“…Ugh!”

Auria transcends space in her escape.

Yoon Si-woo follows swiftly, wielding his sword.

The chase continues without pause.

With just a single spatial movement, Auria can cover hundreds of meters in an instant.

Thus, catching her as she genuinely attempts to flee is nearly impossible for Yoon Si-woo.

Under normal circumstances, it should have been physically impossible.

“Huuh?!”

However, as the chase drags on, Auria begins to sense something.

“This guy is getting…!”

She feels Yoon Si-woo gradually becoming faster.

Yet, this is merely a misunderstanding on Auria’s part.

Yoon Si-woo’s speed hasn’t changed much from the beginning.

However, due to the diminishing time he is behind her, Auria perceives him to be quickening.

“…! Is that where you are!”

What has truly accelerated is Yoon Si-woo’s awareness.

The Holy Sword of the Academy, when activated, enhances one’s senses.

Additionally, the combat experience acquired from battling the witch of Sloth and Gluttony can rightfully be called a solid history of battle.

The resulting heightened combat instinct provides Yoon Si-woo insight.

He becomes aware of the subtle distortions in space that occur the moment Auria decides to teleport.

It’s akin to foreseeing a few seconds into the future.

With this ability, Yoon Si-woo lunges forward.

Even before Auria completes her movement, he reaches the spot she intended to teleport to.

Normally, matching the speed of thought would be impossible.

However, the momentary delay caused by the disruption of magic made the impossible possible.

“…Ugh!”

“I got you!”

Finally, Auria, having completed her teleportation, arrives in the same location as Yoon Si-woo, who had already jumped there moments earlier.

As Auria teleports, she is greeted by the sight of Yoon Si-woo swinging his sword right in front of her, causing a fleeting moment of despair across her face.

To Auria, it’s a life-or-death crisis.

For Yoon Si-woo, however, it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But then—

“…What’s that!”

At that moment, seeing something, Yoon Si-woo’s sword wavers just slightly.

And that small tremor becomes a tiny gap, serving as Auria’s escape route.

“…Aha!!”

With a thud, Yoon Si-woo’s sword penetrates Auria’s neck.

However, Auria is no longer there.

What remains in that place is merely an arm that has fallen, now devoid of its owner.

“I’ll give you one arm…!”

Just like a lizard shedding its tail, Auria survives by sacrificing one arm.

It is then that she realizes what created the gap that just appeared when Yoon Si-woo attacked.

“…Kik, was it because of that?”

A translucent spell reveals a girl enveloped in flames, entering from beyond the cage.

For reasons unknown, her presence must have created that earlier tremor.

What a coincidence, what a stroke of luck.

“Aha, I don’t know what it is, but thank you! You saved me…!”

Auria bursts into laughter, expressing her gratitude toward the girl who appeared just in time.

That gratitude was not just for letting her escape death.

Thanks to her appearance, she realized this could be the key to turning the situation around.

“That girl just came from the outside! While I can stop those going out, I can’t stop anyone coming in! The structure is exactly the same as my barrier!”

Auria was able to deduce that fact due to the girl’s unexpected arrival.

And if the structures are entirely identical, it may also mean that the method to break it could be the same.

“The simplest way to dismantle a barrier! Eliminate the entity that activated it!”

With that in mind, Auria turned her gaze toward the place where Dwight, who had cast the barrier, was.

“If I kill you, this cage will disappear!”

As she shouted, the barrier surrounding Dwight dissipated.

Revealing the sight of Dwight, ensnared in the grasp of the gluttonous monster, and the heroes protecting him.

Dwight, protected by the heroes, looked at the unflinching Auria staring directly at him and muttered softly.

“…Looks like I’ve been found out.”

The cage, mimicked from a barrier, would deactivate upon the death of its creator.

While that should mean he could just escape, circumstances kept him bound to stay where the magic was initiated.

“…I hoped I wouldn’t have to realize that.”

Dwight muttered under his breath, his expression hardening.

“Damn it, stop the witch’s approach!”

“Protect Dwight!”

The nearby heroes, serving to guard him, attempted to block the path and attack Auria to prevent her from advancing.

