The pathway created by the witch.

It felt like I was crossing a river that divided the living from the dead as I stepped beyond it.

And the moment I passed through the path, a landscape resembling the underworld unfolded before me.

If death had a color, it would surely be black.

Then what should I call this place, where even the sky, the ground, and everything standing around me were all completely black, if not the underworld?

The sky was so hazy with fog-like magic that even the sun floating above was barely visible, while the ground was completely imbued with magic, giving it a lifeless appearance.

And there were trees towering high, densely packed all around.

No, those blackened and charred remnants that were once trees ominously hung their leafless branches over me, as if to declare that there was only death here.

It was a place where, for an ordinary person, stepping in would surely mean succumbing to magic poisoning and starting to fall apart, so I braced myself for the painful end that would soon come.

However, time passed, and the expected pain did not come.

Rather, what I felt was not pain, but…

“How’s your body feeling right now?”

As I wore a peculiar expression, I heard the voice of the witch behind me.

Through the shadows cast by her hood, she asked, her eyes glimmering.

“It doesn’t seem bad? Isn’t it refreshing? Doesn’t it feel like something stuffy has disappeared?”

“……”

I did not bother to answer her question.

To be honest, I was more inclined towards not being able to respond.

Because she was right.

Right now, I was puzzled by this inexplicable refreshing feeling.

I felt much more energetic than usual.

There was a buoyant sensation all over me, as if I could do something.

Of course, even so, I wasn’t in the mood to respond, so I shot her a glare in silence. The witch chuckled and murmured.

“Hehe, your expression shows that I hit the nail on the head. It is indeed refreshing, isn’t it? I just knew it. Being locked in a place like that would be stifling. I really don’t know how you endured that for so long. I suppose you were in a state where it wouldn’t be strange to collapse at any moment.”

The witch calmly said that and sat down in front of me, observing me with a smiling face.

She spoke as if she knew something about me.

…I thought she had just kidnapped me on a whim, but it seemed that was not the case.

“What exactly was your purpose in bringing me here? Were you not planning to kill me?”

When I asked that, the witch burst into laughter as though she had heard something amusing.

“What? Ha ha, kill you? Me? I found something so interesting after a long time, there’s no way I’m going to waste it on something like that. Since you’re asking about my purpose, you seem to think I brought you here without any thought, but you’re mistaken.”

The witch stretched out her finger and pointed at me.

“My purpose was, from the very beginning, just you.”

…She had been targeting me from the start?

But it was hard to understand her previous actions if I were truly her objective.

Earlier, she had mentioned to Jessie that she would kill me.

Besides, if she was trying to kidnap just me, wouldn’t it have been simpler to just take me without all this commotion?

At that moment, the witch opened her mouth.

“Oh, so that’s what you were worried about? Everything I did earlier was all an act. Well, since it seems you have some questions, I’ll answer them.”

And with an air of course, she replied.

“What I said about killing you was a lie. That human seemed like they’d stop if I said that, and it would keep him from interfering with our conversation. As I mentioned earlier, I had no intention of killing anyone myself. My preference is watching shows unfold on the scripts I write, and then I enjoy it when they die.”

As for the doubts I had?

“The reason for causing such a commotion was that I needed you to join me voluntarily for some reason. So, I planned a crisis situation and prepared demonic beasts. Ha ha, I never expected it would resolve so quickly. Truthfully, I was hoping to enjoy watching the fearful expressions of those humans before taking you away, but there were far more stronger humans than I anticipated, which made me rush things.”

It was as if she could read my thoughts.

“So, have your questions been somewhat clarified?”

The witch said with a broad smile.

I felt a chill.

Did this witch possess a power to read thoughts?

At that moment, the witch burst into laughter again.

“Ha ha, look at your expression. Don’t be scared. I don’t actually have a power to read thoughts. I just once worked in a theater, and I picked up some skills from observing humans then. Just by looking at their faces, I can roughly tell what kind of tendencies and thoughts they have. Even if I don’t understand why they think that way, it’s pretty obvious they’re simple beings.”

The witch replied in that manner, grinning at me.

…Honestly, I might rather prefer if she had superpowers.

I was trying to maintain my expression, but facing someone who could read my expressions and see right through my mind was quite stressful.

No matter how tightly I kept my mouth shut, it seemed she would read my thoughts freely and continue the conversation.

So, I gave up on remaining silent and asked her about the thing that had been bothering me since earlier.

“…The reason you targeted me is that I have a connection to witches, right?”

With so many people around, the only reason I could think of for her picking me out was that.

She seemed to know about me, perhaps she heard about me from the lazy witch I had seen before.

In response, the witch nodded, as if affirming my deduction.

“Correct. I heard about you from Sloth. There’s an intriguing fellow among your kind. Ah, but seeing you in person has far exceeded my expectations! Ah, I never thought something like this could happen. No matter how often even witches have times before they realized their own nature, you seem much more human than a witch from what I observed and spoke to.”

“…I’m not a witch, I’m a human. But what on earth are you trying to do, bringing me to this place? You said you didn’t intend to kill me.”

I questioned the loquacious witch, who even answered questions I hadn’t asked, with irritation.

