Chapter 168 – The Witch and the Black Knight (45)

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After persuading Ophé, Edel and I concealed ourselves using a magic circle nearby.

The plan was simple—the moment Lapis briefly awakened from her curse upon hearing the truth, I would swiftly use Ulti to suppress it.

“Will this really work?”

“Of course. Once Lapis arrives, it’ll all be over.”

Unlike me, who was giddy with success at having convinced Ophé without resorting to Ulti, Edel wore a sour expression, his eyes fixed on the elf with suspicion.

“What if that pointy-eared bastard doesn’t listen?”

“Then things will play out like in the book. Lapis’s curse will slowly consume him.”

“In that case, battle is inevitable, just as the story foretold.”

Ugh. This is why battle-obsessed idiots are so…

I thought praising him as the protagonist would keep him in check, but Edel still hadn’t given up on fighting Lapis. He even reached for his sword again.

“Ophé is smart enough to understand us. So give up on fighting.”

Ophé was a high-level elf, skilled enough to raid infamous ruins solo and walk away with treasure.

If he had read the inscription on the sealed monument, he would’ve grasped the situation.

“Hmm… I suppose you’re right.”

Edel flexed his fingers, still visibly displeased.

I couldn’t tell if he was sulking because he couldn’t fight Lapis—or because he couldn’t persuade Ophé with his sword. But watching him like this was making me waver.

“If Ophé ignores the warning and makes a second wish… then fine, you can ‘persuade’ him with your sword. Deal?”

At that, the frown on Edel’s face melted into a grin.

In the original story, Ophé made three wishes to Lapis, so we still had some leeway.

But if Ophé, even after suffering the curse, remained blinded by greed and wished again… then I wouldn’t hesitate to use Ulti—alongside Edel’s sword.

“Good. Trust in my blade.”

“Sigh… Fine.”

I exhaled deeply, frustrated that we were essentially banking on Ophé’s mistakes.

“But Estelle, about the ‘truth’ we’re supposed to tell Lapis…”

“Huh? What about it?”

“Is simply telling her ‘Lazuli is dead’ really enough to snap her out of it?”

The sharpness of his question—uncharacteristic of Edel—made my eyes waver.

It… stung a little. No, a lot.

I had spoken confidently to both Edel and Ophé, but…

…Well, you’d only really understand heartbreak if you’d experienced it.

My plan was just the best I could come up with—imagining how I would react if I were Lapis.

“If I were her, I doubt such words would be enough.”

My heart plummeted like a child caught in a lie. I even felt oddly exposed, as if stripped bare.

“D-Did you forget my title?! I’m the Witch of Love! I know everything about love, got it?!”

Who was he to question me? Just a month ago, he hadn’t even known what love was!

Edel’s indifferent gaze remained, but it felt like he was silently mocking me—”You’ve never even been in love, yet you preach about pure love?”

If this wasn’t outright insubordination, I didn’t know what was.

“Then what would YOU say to make Lapis snap out of it?!”

I barely stopped myself from shouting.

Admitting that would’ve been confessing I knew nothing about love.

“My apologies. That was presumptuous. You are the Witch of Love, after all. With over a hundred dates under your belt, you’d know better than me.”

Did he think an apology would smooth things over?

I could let other things slide—but love?

The same Edel who had been no better than a caveman a month ago…!

While I was still fuming, a chilling presence rippled through the water, freezing us both mid-breath.

“Lazuli, my love. I’ve brought what you desired.”

A sweet whisper, laced with a grotesque tone, filled the cavern.

From the abyssal darkness emerged Lapis—her hollow eye sockets, deeper than the sea itself, oozed a viscous curse that polluted the water around her.

Her curse had taken the form of over a dozen tendrils, each coiled around one of Violet’s hidden treasure chests.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Her skin was deathly pale, stretched taut over bones.

Her tail, stripped of scales, exposed white bone.

And in the gaping cavity where her heart should’ve been—a pulsating mass of curse energy festered.

The Witch of the Sea—Lapis.

Seeing her in person, beyond mere illustrations… was horrifying. I almost reflexively covered Edel’s eyes.

Because what he’d said earlier still echoed in my mind.

“Are you pleased? Is this enough?”

“What even are these treasures…?”

“I told you, didn’t I? For Lazuli, I’d gladly tear out my own heart.”

After setting down the chests, Lapis circled Ophé like a predator, spreading her curse to block any escape.

Ophé inspected the treasure, his smile never faltering as he observed her movements.

