The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 161: Witch of the Night (2)

The Frozen Ground.

Blood droplets scattered over the pure white world swept by a snowstorm.

“…Ah.”

The Witch of the Night let out a faint sigh as she looked down at the sword that had pierced through her stomach.

Slowly, she collapsed onto the thickly piled snow.

She turned her head toward the gray-haired hero who had driven the sword into her abdomen.

“Hah… hah…”

The hero staggered closer to her, his breaths coming out ragged.

Swoosh.

He roughly pulled out the sword that had been lodged in her stomach.

Red blood spilled onto the snowy ground.

“…Cold.”

The witch murmured as she clutched her bleeding abdomen.

“Cold?”

The hero's face twisted in rage at her whispered words.

The witch, barely breathing, as if her life could be extinguished at any moment, nodded her head faintly.

“Yes. Very, very cold…”

“Hah.”

A mocking laugh escaped from the hero.

He glared at her with bloodshot eyes.

“So, you can feel the cold too?”

The very person who turned this land into a frozen wasteland.

The worst witch, who had massacred hundreds of thousands without batting an eye.

Shivering from the ‘cold.’

He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“Yes… I’ve been cold for a long time… always… very… cold.”

The witch reached out toward the hero, as if pleading.

“Just once… even if it’s just once, please…”

Red tears, mingled with blood, flowed down her cheek.

“I want… to be… warm…”

“……”

Smack!

The hero slapped her hand away harshly, grinding his teeth.

“You want to be warm, even if it’s just once?”

He twisted his mouth in a grimace and gripped his sword.

“Give me a break.”

He muttered a harsh curse.

“Spend eternity freezing to death, you damned witch.”

Thrust!

He drove the sword into the witch’s heart.

And so,

The witch’s long nightmare came to an end.

And the hero’s long nightmare had only just begun.

* * *

“……”

Memories of my past life surfaced.

The day I killed Lanez Malam, the Witch of the Night.

After countless sacrifices, innumerable deaths, and unimaginable despair, I finally reached her.

I remember barely managing to drive the sword into her heart after dying hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

To me, Lanez Malam was the very embodiment of a nightmare.

I wandered through the snowy wilderness she created for millennia.

White snowstorms, ground so thick with snow it swallowed you up to your knees, and bone-chilling cold.

That memory has lingered deep within me, still an unshakable trauma to this day.

“……”

But now…

The witch who haunted me, who slaughtered millions…

“I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was wrong.”

Seeing her curled up, crying in remorse, I was unsure how to react.

Should I feel satisfaction at her karma, or pity her past?

As I searched for an answer to this question without an answer—

“What are you all doing here?”

A silver-haired man approached us.

Aaron Baek.

A fourth-year candidate ranked number one in the composite rankings and the descendant of ‘God Spear’ Baek Seunghyuk, one of the Five Great Heroes.

Behind Aaron stood Bella Leonhart, ranked second and Aaron’s future lover known as the ‘Ghost Blade.’

“A-Aaron?”

“Why is Aaron here…?”

The candidates looked flustered as Aaron appeared.

They exchanged glances and slowly moved away from Lanez.

“I asked what you were doing here.”

“N-nothing.”

“We just… got into a little argument….”

“An argument?”

Aaron chuckled coldly at their hasty excuses.

He glanced sharply at the group and continued.

“I thought I told you to leave Lanez alone?”

“…But.”

“She’s a witch! How can we attend classes with the child of a demon?!”

One of the candidates shouted, sounding indignant.

They were right; Lanez Malam was a half-blood born of a demon and a hero.

Though she bore neither the mark of a demon nor any demonic powers, there was no denying the ‘demonic’ blood flowing in her veins.

And that blood came from a powerful demon who once held the rank of archbishop.

“Hah.”

Aaron let out a short sigh before speaking.

“I understand how you feel. But it’s not like Lanez chose to be born as the child of a demon, right?”

“That’s…”

“And we only have one more semester before we graduate. Why start something now?”

“It’s because we’re almost graduating!”

One of the candidates, seething, glared fiercely at Lanez.

Lanez, who had been cautiously observing the situation, quickly looked down again.

“In just one semester, she’ll be given a hero’s license! How does it make sense to give a hero’s license to a demon’s child? Do you think that’s okay, Aaron?”

“Calm down.”

Aaron placed a hand on the agitated candidate’s shoulder, speaking in a calm, subdued voice.

The candidate flinched.

“S-sorry.”

“Anyway, I hope this won’t happen again. We’re all classmates sharing the same lecture hall, aren’t we?”

