For witches, the inclusion of new members is...difficult.
Especially her, Genesis, who was an enemy of the Moon Sect, no, enemy of all demon hunters.
So how is it that this girl, Liam, is able to accept her so quickly?
"Gene! Can you tell me if my potion is made correctly?"
"Gene, Anser will be cooking today...you must come with us!"
"Gene…"
"Gene?"
"Gene~!"
Liam Yoon Hee, perhaps the member who trusts people he barely knows too quickly.
She even forced her to match her with several outfits.
However, she didn't complain; she felt good about being noticed.
Ji Noo rarely spoke to her, practically sticking closer to Anser or Liam. And of course, Gene understood, anyway, for a moment she tried to kill Ji Noo...
And in Anser's case, forget about it.
That guy barely utters a single sentence all day.
They were all strange types, but not spiteful.
"Gene," Liam called her. "Is there a spell that can make them grow?"
Gene blinked, looking away from a report Anser had asked her to read and analyze... "Them?" she swallowed. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean..." She sat up straight to begin explaining. "What makes every woman attractive."
Gene blinked, more worried...did Liam want to make it grow...
"My legs."
"Oh."
Oh yes, Gene was too misguided, she forgot that Liam was a bit...strange.
"Legs? Who thinks a woman with long legs is attractive, Yoon?" Gene said, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Liam sighed, then crossed her arms.
"Of course, you say that because you have long, beautiful legs..." Then, with a pout, she pointed at her, accusing her. "You witches know thousands of spells, it wouldn't surprise me if you deceitful women change your appearance to be more beautiful!"
"Well, some witches did, but..." she couldn't believe what she was saying... "My magic doesn't specialize in those things...at least not yet."
Liam snorted in disbelief, while Gene simply sighed.
But well, she wasn't lying; this week she was actively practicing new spells, even going to the old, now abandoned, witches' refuge to look for some grimoires.
But...
They all suddenly disappeared, at least the grimoires written by the three great witches.
A noise finally pulled her from her thoughts.
The door opened, and Ji Noo entered the room. Silent as always.
"Ji Noo!" Liam smiled. "How did it go? Were you able to talk to Randy?"
Ji Noo slowly walked towards both of them, and then sat down next to Liam on the couch. "Yes," He paused briefly, then continued. "But he didn't really know what it meant."
Ji Noo was referring to that strange dream he had. The first thing he did was, once Gene was on his side, tell her about his dream; she, being a witch, might be able to tell if it was part of Raum or some kind of curse. But Gene couldn't figure out what it was.
And of course, Liam found out too; she, being closer to Ji Noo, had to know.
But in both cases, or rather three, nobody really knew what that dream meant, or where it came from.
"So...what will you do about that?" Gene asked, curious.
Ji Noo sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I can't do anything. Randy's only suspicion was that it might have been a vision."
"Vision?" Liam and Gene repeated, intrigued.
"Well...something like a vision," Then, he began to explain what he and Randy had discussed before. "You know the part where a man with tentacles appears...right?"
They both nodded.
"Randy said that perhaps the half-brother of exorcist Lahn is still alive."
Liam looked confused, but just as Ji Noo was about to explain, Gene spoke up.
"Yumi Enver?"
Ji Noo blinked, slightly confused.
"I mean...that's the name of one of Lahn's half-brothers, Yumi Enver," Then she cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed by the surprise she had caused the duo. "My master once mentioned it; she said the world was strange, stranger than it should be, and she theorize that perhaps what the Lahn parchment recounts was false."
Ji Noo seemed surprised; he had never thought of that possibility before.
But what if Gene's master was right?
In the novel, only Randy was able to open and read the writings.
But...
What if he is also able to alter the writing on the parchment?
That's what left Ji Noo thinking.
But what good would it do Randy to alter the writing on the parchment? Did it have something written there that he shouldn't have? Or...perhaps writings don't exist in this timeline that Randy mentioned?
Why is the whole story changing?
"Do you think it's possible that the woman who attacked Mandeleine and me is connected to Yumi Enver still being alive?"
Gene thought for a moment, then said, "Maybe," Then, she pointed to Ji Noo's heart. "You have Raum, a demon who, if Yumi Enver is able to obtain him, will become stronger, and worse still, there is the existence of a descendant of Vulpecula."
Ji Noo frowned, then turned his gaze back to Gene. "But how could she use magic like a witch without you, or any other witch, being able to recognize her?"
