Night fell upon the Lifaus Highway.
Darkness blanketed the land. Only the bright moon and scattered stars offered faint illumination, casting a pale silver glow across the earth.
Along the way, Emilia's dragon carriage traveled almost completely unimpeded. With the White Whale now dealt with, there had initially still been many citizens celebrating along the roadside.
After some time, however, not a single person could be seen. Beneath the moonlit sky, only the crisp rustling of vegetation accompanied them.
"Ram, let's head straight back to the mansion and wait for Sister Shendu! I'm really looking forward to the look on their faces when they see us."
Seated properly inside the dragon carriage, Emilia's violet eyes brimmed with anticipation.
"Of course. But we should inform them when the time comes."
Ram smiled faintly, showing no intention of refusing.
Sometimes, giving Shendu a little surprise was necessary. It was also the outcome Lady Emilia wished to see.
As time passed bit by bit, Roswaal's mansion gradually appeared before them. Yet strangely, Ram suddenly felt a sharp sense of danger.
It was as though some impending trouble was about to befall them. Without hesitation, Ram tightened her grip on the reins and brought the dragon carriage to a halt.
After stopping, Ram sniffed the air in the distance. Her expression changed instantly.
"Fura!" (A wind magic incantation)
Sensing a familiar witch's aura, Ram did not dare hesitate. A surge of magic blasted the carriage door open.
Grabbing Emilia by the hand, she leapt down from the carriage. Emilia's blue eyes flickered with confusion and puzzlement.
"Ram, what's wrong?"
Emilia looked at her nervously.
"There's the scent of a witch. It's hiding in the nearby forest. We must be careful."
Ram was exceptionally vigilant. She harbored deep hostility toward anything related to witches.
Whether she had unconsciously transferred the hatred for her destroyed village onto the Witch Cult was unclear. Yet she held no resentment toward Roswaal himself.
No sooner had she finished speaking than the dragon carriage parked by the roadside was suddenly lifted by an invisible force and hurled toward the wary Ram and Emilia.
Seeing the carriage raised and thrown at them by unseen power, Ram did not hesitate. She stepped in front of Emilia to shield her.
Emilia currently had almost no combat ability. Without Puck's protection, she was nearly incapable of using magic.
When she was younger, Emilia's magical power had not been weak. But as she grew older, it seemed as though her strength had been sealed, preventing her from fully unleashing it.
Otherwise, the fact that she had once frozen the entire Elior Forest and turned it into permanent frozen land was proof enough of her true power.
Boom!
Ram shattered the airborne carriage. As the ground dragon let out a miserable cry, her expression did not change. Right now, protecting Emilia was what mattered most.
The falling wreckage smashed into the ground, gouging out a crater and kicking up thick clouds of dust that surged toward them.
Cough, cough... "What was that just now?"
Emilia inhaled some of the dust and choked lightly, confusion in her eyes.
"I don't know. There's no trace of magic in it, but... it's likely a method used by the Witch Cult."
Ram was well-informed. She suspected it was some kind of Authority wielded by the Witch Cult. Otherwise, it would not have been able to activate so suddenly, nearly escaping her perception.
As a member of the oni race, Ram's senses were exceptional. She could easily tell who was responsible for the attack.
"I see."
Understanding the situation, Emilia obediently moved behind Ram.
Since she lacked fighting ability, Emilia did not wish to become a burden. Hiding behind Ram, she watched the distant forest intently.
They did not wait long before rustling sounds came from the woods ahead, as if someone were pushing through dense undergrowth and approaching.
"Lady Emilia, please be careful. Do not step forward. They may already be here."
Ram had never been more alert. Facing the looming danger, she prepared to fight the Witch Cult with everything she had.
The moment her words fell, more than a dozen figures in black robes emerged from the trees.
Under the moonlight, their forms radiated an ominous aura, pressing down on Emilia with a suffocating weight.
"So these are members of the Witch Cult? They're certainly strange."
Emilia stared at them. For some reason, the very first glance filled her with instinctive disgust.
The beautiful memories of her past seemed to have gradually vanished after the Witch Cult's arrival.
To Ram, those dozen black-robed cultists were nothing more than disposable pawns.
