CHAPTER 119: FIRST APOCALYPSE: THE GENTLEST WINTER

The moonlight shone as the backdrop, as Lila stood firm against the ashen tree.

Her hand swept through the ashen bark, pity sparking in her emerald eyes—now flecked with storm.

In another World, she may feel it all.

A frozen heart. A withered snow. And a sullied cry.

Thus, for that World to never exist, Lila’s fingertip glazed with ice; glittering dust dormant within, her serenity hollow.

Her hair was painted an emerald white; if one told of eyes as the window to her soul, this was proof of her honesty laid bare to the land.

Grey and blue wove her clothes anew; a cloak cut in her villagers’ style draped her shoulders.

"Her lips breathed cold fog; a blue collar coiled around her neck to hide Mel’s love mark, a secret for them alone.

Her shoulder skins were exposed, milky white, revealing a pure white robe.

A light blue hat covered her head, one that resembled her Mel’s large witch hat.

With a stretch of her hand, she summoned the sceptor Mel gifted her; the blue crystal shone with a brilliance that mirrored her blue fingertip.

A trance took root in her mind: this power had always been hers.

She then recalled Rosana’s words, from the person who cast away the traitorous Knights like flies.

’Proximity’. To feel you own your chant and spell, she must feel as close as possible towards it.

With a small smile, she raised her stave and glanced at the purple rod she held.

The ring hugged her finger; the unspoken future.

The purple sapped into her mind; the unspoken possession.

"I dreamed of a World without frost."

Her declaration was calm, steady, and resonant.

A snow breeze swirled around Lila, her robes fluttering against its force.

In that brief moment, the temperature dropped.

Not just here, no.

But a chill swept through the entire World, the summer-like climate bulldozed to make way for Lila’s magic.

"In a snowfield that howled only of silence, I alone stood tall."

Her scepter sliced through the air, like a grand conductor of a musical.

Then, the breeze around her obeyed, as it all ground to a halt.

The wind just stopped.

For a lone girl who once wished to be left alone.

"Yet the destined death may never reach, and innocents shan’t be paid my sin’s folly."

And the sky cracked, tears of snow and ice trickled down in solemness.

Droplets of snow tickled Lila’s skin as she briefly sensed them.

To the east lay the Kingdom, and crowds gathered outside to witness the summer snow.

To the West of Embervale, an army of iron-clad dwarves stood ready against the early snow, as if prepared for a disaster.

And to the faraway North, an Ice Dragoness sighed as she briefly awakened, nodding to the clouds that froze mid-flight.

One more glance: a robed figure in the distance, face stricken with utter disbelief, before she scrambled to prepare for a spell.

Were all of them Enemies of Mel’s? Or Her Enemy?

Her lips remained unmoved; uninterested.

Like a goddess to a mortal, disposing of them would no longer be an issue for her.

And so, she whispered, glancing upon the ashen tree.

"And so may my cries be heard, a blizzard that only shrouded me and thee."

Her incantation pierced the air; her stave grazed the bark, and ice surged in its wake.

What she must freeze was not her enemy, but rather the enemy that would threaten Mel’s pursuit of ’Peace’.

Her target was thus clear, right beneath her.

"For I rest here my prayer."

She knew not how to control this power.

But this spell, this world now fully belonged to hers.

For the innocents.

For herself.

For her Mel.

"A Lost Requiem."

Winter came at her final declaration.

In a blink, ice erupted in crashing waves, swallowing the ashen tree whole in a crystalline shroud.

The frozen tide shattered across the grasslands, a flash flood of frost devoured the earth and the roots beneath it.

Mel shook a little before softly smiling as the ice wave tore through the ground beneath her; she remained unharmed.

It then surged uphill, before devouring the forest that surrounded them.

Trees and plants flash-frozen into jagged sculptures, their last shapes gripped in ice.

Snow and ice silently continued to fall, a witness to the now frozen playground.

Yet rabbits and birds hopped, oblivious to the disaster around them.

’Innocents’ were spared, as the tide disappeared beyond Mel’s vision, unsated as the wave continued to bolt forward.

Mel gulped, then glanced at her, at Lila

The Witch’s blue robe glimmered against the pale moonlight, her shoulders exposed just enough to show pure pink skin.

Rushing waves drummed in her ear, as her feet neared her Lila in silence.

One, two, then three footsteps. The wave stilled, the grazing echo stopped, unprompted.

Mel’s brows knitted together; worry spread across her expression.

Then, her Lila finally shifted around, her feet now bare and exposed to the air as her skin smoothly grinded against the ice.

As if she alone commanded the ice, the World dared not touch her.

Mel stopped, her large hat inches away from Lila’s as she glanced down.

Lila hung her head, the Master of this World now completely silent, as if bothered by something.

A murmur finally came out; a question that was too tender to be a Witch’s.

"Was it... too cold?"

The golden eyes blinked as the Emerald refused to look up.

A chuckle slipped out from Mel’s lips; all that strength, yet it was all the Witch worried about.

"Of course not."

Mel raised her hand, cupping Lila’s cheek to lift her gaze to meet hers.

She noticed first not the hint of grey in Lila’s eyes, but the faint blush across the puffy cheeks; a gruelling contrast to the white scenery.

"Thank you for tailoring this Winter for me, Lila."

A snow caught in Lila’s right eye, a confession of love dissolving as it rolled down her reddened cheek.

And a whimper escaped her lips, before she curled up to Mel’s embrace.

And a Witch was born not of a grieving Envy, but in the gentlest winter that graced the Earth.

[ The Witch of Envy: Awakened. ]

[ Compiling... ]

Lila (Witch Form):

HP: 900,000

MP: ????????????/????????????

Class: Witch of Envy (Demi-god)

Skill: Snow Series: Demi-god Rank, Frozen Series: Demi-god Rank, Summon: ???, Switch: Human Form.

[ The Third Awakening Has Finally Descended. ]

[ Congratulations, Mel. ]