The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 50

“…Huh?”

Gazing at the Black Witch,

“…?”

I look at the Head Maid.

I alternate my gaze between the two.

The Black Witch, trying to approach the Head Maid with a poignant and desperate expression, and the Head Maid, glaring at the Black Witch with unrestrained hatred.

…This is hopeless. I can’t keep up with this sudden turn of events with my ordinary thinking.

“Um…”

I cautiously attempt to speak to the Black Witch to ask about the circumstances surrounding this incident.

“Elina, you’re alive.”

However, it seemed like she was entirely focused on the Head Maid, completely ignoring me.

“Do you even realize how much I’ve worried about you ever since you vanished without a word decades ago?”

What a remarkable change it was. On the surface, her voice was polite and sweet, yet every word and action exuded an unsettling inhumanity, as if a puppet were speaking and moving…

Now, before my eyes, the terrifying alien being was nowhere to be found. Instead, there stood a mother who had randomly encountered her long-lost daughter.

The Black Witch, who appeared to be barely older than fifteen and looked a tad younger than Elina, truly resembled a concerned mother looking for her daughter.

“…”

However, across from her was the Head Maid, glaring at her as if she were a sworn enemy she wished to eliminate at any moment.

“Elina, please say something…”

“Shut up.”

Elina coldly cuts off the Black Witch’s plea and swings her right arm violently.

*Crack!*

“!”

This time, dozens of strands shot out from the shadow beneath her feet. They were thicker and longer than arrows.

But they were flying faster than when she shot the Black Arrows.

*Whoosh!*

In the blink of an eye, the black ropes wrapped around the Black Witch, binding her tightly.

“…What are you doing, Elina?”

Even though her limbs were restrained, the Black Witch’s voice calling for the Head Maid carried no malice.

Instead, it was a gentle tone, as if she were speaking to a wayward child.

As the Black Witch was bound, I carefully observed the zombies behind her, wary that they might suddenly attack, but they remained kneeling, showing no signs of movement.

“…”

The bound Esmela sent a glance filled with indescribable emotions toward the Head Maid.

“I almost didn’t recognize you with your changed appearance. Did you reconstruct your body?”

“Elina…”

“Shut up! Didn’t I tell you not to call me?!”

As the Head Maid shouted in anger, the ropes tightening around the Black Witch’s body grew even tighter.

The Head Maid pressed forward, while the Black Witch merely continued to call out to Elina with a pitiful tone. Their conversation teetered precariously along a dangerous line.

“I was wondering what kind of malicious plot you were weaving behind the scenes… and to think you were the instigator of this incident.”

The Head Maid declared, raising her right hand, palm upward toward the sky.

“Crush it, shatter it, swallow it into the abyss!”

When she shouted the incantation of a spell I had never heard before, a pitch-black sphere began to gather and grow larger in her palm.

*Humming…*

The sphere, resembling a black hole, grew louder and size comparable to a person’s head.

“Elina, are you really going to aim that at your mother?”

Confronted with the ominous magic, the Black Witch showed no signs of panic and merely called out to the Head Maid in a sorrowful tone, as if she were hurt.

“Die!!!”

But the Head Maid only shouted the words of a curse, throwing the sphere forcefully toward the Black Witch.

*Haa…*

Just before the sphere could touch the bound Black Witch, she let out a small sigh—

*Whoosh!*

The shadowy ropes binding the Black Witch and the magic sphere vanished without a trace in an instant.

“What…?”

The Head Maid’s eyes widened in astonishment at the sight.

“Did you truly think that would work? It’s all the Dark Magic that I taught you, after all.”

The Black Witch, with a nonchalant air, adjusted her clothes and walked with a click of her heels toward the Head Maid.

“Cough…!”

With all her attacks blocked, the Head Maid began to stagger back, visibly pressured by the change in momentum.

*Thwack!*

Suddenly stopping, the Black Witch snapped her fingers.

*Swish!*

Ropes identical to those the Head Maid had launched appeared in mid-air, aimed directly at her.

However, the number was easily more than double.

“Cough! Let go of me…!”

Desperate to break free, the Head Maid struggled, but—

“Quiet.”

*Whoosh!*

“Mmm!?”

A shadowy gag identical to the one used on Esmela was forced into the Head Maid’s mouth.

“Stop it!”

I didn’t know what was happening, but I needed to protect the Head Maid at all costs.

“Flame of Herta, become a sword and slay the enemy of the House!”

I quickly finished the incantation and lunged at the witch, brandishing a sword that burned a deep crimson—

“This is a family matter. Outsiders, stay out of this.”

