Chapter 63: Chapter 63 : It was my Witch From the Beginning

For the first time since I had known him through these visions, I saw Erwin cry.

The god who had fought against heaven itself. The father who had sacrificed everything for his daughter. He stood there with tears streaming down his divine face, wiping them away with trembling hands.

But beneath those tears was something else entirely.

Resolve.

“Liora, take her away.” His voice cracked. “Away from these blind people.”

He looked at the child in my arms. At the innocent face that had committed no sin except existing.

“I know I am asking too much. Asking you to throw away your life.”

He paused. Drew a shaky breath.

“But look at her face and tell me what did she do wrong?”

The weight of those words crushed something inside Liora. I could feel it through the memory we shared.

“I have failed as a father.” Erwin’s voice broke completely. “And now I cannot bear more pain. I cannot watch my daughter die in front of me.”

He fell to his knees before her.

“So please. I beg of you. Take her to the mortal realm. Protect her until she finds happiness.”

Liora wanted to refuse. Wanted to make him reconsider. She knew the truth that haunted her mind.

She would not survive there. Her divine essence would dissolve the moment she touched mortal soil. She would be unable to protect Amelia. Unable to shield her from the cruelty that awaited.

But the words refused to form on her lips.

Because whatever harshness that mortal domain held, it would still be a thousand times gentler than remaining here. Among these so-called gods. Among these monsters wearing holy masks.

So she accepted.

She took Amelia in her arms and fled toward the mortal world. A realm where those divine cowards would never dare to follow.

FWOOOOSH.

The boundary between realms shattered as they descended through layers of existence.

And then she felt it happening.

Her body was dissolving. Fading into particles of light. The mortal world was rejecting her divine essence exactly as she had feared.

Her grip weakened.

Amelia slipped from her arms.

THUD.

The child hit the ground and cried out in pain. And in that moment of anguish, whatever power had been sealed within her erupted.

The prophecy of that so-called Almighty God came true.

Liora felt the aura explode outward. Suffocating. Overwhelming. A pressure so immense it made the very air tremble with fear.

Then came the horror.

CRASH. CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.

From the sky above, thousands of black towers rained down upon the village they had descended upon. Massive structures of pure darkness crushing everything beneath their weight.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Houses crumbled. Streets vanished. Screams filled the air before being silenced forever.

When the destruction finally ceased, most of the villagers lay dead beneath the rubble.

And the survivors?

They saw Liora’s fading form. Saw the child in her dissolving grasp. Saw the devastation that had spawned from that single moment of pain.

They gave her a title that day.

The Calamity itself.

Amelia looked at Liora with those teary eyes. Confused. Terrified. Unable to understand what she had done or why everyone was screaming.

And in that moment, my mind finally connected everything.

Every memory I had witnessed in my dreams. Every tragedy that followed this incident. Every tear she had shed. Every smile she had lost. Every time she pushed me away because she believed she was cursed.

It all traced back to this single moment.

My eyes grew watery. But the tears that formed were not born from sadness.

They were born from rage.

Pure, volcanic rage directed at every god who had orchestrated this nightmare.

Liora’s voice pulled me back from the memory.

“I do not know who you are. I do not know what connection you have with the gods or why your opinion of them was so hostile from the beginning.”

She paused.

“And I do not know what memories flowed through Amelia’s soul residing within you.”

I froze.

“Amelia? Within me?”

She nodded slowly.

“The poor soul was hunted through her whole life. And ultimately killed. Just like other every unique dead being in this world, she transformed into a summon.”

Her expression grew heavy with sorrow.

“But she was a summon trapped in complete darkness. No summoner could hold her. No core was capable of containing her power. Or the curse she carried.”

She looked directly into my eyes.

“So all this time, she was waiting. And that wait ended a month ago. When she was forced to bond with your core.”

Understanding dawned on me.