But for Auria, who could cover the distance almost instantaneously, such resistance was futile.

“I’ve come to kill you…!”

Transcending space, Auria appeared before the heroes positioned in front of Dwight.

In her heart, she wanted to move directly in front of Dwight, but distance-wise, this was her limit.

There was no time to move again.

At this very moment, the gluttonous monsters were racing to stop Yoon Si-woo from approaching, but they only had mere seconds to spare.

In this situation, it would be quicker to deal with things personally.

Having made a swift decision, Auria’s hand reached toward the neck of the hero standing right beside her, who was wielding a sword.

“Would you mind moving? I don’t have time!”

Then, without a sound, the upper part of the hero’s neck vanished at Auria’s touch.

Auria, who had previously refrained from developing direct attack methods due to personal preferences, devised this new technique based on the fact that she could shift only parts of her body while teleporting.

“Gah…!”

“N-no…!!”

Despite being less skilled in combat than other witches, a witch is still a witch.

Auria swiftly severed the necks of the heroes guarding Dwight, effectively leaving only Dwight.

Dwight looked down solemnly at the bodies of the heroes who had lost their necks.

If it continued like this, he would find himself facing death like them.

Yet, Dwight chose to maintain the magic to the very end, as it was only proper to honor those who had sacrificed their lives to protect him.

“It’s my victory…!!”

And just as Auria lunged toward Dwight, aiming to finish him off—

Flap─!

In that moment, an obstacle jumps in the way.

“You…?”

“Sc, Scarlet?!”

Interjecting between Dwight and Auria was the girl cloaked in the wings of flames.

“What’s this, trying to interfere?”

Earlier, she had created an opening for Yoon Si-woo, but if she caused any disturbances now, it would be unforgivable.

“If you’re here to interfere, then you’ll have to die…!”

Upon locking eyes with the girl, Auria stretched out her hand toward her without hesitation.

Auria knew well that she was a powerful witch, possessing the abilities used to defeat the witch of Sloth and Gluttony, yet she was not afraid.

The girl’s gray eyes indicated that she was little more than a hollow shell, virtually devoid of contents.

Despite the flames of her wings trying desperately to protect their master, it wasn’t enough to halt Auria.

After all, if Auria could eliminate the girl and kill Dwight, she would secure her victory by breaking the cage.

Thus, Auria cared little for the burns and grasped the girl’s neck.

At that very moment, just as she was about to activate her ability and sever the girl’s head—

“Huh, ah?!”

A substantial sense of weakness overcame Auria.

Her ability would not activate.

No, not only that, but there was a sensation as if all the strength within her body was dissipating.

Could it be that the magic burning away before her very eyes belongs to this girl?

Auria momentarily fell into confusion over the abnormal phenomenon.

However, she quickly instinctively realized this wasn’t the girl’s doing.

“…Am I… contract-bound?”

A witch loses all her power if she breaks a contract.

This was the cost of contract violation.

But why? What contract have I violated to deserve this…

As thoughts of grievance swirled in her mind, a contract from her past suddenly surfaced in her memory.

The contract she had made with Beatrice, the witch of Sloth.

“Hmmm, a red-haired girl who isn’t human. Got it! I promise I won’t lay a hand on you before I do the same to her! Though I understand you won’t believe this just by words, let’s seal it with a contract.”

The content was to refrain from laying a ‘hand’ on the girl before Beatrice had a chance.

Though Beatrice may have died, the contract she had made remained valid.

Auria looked at her own hand gripping the girl’s neck and let out a hollow laugh.

Oh dear. I ended up making a move without even realizing it, didn’t I?

And what of Beatrice…

“After all that fighting, you never laid a finger on her…”

How she cherished this girl so much.

What connection could she have with her?

Feeling as though she had been struck from behind, Auria let out a foolish laugh.

In that instant, for reasons unknown, the words Beatrice had left her just before her death came to mind.

“You seem to think you can manipulate the world as you wish. If you stay careless like that, someday you’ll face a big setback.”

“…Well, it seems I really did, didn’t I?”

Auria chuckled to herself as she spoke.

And at that moment, Yoon Si-woo’s sword impaled the powerless witch’s body.