The Great Witch was chasing shadows.
Disappearing and reappearing among the lush shrubs was a doll with a familiar outline. The form of a connection that had been known for hundreds of years.
How could she forget?
Once, they were family by blood. It took just a few years for the descendant, who had garnered the family’s respect and expectations, to fall into ruin.
Until the world realized the Great Witch’s talent.
The barrier distorts time and space. As the Great Witch passed through the twisted space, the refracted beams of light replayed a cherished voice.
It was a scene the Great Witch also remembered.
In her childhood, someone was embracing her, who had been clumsy and awkward. The silver-haired woman silently stroked the Great Witch’s head.
Yet, the Great Witch showed little reaction. She merely sucked on the lollipop in her mouth.
Gentle words disturbed the peaceful scenery.
“You skipped studying again today. Don’t you like your magic teacher that much?”
The girl didn’t respond. The woman, finding even her indifferent demeanor cute, gently pinched the girl’s cheek.
“Is it too easy for you?”
“…A little.”
“Still, you must do it.”
In a warm tone, the woman chided the girl once more.
“That’s what being a noble means. Even if it sometimes seems pointless, there are things that absolutely must be done.”
A warm hand descended like a bird on the girl’s shoulder. The girl, still avoiding her gaze.
She likely didn’t feel bad about it.
“You will become the pillar of our family. You are a genius… you must protect this sister by your side in the future, right?”
Yes, that should have been the case.
The Great Witch’s hands began to weave complex seals. As she drew a series of symbols, a pure white magic circle unfolded around her.
‘I’m tired of this kind of dream.’
A brief explosion sounded like a distant echo. The Great Witch emerged from the shattered gap in space, where another memory awaited her.
The girl standing on the podium was receiving everyone’s cheers. It was a scene that had become far too familiar.
Geniuses are such beings.
They receive all the admiration and attention. Simply because they were born that way, they trample over the efforts of ordinary people and stand at the pinnacle.
Yet, for some reason.
The girl didn’t feel particularly joyful. Perhaps it was because her sister, who had left for a corner where the lights wouldn’t shine, weighed on her mind.
Until just a moment ago, all of this praise had been her sister’s.
Now she stood not on the stage, but in the audience, receiving soulless congratulation. As the news of the family’s new pillar of support spread, the woman smiled gently as always.
“She was a child overflowing with talent since her early years. The mage we hired to teach her must have had quite a challenge… Hehe, but I’m glad. Even while I’m conducting my research, a pillar to protect the family has emerged.”
Up until that point, warmth lingered in the woman’s voice.
The warmth that the girl truly loved.
But the girl was young and, having lived with her innate talent, was ignorant of humans. There were plenty of circumstances in which the girl could make a misguided judgment.
Listening to her sister’s conversations, the girl made a resolution.
She would fulfill her sister’s wishes for her.
Then wouldn’t she stroke her head again like before?
The Great Witch’s hands formed seals anew.
A mocking voice echoed from somewhere.
“We used to get along so well, my little sister. We were sisters whom everyone envied…”
“Shut up.”
With a sarcastic retort, an explosion erupted once more.
The Great Witch’s body sank into the ground. The clothes fluttering in the wind made sharp noises.
Pressing her hat firmly down, she landed silently.
Before long, an empty wilderness came into view. Dozens of mirrors stood there, emitting colorful lights, dizzyingly painting the retina.
Once more, memories crept into her mind.
“I heard you solved two major problems before you even turned twenty.”
“The ‘Vessel of the Soul’ and ‘Multielemental Coexistence Magic’… The day our wish will be realized is not far off.”
The whispering voices were no longer unfamiliar. What bewildered the girl was the woman’s precarious smile.
It wasn’t the gentle smile she always wore.
Her complexion, resembling a thin sheet of ice ready to crack, briefly reflected a sticky emotion from within.
The whispers grew rougher. Like a torrent, they swept away the landscapes in memory.
“But weren’t those two problems the subjects the next head of the family was researching? A problem they pondered over their whole life just got resolved in a few years…”
“Your sister may be vying for the next head’s position. What’s wrong with that? It’s beneficial for the family. The capable possess everything… that’s the law of the Southern Kingdoms.”
“Well then, that child will lose everything.”
It was akin to a child throwing stones at a frog.
Among those chatting, there was no one with malevolent intent. They held no particular interest in the other to harbor such feelings.
Yes, that interest had once belonged to her sister.
That day marked the beginning of everything changing.
The Great Witch clenched her teeth and began to gather her magical power anew. With a crackle, flames flickered with the electrical energy.
‘Multielemental Coexistence Magic.’
A vision that allowed a single human to manipulate two or more elements. It was considered an insurmountable problem in the magical academia of centuries ago but had recently been solved by one genius girl.
The Great Witch couldn’t help but wear a bitter smile at the fleeting scenes of the past.
“How many times have I been brooding over such memories? Perhaps to dull my sense of revenge?”
“Don’t be deluded.”
A soft sound of footsteps upon the earth.
The silver-haired woman, with an alluring appearance, emerged from behind one of the dozens of mirrors. She had been the very thing reflecting the past just moments ago.
A ‘vampire,’ a mage who had thrived in her time, wore a stoic face.
