Chapter 45 The Guilty One, Agnes
“Slap!”
After a moment of silence, Witch Miss suddenly closed the book in her hand with a bit of force.
Her expression returned to its usual calm and cold demeanor, the slight disturbance she felt while listening to the story had completely vanished.
“There are no princes, and there won’t be a perfect ending; reality is just reality.” She looked up at Shaya, her pale lips slightly parted, “And you should leave now.”
After saying this, she casually raised her head and glanced at the dark, deep ceiling of the palace.
There, endless black mist swirled, seemingly in a silent struggle against some kind of force under the control of Witch Miss.
But Shaya was unaware of this.
He stared blankly at the expressionless Witch Miss.
After so much heartfelt discourse and implying so much, it all seemed to be brushed aside so lightly?
Damn it.
Shaya thought indignantly.
However, since Witch Miss had spoken, he had no reason to stay, so he nodded and said, “Then please curse me.”
He had already spent quite some time in the palace, and the outside world had no idea how long it had been.
The informant had arranged to meet him three days later; perhaps the time was approaching.
However, unexpectedly, the witch glanced at him and refused his request.
“The teleportation portal has opened; you will leave through there this time.”
Witch Miss stood up, walked to a nearby bookshelf, returned the book to an empty spot, and turned her back to Shaya.
Shaya was taken aback.
He was puzzled by her ability to open the teleportation portal while he couldn’t escape the palace, but what he cared about more was experience points.
He was already suffering from the aftereffects of the “Explosive Rage,” which had severely weakened his combat power, and with the imminent clues and conflicts regarding “the sun,” his urgency for strength had reached an unprecedented level.
He frowned, “Is there an inconvenient reason for you?”
“I said, leave here.”
Witch Miss turned slightly back to him, revealing half of her profile, partially concealed by her long black hair, making it hard to see her current expression.
When she said this, there was even a hint of authority in her voice.
Shaya stared at the witch’s elegant and slender silhouette, fell silent for a moment, and then gently nodded, “Alright, I’ll leave now.”
After saying that, he turned and walked toward the passage leading to the main hall’s entrance.
Soon, his figure disappeared within the palace.
Once the palace returned to its usual silence, Witch Miss, standing in front of the bookshelf, let out a barely perceptible sigh.
Her hand resting on the wooden bookshelf trembled slightly.
After a while, Witch Miss lifted her head again, gazing at the black dome of the palace, and under the illumination of the light source, her delicate face appeared even paler, devoid of color.
She looked somewhat strained.
In fact, this strain had been present since she saved Shaya just now, but because Witch Miss always maintained an expressionless demeanor and never showed any abnormalities, he hadn’t noticed it.
Just moments ago, Agnes had unprecedentedly broken the seal of the palace and repelled the evil gods, forcing the God of Elements, Adrien, to retreat.
She had even suppressed the seal of the gods for a brief moment.
However, this act triggered feedback from the seal that had remained silent for countless years, activating deeper rules here.
These were shackles devised by the gods to restrict the witch.
“……”
Witch Miss waved her hand, erasing the library scene within the palace, and slowly walked up the palace steps.
When she reached the highest platform, she raised her hand to conjure a red velvet chair, tidied up her somewhat tattered black gauze skirt, and gently sat down.
She silently stared at the place where Shaya had vanished, not knowing what was on her mind.
The black mist at the dome began to slowly dissipate.
Now that Shaya had left, there was no need for her to continue forcibly suppressing that force from the divine power.
The clock began to toll.
Once, twice, three times… twelve times.
Just like the last time Shaya had visited, the dome echoed with twelve chimes, slowly drifting within the palace.
As if a death knell was ringing for her.
“Boom——!!!”
A resonant sound like a great bell suddenly filled the space, and the ground trembled violently, even the previously stable space became precarious!
At the highest point of the dome, accompanied by an immensely strong wave, a gigantic pattern gleaming with dazzling golden light quickly outlined itself in the void.
Witch Miss glanced at the pattern, a hint of sarcasm curling the corners of her mouth.
Then, she waved her hand, conjuring a heavy diary into her hands, grasped a feather pen, and flipped to the latest date.
Without much thought, she began to write lightly.
【That boy… has appeared again.】
【Even after experiencing the pain of the black mist curse, he still chose to come here?】
In the sky above, the radiant golden symbol had been completed, resembling a blooming sun, illuminating the evil power within this palace, leaving no place to hide.
