Chapter 161. The Witch of the Night (2)
A frozen land.
Bloodstains scattered across a white world of blizzards.
“…Ah.”
The Witch of the Night let out a low sigh as she looked down at the sword piercing her stomach.
The witch slowly collapsed onto the thickly piled snow.
She turned her head toward the gray-haired hero who had stabbed her.
“Gasp, gasp!”
The hero, breathing heavily, approached her as she fell.
Swoosh.
He roughly pulled out the sword he had thrust into her stomach.
Red blood spread across the snowy field.
“…Cold.”
The witch muttered as she touched her bleeding stomach.
“Cold, you say?”
The hero’s face twisted fiercely at the witch’s muttering.
The witch nodded faintly, her breath so weak it seemed it might stop at any moment.
“Yeah. Very… cold…”
“Ha.”
A bitter laugh escaped the hero’s lips.
He glared at the witch with bloodshot eyes.
“So even you feel the cold, huh?”
The very person who created this snowy field.
The worst witch who slaughtered tens, hundreds of thousands without batting an eye.
Now trembling from the ‘cold.’
It was impossible not to laugh bitterly.
“Yeah… I was cold. For a long time… always… very cold.”
The witch reached out toward the hero as if pleading.
“Just once… just once, please.”
Red tears mixed with blood streamed down the witch’s cheeks.
“I wanted… to feel… warmth.”
“……”
Thwack!
The hero slapped her hand away and gritted his teeth.
“You wanted to feel warmth just once?”
He gripped his sword, his mouth twisting.
What a joke.
Muttering curses under his breath.
“Die shivering in the cold, you damned witch.”
Thud!
He thrust his sword into the witch’s heart.
And so.
The witch’s long nightmare came to an end.
And the hero’s long nightmare began.
* * *
“……”
I recalled memories of my past life.
The day I killed the Witch of the Night, Lanes Malam.
After countless sacrifices, deaths, and immeasurable despair, I finally reached her.
The memory of dying dozens, hundreds of times before barely managing to stab her heart.
To me, Lanes Malam was the embodiment of a nightmare.
I wandered for thousands of years in the snowy field she created.
The white blizzards, the ground sinking up to my knees, the biting cold.
That memory remained deep in my heart, a trauma that still hasn’t faded.
“……”
But.
The witch who gave me that trauma.
The terrible monster who slaughtered millions.
“I’m… sorry. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Seeing her curled up, tears streaming down her face, I was at a loss for how to react.
Should I feel satisfied, thinking it’s karma from my past life?
Or should I sympathize, wondering if she had such a past?
As I wandered, searching for an answer to this unsolvable question.
“What are you all doing here?”
A silver-haired handsome man walked over.
Aaron Baek.
The current top-ranked 4th-year candidate and descendant of one of the Five Great Heroes, Baek Seung-hyuk, the ‘Divine Spear.’
Behind Aaron was Bella Leonhart, ranked 2nd among the 4th-year candidates and Aaron’s future lover, the ‘Demon Sword.’
“Ah, Aaron?”
“Why is Aaron here…?”
The group of candidates looked flustered as Aaron appeared.
They glanced at each other and slowly backed away from Lanes.
“I asked what you were doing.”
“Ah, nothing.”
“We just got into a little argument…”
“An argument?”
Aaron let out a hollow laugh at the candidates’ frantic excuses.
He glared sharply at the group and continued.
“I clearly told you before not to mess with Lanes, didn’t I?”
“…But, but.”
“She’s a witch! How can we take classes with the child of a demon?!”
The candidate shouted, sounding aggrieved.
As he said, Lanes Malam was a half-blood born between a demon and a hero.
She didn’t possess demonic energy or bear the mark of the Devil God.
But the undeniable blood of a ‘demon’ flowed through her veins.
And not just any demon—the blood of a powerful demon who once held the position of ‘Archbishop.’
“Sigh.”
Aaron let out a short sigh and continued.
“Of course, I understand how you feel. But it’s not like Lanes chose to be born as the child of a demon, right?”
“That’s…”
“And we only have one more semester before graduation. What’s the point of causing trouble now?”
“Exactly because graduation is near!”
One of the candidates gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Lanes.
Lanes, who had been glancing up to assess the situation, quickly lowered her head again.
“In just one more semester, that girl will get her hero certification! A hero certification for the child of a demon? Aaron, do you think that makes sense?”
“Calm down.”
Aaron placed a hand on the agitated candidate’s shoulder and spoke in a low, calm voice.