“This space is almost like the interior of a ‘boundary.’ Common sense and laws of physics do not apply here… the laws I can control are quite limited as well.”
“Then what about these memories?”
“Let’s just say they’re the ‘intersection’ between you and me.”
As she gradually stepped forward, the woman’s voice resembled that of a bird.
In her childhood, the Great Witch had seen her sister like this.
A dignified and benevolent noble.
A woman possessed of a cold intellect and a warm heart. Why had her sister fallen so far from such grace?
In truth, the Great Witch also knew.
That she was not free from that responsibility.
Talent is a curse.
It took far too long to realize this, and as a result, she lost so much.
Of course, there was no way to turn back now.
“As the five elements cycle through, so too do people meet and build lives together. It shows us the intersection of that ‘connection.'”
“It seems we had good memories between us.”
“But what shaped who I am now are not those memories. You know that well, don’t you?”
As the vampire clasped her hands behind her back, a flicker of ignited sparks appeared in the void.
The fiery flame, burning crimson, looked ominous at first glance. Along with it, a spreading pool of blood began to expand around the vampire.
Before long, cracks had formed in the dozens of mirrors.
The spillage of blood soaked into the ground. All of this blood would become the faithful limbs of the vampire.
It was undoubtedly an unfavorable condition for the Great Witch.
This was inside the vampire’s barrier, and the Great Witch couldn’t summon her main body. If the Great Witch called her main body, the vampire would also release her own outside the Great Forest.
That would spell the end.
Unprepared, the Southern Kingdoms would once again be engulfed in flames, and as the unleashed monster began to hide, pursuit would become exceedingly difficult.
The Great Witch’s defeat was nearly a foregone conclusion.
Even so, the Great Witch took a deep breath and pulled out a pipe with her remaining hand. As the white smoke swirled and dispersed, she asked the woman with whom she shared a stubborn bond.
“…Did you know I would come?”
“Of course. This was merely groundwork to draw you in.”
The Great Witch chose silence instead of a reply. She took a deep drag of the smoke and exhaled.
The vampire’s gaze grew sharper.
“You’re the only one who would recklessly chase me, the only one theoretically able to defeat me. I told you, this is a barrier constructed of the five elements. If you want to kill me, you must be able to wield all five elements.”
“And only I can do that?”
“Unless a legendary dragon returns alive.”
With a faint chuckle, the Great Witch began to tidy her pipe.
‘A dragon.’
That was truly nonsensical. Inverting the meaning, it suggested just how much the Great Witch’s prowess was needed.
Among the entirety of the continent, she was the only one who could wield all five elements.
Of course, the vampire was not unaware of this.
“In other words, if you die, no one will be able to harm me. Finally, I can kill you and prove my existence.”
“A being that can only be proven by others… how trivial.”
“Then how else can it be proven?”
Struggling to hide the rising emotions, the vampire ground her teeth.
The colors of feelings buzzing within her eyes were deep. The intense hue of hatred flared up like a blue flame.
It was a resentment nurtured over centuries.
It couldn’t be trivial.
The Great Witch let out a deep sigh and began to envelop herself in magical power.
“You took everything from me! Only you can prove my existence! I can only reclaim ‘myself’ after defeating you, trampling over you, and killing you!”
“I repeat, what difference would it make if you killed me?”
With that, the Great Witch pointed to a particular spot.
It was a mirror that had yet to crack. Among its shattered fragments, there remained parts still reflecting memories of the past.
The strong and kind woman.
Centuries ago, there had been a human whom the Great Witch called ‘sister.’
“Your brilliant form, which once shone so brightly, is nowhere to be found! Look once more, at how far you’ve fallen! Only a childish brat left, driven mad by jealousy!”
“…Shut up.”
“My dignified and generous sister is already dead!”
For once, her excitement couldn’t be concealed.
Raising her voice, the Great Witch finally pressed her hand to her forehead as if feeling dizzy. After several deep breaths, her eyelids finally reopened.
With eyes conveying deep blood and sorrow.
The silver-haired woman stared back with gritted teeth. Clear hostility aimed at the Great Witch like a blade.
Conversation?
It was no longer necessary. If such matters could be resolved through talk, they would have been settled centuries ago.
The Great Witch silently looked up at the sky.
A world erased except for the wilderness was exceptionally quiet. There were no sounds of birds, or beasts timidly placing their feet, nor the sound of wind—a perfect emptiness.
Wasn’t it a fitting place for the two beings who had lived for centuries to make their graves?
Wearing a smile that was hard to tell if it was scornful or contemptuous, the woman murmured.
“You were waiting for me? Just what I wished for… now, let’s end this.”
That was the end of the short peace.
The beginning was the vampire’s preemptive strike.
A hundred spikes erupted from the blood pool. Each one, in its slenderness and sharpness, was far from ordinary.
Even if thousands of soldiers were here, they would not have dared to face it.
But the vampire’s opponent was not a mere weak human.
There were only three Masters on the continent.
Those who witnessed the culmination of magic and the Great Matriarch of the Southern Kingdoms.
The Great Witch calmly grasped the swirling fire and thunderballs within her fist.
Then erupted a roar that shook the earth and sky.
This was merely the beginning of the miracles about to unfold. With that shockwave at its center, the void began to crack.
