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Walls of flesh writhe, closing in from both sides. The ceiling collapses, sending forth dark red tentacles. These tentacles stretch out, transforming into sharp spears that pierce through the entire body.

A scream bursts out.

“Aaaah!”

Continuing forward would only lead to destruction.

They flee. Running madly, with the crumbling world behind them.

It’s useless. The world collapses far too quickly.

“Argh!”

They scream, over and over again, for there was no other choice.

Their comrades die around them.

Countless tentacles strangle necks and tear limbs apart. The floor and ceiling crush entire bodies. Fluids bubble up and splatter everywhere. Everything is twisted, crushed, and bursts open.

No matter how fast they run, the nightmare doesn’t fade.

The ceiling becomes the floor, and walls turn into windows. Beyond the punctured walls, another hallway unfolds. An ocean of blood overflows, swallowing everyone whole.

And beyond all this nightmare, they are there.

Cold eyes, faces devoid of even a hint of mercy, spreading hell in the real world and killing everything.

All that can be done is to scream.

“Aaaaaaah!”

In this terror and despair, the only freedom permitted was to scream.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

***

“…Why do I feel like we’re the villains here?”

Serati clicked her tongue as she looked down the hallway.

Karnak and Baros shook their heads.

“It’s just your imagination.”

“Those are merely the lingering thoughts of hell. Just because they’re screaming doesn’t mean they’re all living creatures.”

The scene unfolding before them was as follows:

Winged monkeys and slimy monsters were madly chasing Karnak’s group. Soon, they were crushed as they were swept up in the writhing mass of flesh and flailing tentacles.

“Aaah!”

“Aaah!”

“Graaaah!”

This entire area had completely fallen under Karnak’s control. He could manipulate the space as he wished, slicing up the monsters at will.

Thanks to that, Baros and Serati had nothing left to do. All they had to do was follow behind Karnak and keep watch.

Walking leisurely over the skeletal floor, Karnak observed his surroundings.

Unlike when they were walking through the colorful candy corridors, his expression was calm and serene.

“This feels much more familiar and comforting than something like a candy house, after all.”

Serati sighed.

“It sounds absurd, but the fact that you actually feel that way is amusing.”

Surrounded by grotesque bones and flesh, it oddly felt more peaceful than the bright, colorful candy setting from earlier.

It wasn’t that the scenery was more pleasant, but at least it lacked the unsettling unease and dissonance she had felt before.

As they continued walking, Karnak focused his mind.

“By the way, where could Alius be?”

His control was solid but not wide. While he could fully deploy his barrier-stealing spell, there were still limits to his necromantic power.

So they had to keep moving to search. And of course, they had to deal with the monsters along the way.

“Aaah!”

“Graaaah!”

“Graaaah!”

As they walked, leaving the constant cries of the monsters behind them, the landscape suddenly twisted and whirled before a massive entrance opened up.

Beyond the entrance was a grand hall, beautifully decorated with candy.

Cats wearing boots, holding trays, glanced at Karnak’s group and let out wary cries.

“Meow!”

“Meow meow!”

“Why are those cats crying like normal?” Serati asked in confusion.

Karnak casually replied, as if it were nothing special.

“Too much distortion.”

She blinked, still not understanding.

“If it’s too much, why do they go back to normal?”

“Is that the normalcy of reality? It’s the normalcy of a fairy tale.”

Indeed, the cats in boots weren’t transforming into slimy monsters. Instead, they were running around with trays in their paws.

And that too with two feet.

Watching them, it really did feel like something out of a fairy tale.

“I still don’t really get what you’re saying…”

Serati, feeling unsure, was just starting to raise her head when—

“Ah!”

She noticed dozens of cages suspended in midair throughout the hall.

She had been too distracted by the cats to notice them until now.

Inside each cage were the missing people, frantically crying out.

“…!”

“…?”

Of course, since the sound was blocked, to Karnak’s group, it only appeared as if they were silently opening and closing their mouths.

Karnak and Baros casually muttered to each other.

“Oh, they’re still alive.”

“They’re all alive, even.”

“Why are so many of them still alive?”

“Why are you two just standing there? We should rescue them quickly…”

Serati was about to rush toward the cages when—

“Wait.”

Baros stopped her and pointed around.

“Why is everything still covered in sweets, Young Master?”

Only then did Serati notice something was off.

The surroundings were still coated in sweets. With Karnak’s presence, the hall should have transformed into a grotesque landscape of flesh, but it hadn’t.

“I told you, the distortion is too strong.”

This meant that his control no longer worked here, and the distorted image cast over the hall was too intense.

It also suggested that they were close to the master of this domain.

With cold eyes, Karnak glared toward the other side of the hall.

“The witch is nearby.”

Beyond the rows of cages, a sinister voice echoed.

“Khehehehe…”

It was the voice of an eerie old woman.

“What beautiful little children you are.”

***

The witch was truly a grotesque sight.

Her face was covered in so many wrinkles that it was impossible to guess her age, with a hooked nose, and she was dressed in a shabby robe and a wide-brimmed pointed hat, holding a broom in one hand.

As Karnak glared at her, he thought to himself.

‘Just like the memory projection.’

The precise definition of a witch, as referred to on the continent, was this:

A female necromancer who wielded the power of darkness and death.

