Chapter 40: The Witch

“You didn’t have to go this far.”

The voice was cold, ethereal, devoid of inflection, like an AI reciting a sterile report.

“?”

The tentacle paused its surge of energy, and Nightmare’s heart lurched with sudden dread.

‘What’s happening?’ 

‘Why am I afraid?’

More alarming still, Nightmare realized she could no longer control the magic and chaotic energy coursing through her. 

The tentacle, meant to hurl a sphere of dark power into the mist to obliterate Noi, froze mid-motion. 

It writhed, twisting like a squid scorched over flames, utterly beyond her command.

Both she and the creature sensed it—a cryptic, ancient presence stirring within the fog.

“Returning here, I’ve tasted blood once more.”

The mist began to thin, and a petite figure rose from the ground, her posture straightening with deliberate grace.

Even through the veil of fog, Nightmare felt the weight of an otherworldly gaze piercing her. 

Goosebumps prickled her skin in an instant.

“Are you insane? What are you even saying?”

Nightmare’s panic went unheeded by the small silhouette in the mist.

“But I’ve met so many fascinating people, tasted a love so intoxicating I couldn’t resist. For the first time, I decided to truly cherish this world.”

The figure spoke, recounting her journey since arriving in this alien realm.

The fog dispersed into a delicate gauze, and in her hand materialized a slender sword, its blade glinting with an eerie crimson glow.

“I thought I’d forgotten those blood-soaked experiences, but now they come rushing back.”

“You’re mad. You’ve completely lost it.”

Whether Noi was truly mad, Nightmare couldn’t say—but the calm, death-sentence-like cadence of her words was driving Nightmare to the edge.

The children in the unloading zone huddled behind Grandma Corrine, while Shang, with his keener senses, stepped out from the shadows to stand by Nightmare’s side. 

He clutched his obsidian longsword, eyes darting nervously to the anomaly unfolding in the mist.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t agree. I’m no good with words, so I can’t argue back.”

“And what does your disagreement matter? We don’t need your opinions. All we need is for you to be consumed by the desires we’ve awakened, so we can use you to carry out our plans!”

Nightmare’s roar made her sound like the one overtaken by unleashed desires.

“…And so, because of you, I’ve learned something.”

“What?”

“When someone forges a true, unyielding will, it’s nearly impossible to break. The only way to shatter it is…”

Shang, squinting to sense the surroundings like a bomb-disposal expert sensing an imminent explosion, snapped his eyes open. 

He unleashed every ounce of magic within him, channeling chaotic energy into his blade, and charged into the mist with a desperate strike aimed at the petite figure.

But it was too late.

A stifled, manic laugh echoed as a delicate, pale hand caught his devastating blow—meant to annihilate most B-rank warriors—with ease, unscathed.

The shockwave of their clash parted the mist, revealing everything in stark clarity.

Before the two alien captains stood Noi, wreathed in scarlet blood-aura. 

Her crimson eyes burned like the sun before dusk, radiating a demonic red that could set the skies ablaze.

“Heh heh heh… by killing you.”

Her voice, clear and beautiful enough to grace a theater stage, dripped with bottomless malice as she spoke words steeped in bloodlust.

Shang, his sword seized, felt the magic in his body solidify, his enhanced muscles frozen in place.

Noi drew closer and her cold hands wrapped Shang’s neck tightly. 

Her lips curled into a sinister smile, her blood-red eyes alight with exhilaration—she was savoring this.

“Urgh… cough, cough…”

Shang’s eyes bulged, his ink-black sword clattering to the ground. 

His sleeve slipped, revealing an arm etched with runes, but his desperate grip on her slender arm was powerless.

Then, with startling force, her frail-looking frame erupted. 

A swift kick to the back of his knee sent him sliding to the ground. 

Her leg, clad in black stockings, rose high, and a short-heeled shoe pressed heavily into his back. 

A blood-red lightsaber plunged into the base of his skull.

“Splurch!”

Blood and brain matter sprayed, and Shang convulsed once before falling silent.

Drenched in his fluids, Noi indifferently tore away her soiled lantern sleeves and skirt, revealing a glimpse of the swimsuit beneath. 

