Satella's sorrow-clouded amethyst eyes trembled as she pressed her lips together.
She was the queen who drained the world dry, the sovereign of the City of Shadows—the Witch of Envy, the most dreadful calamity.
In her name of envy she delivered unending torment: everyone who laid eyes upon her… never continued living.
She fed on fear, delighted in slaughter. Wherever demonic beasts appeared, ruin followed; wherever the witch passed, nothing remained.
To the people still clinging to life, the only knowledge left was of continents collapsing into dust—and of countless heroes, dragons, and legendary names that had been swallowed before her, never to surface again.
Minstrels roamed the charred shells of towns, piecing scattered rumors into a single, chilling image:
A silver-haired half-elf wrapped in darkness; Strands of hair glinting in the jealous fire; Words cannot reach her, feelings cannot pass; Boundless hatred washes the world clean; And in the shade, the witch's claws lie waiting. Speak her name and you are dragged into everlasting night.
Her body never decays; her life is endless. Even the Holy Dragon, the Sage, and the First Sword Saint could only seal her, never erase her.
The Witch of Envy, Satella—who wiped out the six witches of the past and razed half the world—had become a toy, deceived, injured, and now casually palmed about.
To dominate a witch, Tatsuki thought, one must of course know how witches work. Anything he dominates belongs solely to him, no longer to this world.
"Since you've taken control of the final witch, my master," Echidna said with a polite smile, "could you dispel my doubts?"
She showed no panic—after all, in the realm of playthings everyone was equally degraded.
Tatsuki nodded, satisfied. "All right, I'll feed your curiosity. My name is Tatsuki; I'm from another world; domination is just one of my abilities; and yes, I know Dona-tea because I know Dona-tea."
"As for Satella's scent you noticed—" He produced a marble-sized jet-black orb from his pocket.
Every witch's pupil shrank.
Echidna gasped. "That's Satella's power?"
"Yeah. I pried it off the guy who stole it from her." He lobbed the orb to Satella.
"Th-this…" Satella froze. She felt the energy that had been tricked away from her. Why return it?
Tatsuki shrugged. "I don't need it. You're now my subordinates and playthings; why keep you powerless?"
Sekhmet raised an eyebrow. Giving back the strongest witch's full strength—wasn't he afraid of rebellion? Satella was easily the most dangerous of the eight.
Satella's complex gaze lingered on him. She squeezed the orb and let it melt into her chest. A surge of power roared out—then settled in an instant. No killing intent, no resistance.
Sekhmet finally understood: this was Satella—the gentle personality—while the insane "Witch of Envy" had truly died.
Echidna, still stunned that Satella's strength had been stolen to begin with, muttered, "That boy—Natsuki Subaru, was it?—really managed to swipe Satella's power. Remarkable."
Tatsuki continued carelessly, stroking Pandora's cheek. "I dominated Pandora because she popped out and tried to rewrite my mind. So… karma."
Pandora giggled. "Mhm, my well-earned punishment." Whatever ran through that girl's head, even Tatsuki couldn't guess.
He turned back to Echidna. "And you—well, you were simply the quickest way to gather every dead-but-not-dead witch in one net."
The witches traded wide-eyed stares. Netted, indeed.
"One last thing…" Tatsuki hooked Pandora's chin and looked up at Echidna. "Tell her—are we lovers?"
Pandora beamed and planted a kiss on his lips. "Of course we are."
The next instant, Tatsuki delivered a mandatory lesson—practical, immersive, and far too vivid—for every witch present.
The witches' post-lesson impressions.
Tiphereth (Witch of Pride): "Eek! Pandora is guilty! She must be judged!"
Minerva (Witch of Wrath): "Th-this is indecent! How can he do that?!"
Daphne (Witch of Gluttony)—still strapped into her walking coffin—sniffed eagerly: "I smell something delicious…"
Carmilla (Witch of Lust): "W-waah! You won't hit me like that too, will you? That looks painful!"
Sekhmet (Witch of Sloth): "Tch… utterly pointless. Wastes energy. A nap is far more elegant."
Echidna (Witch of Greed): "Hmm—can a transcender and a witch conceive a child? Fascinating…"
Satella (Witch of Envy): "…For some reason… I feel a little jealous…"
…
After thoroughly educating Pandora, Tatsuki turned his attention to organizing the eight witches—this time, in a serious and proper manner. These eight witches weren't all alive; some were dead, some were not. But with the power of the Wings of Sin, he transformed all of them into his Apostles of Sin.
What caught him off guard was that each of these witches embodied one of the world's deadly sins, and by taking them in, he gained the sins of this world. His Sin Power surged dramatically, and he could even feel the Wings of Sin starting to evolve.
Another noticeable change was in the witches themselves. The ones who had died—like Echidna—now had brand new bodies, indistinguishable from those of the living. Without hesitation, Tatsuki recalled all of them into the Sin Realm of the Chaos Domain.
"This world... it's practically a brand-new world!" Echidna's eyes lit up with excitement, her thirst for knowledge burning bright.
Tatsuki glanced over at the group of witches. Though they were technically his subordinates—and toys—that didn't mean they'd be denied proper employee benefits. "Echidna, I'm giving you access to this domain. Modify it however you want. Do your job well, and when we visit other worlds in the future, I might give you the chance to explore them."
"Yes, my master." Nothing thrilled her more than the chance to explore the unknown.
