"Where are you hiding…?”
Deep within the false capital.
Linl advanced cautiously, prepared to destroy anything that stood in her way.
"Miss, the fish today are excellent! The mackerel is absolutely fantastic…”
"Hap!”
-Slash!
That included things shaped like humans. The rchant trying to call custors over was split cleanly in half and collapsed to the ground.
And yet no blood flowed. The severed surface was filled with sothing like white clouds, and the rchant continued wandering around without even realizing he had been cut apart.
"..."
"Oh my, really? Then let take a look~”
Watching the other citizens converse normally with the sliced-apart fog, Linl let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.
'Uuugh, disgusting. This is exactly why I hated dealing with her.’
The Witch of Emptiness was the enemy Linl despised most.
Purely in terms of lethality, she was less dangerous than an ant. She couldn’t kill a single person.
But in terms of sheer malice, she was more horrific than any other enemy.
There was a reason she had been given the title of witch.
Everyone who encountered the Witch of Emptiness lost mories regardless of whether they were Knights, wizards, or anything else.
At best, they lost small personal mories. At worst, they forgot how to walk.
To Linl, whose very life was built upon her mories, there could be no more hateful opponent.
"I already didn’t like her before.”
The library.
Arriving before its main entrance, Linl steadied her breathing and gripped her sword.
No matter how sturdy a wall might be, anything that existed could be cut.
Her blade slowly descended from above all the way down.
"Now—I honestly just wish she’d die.”
-Huuum......
A faint vibration spread across the capital.
And the sword failed to cut through the door.
"?"
More precisely, it stopped midway, embedded between the doors without moving further. There was no possibility she couldn't cut through re wood. She had struck seriously enough that even a door forged from twice the thickness of steel should have been sliced apart like tofu.
Sothing beyond the door was gripping her sword.
-Thwack!
The instant Linl realized that, she thrust the blade forward with all her strength.
"Ah."
That was the wrong move.
As though waiting for exactly that, the door swallowed the sword whole. It looked ready to devour her arm next, forcing her to let go. All she could do was listen to the sound of steel scraping and bending beyond the door.
-Spit
A mont later, the completely mangled sword was spat back out.
Linl stared at her beloved blade for a mont, then smirked.
"Well, look at that?”
If the damage was only to this extent, she could simply hamr it back into shape and keep using it. She had the strength for that.
But her pride would never allow it. Linl clenched her fist—and punched the door directly.
-Bang, bang!! BOOOM!!
Wood chips and dust scattered with every blow. If it had been an ordinary door, it would have shattered long ago. Instead, it endured shockingly well. In fact, it almost felt like it was restoring itself.
Of course, Linl was not mindlessly pounding on it.
'If I keep hitting it until nightfall, the noise will annoy her enough to co out, right?'
It was a strategy of sorts.
Perhaps the idea worked, because after enduring the assault for quite so ti, a response finally echoed through the door.
[Stop.]
The voice was extrely cold.
[Leave when I permit it.]
"Don’t want to?”
[I don't wish to kill you. You were a Knight Jern cherished.]
"...Now I want to even less.”
-Crunch!
A far heavier punch slamd into the door.
Blood began dripping from Linl’s fist as she clenched it tighter and glared at a place beyond the door.
"Open the door. If you don’t, I’ll split this entire capital apart.”
[...]
"You think I can’t?”
[Haah...]
-Click.
The sound of a handle turning echoed through the air.
"You should’ve just done that from the start.”
Grumbling, Linl pushed the door open.
Inside the library—there was only thick, swirling fog. No bookshelves, no books, no floor. Nothing.
As she walked through the interior, which felt less soft than strangely solid, Linl was reminded of the insides of those citizens she had seen earlier. Then soone erged from deeper within, wearing an utterly miserable expression.
Elisia. Unlike Linl, she had not aged a single day.
"...Why are you still so young?”
"I doubt that’s why you ca here.”
Elisia sat sowhere within the mist with an exhausted expression and spoke flatly.
"Did Father send you?”
"No. Well, maybe I vaguely rember hearing sothing like that.”
Linl had heard that Aletus had tried absolutely everything possible to bring his daughter back.
She vaguely recalled him asking her personally for help as well, though she couldn’t rember too clearly.
As though she expected that answer, Elisia slowly continued without looking at her.
"I can’t go back. I already gathered all the mories I needed, so I won’t attack people anymore. I’ll just stay here quietly without doing anything, so leave.”
"I don’t even feel sorry for you, so no.”
With a disgusted expression, as though she had just reached into a trash bin, Linl extended her hand.
"Co out. Jern’s waiting outside.”
"Jern..."
At those words, Elisia glanced behind herself for a mont before giving a bitter smile.
"It seems you’ve been deceived, but Jern is gone.”
"What?"
"It’s sothing I learned after joining Scarlet Abyss. Jern was officially declared dead.”
Elisia slowly lowered her gaze.
After blinking a few tis, Linl finally reacted like she felt was appropriate.
'Haah, this crazy bitch...'
Was there really any value in bringing soone like this back?
Wouldn’t it be better, for both herself and Jern, to simply deal with her here and claim he had beco too dangerous to leave alive?
Linl seriously considered it. Then she imagined how Jern would react after hearing what happened. Clicking her tongue in resignation, she gave up on the idea.
In the end, she had no choice but to drag this insane woman back sohow.
Because if Jern entered this place himself, it would be dangerous.
"I saw him with my own eyes. If you don’t believe , co outside and see for yourself.”
"I confird it with my own eyes too—or rather, through soone else. Jern was swallowed by the Abyssal Sea. The Abyssal Sea, no one can ever escape from.”