“What I desire is love. Your hair, your eyes, your voice, your skin, your heart—all of it is love. I’ve shown you my devotion. Now, show me yours.”

“Ghk—!”

The curse surged, engulfing Ophé’s hair.

Not metaphorically—his hair melted on contact, dissolving like it was being digested.

“This is Lazuli’s love… Ahh, love meant for me alone…!”

Lapis hugged herself, shuddering with euphoria.

As if intoxicated by Ophé’s suffering, she trembled, breath ragged.

“Lazuli, my love. Tell me your wish. Shall I tear out my heart for you this time?”

“N-Next… my eyes?”

“The scale of love I seek depends on what you offer.”

“I see…”

So words alone hadn’t been enough to sway Ophé.

Even bald and cursed, his eyes still darted like a merchant weighing profits and losses.

“Edel, get ready.”

I elbowed his side, and he drew his sword.

Ophé’s second wish.

The Sea’s Love—The Fourth Proxy of God was slumbering nearby. Time was running out.

The moment Lapis vanished, we had to end this quickly.

“Bring me the bones of the World-Devouring Dragon that Estelle stole. Kill her if she resists.”

“Edel, wait… what?”

For a second, I thought I’d misheard.

Not the Sea’s Love—but the World-Devouring Dragon’s bones?

Ophé turned to us, his smile unbearably smug.

How—?

Then it hit me.

A cringe-worthy memory from right after I became a witch—looting dungeons and ruins like a phantom thief, leaving behind…

[Thanks for the loot! ♡ –Estelle]

If Ophé had already visited the Dragon’s Tomb in this timeline, he would’ve seen that note.

With things derailed like this… I no longer had a good opening to use Ulti on either Ophé or Lapis.

I should’ve used it from the start.

But regret came too late.

“Lazuli, to earn your love, I’ll give you even my heart…!”

Simultaneously, the curse in Lapis’s chest convulsed.

The cavern trembled—then the entire abyss pulsed.

Before I could react, Lapis’s curse devoured the sea at terrifying speed.

Her confession of love was the curse.

This wasn’t just any witch’s curse.

Denser, heavier than even what I’d faced with Beryl in Venetia, it surged through the water.

[For Love, I Would Even Tear Out My Heart]

• Lapis drowns the sea in curse to claim her love.
• All of Lapis’s stats doubled.
• All enemies in the sea suffer a 30% stat reduction.
• Lapis permanently absorbs the reduced stats.
• Movement skills disabled.

A power that momentarily usurps divine authority—rewriting the world’s laws.

The same power only Aria, the Proxy of God, had countered in the game.

Lapis’s Ulti had fully engulfed the abyss.

Her Ulti, “For Love, I Would Even Tear Out My Heart”, was a world-domination skill like Beryl’s Demon Eye.

Meaning—we could die at any moment.

The only silver lining was that Lapis only had eyes for Triceratops, ignoring Edel.

As a witch, I was immortal, but I had to get Edel out of here.

Unlike Beryl, who’d struggled to control her Ulti, Lapis wielded hers flawlessly.

I couldn’t lose Edel in this lightless trench, where even teleportation was disabled by her Ulti.

I had to buy time for him to escape.

“Edel! Run—!?”

But before I could finish, Lapis’s cursed tendrils shot toward me.

Aimed precisely at my inventory, hidden in my ribcage, where Triceratops was stored.

Prioritizing Edel over myself had been a mistake.

One I’d never have made before.

I tried casting a spell, but the tendrils were faster.

Yet, they never reached me.

A flash of earthen light, like lightning, split the water.

Crude yet intense—warm, even—Edel’s demonic energy, reminiscent of a witch’s curse, severed the tendrils mid-lunge.

“…Edel?”

“Run? Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve fought the Kraken. Now I want to test myself against Lapis. You told me not to, but… you prepared this for me, didn’t you? Heh. Now this is what a protagonist deserves.”

I’d called him the protagonist as lip service—just a flimsy excuse to keep him in line.

But in that moment, as he shielded me from the tendrils—

Edel was the protagonist.

More than Kyle, Sion, or Zeke ever were.

Thump.

Maybe it was Lapis’s curse affecting me,

But the curse I’d buried deep in my heart—

Twitched faintly, as if sleep talking.

But this wasn’t the time for that.

“Watch your protagonist shine.”

That idiot—!

Before I could stop him, Edel charged at Lapis, demonic energy blazing.

And all I could do was watch, my heart burned with frustration.