Chapter 114 - Lucy Philiaz

"Are you asking who you've killed?"

Lucy smirked and put her pipe to her mouth.

"Hmm, it would be quite wonderful to know something so convenient, child. Then this girl could have helped whenever these little ones came seeking advice."

Lucy tapped the ash from her pipe into the ashtray.

"However, I do know the name of the person you recently killed."

Lucy snapped her fingers.

SNAP!

At that, a pillar wrapped in several layers of vines that covered the garden moved toward the pavilion.

Once it was close enough to Lucy, the vines smoothly unraveled.

He realized it was not a simple pillar.

It was a crystal.

Much like a mosquito trapped in amber, a woman was encased within the transparent crystal.

"Child, do you know that girl's name?"

It was a truly simple question.

"Echidna Philiaz."

It was Echidna.

She had a peaceful face, looking as if she had been placed in an open casket before a funeral.

"The Rune you created did this to her."

Lucy pointed with her finger and said.

"If you have anything to say, go ahead."

Her tone carried a strong nuance, warning him to choose his words carefully.

Looking at the sight, Ferda asked.

"Did she go painlessly?"

An incredibly indifferent tone.

"Heh."

Lucy's laughter echoed throughout the entire pavilion.

"Hehehehe..."

The witches seemed to tense up at that laughter.

Demonic energy stretched out.

It stimulated his entire body, on par with Dragon Fear.

"Child, you are truly, truly shameless."

Lucy rose from her seat and walked down the stairs.

"You killed a child of Philiaz, and all you have to say is to ask if she died without pain?"

She stood in front of Ferda.

He hadn't realized it from afar, but now it was certain.

She was shorter than Luri.

"A witch's grudge is like a hundred years of falling frost. It means much more than just you dying a painful death."

Her voice was laden with mana.

It touched Ferda's five senses.

As if showing him the future he would face, rather than just making a simple threat.

"It will slowly destroy everything around you, stop you even if you choose to take your own life, and utterly collapse you to the very end, leaving nothing behind."

In truth, many had lived and died in such agony.

It was recorded in history, but Ferda paid it no mind.

Ferda already knew.

That she was bluffing.

"Aren't we both equally shameless, pavilion master?"

"What?"

One of Lucy's eyebrows shot up.

Ferda jutted his chin toward the crystal where Echidna was stuffed and said.

"If lying that a living person is dead while locking them in a crystal isn't shameless, then what is?"

As Ferda said that, the situation changed.

The threatening demonic energy from Lucy subsided.

And as if it had never been there, the anger vanished from her voice.

"How did you know that?"

"Didn't you say it yourself? A witch's grudge is like a hundred years of frost, bringing down curses across generations."

Ferda turned his head toward the crystal.

He looked at Echidna's peaceful-looking face.

"If she really died because of me and your goal was to curse me, I doubt you would present her to me with such a comfortable expression."

"Hehe, it seems you know witches quite well."

Lucy levitated into the air, looking satisfied.

Her clothes fluttered as she flew over to the crystal containing Echidna.

"Echidna, you poor thing. I warned you so many times that loving a man only leads to tragedy, yet you were nothing but stubborn."

"Are you pitying the one you excommunicated?"

"She simply didn't suit the Philiaz name. This girl's affection for her remains unchanged."

It was a statement unfitting for the leader of witches who despised all men.

Lucy looked up at the crystal for a moment and said.

"Child, since she died due to your mistake, this girl will take her back in."

To the unilateral notification, Ferda answered immediately.

"I refuse."

At that, demonic energy spewed out from the witches, as if they found it offensive this time.

"How funny. Do you think you're in a position to refuse?"

"We've let you off too easy and now you're trying to climb over us, should we give you a taste of something bitter?"

Even amidst the chaotic, cackling laughter, disgust and anger could be felt.

"Quiet."

And even that vanished at Lucy's single word.

Seeing her suppress these lumps of malice, it was clear just how firmly Big Sister had the witches under her control.

"Do not worry. This girl is not so foolish as to be unable to distinguish between public and private matters. If something is lost, something must also be gained."

Hmm...

While blatantly letting out breaths and puffing hard on her pipe, Lucy opened her mouth.

"How about this?"

Sparks crackled from her small index finger.

Red sparks, at that.

'Heaven's defiance lightning.'

She was casually emitting the pure power left behind by Lucy Philiaz—a power impossible to wield without a medium.

"You are a mage, and you seem to have a talent for lightning. I believe you would quickly get the hang of it if you learned just a little. What do you say? This girl will specially teach you."

What did he say?

'It's an attractive offer.'

