Chapter 216: A Millennium-Old Vintage — Calamity Witch Aurora
After passing through the gateway to the Sanctuary, Mahiro had no idea how long he had been drifting in the darkness.
It felt as if all concepts of time and space had vanished.
He was even tempted to use "Shangri-La" to escape directly.
But finally, light appeared before his eyes.
Upon entering, what greeted him was a room built of stone blocks.
The furnishings inside were extremely simple.
There was only a metal door and a woman whose limbs were fixed to the wall.
She was bound in layers of chains, as if restraining a ferocious beast—though she didn't appear fierce at all.
Instead, she greeted him with a smile.
"Hi~"
Just like that.
She was none other than the violet-haired lady he had faced off against until the end—the Calamity Witch, Aurora.
"You really do resemble her."
Mahiro examined her closely at close range.
A somewhat enchanting face, elegant speech and demeanor, and a pair of purple eyes. The only differences were her hair color and the placement of her moles.
One near the corner of her eye, the other by her lips.
"You... could you please stop looking at me like that..."
His straightforward scrutiny made the violet-haired lady somewhat embarrassed.
"Oh, sorry. It's just that your appearance reminds me inexplicably of someone from my past."
"....?"
"My mother, Yotsuba Maya."
"..."
Aurora let out a small gasp, her blinking eyes growing wider and wider.
Everyone regarded her as a calamity and a curse, and even the legends spoke of her as such. She never expected that one day someone would give her such high praise.
Being compared to a mother...
This was a first for her.
And it made her inexplicably a little happy.
But then Mahiro added:
"Even your actions are similar—like how you didn't hold back at all when hitting me."
Aurora: "....."
She really wanted to take back her earlier words. Could she pretend she never said them?
"But you're strong."
Aurora suddenly spoke up: "I enjoyed our fight earlier."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"It's just a shame that my memories are somewhat fragmented, but I believe you must be the strongest existence in history. If only you could have appeared in my era..."
"What would you have me do in your era? Take on all four by myself? And in their complete forms, at that."
Mahiro glanced at the objects scattered near the violet-haired lady's feet—mostly shackles and chains, and already broken ones at that.
He guessed these were symbols of the Sanctuary's defense mechanisms.
"You really like to joke, don't you?"
"Joke? Not at all. I know the identities of those I faced earlier. That golden-haired elf should be the hero Olivier... no, it would be more accurate to call her the elven hero, Olivier. And that golden-haired beastman must be the beastman hero, Lily, right?"
"It's just a pity I didn't get to meet the human hero, Freya."
Once, a hero emerged from each of the elf, beastman, and human races to slay Diablos.
How interesting it would have been to meet all of them.
Mahiro muttered words of regret, but his words made Aurora's eyes widen, her pupils trembling slightly.
This boy... actually knew everything?
"That's right."
Mahiro lifted his head to meet Aurora's gaze, as if seeing straight into her soul through those violet pupils.
"Oh, and about you—should I address you as Miss Aurora the Calamity Witch, or as Demon Diablos?"
"You... how do you know?!"
Aurora was utterly shocked, sweat even forming in the palms of her hands that were suspended by chains.
The name Calamity Witch wasn't particularly surprising to be known, as it was recorded within the Holy Church.
Some lost ancient texts probably mentioned it too.
But the name Demon Diablos...
There was no way this boy should know that, unless he was from the Order!
But if he were from the Order, he wouldn't have come here at all...
Just who is he...
"Don't bother guessing."
Mahiro's voice interrupted Aurora's thoughts.
"I know you're curious about my identity. How about this—just think of me as a passing Kamen Rider, and incidentally, someone who knows everything."
"Knows everything...?"
"Pretty much."
Mahiro shrugged, "Including your past, and the truth about the history the Order has concealed."
"So I'm quite grateful to you for summoning me here. It just so happens I can look for some things here too."
"Summoning...? I didn't do that."
The violet-eyed lady blinked, appearing quite innocent, but Mahiro gave her a meaningful smile.
"Is there any point in saying that?"
"..."
Aurora was speechless.
She instinctively tried to move her arms, only to be met with the clanking of chains.
After looking at her current state, the violet-eyed lady looked at him again with some resentment in her gaze.
"Sir, what kind of state is this beauty before you in right now?"
"Tied up with chains."
Mahiro looked at Aurora, whose hands and feet were fixed to the wall in a cross shape, and came to this conclusion.
"Then as a gentleman, could you help a lady escape?"
She said this as if it were the most natural thing, even tilting her head cutely.
However, Mahiro mimicked her head tilt and said:
"Gentleman? I'm afraid my understanding of a gentleman differs from yours, Miss Aurora. And you're not a lady—you're a witch."
