They were standing above the cave, on the Mountain. Ambrose had disappeared for fifteen minutes to look around the area. The letter telling them of their arrival and asking for a certain location to meet was peculiar, but Laylin insisted they meet them on the top of the deserted mountain. Laylin curiously looked around the great wide area. Moss was growing on several stones but the faded scribbles on the stones were apparent. “For how deserted it is, it’s hard to imagine a civilization lived in these mountains.” Esmer thought out loud, watching Laylin taking a deep interest in the lifeless patterns on the walls. Laylin shook her head, after observing for a while. “...These resemble magic circles but are wide enough to cover the whole mountain range.” She spread her arms around. “The climatic changes may be there since it’s been at least thousands of years but this place doesn't look like it could ever be inhabited." She pointed for Esmer to see. "Look, the mountain is covered in
“You know, the girl grew up well.” Berilla tilted her head to Laylin listening attentively to witches and wizards and engaging them very conveniently. They must look like chicks flocking around her to the Princess. They were probably all lost about how startlingly similar she looked to the witch in the Book Of Oath. “You should have seen her when she was in the Rakhbar Palace. She practically swung the King left and right by her mood swings and courtiers were frightened of her imposing stares.” Berila laughed, thinking of the young Princess's frightening temperament. Esmer smiled. The young Princess really was such an alpha. Wherever she was, eyes would fall on her. "Speaking of the King, is he with you?" Berilla bit her lip and asked nervously. The King had seen her as 'Marquis of Balijour' and probably had an inkling of what she did. Esmer huffed. "He's around." Berilla leaped up in agitation. "He doesn't know, does he?" Esmer rolled her eyes. Her sister was asking if he knew
“Yo-You!” The witch sisters had many vendettas against the Old Mistress of Sarang. That was also the reason Valerie wanted to confirm the mark on another person as soon as possible. Their mother was never brimming with motherly affection to begin with and was outright toxic to Valerie but then she saw Sansy’s attack Esmeralda's carriage on a rocky mountainous road but that wasn’t it. She saw Esmerlda’s death. There’s another thing about their mother’s ability that many don’t know. She only knows one future, where her interference isn’t there. It is like she’s a regressor. Her power is hard to understand but she only sees a singular path of future where things flow as they do, without any change made by her. If she or anyone makes a change, minor or major, it could have a butterfly effect and the future she will see will become a lie. Due to the peculiarity of her ability, their mother recorded her dreams with the Head Bookkeeper of Sarang and on that day she made a choice. Eith
Laylin softly breathed out a sigh at his flaring temper. She closed her eyes in silent, her heart drumming in her chest. “Scarlet was the daughter of a Rakhbar Princess and Sansy so it made her the perfect medium: the blood of both, Red Witch and White Wolf. You said the Old Mistress sees the future, did she see it?” Berilla somberly nodded, “She saw a future where the King of Rakhbar wasn’t poisoned and Scarlet didn't absorb your aura during the ritual. The King kills Sansy and Scarlet but she saw his demon take over right after. He went mad... after absorbing the dark aura. In her vision, he hunts you in his beast form. He drains you of your aura killing you.” A silence falls on them and nobody speaks for minutes before Laylin hesitantly asks. “What does she say now?” Valerie replied instead, “Nothing she sees will ever happen again. Her power remains till she or anyone else doesn’t interrupt the future but the future had already changed without her knowing.” She pointedly looked
“That was also the door that opened when I was used as a medium?” Valerie couldn’t help but ask. Sayo quirked up a brow at her. “Yes. You and many other wizards. Their life forces were used.” he answered with a sadistic smirk, looking at the woman’s eyes twitch, “I crossed before her but then she closed the door and neither of us could leave.” Reading the woman's despair, Sayo's smirk widened and he elaborated more animatedly. Nothing was as satisfying as laying it out to a witch. That is why he enjoyed toying with the Princess. Demons and sorcerers were natural enemies. “Only the most desperate of demons cross to this world. I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t to be beheaded. She looked for ways to open the gate again while I waited for the foretold to come true so the charges dropped and the gate to the Other World opened again.” Valerie felt a vein in her head would burst with how enraged she was. Every demon that had crossed had consumed her aura, the suffocating pain still haunted he
“The Mad Harpies…?” Laylin drawled, not quite understanding why they were so shocked. “They are mostly tales for our world but they exist in the Other World. There are records of one showing up in the Great Mistress's diary. It says she was sealed but not before laying hundreds of eggs. Her eggs absorb vengeful spirits to nourish but can’t hatch without a hundred virgin sacrifices.” Valerie replied. “It was a fairy tale villain in our bedtime stories in Sarang...” Berilla shifted uncomfortably. It was a story they grew up hearing. A cannibal villain so terrible that sucked the life out of the living and feasted on their flesh. She shuddered just thinking about facing something like that in real life. “If he can control something like this….” The Princess wondered. He would truly be invincible but that was not all. He would need to feed those cannibal monsters along with the rest of the demonic monsters. Sooner or later, he will use people as livestock for them. There was no way tho
“What? Oh, wait ...Where?” He smiled, tilting his head. “Somewhere. I’ll be back soon.” She was curious but decided against roasting him when they were already this stressed. “Anyways, I need peace and quiet so… I’ll see you in the morning?” “Huh.” He quirked up another brow at her, “Are you throwing me out now? Your King?” “I’m not! I need to focus. I just don’t want to make a mistake.” His jovial smile thinned out and his eyes narrowed. “And why is that?” “I-I was confident a while ago because it was all talk but now… I’m afraid that I may not be able to do it and what if I do come up with a magic circle and that doesn’t work!” she stuttered, shrugging pathetically in nonchalance, “I might have missed something. There’s much I don't know.” she answered meekly in a soft whisper, as though she herself wasn’t convinced with her answer. Even still, she refused to lose to him and kept her eyes locked on his. She bit her lower lip, her pouting face finally ready to cry. “The surviv
“Yes.” With a scroll in her hand trembling, Laylin checked the magic circle for the third time from her bird’s eyes because once a magic circle was activated there was no way to reverse it. “It should work, the calculation and axis points are aligned. In theory, once activated, we should be able to teleport here the monster from the lake in just three seconds.” With the Magic Circle reconstructed after a day, all the witches stood on a hill overlooking the giant structure. The teleportation destination magic circle was ready and a witch only needed to input aura in it to bring the spell to life. With a sigh. Laylin handed the scroll to Eloise, who refused to move an inch away from her. Hopefully, it will turn out well. Esmer came forward, but Berilla held her arm, “Let me, Esmer. It will absorb a lot of aura. You need to be conscious to lead them.” They stared at each other for a moment, before Esmer eventually relented and tried to return to her place. Their plan was simple: fir