[Witch Tea Party]

  [Domain: Delia. [Undead Witch Gatekeeper Mistress]]

  [Condition:

  - Both parties shall not harm the other.

  - Third parties are only allowed if both parties agree on the invitation.]

  [Accept/Decline]

  “Was this to your satisfaction?” Delia asked. Her eyes, both iridescent red eyes, revealed nothing, even as Suna threatened her sister's life.

  Suna read the prompt, not sure what to make of it.

  “Human,” Delia spoke up, chewing the word slowly for some reason. “You’re a human. What was it like?”

  “What?”

  “It's important, for the sake of our…pact.”

  Pact?

  Whatever this was, Suna did not plan to play along.

  He examined the bramble of wood holding Jack prisoner. Each of his limbs was entangled so tightly in a maze of entwined wrapping; it wasn’t something he can solve with an arrow. Then the obvious move was to destroy its base, the trunk—which Delia stood in front of. He had to kill Uzu, force her to move, and then, in one swift motion, drew and released the enchanted Sootroot Arrow.

  How long would that take?

  Forcing Delia to move would require Emberwind Arrow.

  Also, killing Uzu… He needed to do it in one snap, which should be easy enough.

  Maybe it would take five? No, four seconds…

  That is, considering Delia did not counter.

  “If this turns into a fight between us. You will stand no chance, no matter how much Pyreflame you have.” Delia stated, and she did not sound like she was lying. “I will not threaten you.”

  “Oh? So that’s a fact, then?”

  “It is,” Delia said, much to his annoyance. “A pure…” She slowly slurred her words. The witch started to stride forward, her dress swaying in the wind and sand swirling around her, making her look like an elegant noble rather than an undead. “Pure truth.”

  Delia clicked her fingertip, and brambles of branches wrapped tighter around Jack, tightening around his neck.

  “Stop that!” Suna growled, his hand about to press on Uzu’s neck, but something inside him tightened, and his fingers stiffened.

  “Was this humanity?” Delia asked, the [Undead Witch] suddenly beside him, looking down at him. She knelt, and her dark veil tickled Suna’s brim hat. “I find this beautiful.”

  Suna moved, about to crush the neck; at the very least, he would go—

  “Stop, I released him already,” Delia said, and she pointed toward where she had just stood. Jack was there on his back, his stomach rising and falling.

  The Tiefling breathed out as the wooden binding loosened and died away around him.

  “Why are you doing this?” Suna asked, wanting to move away from this [Undead Witch] whose mere presence made him wonder whether she had arranged for this entire meeting.

  “Because I need you, human, and my sisters too.”

  Sisters?

  “Now, in courtesy for releasing your friend, please do tell me. As a human, what was it like?”

  Delia knelt on both knees, primly. She laid her palm just above her thighs, taking a formal position, with her back straight and face intent on him like a curious child.

  Suna peeked at Jack, despite what the witch’s assurance… He knew very well they were not safe. She can grow that tree within his range, and who knows what chance he’d have against her alone?

  “What did you want me to say? Why are you asking this?”

  “What do I want you to say? I want the truth, no lies. A pure truth that is,” she said, her veil rustling faintly with her breath. “Why am I asking this? It’s because I’m not long for this world.”

  Suna opened his mouth, but Delia raised a hand, gesturing for him to stop.

  Then, with her right hand, she ripped open her dress across her chest. What greeted Suna was scaly red skin that was turning dark and spreading like some kind of fungus.

  He reeled away, not from the smell but from the sight; it looked disgusting.

  “Who did that to you?”

  “Why should I answer you? When have you not answered me? About information that would be useful against my lord, no less.”

  Her lord?

  There was just so much…

  “To be a human,” Suna muttered.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  Delia leaned in; she pushed her veil behind her right ear and leaned closer still.

  “I can only answer based on my experience.”

  “And that is exactly what I want.”

  “I wake up, do something…” Suna trailed off, unsure where to go next. So he pinpointed the happiest time in his life. “I watch a story… sometimes read it, inside a comfy space. Sometimes for hours, days, or even months. Then I get bored, find hardship, and do it all over again.”

  Delia clasped her hands together, almost touching Suna's chin. “That does sound wonderful.”

  It is?

  “What does this have to—”

  “Can you lift your arm off Uzu’s neck?”

  Suna’s mouth worked open; this was probably his only lifeline. But something made him trust her. Suna lifted his hand and slowly backed away towards Jack.

  His hand began to swirl with wind.

  But Suna did not summon his bow yet.

  Delia stood from her kneeling position, and her hands joined together in front of her dress.

  “I decided, human. What’s your name?”

  A word caught in his throat. What if there was a spell where she could use someone's name to curse them? She was a witch, after all. An undead one, too.

  But Delia waited intently; not once did she press him.

  “Suna, it's Suna.”

  “Very well, Suna, once again. I invited you to the Witch Tea Party.”

  [Witch Tea Party]

  [Domain: Delia [Undead Witch Gatekeeper Mistress]]

  [Condition:

  - Both parties shall not harm the other.

  - Third parties are only allowed if both parties agree on the invitation.

  - Rune of Uzu, the undead Reaper Mistress, and Dua, the undead Lantern Mistress, will not be allowed to be collected by the second party.

  - Second parties shall receive a reward in the form of the first parties' rune.

  [Delia the Undead Witch Gatekeeper Mistress would like to offer you a quest. She’d like to offer it inside the Witch Tea Party.

  [Accept/Decline]

  “Rune? That would mean–”

  “Yes, my life… I shall offer it to you, of course, but this means you have to accept the quest. Also the condition…”

  Suna needed to forgo the sisters’ rune. And that was an immense condition… one that he was still unsure about letting go of.

