Witch's Embrace

Inside the slum.

Seeing the familiar small house before him, Hawthorne was almost moved to tears.

He finally found it!

The sun had long set, and the two moons were beginning to shift southward. He had wandered around the slum for two or three hours before finally locating this place.

The slum by day and by night is like two completely different worlds.

This was another oversight on his part. In the game, unless there was significant plot progression, the map wouldn't change—whenever he went there, it was always the same.

But reality is different. A resident might spontaneously remodel their home, move things around, or a wall might collapse during a fight, causing the area to look significantly different.

This caused Hawthorne a lot of trouble.

Additionally, although his "Light" was bright at night, it couldn't compare to daylight, limiting his view. The darkness made him walk with less confidence.

Fortunately, he managed to keep his basic sense of direction throughout. Even if he lost his way, he could look up at the sky and reorient himself.

The Night of the Twin Moons had this one advantage: with two moons in the sky, he would never completely lose his sense of direction.

So, though it was slow going, he finally arrived at the correct location.

He then walked up to the door, looked at the hanging lock, and without hesitation, raised his hand and cast Magic Missile. The unseen force of the energy field struck the connection between the lock and the door.

Bang bang bang—

He wasn't afraid of making noise; Magic Missile was much quieter than Thunder Wave, so even in the dead of night, it wouldn't attract any outsiders.

And as for Yuta hiding in the room?

Heh, she was in her true form, too weak to move, so Hawthorne wasn't worried about startling her!

In fact, he hoped the witch would wait for him in anxiety and fear!

Bang—

Though still rather sturdy, the door couldn't withstand the continuous bombardment of the Magic Missile. Soon, the lock fell to the ground, and the door creaked open slightly!

Success!

Without hesitation, he stepped forward and kicked it, instantly breaking open the rotten door, sending a thick cloud of dust cascading down, filling the room in a haze!

But at that moment, Hawthorne cared nothing for the dirt. He hurried inside, using the bright light emitted from his "Light" spell to immediately spot the heap of disorderly, decayed metal tools piled in the center of the room.

And among them, buried under countless rusted scraps and coated with a layer of thick dust, lay the inconspicuous Giant Blade.

But knew that this item was Yuta's disguise for surviving Witch's Night.

About five hundred years ago, there was a prolonged political upheaval in a western kingdom where, one after another, usurpers ascended to become the new king, only to be overthrown by the next scheming usurper, leading to the guillotine...

In less than a decade, sixteen kings were crowned and then sent to the guillotine, with each king ruling for an average of only half a year, and the shortest reign lasting less than sixteen days.

This guillotine, having beheaded sixteen deity-sanctioned kings, became regarded as an ominous murder weapon.

When a new king ascended, he immediately blamed this guillotine for the kingdom's misfortune, claiming it had drained the nation's luck and led to nearly ten years of chaos.

The angry citizens dismantled and discarded it, but no one realized that the tragedy of sixteen deity-sanctioned kings' deaths, intertwined with the nation's decade-long sorrow, resentment, anger, and fear, was enough to spawn some terrifying magical creatures.

Thus, during the next Witch's Night, the immense magic power from the abyss mixed with this resentment, leading to the birth of The Blade Witch, Yuta.

Her true form isn't this guillotine but a massive black mist reminiscent of a nightmare. However, because her origin is tied to the guillotine, she instinctively favors objects of that shape.

Incidentally, because the guillotine had decapitated as many as sixteen kings, Yuta gained an amusing nickname among players: "Sixteen Skull Eater."

Ahem!

None of that mattered now; what was crucial at this moment was that this witch was about to be purified by him!

He strode forward, bent down, and placed his hand on the giant blades, muttering, "Purification!"

Instantly, milky white light enveloped the blades completely.

Dark, chaotic power surfaced from her, only to be purified by the white light. The rusted blades rapidly transformed, and within moments, her disguise dissolved, revealing her most familiar human form—the petite, cool nun clad in a black robe.

However, gone from her face was the usual serenity and coldness; her reddish-purple eyes were wide with shock: "How—how did you find this place?!"

Simultaneously, she felt as if her soul was being reshaped. Some irreversible change was occurring at her very core!

This transformation filled her with terror: "You filthy human, what are you doing to me?!"

Hawthorne sneered, "That's for me to know, my noble and esteemed witch."

As he spoke, looking at her delicate face, the frustration and humiliation he felt from being twice injured by her, threatened by her murderous intent, and confined in a small room for nearly a month surged up, turning his eyes bloodshot with a nearly crimson hue!

Hearing his words, Yuta's beautiful brow furrowed tightly, her voice full of anger: "I knew it, you are definitely a threat to the convent! From the first day I saw you, I should have killed you immediately, no matter how much Heidi opposed it!"

Mentioning Heidi, she suddenly widened her eyes, recalling the deep sea witch's peculiar behavior of recent days and her doting, submissive manner toward him!

Could it be that Heidi underwent this kind of transformation to become so abnormal?!

No, I refuse to accept becoming like that!

"I will kill you, you wretched mortal—ugh—"

She clamped her jaw shut tightly as the milky white Purification light seeped into her body. Suddenly, her petite frame bulged with tumor-like lumps that shifted continuously!

"I'd rather lose control forever than—" she gritted, her eyes nearly bursting, "than ever let you, a vile human, succeed, ah—!"