[Teresa….]
Mawang Shia cried continuously, shedding tears of black mana.
What looked identical to Shia was merely the form of a caterpillar as explosive black mana burst forth, enveloping the Mawang like a cocoon.
Before long, the Mawang that emerged from the black mana spread her wings, slowly consuming the surroundings.
Whether they were moth wings or butterfly wings, they covered the area like a transparent veil, merging with the very fabric of space.
As the Mawang’s wings quivered slightly, the interior space of the Demon King’s Castle trembled entirely. Though it wasn’t an earthquake, the faint vibrations from her wings shook the boundaries of space.
“……..”
Watching this spectacle, Shia tilted her head slightly to the side and gazed quietly at the Mawang.
Her rationality was half lost.
In fact, she wasn’t sure if she had even possessed reason in the first place.
The moment she heard the word ‘Teresa,’ Mawang Shia transformed into a butterfly. She moved mechanically, as if a switch had been flipped, creaking with her entire body.
[Bloom]
“Flowers…?”
And then flowers bloomed.
[Bloom]
[Bloom]
[Bloom]
Countless flowers.
Strange white flowers, absorbing the black mana, raised their heads around her.
As the flower buds formed and each petal unfurled, instead of pollen, they spewed forth destructive mana that erased anything it touched.
As the blooming flowers multiplied, Shia and Yujin were gradually forced to retreat.
The banquet hall was already devastatingly destroyed beyond recognition due to flowers and black mana.
However, the problem was that the butterfly was still crying. It seemed utterly unaware of the destruction it was causing.
[Teresa, Kaitlyn….]
‘Sorrow, anger, lamentation, regret.’
Though she wasn’t an Awakened One with mind-reading abilities, Shia had grown accustomed to perceiving emotions after living over 60 years as a Seongnyeo in the previous world.
Thanks to that, Shia could sense that the newly transformed black Mawang was filled with all manner of negative emotions.
‘What I can think is, that thing is really a doll created by Teresa or…’
Until she heard the overflow of black mana and the doll-like speech, Shia had assumed that the butterfly-transformed Shia was not Mawang but rather a doll created by Teresa.
In fact, there were grounds for such a belief. If Teresa were the one she knew, making a doll that resembled a human would be no hard task at all.
It’s no coincidence that Teresa’s nickname was the Puppet Witch.
She could turn even her own flesh into a puppet and had the terrifying ability to create dolls from both living and non-living things, mastering countless taboos, black magic, and sorcery.
In simple terms, only Shia and Menelapie stood against the Mawang, and if Teresa had remained a close aide of the Mawang, they would not have won the war.
Anyway, Teresa was well-versed in creating doll bodies.
‘If that butterfly isn’t a doll… maybe it’s really another version of me from a different world…?’
As Yujin suggested, what if that was indeed a parallel universe version of her that had devoured Teresa’s soul and power due to some misfortune…?
Ah, if that were truly the case, it would make sense.
So, if that thing resembling me was speaking and acting like a doll… if it had devoured Teresa’s power and soul, it would explain why its actions and body had transformed into those of a doll…
“Ah……..”
Unknowingly, Shia stumbled.
The true identity of the Mawang was still a mystery.
She didn’t even know if she had devoured Teresa.
There was no concrete evidence, and everything remained within the realm of speculation.
What Shia knew was that the Mawang, upon hearing the name ‘Teresa,’ had entered a state of furious sorrow and devastation, partially glowing with rage, but even that alone conjured too many unpleasant imaginings.
‘But what if that’s…. really a version from a parallel world that devoured Teresa…?’
No way. It can’t be.
Do you really think that?
No, no.
I haven’t devoured Teresa.
Is that what you think?
No, I wouldn’t.
No way.
Do you know Menelapie has a scar on her shoulder?
What scar?
That’s your bite mark.
Ah…?
In the previous world, you charged at her without realizing it, trying to devour her…
Could it be that another Shia from a different world was successful in devouring Teresa?
“Uugh…!”
Shia bit her lip to suppress the nausea that threatened to come up.
This is bad.
Just imagining it drained her strength in an instant.
Since Menelapie returned, she had tried not to behave disgracefully or indulge in self-pity…
But imagining that there was another version of herself that had consumed Teresa made her feel utterly…
“Disgusting…”
So, so disgusting.
I want to kill it.
I want to wipe it off the face of the earth.
Ah, I feel like I’m going to throw up.
Ugh.
Ahh.
Ugh…
No, this is unbearable.
I can’t stand it.
Looks like I imagined things too intensely.
So….
Let’s get rid of it.
Right, that thing.
Let’s eliminate it.
○○○○
“Hey. The atmosphere seems off, so we need to prepare.”
“…………”
“Isia? Are you listening? What’s wrong… ugh?!”
Seeing Shia’s body wobble, Yujin turned to look at her.
However, at that moment, he regretted turning his head.
The acrid scent of malice burning the skin, and the ghastly wails of the starlight’s corpse, merging with its owner’s emotions, filled the air.
Ka-ting!
Ka-ting!
Ka-ding-ding!
