The roar of magic monsters echoed in the girl’s ears once more.
“It feels so good.”
Anna smiled, flicking the blood off her dagger. She turned her grin toward another magic monster charging her way.
In this moment, it felt as if she had returned to that night ten years ago.
The roars of magic beasts, the screams of flesh being torn apart, the splattered crimson, and the metallic scent of blood filling her nostrils.
People were still dying before the monsters, and rising flames still scorched mangled corpses and the ruins of houses…
But the difference was that she no longer had to hide behind anyone.
Ten years of hatred had condensed into a cold killing intent on the blade she had spent ten years tempering. She lunged toward the monster—
“Come on, come on! Let’s see if your fangs tear through my flesh first, or if my dagger devours your worthless life!!”
She roared like a beast and fought like a beast; she was as fearless as a fanatic and laughed as wildly as a madman.
Finally, after draining the last bit of strength from her body, she would fall like a martyr…
Her lips curled into a crescent shape, and her eyes held nothing but a craving to swing her dagger.
A silver flash of light passed, and the pitch-black magic monster in front of Anna was sliced in half.
One, two…
…101, 102.
The moment the girl raised her dagger toward the 103rd monster, a surge of warmth suddenly rushed up her throat.
A mouthful of bright red blood sprayed from Anna’s mouth, soaking the ground before her.
Anna collapsed to her knees. Her body was already broken beyond repair.
‘Is it over?’
The sounds of slaughter around her gradually quieted down.
However, magic monsters still filled the world in the girl’s eyes.
‘It seems… I am the last one?’
102 monsters to take with her into the afterlife. With a parting gift like that… would Mom and Dad be proud?
When she reached the other world, would her father and mother pat her head once more?
Would her parents… would they be able to smile at her again and say—
‘Welcome home…’
The world in Anna’s eyes gradually blurred.
A chill spread from her limbs toward her heart, slowly robbing her of control over her torso.
Ah… was this it?
But she felt a bit…
Unsatisfied.
In Anna’s blurred vision, a magic monster suddenly charged at her.
The girl let go of the dagger in her hand and gently closed her eyes.
In the next instant, she heard the sound of flesh being torn apart—
“Don’t fall asleep! Wake up!!”
A silver light flashed before Anna’s slightly opened eyes.
After the silver light passed, the magic beast that had lunged at her had been turned into shattered remains.
Shouts, the sound of swords being unsheathed, and the friction of armor…
The roars of magic beasts appeared again, but they were now intertwined with these new sounds, becoming chaotic and complex.
The next moment, Anna felt a hand supporting her back.
“Don’t fall asleep, whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!”
In her hazy state, Anna felt the voice sounded familiar.
After a short while, a warm current gradually flowed into her body. The warmth soothed the stinging pain of her wounds—and as her consciousness gradually cleared, the world in Anna’s eyes became sharp once more.
Then, she saw the face of the person in front of her.
“Why… why…”
“Don’t speak yet! Intermediate Healing Magic takes time to take effect. If you keep talking, you’ll tear your wounds!”
The mother of the Witch, the wife of the Hero — the Duchess of White, whom she had previously blocked, was now appearing before her eyes and saving her life.
As the light of the healing magic faded, the Duchess picked her up.
Anna felt a nostalgic warmth, but she also felt the Duchess’s body trembling uncontrollably.
Anna was not a Magic User. However, she could guess — the Transfer Magic the Duchess had cast earlier must have consumed an enormous amount of Mana.
To add to that, she had just cast healing magic for her…
“Madam… put me… down. I… don’t need—”
“Be quiet! Not another word!”
Anna was stunned.
She couldn’t understand. She didn’t understand why this woman — a woman who should have loathed her — why her voice sounded as if she were on the verge of tears.
There was a sense of agony in those sobs, and a type of sorrow that Anna could not comprehend.
But what Anna could understand was this: the Duchess, whom she had harmed, wanted her to live right now.
But why…
Shouldn’t this lady hate her? Just as she hated the Witch she had never met, so that all her suffering had a target for release, and so that a life that had lost everything had a reason to exist—
Only then could one go on living…
Could they not?
“Madam! You must leave here immediately!! we will hold them off!!”
Following the Knight Commander’s roar, several Knights immediately fought their way out, forcibly carving a path through the encirclement of magic monsters.
And so, Serena began to run.
She ignored the pungent smell of blood for now, and she ignored the mangled corpses and the rising roars…
Run.
Because of Serena’s own selfishness, her Knights were fighting amidst blades and blood…
Because of Serena’s own selfishness, her already poor physical condition was deteriorating further…
Because of Serena’s own selfishness, her daughter would likely lose this chance to clear her name…
Run, run faster.
Her body was almost entirely drained of Mana, and Serena felt as if everything hurt.
A price…
This must be the price. Humans always had to pay a price for the choices they made, and they were always paying that price.
The trees passing by on both sides cast dark, circular shadows under the midday sun, their branches clawing at the wind.
Like all the lives that had perished along this path, they became indistinguishable ghosts, silently watching Serena as she ran.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Words spoken to no one in particular gradually faded away as Serena ran toward the location of the carriage.
But regardless of what had happened in the past, her only wish now was to reach the carriage.
She ran until the sounds of the magic monsters gradually grew distant, until exhaustion and pain nearly snapped her consciousness—
The road leading to the Imperial Capital finally appeared before Serena’s eyes.
It was right there.
In her intermittently blurred vision, Serena seemed to faintly see a birthday cake.
The birthday cake had a “10” candle on it, and her daughter was smiling in the light of the candle, which was as warm as the morning sun…
The carriage was just ahead. If she could just hold on a little longer, just one last time! She would—
Shrrrk.
The moment the sound rang out, the red light of Slashing Magic instantly sliced everything before Serena in two.
Cut in two.
Including the cake, and including the smile of her daughter in the hallucination…
The fallen trees became a fence, and the kicked-up dust became a wall.
And the carriage and the road? Serena knew she would likely never see them again. Just like the hallucinations from before, she could no longer see them.
“I am sorry, Duchess of White. Although we have no personal grudge against you, for the sake of the Empire, and by the order of Duke Sirius—”
After the dust cleared slightly, a group of strangers holding staves and swords suddenly appeared — the uniforms they wore bore the insignia of the Imperial Royal Family.
“Madam, you must stay here today…
Stay here forever.”
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