As he said this, Mahiro slowly approached her, close enough to catch a faint, delicate fragrance.
"Besides, Miss Aurora, with you tied up like this, it feels convenient for doing some... strange things."
"They say women are like wine—the older, the richer. I've never tasted the legendary thousand-year-old witch before."
"Eh? Eh?!!!!"
Hearing his words and seeing him draw closer, Aurora couldn't help but let out a gasp, instinctively pressing her legs together and causing the chains hanging from her body to clatter loudly.
She had originally thought she'd found someone to rescue her and liberate this so-called Sanctuary.
Never did she expect to have brought in a pervert who would do such things to her in this state!
At this moment, she felt as fragile as a young girl.
Bound by restraints, and with this place not far from the center of the Sanctuary—coupled with the immense effort it took to pull him into the Sanctuary—she now had no strength left to resist!
Swish—
"You... stay away from me...!!!"
Just as Aurora tightly shut her eyes, awaiting the judgment of fate and thinking she would be defiled even as mere remnants, a sudden flash of white light swept past her.
Then, she felt her hands and feet lighten abruptly, stumbling forward into a warm embrace.
"Huh?"
She looked up in surprise at that gentle, smiling face.
"Alright, just teasing you. Though forced fruit might quench thirst, I already have one such pet and don't need a second right now."
As Mahiro spoke, far away in the world of Mahouka, Major Sirius—dressed in a gal-style outfit while teaching magic to the children in Arcadia—suddenly sneezed.
"I remember wearing plenty to bed last night... Could I have caught a cold?"
Lina tilted her head in confusion, thought for a moment, then gave up pondering.
Meanwhile.
"You're really quite the troublemaker, aren't you?"
"Thank you, I get that a lot."
"Is that so?"
Aurora seemed unfazed by his words, stretching comfortably and fully extending her graceful waist before giving him a seemingly nostalgic smile.
"Still, I must thank you. This is the freedom I've been deprived of for a thousand years."
"Truly a vintage of millennia."
"I just said it casually. I don't really remember, but it's been at least a thousand years."
With a swift transformation, her thin robe turned into a dark Gothic dress. She smoothed it down, tucking her soft, lustrous long hair behind her ears.
"So, you must know my purpose, right?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Mhm, I know. You want to regain your freedom."
"Yes, that's right. Shall we join forces from now on?"
Aurora extended her delicate, fragile hand toward him—as exquisite as a work of art, yet seemingly breakable at a touch.
Instead of taking her hand, Mahiro countered:
"Cooperation is fine, but what do I get out of it?"
"...What do you want?"
Mahiro curved the corner of his mouth and replied, "I came to the Sanctuary with only two goals. One was to obtain you, this vintage wine."
Aurora: "....."
"That's quite a bold statement, wanting an ancient witch like me from a thousand years ago."
Her tone was flippant, but her heart beat just a little faster.
For a thousand years, no one had ever spoken such words to her. Never did she imagine that after a thousand years of death, she would hear such things from a young man.
Was this a confession?
It should count as one, right?
If only someone had said such words to her when she was still alive a millennium ago, how wonderful would that have been?
Unconsciously, Mahiro had gained an additional layer of filter in her eyes, though she couldn't help feeling a slight sense of loss in her heart.
After all, the her that appeared here was merely the residue left after death. Were it not for the maintenance of the Sanctuary, she would have likely dissipated completely long ago.
But she wasn't called a witch for nothing, quickly adjusting her mindset.
"Then what's the other purpose?"
"To obtain Diablos' essence blood."
"...?!"
Aurora's cherry lips parted slightly as she looked at him in utter shock.
"Of course, it's not your blood that I want. Since I mentioned this term, you should understand—I want the blood of the Fourth Demon Lord, Diablos."
Of course she knew!
Precisely because she knew, she was so shocked!
The Fourth Demon Lord Diablos, a demon lord from beyond this world. His mere descent had caused countless deaths. This world's magical energy and the so-called Demon Possession symptoms all originated from Diablos' genes!
In the end, it was Olivier who severed one of the demon lord's arms, allowing the Order to steadily obtain Diablos' essence blood.
But all of this was the deepest of secrets, unknown to anyone except members of the Knights of the Round Table.
Yet the person before her knew everything...
"So, Miss Aurora, what is your answer?"
"I still don't know your name..."
"My name is Yotsuba Mahiro, a passing Kamen Rider, concurrently the master of Shadow Garden, and a sword techniques instructor at Midgar Academy for Dark Knights."
"Very well, I accept your conditions."
Aurora chose to compromise.
To be precise, it didn't matter even if she agreed, because in the end, Mahiro wouldn't be able to obtain either of these two things.