"Perhaps she was a wizard, Ji Noo." Liam's sudden suggestion was met with silence.
Wizards had become extinct; the only thing close to them now were witches, until now Gene is the only witch.
"Witches and wizards were always enemies, precisely because we both operated the same system of 'unique magic' that will be learned by generations," Gene clarified, "When the only mages who decided to distance themselves from the order of mages, that's how the sects were created, which now function as 'one lends their power to everyone' completely altering their 'natural' magic."
That was an interesting fact; not even Ji Noo knew that the sect leaders were wizards at first.
"However...that was years ago, and it's certain that now all the leaders like Randy, Sherly, Layla, Joakim Hans, or even Anser no longer possess that magic of the early sect leaders, who were true wizards."
Then Gene took out a grimoire, placed it on the table, and went to the second-to-last page, where there was a magic symbol; a symbol of the Vulpecula Clan.
"But there was one place where they were able to recover this magic…" Then, she looked at Ji Noo. "And it is possible that there are still humans who have learned enough to wield wizards' magic on their own."
Ji Noo frowned, if that was really the case...
"Even when I went looking for grimoires to learn how to control my magic and new spells, I only found this Vulpecula grimoire out of all the grimoires we had stored away."
"…Does that mean...they will become stronger and attack us again?"
Liam looked at Gene, suddenly worried.
Meanwhile, Gene was looking at Ji Noo.
Words weren't needed, but…
"Yes," Then, she closed her eyes. "I was thinking that maybe they planned to exterminate all my people, the witches, so they could keep our spells for themselves."
And then Gene closed the grimoire.
"And now, I suspect that sects are their next target."
Shit.
Soon, an alarm went off in the Liam's Identifier.
"I-It just can't be..." Liam quickly read the notification; it was a backup alert. "It belongs to Mr. Sherly..."
Ji Noo's face turned to terror, perhaps...Sherly was being attacked?
The door opened immediately, and Anser came out of his office while putting on his coat.
"Mr. Detective! Mr. Sherly—" There was no need to finish the sentence; Anser quickly grabbed his sword and followed Ji Noo. "A-Ah!" Quickly, Liam got up too, grabbing Gene by the wrist and running with her behind them. "Gene, let's go with them! This must be an emergency!"
Of course it was; for a member of one of the five most powerful sects to ask for support...meant that the matter was serious.
Especially coming from the proud Sherly.
So soon the call for help came, and Anser and Ji Noo ran from their base, heading towards the highest peak of Anarxie, where The Ace Sect's base was hidden. Gene and Liam were flying on broomsticks behind them, Gene in front, and Liam clinging to her.
Halfway up they could see Joakim Hans and Karmen being carried by all their soldiers, climbing the mountain with fervor. Joakim's gaze looked more intimidating than usual, while his sub-leader Karmen unwound her whip from her waist. Leading them was Frederick Leighton, his mana-reconstructed arm wielding a shotgun.
In the sky, colorful parrots flew hurriedly, among them, flying Layla J. Everest, with spear in hand.
And finally, a bright light rose faster than all of them; Randy Bornman, who even overtook the speedy Layla in the sky.
They couldn't allow Sherly to be attacked, much less lose a good ally and friend like Sherly.
And soon, ashes welcomed them.
Anser stopped as soon as he saw the Ace Sect's base engulfed in flames. All of nature around them being consumed by the flames.
Everything...was destroyed.
They arrived very late.
"SHERLY!" Frederick's voice echoed, and he ran towards his base, but an explosion knocked him down.
Anser followed behind Frederick, jumping over him and then going to the metal door, with his sword trying to cut the door, but, useless...why was his strength not responding now?
"Layla! Genesis Witch...extinguish the fire as quickly as you can before it spreads!" Joakim said, running to help Anser open the door, using his sword as a lever to try to open it. "This shit is as hard as diamond..."
Layla and Gene nodded, all of Layla's parrots surrounding the building, Layla positioning herself at the top, "Leadership Skills: Energy Absorption!" and Gene from below, opening a grimoire. It was the first time she would use the mana she stole from witches... "Heart Magic: Clouds of Love!" She pointed her hands at the building, and in unison, magic began to flow from both of them, extinguishing the flames.
"Group B5, secure the area, and Group A3, accompany me to evacuate the wounded!" Karmen said, using her whip to pull one of the sect members who was lying on the ground, then she jumped up to the window and punched the glass.
"Don't worry, Gene..." Behind Gene, Liam appeared, helping him drink a stamina potion so he wouldn't run out so quickly from using so much mana. "I got you."
