City of Witches - Chapter 1159
THE CITY OF WITCHES – Episode 1153
EP.1159 #276_Prelude (7)
#1153
1.
According to Mother, magic that allows one to travel between different timelines is nearly impossible to perform.
This is a matter of probability.
Compared to the infinite number of timelines that branch off like bubbles at every given moment, the realm occupied by the ‘primordial void’ where not even the universe, matter, or time exist, is much larger.
The fact that Mother was able to create the Ark and arrive in a ‘world where witches do not exist’ by throwing a dart blindfolded means that she was incredibly lucky.
After Mother arrived in the new world and established the 32nd stage.
You created witches by sharing your flesh and blood with me.
You boarded the Ark and traveled to another world, where you scattered witch genes everywhere.
You spun the destiny of witches on a beautiful loom of fate like the Milky Way in the dark night sky.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was the greatest achievement in the history of witches.
She was both the Eve and the Adam of all witches.
Despite this, the lives of the Witch of Creation and her daughter, Kether, were simple.
Their home was a small village in the countryside, untouched by human footsteps.
‘It’s snowing a lot today.’
Every winter, heavy snow would fall outside the window, turning the world white.
The fireplace in the cabin in the small forest drove out the swirling cold air.
But it was still a little cold, so I would wrap myself in a blanket and cuddle up to Mother.
‘What kind of story do you want to hear today?’
Kether, who was an apprentice witch at the time, would sit by the fireplace and listen to various stories from her mother, who was almost exhausted but still so great.
‘Honestly, I can’t understand you, Mother. According to you, witches became like this because of humans.’
‘Hmm, shall we talk about that later?’
‘No! You always avoid it like that, Master!’
Noah Genesis, known as the ‘Witch of Creation’, gave an awkward laugh.
She was also a kind and compassionate mother in front of her apprentice witch and daughter, ‘Kether Genesis’.
‘My daughter. Then what should I do?’
‘Of course, you should rule over humans. Whether it’s a king in a stone castle, an oriental lord in silk clothes, or an emperor with a golden crown, they should all kneel before you. Humans are evil. We need to get rid of them in advance.’
After reaching the great realm of the 32nd stage, she had given her daughter a ‘vessel’ and had used her power to create witches and homunculi, but Mother was more than capable of doing so.
Kether remembered how Mother had destroyed an avalanche that had swept over the village with a flick of her finger.
‘And then what?’
‘Witches should conquer this world, and we should drive out any humans who resist.’
‘And then what? What if people keep resisting?’
‘Of course, we have to crush them with force. Just like humans did in the world where Mother lived.’
Despite her young Kether’s sincere advice, Mother just smiled.
‘Sometimes I wonder if you’re right.’
She gently brushed away the frown on her young daughter’s forehead and continued.
‘But when we hate each other, the end is always painful. Surely, I want to believe that there is a better way.’
Keter shook her head.
‘That’s idealism.’
‘Is that so? But I didn’t come to this world to become a dictator.’
Later, she was admired as a being close to a god, and indeed she accomplished great things, but at times she was more like a girl than Keter.
She was a naive girl who had kept the innocence that everyone gives up as they learn about the world.
‘If you ever come across a choice in your life that seems like the right answer at a glance, that’s when you should be wary. We can’t choose the right answer. We can only flounder around, struggling to get closer to the right answer.’
‘Huh, but I’m a witch? I’m a great and outstanding apprentice witch who will succeed my mother’s name.’
‘That’s why it’s even harder.’
Of course, you knew better than Keter that your wish could not be ideally fulfilled.
You left behind various arrangements to prevent the tragedies of the previous world, such as homunculi, floodgates, and floods, and left the world.
The world after your mother left was not easy to live in with only ideals.
Keter had to follow her mother’s achievements and lead the witches she had scattered to the path of prosperity and glory.
Despite her arduous efforts, Keter was eventually blocked by a wall.
Keter soon made up her mind.
Let’s start over from the beginning.
She separated the filth and dregs and filtered out the impurities.
The chaotic crystal that was filtered out became Lilith, and only order and purity remained for Keter.
Thus, the order that Keter carried on her back resembled the ideal of her mother, who had laughed inwardly, saying that it was like the dream of a girl long ago.
2.
210 years after crossing the wall of the 24th hierarchy.
The Duke of Erelim became the 25th hierarchy.
It was not simply a matter of modifying the world’s settings, but of becoming the law of the world itself.