Heaven's defiance lightning was a legendary element that Ferda still hadn't found a clue for.

He had conducted countless studies on the World Tree branch struck by the heaven's defiance lightning she had brought down, but he currently didn't even have a lead.

He had studied it over and over through the crafted staff, yet there would be no progress even across generations.

'If I grasp that power...'

He would become stronger.

Just like the time he had reached the 8th Circle as a Great Mage.

Because of that, Ferda answered.

"I refuse."

Lucy's hand paused.

Lucy, who had thought it an appropriate reward, also hadn't expected him to reject the offer.

"Hoh, child. Is this girl that precious to you?"

"She is important."

"More so than heaven's defiance lightning?"

The best magical element that could make Ferda stronger.

Ferda had always needed to become stronger.

"She is important."

However, for the current Ferda, getting stronger was a secondary issue.

"I have someone who needs to know happiness for my sake."

Because for Ferda, Valdrova was always his top priority.

"For that person to be happy, Echidna's abilities are necessary."

"So you intend to use her, child. As Big Sister, and as the pavilion master, I am not some foolish bitch who would just let those words slide."

"Aren't humans meant to use each other anyway? Just as she uses me, I am merely using her."

Ferda did work the naive Echidna to the bone, but it wasn't as if Echidna was having her nose cut off with her eyes open.

He could stand Zed and Mori as witnesses to that.

"Yes, I suppose that is what society is."

Lucy exhaled smoke like a sigh.

She snapped her fingers.

SNAP!

At that moment, the transparent crystal turned to water and began to melt away.

The witches watching the scene asked in surprise.

"Oh my, are you going to release her?"

"I thought it was an attractive offer, but what can I do when he says he doesn't need it?"

It was strange that she wasn't being obsessive, quite unlike a witch.

Lucy only stared at Ferda.

Beneath the black cloth, the briefly visible lower half of her face couldn't hide her amusement.

Eventually, the crystal completely melted and awakened its contents.

She seemed to have lost consciousness, but she remarkably remained standing on her own two feet.

The eyebrows of the peacefully sleeping Echidna twitched.

"Huh? Just what happened..."

She rubbed her head with both hands and looked around.

The first person her eyes caught was Ferda.

Perhaps because he had received so many glares of hatred and disgust, her gloomy smile felt like an angel's.

"Oh my, Reeeegent. You're handsome today as well. Hehe..."

She smoothly rolled her eyes and inspected the surroundings.

"Huh? This looks like a place I know... Why does it feel so similar to the Rose Pavilion..."

Her words cut off completely when she saw Big Sister, Lucy, standing right next to her.

"H-Hieek!? B-B-B-Big Sister!?"

Echidna was shocked out of her wits.

She was so startled that she almost bit her own tongue.

It was a reaction tantamount to a breach of etiquette, but Lucy shot back as if she didn't mind.

"It has been a while, child. Have you been well?"

"Y-Yes! O-O-Of course! I have been doing very well!"

"I may have excommunicated you, but I clearly told you to stay in touch frequently. You must have completely ignored me."

"T-That's... You can't make contact from inside the castle..."

"Hoh, so you're saying it's the Regent's fault? Should I just wreck that Regent over there, then?"

"What? No! Not at all!?"

Echidna whipped her head around to look at Ferda and said.

"I absolutely didn't mean it like that!"

Whether she did or not.

"Of course, you might find me uncomfortable. Even so, we are practically family who share the same blood, shouldn't you at least let me hear your voice?"

"U-Uncomfortable?! I have never once thought that!"

She spoke while forcing a smile, but she possessed zero persuasiveness.

The other witches chuckled at the sight and threw in their own remarks.

"Oh my? That's a lie."

"A lie? Unnies, I didn't think that at all..."

"Girl, just tell the truth."

"You've been excommunicated anyway, so what's the problem? No matter how much she is Big Sister, she won't be able to say anything."

"Besides, it's also important to get an outside perspective, isn't it?"

The sounds of chattering right next to Echidna.

Ferda saw right through their intentions.

They were trying to trap Echidna like luring in prey.

"Uh..."

Echidna shrunk back like a frightened turtle, glancing around before opening her mouth.

"Well... Maybe a little bit uncomfortable?"

Lucy's hand holding the pipe froze.

"T-To be honest, whenever someone who has lived longer than my grandmother refers to themselves as 'this girl', I think it's uncomfortable too..."

"Pfft..."

"Kikikik..."

The witches who had egged her on struggled to hold back their bursting laughter.

Lucy's reaction was truly simple.

SNAP!