And meanwhile...
Ji Noo didn't know what to do.
Anser, Joakim, and now Frederick are trying to force open the now-diamond door, others are putting out the fire, and he...
He never believed it was possible that Sherly could...
No!
Sherly isn't dead yet...right? Besides, his shield is impenetrable...nothing could—
Oh.
Oh no…
"Randy must be inside…" He muttered, then frowned and ran towards the building, leaping to where Karmen was trying to break the window.
Ji Noo was incapable of having that much strength, of course, but now...
What did that matter?
With one punch, he managed to break the glass, breaking his knuckles, and blood ran down his hand, but it regenerated immediately.
"Let's go in!" Ji Noo said, going in first, then Karmen alerted everyone to an entrance, and immediately, the men of the Third Round Sect rushed in.
The smoke dissipated as Layla inhaled it, allowing them to see the half-decomposed bodies of the Ace Sect members...
"Shit...they're all dead..." One of the soldiers following Karmen murmured, and upon hearing him, she gave him a piercing look. "I-I'm sorry, miss..."
Ji Noo continued onward, scanning his surroundings, until he managed to find Sherly's office, or at least what had once been...
It was half destroyed, with blood on the walls and floor, as well as baby photos of Anser scattered on the floor.
And it was there, where Ji Noo and Karmen sensed something; someone was there.
"…"
But he wasn't an enemy.
"...."
It was Randy.
Ji Noo and Karmen slowly approached him.
Randy held Sherly's body in his arms; however, his torso was cut in half, his jugular vein was open, and his face was covered in blood, perhaps it was more than a broken nose, or a shattered jaw.
He was already dead.
Karmen narrowed her eyes at the scene, taking off her hat, while Ji Noo watched the scene…
It was not possible that Sherly was dead.
Why? If the main characters are supposed to never die in the story?
Why?!
"…Randy…"
Ji Noo murmured, without the slightest idea of what to say to comfort him.
Ji Noo knew that perhaps Randy had tried to revive him, perhaps he wanted to join his sect so that he would be reincarnated and revived, like all his members.
But it was too late; he couldn't reincarnate if he had already died hours ago.
"…"
But Randy didn't want to accept that it was already too late.
"Randy…"
"You said you'd find an ending to this story..." Randy murmured, as if he only wanted Ji Noo to hear. "I removed all the dangers from your path so you could succeed...so why did this have to happen to Sherly? Why him? Why not someone else?"
He swallowed hard.
Ji Noo had never actually witnessed anything like this before. Just hours before arriving, he and Gene had discovered that sects would be targeted, but not this specific sect...not Sherly's.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stop it. I didn't know this would happen..."
"..."
Randy, usually so calm, was losing his patience.
Over a hundred years of endless reincarnation, seeing the same ending over and over again, and when there was finally hope...this happened?
"You're a liar, Ji Noo."
Perhaps Randy's mistake was always believing that if he manipulated everything, he could manipulate fate to have the ending he wanted. But perhaps what he should never have done was believe that its creator had even planned to give this story a worthy ending.
No, that was very hypocritical of him.
Randy wanted a happy ending.
No...this.
"You will be reincarnated again, Randy," Randy looked at Ji Noo. Really, was that his excuse? Wow, Randy would like to see Ji Noo suffer his reincarnation curse. Let's see if he would have the same opinion after more than centuries of endlessly reincarnating to suffer. "This will only be like a blink of an eye..."
"…Shut…up…" He was fed up with this life, with his life. "You will never understand it if you haven't already seen the ■■■ you gave to this ■■ all those ■■■■ before."
Ji Noo swallowed, confused; he couldn't understand what he had said.
It's as if it's censored.
"Mr. Bornman, we should go back to the others. We need to get Mr. Sherly's body out before something happens," Karmen said, breaking through the murmurs that could be heard around her.
With few options, Randy silently picked up Sherly's body, but not before putting his robe on him, while covering him, walking slowly towards the door.
As he passed by Ji Noo, he murmured: "If you're not looking for an ending..." He murmured, "I will kill you myself."
Ji Noo shuddered with fear, then Randy continued on his way.
Damn, this was bad, very, very bad for Ji Noo.
He needed to hurry, discover who was responsible for Sherly's murder, defeat Yumi Enver, and...finally seek that ending.
He looked down, noticing a picture of baby Anser, who was next to Randy and Sherly, all three of them smiling.
A family...
