Cherreads

Chapter 71 - Goodbye My Friend

Clothes were scattered all over the floor, paintings were half crooked on the walls, and the sheets on a king-sized bed were wrinkled. Lying on the bed, naked but covered by a blanket, was Merlin; frantically breathing to catch her breath while Agnes was standing up, putting her Kimono back on.

"It seems the battle has begun." Said the Lady of Chaos.

"Hnnngh… haaaah…" Merlin couldn't speak but only answer with gibberish.

Her mind was blank.

"You ordered Lilith to possess Vrunemir so you can get information on Grimhild if they were to fight. Don't waste your chance, little dog."

"R-Right…" Merlin finally spoke, although hesitantly as she sat up in bed, covering her breasts with the blankets. "…Are you leaving, Madam Agnes?"

"For now." She said flatly. "I've put my trust in you to deal with Grimhild, like how Dracula dealt with Arthur Pendragon. Do not disappoint me, Merlin. If you can please me in bed, then surely you can do the same in this situation."

Merlin seemed to blush at her comment; her cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

"Oh… y-yes! Of course! I'm glad to be of service to you."

Agnes chuckled before walking to the door of the bedroom.

"By the end of this year, I expect Grimhild to be dealt with. Don't keep me waiting."

+

Fire and ice, lightning and water, wind and earth. Dozens of spells lit up the throne room of Vrunemir's castle, shaking it to its core.

Windows shattered, and Vrunemir laughed.

"Kuhahaha! This is what it means to be free!"

"You think creating chaos is freedom?" Asked Grimhild, narrowing her eyes.

"With certainty! There are no rules, no order, and no law to keep me bound! There is only chaos!"

"You're indoctrinated. If that is what you believe, then you cannot be saved. You're no different than Dracula."

"Saved?" Vrunemir scoffed. "You think I care about being saved?! Far from it, witch! I want this world to experience disorder… to experience… Chaos! And the only way to do that is by killing you! You and Arthur will stand in our way!"

Gripping her staff with both hands, Grimhild pointed it at Vrunemir.

"Flez Dona."

A magic circle appeared, launching dozens of miniature suns. Each one lit up the interior of the castle, but Vrunemir countered with another spell.

"Gielkaizen!"

A massive beam of energy shot forward, colliding with the fireballs and tearing right through them.

Grimhild's attacks were futile as spacetime was dislocated; aiming straight for her body.

Lifting her hand, she caught the spatial severing attack, crushing it between her fingers.

"Crono Aculus Grodum!"

A large magic circle appeared above Grimhild's head, resembling that of a clock with many Roman numerals.

Without warning, a wave of mana, infused with countless Roman numerals, launched forward in an omnidirectional assault.

"What?" Vrunemir widened his eyes and cast Gilfronta.

Everything the attack touched was compressed into entire timelines—turning them into floating cogwheels.

"Catastrophe Magic." Said Lilith internally. "This witch is contracted with the Elufray Spirit of Time, Chroliosa."

The wave of mana washed over the king, but he remained unfazed by its effects, dropping his anti-magical barrier.

"You believe that was enough to stop me? You're far outclassed. An Elufray Spirit means nothing to the might of an Alufray!" Vrunemir weaved together a complex magic circle in front of him, empowering it with spiritual mana.

"Euvorkaizen!"

Dozens of black, screaming skulls were launched forward, corrupting everything around them into nightmarish designs.

"Evil Magic? So you can use Lilith's spells as well?" Grimhild lifted her hand. "Nie El Ma." Attempting to nullify the attack—there was no effect. "Hm?" Grimhild remained stoic, but behind her expression was surprise.

The black skulls suddenly slammed into her body, knocking her back into the castle wall with dozens of jet-black explosions.

"Pwa ha ha! Amateur! Nullification spells have no effect on Lilith's Magic. The fundamental trait of evil magic is rejecting everything and only allowing evil to manifest."

Grimhild was shown hammered into the wall with a crater behind her.

She looked unfazed, staring at the gaping hole in her stomach.

She couldn't die; not like before. After her battle with Hel, she unshackled herself from the end of all things and was practically immortal.

But immortality meant nothing if she was transformed into pure evil.

Slowly, Grimhild's entire body was being corrupted from the inside out. She could feel her morals, ideals, and emotions change.

Everything that represented evil started to manifest inside of her.

("Master Grimhild!")

Chroliosa shouted from inside her mind; she was fused with Grimhild's consciousness and could see, and also feel her change take place.

"You may be unkillable with that Yorgana system of yours, Witch of Destruction, but I don't seek to kill you—I seek to change your morals, and bring you back into the witch you were many years ago!" Yelled Lilith from Vrunemir's mouth.

"So that's… what you're planning." Grimhild's skin started turning Ebony as her wound slowly healed from her immortality.

Her vision began to blur.

"You've never seen my magic in action, but now it's too late to overcome it! I win this bout!"

"There are only a few who know of the Yorgana System…" Muttered Grimhild, furrowing her brows. "You're working with Merlin. There's no doubt about it."

"How perceptive of you. But it's too late to do anything now."

Vrunemir lifted his hand.

"Evlontoria!"

Jet-black mana shot forward from a magic circle, slamming into Grimhild's body.

"Ghnnn!" Grimhild groaned.

She could feel pain.

"This spell will transform your information archive into pure evil and turn you into my loyal lackey. Accept your fate, witch."

"No!!"

A loud, ear-piercing scream echoed across the castle as Chroliosa burst from Grimhild's body in a fit of rage.

"Ahh, so the Spirit of time finally emerges from their cocoon." Muttered Lilith. "And what can you do, time spirit? You're far outclassed in this battle."

