The scene was as if the space was made of glass or crystal. However, there was no one in this place who would make a fuss over such an occurrence.
Only the flames and thunder erupting from there spread across the area like tree branches.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The blood spears could not withstand the explosive power and were bursting one by one. The scene of debris scattering all at once appeared to be like fireworks celebrating something.
Yet the vampire was no easy opponent either.
The slender arms of the woman reached directly towards the master witch.
Wooooo-!
In the distance, a tidal wave was forming.
A crimson horde of evil spirits was rushing towards the earth, cloaking the horizon. No, would it be apt to say “rushing”?
The evil spirits, writhing and entangling themselves, couldn’t resist the massive flow they had created. The squashed, squelching formless entities were closer to liquid.
Only the gaping mouths screaming in agony and the wide-open empty eyes remained grotesquely.
The crimson waves, just as their scale implied, quickly engulfed the area. The festival of flames and thunder that had just begun was utterly powerless in front of such fearsome mass and volume.
Wooooo-!
Bang!
That was the sound of the master witch being crushed by the horde of evil spirits.
It was more accurate to say she was hit by a herd of cattle rather than a wave. Amidst the powerful motion of the crimson evil spirits, arms stretched out in a frenzy along with their screams.
The small-framed master witch had no opportunity to resist.
The evil spirits gnawed and pulled, trying to bury the master witch amongst them. The time required for her to meld into their mass was but a fleeting moment.
Yet still, one thing remained, the master witch’s pure white left arm boldly extended towards the sky.
As if to grasp the sun, she clenched her fist with force.
At last, the sky began to open.
Wooooo-?
A sweeping line crossed the sky, and a waterfall poured down.
The volume was truly a “tidal wave,” creating real disaster rather than an optical illusion made by crimson evil spirits.
Kugugugugungu!
As the torrent poured down onto the ground, the crimson horde of evil spirits had to burst apart along with the land. Yet even soaked by the tidal wave, the crimson waves displayed relentless resistance.
If only the hand of the master witch, having emerged alone, didn’t trace another beast.
Countless thunderbolts fell from the ripped sky.
Kwah! Bang, bang!
The thunderbolts, pouring down like a rainstorm, spread the majesty she bore without mercy. No matter how many horde of evil spirits a vampire summoned, facing two disasters at once was beyond their capacity.
Screams, the smell of burning, and the damp air.
Under the master witch’s feet, the crimson corpses lay soggily.
Nevertheless, the battle was not over.
“Not yet, not yet!”
With each wail from the vampire, the blood exhibited sharp maneuvers.
At times it exploded like a bomb, raining down thousands of arrows, and sometimes it transformed into blades dancing like whips.
The master witch’s body accumulated more wounds.
With every step she took, fatigue etched deeper into her complexion. Dark marks appeared under her eyes, yet after summoning disasters akin to natural calamities multiple times,
the master witch could finally face the vampire.
The woman with eyes filled with hatred and malice.
“How could this be?”
“If it’s not the true body, is this all you can manage?”
Faced with the vampire, who seemed incredulous, the master witch left behind those few words.
Then, the vampire’s eyes turned a deeper shade of red. The popping veins visibly revealed her fury.
The master witch sighed heavily, looking up at the sky.
“If it’s not power you’ve built yourself up with, it appears there is a limit… It seems you can only see the ‘boundary’.”
“……What do you mean?”
“Power gained through a contract is incomplete. You can see the ‘boundary’ and use the power that comes from it… but that’s about it. It’s nothing more than child’s play compared to a real master.”
The vampire trembled and stepped back.
As her hand twitched, blood moved here and there, seeking the master witch’s openings. However, it was the master witch, who had thwarted all attacks until now.
Naturally, she wouldn’t easily reveal any gaps.
Instead, she only focused her magical power in her hand.
The battle was already turning in her favor.
“In other words, your mistake was using the ‘boundary’ as your battlefield. Only a true master can comprehend and wield the ‘boundary’ in its true sense.”
“If only I had the true body’s power……!”
“But right now, you don’t.”
As the master witch gradually lifted her hand,
to the vampire, it would appear like the blade of a guillotine. If that hand were to sweep downward, the vampire’s life would be forfeit.
Faced with the impending end of their long connection, the master witch closed her eyes tightly.
“And so, ultimately, this is the result…!”
At that very moment.
“Kya, kyaahhhhhh!”