Once again, Ji Noo was unable to save them.
_
The fire went out, Gene fell to the ground, exhausted, with Liam helping her drink her regeneration potions.
Layla returned to the ground, and seeing that Anser, Joakim and Frederick had finally managed to open the heavy door, Anser took a step inside, but stopped.
"Randy?" Frederick muttered, but stopped when he saw what he was carrying in his arms: their leader, Sherly, dripping with blood.
Layla covered her mouth in surprise, while Joakim and Frederick stared in astonishment at the scene.
Did Sherly really die?
"He is..." Anser murmured, taking a step back. "No…"
Randy looked at him for a second; both of them had the same look of confusion, of...sadness for the first time. Then Randy looked away and walked to the center of the place, leaving Sherly there, gently settling him down with trembling hands.
Anser followed Randy, and as everyone watched in silence, Anser collapsed next to Sherly.
"I never meant to be cruel to him..." he murmured, as tears streamed from his eyes. "He took care of me...he gave me the opportunity to have my own sect, my own goal, even though he never liked it..."
Randy remained silent, then placed his hand on Anser's back.
"I know..."
Anser frowned, frustrated, angry, and above all, depressed. Why did they have to arrive so late to rescue him?
"…" he took out an old, dented coin, one that Sherly always used to play with baby Anser. Then, she left it on the destroyed chest covered by Randy's robe, on Sherly. "Dad, don't go. I have not yet achieved my goal…"
Everyone present watched with sadness and pity.
Sherly was a great ally, with a heart as strong as a shield, who left all the bad things outside, and offered the good things he had inside to others.
Not only did he leave, but his entire sect, his people, left too.
And that hit his colleagues even harder.
Joakim Hans pulled his hat down a little further, Layla was crying silently, just like Liam. Frederick watched with disbelief, concern, and a loneliness he had once lived with for a long time, returning. Gene observed everyone's pain, genuine pain, and she didn't know how to react to it.
Soldiers emerged from the base carrying the bodies of the other members of the now extinct Ace Sect.
Karmen came out last, Ji Noo hidden behind her.
Ji Noo was remorseful, so remorseful, that he didn't allow himself the luxury of crying over the loss, only lamenting it.
Perhaps this was the most intense incident anyone here had ever experienced, and he knew it would be difficult to forget.
"…I—" Just as Ji Noo was about to say a few words, the base exploded, throwing both Ji Noo and Karmen to the ground.
Everyone watched the explosion, and then noticed two figures on top of the base about to collapse; one was a man, and the other a woman.
"It's a pleasure to have you meet us for the first time!" The man with black hair and a dark complexion said. "Let me introduce myself, I'm Hyung, the man who murdered his friend!"
The provocation was obvious, causing Anser and Frederick to glare at him with hatred, drawing their weapons.
"I know you must be angry, but we won't attack you any further...for now," Then he smiled broadly. "If you hand Raum over to us, we promise to leave you alone. Anyway, the only man we found difficult to touch...is now dead."
"Vulpecula; Moonlight!" Anser launched a powerful attack on the two people, but just as he managed to reach them, the cut was swallowed by a shark. "…"
With eyes swollen from crying, Anser frowned, then fell to his knees on the ground, having spent too much energy on that attack.
"Constellation Magic; Pisces…" The girl said, and then made the shark disappear.
Ji Noo soon got up from the ground, helping Karmen to her feet.
"That magic is from the family of Vulpecula's magic!" Gene shouted, drawing Anser's attention. "Similar magic neutralizes each other!"
All it meant was that Anser couldn't attack them with that girl present...
"And I thought we had already killed all the witches..." The man said, then adjusted his suit. "I'll take that as a 'no', anyway, it doesn't matter…" He paused briefly, then his face turned serious. "Once you realize that the boy who has Raum inside him is the real enemy...you will abandon him faster than you think."
Just as they were about to leave, Layla, Frederick, and Joakim surrounded them both, about to attack them...the man blocked Frederick and Joakim with both his arms. "Diamond Magic; Two Million," Then, he send them flying aside.
Layla, about to attack the girl, said; "Constellation Magic; The Destiny of Venus!" The girl's dark hand touched Layla's arm, causing her to fall to the side suddenly.
"You all are so infuriating!" Then he snapped his fingers, disappearing, and the base began to collapse, followed by him, the girl vanishing into star particles. "See you in the final battle~"
And soon, the base collapsed, shattering into pieces.
Everything, being completely destroyed.
And hidden by old memories.