That symbol was a “scales” pattern adorned with splendid designs.
If Shaya were here, he would immediately recognize that this pattern came from the Judgment Tower, representing a powerful orthodox deity.
The God of Justice and Judgment!
But Witch Miss paid no attention to the scene before her, indifferently continuing to write in her journal.
【It seems that there was an error during the teleportation process, causing him not to successfully enter the palace, and after being tainted by Adrien, his first reaction was to… use his body to shield the invisible demon trying to break the seal.】
【Strangely, I, who have been feared by the world since my birth, experienced the feeling of being protected for the first time.】
【Ironically, that guy is as weak as an ant.】
【Has the outside world changed?】
【Why are there such foolish people living in this world?】
The scales pattern trembled slightly, and then a majestic female voice echoed in the hall, announcing the judgment upon Agnes.
“Guilty one Agnes, you have violated the laws set by the gods within the Abyss Palace. Starting now, punishment will be administered.”
In response, she remained indifferent, continuing to write in her diary.
But at the same time, black mist gradually began to gather around Witch Miss.
“Offense One: It is forbidden to break the seal here!”
The voice was dignified but mechanical, as the palace was a place where even the gods could not cast their gaze; even the God of Elements could only cast a vertical pupil to observe from the outside.
Thus, this voice resembled the punitive will following the divine arrangement, devoid of self-awareness.
Accompanied by the declaration of the first offense, the scales pattern vibrated violently, and then a smaller version of the scales symbol transformed into golden light and shot toward the chest of Witch Miss!
“Boom—”
The black mist surged up, transforming into a giant hand of black mist that clasped the golden light tightly in its grasp!
Amid the collision of the two forces, black cracks appeared in the void, marked signs of destruction of space.
The golden light and the giant hand resisted each other for a moment, and then the two powers slowly dissolved in mid-air.
At the same time, the slender hand holding the feather pen trembled lightly twice, and her already pale face became even more devoid of color.
“Offense Two: It is forbidden to desecrate the deities here!”
The second scales mark transformed once more into brilliant golden light and descended from above.
This offense was aimed at Agnes for forcing the God of Elements to retreat.
In the eyes of this will, it was a blatant desecration.
The black mist once again condensed, swirling into a vortex that enveloped the golden light within, spinning rapidly, attempting to neutralize this power from the divine.
After a long time, the two forces finally dissipated into nothingness.
Sitting on the chair, Witch Miss expressionlessly coughed gently twice.
Around her, the available black mist had almost entirely diminished.
She continued to write.
【Stranger still, I actually suppressed the punishment descending from the gods just to hear a weak human’s fairy tale story, until I could barely bear it, before letting him leave.】
【And that story…】
As she wrote this, a hint of nostalgia flickered in the witch’s eyes.
【Once, it seemed I also had a title like “The Greying Witch.”】
At the moment the witch put pen to paper, within the palace, brilliant golden light surged!
It seemed that the punitive will could no longer maintain its facade since it had been completely thwarted by Witch Miss previously.
“Offense Three: It is forbidden to give without reason!”
Unprecedentedly intense golden light pierced through the black mist that had coalesced before Witch Miss with unstoppable force, transforming into a coin-sized mark deeply engraved onto her smooth, fair chest, like a branding iron!
“……”
Witch Miss frowned, her complexion becoming even paler.
After the scales mark was imprinted on Witch Miss’s chest, it did not dissipate but continued to radiate golden light, enveloping her entire being under the weight of divine authority.
And the God of Justice and Judgment holds the power of law and punishment.
Since the rules had been violated, punishment must be meted out.
Witch Miss’s body trembled slightly, before slumping weakly onto the chair, her feather pen falling to the ground as if bearing the weight of a double torment from the physical and mental realms.
The mark flashed intermittently, each emergence transforming into a tidal wave of power, washing over the witch’s psyche and body inch by inch.
This was a one-sided torment, solely aimed at bringing her intense suffering.
This pain was even more severe than slowly grinding away all the bones in a person’s body.
But on the witch’s face, there seemed to be no regret.
She gently closed her eyes.
At that moment.
A sigh suddenly came from the entrance at the front of the hall.
“Witch Miss…”
“How can you conduct yourself in this way and still allow me to leave here in dignity?”
The figure of the boy stepped out from behind the curtain of shadows, looking up at Agnes, who was enduring punishment and pain alone, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
