As Ravenna and Yeon remained locked in their fierce clash, Zuphil watched from afar with growing interest.
With Arthur imprisoned within his mist labyrinth, the Mist Warlock found himself with little to do. His hands rested behind his back while his gaze remained fixed on the battle between the two greatest ice mages on the battlefield.
On one side stood Ravenna.
The forr Witch of Winter.
The Apostle of Grief.
Every spell she cast fused supre ice arts with deadly poison, transforming the battlefield into a frozen realm of death.
On the other stood Yeon.
Her disciple.
Her victim.
Her greatest creation.
Yet Yeon was no longer rely replicating Ravenna’s teachings. Every spell she cast bore her own understanding of ice. Her mana flowed with elegance and purpose, elevating techniques that once belonged to Ravenna to entirely new heights.
The skies trembled.
Glaciers collided.
Blizzards swallowed oceans.
Ice and poison battled endlessly across the frozen sea.
To Ravenna’s surprise, they were evenly matched.
No.
The longer the battle continued, the more obvious it beca.
Yeon was slowly gaining the upper hand.
After all, Ravenna had once been known as the Witch of Winter.
The pioneer of an entirely new era of ice magic.
Even the prestigious Amaris House had failed to match the innovations she brought to the magical world.
Yet despite all that, the woman standing before her was suppressing her.
The sa ice spells Ravenna had invented were being turned against her with greater efficiency and deadlier execution.
Every collision of magic filled the sky with crystalline rain, creating a scene of breathtaking beauty amidst utter destruction.
"What’s the matter?" Yeon shouted as she slamd another mountain-sized glacier toward Ravenna. "Has your ice magic regressed?"
The frozen cot exploded against Ravenna’s defenses.
"To think you were once called the Witch of Winter."
"Heh..."
Ravenna smiled faintly.
"Insults won’t help you win, Yeon."
But inwardly, she acknowledged the truth.
Yeon had surpassed every expectation.
The girl she once viewed as a re experintal subject now possessed ice arts nearly equal to her own.
And if Ravenna were being completely honest...
Her ice magic had stagnated.
Since becoming an Apostle, she had devoted herself to other pursuits.
The optimisation of the Magatama.
The creation of the Chaos Dolls.
Countless experints designed to strengthen the Demon Cult and advance the Grand Plan.
Compared to those goals, improving her personal magic had beco secondary.
For years, she had neglected the path that once made her famous.
A normal mage would have regretted such a choice.
But Ravenna was no ordinary mage.
She had long since transcended the need to rely solely on ice magic.
A smile slowly spread across her lips.
"You know..."
Her voice beca unusually calm.
"You’re right."
Yeon’s eyes narrowed.
"If I continue fighting you using the techniques I taught you..."
Ravenna removed her glasses.
"...I will eventually lose."
Her erald eyes began to glow.
Venomous green seeped into her pupils.
Mana transford into pure demonic power.
The world itself seed to shudder in response.
Zuphil’s expression finally changed.
Even he recognised what was about to happen.
"Yeon."
Ravenna’s voice echoed throughout the battlefield.
"I’ll show you sothing you’ve never seen before."
A brilliant light erupted from her glabella.
"I am the Apostle of Grief."
Demonic energy exploded.
"I preach the Gospel of Grief."
The light swallowed Yeon whole.
"And now..."
The world vanished.
"...I shall show you despair."
Yeon suddenly found herself standing within an endless white expanse.
There was no sky.
No earth.
No mana.
Nothing.
Only emptiness.
Ravenna stood before her silently.
Instinctively, Yeon attempted to cast a spell.
Nothing happened.
She checked her mana pathways.
Empty.
The surrounding world contained no magical energy whatsoever.
"...What did you do?"
"Relax."
Ravenna opened her palms.
"I brought you into my inner psyche."
She shrugged.
"A power unique to the Apostle of Grief."
Yeon noticed sothing strange.
Ravenna couldn’t use mana either.
"We’re bound by the sa restrictions here."
Ravenna smiled.
"Neither of us can use magic."
"...Why bring here?"
The Apostle’s smile widened.
"Simple."
The answer was imdiate.
"I want to break your mind."
"..."
"I want you to drown in grief."
Yeon stared at her in confusion.
Ravenna wasn’t hiding her intentions whatsoever.
She was openly admitting them.
As though she had already won.
"Let’s play a ga."
The white world shifted.
"If you win, you’ll regain your freedom."
The Apostle’s smile beca colder.
"If I win..."
Her erald eyes glimred.
"...your soul remains here forever."
"And our real bodies?"
"Don’t worry."
Ravenna laughed.
"No matter how long we stay here, only a fraction of a second will pass outside."
The scenery changed.
The white world vanished.
A familiar city appeared.
A familiar ho.
A familiar family.
Yeon froze.
Because she imdiately recognised it.
Her past.
Back when she had been a gifted child.
A rising magical prodigy.
The pride of her family.
"The most valuable treasure of your house."
