"Ten people each to the East and North, primarily witches of the Illusion and Earth elements. The defenses there are merely a precaution; your main task is to disorient and delay. There is no need for a direct confrontation. If necessary, lead them toward the West and South."
A low, solemn voice echoed through the Council Hall.
"The enemy is most likely approaching from the Southwest; therefore, the bulk of our forces must concentrate there to construct a defensive line. Remember—any stranger who draws near the village is to be killed on sight!"
The air grew heavy in an instant.
"Aside from the leader, the Third Prince, all others may be disposed of as you see fit."
A look of surprise flickered through the crowd. "Why spare the Prince?"
Another ancient voice explained slowly, "If the Third Prince dies, the King will surely be enraged. He would mobilize a grand army to scour this land thoroughly. At that stage, our village would not only be exposed, but it could reignite a full-scale war between witches and humans."
"But if we do not kill him, won't he simply continue to send search parties?"
"Hmph... then we capture him."
Selphira's father spoke coldly, waving his hand as an illusory image coalesced in mid-air. It was the visage of the Third Prince, extracted from Selphira's memories.
"If you truly encounter him," his voice was devoid of warmth, "bring him back. We will use Mental Magic to erase his obsession, ensuring the words 'The Village' never cross his mind again."
As the words fell, the hall plunged into silence.
The firelight flickered, reflecting the heavy expressions of everyone present. They all understood—this was the method with the lowest cost they could devise.
Ultimately, the Elders reached a decision.
Five would stay behind to protect the children; four would head to the East and North respectively for defense; the remaining fifty-plus witches would all rush toward the Southwest, waiting in the deep forest for the enemy to arrive.
Selphira stood before the mirror, huffily rubbing the cheek that had been struck.
The red mark had long since healed, her skin as fair as before, but the surging grievance and the aching emotion in her chest refused to dissipate.
Somaria crossed her arms, muttering gloomily, "This is all your fault. Now even I've been grounded as punishment."
"I am not in the wrong!" Selphira retorted instantly, her tone full of defiance. "I simply made a new friend. What exactly is wrong with that?"
Somaria looked at her sister's stubborn face, opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately said nothing. She merely let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes again, forcing herself into meditation. Perhaps only this way would time pass faster.
The sun gradually sank in the West, staining the horizon a soft, dim crimson. The last rays of twilight slowly retreated from the windowsill, and the room began to sink into the amber dusk.
Leaning against the window and looking toward the distant orchard, Somaria sighed softly. "I was originally thinking of going to the northern orchard today to pick some ripening fruit. I saw yesterday that they were already plump."
Selphira turned her head at those words, her eyes lighting up instantly as if a fascinating idea had just struck her. "Then you should just go."
Somaria shook her head helplessly, her voice tinged with a hint of grievance. "How could I? Mother has already placed seals on the doors and windows. The moment someone tries to sneak in or out, she'll sense it immediately."
The corners of Selphira's mouth curled upward into a sly, knowing smile. "That's only because your sealing technique isn't good enough. I know how to quietly dismantle a single circuit. By bypassing just one ring of runes, I can slip out and back in without Mother ever noticing."
Somaria felt a slight stir in her heart.
That small spark of desire she had suppressed was being coaxed out once more. A flicker of light danced in her eyes, as if she could already see those plump, succulent fruits hanging heavy on the branches.
But that light quickly faded.
She pressed a hand to her chest and shook her head slowly. "No... if we get caught, it'll only be worse for us. Father is in a towering rage, and Mother... she would be so disappointed."
Selphira refused to give up. Her tone remained light, yet it carried an unyielding stubbornness. "Then you stay here. I'm going out for a bit."
She paused, her gaze suddenly becoming earnest, as if she had reached a final resolution.
"I'm going to find Evan. I'll tell him not to come near the village borders anymore. That way, Father will see—I didn't mean to expose the village to outsiders."
