Release that Witch

“It appears that you aren’t completely unaware of witch abilities. That makes things much easier,” Zero grasped the hem of her skirt and gave a slight bow, “Welcome to the World of Consciousness, I call this place the Battlefield of Souls. It is here where we will carry out our fight. The winner gets everything, the loser loses all… Just as God proclaims in the Holy Book.”

Souls… battlefield.

Garcia stared blankly, trying to digest what she had just heard when she suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from her lung. She didn’t know from where the pike had come, but somehow Zero had had directly thrust it into her chest. Her breathing immediately turned heavy, when she tried to open her mouth and shout, not even the smallest of sounds came out. Meanwhile, Zero turned the pike around and fiercely pulled it back, blood came spraying out of the wound, soon covering half of her body. Garcia sank to her knees, trembling as she tried to cover her wounds, but due to the enormous blood loss, her consciousness had already began to blur.

The next moment she found herself standing at her former place in perfect condition. The shadows standing a few meters away from her, as she had never left her place to begin with.

What happened? Garcia opened her mouth wide, taking in a deep breath, an illusion? Her hands were still fiercely pressing against her chest, and she could still feel an aching pain at the place the wound from a moment ago had been. Lowering her head, she saw a large spray of blood scattered around her feet.

“This is the basic rule. One’s consciousness isn’t immortal,” Zero explained, spreading out her hands, “The pain of every death will feel real to you. It will slowly consume your mental and physical strength, and when this sense exceeds your limits it will be time for your eternal rest.

“Every time you die, your body will return to its original state. An average person can withstand at most three to four times, of course, I have also seen a lot of determined individuals who managed to go through seven, eight, or even more deaths,” She explained gently. ”Although I am looking forward to your performance, I can also understand if you give up. After all, the feeling of continuous death is an unbearable suffering. At this point, choosing to escape isn’t a cowardly behavior, especially when the outcome has already been decided.”

Finished speaking with the dropped pike in her hand and a great sword on her back she leaped forward and tried splitting Garcia apart.

The latter stared with wide open eyes, she is wearing a white gown, there is no way for her to hide such a huge weapon. All these weapons are… coming out of thin air? Suddenly the other’s words reappeared in her mind –

“This is your world…”

“I call it the Battlefield of Souls.”

“One’s consciousness isn’t immortal… everything is real to you.”

The great sword chopped down, but instead of cutting the former Queen of Clear Water in two, it slammed against a huge iron shield. Confronted with the huge unexpected rebound, Zero lost her grip on the sword as it flew into the air, at the same time her body was also forced a few steps back. Garcia, because of the great strength she’d used to deflect the heavy blow, fell to the ground.

“The end is already destined?” She ground her teeth and sneered, “Previously you said this is ‘my world’, didn’t you?” The moment the words fell, she popped up, and a crossbow suddenly appeared in her hand immediately releasing the arrow at Zero. Simultaneously a crucifix raised up behind her and firmly trapped her body.

In a flash the crossbow arrow drilled into the abdomen of the Purified, immediately causing a suffering expression to appear on her face. After gasping twice, Zero opened her mouth, “Th-that surprised me… cough cough, as an ordinary person… just accepting this is already very hard, n-not to mention using your own consciousness to retaliate. You just proved… why the Queen of Clear Water is able to cause Mayne so many headaches.”

“Thank you very much for your praise,” Garcia said while picking up the spear that had fallen on the ground. “If it weren’t for you talking too much I would never have been able to comprehend the wonders of the World of Consciousness so quickly. Now, should I put some more holes in you?”

Zero laughed challengingly, “For now, I’ll let you do as you like.”

…

When Garcia stabbed her for the tenth time, the Purified finally died — she had deliberately avoided piercing any of the fatal points, slowly moving from the hands and feet toward the abdomen. At first the Purified had cried out miserably, but later on her voice had gradually started to break.