“Your core sealed her. Chained her. Restricted her powers so that your very existence would not burst from containing such magnitude.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“I felt something strange and wanted to investigate. That is when I realized you were completely different from others. An anomaly in the world.”

Her lips curved into a gentle smile.

“I studied what was happening to Amelia. And I discovered that her unconscious self was reacting to you. Flooding you with the memories she had endured. The bond that a master and summon share during unconscious states.”

She paused. And when she spoke again, her voice carried something I had not heard before.

Wonder.

“And in that moment, I saw a smile on her face. While still being caged. Still being bound by whatever unknown factor resides within you.”

Her eyes glistened.

“The one who had never smiled was finally smiling. And I knew it was all because of you.”

Something inside me snapped.

Heat radiated through my veins. I could feel them bulging beneath my skin. My vision turned red with fury.

I walked toward Liora. Grabbed her collar with both hands. Yanked her face close to mine.

“Dare to say one more lie.” My voice was barely human. “And I will show you hell right here.”

She smiled despite the pain of my grip.

“I am not lying. I am not fabricating anything. It is all—”

“ALL OF YOU!”

I cut her off with a roar that echoed through this empty void.

“All gods are liars! Every single one of you!”

My grip tightened.

“You told her story as if she was cursed. Your every word portrayed her as the reason for all this suffering.”

I pulled her closer.

“Fuck you all for this nonsense.”

My voice dropped to something cold. Dangerous.

“That being you called the Almighty God was better than all of you combined. At least he spoke the truth.”

Her eyes widened.

“I am not saying he was right about Amelia being cursed. I am saying he was honest when he called her the seed that would bring down heaven.”

A twisted smile spread across my face.

“Because I swear on everything I am. Every single one of those divine bastards will pay. And I will make sure Amelia and I watch them all burn for their sins.”

The rage consumed me completely. I did not know what to do with it. Where to direct it.

Then I looked at Liora’s face.

She was surprised at first. But as she processed my words and witnessed my wrath, something changed in her expression.

She smiled.

I released her collar.

She looked upward. Toward the empty space above us. And spoke to someone who was no longer there.

“Erwin. It seems you were really fighting all this time for your daughter.”

Then she looked at me. Then back at the void.

“Now we can both rest in peace. I have completed my promise to you. And you have completed yours to her.”

She reached out and grabbed my hands gently.

“Do not you dare let all our efforts go in vain. Cherish her. Make her feel special like you already have.”

Her smile widened.

“I can sense it from the smiling face of hers within you.”

I pulled my hands back.

“Now you will tell me what to do and what not?”

She laughed softly.

“You mortals are truly a different species.”

“Do not count me in that category.” I crossed my arms. “I am ascended from that.”

I let my words hang for a moment.

“And as for Amelia, I had already decided to stand by her side the moment I first saw her.”

My voice softened. Just slightly.

“And once I decide something, I do not need guidance. Not from gods. Not from fate. Not from anyone.”

She laughed again. Genuine this time.

“So I was worried for nothing. If this was Erwin’s doing, then he must have gone insane to trust Amelia to some arrogant child. But it is fine. As long as she is happy.”

I smiled.

“Or maybe he was a genius.”

Her form began dissolving into particles of light. Fading from existence with that same peaceful expression.

“I doubt that.”

And then she was gone.

I woke from the dream. Or more precisely, from the memory we had shared together.

{Back to the present}

The arena. The battle. Freya’s confused expression. Ashen standing motionless.

I pressed my palm against my chest.

“Show yourself, my Witch of Calamity.”

Silence.

“Amelia. I am waiting.”

FWOOOOSH.

The world went dark.

Every sound vanished. Every light extinguished. The arena, the crowd, everything dissolved into absolute nothingness.

And when I opened my eyes again, there was a welcoming smile waiting for me.

Amelia.

Her wrists were bound by chains of pure darkness. Her body restrained by shackles I could not comprehend.

But despite all of that, she was smiling.

That same smile I had fought so hard to protect.

“You will not stop following me even in the afterlife?”

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