I’m not sure if this is a time reversal… or if I’ve moved to a new world, but when a person goes through similar experiences multiple times, they tend to drift further away from what is considered normal.
It’s not a matter of mental or physical issues.
It’s extremely, painfully exhausting. It’s like scars getting etched into the soul itself.
While the wear and tear on the soul is a problem…
Oops!
‘What’s truly frightening is that I’ve reached a point where I no longer perceive that.’
Is this normal?
What even is normal?
Eselatia-Teresa stood atop the hill piled high with the corpses of the Demon King’s army and human knights, raising her blood-soaked hands.
Red.
So red.
Wait, is it black…?
I can’t tell anymore.
Guilt faded long ago…
But the thought of not being able to save someone aches profoundly.
Yet now, even as I raised my bloodied fingers into the air, I felt no trace of melancholy.
The witch couldn’t tell if this blood on her hands was from a traitor, or from the blood of the Demon Race, or even the blood of innocent humans swept away by magic.
Whoosh!
She witnessed countless deaths, whether they be enemies, allies, civilians, or unrelated innocents.
Even though I never cared for the lives of others, thinking of life as something less than a game piece or a consumable is not a pleasant feeling.
Rather, if I were a born pleasure killer or a psychopathic inhuman who couldn’t empathize with others, I might have felt a little more at ease.
Feeling guilt clumsily and not having faith that I could normally welcome a happy ending someday feels heavy on my heart.
In the landscape of the withered earth and blood-soaked rivers, where enemies and allies mixed to form towers of corpses, Teresa rubbed her forehead.
I can’t remember how many times I’ve done this.
“Why am I doing this?”
I forget what I was doing here.
What did I desire that made me choose regression?
There must have been something there, something I shouldn’t forget… something precious and important, but I cannot remember.
I must have had a reason for turning back time, time after time…
Now even the reason eludes me…
Because of the hero?
Because of the saintess?
Because of the Demon King?
What was it again? Why did I do that…?
Ah, I don’t know.
Haah!
“Geez, being alone is easier.”
This round is a bust.
So many have already died.
If this keeps up, even if I manage to kill the Demon King, only the human forces might survive.
But that’s okay.
It’s not like there were no accomplishments.
I was able to gather more intel on the Demon King’s underlings.
I won’t forget the list of traitors now.
Let’s engrave the scale of this war into my soul.
Let’s remember what needs to be remembered.
Next, next…
“Eselatia!”
“…”
“Are you hurt?! I’ll heal you…!”
Ah, so loud.
Being so kind…
Being so weak…
Was my saintess this weak?
Was my saintess this delicate?
Was my saintess this gentle?
My saintess…
Why did I like her?
Why do I remember her?
Why do I… why do I…
I don’t know.
I can’t remember.
I want to recall…
Ugh!
“You’ve worked hard. You’ve worked hard…”
“…”
Being stupidly kind to a fault is Shia’s nature… but in this world, she was particularly sweet and kind.
Although there were no issues wielding power against the Demon King’s forces, the moment a former human or someone unable to abandon their humanity appeared among them, Lirisia hesitated.
Even though I’ve killed people before, Lirisia’s heart is too tender, and she still hesitated to kill.
That’s why the witch pulled the saintess back from the front lines.
If she couldn’t fight, she might as well bestow blessings from afar. Heal, strengthen allies, keep her at a distance. Strategically, it was the right choice.
Menelapie was shaken and exhausted, but her fighting power was still intact. Teresa had no issues in the frontline thanks to her accumulated experiences and spell advancements.
Of course, the Black Witch also sensed that this round had no prospects.
Even if her heart burned and darkness swallowed her, wouldn’t it be better to catch a glimpse of new possibilities as soon as possible through another round?
Ah, it’s such a minor difference.
So defenseless.
So defenseless.
sniff
‘The only people who can rely on this pitiful and pathetic Lirisia are me and the hero…’
It’s so pitiful that I could burst into laughter.
If I came back from the battlefield injured, that delicate saintess would wail as if the world were collapsing.
As she healed me in her own pain, ….Ah, I feel sorry.
“I’m so sorry. So sorry… If only I was stronger, if only I was sturdier…!”
“……It’s okay.”
“Eselatia, I’m sorry. I really am sorry… sniff Huh…!”
‘If you knew how I felt about you, what kind of expression would you make?’
She would probably be in way more pain than if she got her entire body ripped apart.
This foolish and tender saintess.
While I’m wondering whether to eat your heart or not, you’re here crying and saying sorry in my embrace.
How did this happen….?
Ah.
Hmm!
‘What the hell am I thinking…?!’
“Lirisia, get up.”
“sniff Huh…?”
“If you’re late, you’ll miss your favorite mealtime, you know?”
“Huh… Right, I like meat… sniff”
“I don’t know where the hero is sprawled out, but they say it’s best to eat together whenever possible, you know?”
Hmm!
Ah, the once most timid witch.
The Black Witch, who couldn’t fit in anywhere, now has to lead the frail saint and the battered hero.
It’s truly… disgusting.
Later…
I thought this world would perish in two years, but everyone kept their spirits up.
Not just the saintess, the witch, and the hero, but the surviving humans also continued their desperate resistance.
And so they fought again.
Three years… Five years… Ten years.
With no ceasefire.
Without rest.
Without respite.
Stepping over the corpses of comrades.
Fighting on while their blood-stained bodies couldn’t even be washed.
The witch lacked doll parts, so she had to dig up the corpses of her allies and lead them to the battlefield.
Since I can’t send Lirisia, who collapsed crying, to the front lines, what choice do I have?
The hero laid down.
The witch burned.
The saintess healed.
They fought and fought again.
As mountains of corpses stacked up endlessly, demons and malicious entities began to pollute the land. The world was stained with steel and flames.
They fought sometimes excessively. Whether fleeing or being chased, war continued endlessly.
Yes, that’s how they fought.
Towards the end of this round.
The Black Witch rushed forth.
Whether the end was destruction or salvation, all that remained for the Black Witch was to run.
At that moment, her soul was on the verge of shattering. The witch hasn’t yet been saved by Shia.
Thus, the Black Witch, hero, and saintess of this round all knew it well.
This end would be horrific.
The pathway to inevitable destruction, with no chance of escape, was immensely painful and hellish, but they did not have any options left.
…And so thirty years passed.
The hero, saintess, and witch killed the Demon King.
They won.
They thought they’d die before reaching the Demon King.
No, in fact, they hadn’t seen any hope, yet somehow they had reached this point.
Yet…
“Ahhhhh… Aah, Eselatia, Menelapie… Aahhh…!!”
Yes, they call it a miracle when the impossible becomes a reality, right?
But miracles come with a price.
And in this case, that price was… the witch and the hero.
‘After all, this world’s hero would want to die… so it’s not hard to understand.’
Ah, right.
They had fought against the Demon King for thirty years, leading a faction that could very well perish at any moment.
In such a situation, the mere fact that they defeated the Demon King itself is a miracle.
‘Ha, next time… it’ll be easier to win…’
The Black Witch smirked cynically.
Her life was running short.
Yes, the time to return… was not far off.
“Ahhh! Huhhh…! I, I…!”
The lone saintess wept bitterly.
“……..Liri, Shia…”
Seeing the grieving Lirisia, the Black Witch thought to herself.
If I had known it would end this way, I would have ended it sooner.
If I’d known it would end this way, I would have given up.
Ah, I failed.
Failed again…
“Ahhhh!!!!”
“……….”
No, no.
Suppress it.
Suppress it.
You must suppress it.
That is my saintess.
I must be responsible. I must serve her. She is the princess of the happy ending I must strive for.
Forget the petty thoughts.
Get up.
The saintess is crying.
Get up.