Somaria leaned her head against her hand, a headache blooming from the sheer weight of her sister's words. "Do you truly believe he'll just walk away because you told him to? A Third Prince isn't a child."
But this only seemed to bolster Selphira's confidence. She even let out a small, triumphant laugh. "Evan will listen to me. Didn't you see? Yesterday, he was so obedient, so doting—he'll definitely agree."
Somaria watched her, a fierce struggle raging within her mind.
In truth, she wanted to go out too.
She wanted to escape this suffocating little house and breathe the long-lost air of freedom; she wanted to go to the orchard, pluck those ripened fruits, and taste the sweetness that practically dripped with juice.
But in the end, she suppressed the impulse.
Because she knew she wasn't Selphira. She couldn't be like her sister, challenging her parents and the rules without a second thought.
Someone had to stay behind. Otherwise, everything truly might spiral out of control.
With a soft sigh, she finally lowered her voice in compromise. "Fine... but you must be quick. If anything changes, I'll have to find a way to smuggle you back into bed."
Her voice softened further:
"I'll stay in the room and use Illusion Magic to disguise a silhouette of you sleeping. When Mother returns, that's all she'll see. Remember—my illusions don't last very long. Don't make me wait too long."
Selphira reached out and grasped her sister's hand. Her smile was full of her usual wilfulness, yet beneath it lay a hidden, hardening resolve. "Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it."
She softly chanted the incantation, her fingertips tracing lightly through the air as a tiny rune emerged.
A faint amber light rippled across the door, spreading outward like rings on water before settling back into stillness. By the time Selphira tiptoed through the door and quietly shut it behind her, the glow had vanished completely.
Silence reclaimed the room.
Somaria watched this play out, a mix of anxiety and helplessness swirling in her chest. She quickly straightened the pillows and sheets, immediately beginning to construct her Illusion magic to prevent any slip-ups should their mother make a sudden inspection.
Meanwhile, Selphira was already slipping quietly down the stairs. Her heart hammered in her chest, beating so wildly it felt as if it might burst through her ribs.
But just as she reached the corner of the stairs—
Creeeeak.
The sound of a turning hinge echoed suddenly. Someone was coming in!
Selphira froze mid-step, her breath catching in her throat as she pressed herself flat against the wall, suppressing her magical presence as tightly as she could.
Instantly, her parents' voices drifted up from downstairs.
"Haa..." Her father let out a long, heavy sigh, sinking into a chair as if crushed under an immense weight. "Thank goodness we have rotating shifts to rest. I only hope those outsiders withdraw soon... Otherwise, if it escalates to an actual battle, the entire village will be dragged under."
Her mother handed him a cup of hot tea and took a light sip of her own, offering soft words of comfort. "Don't worry too much. Didn't the familiars report back already? They are still a great distance away."
Her father shook his head, his expression remaining grim. "Even if they're far, judging by their numbers, it's no small force. The Village Chief has already made his stance clear—if the situation spirals completely out of control, our only option is to slaughter them all, and then relocate the village."
Thump.
The word "slaughter" pierced straight through Selphira's ears.
She shuddered, her shoulder slamming hard against the wall. In the quiet house, that faint impact resounded with jarring clarity.
Her parents' postures stiffened instantly. Almost instinctively, both drew their wands and aimed them straight at the stairs.
"Who's there?!"
The air froze. Both of their daughters were supposed to be locked safely in their room upstairs. Who, then, was lurking in the dark?
Biting her lip, her eyes rimmed with red, Selphira slowly stepped out of the shadows.
"Father..." her voice broke with a suppressed sob, "Don't... please don't kill Evan!" Tears pooled in her eyes. "He is my friend! I'll go tell him to stay away from the village—he'll listen to me, I know he will!"
Relief visibly washed over her father upon seeing her, but his brow immediately furrowed deeper. "Selphira?" His gaze swept upward toward the second floor, his expression shifting from confusion to stern intensity. "How did you get out? Your mother's seal... was never triggered."