Because once the Sanctuary was liberated, she would dissipate.
And as for Diablos' essence blood...
It was fundamentally impossible to find it here anyway.
Having reached this thought, Aurora had already unhesitatingly opened that sealed gate.
With heavy grinding sounds, the first thing they felt was a cool, gentle breeze mixed with the freshness of trees.
Then, a dense forest came into view—it was the botanical garden at dawn.
Sunlight filtered through the tree branches, making the dew-covered grass blades sparkle.
Moving about the surroundings were all children wearing the same white robes as Aurora earlier, with several people in white lab coats recording something in notebooks.
Without exception, all these children were test subjects.
"Speaking of which, why are you the only one in this Sanctuary? Where are Olivier and Lily?"
Mahiro casually made conversation as he passed by the children.
But Aurora smiled gracefully and said:
"Didn't Mr. Yotsuba claim to be someone who knows everything? How could you not know about their situation?"
"I may know everything, including your purpose, but that doesn't mean I'm aware of every single detail."
Mahiro retorted with dead-fish eyes.
"Hehe."
Aurora was amused by his words, shaking with laughter as if genuinely delighted.
After laughing for quite a while, she finally explained:
"Actually, I don't know much about their situation either."
A hint of nostalgia flickered in Aurora's eyes.
"Mr. Yotsuba, you should know that those two, like me, were also test subjects in this Sanctuary... But the difference is, after my death, my memories were trapped wandering in this Memory Corridor, while they became part of the defense mechanism... Or perhaps only Olivier alone."
"What about Lily then?"
"Lily's memories have remnants here, but not much. I don't understand why she responded to you, or even at the final moment..."
Aurora's words abruptly stopped.
Even her footsteps suddenly halted.
Because right in front of a pavilion in this botanical garden, a little girl was crouching there, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"She's crying."
"Yes."
Aurora replied indifferently.
Then she walked expressionlessly toward the little girl, who surprisingly had an identical face to Aurora's. Bean-sized tears continuously welled up from those violet eyes.
"Looking at it this way, you two resemble mother and daughter."
"Just somewhat similar."
"Aren't you going to comfort her?"
"No need. She probably just wet the bed."
Miss Violet dismissed it casually.
The little girl didn't cry aloud, only silently shed tears.
The bruises on her body were quite noticeable, as if she had just undergone some kind of experiment.
"So, what will you do?"
"If you want to proceed, just end this memory."
"Exactly the answer I expected."
Mahiro sighed softly.
But Aurora ignored him and instead said to the little girl:
"Crying won't change anything, you know."
As she spoke, she raised her slender hand toward the little girl.
Slap!
It wasn't the sound of a slap—Aurora's descending hand was caught firmly by Mahiro.
"?"
She slowly turned her head, her gaze carrying a trace of confusion as she looked at Mahiro.
Under her gaze, Mahiro crouched down and gently stroked the long hair flowing down the little girl's back.
"Crying indeed won't change anything, but simply taking revenge on memories won't change anything either."
He spoke these words.
Feeling his gentle touch, the little girl slowly raised her head, blinking her tear-filled large eyes with confusion.
"Want some candy? If you eat candy, all the pain will fly away."
Mahiro extended a hand to the girl, slowly opening his palm where a bright, tempting piece of candy lay as if by magic.
"I... I can have it?"
"Of course. But if you eat it, you're not allowed to cry anymore, and you won't feel pain anymore."
"Mm!"
The girl nodded vigorously, wiped away her tears with her sleeve, then took the candy from his hand, unwrapped it carefully, and placed it in her mouth.
"So sweet..."
The sweet aroma spreading through her mouth made her large purple eyes instantly sparkle with brilliant light.
"Thank you, big brother."
"You're welcome."
Under his gaze, the little girl who had eaten the candy gradually dissolved into shimmering light and vanished.
Then, the world shattered in response.
The ground beneath their feet, the morning forest scenery, everything fragmented like broken glass before disappearing into the profound darkness.
"...I never thought you'd be quite gentle."
"Is that so? Everyone says that."
Mahiro said nonchalantly: "But actually, I'm a great demon king who acts entirely on whims, capable of every evil deed imaginable. I've even destroyed worlds before."
"So you must never think I'm gentle—that's just my disguise."
"That sounds truly terrifying."
Aurora replied thus.
Yet her footsteps unconsciously slowed.
Looking at the solitary back of Mahiro walking ahead, carrying his longsword, her eyes revealed complex emotions.
How terrifying could a man who treats even children with such kindness truly be?
And when she looked back at the path she had traveled, she found it had already turned completely dark.
Only a faint, dissipating sigh remained lingering in the air.
"The me in those memories... was truly happy, wasn't I..."