Sighs.
The implication of it could vary greatly depending on the context. However, regardless of what that meaning was, there was only one choice to make when faced with such variables.
First, to confirm the source of that sound.
I scanned my surroundings with a puzzled expression. Not far away, I could see a small crack peeking through.
How long had I remained silent in the face of this sudden anomaly?
With a cracking sound, the fissure widened, and a slender arm suddenly emerged from it. After a few more gasping sounds, the void’s crack shattered, revealing the upper half of a weary maiden.
That was it.
The woman, having pulled her upper body out, seemed to have exerted all her strength, gasping and hanging limp as if she didn’t even recognize my presence.
After a brief moment of silence, I ventured a cautious question upon seeing that familiar figure.
“Um, Lady Witch…?”
The woman, gasping for breath, turned her head with great effort. Only then did she recognize my existence and let out a sigh of relief as if she were alive, finally opening her mouth.
“Oh, oh… it’s you.”
However, unlike the delighted witch, I could only muster a perplexed expression.
My eyes subtly shifted behind her. At the core of the fierce battle underway, the swordsman was literally causing natural disasters.
The sky was cracking, the space was splitting, and countless cracked grounds were scattered everywhere.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, storms.
Just look at the skill that conjured all those calamities with a single sword.
The title of ‘the continent’s greatest swordsman’ felt insufficient to describe him.
But, on the other hand…
I turned my gaze back to the witch.
The image reflected in her golden retinas was simply of a weary girl gasping for breath.
All I could do was ask out of pure curiosity.
“…What are you doing?”
Even if she was a witch, she wasn’t completely oblivious.
The witch stealthily avoided my gaze, her face slightly flushed.
Perhaps holding onto her last shred of pride, she attempted to clear her throat and maintain whatever dignity she could.
“Ahem, ahem… it’s just that… I’m lacking a bit of strength…”
“But you’re a Master, right?”
That brief retort struck home.
The witch’s face flushed red as she raised her voice in a flustered manner.
“I-I won’t have to do this much once I reclaim my true form!!”
It was a genuinely pitiful plea.
The witch continued to flail around for a while, lamenting her predicament.
Her claims could be summarized in one line.
As she repeatedly stated, once she regained the power of her true form, this barrier would pose no problems at all.
Despite this, the distrust in my gaze remained unshaken. The sight of her struggling within the spatial crack, rather than dignified, appeared rather cute.
Looking more closely, it was indeed cute.
But facing an elder who had lived hundreds of years longer than me, such feelings were inappropriate. Yet, the witch seemed entirely oblivious to my rude impressions.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be clinging to me, looking as if she might cry.
“What, what are you staring at? Help me immediately?!”
The weak grip on my waist, accompanied by her tremulous plea, made me gulp softly.
Honestly, I indeed wanted to see more of the witch’s fragile side. However, given the current situation, I wasn’t foolish enough to let personal desires ruin things.
That was why I immediately asked back without hesitation.
“How can I help you?”
“Just pull me out… I’m struggling to death.”
The witch had already been exhausted.
After flailing her limbs and raising her voice, it was only natural for her to appear even more worn out. I decided to pull the witch out without any further ado.
After a few seconds of tugging at the witch’s arm while grunting…
With a cracking sound, the fissure widened. Then, like a hole that had been blocked finally opening, the witch’s body floated up into the void.
I had no choice but to catch her in my arms as she naturally floated down.
The maiden’s body, supported by my arms, was petite as could be. Her reddened face exhaled a strange sweetness.
“Phew, phew… now I can breathe a bit.”
Listening to her finally exhaled sigh of relief, I glanced at the hole from which the witch had emerged.
If her lower half hadn’t come out, there had to be a good reason for it. For instance, perhaps the hole was too narrow, causing her to get stuck.
I involuntarily exclaimed.
“You have more curves than I expected… Ah!”
The surprise at the unexpected remark did not have a chance to conclude.
With a sharp sound, a bubble pipe that had appeared from nowhere struck my forehead. With the witch now in my arms, it was an impossible blow for me to evade or to nurse a sore spot.
With a snicker, the witch quickly landed back on the ground.
She stood with her arms crossed, holding that bubble pipe. Her gaze, now having regained its usual demeanor, was predictably directed towards one place.
The place where the battle between the vampire and the swordsman raged on.
There, blood and striking blows danced in an unsparing performance.
The witch’s gaze deepened instantly upon witnessing this.
“Hm, the integrity of the barrier is beyond my imagination… I can’t believe that swordsman hasn’t settled the score yet.”
“What on earth has the vampire done?”
My inquiry was justified.
As I previously mentioned, no matter how powerful a vampire was, without its true form, it couldn’t be a match for a Master. Therefore, it was to be assumed that the barrier had some special function, as confessed by the vampire.
What kind of trick had been played?
The witch exhaled a puff of smoke and smirked.
“Didn’t I tell you? The five elements are deeply related to ‘fate’… If one can theoretically control the five elements in this vicinity, they could twist fate and adjust causality.”
Her voice, calm while answering my inquiry, only deepened my confusion.
“That’s possible?”
“Yes, only within this barrier… It’s a sort of sleight of hand. But, the target being deceived is merely the world. Looking back, isn’t your own mind the same? Dominating the world of thought over reality… This barrier allows for such miracles, albeit in a limited capacity.”
There was no reason for the witch to lie to me.
So, I simply fell silent and frowned.
The power to manipulate ‘causality’ was dangerous.
If it weren’t for the swordsman’s formidable mind, he would have met death quickly. Truthfully, if even a small gesture could bring about ‘death,’ who could endure that?
Thus, there was only one conclusion.
“Is there a way to destroy this barrier?”
“You just have to die.”
Her blunt answer immediately made me change my words.
“…Then, what about escaping this barrier?”
“Don’t you feel like sacrificing your life?”
“Today, I can’t help but think about my family.”
I too had loved ones.
I couldn’t leave my wife, who had crossed over to the Holy Kingdom, alone.
The witch burst into laughter at my embarrassingly firm response, as if she expected it.
“There’s a way… However, it depends on you.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ve exhausted my strength. Besides, I have a different role.”
There was no room for me to delve further into that honest confession.
I could only nod my head in agreement.
“Then what should I do?”
With my resolve set, the witch smiled as if it were no big deal.
“Break through the space.”
“…Huh?”
She made a ridiculous demand.
It was an incomprehensible proposal.
To ‘break through space’ was akin to an impossible condition.
Since ancient times, time and space had been deemed complex concepts. Moreover, such ‘spacetime’ is one of the backgrounds we stand upon; it is not something manipulable.
Just imagine a character in a novel tearing a page and flinging it around.
Not only is the situation absurd, but the consequences of that act would also be disastrous. The existence of that character itself might cease to be.
One cannot call an entity that doesn’t exist in the book a ‘character.’
Thus, the beings capable of manipulating ‘space’ were quite rare. Only entities like ‘vampires,’ who prepare massive spells with extensive planning, or absolute beings like ‘swordsmen,’ who twist reality itself, could touch the realm of space.
The witch was no exception.
While entering the vampire’s barrier, she had punctured a hole in the void due to her mastery over the truths of magic.
Yet, she now suddenly entrusts me with such a heavy task.
I could only be left dumbfounded.
“No, what do you mean…!”
“Didn’t I already tell you the method? Just do as I say.”
Accompanied by that, a small palm tapped my arm.
I had to swallow the retort rising in my throat. I didn’t doubt what the witch intended to convey.
Yes, I remembered something.
At least the words I had heard when entering the barrier.
