See You Next Time, Miss Witch!

Cecilia watched everything unfolding before her with cold eyes.

The sacrifices for the black magic ritual had all been devoured, but the powerful forbidden energy that had coalesced was still no match for the holy light.

Blinding white light was slowly enveloping the area, and the cultists screamed one after another as the scorching holy light caused their bodies to gradually dissolve, eventually turning into pools of scarlet blood...

Only her side, the area immediately surrounding the magic circle, still maintained a sliver of darkness, but it seemed to be only a matter of time before light conquered darkness.

"Ansu, come with me!"

Ansu looked at Cecilia, thinking, Are you not going to worry about your teacher?

But the next moment, he saw Samantha hastily activating a teleportation circle and vanishing into thin air...

A teleportation circle was also a magic ritual with relatively harsh requirements; the fact that Samantha slipped away so quickly suggested she had planned this long ago, having diverted some of the magic power from the blood sacrifice ritual for herself.

Ansu couldn't help but mutter, "I thought she was going to die for the faith, but she slipped away pretty fast..."

What was she doing earlier? Was this whole act just for her subordinates to see...

But recalling the plot regarding this former leader of the evil cult, she was indeed that kind of person; Samantha's skill at being a cunning schemer far surpassed her acting ability...

"Don't worry about her, she won't die!" Cecilia kept her eyes fixed on the movement of the holy light.

The moment Samantha disappeared, the light instantly engulfed everything.

Both of them felt a searing, stinging pain simultaneously; the sensation of being melted by light was even more agonizing than being burned by fire.

Ansu had assumed this simulation would end right here.

He endured the pain, shifting his vision—which was on the verge of going blind—toward Cecilia, who was protecting him, wanting to say something at the very end, but when he opened his mouth, it turned into a harsh, ugly rasp.

Yet, Cecilia still had not given up.

As Ansu's consciousness began to fade, he felt Cecilia holding him tightly, struggling painfully as she charged out of the auditorium...

He did not know how much time had passed when a dazed Ansu heard someone calling his name.

He tried to open his eyes, and immediately felt his body burning with intense pain; that sharp, stinging sensation was like having countless needles pricking him...

"Ansu... Ansu..."

"Ansu! Wake up!"

"You can't fall asleep, you'll die!!"

Ansu finally struggled to open his eyes, and even though his vision was blurred, he knew it was Cecilia.

"Cecilia... you..."

You actually saved me...

Ansu couldn't imagine how she had managed to fight her way out while under the Church's Divine Descent and surrounded by the Inquisition; it was nothing short of a miracle...

Ansu didn't even know what to say.

Gratitude? Or perhaps being moved.

Warm blood dripped continuously onto his cheeks; Cecilia's own wounds must be severe, and before reaching this place, she had likely been hunted by the Church the entire way.

"You... why?"

"Why what?" Cecilia gently bandaged the battered Ansu. "Don't talk if it hurts. Keep your consciousness clear; wait for me to find a safe place for you, and you'll recover soon."

"Thank you..."

Ansu still managed to force those words out.

Cecilia chuckled softly. "So you're asking why I risked my life to save you?"

"Yeah..."

"What kind of question is that? I wanted to save you, so I did~"

A response that fit Cecilia's personality perfectly.

Ansu tried to see Cecilia's expression clearly, but his eyes seemed to be going blind, the view even blurrier than before.

"Alright, stop overthinking it." Cecilia finished bandaging Ansu, unable to help but look at him—now wrapped up like a silkworm—and for the first time in a long while, the corners of her mouth curled into a faint arc.

"Didn't I promise you? Since you're already mine, I won't let you die so easily. Hmph! No one is allowed to kill you in front of me, not even if you want to die yourself—that requires my permission!"

"Besides~" Cecilia giggled as she helped Ansu up, wanting to feed him some water, "I might never find a toy as interesting as you again. If you died, I'd be so bored~"

Hearing the Witch's domineering yet bratty words, Ansu smiled helplessly.

As a result, he pulled on his wounds, wincing in pain, and spat the water out.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing? Didn't I tell you not to move around? Why are you so disobedient?"

"It's not that..." Ansu spoke with difficulty, his voice raspy and unpleasant. "I was afraid that if I didn't say it, I would... feel regret in my heart."

"Regret?" Cecilia asked, puzzled. "What do you want to say?"

"I want to say..." Ansu said slowly, with great effort: "I want to help you, to assist you, to become your reliable right hand... to clear the thorns from your path in the future, and let you walk toward that other ending in your destiny that seemed unreachable..."

"Assist me?" Cecilia was even more confused. "Aren't you already assisting me?"

After all, "loyalty" isn't something you just pay lip service to; she had tested Ansu not once or twice, and had even "reinforced" it as if nailing down a window.

Of course, how exactly she reinforced it was something Ansu could never know...

"And, another... ending in fate?" Cecilia furrowed her beautiful brows. "What is that supposed to mean? Ansu, have you started talking nonsense?"

She gently stroked Ansu's forehead, then revealed a look of worry in her eyes.

"Oh no! You have a fever; it's so hot even through the bandages..."

"No! You don't know what is standing in front of you..." Ansu felt his consciousness gradually fading, so he could only force himself to hold onto this last breath.

Changing his own Fated Death was already this much trouble; Cecilia's path ahead would likely be even more arduous...

That's right, Ansu didn't just want to change his own fate; he also wanted to change Cecilia's tragic ending.

The scene in the auditorium, where Cecilia had looked so anxious and risked her life to save him, was deeply branded into the depths of Ansu's mind.

Even he, who had always had complaints about this Scum Witch and had always wanted to escape her control, could not help but feel moved... or even experience a violent surge of emotion.

Since you risked your life for me, then I will reluctantly... help you once.

Just this once.

As for how arduous the road ahead might be, or how many powerful existences might stand in his way...

Then to hell with it!

He was not a man who acted on a whim; he would do what he said he would do!

"Ansu... Ansu!!" Cecilia anxiously supported Ansu. That string of words he just spoke was just like a final burst of energy before death; she had to do something!

And Ansu simply watched the blurry figure before him in silence.

He smiled, slowly waiting for the darkness to completely swallow him whole.

See you next time~

Miss Witch.