Chapter 9: White Witch(3)
Chapter 9: White Witch(3)
Natasha, who had been knocked unconscious by Furuku’s attack, opened her eyes. The moment she did, she realized what she had done.
“Grandmother…”
Natasha’s grandmother, who had been dozing beside her, opened her eyes.
“Oh… you’re awake.”
“Where is my husband?”
“So much for raising a granddaughter. The first thing you do when you wake up is ask for your husband…”
“I’m sorry. Is he okay?”
“Yes. He’s safe.”
“Lina must have protected him. She’s strong, after all…”
“…”
Just then, the door slid open. A blonde woman, whose noble grace was apparent even to another woman, entered the room.
“Natasha. You’re awake.”
“…Yes. I heard you saved me again. I went to help, but I just got in the way…”
Lina shook her head and took Natasha’s hand.
“It’s not your fault, Natasha. In fact, I’m the one who should apologize. My complacency is what led you to experience such a terrible thing.”
“…Where is my husband?”
“I’m not sure where Kerry is right now, either. He doesn’t seem to be at the inn.”
“…I need to tell him I’m sorry, too… He must have been in danger because of me, right?”
Natasha’s guess was not wrong. If Lina hadn’t made the decision to protect both Natasha and Kerry, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had died.
Lina knew Natasha’s heart well, so she didn’t bother denying the truth.
With Natasha now awake and out of immediate danger, Lina’s priorities shifted back to what they were before.
The White Witch’s revival… I have to stop that, no matter what.
If only she had been able to secure the White Witch’s seal, things would have been much simpler, but she had failed.
Furuku and Nassen would surely be off somewhere else, preparing another human sacrifice to bring about the White Witch’s return.
They would attempt to perform that horrific ritual again.
In her past life, the White Witch had been one of Lina’s most difficult enemies. Her magic had, at times, bewitched Lina and her companions, and at others, dealt them fatal wounds.
And there were those who shared her magic.
The ones known as the White Witch’s followers were so absolutely loyal that they wouldn’t hesitate to commit suicide attacks. The mere fact that they could use a portion of the White Witch’s magic made them incredibly tricky opponents.
Lina shuddered at the thought of facing that white army led by the White Witch once more.
I will stop the White Witch’s revival. I must.
“Natasha, how is your body?”
“Fighting would be difficult, but I don’t think I’ll have trouble moving around.”
It was a serious injury, after all. If Natasha’s grandmother hadn’t used her healing spells, she wouldn’t have woken up so soon.
It was still too much to expect Natasha to join them in battle right away.
I… I have to get stronger.
She was still in the early stages of her regression; there were countless ways for her to grow stronger. She had to become strong enough to not lose her companions as helplessly as she had in her past life.
*
“O, great White Witch. Your follower is here.”
“…”
Will this actually work?
I had no idea. But I refused to die from some unknown magic without even trying anything.
The White Witch nodded at my reverent, kneeling form.
“I knew it. If you were not my follower, you could not possibly have entered this place.”
“…That is correct, O White Witch.”
So the psycho bitch living in the white room really was the White Witch.
“This won’t do. Rise, my loyal servant. There is much I wish to hear. It has been over a hundred years since I began my stay here, so many things must have changed.”
Damn, she’s old as hell! But her face is so young.
“Come, come. Sit here.”
The White Witch and I sat at a table. The way she propped her chin on her hand and stared at me was so bewitching that my heart skipped a beat.
“I am sure you have many questions as well, but first, tell me of the outside world. I have been so curious for these one hundred years. How did the Emperor of the Empire die? How did the continental war end? Who was victorious? How much of my name remains in the annals of history? Are my other beloved followers safe? I had assumed you all would have vanished in the hundred years since my disappearance, but to think you still remain…”
It seemed she was curious about the results of events that happened a century ago. But there was no way I, who had only been in this world for a little over two years, would know anything about its history.
Still, I had no choice but to answer with what I knew.
“The name of the White Witch remains as powerful as ever, even after a hundred years. Across the continent, your name is spoken of as a legend, and your followers are too numerous to count.”
The part about her having many followers was a lie. I had no idea if she had any left at all.
“Ahh! Is that truly so? I am so happy! To think those ignorant, foolish humans finally recognized my worth after a hundred years. The efforts of my followers must have been great.”