Even if you have to go back, you must get up.
“Liri, Shia…”
“Esel, Ratia…”
“There’s no time.”
Clanking!
With the sound of creaking doll joints, I force my body to rise.
I grab the hero’s body, entwined with the Demon King, and drag it as my own broken body is forced to move like a doll.
Ah, how tiresome.
Should I not do this?
Since I’m going to regress anyway, since I’m going to start all over again…
I could just ignore it…
No, no!
That pitiful, tender saintess is left alone.
How could I abandon her?
Don’t abandon her, Teresa.
Teresa.
My saintess has never abandoned you.
Get up.
Thus, the witch took the still tear-stained Lirisia and returned to her workshop.
“Live, those who remain… and the factions, the political relations… the restructuring… ”
With the Demon King dead, and his army eliminated, the world for the survivors would truly begin now.
And in that world, Lirisia, my saintess… would have to live alone.
“All the lands… polluted by malice, the land where humans can live… Ugh…!”
“Eselatia, don’t say that!… If you do…!”
“Regardless, there’s little time left…”
Originally, I didn’t need to do things like this…
Hah! Hah!
I’m truly strange.
I could have just ignored it… but the thought of leaving my saintess alone also arises.
Ah, I don’t know.
I’ll just do as I please…
“Here, this. That. Be sure to look after them… cough!”
“….. sniff Huh…!”
“Look over the surviving factions, thoroughly filter out those with betrayal risks… since the lands where humans can live have been critically limited… surely, another bloody storm will come… perhaps this time it’ll be fellow humans fighting among themselves… I’ve worked hard alongside Menelapie…”
Yes, the hero laughs amusingly.
She, who always seemed to have shadows cast over her eyes, wanting to give up on everything, yet in the moment when the saintess would be left alone, here she was preparing for a potential emergency.
Maybe Menelapie didn’t actually want to die.
Maybe she wanted to live alongside Lirisia and me.
Sadly, she met her end alongside the Demon King… so sad, so sad… if only things had gone a little differently, they could have welcomed a happy ending here…
“I… what should I do, Eselatia… I… don’t know. sniff I really don’t know…”
“……..”
“I’m not smart. I’ve always been protected by you guys… I have no idea what to do if you disappear, if Eselatia disappears… I’m still… sniff!”
“Lirisia…”
Ugh!
Ah, my pitiful saintess.
My grieving saintess.
“Goodbyes aren’t forever…”
“sniff…”
“I won’t deny that this is an unwanted farewell… cough!… I’m sorry, if I had only paid a little more attention…”
“No, no! It’s all my fault… If only I were a little stronger, if I hadn’t hesitated, if I were tougher…!”
How could we be so alike?
Was the saintess at the beginning feeling the same way when she looked at me…?
Cough!
Ah, this… Time is really running out…
Can I return again?
This time I’ll use the hero’s heart instead of the saintess’… would that work? I already mixed in the Demon King’s body just in case… Ah, who knows.
Let’s think of this as the last time.
It’s always been that way.
So Lirisia.
I’ll assume I can’t go back.
I’ll assume this is my last.
So I’ll grant you everything.
“Make sure to live well… okay?”
“Ah…”
“If you’re alive…”
Yes, it’s not an impossible task.
It’s not an impossible miracle.
After all, isn’t the saintess here to make the impossible possible?
Isn’t the saintess meant to perform miracles?
That’s you.
“One day, we’ll… ”
“Esel, R… Tia….”
Stars are shining.
Glittering in the dark…
Oh, star, please look down on my pitiful saintess…
“One day… we’ll meet again under the dark starry sky…”
Until we meet again.
My saintess.
Ah, I’m sorry.
I never even told you my real name….
—–
“Eselatia, Eselatia… don’t die. If you go too… then I…!”
“Ahhhhh! Aahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry… AH!!!!!!!!”
“My hero, my witch… Ah, ah…”
“Can I make it happen?”