A grotesque elegance, the aesthetics of blood—she was, undeniably, a deranged beauty.

“Is it over…? I’m so thrilled.”

The girl’s lips curved into a radiant smile, her seemingly frail hands spreading wide, stained with their first kill.

Her blood boiled, her heart surged. 

Noi relished this—the sensation of bringing death to those she despised.

“No… it can’t be…”

Witnessing her comrade’s brutal slaughter, Nightmare’s jaw hung slack in horror.

“How… a mere B-rank kills an S-rank…”

Nightmare, seasoned as she was, recognized the anomaly in Noi’s state.

Warriors chased two peaks: Frenzy and Zenith. 

Frenzy was more common, a state where, pushed to the brink, a warrior’s body pulsed rhythmically under magical strain, unlocking every shred of potential and triggering extraordinary phenomena.

But this was beyond extraordinary. 

From Noi, Nightmare sensed a divinity reserved for Domain Lords and the goddess Afiya—a force so overwhelming it crushed any thought of resistance.

“Cough, cough… That’s not just Frenzy…”

A voice from the corpse on the ground startled Nightmare.

“What the—aren’t you dead?”

“Don’t underestimate the second captain of Sin Domain!”

Shang crawled on all fours under Noi’s impassive gaze, retrieving his magic sword before dragging himself back to Nightmare’s side.

“Sorry, I just came back from playing dead. Forgot how to walk for a sec.”

“You’re alive, that’s what matters. If things go south, you’re covering my escape, got it? You’re stronger, so hold her off. I’m the future of Sin Domain, after all!”

“…”

Even in such peril, Shang couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Nightmare.

Helping him stand, Nightmare noticed the fearless second captain of Sin Domain trembling. 

She shot him a disdainful glance.

“What’re you staring at? If you’re so tough, you take her on!”

Shang’s shaky voice snapped back.

Anyone else might not have been so pathetic, but Shang felt his alien chaotic energy suppressed, and his magic-enhanced muscles were shackled by Noi’s divine aura.

Frozen in place, he met her emotionless, blood-red eyes—eyes that saw him as nothing more than an ant to be crushed.

“What now?”

Noi, serene to the point of emotional vacancy, advanced toward them. 

Nightmare, trembling, backed away and urgently asked Shang how to handle the crazed Noi.

He glared at her and replied, “I shouldn’t have listened to you and messed with Lyte and Noi. Look at the mess we’re in now!”

“Ugh, no time for that! Think of something, Second Captain!”

Glancing at the approaching Noi, Shang sighed.

“I’m going to transform. Buy me time to charge up.”

He plunged his ink-black sword into his own stomach, and six illusory, massive arms sprouted from his back, enveloping him.

His magic flickered erratically, flashing in vibrant bursts.

As Noi, wielding her blood-red lightsaber, quickened her pace, Nightmare swallowed hard and mustered her tentacles to intercept.

“Whoosh, whoosh!”

Noi danced through the fray, her swordlight weaving a deadly pattern. 

Severed tentacles fell like rain, their lightning-fast strikes mere blurs, yet none could touch her.

Nightmare’s deceptive attacks, her best effort, were seen through effortlessly, carved apart with surgical precision.

The brief delay gave Shang his moment. 

Chaotic energy erupted, black mist flooding the warehouse.

His body swelled grotesquely, two bald, hideous heads sprouting from his shoulders, his four additional arms a chilling sight.

“Get… away…”

His voice boomed, transformed.

Nightmare, catching the garbled warning, fled, leaving Noi to face the towering, three-headed, six-armed monstrosity alone.

“Rumble!”

Chaotic energy coalesced above Shang’s heads into a massive magic sword, gripped by his six arms in unison.

“Clang!”

Just as the blade descended to end Noi, a holy sword’s radiance pierced the warehouse’s chaotic haze. 

A golden sword-wave severed the materialized blade, the lingering power of courage preventing its reformation.

A dark-haired youth stood in the dawn light at the entrance, holy sword in hand, staring at the blood-drenched Noi with a mix of solemnity, sorrow, and disbelief.

Memories of a past life surged within Lyte. 

His grip tightened on the hilt, his lips were trembling.

“The Witch…”