The White Witch was too busy rejoicing to notice that I hadn’t answered her other questions.
But if I let this continue, she would keep asking difficult questions. I had to change the subject.
“I have a question as well. White Witch, why are you in this place?”
“…That is a strange question.”
“Pardon?”
“If you are my follower, you should know that this place is my Utopia.”
Utopia? I thought I’d seen that in her status window description. I quickly changed my attitude.
“Ah! So this is Utopia? I had only heard tales of it, so I could not have imagined it.”
“It is understandable that you did not recognize it. I have decorated this place as my personal bedchamber. But look closely! This is the Utopia where one can achieve eternal youth and life!”
“Ooh! It is truly magnificent, O White Witch.”
I vaguely recalled the legends about the White Witch that Lina had told me. The witch who desired eternal youth and immortality.
It seemed she had disappeared to this place to achieve her dream.
“Hee-hee. You are a cute one. I shall permit you to reside here as well.”
Looks like I’m safe for now.
“By the way. You are…”
“Yes, White Witch.”
“…You look quite delicious.”
“Excuse me?”
For a moment, a chill ran down my spine, like prey standing before a predator.
“Why so surprised? Hee-hee! I do not mean I will eat you. It is just that it has been a hundred years since I last saw a man. Perhaps that is why…”
Gulp.
“I can feel a certain… sensuality from you. This is the first time I’ve felt this.”
The White Witch whispered into my ear. My lower body instantly grew stiff. The fact that I had just seen her naked body made it even worse.
“There was much I wanted to talk about… but I have abstained from men for a hundred years in this place. We can talk later! No, it is fine even if we talk while we do it!”
“…W-White Witch.”
“What is it? Do you not find me to your liking? That cannot be. There has never been a man who was not bewitched by this youth and beauty.”
It might have sounded arrogant, but the White Witch’s beauty was stunning enough to justify her pride. I could understand why she was so obsessed with youth.
I want to have sex!
Honestly, I fucking wanted to do it! But was it really okay? My life was currently hanging on the border between this world and the next.
“Do not be so stiff. Try to be a little more proactive. I permit you to touch my body.”
The White Witch embraced me and began to suck on my ear. A sensation that threatened to send my reason flying washed over me.
“Ahhh…”
“Hee-hee. Such a cute sound you make. Now, I truly cannot hold back any longer.”
I can’t hold back either! Let’s just do it and think later!
I was about to throw my body to the whims of desire.
But the White Witch, who had just said she couldn’t hold back, stood up and walked somewhere. Then, she threw open a piece of white furniture that looked like a wardrobe.
“How I have waited for the day I could use these again…”
“…”
In the White Witch’s hand was a whip. And it wasn’t just any whip; it had some kind of round object attached to the end, and I knew getting hit by it would be lethal.
“W-White Witch, what are those…”
“That pretty face of yours, so different from ordinary men… I cannot bear it. Quickly! Quickly, come here!”
That goddamn psycho bitch! I should have known when I saw her living in an all-white room! I knew things were going too smoothly!
The furniture in front of the White Witch was filled with hardcore items. Gags and restraints were just the basics; there were other terrifying instruments whose purpose I didn’t know and didn’t want to imagine.
“Come. Let us begin. You have no choice in the matter.”
As if the whip wasn’t enough, the White Witch began taking out more terrifying instruments from the room, one by one. The most conspicuous among them was an object that looked like a cross for restraining a person’s body.
“Do not look so frightened. Come here. A hundred years’ worth of unused toys… we won’t have enough time to use them all today.”
A crazed sadist who had been starving alone for a hundred years—it would have been stranger if she hadn’t developed some bizarre fetishes.
I’m going to be murdered! If I let her do that kind of torture-like shit to me, I’m going to die!
I suddenly remembered an article I’d read about how over 300 people in Japan die every year while engaging in SM play.
If I went along with the White Witch, who was surely more extreme than any of them, I would definitely be murdered.
Besides, I might be an S, but I fucking hate being an M!
“What are you doing? I told you to come here. I believe I said you have no choice.”
This is rape, you psycho bitch!
Why have I been attracting so many weird perverts lately? First the bandits, and now this.
If someone was going to get attached to me, couldn’t it at least be a normal woman for once?
Whoosh!