Selphira rushed forward, her voice panicked and desperate. "Father, please tell the Chief and the others to stop! Evan really will listen to me! I promise you, he won't come near the village again!"
Her father's expression remained as cold and unyielding as tempered iron. "You still don't understand. This has already spiraled far beyond your imagination. It is impossible to stop now."
His gaze bore down on her with crushing weight.
"Remember this. Let it be a lesson. From this day forward—you are never to have contact with outsiders again."
"But—!" Selphira's eyes brimmed with red, her voice breaking into a sob. "Granny Chief dotes on me the most! If I go and beg her, she'll surely agree! Everyone listens to me!"
Slap!
The sharp sound of the strike exploded in the room once more.
Her mother's shoulders jolted in fear, the teacup in her hand nearly slipping to the floor. Her father's fury surged; his hand remained suspended in the air, his eyes as sharp as blades.
"You still dare to throw a tantrum?!"
His voice was so powerful it made the very air tremble.
"This is a matter of life and death for the entire village! This is not some childhood whim where you can cry and act spoiled because you didn't get a toy!"
Selphira clutched her face, tears cascading down instantly. The pain didn't just linger on her cheek; it felt as though it had been branded into the very depths of her soul.
She stared blankly at her father, her voice trembling so much it was barely audible.
"...That's twice."
Her father wavered for a fraction of a second, but in the next heartbeat, he gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with a rage born of bitter disappointment. "I truly regret it... I indulged you too much in your daily life, and that is why you've birthed such foolish thoughts! You have already placed the entire village in peril!"
He spat out one final, cold command:
"Now, get back to your room! Reflect on your actions—understand exactly how grave a mistake you have made!"
Tears continued to stream down Selphira's face. But she didn't move. In those reddened eyes, a light unlike anything seen before began to ignite. Rage, grievance, defiance... they swirled together like a rising inferno.
Selphira clenched her small fists until they turned white, letting out a blurred, tearful scream:
"I won't! Why won't you just listen to me—?!"
Before her voice could even fade—
BOOM!
The mana within her body erupted.
A chaotic surge of air instantly swept through the house. Tablecloths flew, wooden chairs rattled, and the air let out a sharp whistle as if the entire building were about to be torn apart by that uncontrolled power.
Her father's expression shifted violently, his brow sinking low. "Selphira! Stop!"
He raised his wand almost instantly, the tip already coalescing with a blinding light. Her mother also reached out frantically, her voice urgent with plea. "Selphira, please stop! Don't make your father any angrier!"
But Selphira was already sobbing uncontrollably, her voice remaining stubborn and resolute:
"I already backed down! I told you I'd make Evan stay away! Why do you still blame me?! Why don't you love me anymore?! I didn't do anything wrong!"
As she cried out, her mana became increasingly volatile. Gale-force winds slammed into every corner of the room, the windows rattled violently, and even the runes carved into the walls began to flicker.
Her father narrowed his eyes slowly, his grip on his wand tightening. "It seems today... I must teach you a lesson you will never forget."
His voice turned utterly frigid.
"One last chance—withdraw your mana and go to your room."
"I won't—!"
Selphira screamed. In the next heartbeat, her violent mana transformed into a fierce pressure of wind, crashing toward her parents like a tidal wave.
"O Water, become a rampart of protection!"
Their mother hurriedly chanted. The tea on the table instantly soared into the air, manifesting as two transparent walls of water that barely managed to intercept the gale.
Seeing this, her father let out a sudden, cold laugh. "It seems the praise you received in your daily life was too much. You've been led to believe... that you can actually contend with your parents."
He slowly raised his wand and began a low-voiced incantation:
"Spirits of Light, gather here—become a cage to suppress the wicked; a bulwark to guard life!"
Dazzling light converged rapidly in mid-air, crisscrossing in layers until it condensed into a massive, semi-transparent cube. Carrying a heavy sense of oppression, it slammed down toward Selphira.
