Every life is composed of countless coincidences.
Looking back, one sees that if a seemingly insignificant moment had gone differently, life would have turned out completely differently. There's no guarantee it would be better or worse. That's why people tend to focus on major choices: exams, relationships, first jobs… There's no right or wrong. Poor decisions may cause regret, but only that—regret.
For Lillian, however, countless small errors in his past could lead to catastrophic outcomes. Every coincidence has shaped his life; a single misstep could jump straight to a "Bad End."
He had never thought deeply about this before, or if he had, he avoided dwelling on it. Who wants to constantly ponder where they went wrong, and how tragic life could become as a result?
Now, he had no choice. Unable to control his body, he had to witness these outcomes unfold—every error and its deadly consequence.
"All of this is fake… fake…"
Repeating the words silently, he forced himself not to emotionally react to the scenes, yet he underestimated the trial's terror. The images were so vivid that he repeatedly struggled to maintain composure. Each brutal ending dealt a massive blow to his psyche.
In this trial, time seemed nonexistent. Lillian could not recall how many variations he had witnessed. Many details he had never noticed before appeared suddenly, each with consequences too severe for even his present self to bear.
It filled him with both relief and fear—relief that none of those details had gone wrong, and fear that a future misstep in a seemingly minor moment could lead to a similar catastrophic ending. He might collapse on the road, never able to return, never able to fulfill his promises.
[These failures can be avoided if one is strong enough.]
"What?"
By now, Lillian had grown numb. The visions continued endlessly. How many "nonexistent futures" had he seen? Dozens? A hundred?
[Only the weak experience such outcomes, right?]
"Yes…"
The voice in his mind spoke again to his third-person self—the one that appeared after being killed by the Archbishop of Greed, Regulus.
[Come, go and seize it.]
"Ah…?"
[If you are strong enough that all look up to you, who would dare to challenge you? These failures caused by minor details… only the weak endure such cruelty. Are you weak?]
Am I weak?
[Life is cheap, death pays the price.]
I…
Pain shot through his brain as countless potential futures began to produce disastrous results. His thoughts spiraled into chaos, unable to reason. Each outcome shattered into pieces, tangled like innumerable ropes twisted together, fraying in all directions.
Screech!
A burst of flame erupted, golden light scorching the endlessly flickering visions into ash.
---
Dampness, blood, darkness, cold—he returned to the witch's tomb.
"Ughh—ugh—ugh—"
Lillian kneeled on one knee, hands braced on the cold stone. He violently gagged as memories scrambled in his mind. At this moment, he couldn't distinguish which memories were real and which were nonexistent futures. They tangled together like countless ropes, strands spilling in chaos.
"Ha…ha…"
He leaned against the wall, sitting on the floor, staring up into the darkness, accompanied only by a spider crawling on the stone wall.
After an unknown span of time, footsteps approached. Lillian turned his head, and as the figure drew near, his eyes sharpened.
"Y-you… are okay…"
Ria looked at him with concern, leaning slightly forward, reaching out to gently touch his hair.
In response, Lillian drew a short blade from his waist.
Swish—!
"Ah!!"
The blade was about to pierce the girl's forehead when the scene shattered with a "bang" and fell away like grains of sand.
"Stop."
A voice rang out—it was Echidna. The "Ria" standing there had run behind Echidna, timidly looking at Lillian, clearly startled.
The scene had now shifted to the hills. Lillian's eyes glowed like small volcanic craters, the skin around them reddened. He realized even the previous "tomb" was false—so what about now?
"This child, like me, cannot see your later memories, so she can only appear in this form."
Echidna said, and the girl behind her transformed, now a young girl in white clothing wrapped in a scarf.
"Y-you are…?"
The sharpness in Lillian's eyes frightened the girl. Stammering, she said: "I-I am… Carmilla, the…Witch of Lust…"
The Witch of Lust Carmilla.
"Put your dagger away. It won't do anything in this dream world." Echidna said.
"Is that so?" Lillian's expression hardened. "This was your idea, wasn't it? Fun, is it?"
"Y-yes… Echidna-chan said… said you were lonely… so she let me… comfort you… don't be angry…"
Carmilla seemed timid, despite being a witch.
"You… cough! Cough! Cough cough!"
Suddenly, a sweet taste filled Lillian's mouth, accompanied by red blood from coughing.
"Be careful." Echidna smiled calmly, unaffected by Lillian's attitude. "If you don't return your focus to yourself, trouble will arise."
Lillian's eyes widened in realization: his body had stopped functioning. Breathing, heartbeat—everything paused. Only when he noticed it did his organs resume normal operation.
"You've been hit with Carmilla's [Faceless Bride]. It makes the body forget what it's supposed to do. Breathing, heartbeat—everything."
"Faceless Bride…"
Lillian wiped the blood from his mouth and looked at the meek girl. She didn't appear particularly remarkable, yet she possessed a deadly power capable of killing invisibly. Truly… worthy of being a "witch."
"What exactly are you trying to do?" he asked Echidna.
"Carmilla has already explained." Her voice was gentle. "I sensed that you are lonely. Even Emilia, would be comforted and encouraged after her challenge. But you? You hide like a wounded beast in the corner, breathing hard. Who comforts you then?"
"…"
"Well, in that case, I suppose I acted wrongly. If false warmth is better destroyed by my own hand, then you are that kind of person."
Lillian remained silent. Echidna looked at him curiously. "I wonder what you saw during the trial. Even more, I'm curious about the other worlds, why they shaped you into this state."
"This… state?"
"Can't you feel it? Your mental state is extremely unstable right now. You could collapse at any moment. I don't want to converse with such an irrational version of you, so please stabilize yourself."
She sat down, and Camilla sat beside her. Despite being a witch, she looked innocently at Lillian, like she had never seen the world.
"Your second trial is also a world reconstructed from your memories. But unlike the first trial, this one shows the future. It organizes the information from your memories and extrapolates potential outcomes—those 'futures that do not exist.' You must understand: no matter what you see, it isn't real. It's only a projected world. Of course, in reality, a projected world could still become real."
Echidna explained, while Lillian tried to sort through his own thoughts.
As she said, his mind was in chaos, his spirit unstable. It was inevitable—anyone facing this trial would likely fall into the same trap, unless they were entirely devoid of emotion. But humans are not trees or stones; no one could ever reach that level. Perhaps that was why no one had passed in hundreds of years. Maybe some could complete the first trial, but this second one was truly difficult. Even Lillian, who prided himself on his mental fortitude, had almost broken down. Fortunately, the goddess' consciousness noticed his abnormal state and intervened, or the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Though it's a pity I didn't see those scenes myself due to the contract, you should know that they were all false. There's no need to trouble yourself over something unreal."
"Yes… in fact, it feels rather light."
"Well… if I were in your position, I shouldn't really say that. But don't think of me as some idle bystander who speaks without feeling. You know, as the creator of the Book of Wisdom, I too once feared the endless cycles, the infinite futures. I went mad, I broke down—but in the end, I couldn't help but fall in love with it… Infinite possibilities, how elegant and beautiful they are."
"…."
Lillian glanced at her. Indeed, as the originator of the predictive book, she must have simulated countless possible fates for herself as well. During those moments, did anyone console her?
"Echidna, you're lonely too, aren't you?"
"Yes." She admitted without hesitation, her gaze tinged with wistfulness. "The joys I experience and the sorrows I endure—no one shares them with me. That's why I collect souls I find interesting, letting them accompany me."
"E-Echidna-chan, you're lying again!" Carmilla, the Witch of Lust, suddenly said. "You… you never play with anyone normally…"