Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 166

Some time later, Eir regained her senses when she heard a voice telling her to come outside again.

She had been feeling suffocated, unable to eat or sleep, her arms bound as she surrendered her body to the swaying carriage.

Though she didn’t know what was happening, the voice commanding her to come outside was welcome, and she quickly went out to find Magnus raising his hands to the sky and shouting.

“I, Magnus Shinote, have arrived! Open your doors and welcome me, witch!”

His voice and manner were ridiculously theatrical. He seemed to be putting on airs of dignity before the witch, but he failed to realize that the more someone drunk acts that way, the more laughable they appear.

“What…… are you doing?”

Unable to bear it any longer, Eir asked Sir Gard beside her, who cleared his throat briefly, as if unwilling to participate in mocking his master, and simply straightened his posture.

“He said the guidance from the witches has been cut off, and it seems we’ve arrived.”

“Couldn’t it just be a brief delay in their guidance? Maybe they went to the bathroom suddenly or dozed off momentarily.”

“That’s possible too.”

Sir Gard, who had been responding unenthusiastically, suddenly placed his hand on his sword hilt and became alert. Looking around, Eir saw that the other knights were also preparing to draw their swords.

In the direction of their fixed gaze, she could see long fingernails protruding from the void.

Those nails sliced through the darkness like a long curtain. Everyone held their breath at the bizarre sight of space seemingly being torn apart. Even Magnus, who had been boasting at the front, stepped back in surprise.

If the knight beside him hadn’t caught his back, he would have fallen backward in an undignified manner.

As the torn darkness swayed like a veil, two witches emerged, dressed in black gowns and wearing pointed, conical hats. Because of the black lace attached to their hats, only their blood-red lips were visible.

Despite their half-bowed posture appearing respectful, they offered no greeting. Magnus, who had been prepared to receive their greeting with pomp, frowned at their silence and approached them.

“Are you blind? Wearing such flowing things, you can’t even recognize who I am and keep your mouths shut tight. I’ve brought what was promised. Quickly give me what you promised too.”

Magnus turned around and gestured for someone to bring Eir over.

Sir Gard glanced at Eir once before reluctantly grabbing her arm and pulling her along. Eir found herself pushed forward to stand right in front of the witches.

For a moment, she felt their gaze turning toward her. A chill ran down her spine. She could sense something ominous emanating from beyond the space where they stood.

Whether Eir’s face turned pale or not, Magnus only cared about obtaining the witches’ secret and urged them on.

“Hand over what was promised. Witches.”

“Let us check first.”

“Are you saying I would bring someone else to deceive you?”

Ignoring the enraged Magnus, a witch reached out her hand toward Eir’s head. Eir tried to avoid the touch with sharp eyes, but soon the veil-like fluttering curtain descended and constricted her body, leaving her no choice but to accept the touch.

A cold hand that didn’t seem human firmly grasped her head. Soon her head began to ache as if it would split, and strange visions began to unfold like a dream.

“Granny?”

Eir unconsciously murmured as if entranced.

Her grandmother appeared before her eyes. The vision was so vivid that Eir tried to run and embrace her, but soon that body crumbled like dust in the wind, and worms crawled from the skull to engulf her.

She immediately realized this wasn’t reality, but hoping to see her grandmother’s form a little longer, she wandered through the vision.

Seeing tears flowing down Eir’s face, the witches removed their hands from her head, and the vision ended simultaneously.

“It seems to be correct.”

“If you’ve confirmed, hand over the reward.”

“Your hand.”

When Magnus extended his hand, the witch produced something like a black orb with a gold band around it.

“You can use this only in the situation we discussed. If you rashly try to open it, you, Magnus, as the caster, could be harmed, so be careful.”

“I understand.”

“You weren’t followed, were you?”

Despite having chosen him themselves, they seemed not to trust him fully and questioned him before handing over the black orb. Magnus flushed with indignation.

“I came without even sleeping, just as you instructed, and you say such things?”

“Yes…… understood.”

They finally relented with a dissatisfied tone and stepped back. Eir, suffering from the aftereffects of having her mind torn apart, kept her head down and breathed heavily.

As soon as Magnus received the shadow, the gold band around the orb traveled up his arm, and the darkness melted into his hand. Frightened by this strange sight, Magnus groaned, but soon realizing people were watching, he forced himself to raise his chin.

“Thank you.”

“May you succeed.”

“There’s no way I’ll fail.”

After this brief exchange, Magnus and his group mounted their horses and rode away. Eir, still suffering from what felt like a splitting headache, could only endure in pain without saying a word. Being a priestess, she quickly recognized the hallucination for what it was, but the aftereffects were still severe.

The witches placed their hands on Eir’s head once more, and as the torn black curtain rejoined, they disappeared without a trace.

Her stomach turned, similar to when she had been transported through darkness before. However, unlike when Magnus had done it or when she had moved with Chrome, this time she felt nauseous, perhaps because they had moved deeper into the witches’ territory.

With her arms bound behind her, Eir collapsed, burying her head down as she gasped for breath. The witches watched her with cold eyes before bowing deeply to someone who soon appeared and then retreating.

Eir tried to gather her divine energy to regain her senses. But it dispersed almost immediately.

“It’s useless.”

A clear voice rang out.

Barely lifting her head, Eir saw a woman dressed like an ordinary noblewoman looking down at her with a gentle smile.

Though it was too dark to discern where she was, light from somewhere clearly illuminated the face of the woman approaching her.

She gracefully approached and made a brief gesture, which caused Eir’s hands, bound behind her, to come loose. Having had her arms twisted backward for so long, her body ached terribly.

When Eir showed signs of pain, the woman gestured once more. Darkness, crawling like leeches, climbed up her arms and massaged her shoulders and arms.

Seeing Eir’s face twist strangely at this bizarre sensation, the woman quietly said:

“Don’t be afraid. Darkness is inherently familiar to humans. Think about it. Don’t we all fall asleep in darkness? That’s the same whether you’re priestesses or we’re witches. And unlike light, which chooses humans according to its taste, darkness gives everyone a chance.”

“Who are you?”

As Eir relaxed according to her words, the woman smiled slightly, seemingly pleased. The woman, with her black hair elegantly twisted up, was as beautiful as a figure in a masterpiece painted decades ago. But the sharpness of her upturned eyes and her inhumanly red eyes made it easy to imagine how frightening she would look once that benevolent smile disappeared from her face.

“I am Freidis, leader of Alphadem and Hecate’s niece. Haven’t you heard of me from my aunt? I heard you lived with her briefly.”

“The leader of Alphadem?”

“So you prefer that title.”

As Freidis tilted her head slightly, her cheek, glowing like pale paper, was revealed. She looked as if she had been sketched with a pencil—sharp yet complex.

“I thought we might get closer by talking about my aunt, but if you prefer, I can behave like the leader of Alphadem.”