The candidate’s body flinched.
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, I hope this doesn’t happen again. We’re all colleagues sharing the same classroom, right?”
“…Yeah.”
The group of candidates, looking deflated, turned and headed back into the building.
“Phew.”
Aaron sighed and approached Lanes, who was still curled up, and extended his hand.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. Th… thank you.”
Lanes nodded slightly and reached for his hand.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Bella Leonhart, who had been watching from the side, roughly kicked Lanes in the stomach.
“How dare a witch try to hold Aaron’s hand?”
Bella glared at Lanes as if she were looking at a squashed bug.
Aaron turned to Bella in shock and shouted.
“Bella! What are you…?”
“I get that Aaron is too kind. But.”
Bella bit her lip and looked at Aaron.
“At least you shouldn’t be protecting this witch, right?”
“That’s…”
“Whatever.”
“Ah… wait! Hold on, Bella!”
Aaron ran after Bella as she turned and walked away.
“……”
After the two left.
Lanes, now alone, shakily got to her feet.
“Ugh… it hurts.”
She clutched her stomach where Bella had kicked her and winced.
“Sniff… sob.”
Tears streamed down Lanes’ face.
After crying for a while, Lanes staggered away.
“…Ah.”
Lanes and I locked eyes.
She flinched and stepped back, her gaze falling on the badge on my left chest.
“3rd year…?”
“……”
Lanes hesitantly approached me as I stood silently.
“Sorry.”
What was she sorry for?
“It’s… all my fault.”
What did she do wrong?
“Not… not everyone is a bad person!”
“……”
“So… don’t spread strange rumors!”
After shouting at me, who remained silent, Lanes turned and ran away.
Left alone, I leaned against the building wall and let out a deep sigh.
“…What the hell is going on here?”
Even after living such a long life.
The world was still full of things I couldn’t understand.
* * *
The next day.
I called Sophia, a senior, to the main building cafe, trying to avoid other 4th-year candidates.
“For a junior to summon a senior all the way out here, you’re as bold as ever.”
Sophia grumbled about having walked over 20 minutes, ordered a caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream, and then poured syrup all over it before sipping.
“…Isn’t that too sweet?”
“Sugar is the brain’s elixir.”
“At that point, it’s more like poison.”
Sophia glared at me as I teased her and then spoke.
“So, what did you want to ask?”
“You said you knew about Lanes Malam, right?”
“Yeah, to some extent.”
“I wanted to hear what you know, so I called you.”
Sophia’s eyes narrowed.
“…Did you take an interest in her?”
“More like curiosity.”
“Sigh. Drop it. There’s nothing good about getting involved with her.”
Sophia sighed and shook her head.
“Well, I’ll tell you what I know.”
She set her coffee cup down and continued.
“Lanes Malam. A 4th-year candidate in the Magic Department, ranked at the bottom.”
Bottom of the class, huh.
It seemed clear that the ‘blessings’ within her hadn’t yet bloomed.
“You’ve heard she’s a half-blood between a demon and a hero, right?”
“Yes.”
“Lanes’ mother was a demon called the ‘Archbishop of Frost’ 30 years ago. And her father was a hero famous enough to be in the top five rankings.”
I knew that much.
And why both were referred to in the past tense.
“Despite opposition, they married and had Lanes, living happily until…”
Tragedy struck.
“The Archbishop of Frost… Celia Malam had a fit, killed her husband, and went on a rampage, killing people indiscriminately. She was soon killed by a hero.”
In the end.
Lanes Malam was left alone, having lost both parents.
“She was able to enroll in the hero school because…”
“Her father and Principal Laonel were close. The principal said the child wasn’t at fault and allowed her to enroll.”
Sophia sighed and continued.
“Though… it might have been better for her if she hadn’t enrolled.”
“……”
I recalled Lanes, surrounded by candidates, curled up and trembling.
“Do you know what happened between Lanes and Aaron?”
I asked, remembering Bella’s words: ‘At least you shouldn’t be protecting this witch, right?’
“…You said the Archbishop of Frost had a fit and was killed by a hero not long after, right?”
“Yes.”
“The hero who killed the Archbishop of Frost was Aaron’s father.”
“……”
“And Aaron’s father died from injuries sustained during that battle.”
“…Then.”
To Aaron, Lanes was.
“The child of the enemy who killed his parents…”
“……”
Thinking of their tangled, complicated relationship.
I couldn’t help but sigh.