Chapter 523: Jealousy is My Power (23)
Chapter 523: Jealousy is My Power (23)
Regarding the memories of others.
It was a subject I had never particularly pondered before. After all, why would I have any reason to fuss over someone else's memories?
It wasn't even worth considering. People living ordinary lives would likely never even think of such a topic.
The only problem was that my life had veered off the tracks of an 'ordinary life' a long time ago.
I could catch glimpses of the memories of others.
No, perhaps the term 'others' was a misnomer. Because that person was none other than 'me.'
The memories of a man who had to walk a lonely path.
That hazy dream had regained its volume and texture, manifesting before my eyes. I had known the identity of this small, living girl for quite some time.
She was the 'Great Witch.'
One of only three Masters on the continent, and the person my future self had served as a master.
My eyelids quivered at the sudden surge of emotion. Even though the memories of her weren't mine, and thus this sentiment wasn't rightfully my share, it didn't matter.
The mere resonance of it was enough to momentarily shatter my composure.
Of course, I regained my calm quickly. It was just difficult to process since I had only recently regained consciousness; once my reason returned, there was no reason for me to feel so overwhelmed.
However, the girl looking down at me was the Great Witch.
I couldn't ignore the keen insight of a woman who had lived for hundreds of years. Her weary complexion was now tinged with a faint sense of interest.
"……Hooh."
Her eyes were like those of a predator eyeing its prey.
The way the corners of her mouth curled up was strangely threatening, forcing me to bolt upright immediately.
"I, Ian of the Percus family, greet the State Preceptor of the Southern Kingdoms—"
"How curious."
Tack. Tapping out her smoking pipe, the Great Witch flashed an inscrutable smile.
"I believe this is our first meeting, yet you recognized me instantly… Have we crossed paths before?"
It was a valid point.
I couldn't bring myself to answer her leisurely tone recklessly. My lips parted, then closed.
In the end, I could only spit out a common excuse.
"No, well… it's just that I've admired you for a long time, Great Witch……."
"You must have admired me quite a lot."
With a short, hollow laugh, the Great Witch slowly stood up. The way she brushed off her clothes and placed the smoking pipe in her mouth exuded a profound sense of maturity.
That was why she left such a confusing impression.
From her manner of speaking to every single action, experience permeated her being, yet her appearance alone seemed to have bypassed the flow of time.
I remained hesitant, still unable to shake off the shock of this sudden encounter. Regardless, the Great Witch didn't seem particularly concerned with me. She merely left a meaningful remark.
"……To think you'd make such a sad face the moment you saw me."
I had suspected as much, and I was right.
The Great Witch seemed to have clearly noticed the ripple of emotion that had crossed my face. I tried to explain it away somehow.
"No, well… that is……!"
"Enough, enough."
But the Great Witch waved her left hand dismissively, as if it were a waste of effort.
Indeed, she was a woman who had reigned as an absolute power for hundreds of years. Even if I was making a name for myself in the secular world, she had no reason to pay attention to a man who was still nothing more than a novice.
"If you say so, then so be it… No matter how long I live, I've never been able to peek into another's heart. So let's stop wasting time."
Who was I to talk back to her?
I eventually had to shut my mouth and watch her closely. I glanced at her several times, like a puppy that had done something wrong.
Phew. A long sigh followed, and tobacco smoke trailed into the air.
The next moment.
Thud. My airway slammed shut. Unable to even breathe, I had to stare blankly at a world where light had vanished in an instant.
In that shadowed world, a pair of light green eyes glowed alone.
How could a glance thrown casually over a shoulder be so ruthless and cold?
"……Just what, exactly, have you done?"
Mana became a dense liquid, filling my lungs. This overwhelming pressure came from her mere presence; even this was but a tiny fragment compared to her true power.
At this rate, I would die.
Reason was unnecessary. My pupils dilated of their own accord, beginning to map out the darkened field of vision.
I thought I heard a strange sound brush past my ears.
"Hooh."
Just before my retinas could ignite with silver aura.
Squeeze. The surrounding mana tightened around my heart even more violently. I wanted to scream from the unimaginable pain, but I couldn't even draw breath.
There was no way such freedom would be granted to me.
Heugh, heugh.
Clutching my throat with both hands, my body collapsed onto the ground once more. A nonchalant voice drifted down over my suffering form.
"The balance of the Five Elements has collapsed… Though that's only true for this immediate area, a fissure always hides the threat of growing larger. Flow is an uncontrollable waterway; how should one restore a scale that has already tilted?"
Step, step.
The sound of the Great Witch's footsteps trampled upon my eardrums. It was a stride that felt entirely devoid of guilt.
"Naturally, one must remove the weight, right? Let me explain it in simpler terms… The world is like a thick cloth, and all flow is created upon it. But what happens if a heavy stone is placed on that cloth?"
All flow gathers around that stone.
