After Tilia blocked the attack, Tina sighed helplessly inside her mind, “If I make a move this time, the mission time will probably be cut in half again.”
“But it’s fine—the situation in the Keliweier Kingdom is already clear. Completing the mission within three months will be easy.”
“This time, no substitute. I’ll do it myself.”
Using a finishing move still required sacrificing life energy; such treatment at this level was a rare privilege, probably enjoyed by very few people across the entire continent.
“Let’s begin.”
No sooner had she spoken than blood trickled once again from the corner of her eye.
At the same time, an overwhelming dizziness washed over everyone present.
“Again with that move? I’ve already mastered your information!” Heather’s laugh grew wilder, her eyes burning even redder.
Princess Lia reacted quickly and warned, “Tina, don’t look into her eyes.”
But this time, even turning her head didn’t save Lia—she felt herself being pulled into some other space.
“Surprised? Just kidding, you’d fall for the illusion even if you didn’t look!”
Heather summoned several demons. “In my domain, no one except me can use any skills, not even the witch.”
“I’ll make you all experience the feeling of being devoured piece by piece! That way, when I end the illusion, your brains in reality will become mush, leaving you as mindless corpses.”
With a wave of her hand, the hungry demons lunged toward Tina.
But the girl stood still as if frozen, unmoving.
“Scared stiff? The feeling of being powerless because you can’t use any skills—it’s despairing, isn’t it?” Since becoming an Archbishop, Heather rarely felt such excitement.
She had fantasized countless times about encountering a witch, then using her carefully honed Legendary Mind Magic to utterly shatter the witch’s spirit.
Today, she was about to achieve it.
“Bang.”
Tina was knocked down by the tremendous force of the demon’s charge, then slowly began to be devoured amidst the group of monsters. The sound of teeth tearing flesh and muscle was piercing.
“Tina…” Lia watched in agony, but as the Archbishop had said, no magic could be used in this space. She was reduced to a helpless bystander.
“Hahahahaha—cough, what’s going on?”
Heather was about to mock when her limbs began disappearing one by one, leaving numerous bite marks and searing pain.
“Impossible! This is my illusion! What trick are you playing on me?!”
Tina, who had just been gnawed on by demons, suddenly stood up, brushing off the dust, completely unharmed.
Everything before was an act—whether it was the terrified panic or the desperate surrender, all a cruel joke on Heather.
Underestimate me.
“When did you start believing you successfully used an illusion?” Tina asked with a smile, crushing Heather’s previously ecstatic heart.
No way… Could it be… she’d been trapped in the witch’s illusion from the very beginning?
“Congratulations, you’re right.”
Tina saw through Heather’s thoughts and delivered the final blow, “Enjoy the cage you built for me.”
“Impossible! Impossible!! Impossible—!!!”
The magic she had painstakingly crafted had failed to harm the witch in the slightest.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not win…
“No! Even if I die, I’ll drag you down with me!”
Heather, with large chunks of skin torn off, broke free from the demons’ grasp, attempting to defend her last shred of dignity by burning out her own life.
She ripped open her chest, pulled out her heart, and forcibly escaped the illusion.
“This is bad, this Archbishop is truly insane.” Tina noticed the heart pulsating ominously with century-old power.
“Afraid now? Just a drop of my blood—even the tiniest bit—will curse you with the purest malediction, condemning you to a lifetime of incurable torment!”
Heather threw the heart into the air, collapsing as her final gaze fixed on the dazzling white light erupting.
“Watch out!”
Tina instinctively shielded Lia.
When the blinding light and the ringing in their ears faded, the entire mountaintop and surrounding forest had been leveled to the ground, plunged into deathly silence.
Thankfully, everyone Tina had protected at the crucial moment seemed unharmed…
But Lia let out a painful gasp in her arms.
No way.
Tina’s heart skipped a beat. She checked Lia’s body from head to toe and finally found a patch of purple, bloodstained skin on her leg.
The blood, filled with pure hatred and curse, had seeped into Lia’s skin and rooted itself in the soul at that spot.
“It hurts so much…” The girl’s contorted face was mixed with indescribable emotions—not only pain, but also guilt.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I was careless.”
Tina hadn’t expected such a suicidal attack to be powerful enough to tear a hole through even her own defenses.
What should she do now?
In her moment of panic, the system long silent finally responded in her mind:
【This curse cannot be removed. On ordinary people, it will spread gradually, and the victim will eventually die from unimaginable, full-body agony.】
“You just said it spreads on ordinary people… what about me?” Tina caught the system’s hidden meaning.
【The witch cannot avoid the curse either, but in your case, it will be suppressed and only affect the infected area.】
“In other words, if it were me, I wouldn’t die, but over time I might lose the ability to walk?”
【Exactly. Right now, you possess a secret witch’s technique that allows you to transfer pain and curses onto yourself. The casting process is…】
“I understand.”
There was no need to say more at this point.
Besides, wasn’t this quite convenient?
There was only one Archbishop left in the city. The road to restoring the kingdom was nearing its end, and everything was finally clear. It was time to start preparing for her ultimate goal.
Tina hugged the princess closer and asked, “Before I came, I saw that Archbishop demonstrating something to you. You already know the truth, right?”
“Mm…” Lia responded softly.
“Don’t you have anything to say? I’m a wicked witch, not the naive young lady you think I am. Don’t you doubt my intentions in approaching you?”
“…I don’t care whether you’re after power after the kingdom is restored or if you’re just doing it for fun. Because what matters to me is the present you—the you who worries for me, who does everything for me.” Lia’s gaze was so pure. She saw Tina as nothing more than her most trusted friend.
“Haha, Your Highness is so innocent—you’re going to get eaten up by a wicked woman like me.”
“I don’t care.”
“Is that so—”
Tina bent down and took advantage of Lia’s momentary distraction to kiss her directly.
The unexpected warmth between their lips stopped Lia’s thoughts for a moment. Only after Tina slowly pulled away did she react.
“You—you kissed me? And my leg…”
Seeing the vanished curse and Tina’s tightly furrowed brow, Lia suddenly understood.
“How… how can you do this? Are you not afraid of dying?!”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’m a witch; this little thing means nothing to me.”
“But I just felt that curse’s pain—did you think you could fool me so easily?” Lia’s face grew cold as she pushed Tina to the ground.
“I told you, I’m fine, Your Highness.”
“…” A few hot tears fell onto Tina’s face.
“Your Highness…” Tina knew Lia would react this way and had no words left to comfort the heartbroken girl.
“Then it’s settled. We’ll go all the way together…”
Lia wiped her tear-streaked eyes and, in a spiteful gesture, pressed her lips against Tina’s, this time holding on for a long time.