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The day had turned into night, light had transformed into darkness, and the heavens had become an abyss.

A sphere of darkness floated in the sky, continuously consuming the surrounding light and expanding its presence. In the center of the sphere lay the slumped figure of Lichter Willgame, appearing to be either trapped or captured.

“Orthus, what’s up with that?”
“I wish I knew… I just know that Lichter’s in there.”
“It doesn’t look normal…” Imitia remarked.
“I know. That’s why we must stop it.”
“Stop it? Just how will we do that? That monstrosity must be under some kind of spell or curse… That thing must have something to do with the witches… Right now we won’t be able to even lay a finger on it with our poor equipment. We should run…”

As she spoke, Imitia’s pupils dilated.

The sphere of darkness in the sky cracked slightly. The sound of chicks breaking the shell of an egg shook their brain. What leaked out from the cracks was the darkness itself. The vague presence soon grew stronger and sharper, like a spear making its way through the sphere’s cracks.

“No!” exclaimed Imitia, her voice leaking out unintentionally. Immediately after that, her body hunched over under Seletina’s weight.
“GET DOWN!”

Spears of darkness flew out, rushing straight to the intense battle taking place at Ulbdor’s western gate. The column-like spears, split into hundreds of arrows just before impact, poured down like a raging torrent on the battlefield.

They did not differentiate between friend or foe, man or Demon. The torrential downpour of carnage, which indiscriminately took all life densely packed there, continued to rain for ten seconds.

“Urghhhh…” Seletina could do nothing but watch it unfold. She fell to her knees and let out a pitiful sound through her clenched teeth.

This was a glimpse of the power of witches. The power of an entity that was said to be capable of reshaping a continent with a single spell. It was just too overwhelming.

“Orthus…” Imitia said, unable to bear seeing Seletina like that.

Her fated connection to Dicentra. Her sense of justice was too heavy for just one person to bear. The humiliation of allowing Lichter to be treated like that. And the desire to protect others, almost to the point of arrogance, all of this began to burn inside Seletina’s soul.

Imitia was her old friend, so she understood Seletina’s feelings to the point where she could feel them. Which is why she knew that Seletina couldn’t find the words to express herself. But Imitia couldn’t just sit by and watch.

“It seems you’ve found yourself in a predicament, Lady Seletina.”

This person’s description of their situation seems to put it on par with running out of jam to spread on bread.

The person’s voice was a little deep for a woman, clearly having been impacted by alcohol. The sound of her tall wooden clogs ringing in the street was so fluent and lighthearted, a clear representation of the woman’s feelings.

“Lady Younashi…” Seletina’s lips uttered the person’s name.
“It’s been a while,” Younashi said, shaking the sleeves of her fine kimono. However, she did not look at Seletina. Her gaze was looking up solemnly in the sky.

She looked at the darkness in the sky as if she were watching fireworks.

“Who’s this?” Imitia asked.

But Seletina had no time to answer. Younashi didn’t seem like she had any intention of responding as well. She simply waited for Seletina to get up.

“That greenhorn seems to be trapped by a witch’s spell.”
“Do you know something about it?” Seletina asked.
“Who knows? However, there’s no helping him anymore.” Younashi answered indifferently.

Hearing that, Seletina’s mouth closed shut.

“I want to help Lichter. I want to help everyone. I’ll need your help for that.” She said.
“And what can a trivial writer like myself do?”
“If it’s you, I’m sure you can.”
“You say the funniest things,” Younashi said, fighting back a giggle.

It was as if she was trying to sell the image that she was just a writer.

“……”

But there was no way that Seletina could believe that. The pillar of light she saw in Leverence and her entering Ulbdor without an escort was not the work of a mere writer.

Even though Seletina didn’t know that Younashi was the Sky Ruler of the Three Realms Three Rulers faction, she wasn’t blind enough to miss Younashi’s unfathomable presence.

Younashi shrugged, “I won’t do anything. Don’t expect anything, Lady Seletina. I’m nothing more than an observer. I’m not free nor good enough to stick my nose in matters between humans and Demons.”
“Then what are you doing here?”

Seletina said, slightly agitated because she felt as if Younashi had come here to make fun of her immature self, however, she quickly brushed off those feelings.

Younashi smiled wryly.

“Say, what do you think is a Demon? And a witch?”
“……”

“They have existed since time immemorial, threatening all life, yet they live forever without reigning over it. What is their purpose, and why do they sometimes threaten people?” Younashi asked.

Seletina’s mouth was closed shut. She had never thought about that, nor had she thought to even consider it.

Younashi continued speaking, keeping the same tone, “Demons are a violent existence, are they not? Haven’t you wondered how this suspicious life form appeared? Where it appeared, from what?”
“It’s known that the Demons naturally appear from the Contaminated Zone.” Seletina said.
“That’s wrong.”

Younashi corrected. She checked the flame on her pipe, inhaled a generous amount of smoke, and exhaled a thin stream of smoke from her crimson lips.

“They are artificial life forms created by the witches. The souls of the dead, be they good or bad, are gathered not to God, but to the witches, and transformed into that form. That is the truth behind the existence of the so-called Demons, and this world.”

“What?” Imitia’s shocked voice leaked meekly a short distance behind Seletina.