Knowledge I had never learned hammered at my brain like a torrential rain. It felt as if I could already hear the Great Witch's next words.
'And that stone is you.'
"And that stone is you."
It was a bizarre sensation.
As my breath was cut off and my consciousness blurred, my five senses grew even more acute. From the tip of my sharply honed sense of touch, knowledge I shouldn't have known began to flow in.
The Great Witch leaned her upper body down slightly. An emotionless whisper soaked into my ears.
"……Do not resent me too much."
It was then.
My vision split, and split, and split again…….
Only after space had been deconstructed into fine threads so minute they were invisible did I realize.
The intangible flow that was binding me.
After that, I simply followed my instincts.
A silver laceration etched into the air.
It was a perfect straight line. As the hand axe suddenly surged up and drew a long thread, the Great Witch's eyes widened. Although not even a small scratch appeared on her body as she stepped back a couple of paces.
Finally, I could gasp for air and pound my chest.
Even as I inhaled lungfuls of oxygen, the agonizing sensation didn't fade. Only after several more seconds of steadying my breath did I regain my senses.
My misty gaze turned silently toward the Great Witch.
The woman, who couldn't hide her stunned expression, finally let out a faint laugh.
"I see, it wasn't your fault."
I was already exhausted. I didn't even have the energy to voice a complaint.
I merely coughed and sucked in air.
"Humans cunning enough to plot a conspiracy of this magnitude wouldn't show their true intentions until the moment of death… Since the matter was so grave, I have wronged you. As an elder, I apologize."
With that, the Great Witch slowly bowed her head. That posture, with one hand placed over the opposite side of her chest, was a traditional gesture of apology in the Southern Kingdoms.
It was the maximum display of sincerity an elder could show. Even so, it couldn't compensate for the experience of being pushed to the brink of death, but what could I do?
In truth, I was someone who had crossed such deathlines countless times.
In the end, a faint sigh escaped my lips.
She said she didn't intend to kill me anyway, so whatever.
"……It's fine. The matter is indeed that grave."
Besides, I also wanted to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.
For the sake of my goal, there were times I had to swallow my pride. I couldn't afford to lose an ally like the Great Witch over a petty grudge.
Yes, that's how it should have ended.
"However, there is one more thing I'd like to ask……."
I felt a strange pressure from that low voice.
It was a depth of emotion incomparable to before. Although it didn't physically manifest, the psychological threat itself was more than double what it had been when my airway was being crushed.
Standing tall again, the Great Witch asked.
"You, what are you?"
There was no need to ask what she meant.
Because the Great Witch asked again, her eyes filled with suspicion.
"How do you know my Secret Arts? No, it's not just a matter of knowing… To be skilled enough to use it in actual combat would require years of training. Just how?"
In the moment I felt the Great Witch take a step toward me.
My chin was already gripped in her hand. Her eyes, scanning me intently as she turned my face back and forth, looked dangerous.
It was the look of a mage who had encountered an unfathomable riddle.
And mages were the type of people who couldn't rest until a riddle was solved.
A cold sweat trickled down my spine.
"Th-that is……!"
"It would be best if you didn't mix in even a grain of a lie."
The voice scraping through her throat was fierce.
It was understandable. A Master's Secret Arts were like the fruit of their entire life's work.
Having that stolen, I couldn't even imagine how the Great Witch must feel.
That made it even more of a dilemma.
If I told her the truth?
It wouldn't be strange if she tried to kill me right then and there, thinking I was talking nonsense.
Or, if I spun a plausible lie?
I couldn't dare utter a falsehood before a sage who had lived for hundreds of years. It wouldn't be strange if I were killed for that, either.
It was truly a desperate moment.
That was when the anomaly occurred.
"There's no way I misidentified it… Even if I wasn't at full strength, the only technique capable of undoing my Binding is Unbinding. It was worth pushing myself… Ugh?!"
Flinch. The Great Witch's body jerked as if she had been electrocuted.
It was a sudden change.
Even the Great Witch hadn't expected this, as shock bled into her wide-open eyes. It didn't take long for the woman's face to turn deathly pale.
"Kh… ugh, kgh……!"
Stagger, stagger.
The woman's body, which had been gritting its teeth to endure the groans, began to reel. I wasn't the only one surprised by the sudden accident; I froze in place, eyes wide.
What on earth is happening?
Before that question could even form, the Great Witch's body collapsed onto the ground.
Her body trembled uncontrollably from pain that exceeded its limits. Like wringing water from a dry rag, the Great Witch twisted her body and squeezed out a groan.
"Wh-why… ugh, already……!"
I hesitated for a long time after that. Not knowing what to do, I left the Great Witch groaning in pain for a while.
Suddenly, a memory struck my brain like a bolt of lightning.
Right, if it's this.
I immediately hoisted the Great Witch's small body onto my back and began to run as fast as I could.