Ravenna walked through the mory.
"Everyone expected greatness from you."
Yeon rembered.
Back then, she had been loved.
Praised.
Cherished.
The future had seed limitless.
Then ca ruin.
Business failures.
Debt.
Desperation.
And slowly, the people who once adored her began whispering behind closed doors.
"Her talent is extraordinary, but must we spend so much on her?"
"Our finances are collapsing."
"We can’t keep paying for her magical education."
"Perhaps we should marry her into a richer family."
The whispers grew louder.
The affection disappeared.
The smiles beca forced.
Then the Demon Cult arrived.
Offering salvation.
"We will assu all debts."
The cultist smiled.
"In exchange, give us the girl."
Without hesitation, they accepted.
Not knowing what awaited Yeon.
Not caring enough to find out.
Even her parents forced her to go despite her desperate pleas.
And so her suffering began.
Years of experintation.
Years of tornt.
Years of despair.
"They sold your future."
Ravenna’s voice echoed quietly.
"The people you called family."
Yeon remained silent.
The pain still lingered.
Even now.
But Ravenna wasn’t showing her this mory to reopen old wounds.
There was another reason.
"The truth is..."
Ravenna’s gaze softened slightly.
"...your life is surprisingly similar to mine."
The scene changed.
This ti, it wasn’t Yeon’s past.
It was Ravenna’s.
A small fishing village appeared.
A simple family of three.
A hardworking fisherman.
A village teacher.
And a young boy with a bright smile.
A happy family.
An ordinary family.
Then everything changed.
The woman awakened magical powers.
The sea froze.
The village’s livelihood disappeared overnight.
That woman was Ravenna.
"My village rarely interacted with outsiders."
Ravenna watched the mory unfold.
"When they saw what my powers had done..."
Her voice beca distant.
"...they called a witch."
The villagers scread.
The fisherman denounced her.
The people demanded her death.
"They wanted soone to bla."
The mory grew darker.
"They decided burning would thaw the sea."
Yeon’s eyes widened.
Then she saw it.
The child.
The little boy.
Ravenna’s son.
The villagers burned him first.
Right before her eyes.
"..."
Even Yeon was speechless.
"My husband abandoned ."
Ravenna’s voice remained eerily calm.
"My friends abandoned ."
The frozen village appeared around them.
"My son died screaming."
The entire world froze.
"That was the day my mind broke."
Silence followed.
"I froze everything."
The villagers.
Her husband.
The entire village.
Even the burnt remains of her child.
Everything beca frozen monunts.
A graveyard preserved in ice.
"Then the Prophet found ."
Demonic light flickered within Ravenna’s eyes.
"He granted the Gospel of Grief."
Power flooded the scene.
"The greater my grief."
The frozen world trembled.
"The greater the grief around ."
Demonic mana surged.
"The stronger I beco."
Ravenna turned toward Yeon.
Her poisonous eyes burned with conviction.
"So tell ."
The Apostle stepped forward.
"Do you truly believe your grief surpasses mine?"
Her voice echoed through the frozen world.
"Do you think you can ever defeat ?"
Yeon remained silent.
For her entire life, she had chased Ravenna.
Pursued vengeance.
Pursued closure.
Pursued justice.
Everything she had done was driven by hatred.
Yet now...
For the first ti...
She understood.
She understood why Ravenna beca what she was.
And strangely enough...
That understanding freed her.
A gentle smile appeared on Yeon’s face.
"Thank you."
Ravenna blinked.
"...What?"
"Thank you for showing the truth."
Yeon’s voice was calm.
Peaceful.
For the first ti in years.
"With this..."
She closed her eyes.
"...I can finally move on."
Ravenna frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Yeon looked directly at her.
"I will no longer face you as Yeon, the Witch of Oblivion, seeking revenge."
The chains around her heart shattered.
Years of hatred vanished.
Years of resentnt disappeared.
Not forgiven.
Not forgotten.
Simply released.
A new light appeared within her eyes.
"From this day onward..."
Yeon smiled.
"...I face you as a mage who seeks to protect the world."
The mont those words were spoken—
CRACK.
The false reality shattered.
Because the Gospel of Grief had failed.
Yeon no longer carried the grief Ravenna sought to exploit.
She had found sothing stronger.
Purpose.
Conviction.
Peace.
The illusion collapsed.
The mories vanished.
The past lost its hold.
Yeon was free.
But Ravenna was not.
Her grief remained.
Her hatred remained.
Her sorrow remained.
It had beco the very foundation of her existence.
The real world returned.
Only a fraction of a second had passed.
Yet everything had changed.
Yeon’s eyes were tranquil.
"I will grant you salvation, Ravenna."
Ravenna’s were filled with madness.
The Apostle’s demonic mana erupted violently.
The Gospel of Grief echoed endlessly within her soul.
And with a furious roar, Ravenna raised her hand.
"Then..."
The ocean trembled.
"...you shall witness the power of my grief!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers