Chapter 46 Do you… like it?
The Witch opened her eyes and looked at the Black-haired Boy at the entrance of the great hall.
Confusion and anger flashed in her eyes.
She was so focused on confronting the power from the Deity that she carelessly overlooked Shaya, who was hiding with the use of the **Veil of Invisibility**.
“Why are you still here?”
The tone of Witch Miss rose slightly.
Then, she exerted all her strength to sit upright, not wanting to show her disarray in front of a Human.
But her slender long legs hidden under the black gauze skirt were trembling slightly, and she had completely lost the strength to stand and face him.
Shaya looked at her with a complex expression and shook his head gently.
Breaking the seal, desecrating the Deity, and giving without reason.
These three crimes derived from the decree of punishment echoed in Shaya’s ears.
Upon reflection, not a single one was unrelated to Shaya.
To save him, Witch Miss forcibly used her mental projection to break the seal, driving away the God of Elements, Adrien, and then completely refined the Invisible Demon into an ancient cursed object as a gift for Shaya.
Yet all along, she had never asked Shaya for anything.
Not even a hint about the punishment.
What a stubborn person.
Shaya took a deep breath.
The favor the Witch Miss had bestowed upon him was somewhat too heavy.
At least Shaya himself was not as noble as she thought; while the deaths from their previous encounters were perhaps shocking, they ultimately served his own interests.
“My lord, what can I do for you?”
Shaya ignored her words urging him to leave and stepped forward, preparing to enter the great hall.
A hint of coldness flashed in the Witch Miss’s eyes: “I said, that is an equivalent exchange.”
She lightly raised her fingertip.
Just a second before Shaya stepped into the palace, the two stone doors at the entrance slammed shut with a thunderous sound!
The cool figure vanished from Shaya’s sight.
He froze for a few seconds, turned to take a look, and found the teleportation passage behind him was still maintained, although the silver flames burning on the surface flickered slightly, as if to say that the Witch couldn’t hold on much longer, and if he didn’t leave soon, it would be too late!
But he didn’t even consider this option.
“You underestimated me, didn’t you?”
Shaya sighed.
…
With the flickering of the balance mark on his chest, the pain brought on by the punishment was still ongoing.
Every part of the Witch Miss’s body hurt, as if every inch of her bones were being slowly crushed.
Yet she maintained her composure, slightly bending down to pick up the feather quill on the ground.
At that moment, a muffled scraping sound suddenly came from the entrance of the great hall.
The Witch Miss frowned.
What a persistent fellow.
The stone door was tainted by a hint of her power released carelessly, though it was just a thin thread and not something as weak as Shaya could forcibly break through.
Perhaps after trying and failing, he would leave on his own.
So the Witch Miss ignored it and grasped the fallen feather quill.
A series of delicate sounds followed.
“Shhh—”
Then, wisps of white silk-like steam rose from the barely visible crack beneath the stone door.
“Rumble—”
Accompanied by the rough sound of the stone door scraping against the ground, the double doors slowly opened just a crack.
But it was only a crack.
In the next second, a deep shadow projected from the open door onto the ground, darting out through a gap that a person could never pass!
Under the Witch Miss’s gaze, the shadow lifted a curtain and stepped out.
She was dumbfounded.
At that moment, Shaya’s skin was glowing with strange red markings, his body surrounded by steam, and his black hair moved as if blown by the wind.
Not only that, but both arms were tightly wrapped in two gauntlets radiating black light.
Those were the gauntlets transformed from **Ash**, providing him with a double enhancement.
Shaya’s body swayed a few times before he staggered to his knees.
The red markings and steam quickly faded, and even the armor wrapping his arms failed to hold and seeped back into his skin.
Clearly, his body was under severe adverse effects, yet Shaya forcibly activated **Explosive Fighting Qi**.
This time, he could barely endure for less than a second.
“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…”
Streams of blood flowed down from the surface of Shaya’s skin.
Due to the aftermath of forcibly activating **Explosive Fighting Qi** a second time, his entire body felt like shattered porcelain, with countless bloodstains cracking open and staining his clothes, dripping down from the seams.
Soon, a puddle of blood gathered on the ground.
“…”
The Witch looked down at Shaya.
Unexpectedly, he also raised his head, his handsome face smeared with blood, revealing a smile that seemed very foolish to her.
“This injury… should be far less painful than what you’re feeling now.”
Shaya braced himself on the ground, swayed, and stood up, wiping the blood off his face.
The Witch Miss closed her eyes, her delicate white fingers tightly clutching the surface of her diary.
“The passage is closed.”
Her voice betrayed no emotion.
“It’s okay, I’ll leave after solving your problem,” Shaya smiled and said, “You know, I’m a writer, a writer who doesn’t like tragic endings.”
“So I said, a perfect ending must exist.”
He pointed to his head.
It just needed some thought.
And Shaya, who had been hidden in the shadow and witnessed the entire process of punishment, had not stopped thinking.
He pondered how to help Witch Miss escape from her current predicament.
God of Justice and Judgment.
Three crimes.
And the equivalent exchange that the Witch Miss had repeatedly mentioned in their previous conversation.
While it wasn’t said with intention in that context, the observant Shaya sensed a slight discord in those words.
It was as though she was deliberately emphasizing something to some existence.
Perhaps it was the punishment will within the palace.
Or perhaps… she was trying to convince herself?
Faced with this extraordinary situation, a storm brewed in Shaya’s mind, trying to push himself to think outside the normal scope regarding this issue.
Relying solely on his own strength was absolutely impossible, but perhaps there was a loophole.
Especially since only a thoughtless will resided within the palace.
So, Shaya took a deep breath, looked up towards the golden balance mark in the sky, and shouted, “It’s not a gift without reason!”
“Listen, this is a sacrifice, it is a complete equivalent exchange!!!”
The Witch suddenly opened her eyes, looking at Shaya with surprise.
At the same time, the blazing sun-like balance mark hovering at the highest point of the palace trembled gently, as if it had heard Shaya’s shout.
In the next moment, the mark on the Witch Miss’s chest stopped flickering!
“It seems I guessed right.”
Shaya laughed heartily.
The reasoning was simple.
Since you said the Witch Miss committed the sin of gifting without reason, then making that act invalid would free her from punishment, right?
And judging by its name, the God of Justice and Judgment would never violate the rules.
Shaya looked up; the mark on the Witch Miss’s chest merely stopped flickering, not disappearing entirely. She still leaned limply against the plush crimson chair, motionless.
This meant that if Shaya couldn’t turn the situation around next, punishment would continue.
The key lay in the equivalent exchange.
Shaya thought carefully; there was nothing valuable on him that could match the worth of the **Invisible Demon: Ash**, this ancient cursed object.
Counting every penny, the only valuable thing he had was over twenty thousand gold coins in the dimensional ring, plus another ten thousand left from Xivista last time.
But such a powerful treasure could not possibly be measured in money.
However, as stated before, in dealing with matters involving deities, one couldn’t think in conventional terms. Thus, when shouting at the punishment will, Shaya referred to it as “sacrifice” instead of “trade”.
What is a sacrifice?
Mortal beings offer items to please deities in exchange for their blessings and gifts.
That is the essence of sacrifice, in the word “please.”
Shaya absolutely couldn’t offer anything of equal value, so he slightly distorted the essence of the matter in this circumstance.
In other words, all he needed to do was present something that could please the Witch to her, making her feel it was worthwhile; that would count as a successful sacrifice.
So ultimately, he needed to please the Witch Miss!
Shaya thought to himself.
He opened the dimensional ring, trying to find items left by Xivista inside.
Because besides that, the only other valuable thing he had was the **Veil of Invisibility**.
Unfortunately, after searching for a long time, aside from a pile of golden coins and a few bottles of lesser value potions, he didn’t find anything he hoped for.
Even cosmetics would do!
Although the Witch Miss was naturally beautiful and didn’t need makeup, her natural beauty could defeat all the women in the world.
But for such modern, novel little gadgets, she might actually be a bit curious, right?
But nothing was found.
Just when Shaya was about to give up in despair and see if he could exchange some story, he suddenly discovered a wooden box at the very bottom of the dimensional space.
What is this?
With a bit of hope, he opened the wooden box.
To his surprise, inside lay a beautifully crafted pair of lace-up high-heeled sandals, and next to them seemed to be a neatly folded pair of black stockings?
Shaya cleared his throat a few times to suppress his inner embarrassment.
Well, if it were some kind of precious treasure, the other party probably wouldn’t have entrusted it to him so easily.
But Xivista, this sexy and alluring route doesn’t suit you at all.
A thought flashed through Shaya’s mind unreasonably, then he shook his head and refocused on the urgent matter at hand.
He lifted his head and unconsciously glanced at the Witch Miss, who was slumped on the chair.
In that glance, the image of her pure, flawless little feet suddenly came into his view.
Shaya suddenly remembered that it seemed the Witch Miss had been barefoot since their first meeting; she hadn’t worn shoes.
Was it because she didn’t want to wear them, or was there some other reason?
The high-heeled sandals were completely black, shiny, and inlaid with gorgeous jewels, appearing very expensive.
He recalled the story he had just told, of Cinderella and her glass slipper.
“My lady, do you like this pair of shoes…?”
No emphasis on value, as the Witch Miss wouldn’t care about such things.
Watching Shaya hold the glamorous heels, the Witch Miss’s gaze trembled slightly.
Seeing her like this, Shaya sighed in relief.
At least, she wouldn’t dislike it.
He looked up at the balance mark above and said loudly, “This is the item I wish to sacrifice.”
But after a long time, the mark remained unmoved.
Could it be… that he had to wear the shoes first?
Looking at the sexy high-heeled sandals in hand and then glancing at the slumped Witch Miss, Shaya suddenly conceived a crazy idea.
Making the decision in his mind, he dragged his broken body slowly towards the Witch Miss.
Before long, he entered the range affected by the mark.
The punishment from the God of Justice and Judgment was indeed “just,” only targeting the Witch who had violated the rules, and Shaya, who was present, felt no discomfort at all.
He walked up to the Witch, knelt down on one knee, and gazed at the pale, stunning woman.
The Witch looked up, confused, and glanced at him, seemingly not understanding what he was about to do.
Shaya met her gaze and softly said, “My lady Witch, please forgive my rudeness… but I think you would look beautiful wearing them.”
As he spoke, since the other party had used no additional power to suppress the remaining black mist nearby, it surged toward Shaya, who was alive, like a living thing!
Shaya let out a muffled grunt.
The black mist quickly devoured his life, and to race against death, Shaya hurried his movements.
In disbelief from the Witch’s eyes, he reached out to take the high-heeled sandals with one hand while the other gently grasped her smooth, tender foot.
Her small foot recoiled slightly, but it still couldn’t escape Shaya’s grip.
He felt the coldness on the sole of her foot, her toes pure and flawless, slightly tinged with a soft pink, just like the cool aura the Witch Miss exuded.
Feeling her skin, as smooth as jade, in his hand, Shaya remained focused, combating the frenzied curse, gently placing her dainty foot into the high-heeled sandals, then slowly tying the laces.
After putting on one shoe, he grabbed her other slender ankle and repeated the same action.
His vision gradually blurred, and Shaya knew he was once again approaching the countdown to life.
He had tried his best.
He looked at those feet, now appearing even more exquisite under the contrast of the black high-heeled sandals, feeling he had completed his mission.
Re-activating **Explosive Fighting Qi** for the second time pushed his already weakened body to the brink of collapse, compounded by the curse of the black mist around the Witch Miss. At this moment, Shaya could barely hold on.
He lowered his head, watching his blood drop onto her milky white feet, forcing a bitter smile.
Then, using his last strength, he whispered, “I’m sorry, but… do you like it?”
He hoped to hear the word “like,” so he could leave here without worries.
Unfortunately, before he could hear an answer, his consciousness fell into complete darkness.
“…”
The Witch’s pink lips moved twice, but in the end, she said nothing.
After a while, as if sensing some state achieved, the balance mark trembled gently before abruptly stopping and slowly vanishing into the void.
The punishment was over.
Shaya remained unaware that his final action had successfully pleased the Witch.
Neither did the Witch herself know.
Slowly, she rose, silently gazing at the feet encased in the sandals and the blood stained upon them, making no move to wipe it away in disgust.
She suddenly recalled the story Shaya had recounted.
The so-called perfect ending, and Cinderella’s glass slipper.
Cinderella had the prince’s rescue, what about… her?
After a lengthy silence.
Finally, in the quiet palace, a barely audible voice sounded.
“…I like it.”