However, the one leading them concealed his entire body beneath his robe. In the moonlight, only a hint of green hair was visible.
"Fura!"
Sensing their strength, Ram knew she could not hold back. She poured all her magic into conjuring a violent storm, forming countless wind blades that shot forward.
Yet in the face of the dense barrage, the cult leader remained utterly calm. He did not even move.
If Ram, like Natsuki Subaru, could see Authorities, she would have easily noticed more than a dozen invisible hands extending from above the black-robed man's head.
This was the Authority of Sloth—the terrifying Unseen Hands.
"Ahhhh! What a trial this is! The great Witch's test begins now!"
The eccentric man cried out theatrically. The invisible hands around him casually swatted forward.
In an instant, Ram's magic shattered into countless particles and dissipated into the air.
After that brief exchange, Ram understood she was no match for them. With nothing but unseen force, they had crushed her spell.
In terms of strength, she estimated he surpassed her by several levels. Otherwise, such an overwhelming disparity would not exist.
Having grasped the crucial fact, Ram sighed. Glancing at the tense Emilia, she spoke sternly.
"Lady Emilia, leave immediately. Ram will stay behind to cover you. You must not fall into the hands of the Witch Cult. Go now while you still can."
Her voice was firm.
"But if I leave, what will happen to you?"
Emilia hesitated. As a kind-hearted silver-haired half-elf, she did not wish to see anyone hurt—not even Ram, who so often cared for her.
"Lady Emilia, please do not worry about Ram. I will manage somehow. As long as you survive, you can seek Lady Shendu's help."
Ram spoke resolutely. With Lady Shendu as their trump card, finding her might yet resolve this dire predicament.
"...All right. Ram, be careful. I'll come back as quickly as I can."
Emilia made her decision. She would not remain and become a burden. She would run to seek help.
She had never imagined that the Witch Cult would block them right at the entrance to Roswaal's territory.
Ram's plan was sound. Unfortunately, these cultists were not so easy to handle. Before she could fully react, several invisible hands struck her.
The Unseen Hands moved at incredible speed. Ram only heard the sound of air tearing apart before she was knocked unconscious.
Emilia had only taken a few steps before she stopped abruptly.
"Why are you attacking us?"
Seeing Ram collapsed, Emilia questioned the cultists before her, hoping for an answer.
Sadly, the Witch Cultists seemed devoid of reason. They ignored her entirely.
"Ahhh! Vessel of the Witch, you cannot escape! This trial begins now!"
In the distance, the leading Witch Cultist was visibly exhilarated, staring at Emilia as though she were prey.
Just as the cultists were about to reach her, dark-attribute magic suddenly rippled within her shadow.
A moment later, more than a dozen ninjas crawled out from Emilia's shadow and immediately launched an attack on the Witch Cultists.
However, the power of the Unseen Hands was overwhelmingly strong. The Shadowkhan ninjas guarding Emilia were nearly wiped out in an instant.
"So this was Sister Shendu's method of protecting me?"
Seeing the scene before her, Emilia froze briefly before realization dawned.
Understanding that the Shadowkhan had created an opportunity for her, Emilia gathered her courage once more and ran.
But it was already too late.
She had only managed to run a short distance when an invisible hand struck her, knocking her unconscious.
As darkness crept over her vision, a familiar yet twisted face appeared before her, causing her heart to tremble.
"Geuse..."
With only enough strength to utter that name, Emilia completely lost consciousness.
Even after she fainted, a pair of crimson eyes within her shadow continued to observe everything silently, remaining hidden and unmoving.
This was Emilia's final safeguard. With the Shadowkhan ninjas concealed within her shadow, information could be relayed to Shendu at any time.
Meanwhile, after Shendu and Rem arrived at the village below, they immediately sensed a faint smell of blood in the air.
As they stepped inside, corpses lay scattered across the ground. Not a single villager remained alive.
The horrific sight made Rem frown deeply. Looking at the familiar scene, killing intent began to surge in her eyes.
"It was the Witch Cult."
Sensing the lingering aura of the Witch upon the bodies, Rem's hatred intensified.
When her homeland had been destroyed, it had been due to cooperation between Roswaal and the Witch Cult. She despised both the Witch Cult and Roswaal utterly.
