With the Ryuzu matter successfully concluded, Regulus left the underground crystal chamber and headed toward the final resting place of Echidna, the Witch of Greed.
It was an ancient, dilapidated stone building resembling a forgotten ruin.
Looking at the moss-covered structure in front of him, Regulus walked in without any hesitation.
He was not obstructed by the barrier. One should know that not everyone was qualified to enter Echidna's resting place; the qualification to face the Trial was determined by the Witch herself.
Shortly after stepping into the dark, echoing ruins, the environment shifted. In the blink of an eye, the cold stone vanished, and everything around him completely transformed.
Bustling traffic, towering glass skyscrapers, and strangers rushing down paved sidewalks—it was a jarringly familiar scene. It was a modern Earth city.
It hadn't been that long since he transmigrated, so why did he feel a sudden pang of nostalgia?
However, Regulus knew very well that everything in front of him was fake. It was all an illusion created by Echidna, drawn directly from his own memories.
But the fact that she had put on such an elaborate display for him surprised Regulus greatly. He had originally expected her to directly pull him into the grassy plains of the Castle of Dreams for a formal Witch's Tea Party.
Since she wanted to put on this show, Regulus simply put his hands in his pockets, took long strides, and began to advance down the bustling street.
'Might as well play with her for a bit,' he thought, a smirk forming on his lips. 'After all, whether or not I'll ever see a scene like this again in the future is completely unknown. I should take this opportunity to experience it properly.'
He strolled down a busy commercial street. Facing all kinds of illusory shops, Regulus's eyes landed on a familiar bubble tea stand.
'This time in the illusion, no matter what happens, my goal is to eat, drink, have fun, and see who breaks character first.'
He walked up and bought a cup of bubble tea. Just as he took a sip, sighing internally that the Witch had perfectly replicated that familiar, artificial sweetness, he turned to buy some snacks.
A girl suddenly appeared just outside the shop.
She had pure white hair, pale skin, and was dressed in a sleek, modern black outfit. She was glaring at him with a perfectly crafted look of great dissatisfaction.
It was Echidna.
Before Regulus could swallow the boba in his mouth, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
"Where's my share? As a boyfriend, shouldn't you also prepare a drink for your visiting girlfriend?"
'Girlfriend?' Regulus swallowed the tea, his eyes flashing with amusement. 'So that's how it is. That's the setting of this Trial.'
It was a dating game. He had to admit, her ability to construct reality from memories was incredibly convenient.
"Since we are boyfriend and girlfriend," Regulus smiled, holding out the cup. "Wouldn't it be okay for us to just share?"
"Share! Drink from the same..."
Echidna's dark eyes fell upon the plastic cup in Regulus's hand, and more specifically, the straw inserted in it, which his lips had just touched.
A faint, highly visible pink color blossomed across her pale cheeks.
Noticing this, Regulus couldn't help but feel a little confused.
'She's blushing already? Isn't she a little too innocent?'
She was acting completely like a sheltered little girl who had never experienced anything intimate.
'Wait a minute,' Regulus frowned internally. 'If my future self supposedly traveled back in time and conquered her four hundred years ago, why is she acting like a pure maiden? Is it intentional? Or... does the timeline not work like that?'
Thinking about it carefully, he realized the implications for his Authority.
The Plunder ability could only be activated once per target. If his future self had already taken Echidna, could his current self still obtain her abilities? He didn't know. But he definitely had to secure her now to avoid any temporal paradoxes from ruining his progression.
And if he did take down Echidna here... the abilities she possessed were absolutely staggering.
[The Tome of Wisdom]
A flawless grimoire that allowed her to draw knowledge from the world's memories. It knew the present, the past, and could flawlessly calculate the future. It was vastly superior to the flawed copies Roswaal and Beatrice held. The only drawback was that ordinary minds would shatter under the sheer influx of information.
[Mastery of All Magic]
She possessed the ultimate magical proficiency, reaching the realm of creating artificial life—Beatrice, Puck, the artificial spirits, and the Ryuzu clones were all her masterpieces.
[The Castle of Dreams]
A special pocket dimension outside the physical world where souls could reside and interact safely.
[Memory Manipulation]
The ability to effortlessly rewrite, erase, or extract the memories of anyone who entered her domain.
Any single one of those abilities would be a god-tier Plunder. He must take her down.
At this moment, Echidna, standing in front of Regulus, naturally noticed his eyes darkening with intense, predatory desire.
Her heart fluttered, and she felt a wave of genuine fluster wash over her. But her insatiable curiosity—the defining trait of the Witch of Greed—stubbornly prevented her from running away. She wanted to see what he would do.
She pretended to be calm, stepped forward, and took the bubble tea from Regulus's hand. Wrapping her lips around the straw, she took a light sip.
"I guess what you said makes sense," she murmured, avoiding his gaze. "So... where are we going to play next? As the boyfriend, you should have already thought about it."
"Of course I've already thought about it."
Regulus reached out and firmly grasped her pale hand, lacing his fingers through hers.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To see a movie."
"A movie?"
"That's right. To see a movie."
"..."
Echidna's expression stiffened slightly. She could easily read the strange, heavy undertone in Regulus's voice.
And the result was exactly as she logically calculated, yet emotionally dreaded.
Regulus didn't take her to a cinema. He led her straight off the bustling street and directly into a dimly lit love hotel.
After booking a room, he guided her inside, locked the door, and gently but forcibly pressed her down by her shoulders, making her sit on the edge of the large, circular bed.
"You said we were going to watch a movie," Echidna said, her voice slightly breathless. "Are we watching it... here?"
"That's right. Here."
"But, if we're watching a movie, shouldn't we go to a cinema?"
"No, no, no," Regulus chuckled, walking over to the entertainment console. "The movie we're watching is a little different from the ones in the cinema."
"Different..."
She stared at Regulus's back as he searched the cabinet below the television. He took out a disc and slotted it into the player.
Click.
The TV turned on, and the film began to play on the screen. The immediate sounds of heavy panting and wet flesh slapping filled the quiet hotel room.
"Compared to watching in a theater with many people," Regulus said, turning around and walking back to the bed. "I wanted to watch a movie with Echidna alone."
"..."
Regulus sat down beside her, his arm smoothly wrapping around her shoulders, pulling her flush against his side.
Echidna, who seemed incredibly restrained, tightly grasped the fabric of her black skirt with both hands. She looked profoundly nervous, staring wide-eyed at the explicit acts playing out on the glowing screen.
But beneath the nervousness, Regulus also saw a distinct, burning hint of anticipation in her dark eyes.
Just a moment ago, he had been worried that Echidna might panic and dissolve the illusion. Now it seemed that worry was completely unnecessary. The Witch of Greed was genuinely looking forward to experiencing what would happen next.
But just as the atmosphere in the room grew heavy and ambiguous, and just as Regulus leaned in, sliding his hand up her thigh to finally start the main event...
An anomaly occurred.
A sudden, freezing drop in temperature hit the room.
A deeply ominous, pitch-black mist violently erupted from the corners of the ceiling. It began rapidly devouring the walls, the bed, and the television, violently eroding Echidna's carefully constructed dreamscape.
The scent of overwhelming, putrid malice flooded the air.
This sudden, violent intrusion immediately made Echidna's expression turn incredibly unpleasant.
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