NOVPUBThe dreamlike haze, as in a cathedral of Heaven and fairyland, where Miss Witch let the young man hold her.
"Alright, being born and dying is the natural order of life, day and night follow the same principle."
She kept patting the young man’s back gently, like a tender wife,
"Life, it’s not as good as you think, nor as bad as you think, isn’t that what you told me? Whenever you lose something, you always gain something else."
She said.
"That was the thinking of sixteen years ago. Now, I dare not talk about anything with anyone, because as soon as we start talking, I’ll miss every single person."
His voice was hoarse as he finally spoke.
He wanted to cry, yet he felt his heart was dryer than a desert.
"Once, there was a girl by my side who would always nag me to stay calm, and whenever I went crazy, she would frown and tightly grasp my sleeve."
"Later, my sleeves became light and fluttery."
Though he said so, his hands felt too heavy to lift again.
"I am already a person of the other shore, while you are different, you shouldn’t cling to this side."
Miss Witch slowly grasped his sleeve, but this time, she pushed him away.
She no longer let him hold her, just looking at him like that.
"I don’t understand…"
The black-haired youth shook his head.
"Lankros, your feigned ignorance… Ah, now that you are awake, I am relieved."
Miss Witch looked at him, her mouth curving into a small smile without any hint of sadness, returning to the lively self she was when they first met, even her words brimming with vitality,
"I know you want to stay here, but sometimes what seems like a short pause can turn into an indefinite halt, missing the perfect chance. Your mission isn’t complete yet, so, set forth."
She originally thought that the light she couldn’t see with her eyes was darkness to her, until one day she discovered that the sun is but a morning star, that even when other stars disappear, they would still continue to accompany the sun, which is simply the most conspicuous among them.
The black-haired youth’s hand clung to Miss Witch’s shoulder as if glued, unable to let go.
Until she shook her head and began to step back as if dancing.
"By the way, to prevent you from falling into the Illusion Technique again or having an enemy exploit Spiritual Magic when you’re vulnerable, I feel I must remind you."
Miss Witch put her hands behind her back and bent slightly forward, looking at him seriously,
"Go fall in love with someone, otherwise, you won’t be able to defeat the Third Ancestor Rashal."
She said.
"What are you talking about? And even if you tell me this now, I might forget it when I wake from this dream."
He asked, puzzled and agitated.
"Next, you should love them as always, every creature that treats you kindly."
She explained.
"I’m tired, I’m weary, I don’t want to learn how to love anymore, just let me grow old alone."
He shook his head.
"If even this is beyond you, then history will simply repeat itself."
She raised an eyebrow, a flash of anger as she pointed at Lanci’s forehead, rare in her reprimand of him,
"Repeating the same history, making the same mistakes, over and over."
But after saying this, her gaze softened once more.
"Lankros, learn to love again, it’s only by falling for someone that you can be anchored to this world, only then will you not drift toward nothingness."
Once one steps into the side of nothingness and merges into nihilism, one starts to believe that life has no purpose, only a journey; that everything is in vain, becoming purely rational, accepting the insignificance and helplessness of human existence, sensing the chaos and uncontrollability of fate, instead of futilely challenging nothingness, it’s easier to let go of the steering wheel and plunge into the abyss.
Listening to her words, the dry tears began to flow again.
Outside the cathedral, the sky was gradually bathed in a delicate pink under the nearly setting sun, or perhaps the hue of dawn.
"Then… goodbye it is."
Even as his eyelids fought to fall closed, he forced himself to keep them open, smiling as he watched her leave, letting the tears blur his reluctant sight.
The cathedral’s floor-to-ceiling windows were as tranquil as the sea, reflecting their figures.
Miss Witch’s words, like a small boat, cut through the waves of his stormy heart, resonating continuously.
"I will forget everything entirely and fulfill our agreement, to end this Blood Moon Bad World!"
The wound still hurts, the parched throat not yet eased.
But it no longer matters, let it all be scattered by the wind, it’s better this way.
At the end of persistence, there’s nothing, just emptiness.
He wiped his tears fiercely, revealing a determined look, raising his hand to her.
She smiled and waved her wrist, slowly melting into the sunset.
The young man too would vanish in the dawn’s light.
"If we can’t meet again, then it’s destiny, so don’t cling any longer!"
She uttered as if voicing her last piece of vulnerability, advising him.
"You’re terribly mistaken, there’s plenty of time, I won’t forget!"
He revealed his longing without reservation, shouting out to her.
Hearing these words, the fading illusion of the witch first looked stunned, then smiled in resignation.
"You said, you won’t forget me."
"I believe from now on, my entire life,
"Is contained in your words."
She left him with those final words.