“Hero, witch… can I do this?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“I… I lack confidence…”
“I can’t… live on without you…”
—–
And so time passed.
The world without the Demon King began stabilizing remarkably.
Of course, just because the Demon King was gone doesn’t mean the scars and aftereffects disappeared.
Humans began to split apart over meager resources and interests.
Underneath the saintess who killed the Demon King gathered those who rallied around her.
Amongst the survivors, some settled in the sea, others took refuge in the mountains.
Once nobles and once those who ruled over others became the leaders of the humans.
“In the past, there was an era of dragons,” they would say.
Long ago, there was indeed an era of dragons.
Born as powerful beings, they had the whole world beneath them, but… there were those who grew discontent.
“And then came an era of exceptional races like elves and dwarves, known for their talents.”
“They called it the age of forests. They called it the age of steel.”
With the elves’ long lifespan and powerful spirit power and the dwarves’ robust bodies and nonequals, they combined their powers for the first and last time to drive out the dragons.
Thus, the world began to be divided between ruling races and subjugated races.
But that era didn’t last long.
“And not long ago, a being known as the Demon King attempted to destroy the world.”
“The world truly faced destruction.”
The Demon King was impartial.
Malice spread to everyone.
Evil polluted everyone.
And everyone died.
“The dragons and many exceptional races, even those that once ruled this world, ultimately perished beneath that wicked army.”
And at the point where hope seemed lost, humanity found a new light.
The saintess, the hero, and the witch.
With the three of them, humanity united once again in resistance against the Demon King.
“And what remains in this land now is humanity.”
“We lost many, but ultimately the overwhelming majority of this land are humans, and only we remained.”
Thirty years passed.
And despite the countless bloodshed, they finally triumphed.
“Yes, now all races have perished.”
“Dragons, exceptional beings, even beastmen can no longer vie for control of this world.”
“It’s time for the era of humans to begin.”
The new rulers of the world have been determined.
“And in this new era ruled by humans….”
“The heroes of the past are no longer needed.”
“The old torches have reached their time to extinguish.”
—–
And thus, the saintess was left alone in the world.
Lirisia lived on without even being able to tell Eselatia her real name.
She healed the injured.
Extended her hand to the ailing.
Bestowed blessings upon the land tainted by malice.
Every night she wept.
Whenever she felt the absence of her witch and hero, she broke down and cried.
But she could not die.
As the Saintess of the Dead, she was different from the others.
She wanted nothing more than to live among humans, desiring them, yet she could not do so because she wasn’t human, and thus found herself alone.
“Lirisia!!!”
“…Rosaria?”
And so, on another sleepless night,
While Lirisia lay quietly in bed, exhausted after healing countless patients, tragedy struck.
Or is it tragedy?
“Run away! The knights are attacking the church!!”
“……What?”
Why?
Why on earth…?
“Hurry, run! They’re after the saintess!!”
“What do you mean? There must be some mistaken—”
“Jena is holding them off, but there are too many! I can’t hold them off much longer…!”
Thud!
“Ah…?”
In that moment, Lirisia’s eyes widened as the sword pierced Rosaria’s chest.
Ah…
Ah, my fingertips.
My Rosaria…
So new horrifying news echoed through the world of humans.
[Saintess Lirisia is a witch in league with the Demon King!]
A witch.
Ah, why…?
It was a simple thing.
With the rise of the age of humans,
New power-hungry factions, new privileged groups, sought to claim the throne… for them, Shia was a thorn in their side.
Although she was not seeking to rule, the saintess who spread healing and blessings and defeated the Demon King was an annoyance to the new rulers.
No, perhaps even the act of healing itself…
The very creation of the ‘church’ to help others would have made her a target for those who sought to eliminate Lirisia.
And indeed.
Those who aimed their swords at the saintess, who set the church ablaze, had already completed their preparations.
They were ready to proclaim a false declaration across the land, transforming the saintess who defeated the Demon King into a wicked witch and a sinful harlot.