The arm made of blood abruptly ensnared the master witch’s wrist. The vampire had stood up and was frantically fleeing.
The master witch clicked her tongue at the sight of her comrade’s pitiful state.
“What an ugly sight until the very end…!”
That wasn’t the only anomaly.
Boom! The barrier’s interior shook violently. Then the sky and ground caved in, revealing a pitch-black pupil.
A precursor to the barrier’s collapse.
It meant that the core of the barrier was being struck from the outside. Generally, this would not be good news for the vampire, but this time it was different.
As a large hole was made in the ground, the vampire jumped into it without hesitation. It was inevitable that the master witch’s magic would wander without its target.
So, what could be done?
The master witch had no choices left. She had no option but to hastily kick the ground and leap into the hole, following the vampire.
But the master witch was unaware.
Of what sight she would witness beneath that endless pupil.
“Ugh, ugh….”
Thud!
The vampire’s neck broke. It happened so simply that the master witch couldn’t grasp the situation and stood there blankly.
What was this?
The dim surroundings exuded a sinister atmosphere. There was no light in the void of nothingness. Only the shapes of figures and items moving within it were clear.
It was contradictory, but this too was one of the peculiar characteristics of the boundary.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“……!”
Corpses, corpses, corpses.
Countless corpses with empty eyes lay scattered across the floor of the barrier. Of course, there was no reason for the master witch to be surprised by this.
This was the vampire’s stronghold.
It wouldn’t be strange even if it were a scene of bloodshed. However, the reason the master witch could only be shocked was entirely different.
All the corpses bore the same appearance.
Identically, that of a “vampire.”
A languid voice settled into the ear of the woman, who was petrified in shock.
“……My lovely, little sister.”
Rustle.
Even the sound of fabric brushing against each other was elegant. From the shadows of darkness, the silhouette of a being descending from a throne made of hundreds and thousands of corpses was overwhelming.
Even the master witch held her breath for a moment.
Thud, thud.
The sound of the corpse’s bones breaking under the weight of the woman created an unpleasant melody.
“Finally, you’ve come. I was getting a bit bored since the new toy wasn’t to my taste….”
“What have you done?”
Swallowing her dry saliva, the master witch murmured.
The woman’s presence was unlike anything she had faced previously.
It was a force far beyond the ‘vampire’ she had just encountered.
As if, indeed,
she were looking at the true body of the ‘vampire.’
“What have you done….”
The woman smiled gently.
“What do you mean? As always, I’ve been conducting my research. You know well what kind of conundrum this sister wanted to unravel, don’t you?”
“That’s already…”
“No.”
Interjecting with a charming smile, the woman interrupted the master witch.
“That is incomplete. But I am different. After hundreds of years of research, I was able to complete it.”
And the air began to tremble.
The master witch’s instincts sent a sharp warning. Her body bristled with energy, her breath caught in her throat, and amid it all, only one existence remained unchanged.
The true ‘vampire’ whispered with a gentle voice.
With the same voice lingering in the master witch’s memory.
“……Shall I show you?”
With a bang, an explosion shattered as an earthquake was about to hit in mere seconds.
It was a conversation between the two sisters.
*
I was running with all my might. There was no need to decide a direction.
Because the ripples were growing more frequent.
From deep within the southern forest, explosions were continuously erupting. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what form the epicenter of that disturbance took.
Fortunately, Senior Elsi had gone ahead.
I didn’t know much about the barrier. But unlike me, Senior Elsi was likely to have arranged for a way in so that someone who was ignorant of magic like me could enter the barrier.
The truth of my hopes was revealed not long after.
A twisted and shattered space.
A massive distortion, which could only be described in that manner, was happening right in the middle of the forest. Along with a hole leading inside.
It seemed almost implausible that the passage had existed from the very start, considering its exquisite positioning.
Grateful for that, I stepped into the barrier.
“Keek, cough….”
Before my eyes were the master witch, struggling in mid-air caught in the grip of a vampire, and
“Run… hgggh?!”
Senior Elsi was seen trying to crawl towards me on fractured limbs, caught by a stake of blood.
“……Oh my.”
Along with a woman of exceptionally beautiful appearance.
It was the ‘vampire.’ However, unlike the last time I saw her, she possessed an even more mature and composed demeanor.
“A guest has arrived. Now, you must be the last one.”
She bore a charming smile that made my heart race.
I felt cold sweat beading on my forehead.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The monster that had terrorized the entire continent hundreds of years ago was standing right before my eyes.