Her mother's face turned pale as she cried out in shock, "Dear! How could you use a Holy Light Prison against Selphira?!"
His expression remained grim, yet his voice was steady. "It matters not. The Holy Light Prison will only seal her mana and cause a sense of pressure until she faints. It will not truly harm her."
However—
In the next moment, the prison—which should have been unshakable—began to vibrate violently! The entire cage of light expanded as if a force from within was frantically tearing it apart.
A flicker of complex emotion crossed her father's eyes. Shock, pride, and a faint, underlying sense of unease. Yet, the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a smirk.
"Heh... To think you could resist the Holy Light Prison?"
He watched the girl trapped within, his voice low and deliberate. "Truly, you are the genius the family has placed all their hopes upon."
Then, his gaze turned bone-chillingly cold.
"But for now—you must still obediently accept your father's lesson."
He no longer hesitated, thrusting his wand into the floor. In an instant, a torrent of light erupted from the magic circle, pouring into the prison like chains. It forcibly suppressed the expanding cage, compressing it back into a stable cube inch by inch.
Inside the prison, Selphira's mana was surging like an uncontrollable flood. She couldn't pull the power back; instead, she felt a backlash, as if her own magic were crushing her.
The sensation was like being shoved into a sealed, water-filled vat—breathing became difficult, her chest felt constricted, and her limbs were too heavy to move. Through the blinding dizziness, her eyes turned bloodshot. She glared at her father, letting out a jagged, heart-wrenching scream:
"I SAID NO—!!"
With a roar, her mana surged again. The Holy Light Prison shuddered violently, and fine cracks began to spiderweb across its surface. It looked as if it might shatter completely at any second.
Tears finally overflowed from her mother's eyes, her voice breaking. "Dear, enough! If this continues, Selphira will truly get hurt!"
But by now, her father was drenched in a cold sweat.
His teeth were clamped shut so hard his jaw ached; veins bulged at his temples as his hands trembled under the strain of the continuous mana output.
He didn't even dare to breathe a response.
He knew better than anyone—if he relaxed for even a fraction of a second, the suppressed magic within the Holy Light Prison would erupt like a fractured dam, leveling the entire house and everything within it.
Inside the cage, Selphira was losing her grip on reality. Her ability to think was being consumed by a fire of pure, incandescent rage.
"Why..."
"Why did Father and Mother change?"
"Why... won't you just listen to me anymore!"
"Before... you used to smile and agree to everything I asked—!"
She jerked her right hand up, her trembling index finger pointing directly at her father.
Seeing this movement, her father's heart plummeted. He could do nothing but maintain the prison with every ounce of his soul, praying—praying that Selphira would simply lose consciousness. If she blacked out, the cage would stabilize, and the danger would be sealed away.
Her mother reached out frantically, her voice a jagged edge of panic. "Selphira! Stop acting tough! Just stop, please! We'll talk afterward—"
"—Spear of Ifrit."
Selphira whispered the incantation.
In the next heartbeat—
BOOM!!!
Violent fire erupted like a thunderclap!
A spear of blazing heat tore through the Holy Light Prison, shredding the barriers of light as if they were parchment. It didn't stop. It shattered the water walls her father had desperately conjured and tore, without mercy, through his left arm and chest.
The scorching torrent continued its path, ripping through the house walls and soaring into the firmament.
For a moment, the entire twilight sky was stained a visceral scarlet. A pillar of flame, vast enough to burn the world, cut diagonally across the heavens, illuminating the falling night.
Whether it was the witches in the village or the Prince's soldiers searching in the distance, every soul looked up. They watched that piercing, brilliant light scream into the clouds. Their pupils contracted in pure, unadulterated shock.
With the crushing pressure gone, Selphira finally drew a breath. She gasped for air, her chest heaving as her consciousness slowly cleared of the magical fog.
But when her gaze finally landed on the scene before her—she froze.