Next, Tatsuki turned to Sekhmet. "No one will bother you here. You can slack off however you like. But when it's time to work, you better work."
Sekhmet lazily lifted her eyelids and replied, "Work? You mean like what you did with Pandora? No big deal. But I'm only gonna lie around. Don't expect me to be as energetic as she was."
"..." Tatsuki had meant serious work—not that kind of work. But if that was her interpretation, he wasn't going to argue with her.
She added with a straight face, "Don't you dare lay a finger on Typhon. If you need a target, come to me instead." To her, Typhon was like a daughter—and her daughter's purity was something only she would protect.
"Ehh? Sekhmet…" Little Typhon was clearly touched.
After all, their mating had lasted over three hours—and there was no way she could have taken it. Even Pandora had gone cross-eyed by the end.
"Typhon's not someone who needs punishment. I'm not like that. Besides, no one here needs judging. She can live carefree," Tatsuki replied with a twitch of his mouth.
Then, his gaze shifted to Minerva. "This world, at the very least, is peaceful and without war. You won't need to be angry here."
The Witch of Wrath was known for her fury at war and injustice. But in truth, she was gentle and kind at heart.
"Ahaha..." Minerva laughed dryly, scratching her head and blushing. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes—probably because she still had vivid memories of what he and Pandora had done.
"Daphne, your eyes… they're mystic eyes, right?" Tatsuki asked.
"Mm." Daphne nodded.
Her mystic eyes could see hunger—and what's more, they could inflict it. Just one glance could make someone feel insatiably starved. The reason she created the three Great Demon Beasts was to eradicate hunger.
The White Whale? Because it was packed with meat—kill one and feed a whole village. The Multibunny? Because there were tons of them. They could infinitely split, making an endless food source. That way, people wouldn't need to worry about food shortages anymore. As for the Black Serpent… well, no one was quite sure.
"From here, you can access the Realm of Faith. Aside from living beings, you can create anything you want to eat. You'll never feel hunger again."
"A world… without hunger?!" Daphne's eyes sparkled—she was visibly excited, eager to go explore it right now.
Next was Carmilla. Her ability was called Faceless Bride. Anyone who looked at her would fall head over heels in love—completely and hopelessly. They'd see her as the one they loved most, unable to look away, even forgetting how to breathe. Even with death staring them in the face, they wouldn't move a muscle.
It was true mind-breaking charm. People literally forgot to breathe, forgot their heartbeat. Wars broke out between nations just to claim her. Smoke filled the skies, corpses littered the lands—all because of one woman. Everyone, regardless of position or reason, desired her, fought for her, obsessed over her like a curse.
This was the sin of Lust, strong enough to bring down entire nations. Wherever she went, people would offer everything just to have her. But in reality, she was just a normal girl—timid, scared of getting hurt.
"You don't have to worry about charming others here, and no one's going to beat you up. If any of the other witches bully you, just report them to me. I'll handle it," Tatsuki reassured her.
"Really?" Carmilla's eyes sparkled with hope.
"Yes." He nodded firmly.
Then his eyes turned to Pandora, who was slumped over, barely able to stand. He had to support her as he asked, "What about you? Anything you want?"
He really didn't know what this girl could possibly want now.
Pandora weakly wrapped her arms around her chest, her eyes brimming with longing. "My love… I want to feel even more love. More beautiful, wonderful love."
"Are you addicted to roleplaying?" Tatsuki quipped, not entirely sure whether she was being serious. "Whatever. That kind of request is easy to fulfill anyway."
Lastly came Satella. He assumed she wouldn't want anything. After all, love had long since twisted into hate for her.
But unexpectedly, Satella took the initiative. "Master… please love me too. I want true love."
"..." What the hell was this? Stockholm syndrome?
Getting beaten up and turned into a toy, and still begging for love? Not to mention, all these witches had seriously messed-up minds. Why the hell was everyone obsessed with love?
But Tatsuki never turned down that kind of request. "If that's what you need."
In short—a stick in one hand and a sweet fruit in the other. A combo lesson for all the witches.
…
With all the witch business settled, Tatsuki was ready to head back. But before he left, he couldn't help asking Echidna a very personal question.
"Your hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes are all white. So… are you completely white-haired all over?"
Echidna didn't answer with words. She understood what he was really asking and lifted her dress to show him directly.
Tatsuki confirmed it—yep, all white.
What puzzled him more was: why did witches hate underwear?
Pandora didn't wear any. And apparently, neither did Echidna.
…
"Has Tatsuki still not returned yet?" Saeko Busujima asked with concern.
Back at Emilia's castle, the surrounding forest—once full of magical beasts and Witch Cult remnants—had already been cleared. Only a few stragglers remained, not enough to be a threat.
Exusiai and the others had gone ahead and helped nearby villages while they were at it. After a full day of action, the group was finally taking a break. Ram and Rem were in charge of preparing the meals.
As for the original owner of the castle, Roswaal—he was still standing outside, staring off into space. Ram was a little worried, but given how close the group was to Emilia—and how powerful they were—there wasn't anything she could really do. All she could do was stay by his side and watch.
"Why are you the only one here?" Tatsuki said as he landed, addressing Ram directly. Roswaal? He didn't even bother acknowledging the guy—might as well have been furniture.
To be fair, Roswaal really wasn't much different from a non-human at this point. The only reason he was still alive was because he kept jumping bodies using his own bloodline. No one knew which poor descendant's body he was using now.
...
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