Winter's body trembled as he turned toward the sound—in the darkness, the hunched figure of the old woman he had met earlier slowly emerged.
His voice quivered with excitement: "Yes! Yes, I'm willing to give everything, even my soul!"
Disguised as the old woman, Lilith spoke according to the script and dialogue Edward had helped her prepare in advance:
"Good, good…A soul that burns with passion for love—how delightful!"
"But I've always preferred fair trades. Let me first see what's going on with this Renee. If it's not too serious, I might not even need your soul~"
With that, her figure blinked and flickered, appearing right next to Winter. She then grabbed his arm, and after several more rapid teleports, they appeared at the doorstep of the clinic in the blink of an eye.
The magical nature of this ability left Winter awestruck, and his confidence in the old woman's power to save Renee grew even stronger.
Lilith strode into the clinic and walked over to Renee, who lay unconscious on the hospital bed. She stretched out a withered hand, as thin as a twig, and reached for Renee's forehead.
The doctor hurriedly stepped in to stop her. "Madam, please stay back from the patient!"
Winter quickly tried to explain, "Doctor, this lady is—"
Before he could finish, Lilith flashed a wide, eerie smile at the doctor—and in that instant, the doctor's mouth vanished, leaving him clutching at his face in horror.
Gulp—Winter swallowed hard.
Lilith now turned to look at Mrs. Jenny, who was staring in shock, eyes wide with terror.
"Are you going to interrupt me too?"
Mrs. Jenny's dark face went deathly pale. Trembling, she clamped her hands over her mouth and shrank back into the sofa, too afraid to move.
Only then did Lilith reach again toward Renee's forehead. Though she had no idea if the gesture meant anything, she figured: if you're putting on a show, you might as well commit to the part.
She bobbed her head slowly, pretending to ponder deeply. "Hmm…I see. What a pity, what a pity…"
Winter's breath caught. "Pity? What do you mean?"
Lilith sighed dramatically. "Pity that you came to make a deal with me first. Otherwise, once she died, I could've taken her soul instead."
Winter froze. "So…?"
Lilith gave a slight wave of her hand. A faint magical glow flickered and vanished.
The next second, Renee's eyelids fluttered gently—and then suddenly, she opened her eyes.
She sat up on the bed, dazed, and looked toward Winter. "I…What happened to me?"
"Renee…You're awake, you—"
But Renee's expression suddenly changed. She snapped, "Winter! Weren't you going out on an adventure? Why are you back again?!"
"…I, I…"
Winter wanted to shout that he would never leave her behind again. But the thought that the witch would soon claim his soul left him unable to say anything at all.
"Alright, I've done my part. Now it's your turn."
Lilith turned and walked to the door. "I'll be waiting outside."
Renee frowned in confusion, watching the strange old woman leave. "Who was she?"
"Renee!!"
Mrs. Jenny burst into tears and flung herself onto her daughter. "Mom? What's going on?"
Winter forced a small smile. "Whatever happened…it's all over now. Renee…I'm leaving."
"Winter?! Winter!"
Outside the clinic, the dark streets were deserted.
The hunched old woman stood on the roadside, a strange little bird with red and black feathers perched on her shoulder.
Lilith was casually feeding the bird a wriggling worm.
Phoenix, grumbling inwardly: Ever since I became your messenger…I've had to deliver letters, fight battles, hunt for stuff, and now I'm part of your little stage play? What kind of messenger has to do all this?!
Winter took a deep breath and walked over. "Lady Witch…you can take my soul now."
He closed his eyes as if ready to embrace death.
"Hehehehe…"
To his surprise, the old woman cackled. "Did you forget? I always believe in fair trade. Healing that girl didn't even cost your soul."
Winter's eyes snapped open. "R-really? Then what…what do I owe you?"
The old woman held up four fingers.
"I want 700 pounds."
Even when faced with such a mysterious and eerie witch, Winter was still stunned: Why hold up four fingers for 700 pounds…?
Then he noticed the bird on her shoulder had also lifted three clawed toes.
"…But, I don't have that much…"
Lilith smiled. "Oh, but you do."
"Wha—"
Then it hit him. The pouch the old woman had given him earlier in the day.
"You mean—"
"Exactly. That bag contains exactly 700 pounds."
"I—I'll go get it for you now."
Just as he was about to run off, he realised his legs weren't moving. Instead, they had started…tap-dancing on their own.
Lilith chuckled. "No need to hurry. I'll collect the money myself. But in addition, I want ten years of your life."
"What—?"
Before he could react, Winter felt his strength drain away. His body collapsed to the ground, completely powerless—even a finger wouldn't move.
"And with that…the deal is done."
Lilith beamed, voice full of satisfaction. "Don't forget—when you die, your soul belongs to me."
Lying on the ground, Winter trembled with cold.
"…I—I remember."
"But…"
She immediately shifted the topic with a devilish smile, "If you can help me make a successful deal with someone through your words—just once—I won't take your soul. If you do it three times, I'll return the ten years of your life. And if you manage five times, I'll grant you one wish."