A woman who simply used magic wasn’t called a witch.

Just as Elezar, one of the three Archmages, wasn’t called a witch.

The opponent before them was a hunched old woman, clearly wielding high-level necromancy. By anyone’s standards, she was a flawless example of a witch.

‘But why does this not feel quite right?’

The witch approached Karnak’s group.

Karnak, slowly pulling out his wand and aiming it, shouted.

“Hey, old hag! Are you really a witch?”

The witch frowned.

“Ugh, you all look so scrawny.”

“Why did you capture these people? To eat them?”

“This old lady likes to eat plump, fat children!”

A perfect example of nonsensical rambling.

Serati sent a mental message.

[…This feels exactly like when we first met Laficel, doesn’t it?]

No matter what they said, she acted like she didn’t hear them and kept repeating herself.

[Is it possible someone else crossed over?]

[It sure looks that way.]

Judging by the situation, Serati’s suspicion was very reasonable. Karnak agreed.

[My instincts are screaming that it’s not the case, though.]

Not that he expected an answer. He just wanted to gauge her reaction.

‘I’ll have to confirm it for sure.’

Now, as always, Karnak’s method of resolving his curiosity was the same.

Violence.

“Baros!”

As if he had been waiting, the blonde knight stepped forward.

“Yes, young master!”

The witch sprang into action. With a sweep of her robe, she flew at Baros like a ghost, stopping right in front of him.

Her speed exceeded expectations, and Baros’s expression tightened slightly.

‘She’s really fast!’

The witch swung her broom down. Baros raised his sword, imbued with battle aura, to block.

As the broom and sword collided, a shockwave erupted.

Boom!

The shockwave shattered the candy floor around them, sending shards flying everywhere.

The force was so powerful that all the suspended cages shook in unison.

Yet Baros didn’t budge an inch.

‘I’m not the type to be pushed back by this.’

Baros absorbed the incoming shock by slightly bending his knees, allowing the force to dissipate into the ground.

It might have looked simple, but this was a highly advanced deflection technique that most aura users couldn’t even dream of mastering.

The witch, however, wasn’t pushed back either.

“Heh heh, you’re quite the disobedient child!”

But her reason was entirely different from Baros’s.

She simply withstood the impact with her bare body, without any technique to dissipate the force.

This puzzled Baros.

‘Her body being fine is one thing, but how is she not being pushed back?’

She wasn’t particularly heavy, nor was she anchored to the ground. Something felt off.

At that moment, Serati also sprang into action.

[I’m joining in!]

She drew her sword imbued with battle aura and positioned herself behind the witch. Out of caution, she sent a quick message to Karnak.

[Don’t give me that Hell Armor! I’ll fight with my own strength!]

The Hell Armor she had worn during the battle with Laficel was indeed powerful, but it also corrupted the soul. She preferred not to use it unless her life was on the line.

Not that Karnak had any intention of giving it to her anyway.

[Even if you asked, I wouldn’t. With so many eyes watching, do you think I’d really hand it over?]

There were dozens of people trapped in cages, all watching the battle unfold. They might be muted, but their sight wasn’t blocked.

[Ah, good point.]

With Baros and Serati now flanking the witch, they both aimed their aura-infused swords at her.

The witch hurled her broom aside and lunged at Serati, swinging her long, claw-like fingers wildly.

“Khehehe!”

Her attacks were so predictable that any seasoned aura user could dodge them with their eyes closed.

Of course, Serati wasn’t a fool, so she dodged carefully, fully aware.

At the same time, she aimed a strike at the witch’s shoulder with her aura sword!

Clang!

The blade, infused with powerful aura, couldn’t pierce through the witch’s flapping robe and was deflected.

Serati clicked her tongue.

‘As expected, this isn’t enough.’

She wasn’t surprised.

She had already seen the memory projection of the battle between Leocolt and Lestain. Both were Red Knights of her caliber, yet they couldn’t even scratch the witch.

Something extra was needed.

‘In that case…’

Serati dashed in closer, pressing her attack.

‘Like this…’

She mimicked the precise movements she had observed from Baros countless times, skillfully moving her blade.

“Hyaaah!”

The witch’s attack narrowly grazed Serati’s hair, but at the same moment, her aura sword struck the witch’s shoulder once more.

Swoosh!

This time, the robe was pierced, and black smoke, like blood, began to seep out.

The witch’s own force was used against her, as Serati had perfectly timed her counter.

Instead of Serati’s sword piercing the witch’s shoulder, it was as if the witch had slammed her own shoulder into the sword tip.

“This works.”

Feeling proud, Serati smiled. Even she had to admit that this move was executed well.

Baros, too, seemed quite pleased.

[Oh, that was pretty good, Dame Serati.]

The witch’s face contorted with fury as she exploded in anger.

“…Such disobedient children!”

From within the cage, Alius watched Karnak’s group.

‘I knew they’d come for us.’

His trust had been rewarded beyond expectations. They had come to rescue him much sooner than he had anticipated.

However, something seemed off.

Karnak’s group had not brought along an inquisitor who could assist them.

‘So how did they find this place?’

The divine power he had left behind was far too faint to be detected by aura users or mages.

There were only two possible scenarios for someone to sense it.

Either a properly trained inquisitor had detected it, or…

‘Perhaps… a necromancer might be able to.’