It was a realm that no one except the Witch of Creation and the Duke of Keter had ever surpassed before.
Many things have changed.
Just as there is a big difference between a 19th and 20th hierarchy witch, despite the difference of only one hierarchy.
There was a power there that was different from the past.
Also, many things have not changed.
When you climb over a difficult mountain, what you see is a familiar repetition of a distance you don’t know how many times you’ve seen.
The joy of accomplishment was dim.
From some point on, the path of magic for Blanchet Erelim was no different from the punishment of Sisyphus, who endlessly rolled a rock.
The only difference was that when you rolled the rock over the mountain, a higher and steeper mountain appeared.
She had lived for hundreds of years, holding on to that small achievement as a consolation.
Can it be called life?
“……”
Erelim wandered through the beloved garden, chewing on her frustration.
The ‘Ivory Tower’, which had never allowed outsiders to enter since Keter went into seclusion, was an exception for the garden.
The garden, where blue roses bloomed beautifully all year round, was designed by Erelim himself in the early days of Gehenna.
Old memories hung on the petals and fell uselessly to the ground.
“You must have known.”
The truth of this world has been revealed.
The founder of witches, Noah, died, and her daughter, Keter, failed to rule the witches and created Lilith and became an Erelim. However, she realized the futility of her path and looked back on the past in the Ivory Tower garden, realizing the truth of the creation of witches and the nature of humans. The Erelim, who learned that Keter had tried to maintain order for the sake of humans, considered her a traitor but felt a sense of boredom and sought her guidance. At that moment, a crack appeared in the barrier of the Ivory Tower, allowing the Erelim to enter. The Erelim goes to meet Keter.
The creative witch that all witches looked up to was a fugitive, and the ones who persecuted the witches were humans, as the Erelim had suspected, and even now, the winds of change were blowing every moment.
News that two more old witches had joined Hexennacht reached her ears, even though she didn’t want to hear it.
Only then could she understand.
Why Keter, who had said she would create a world for witches, treated humans like fragile crafts.
And why Keter, who had insisted on the order of Gehenna even as she killed her friends, had not told the truth of the world to the Erelim, who longed for it.
Keter had known.
A time when no one was mature yet.
A time when order had not ripened.
A time when it was natural for the strong to devour the weak.
What would happen when the witches learned the truth of the world.
This can be guessed from the way things are happening in the present world in real time.
When humans learn of the mystery, the safety device of the homunculus is released, so it is hidden.
When they learn the truth of the world, it is clear that the witches will slaughter humans, so it is hidden.
Keter’s order was not for the witches.
At least in the eyes of the Erelim, it was for the humans.
The Erelim, unaware of this, suppressed their growing doubts in order to continue Keter’s legacy and silently followed her will.
They protected Gehenna, suppressed their fellow witches, and protected the humans who would surely become their enemies one day.
A long-held question was answered.
Keter’s work was a betrayal.
Blanche felt a sense of betrayal towards Keter.
If she had been the Erelim of the past, she would have been more resentful than this and would have even waged war against the humans.
She might have gone out into the world in the name of the path for witches and ruled over all humans.
But what she felt now was a sense of betrayal that was too small to even understand herself.
After much deliberation, the Erelim defined the emotion that was stirring weakly in her chest as ‘boredom’.
It was a name that had been attached to too many emotions so far.
And an intense emotion that would not fade with time, even with the name of boredom, came out of her mouth.
“…I want to see you.”
She loved Keter.
Not with love and affection, but with respect and admiration.
That was why she had silently carried out the tasks she had left behind, even though she did not fully agree with Keter’s ideals and order.
Because she believed that was the path for witches.
And the moment she realized that the path the Erelim had walked was not really the path for witches, she lost her way.
Perhaps that was because the path had been given to her by someone else in the first place.
“Keter, I want to see you….”
Despite having the strongest power in the world, she was like a child who could do nothing, looking for just one person.
I wish she would tell me.
What to do now.
Where to go.
Even though Keter had deceived the Erelim, the world, and the witches…
She felt like she could give her an answer.
She felt like she could persuade the Erelim with a reasonable reason.
If so, it seemed like she would get some comfort.
That’s when.
-Growl
The barrier opens.
In the mysterious barrier that had firmly blocked the Ivory Tower, a crack appeared that was just big enough for one Erelim to enter.
“……”
The Erelim raised her head.
She wiped away her tears and stepped forward.
To meet Keter.