  “Why? Why the Rune?”

  “If we’re to ignore the very fact that you had to mutilate their corpses—I would require them to bring both for reincarnations with me, as a human.”

  “Human… what?” Suna was only able to ask; the mere thought of reincarnation…

  “So many questions. And each one I will answer inside the Tea Party.”

  Suna chewed his lips; this did not make sense. “Why couldn’t we just talk here?” He was vexed and losing his patience.

  “A pact can only be done properly inside a domain; the binding ritual needs to be based on our souls. That is the nature of this skill of mine, and plenty of sacrifice is required. For such skill, a fair amount of acting is required—one of the best ways to do such acting is by having a connection, an anchor of some sort you can pull on.”

  “And that is the runes?”

  “Yes, what is more powerful than your source of magic, so I can carry it forward for them…”

  “Carries your magic, and you do not want to—”

  “I’m afraid, if you did not want to come to my Domain, then I’d rather fight it out with you until I exhaust all of your Pyreflame and claim your life as mine.”

  Gale Bow formed in Suna’s hand; he still hadn’t drawn an arrow. There was more he needed to confirm. “Claim my life? I suppose the method has something to do with the undead?”

  “The very thing,” Delia nodded.

  Dark flames burst above Delia's form, and she began to shape them, this time into a small dozen of stars, spinning around as they were about to launch at Suna.

  “Your decision, human,” Delia said.

  “I accept your invitation,” Suna said reluctantly.

  Darkness edged at his vision, puckering it around the edges, and Suna’s consciousness was fading. Another world flickered across his sight; suddenly, he was there–then back on the beach.

  He tried to keep himself standing upright, putting pressure on one of his knees to stay firm. But across from him, Delia was lying down—with her cheek pressed to the sand, shielded by her thin dark veil.

  The sight made Suna fall to one knee, and he stopped resisting this tugging that tried to force his consciousness away.

  –

  Soft air brushed his skin in a gentle current. Suna took off his brim hat, and a rolling green hill full of yellow sunflowers greeted him, each of them puckered with a mote of orange that hung in a drift, swaying above them and circling each other slowly. The orange light was bright yet faint under the moonlight, bathing the entire hill with a hesistant luminous blur.

  Sitting in a field of sunflowers was Delia. What appeared to be some sort of picnic rug lay beneath her. She held up a cup and took a sip; in front of her was another, and she looked up to Suna expectantly.

  “Please,” she smiled and motioned to it.

  Suna, still apprehensive, walked forward.

  He entered the field of orange, trying not to step on any of the sunflowers. Something tugged inside of him, a sense of familiarity. This beautiful yet grounded place did not feel alien to him.

  He crossed the field and stepped onto the rug.

  Suna stood still, and Delia merely took another sip. She smiled at him. He sat down, not touching the glass.

  He gazed around, and the world felt so open here, like the air itself was holding something. The breeze swayed once more, pulsing over Suna in a comforting touch.

  “Not bad for a dying world, is it?” Delia asked.

  “Dying world?”

  “Yes, this is your world.”

  “My what?” Suna almost jerked upright; he pressed one of his knees up and looked around. This—yes, he must have seen this place in a picture somewhere. A tourist destination, maybe? Not that he knew its name.

  “A system integration did not happen only to a world occupant, but also to their world. Those who are unlucky enough not to be chosen by the system will have to survive without power until others come back,” Delia said.

  “Doesn’t look like unlucky,” Suna added.

  “Then you’re na?ve to think that way. My domain invites you to the safest place and the most beautiful… and yet,” Delia said.

  Suna's heart quickened in alarm.

  Delia manifested a dark flame in her palm and turned her back to Suna. “How tragic,” she whispered.

  Diving through the sky was a figure of a lizard, with arms so skinny they were almost bony, and red scaly wings on both arms like a glider. The thing resembled a half-bred dinosaur and dragon. Its size couldn’t be more than Suna’s. The creature's mouth resembled a crocodile's jaw, and it hovered above, staring down at them.

  [Racktl. Lvl 50]

  The creature shrieked, its voice shrill through the air—ruining the beauty of the valley they were in. Two more Racktls appeared; each was level 50. They then tucked their wings, and light gathered on them—all three began to dive down at incredible speed.

  Delia's flames grew unruly into three long lashes. She brought her hand down, and the lashes smashed the creatures, causing a harsh snap against the ground and even resulting in slight cratering. The creatures’ bodies were broken, their bones cracked open, revealing red blood unlike the Undead.

  “Tough one, such a level… I hardly think there will be any functioning society until the first batch of Integrator arrives. So now, surely you know me offering my rune to you came at a great cost.”

  “The skill you’re talking about, the reincarnation… You’re going to be human in this world?”

  “Precisely, the skill is unruly at best. With this skill, I might even doom my usual reincarnation, just so I can be together with my sisters and ensure they keep their power from this life.”

  “Can we take this from the start? And this quest too… and system integration.” Suna asked, desperate. For once, this sounded like he could learn so much from the Undead Witch.

  Delia let her lips curve into a smile, and her red eyes glinted. Then, in a whisper, she said, “Finally.”

  A tear slithered down, shielded by her veil, yet Suna’s eyes still followed it down to her chin.

  “Yes, let’s make everything clear. I want you to make it back… and find us…” Delia stepped in front of him, kneeling on both legs, and laid her hand atop his. “Protect us until we grow strong enough, and teach us how to live as humans. That is the quest; of course, I shall provide a reward.”

  Patreon!