“Ah, aah—! Aahhhhhhh!”
Carrying Rosaria, who had been stabbed, the saintess lamented as she was dragged away by those who held swords at her.
Exhausted from grief and pain, she could not even resist.
A trial without semblance of a trial followed.
There were no defenders, and the church was annihilated.
Without a meal or visit, Lirisia was trapped in darkness all alone.
Even amid this, she sobbed and thought.
‘Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?’
Why did they attack me?
Why did they… me, me…
My church, my Rosaria, my Jena…?
Ah… I wanted to protect people… I just wanted to meet my hero and witch again someday…!
‘One day, let’s meet again beneath the dark starry sky…’
I had only kept those words in my heart!!
I bore hunger!
I endured secretly picking at the malice!
But then, suddenly…
Lirisia was sentenced to be burned at the stake.
The charge was that the witch, in collusion with the Demon King, had deceived the people by masquerading as a false saintess.
“Ha…”
[Witch!]
[Filthy witch!]
[Evil witch!]
[That’s not a saintess! She’s a witch!]
“What’s up, good people of the Alfenheim Empire. Today we will burn the last remnants of the Demon King!”
A nameless man declared proudly, wearing a crown.
The citizens cheered.
Ah, she is… the person who came to me last month to heal her daughter.
That old man, that man, that soldier dragging me, ah, all these humans know me…
But why does nobody come to save me?
They received my healing. I helped them. I, I… did I seem so much like a witch?
Ha ha…
[The witch is laughing!]
[Crazy bitch!]
[Kill her! We must burn her before she casts her evil spells!]
[Set her ablaze!]
What is happening?
Ha ha ha.
[Aah, please burn the evil witch!]
[Eradicate the records of the tyrant Emperor!]
[Destroy the documents of the Black Witch!]
[It’s forbidden. A wicked taboo!]
[It’s all her fault!]
[The world will be at peace now!]
“Today, the tale of the three wicked women in cahoots with the Demon King will reach its conclusion!”
Three wicked women…?
Oh, I see.
That’s right.
You’re not just after me…
But my hero and my witch too.
You’re trying to erase us all.
My accomplishments piled up in Menelapie’s legacy, the spellbook of the witch thrown at my feet.
And here, I’m bound.
Me and my precious things are all about to be erased…
No one wishes to remember our sacrifices.
No one wishes to remember our achievements.
All of it, all of it…
“I still wanted to forgive, though.”
[Last, burn the witch!]
—–
[All good citizens of the Galatea Duchy! By burning the witch, we announce that the malevolent forces shall be eradicated!]
[Hoorayyy!]
[Burn her!]
‘How I want to kill.’
Ah, how I want to kill.
Oh yes.
I despise you all.
Hate you, burn with anger.
Ah.
Ah, my head.
My head hurts.
My chest aches.
All of you are so infuriating that I want to go mad.
You laugh as I burn.
Yes, everyone’s laughing!
I can’t trust you any longer.
I’m sorry.
Eselatia. I might not be able to keep my promise.
—–
[You all called me a witch?]
So everyone called me a witch.
They called me a wicked witch… a sinful harlot…
You, the ones shouting for my burning flames, seem so laughable now.
Thus, I’ll comply with your wish, then.
—–
[If that’s what you wanted… I’ll grant it.]
The saintess laughed painfully.
—–
What about my hero? Do you hear me?
Do you hear this scream?
Eselatia, do you hear me?
Can you hear the fire?
Can you all hear it?
My fingers, my, my, my… ah…
—–
Eselatia…
One day, let’s meet again under the dark starry sky…
A laugh echoed through the night.
Stars shine bright.
The dark stars shine brightly!
Ah, they shimmer.
Cold and brightly sparkling in the dark…
I’m sorry, my friends.
I’m no longer the saintess… I’ve become the witch of dark stars.
Hah…
But why do I feel so good?
Why am I crying?
Hahaha!!!