Lilith's voice, like that of a true devil, tugged at Winter's heartstrings. Before he could respond, she vanished into moonlight.
More than ten minutes passed before Winter finally felt strength returning to his limbs. He struggled to his feet and slowly walked back toward the clinic. With every step, his resolve grew firmer.
When he finally arrived at the clinic and saw Mrs. Jenny helping Renee out the door, he suddenly stepped forward and said earnestly, "Renee, I'm sorry. I'm not leaving again."
"…"
Renee stared at him blankly. Then, without a word, she turned back into the clinic, grabbed a mop, and stormed back out, "You say you'll go, then you go. You say you'll stay, then you stay. Who do you think you are? What do you take me for? Winter, you selfish, self-centred jerk!!"
——
Back at the inn, Lilith flopped onto the bed like she had no bones left.
"Ahhh, I'm so tired."
Phoenix rolled its eyes sideways.
"Tired? From what? You only used a few supernatural abilities."
Lilith replied righteously, "Reciting all that dialogue was exhausting!"
"You've got some nerve saying that—do you know how many lines you forgot in the second half? If I hadn't been whispering reminders on your shoulder, you'd have blown your cover!"
"…Ugh!"
Phoenix tilted its head, puzzled.
"But tell me—why did it feel like you were playing a devil tonight, not a witch?"
"Edward worried about that too at first," Lilith replied, "but then he said that witches and devils do share similarities. As long as I maintain the image of a witch, people will believe I'm a witch—not a devil."
"Have you digested more of your potion?"
Lilith closed her eyes to feel it, then opened them with delight.
"Yep! A good chunk of it! I've made real progress!"
Phoenix stretched its wings.
"Alright then, I'm heading back to the spirit world."
"Wait a second."
"??"
"I want to go out and try acting on my own this time," Lilith said. "Edward's not back yet anyway."
Phoenix immediately looked suspicious.
"You? On your own? How exactly do you plan to 'act'?"
"Just like today!" Lilith puffed up with confidence.
Phoenix landed again, its black eyes flicking sharply.
"I can help you—but can you help me with something too?"
Lilith eyed it warily.
"What kind of help? I'm warning you, Miss Lilith will not be tricked. And I refuse to help with anything that might hurt Edward!"
"No, no, nothing like that."
Phoenix fluttered onto her shoulder and whispered a few things into her ear, then asked, "Well? Can you do it?"
"Hmm…"
Lilith made a show of thinking it over.
But in her heart: I'll pretend to agree now and deny it later. Miss Lilith's going to be a little villain!
"Alright!"
Phoenix extended a wing.
"It's a deal."
Lilith grabbed a feather.
"It's a deal."
Just then, Lilith's body twisted and shrank—changing back into a little girl's form.
She scratched her head.
"Ahhh, I've changed back."
"You still planning to go 'act' like that?"
"Of course!"
She raised her chin proudly.
"Who says a witch has to be an old hag? Miss Lilith is the real deal—an authentic witch!"
———
On the deserted island.
Nearly three hours of near-continuous teaching had left Edward feeling parched.
This is ridiculous—I'm currently in the form of an Obscurus. Can an Obscurus even get a dry mouth?!
As the high-ranking believers knelt devoutly before him with enlightened expressions, Edward cut the connection and ended the night's "lecture."
Basic science and ideological theory couldn't be fully taught in just a few days. He would have to go slowly.
Edward returned to his human form, sacrificed the Sea God's Sceptre back to Mr. Fool, and then carefully evaluated his potion digestion progress.
Not a huge leap, he thought, but definite progress.
As his followers gradually internalised and spread the knowledge, his potion digestion would eventually accelerate significantly.
I wonder how the other two are doing.
He opened the Traveler's Door and returned to the inn. The lights in the room were on, but Lilith and Phoenix were nowhere to be seen.
Edward followed Lilith's aura to locate her.
"Huh? She's gone to Bayam?"
His face darkened slightly.
"No way Lilith pulled that off on her own. Phoenix, what the hell are you up to?"
He threw on his invisibility cloak and teleported again.
———
On a dimly lit street at night, three or four raggedly dressed children—barely seven or eight years old—were sprinting at full speed. Two police officers were chasing after them.
"Stop! You little brats—stop!"
"Damned half-breeds, bastards!"
"Stop!"
The kids paid no mind to the insults. They darted into low, dark alleyways, using their small bodies and familiarity with the area to quickly lose their pursuers.
Once they were sure they'd shaken them, they changed direction and crawled into the sewers. After several twists and turns, they climbed out another manhole and walked a few hundred meters further—finally arriving at an overgrown, broken-down house.
"This is it!"
Leading the group was a slightly older girl. She wore what must've once been a beautiful dress, now dirtied and torn from years of wear, sewer crawling, and climbing.
"This is our home now!"
She pulled a bewildered Lilith inside.
Lilith scratched her head, still not sure what had happened.
I…I just saw these poor kids and thought I'd try playing the role of a witch and make a deal with them…
So how did I end up…being dragged here by force…?
———
[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.