Her father's left arm and a portion of his chest had been utterly consumed by the flames. Through the jagged, charred gap in his flesh, she could see the darkening night sky behind him.
His eyes were beginning to lose focus, yet they remained fixed on his daughter.
Her mother's broken, hysterical screams echoed in her ears, but the sound was blurred, like wind from a great distance. Selphira stood there, paralyzed. She couldn't comprehend... she couldn't understand what had just happened.
Her mother, face slick with tears, raised her wand with trembling hands, stumbling to shield her husband's mangled body. She was shouting—perhaps scolding, perhaps begging.
But Selphira couldn't hear the words. There was only a sharp, chaotic ringing in her ears.
She tried to understand what her mother was saying, but the sound only grew more piercing, more irritating, more unbearable.
Finally, she let out a low, hollow murmur:
"Mother... please be quiet."
She waved her hand lightly.
The movement was delicate, as if she were merely trying to brush away a lingering wisp of smoke before her eyes.
But in the next heartbeat—
BOOM!!
A violent surge of mana erupted! Her mother's body was struck as if by a massive sledgehammer, sent flying backward to slam heavily against the stone wall.
Stone shards sprayed into the air. Her silhouette slid slowly to the floor, where she remained motionless, offering no further response.
The house plummeted into a deathly silence.
No one spoke. No one moved. There was only Selphira, standing frozen in the center of the wreckage like a child abandoned in the heart of a nightmare. Her breathing was jagged and frantic, her pupils trembling as she desperately tried to comprehend...
What had she just done?
Somaria remained in the room upstairs.
Her fingers were still locked onto the runes of the Illusion magic, her nerves frayed and tense, ready at any second to maintain the facade.
Then—
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion rocked the entire estate, the floorboards groaning under the force of the shockwave. Somaria's face drained of color; her heart skipped a violent beat.
The sound was terrifyingly close—it had come from directly downstairs.
She instinctively moved to rush out but forced her feet to stay still. She couldn't leave the room; the rules, the seals, the fear of discovery held her back. But as the seconds ticked by, doubt, confusion, and a suffocating sense of dread coiled around her heart like icy vines, making it impossible to breathe.
Finally, she gritted her teeth. Her decision was made.
Somaria reached out, her hands trembling as she unraveled the seal her mother had placed on the door. Even if it triggered an alarm, even if the punishment was severe—she didn't care.
She had to know.
The door creaked open. The moment she stepped into the hallway, a scorched, acrid scent hit her. It was the smell of fire mixed with the heavy, metallic tang of blood—a silent herald of an irreversible catastrophe.
Somaria's breath hitched. Leaning against the wall for support, she descended the stairs step by step. With every inch she moved downward, the crushing pressure in her chest grew heavier.
Until she reached the ground floor.
There, she finally saw it.
Her father's body was mangled beyond recognition, blood staining a vast swathe of the floor. Her mother lay against the far wall, unmoving, amidst the cracked masonry and scattered debris left by a localized blast.
In the middle of the dark, ruined room, a single small figure stood alone.
Selphira turned her head slowly. Her eyes were drowned in tears. The moment her gaze met Somaria's—every shred of her suppressed emotion collapsed.
"Waaa... aaaaaaaah—!!"
She broke into a piercing, heart-wrenching wail, throwing herself toward her sister as if finding her only anchor in a world that had ended. She sobbed so violently it seemed her very soul was shivering.
Somaria stood frozen, her mind a complete blank.
She didn't understand. She didn't understand why her parents had fallen. She didn't understand what had happened to her sister. She didn't understand why the world had suddenly shattered into pieces.
Yet, even so—the moment Selphira's cries reached her, Somaria instinctively opened her arms and pulled her sister into a tight embrace.
The scent of blood and scorched earth still hung heavy in the air. Outside the window, the night continued its slow, indifferent descent. In the empty, broken house, two children clung to one another amidst death and desolation.
And that stifled, hopeless crying echoed through the halls, a sound that felt as though it would never, ever end.