The girl did not even glance my way as she casually waved her left hand.

“Gah!”

Now I was also tied up, forced to watch helplessly as the Black Witch approached the Head Maid.

“Elina.”

The Black Witch walked right up to the Head Maid, coldly calling her name.

Her pale fingers brushed against Elina’s jawline.

“My beloved Elina. Your unruly behavior must stem from the fact that you ran away before your training was complete. Oh, how pitiful. What kind of life have you been living that has caused you to run around so wildly like a wild horse? …Could it be.”

As she examined the Head Maid’s face with a compassionate gaze, the look in her eyes shifted dramatically.

“Did you pick up such arrogance from that insufferable Herta family?”

*Snap!*

With another snap of her fingers, the ropes binding Esmela tightened even more.

“Ugh! Ugh!!”

I could do nothing but helplessly watch as Esmela writhed in agony, trying to scream.

“Stop it! What do you want?!”

“You’ll find out later.”

The Black Witch’s eyes seemed to focus only on the Head Maid.

“Hmm… On the surface, you’ve grown exceptionally beautiful, Elina. But what’s happened to your eye color? It should have been silver…”

“Ugh.”

“Well, if that’s your preference, I suppose I’ll respect it. Yes, every time I see your silver eyes, that insufferable brat comes to mind, so perhaps it’s for the best. Now…”

The Black Witch opened her arms and tightly embraced the Head Maid.

“This time, I won’t let you slip away again, my beloved daughter. Let’s return together, and this time, we shall join the witches’ sanctuary.”

The Black Witch whispered sweetly into the Head Maid’s ear.

“Of course, you’ll have to undergo more training, won’t you? To cleanse the bad influence from those savage Herta brats.”

With that last sentence, the girl pulled away from the Head Maid.

“Now, there’s nothing to fear. If you just close your eyes for a moment, you’ll be home in no time…”

In stark contrast to the Black Witch’s overly sweet voice, the Head Maid was clearly terrified, twisting in panic.

“Goodbye, dear.”

With the witch’s brief farewell, the Head Maid sank into the shadows beneath her feet.

“–!!”

She couldn’t even let out a final scream before she was completely consumed by the abyss spreading across the ground.

…

In the place where the Head Maid had vanished, only dreadful silence remained.

“Now, then…”

The Black Witch turned and walked toward me.

“I had initially intended to lure you here alone, but unexpected gains have come my way.”

The Black Witch’s voice returned to that chillingly theatrical tone from before.

“What are you…! Did you use zombies to abduct the Young Lady? What have you done to the Head Maid?”

Was it a simple lapse in memory or did she want to ask me something?

Not having a gag in my mouth, I found myself bombarding her with questions.

“You are quite the undignified one, truly. A perfect fit for the House of Herta.”

The Black Witch nonchalantly walked past me and headed for Esmela, who was kneeling.

“Don’t touch the Young Lady!”

“I would have done so earlier if I intended to. But I genuinely want to know something from you. Who are you to be so favored by that person?”

“What?”

“…By the look on your face, it seems you don’t even know. Forget it. I was a fool to expect anything from you.”

Up until now, she was speaking in riddles, and I had no clue what she was trying to say…!

‘System Eye…!’

Desperate, I attempted to use a skill on the Black Witch…

[Warning!]

[Due to strong protective magic or some form of interference, the subject’s status cannot be confirmed.]

“Ugh…!”

The familiar popup message in front of me and the familiar pain in my head were the same symptoms I had experienced with Yuria.

“…Oh my?”

The Black Witch, who had lost interest in me and stood next to Esmela, suddenly turned to me as if she had sensed something.

“…Ah. So that’s what it is… Indeed, everything that person does has its reasons. You were the key, weren’t you?”

She looked at me with an unexpectedly intrigued expression, as if she had figured something out.

“A key? What are you talking about! Release us this instant!”

“Yes, I will. But… only after you have all woken up from a little nap.”

“What?”

“Let’s see… about two hours? That should be just enough time for the Royal Capital to be sealed away again.”

Wait, what are you doing? Stop that right now—

“Now, it’s time to sleep.”

*Snap!*

With her third finger snap, my eyelids slowly began to close.

“Don’t…!”

I struggled against the sudden wave of drowsiness, but it was futile.

“When you open your eyes… Yes. How about enjoying a sweet rendezvous with the Young Lady you so reverently adore here, where only the dead remain?”

With the Black Witch’s mocking words fading into obscurity, my consciousness sank completely into darkness.