In fact, she felt a powerful urge to eliminate them completely. That was her most instinctive thought.
"Again... those pests."
A trace of displeasure surfaced in Shendu's red eyes.
Previously, Shendu had sent Shadowkhan ninjas to attack the Witch Cult's headquarters. The gains had been minimal—only ordinary cultists were eliminated.
As for the Sin Archbishops, at best she had merely injured them. Not one had been killed. They were an exceptionally troublesome force.
Boom!
As Shendu walked along the edge of the village, a towering blaze suddenly erupted from deeper within.
"Lady Shendu, there must still be members of the Witch Cult here. Let's hurry and take a look."
Seeing this, Rem spoke urgently.
"Very well. I have no objection to killing a few more clowns."
Shendu's gaze turned icy as she advanced with Rem.
At the deepest part of the village, figures cloaked in black robes appeared before them, emanating a repulsive aura.
"Silver hair... the great Witch's vessel..."
More than a dozen mysterious Witch Cult members surrounded them, muttering those words repeatedly.
Hearing this, Shendu felt exasperated.
Just because someone had silver hair, they immediately labeled her as the Witch's vessel. It was almost laughable.
Of course, she did not entirely dismiss the possibility.
The Witch of Envy had silver hair. The Witch of Greed had silver hair. Even the Witch of Vainglory had silver hair. It was not impossible.
But what did that have to do with her?
In Shendu's view, the Witch Cult was nothing more than a group of lunatics intent on plunging the world into chaos. It was hardly a normal organization.
Naturally, she showed them no mercy. Killing them all felt entirely justified.
"Lady Shendu, shall we attack?"
Rem had already drawn her morning star. One horn emerged from her forehead as magic surged around her.
"Yes. Kill them all."
Shendu's voice was ice-cold.
From her shadow, the Shadowkhan emerged once more.
This time, she summoned the Samuraikhan—heavily armored warriors of formidable strength. Each stroke of their blades cleaved through the Witch Cultists.
Wherever they passed, blood sprayed into the air as cultists fell into pools of their own making.
Rem, wielding her morning star, launched relentless assaults on the Witch Cult members, granting them no opportunity to retaliate.
With the combined counterattack of Rem and the Shadowkhan, the cultists were swiftly exterminated. Their madness, however, left a lasting impression.
"Haa... It's finally over. These Witch Cultists are truly revolting."
Rem spoke coldly. From beginning to end, she had despised them. Eliminating them felt like the first step toward vengeance.
Once the Witch Cult was dealt with, only Roswaal would remain. Rem intended to settle that final score eventually. That would not change.
"Indeed. Let's leave."
Shendu waved her hand casually and turned to depart with Rem.
The village remained engulfed in flames. Rem's emotions were complicated.
After taking a few steps forward, Shendu suddenly stopped. A trace of gravity appeared in her eyes.
"What is it, Lady Shendu? What are you thinking about?"
Rem asked in confusion.
"Emilia and Ram have been captured by the Witch Cult."
Receiving the intelligence relayed by the Shadowkhan, Shendu's expression grew colder.
"What? Weren't they in the royal capital?"
Rem was stunned. In her view, the Witch Cult would never dare attack the royal capital so openly.
"They weren't. They must have slipped out secretly. I left more than a dozen ninjas in Emilia's shadow to monitor her. If danger arose, they were to report immediately."
Shendu gave a faint, helpless smile.
When she had summoned the Shadowkhan, she had ordered them to monitor Emilia at all times and report any threats in detail.
Through the information transmitted, Shendu now understood everything.
She had not expected that, despite all precautions, Emilia would leave the royal capital and wander elsewhere. It was the greatest unforeseen variable.
"Then what do we do? Should we go rescue them?"
Rem's heart tightened. This turn of events had completely caught her off guard.
"Of course. Make preparations. They shouldn't be far from here."
Shendu remained composed. At least Emilia was not in immediate mortal danger.
Once she arrived, she would eliminate the problem directly. That was all.
"Understood, Lady Shendu. Let's depart at once."
Without hesitation, Rem followed Shendu as they set off toward their target location, not daring to delay for even a moment.