The Witch of Oblivion (1)
The blade sank deep with a wet thunk.
It was almost disappointingly easy. The skeleton knight, which had been radiating such overwhelming pressure moments ago, suddenly lost all its vigor. Its body twitched a few times before collapsing like a broken doll. The sound of bones rattling against the stone floor echoed through the chamber.
“What the…?”
Was this really the same monster that had given Melissa such a hard time? It felt strangely weaker when facing me, as if it had become an entirely different creature. Or maybe I should say an entirely different skeleton.
I kicked the skull away with my foot and immediately rushed toward the fallen Melissa. But at that exact moment—
Grrrrrr…!
Krrrrrr…!
“Now what?!”
If one doesn’t work, try two. As if following that logic, two more skeletons burst out. They looked far less impressive than knights—more like common soldiers who had seen their share of battlefields.
…Wait. Soldiers?
The two skeletal soldiers charged at me in a flash. I read their attacks through gigaam, just as I had before, and swiftly struck at their vital points. Unlike the knight, they weren’t wearing full plate armor, so finding gaps was much easier. I thrust my sword straight into the openings in their light armor.
Thud!Stab!
Both collapsed. But it wasn’t over.
This time, three skeletal soldiers rose with eerie shrieks.
“……”
Something was definitely off. No, it wasn’t just off—it was blatantly obvious. What bothered me even more was that their movements felt strangely familiar.
“Ah.”
Among the three, one particularly large skeleton caught my eye. Its build, the way it swung its weapon… it was unmistakably someone I knew well from my unit. The other two also carried an unsettling sense of familiarity.
“Henson?”
Grrrrraaaah…!
The creature answered with a guttural roar. I wasn’t even sure if it was truly answering. It simply opened its bony jaw and howled.
“Why the hell are you doing this…!”
I shouted in rage. Dodging the swords of the two that lunged first, I drove my blade straight through the cores in their chests. Even in the thick, fog-like air, my gigaam let me move with perfect freedom.
Swoosh!Slice!
The two soldiers crumbled in an instant. I couldn’t bear to watch them fall. The moment they went down, I readjusted my grip on my sword.
Thud!
The large skeletal soldier that had been charging at me collapsed right in front of me. Before it vanished, its jaw moved as if trying to say something.
“……@#$@#.”
“I’m sorry, Henson.”
Shhh…
Memories rose like a dream, faces from the past. I clutched my head, breathing hard. Liz looked at me with deep concern.
“H-hey, are you okay, kid?”
“?”
It was as if she were looking at a complete stranger. Suddenly, Melissa’s earlier warning flashed through my mind—If you come down here, you might lose your memories.
Then why was I perfectly fine?
Even Janice, who always looked suspicious, was now drooling with a blank, stupid expression on her face.
“Janice? Liz?”
“Huh? How do you know my name…? Wait, my name? Huh?”
“Almighty Gold, save me with your brilliant light. Almighty Gold, save me with your brilliant light. Almighty Gold, save me with your brilliant light. Almighty Gold, save me with your brilliant light……”
“……”
Both of them had only been down here for a short time, yet they were already wrecks. Janice in particular, banging her head on the ground while muttering prayers, was a sight to behold. Had she been secretly following some cult?
Even in the midst of all this, Melissa was desperately trying to keep her sanity, biting down hard on her lower lip with a pained expression.
In a situation where no one else was in their right mind, I was the only one who could do anything.
Why?
Was it because I was living my second life? Because I was the only one with a different gender? Because I hadn’t received the Goddess’s blessing?
Endless guesses and thoughts swirled in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut and slowly spread out my gigaam. There had to be some clue here that I could use to break through this…
“There isn’t any.”
“……?”
A beautiful, clear voice. But even before the words reached my ears, my gigaam had already sensed it—someone had been above us for some time now.
“I was just planning to use this place as a laboratory, but something interesting wandered in.”
One of the countless entrances to the plaza. A woman who had been sitting quietly at its edge hopped down to the floor. Even though the height should have been enough to cause serious injury if she landed wrong, she descended as if it meant nothing to her, gently touching down on the ground.
Then, without making a single sound, she walked right up to me.
“Who are you?”
“That’s what I should be asking you, isn’t it?”
I forced the words out. The woman chuckled softly and stared at me intently.
“I’m the one you all hate so much you’d die to kill me.”
“……A demon?”
“That’s a bit much.”