As she snapped her fingers, the roots that had moved the crystal immediately bound Echidna's entire body.

"Echidna, our ugly Echidna."

A voice mixed with rage.

It was clearly different from the act she had shown Ferda.

"You keep spouting 'words you don't mean' just because your unnie isn't beating the crap out of you. You shouldn't say such frivolous things in front of others."

"Aaaah! My arm is falling off! My arm, my arm!"

"Do not worry. If your arm falls off, I'll make sure your legs aren't left out and pull them off for decoration too."

"I'm sorry! Unnie isn't small! You're a very small girl! A beautiful girlll!!"

The witches cackled as they watched Echidna being tortured.

Only after violently tormenting her with thorny vines was she finally released.

With messy hair and reddened eyes, Echidna trembled as she crawled over to Ferda.

"Waaah, Reeeegent. My arms and legs hurt so much. It hurts, so I need a hug, a hu—puek!"

"Get away."

Ferda shoved her head away.

The witches outright burst into laughter.

Having nowhere left to turn, Echidna whimpered and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Do you truly intend to take that defective thing with you?"

It was a question containing words that seemed to worry for him now.

"If something like that was a defect, I wouldn't have brought her along in the first place."

"If that is your intention, I understand."

Lucy gave up obediently.

It was coming to an end so anticlimactically that it felt suspicious.

What kind of scheme was she planning?

Ferda didn't let his guard down until the very end.

"Go back, Echidna. Make sure you contact me at least once a week without fail."

"Yes, I will. Regent, shall we head back?"

As she tried to reach out her hand, Lucy forced her hand down.

"The Regent will be staying with me a little longer."

"What? Here all alone?"

It was baffling to Echidna.

This was the witches' stronghold, where they treated men as playthings.

Ferda was akin to defenseless prey.

Lucy scolded her as if she were pathetic.

"He's already walked right into the center of it all, so what does it matter whether you're here or not?"

"Ah, I suppose that's true..."

Fidgeting like a prairie dog watching an approaching storm, Echidna sneakily glanced at Ferda.

Ferda read her face and answered.

"There's no need to worry. Go back and give a message to Luri."

"W-What kind of message should I give?"

"Tell her I will return soon. That will be enough."

"Y-Yes! Of course..."

With a wave of Lucy's hand, Echidna's body disassembled and disappeared.

She had likely returned to the study she originally came from.

Lucy watched that sight and then said to Ferda.

"Let us walk for a bit. I wish to have this conversation just between the two of us."

Leaving the quietly sitting witches behind, she took the lead and walked away.

They exited the Rose Pavilion and walked through the garden like that.

A place where nature did not exist, it was created purely by Lucy's will.

Because of that, the colors and shapes were different from what one would experience in nature.

The leaves were sky blue, and the sky was purple.

"Isn't it a truly beautiful garden?"

Lucy asked.

"It's bizarre."

"Then that is a relief."

She placed the pipe in her mouth.

"That means you haven't gone completely insane yet."

Those words laced with a smile made Ferda tense up.

Just as he tried to read the meaning behind her smile.

He felt a presence from the rose vines.

Ferda pulled his own head away using a Shadow Hand he had hidden inside his clothes.

Something flew right through the space where his head had just been.

SWOOSH!

A giant's cavalry spear.

No, it was a rose thorn massive enough that calling it such wouldn't be strange.

Ferda swiftly widened the distance.

"... What is the meaning of this?"

"There's no need to think deeply, it's exactly as you see. I attacked you."

"Why?"

"Wouldn't it be better to get straight to the point rather than wasting time with shallow provocations or conversation? Hence why I am directly attacking you."

In other words, it meant she was instigating a fight.

Just as she said, Ferda had no intention of getting entangled in that provocation.

Getting entangled with her was an act of madness.

Although he had days where he was a Great Mage, he was currently a 4th Circle Mage.

His opponent was the leader of witches, someone even an 8th Circle mage wouldn't know how to handle.

And at the same time, this was her home ground.

'Besides, Lucy isn't a battle-crazed human who would make such a provocation.'

There was definitely a reason for her provocation.

What was her hidden motive?

"Are you curious about my intentions?"

Lucy was a mage who had lived for a long time.

Reading Ferda's thoughts was a piece of cake.

"Rather than letting you figure that out, I will give you a reason that forces you to act."

She wagged her pipe as if pointing a finger.

The vines of the rose garden writhed like thorny earthworms.

"If you do not attack me, I will completely erase your existence from that wretched lizard's life."

Lips forming a fishy smile.

That, too, was a transparent provocation.

A sharp glint shot out from Ferda's eyes.

He could not back down.