The White Witch swung the whip as if warming up. The sound it made as it cut through the air was no joke.
I’m going to die… I’m going to die… Chunks of my flesh will be torn off by that whip and I’ll die. I’ll bleed out and die.
My once-raging erection had long since returned to normal.
This was the crisis of a lifetime.
Of course, I still hadn’t found a way to escape this place. But even when the sky falls, there’s always a way out.
“What a pity. If we were outside, I could have used magic to make you even happier.”
“…”
If we were outside, she could have used magic to make me happier?
The look of disappointment on the White Witch’s face seemed genuine.
Does that mean she can’t use magic in here?
My mind went blank. Could it be that I was under a massive misunderstanding?
Slowly… let’s think this through slowly.
The White Witch called this place a unique multidimensional barrier. And it was a place where her dream of eternal youth was realized.
Creating a separate space with magic was an incredible feat in itself, but a space that could maintain eternal youth!
In short, it was an incredibly overpowered space.
No matter how great an archmage the White Witch was, it wasn’t a space she could have created without some kind of handicap.
If she could create this place without any handicap, she shouldn’t be called a witch, but a god.
Heh.
Should I do one last check? Just to see why this bitch is so confident even if she can’t use magic.
“White Witch, are you unable to use magic in this place?”
“Why do you ask such a thing?”
“Did you not just say it yourself? That if we were outside, you would have made me happier with magic.”
“Were you disappointed by that? I suppose you are a man, so that is understandable. But even if you beg, I cannot use magic right now. That much is beyond my control.”
“…”
“Now. Enough talk. Let us begin.”
The White Witch approached, holding the whip and some other unknown, terrifying tool. But I was no longer afraid like before.
The reason I feared the White Witch was because the psycho bitch was a legendary archmage.
If she couldn’t use magic, there was no reason for me to just take this.
“You rotten rapist bitch.”
The White Witch’s eyes widened in shock.
“A-Are you speaking to me?”
“Yeah. I’m talking to you, you psychopathic rapist bitch!”
“Have you lost your mind, or are you scorning me simply because I cannot use magic? But surely you have not forgotten about the Soul’s Seal?”
“Soul’s Seal? What’s that?”
“…The Soul’s Seal that is imprinted upon my followers!”
“I don’t know! Fuck! I’m not your follower!”
It seemed the reason the White Witch was acting so high and mighty despite being unable to use magic was because of this Soul’s Seal or whatever. But there was no way I had something like that.
“W-What is this… Without the Soul’s Seal, there is no way you could have entered my Utopia!”
“But I did. What are you gonna do about it?”
I strode toward the White Witch. Panicked, she shouted.
“Stop! That is an order from the master of your soul!”
“?”
“M-My command spell doesn’t work? Are you truly not my follower?”
“You believe me now? You’re so dead.”
“Insolent whelp! Who do you think I am? Even without magic, dealing with the likes of you is no problem at all.”
The White Witch swung the whip she was holding. It would hurt like hell if it hit, but it wouldn’t kill me.
I took the hit and grabbed the whip. Compared to the hardships I’d endured in this world, it barely even hurt.
“Let go of this!”
Without her magic, the White Witch was no different from a frail woman. Her strength was far from enough to overcome mine, which had been honed by my work as an adventurer.
When I yanked hard on the whip, the White Witch tumbled pathetically to the ground.
“Ah…”
A venomous look filled her eyes. It seemed the psycho bitch’s true nature was about to emerge.
The White Witch charged at me, radiating killing intent, but it was useless.
“Remember this well.”
I clenched my fist.
“I don’t go easy on people just because they’re women!”
My fist slammed into the White Witch’s solar plexus. The full-force blow sent her flying.
She gasped for air, making choking sounds as she writhed in agony.
From a young age, the White Witch’s magical talent had been so overwhelming that not even her own mother and father dared to touch her.
This was the first time in her life she had ever faced violence. The fist to her solar plexus sent her rolling on the floor in pain.
It was a moment of terror, the agony of being unable to breathe, of feeling her insides twisting.
“Haaahk… haaah…”
I silently looked down at the White Witch as she writhed in pain. I had brought a legendary archmage to her knees with a single punch.
And now, it was time to teach the White Witch who had tried to rape me what it felt like to be on the other side.