"No, I’m telling you to co see him yourself."
"Heavenly Balance deceived Jern.”
Elisia’s body trembled as she continued speaking with hollow eyes.
"You don’t know what kind of place the Abyssal Sea is. Have you ever even dipped a foot into it?”
"No. But I do know you aren’t listening to a word I’m saying.”
"I have. That’s why I know Jern can’t co back.”
Snapping at Linl, Elisia curled up and hugged her knees.
Rather than the Witch who had stolen the mories of countless Knights, she simply looked like a child her age.
"Why didn’t he tell ? I could’ve fought in his place. Instead of going into a hell like that, he should’ve used …”
Again and again, again and again, again and again.
Elisia desperately searched for sothing that could prove her conclusion wrong.
But nowhere in the world could she find Jern. And if soone who no longer existed in this world had fallen elsewhere…
Then the only place Jern could be was the Abyssal Sea.
It was the mont Elisia lost her reason to fight.
"What are you fighting for?”
"...?"
Having stood there with folded arms, silently wondering how far this madness would go, Linl tilted her head at the sudden question.
"You saw that thing back at the capital in the sky, right? That we can’t defeat Great Void.”
Elisia held a dagger capable of killing Great Void.
But possessing a dagger and plunging it into his heart were completely different things.
If Jern could return because of it, she would gladly risk her life. She would throw herself endlessly against the impossible using a body that could no longer truly die.
But now, she could not find even a single reason to do that anymore.
"Why fight a battle you’re dood to lose?”
"Because I believe Jern will co back.”
"...I see.”
Hope that could only exist because she didn’t know.
For a brief mont, Elisia found herself envying her.
But Linl’s answer did not end there.
"And even if he never cos back, I still won’t give up.”
"What...?"
"Even if he ne~ver returns for my entire life, and I never get to see him again before I die, It still doesn’t matter.”
"Wh-why?”
"Because I think Jern would be sad if I spent my ti crying pathetically like you.”
The words were sharp, but her tone had softened slightly.
Because even if only a little, Linkel understood why Elisia had fallen into despair.
"Look at yourself. Holed up in this fake capital, stealing people’s mories inside this empty fog while being called a witch. What do you think Jern would say if he saw you like this?”
"...Jern is gone.”
"You can keep believing that if you want, but co outside first. If nothing else, at least step beyond the city walls once. Seriously though, what even is this creepy place?”
Frowning in confusion, Linl wandered around the fog-filled library.
Now that she thought about it, sothing felt strange. From the sound of things, Elisia had despaired after believing Jern died and gave up fighting. If that were true, why co all the way to the capital instead of hiding in so cave sowhere?
And why did she steal people’s mories specifically? What was she using them for?
"You said you gave up on everything, so what exactly have you been doing in here?”
"G-get out. Let’s talk outside.”
As Linkel continued exploring the library, Elisia hurriedly tried to stop her, growing visibly anxious suddenly.
Linl narrowed her eyes.
'She’s definitely hiding sothing.’
Thinking about it logically, would a Fallen really just stop at rely stealing mories?
She was obviously using them for sothing. Maybe she had been kidnapping people and draining them to preserve her youth.
Staring into the fog for a mont, Linl’s eyes suddenly lit up.
"Aha, I knew it.”
Spotting sothing hidden within the mist, she dashed forward and grabbed a stone.
-Tak
The instant the stone shifted slightly from its original position, the fog vanished in the blink of an eye.
The place they stood in was not so cloud-filled void. It was simply the capital’s library. The stone had rely been releasing fog to disguise the library as so separate space entirely.
As Elisia’s expression gradually stiffened, Linl’s suspicions beca certainty.
"So you were doing sothing filthy after all. Jern might forgive you anyway—but I won't."
At the very least, it should not remain hidden.
Believing evil deeds deserve consequences, Linl ignited her aura and sharpened her senses—
Then sothing erged from the back of the library.
"Big sis, are you done? That corner's kind of uncomfortable.”
"...?"
"Huh? Who’s this person?”
Linl’s eyes widened in shock. She had fully prepared herself to destroy whatever grotesque being the witch had created.
But standing there was Jern.
As a child.
"Ah..."
Elisia gently patted the young Jern’s head a few tis before shrugging casually as if nothing happened.
"C-Could you go read for a little longer? I still have sothing to discuss with my friend…”
"Yes, alright."
With his usual indifferent expression, the child Jern disappeared toward the back of the library. A heavy silence settled between the two won.
"What in the world is that?”
"Th-that’s, well, sothing I made by combining mories. Since I govern Emptiness, if I use materials with the sa form within that domain, I can recreate the sa thing using other people’s mories…”
As Elisia stamred through her excuse. Linl coldly interrupted her.
"That’s not what I asked.”
"...I was lonely.”
Elisia lowered her head, cheeks reddening as though embarrassed by her own creation.
"And all the things outside?”
"Prototypes..."
"So basically—you attacked people and extracted their mories just to create a fake Jern who calls you big sis?”
"W-well, originally, I wanted to destroy the Empire. I am a witch.”
"...”
"...I'm different from mortals like you. My world is Emptiness, so I’ve ended up with an almost eternal lifespan. And during all that ti, you’re saying I’m not even allowed to do sothing like this? Isn’t that way too cruel?!”
Watching Elisia suddenly decide to act proud and shaless about it, Linl fell into thought. It didn’t last long.
Once she reached her conclusion, Linl slowly clenched her fist.
"Ah, sorry, but yeah. I can’t leave you unchecked.”
Before bringing her back to Jern, It seed necessary to settle the grievances of all the poor Knights whose mories had been stolen for no reason at all.
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