The woman laughed again, clearly amused. She shook her signature purple hair and sat down on empty air as if it were a chair, crossing her legs and swinging them lazily. It was as if she were freely manipulating magic.
The sight reminded me of…
“A witch…?”
“Correct.”
The woman clapped her hands playfully. Yet her empty, lifeless eyes weren’t smiling at all. Just looking at them sent chills down my spine.
I stared blankly into those eyes before speaking, almost as if making an excuse.
“I… don’t really hate witches that much. We’re still the same kind of people, after all.”
“You should be careful. If you said that in a royal courtroom, it would be grounds for execution.”
“……!”
The woman who had openly declared herself a witch shrugged her shoulders with a look of mock pity and shook her head.
“Is this what they call the cycle of hatred? There are ‘good’ witches like me in this world, yet no one acknowledges it. All that remains is hatred and resentment toward witches… Doesn’t that mean this world itself is the one that’s wrong?”
“……”
I slowly looked around. The fallen skeletons and scattered bone fragments everywhere. The clear traces of someone toying with the dead. And not just that—she had freely played with the memories of Melissa, Liz, and Janice as if they were nothing more than toys.
“Even so, that doesn’t justify what you’re doing.”
“Hmm.”
Her hollow eyes fixed on me. Then she suddenly spoke.
“My name is Leticia.”
“Leticia……”
The name of a witch who was undoubtedly evil. The name of an enemy I absolutely had to defeat right now. I repeated it in my head so I would never forget it.
Then Leticia suddenly asked,
“What did you say my name was?”
“……?”
“My name. Tell me again.”
“I just said Leticia, didn’t I?”
Was she making fun of me…? It didn’t seem like it. The moment I spoke, something strange had happened. Leticia’s empty eyes suddenly filled with intense curiosity.
“Strange. It really is strange.”
Slither.
Leticia’s hand gently stroked my cheek. The atmosphere made it feel impossible to resist. I found myself frozen, unable to do anything but stay still.
“Why doesn’t it work on you? Reading your memories is so difficult……”
“L-let go…!”
I tried to shake her off, but there was no strength in my arms. At some point, Leticia’s shadow had wrapped around my body. It was clearly just a shadow, yet it bound me as tightly as solid ropes. I couldn’t move an inch.
“My eyes don’t work either.”
“Ugh…”
Leticia stared straight into me, as if trying to pierce through to my very core.
“And you don’t fall for scents either.”
“……”
“This is the first time I’ve met a human like you… What should I do with you, I wonder?”
She licked her lips.
It felt like I had become prey standing before a predator. Unable to move even a finger, I desperately tried to think of a way to escape.
If her only disciple were in a situation like this, Hilde would probably…
Damn it. She’d just cackle like it was the funniest thing in the world.
I shook my head hard, trying to throw away the useless thoughts.
Step…
Then, at that moment.
“Eh?”
“……”
I instinctively glanced to the side and immediately turned my head back, cold sweat running down my back.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing. I just saw something a little scary, that’s all.”
“?”
Should I hope I had seen wrong? Or should I welcome it with open arms? In a situation where I was about to be devoured alive by a witch, what kind of reaction was I supposed to have when I saw those ice-cold eyes?
I had no idea, so I simply squeezed my eyes shut.
“Hah… hah! Selena! What are you staring at so blankly?! We need to hurry— Ah.”
“……?”
A voice rang out loudly across the plaza. But even its owner froze like ice the moment she saw the current situation.
“Ahem. Um… you know we need to stay calm first, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t look calm at all…!”
“…Yeah.”
Whoosh!
The owner of those freezing eyes—Selena—leapt down from the entrance without hesitation. Right beneath her, several skeletal soldiers were trying to get up, but—
Swoosh!
They were sliced clean in half by Selena’s eerie blue aura in a single swing. All of them, with just one strike.
“Ruines. Hold on. I’ll save you soon.”
“S-Selena…!”
Selena spoke in a chilling voice. Saving me was great, but wasn’t that murderous aura a bit much? More importantly, I had to warn her about the trap laid in this plaza.
“Selena! If you come down here— Mmph!”
At that moment, Leticia’s shadow clamped over my mouth. She even put a finger to her lips in front of me, signaling me to be quiet. Then, looking delighted, she turned toward Selena.
“……”
That must have lit a fuse. Without the slightest hesitation, Selena gripped her sword and charged forward.