"I'll give up my life!"

"Ohh?" Lilith in Vrunemir's body lifted their brows.

Chroliosa turned around, facing Grimhild who was being altered from the inside out.

"Master Grimhild, I am sorry."

The transformation finally took full effect, and Grimhild was now a being of pure evil; her nucleus and all transformed.

"Gughhhhh…" Grimhild grumbled like a zombie.

"I will take your burden, and put it inside of me. You must go on living, for the sake of this world."

Grimhild's skin was ebony, and her eyes were glowing red.

She lost all reasoning and became an immoral monster, belonging to the Idea of Evil.

Chroliosa couldn't stand seeing her master this way.

"It's too late. She's long gone, Chroliosa! The Yorgana System cannot save her now, because Grimhild doesn't allow it! She now only serves me."

Chroliosa furrowed her brows and lifted her hand.

"No… I won't let her serve scum like you! My Master would rather die than become the monster she was all those years ago! She's changed, and you will not bring her even more regret!"

"Pwa ha ha! And how will you stop it? An Elufray cannot stop an Alufray's spell."

Chroliosa closed her eyes, manifesting a magic circle in front of her.

"Huh?" Vrunemir widened his eyes.

The magic circle she manifested looked different from all other common magic.

But soon, it became clear—

"That's the same Magic… Merlin used on me in Oblivion? Wait, don't tell me…!"

"I've lived long enough inside Master's body to learn of her Destruction Magic. But instead of using it to destroy, I'll use it to save her life!"

"No, that's not possible! How can someone like you wield that magic?"

Chroliosa furrowed her brows and closed her eyes.

"Aguhhhh?" Grimhild grumbled like a mindless zombie, facing the time spirit.

"Goodbye, Master."

"No, no, noo!! Stop it! This can't be possible! You'll die you fool, are you seriously risking your life for scum like this?!"

"Eguhalvor."

Without further warning, dark and purple flames shot from the magic circle, annihilating virtually everything in Chroliosa's vicinity.

From space, to magic, to logic, and even creation itself.

And at the center of it all stood Chroliosa; her body was also being consumed by the flames.

Her eyes remained closed—not out of fear—but acceptance.

"This is what I was made for…!" She said, crying. "Not to observe time, or bend it… but to protect the one soul who gave me purpose!"

Inside the spiral blaze, her memories flooded her all at once.

She remembered Grimhild who took her in when Merlin used her as a slave. She remembered Grimhild who taught her what it was like to be human during her time Goliath village.

She remembered all of it—and her time together with the witch and her friends, even though it was short.

"Our time together wasn't long… but it taught me enough, Master."

The flames of destruction burned away the evil inside Grimhild, slowly bringing her back.

"Thank you for everything. I'll never forget you… even in death."

And thus, her body, soul, and nucleus were washed away; removed entirely from the cycle of creation.

"Curse you… Chroliosa!! You useless, foolish spirit!!"

Grimhild was finally back… but she was shown in the crater with wide eyes.

For the first time in her life, she expressed total shock and bewilderment.

She couldn't describe her emotions.

She's never felt them before.

"Chroliosa…"

Grimhild closed her eyes and lowered her head.

There has never been a moment in her life when someone sacrificed themselves for her. She believed she didn't deserve it. But there was nothing she could do now but accept what had happened.

"I'm sorry." She murmured. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry I failed you. I'm sorry for being a useless master." A single, noticeable tear trailed down the witch's cheek.

Grimhild was… crying?

The air was thick with the scent of scorched stone and ash, yet all she could smell was her own shame.

Her body trembled with a foreign feeling.

It was loss.

The weight in her chest had made her limbs heavy, and useless.

Her breath came shallow before another tear followed. Then another. They trailed down in silence.

Grimhild—the Witch of Destruction—was crying.

And not just from grief, but guilt.

Her shoulders began to shake, subtly at first, then violently.

Her lips parted and the sobs broke free like waves from a collapsed dam.

"I'm sorry!"

Her words spilled out, soaked in regret.

"I didn't deserve you…"

There was no way Grimhild could bring her back. Even with Resulta; that spell could only work for the first ten seconds, but after that? The caster is destroyed permanently, especially if the cause of death was by Destruction Magic.

"Your Spirit was a fool, Grimhild Yorgana. Her sacrifice was in vain."

All of a sudden, something inside her snapped.

A silence fell over the ruined throne room with a deadly pause.

It was as if reality itself had flinched.

Her tear-streaked face lifted slowly, and for a brief moment, her eyes looked hollow… empty… lost.

Then they changed—a fire awakened behind them, deeper and more primal than magic, more ancient than the laws of the world.

The kind of fire that scorches even the foundation of reality.

Her trembling stopped.

"W-What's going on?!"

BOOM!

A shockwave erupted from her body in all directions as time was distorted, and gravity folded.

Space bent inward like a cowering animal, and reality reeled.

Across the continent, clouds trembled, oceans rippled in unnatural patterns, the Mountains groaned, and the sky even darkened.

And Vrunemir—no, Lilith—felt it.

This was the other Grimhild. The one the world had tried to forget. The one she had buried.

The one born from pure, untamed Destruction.

The one who carved her name into history with ruin!

"Shut up..." Grimhild growled.

Her pupils were gone and her eyes were pure white.

"I'll destroy you… even if I have to annihilate all of Yggdrasil again. You'll suffer."

The Third Seal of Destruction has crumbled.

+

Standing in her castle, Merlin was dressed in her clothing, watching everything unfold in her crystal ball.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

"No! This isn't what I planned for! What's going on? Her magical power is affecting all of Halvrendor!"

Grimhild's rage was unleashed in full.

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