Ka-ding-ding!
Flesh and tentacles writhe.
The corpse of starlight, which originally had only five protruding appendages, transformed into a mass of twisting tentacles, spewing forth the black malice that it could not convert into Seongnyeok.
The tentacles unleashed were affecting Shia, their mistress.
Shia’s white, silvery hair, while not as dark as Mawang Shia’s, was tinted a grayish hue.
Her once healthy white skin had turned even more corpse-like pale.
“Oh no….!”
The moment Yujin sensed the anomaly, he immediately sprang away from Shia.
No, he needed to distance himself not only from Shia but also from the butterfly that had transformed into Mawang Shia.
‘The space is collapsing with the entire castle…’
Yujin understood this phenomenon well.
The Demon King’s Castle was a kind of barrier and a mental space that obeyed its master’s commands.
It was not a physically existing castle but rather came into being due to its master’s mana, malice, or divine power, making it susceptible to influences from those powers. Thus, the space of the castle began to distort and collapse around Shia and Mawang Shia.
The black mana they were spilling, along with the unrefined Seongnyeok, likely wielded powers higher than any other ability, so it was entirely reasonable for them to be collapsing the castle’s space.
[Teresa. Teresa. Teresa. Teresa.]
As the butterfly’s white wings fluttered, the world began to be tainted by shadows and darkness. Shia’s tentacles spread the murky malice, melting the floor and ceiling, blending them into shadow.
“………Ah, huh….”
The melting darkness turned into shadows, and soon the banquet hall and Demon King’s Castle lost all shape, becoming a black world.
To avoid being engulfed by the weight from the shadows, Yujin began to shield the space with his mana, but even that felt suffocating.
A normal person would have been crushed under that oppressive pressure.
‘Oxygen, air, space—there’s nothing here…’
Had it not been for his false abilities, capable of wielding extensive and diverse magic, he would have lost his ego and form, fading into the shadows.
Yet even Yujin could only maintain his existence within this space.
This space was a warped realm so deranged that it could treat curses or debuffs, even the Void Castle made from meat earlier, like child’s play.
‘The only ones who can move now are probably Isia and that butterfly…’
As if to prove his words, flowers began to bloom in the black world.
White flowers that appeared to be made of wax and plant stems extended outward from the center around Butterfly Shia. Shia stared at them expressionlessly while her tentacles thrashed.
Yujin realized that the playful atmosphere Shia once had completely dissipated.
Her earlier cries to kill the evil Mawang weren’t spoken with sincerity but were rather half-hearted jokes, yet the current Shia displayed no trace of laughter—only pure murder and disgust.
And then the clash suddenly began.
Puh-rrr!!
Accompanied by a deafening explosion, the tentacles shot towards the butterfly, seeking to tear it apart. The unfurling flower buds unleashed beams formed of black mana instead of pollen.
The tentacles brimming with malice, rather than divine power, and the flowers radiating pure black mana clashed as their waves annihilated everything in the shadowy realm.
Shia swung the immense pressure that surged from her tentacles. The flowers and plants summoned by the butterfly, in return, spewed forth black mana like pollen, assaulting the tentacles.
[Teresa. Teresa.]
Still, the butterfly wept, shedding black tears.
No one knew why it cried.
But Shia couldn’t bear the sight of the butterfly weeping, feeling sickened to the core.
Thus, the tentacles writhed even more violently, emitting anguished screams. With each scream from the tentacles, the flowers that had withered bloomed again, spewing black mana pollen.
Neither Shia nor the butterfly had any intention of watching each other.
No, ‘watching’ wasn’t the right expression.
Shia wanted to get rid of that thing out of pure disgust, while the butterfly was operating in a half-rabid state devoid of reason.
Brrr!
Puh-rrr!
Bang!
Tentacles intertwined with flowers.
As the vines constricted from all sides, the tentacles severed them, while the ones that aimed to tear apart the butterfly’s wings were shaken off by the black mana waves.
If this were reality, the destruction would have been so severe that access to the nearby land would have been prohibited.
In a fleeting moment, hundreds of writhing tentacles in the darkness collided with thousands of blooming flowers, resulting in a cacophony of conflict.
The overwhelming weight of an indefinable number was laid bare; they toppled, twisted, tore, and obliterated. The space engulfed in darkness and shadow repeated the cycle of being shattered and torn apart before rebuilding itself.
Indiscriminate clashes and levels of destruction that defied logic filled the air.
Space was demolished, reformed, and then ripped apart, blending the black mana and malice into a sludgy amalgamation.
[Miracle]
The impasse shattered the moment Shia took a step forward.
[Body Annihilation]
Kuwung!!
Flower buds tore apart.
Yet, that was insufficient.
As much as flowers were ripped away, many others continued to shield the butterfly.
So Shia…
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
Bang!
Continued…
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
Never stopping…
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]!
Boom!
Smash!
Crack!!!
To destroy, and then destroy again.
There was no room in her mind for the waning of amassed divine power and malice.
Shia merely wanted to tear that butterfly’s wings apart.
Bang!
Kuwung!