“…Yeah.”

The candidates looked defeated as they turned and entered the building.

“Phew.”

Aaron let out a sigh and extended a hand to the crouching Lanez.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yes. Th-thank you.”

As Lanez nodded slightly and reached for his hand—

Thud!

“Urgh!”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Bella Leonhart, who had been watching from the side, kicked Lanez roughly in the stomach.

“How dare you, witch, try to take Aaron’s hand?”

Bella glared at Lanez as if looking at a squashed insect.

Aaron turned to her, horrified.

“Bella! What are you doing…?”

“I know you’re kind, Aaron. But.”

Bella bit her lip, looking back at him.

“At least you should not defend this witch, right?”

“That’s…”

“I’m leaving.”

“Ah… wait! Hold on, Bella!”

Aaron ran after Bella, who was stomping away without a backward glance.

“……”

After the two disappeared.

Left alone, Lanez slowly lifted herself up.

“Ugh… it hurts.”

Grimacing, she clutched her stomach, where Bella had struck her.

“Sniff… sob.”

Tears trickled down Lanez’s cheeks.

After crying to herself for a while, she staggered and started walking.

“…Ah.”

My gaze met Lanez’s.

Startled, she took a step back, her eyes drifting to the badge on my left chest.

“A third-year…?”

“……”

Lanez hesitantly approached me, looking timid.

“I… I’m sorry.”

What is she apologizing for?

“It’s… it’s all my fault.”

What does she think she did wrong?

“It’s not like everyone’s a bad person or anything!”

“……”

“So… please… don’t spread weird rumors about me!”

Shouting those words at me in desperation, Lanez turned and ran off as if fleeing.

Left alone, I leaned against the building wall and let out a deep sigh.

“…What in the world is going on now?”

Even after all this time.

The world was still full of things I couldn’t understand.

* * *

The next day.

I called for Senior Sophia at the main building café, choosing a place far away to avoid running into the other fourth-year candidates.

“You’re as bold as ever, having the nerve to call your senior out here like this. You haven’t changed.”

Sophia grumbled about walking for over 20 minutes to get here, then ordered a caramel macchiato topped with whipped cream, pouring syrup generously and sipping it through her straw.

“…Isn’t that too sweet?”

“Sugar is fuel for the brain.”

“That much sugar might be poison, not fuel.”

Sophia shot me a glare before speaking.

“So, what is it you want to ask?”

“You said before that you know about Lanez Malam, right?”

“Yes, to some extent.”

“I wanted to hear what you know. That’s why I called you here.”

Sophia’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you… interested in her?”

“Not so much interested as… curious.”

“Ugh. Drop it. There’s nothing good to be gained by getting involved with her.”

Sophia sighed, shaking her head.

“Well, I’ll tell you what I know.”

She set her coffee cup down on the table and continued.

“Lanez Malam. A fourth-year magic department candidate, ranked at the bottom of her class.”

The bottom, huh.

It was clear that the “blessing” within her hadn’t yet blossomed.

“You know she’s a half-blood of a demon and a hero, right?”

“Yes.”

“Her mother was a demon known as the ‘Archbishop of Frost’ about 30 years ago. Her father was also a famous hero who ranked in the top five.”

I knew this much already.

And I knew why both of them were spoken of in the past tense.

“They defied opposition and got married, had Lanez, and lived happily until…”

Tragedy struck.

“The Archbishop of Frost… Celia Malam had a sudden outburst, killing her husband and attacking people indiscriminately. Not long after, she, too, was killed by a hero.”

And so.

Lanez Malam was left all alone, having lost both her parents.

“She was allowed to enroll in the Hero Academy because…”

“Apparently, her father was close to Headmaster Lionel. He believed the child was innocent and granted her admission.”

Sophia sighed briefly as she continued.

“Though… I imagine from her perspective, it might have been better if she hadn’t been admitted.”

“……”

I thought of Lanez, huddled and trembling in the middle of the other candidates.

“Do you know what happened between Lanez and Senior Aaron?”

I remembered Bella Leonhardt’s words, “At the very least, Aaron shouldn’t be defending that witch,” and asked.

“…Do you remember how the Archbishop of Frost was killed shortly after her rampage?”

“Yes.”

“The hero who killed her was Aaron’s father.”

“……”

“And Aaron’s father also died from wounds he received fighting her.”

“…Then.”

To Aaron, Lanez was…

“She’s the child of his parent’s murderer… isn’t she.”

“……”

Thinking about the complicated, entangled connection between the two of them, I couldn’t help but sigh.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]