologize to him, no matter the cost.
What about now?
This was nothing like the Si-woo she'd faced in the present world, battling the Witch of Desire.
It was the expression, gaze, and voice she'd seen so often back when she lived with him in the cabin—now directed at some nameless witch.
There was no frustration at being robbed of him.
That was an emotion too grand for her.
But seeing them so utterly absorbed, as if the world belonged only to the two of them, so flawless and impenetrable…
As if it proved their bond could never be mended… her legs gave way.
"Amelia."
"I'm fine. Really, I'm okay."
Her own voice sounded surprisingly calm, as if coming from far away.
But the moment the words left her lips, a searing pain melted her necrotic heart, burning through her chest—she was startled again.
"It doesn't hurt at all. I'm fine."
Her breathing grew ragged.
The ground rocked as if her sense of balance had shattered.
Why had it come to this?
This wasn't the ending she wanted.
-Rustle
Something fell to the ground.
A twice-folded note she always carried close.
Amelia couldn't bring herself to open it.
If it held Si-woo's final farewell, reading it might drag him back into danger while she bore the duty of the ledger of death.
She feared losing that final pillar that had supported her to the end.
Amelia reached for the note.
A futile, desperate grasp for her last shred of hope.
Maybe he'd already forgiven her.
Even if it was too late, she needed something—anything—to cling to right now.
Though only folded twice, the note seemed more impregnable than any solemn magic barrier—yet it unfolded all too easily.
The message was short, the paper mostly blank space around the words.
That single line seized Amelia's fleeing ankles and dragged her down into the darkest depths.
At the same moment, Lilith—her arm naturally around Amelia's waist—wiped away her tears.
"Amelia, Amelia, poor Amelia."
"……."
"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong."
Amelia didn't respond.
As if she'd imprisoned her mind in a space only she knew, she showed no reaction to external stimuli.
-Whirrrrr!
Instead, precursor winds of particle storms began swirling around her.
A witch beyond the 15th hierarchy reached unity of magic and mind.
Instinct and emotion merged with mana, the bond growing stronger with higher rank.
Lilith smiled fondly at the sight.
No need to feign anymore.
Finally, the magic she'd planted in her was seizing every corner of the stigma amid Amelia's breakdown.
By her own assessment, it was a crude, childish ploy.
Just engineering their missed connection and subtly altering the note.
But for Amelia crumbling alone, nothing more was needed.
Lilith's targets weren't just Amelia.
No room for artisanal perfection or wasted energy.
It hurts.
I want it to end.
I'm sad.
Leave me alone.
I just need to be by myself.
I don't regret it.
I'm fine.
Shards of shredded emotions flashed past Lilith's ears.
Beautiful as fairy dust, not quite the hue of despair—she caressed each one tenderly.
Intense emotions were easier to redirect than sluggish ones.
Whether roaring joy or blood-spitting rage, momentum made them veer perfectly with a gentle nudge.
"You can still change it now."
The Witch of Cowardice had said it, Bianca had said it, countless witches whose names she'd forgotten had said it.
An immature fledgling like Amelia couldn't resist.
"Stop suppressing it. Seeing you sacrifice yourself alone breaks my heart—I can't bear it anymore."
Lilith's voice carried an undisguisable glee.
She prodded the accelerating emotional spiral bit by bit.
"It was hard, wasn't it? Agonizing. You've suffered alone long enough. You've atoned plenty."
-Whirrrrr!
Fireworks burst in the distance like explosions.
Amid them, fine particles began to spread.
Rain fell.
From a cloudless sky, a downpour like tears.
The particles expanded, engulfing all of Tarot Town.
As expected of the power Kether coveted as her sword.
Amelia was claiming the entire district under her control.
"It hurts, doesn't it? Infuriating? But it's okay. I'll help you. I'll show you the path to happiness."
Though it wouldn't be true happiness, of course.
Lilith twitched her finger.
The mana permeating Amelia's body stirred like a puppet's strings.
Amelia gazed at Lilith with vacant eyes.
Her sky-blue irises, once brimming with sorrow, now empty abysses.
"Happiness…?"
"Yes! You have power. The strength to reclaim what's rightfully yours."
Flimsy logic.
Hardly logic at all—pure sophistry.
Even Amelia knew matters of the heart between man and woman weren't swayed by raw power alone.
But that didn't matter.
Sorrow's easiest pivot: rage and screams.
Since ancient times, negativity and violence ran parallel.
She might regret it endlessly later, but right now, it'd feel righteous.
"Just snap your fingers. That'll secure your place by his side. I'll help you build a happy world for just the two of you."
Sugar-coated lies, fallacies, unkeepable promises.
Lilith's poison had already taken full control.
Each flick of her tongue fueled Amelia's mana rampage.
"Show him your sorrow. Your rage."
-Whirrrrrrr!
Saplings sprouted where raindrops touched.
Fist-sized buds bloomed—and all would crumble.
Thus, Lilith claimed victory; Kether's plan shattered.
-Snap!
Amelia's raised finger twisted in the air, entranced.
A brief pulse.
Through mana and particles, waves overflowed under her command, devouring all creation.
-Rumble!
With each bloom.
Each particle absorbing mana to birth greater power.
Joy lit Lilith's face.
Gehenna falls.
Collapse imminent.
"…It'll be… fine…."
As Lilith finally burst into laughter,
the vibrations halted.
Her mad cackle ceased too.
Her eyes scanned around.
In the impossibly still surroundings, raindrops gleamed.
Suspended slow as in low gravity, scattering light.
Horrified, Lilith turned to Amelia.
The instant her mind broke, Lilith's autonomic magic Whisper had surely infested her body.
She was little more than Lilith's puppet.
"No… I can't let this… happen…."
Then how to explain this?
Magic defied classical mechanics.
But enacting it carried inertia.
Like stopping a speeding train abruptly—this scale of magic was near impossible to halt.
Amelia had rejected Lilith's sweet temptations.
Mobilized every ounce to rein in the runaway magic born of emotional surge.
Forcing it to stop collided 23rd-hierarchy mana—yielding this result.
Space randomization.
A phenomenon from clashing death-defying spells between two witches—now self-inflicted.
"This can't be…."
Lilith stared at Amelia in dismay.
Control still lingered.
The leash in Lilith's grip remained firmly linked.
"Ameli…."
Reaching to reclaim it, Lilith spotted buds bulging under her skin.
A bit further, and her arm—then body—would explode.
Unmistakable rejection.
Rejection of Lilith.
And of the world entire.
"Ahaha."
Dismay gave way to laughter.
Lilith's Whisper scaled with the target's magical attainment.
Its effect hinged on mental fortitude.
Amelia, whom she'd dismissed as fledgling, defied it with iron will.
No excuse but underestimation.
But that was it.
Amelia had rejected control but remained in rampage.
The sustained randomization, particles repelling all and halting motion—proof.
True to form, Amelia shoved the world away, barricading herself alone once more.
In the warping, rule-defying space, she'd recreated her sanctuary with new magic.
The thickening distortion blurred Amelia before her eyes.
"Fine. This isn't bad either."
The unforeseen twist didn't displease Lilith.
Process aside, the outcome wouldn't change.
"Show me your struggles."
With those final words, thick darkness engulfed Lilith like a flash, ejecting her from the space.