Crackle!
Boom!!
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]
[Miracle – Body Annihilation]!!!
As all the blooming flowers were crushed, the butterfly’s wings were also torn apart.
The space dissolved in shadow and malice was utterly consumed by the continuous miracles of Body Annihilation, leaving nothing behind.
Nothing remained, not even darkness, flowers, or malice.
The wide expanse was neatly devastated, lying in tatters, and the melted Demon King’s Castle returned to a wrecked banquet hall.
The series of Body Annihilation miracles had collapsed the very space itself, reverting it back to the world before the destruction.
Click, click.
[Teresa. Teresa…]
The butterfly with torn wings lay powerless on the ground.
Yet still, it uttered Teresa’s name, and the black tears streaming from its eyes showed no signs of stopping.
Kwahhh!
Standing before the butterfly, Shia stomped on its arm, shattering it.
The shell-like body reduced to mere remains.
Crackle!
With a swift kick, the butterfly lost its legs, unable to stand on the ground anymore.
[Teresa. Teresa. Teresa. Teresa..]
“Enough.”
Then, as if she couldn’t bear to hear another utterance, Shia growled and gripped the butterfly’s neck.
“I’m going to ask you one last time.”
[……]
“Where is Teresa?”
[……]
The butterfly no longer spoke.
Instead, it gazed blankly at Shia, as if choosing its next words painstakingly.
[She is… Teresa is…]
“…….”
[Her body is…]
Answer me quickly.
The hand gripping the butterfly’s neck trembled more and more.
Hurry up and say it.
[She is… dead.]
“……………….”
Ah.
No.
Shia released the grip on the butterfly.
Yet the butterfly did not fly away.
Even though its torn wings were healing, and its broken arms and legs were regenerating, the butterfly remained grounded.
It simply stated the truth calmly.
And the one who knew that truth the best was Shia.
‘This isn’t a lie.’
Shia had the ability to discern lies from those capable of speech and with emotions.
The butterfly, being Teresa’s puppet, was no exception.
And there was no trace of deception in the butterfly’s words.
If it wasn’t a lie, if that statement about Teresa’s death was not a lie…
“Teresa….”
Ah, ugh.
“Lies.”
Ah, ah.
Damn.
It’s not… no.
It’s not me?
“That’s a lie….”
No, dammit.
I didn’t do it.
I didn’t do this.
There’s no need for this.
No need for this… ah, ugh…..ugh..!!!
“AHHHH…Ha, Ah….Ah…”
Breath falters.
Hands tremble.
Something cold penetrated deep into her heart.
It burrowed, and burrowed, and burrowed deeper until she felt nothing at all.
“Shi, Shia…?”
Menelapie… when did you arrive?
Ah, Yujin had called earlier.
So truly, my hero has come right away.
“Shia, it’s okay. It’s alright. Calm down…!”
“Ugh, ah. Ahh… Haa, aa… aa…..!”
But… why now?
Don’t come.
Don’t look.
No, no.
Don’t look at me.
I’m so incredibly ugly right now.
I’m so disgusted with myself.
Don’t look at me, Menelapie. Please.
“Shit, it’s all messed up.”
Yeah, it’s all ruined…
I ruined it.
I… I ruined Teresa…
“Hey. Hey. Hey.”
Teresa…?
Who? Don’t talk to me.
I’m not in the mood for conversation….
Yet the one who was speaking paid no mind to Shia’s words, poking at her side persistently.
The voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Although she’d never heard that voice before, Shia felt a strange sense of familiarity in the lightness of its tone.
An elegant young lady’s beautiful voice, yet with a rough tone, as if it belonged to some alley thug.
It was neither Menelapie.
Nor Yujin.
And not even Shia herself.
“Hey, you little shit.”
And when Shia, with tears streaming down her face, lifted her head, both Menelapie and Yujin, who had rushed to Shia’s side, were met with an unexpected sight.
“…………..Eh?”
“Uh, you, who are you?”
A child stood there.
As if she had been there all along.
Like magic.
The girl with purple hair had her hands on her hips, sporting an irritated expression.
Despite being a child Shia and Menelapie had never seen before, they felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu emanating from her.
She was undeniably a first-time encounter, yet she had long purple hair that trailed behind her like Teresa’s.
It was their first time seeing this girl, but she wore a highly revealing dress that was far too big for her, resembling that of a black witch, just like Teresa.
She was also a first-time sighting, yet she floated a halo made of black mana above her head. (Though it had far fewer spikes than Teresa’s original halo).
Even being entirely new… someone they had never seen before…
“What are you looking at, you fuckers.”
Ah, ah…
Oh my…
“You, you are….!”
“Loooooosssst….!”
As Menelapie’s expression shifted from surprise to joy, Shia began to cry even harder.
The purple-haired girl sported a slightly triumphant look seeing Shia sob.
Yeah, you missed me that much?
I, too, had been wanting to…
“You’re Teresa’s child! Hahaaaa! I’ll treasure you…”
Phew!
“Ugh!”
“That’s not it, you idiot Seongnyeo!!!”