At that, the witch let out laughter as if she had heard something funny.

“Ha ha, a human! Yes, that could still be the case. But don’t worry; I have no plans for you in particular. My goal is merely to observe. I’ve already arranged the inciting event, so from now on, I’ll just watch. It seems the time is almost right anyway.”

“The time? What do you mean by that…”

Just as I was about to vent my annoyance at her incomprehensible response, my eyes met those of the witch, who was still wearing her hood.

Her eyes were filled with an inexplicable sense of anticipation.

With a curious gaze like that of a child, she asked me.

“How’s your body feeling right now?”

At that moment,

Thump, a sensation of my heart beating loudly carried through me, and a strange heat flowed through my entire body.

[Burn.]

The refreshing and euphoric feeling I had sensed earlier suddenly morphed into excruciating pain.

The flames that started from within felt like they were burning my entire body.

I couldn’t scream, rolling on the ground.

I could sense the witch watching from above as I writhed on the ground.

“Oh, ha ha, it’s finally begun. Ah, I wanted to see this. I’m so lucky to witness such a scene. You know? Even if you’re still closer to being human than a witch, you’re incomplete. Though incomplete, you’re still waiting for your body to become something more.”

It was scorching, so hot, unbearable.

Pain, pain, pain,

And a fulfillment beyond that.

It made my head feel light.

“But the incomplete always desires to become complete. Even if you don’t wish for it, your unfinished body has always been waiting for this. Do you know how much energy it takes for a cocoon to transform into a butterfly? Your body is the same. It has been waiting for the power to complete itself, drawing together sufficient magic.”

[I’m going to burn it.]

I felt something within melting away.

What had been lodged in my head, chest, abdomen, legs, and arms melted away looking to converge again into something that would replace the source of life.

Reconstruction rather than the decay of the body from magic poisoning.

To become something other than human.

I instinctively grasped that if this finished, there would be no turning back.

“If your body becomes a witch, will your mind remain human? Ah, something like that is naturally bound to pique your curiosity.”

The voice I had desperately suppressed flowed over in my mind.

[Once more, I will burn everything away.]

At that moment, the surrounding landscape felt all too familiar.

[It was the forest I had previously burned to the ground.]

No, I never did that,

[It was the forest I had burned to the ground.]

I sensed the witch’s aura before me.

[Ah, witch. Yes, I have yet to complete my revenge.]

[Revenge, I will burn it all away.]

[The remnants made of black steel caught my eye.]

Jessie’s creation.

[The last remaining piece was there.]

Stop…

[Taking that and resurrecting.]

[This time for revenge.]

[To return the pain I have endured.]

[The witch, this world.]

[Everything, without exception, everything.]

[I will burn it all away.]

“Scarlet!!!!”

…I heard someone’s voice.

I felt like I had heard a voice desperately calling the name Scarlet somewhere.

…Ah, that was Yoon Si-woo’s voice.

…Who was Yoon Si-woo again?

Yoon Si-woo was a friend of Scarlet Evande.

My, precious friend.

…Ah, I see.

What a relief.

I was still Scarlet Evande.

“Eh, I didn’t expect an intruder to come this far… Huh, it looks like you’ve just barely stopped at the edge of danger. How unfortunate, if only you had had a little more time, you could have completely changed.”

[■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]

“…Oh no, I’ve dragged those nuisances along with me too. It can’t be helped. Stopping here may even give me some hopes for the future. Perhaps I’ll be going now.”

…The moment the witch’s presence vanished, I felt someone scoop me up.

“Scarlet! Are you okay? Are you hurt!?”

“Yoon Si-woo! If you’ve rescued me, run quickly! There’s no more time to delay!”

“What about Captain Martina?!”

“Cough, is that important right now? I’m fine, so just hurry and escape to where the city is!”

…My head was spinning.

As I slowly opened my eyes to the shouting voices around me, I saw a gigantic firebird unleashing a stream of blinding flames from its mouth.

In a scene so terrifying, Martina was somehow holding off the rampaging flames behind a barrier of magic.

Her mouth appeared to be full of traces of blood.

It was clear to anyone that she was about to die.

Could it be that she had come to save me?

Even knowing that she would be in danger.

Yoon Si-woo and Martina were truly good people.

They were people who should not die because of me.

“Quickly!!!!!”

“…Urgh, I’m sorry!”

As Yoon Si-woo turned his back and ran with a expression that looked like he was about to cry, a loud scream reverberated from behind us.

“Ugh, this guy is just ignoring me…! Yoon Si-woo, that way! Be careful!”

[■■■■■■■■■■!!!!]

With a loud scream, I felt the heat of the flames coming from behind me.

…It’s noisy, the one that needs to stop is you.

Pushing against Yoon Si-woo’s back, I braced myself against the incoming flames.

“?! Scarlet!!”

With Yoon Si-woo’s shout of astonishment, flames hit my body directly.

It was a little hot but bearable.

Among the flames, I glared at the firebird entwined within the flames.

“…Go away.”

The firebird stared at me for a moment before slowly soaring into the sky with a low shriek.

…With that memory, everything before me turned pitch black.