Reasons to Protect the Witch's Son

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Young Ash was running around inside the palace.

“Ash, I’m going to count to a hundred! One, two, three-”

He was playing hide-and-seek with his nanny. Covering her eyes with both arms, the nanny began counting from one.

Ash scrambled on his little feet, looking for a place to hide. As he looked around, the doors lined up in the hallway caught his attention. The child’s eyes sparkled. With a grunt, he turned the almost out of reach knob, opened the door, and went in. There was no one there as it was a guest room. The child squatted down under the desk to hide his small body.

He could no longer hear the nanny counting. It wouldn’t be easy to find him here. The child covered his mouth and giggled under his breath.

But perhaps he’d hidden herself too well. He waited for a long time, but the nanny never appeared. It was eerily quiet in the dimly lit room. Ash rested his chin on his knees and blinked. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Then, without realizing it, he must’ve fallen asleep. When he opened his eyes, the already dark room was even darker. He jerked awake, coughing as he sat up.

A pungent burning smell filled the room. When he looked up, he saw the door on fire.

“Aaaah!”

“Run away!”

Screaming could be heard from outside the room. The sound of people running through the hallways and the sounds of things falling over and breaking were constantly heard.

The frightened child burst into tears. The fire that was burning the door spread onto the ceiling and floor. In an instant, the wallpaper and cabinets ignited as well.

Kwaang-!

“Mr. Ash!”

At that moment, someone called Ash’s name the door opened. A familiar man’s face appeared. He hurriedly approached Ash, took him in his arms and started running.

Flames were everywhere. The bright blue flames engulfed the fleeing people alive. A rush of heat hit him. The flames opened their gaping mouths, threatening to consume Ash as well.

But the flame could not reach him. The approaching fire suddenly faltered and retreated. Everywhere was engulfed in flames, but the fire did not come close to the area around him.

Perhaps because he was holding Ash, the man was also not touched by the flames. As if clearing a path, the fire retreated to the side as they ran.

He ran like a madman. Burning debris fell from the ceiling without notice. They barely escaped the palace through the rain of debris and fire.

The small body hanging onto the man’s shoulders shook endlessly. The child continued to let out frightened cries. The tears that were obscuring his vision fell from the violent shaking of his body, filling his now clear vision was the royal palace as it moved farther away.

Dead bodies and screams. Death flowing like a river. A witch’s flame, blazing hot and violent, destroying everything.

The moment he saw that scene, his heart strangely became cold. The sound of people screaming gradually became more distant. His shaking subsided along with his crying.

Now suddenly, Ash was standing alone, watching the scene before him. His eyes squinted, not as a child, but as a man of twenty-three. His face was expressionless as he watched the city burning.

The memory was unfamiliar, yet familiar at the same time. He’d seen this scene once before in a nightmare that tormented him all night. This was the dream he could never recall clearly.

A memory, long buried in the depths of his subconscious was rising to the surface.

Yes, those were Seveka’s final moments. Memories from his childhood that he didn’t even know existed. That memory was vividly unfolding before his eyes at this moment.

He couldn’t help but burst into laughter. A scene more horrifying and cruel than anything he had ever seen. Was that the reality of the dream he couldn’t remember clearly?

 

‘He is the child of a monster!’

‘A monster, the spawn of a man-eating demon!’

‘Why are you still alive!’

 

Curses and accusations he’d heard throughout his life.

At one time, he thought it all was just an act of anger. It was true that his mother had committed an unforgivable sin, but that sin was not his. He did not consider his life and existence to be wrong.

But is that really true? Does the offspring of a witch who created such a cruel hell truly deserve to live?

The deepest and darkest abyss. The abyss stretched out before his eyes, shaking him to the core, pushing him until one day he’d collapse and suffocate.

If it had been anyone else, they would’ve given up long ago. But Ash chose to become stronger instead of breaking.

He sneered.

“You’re showing me something useless.”

He spat in a cold voice and glared into the void.

As he stared into the roaring flames, he saw a glimmer of light beyond. Numerous bright red eyes lit up, glowing. Ash swung his sword towards it.

Kyaaaak-!

With a scream, the darkness covering the sky shattered. The scene that had filled his vision dispersed like fog.

A brief moment of dizziness came over him. As his vision began to clear, he could see the hazy creature, cut by his blade, dispersing. The thing that was struck and screaming was a Specter.

Was that really it?

Specter. A monster created from human despair and fear.

Specter’s had the ability to bring out a person’s darkest memories and trap them in hallucinations. A person who was hallucinating gradually had his or her mind broken down by the Specter. And when the mind is completely eroded, their vitality is finally consumed.

The scene he saw a moment ago was a hallucination shown to him by the Specter.

He broke out of the hallucination with his innate mental power and the skills of a master, but the weak villagers were probably powerless against the Specter. They must have been robbed of their vitality, or were hallucinating and froze while wandering through the snowy mountains.

Many thoughts crossed his mind in only a short moment. Naturally, it was Elaine they finally settled on. Now that he was thinking about her, where was she? Gradually, the dizziness subsided and his vision became clearer. He was still standing inside the cabin.

As he stepped outside, a chill ran through him. He stiffened and looked ahead. There were dozens, no, hundreds of Specters on the white field of snow. Their ghostly pale forms covered the clearing in dense masses.

“This…”

It was his first time seeing so many Specters. The monsters were rippling like waves. He realized what the eerie aura that had surrounded the cabin was.

The wave of Specters was centered in the middle of the clearing. Like a swarm of ants looking for a tasty meal.

Suddenly, he remembered the person he hadn’t seen in the cabin earlier. The reason he hadn’t seen her… Who else would they be swarming over to if not her…

There was no need to think long about who was on the other side of the monsters. Ash quickly ran towards the center of the wave. However, the number of Specters blocking the way was too many. Like a thick wall, the translucent shapes overlapped so much that it was impossible to see beyond them.

He coated his sword with mana and swung it as if to shatter the wall. The Specters let out a piercing scream. Countless eyes focused on Ash, trying to plunge him into a swamp of terrible memories once again.

But from the beginning, his life was already a nightmare. Blades at his feet, bloody curses and resentments dangling from his ankles as if they were trying to weigh him down. Nevertheless, he walked through it all. Why dwell on the past when it’s already gone?

Finally, he cleared a path and entered the center of the monster tide. A woman with a pale face was seen lying in the center of the horde of monsters.

“Elaine!”

Ash rushed over and grabbed her. The wall of Specter quickly filled in behind him.

Her eyelids were lowered. Even if he called her name, her limp body did not respond. She just moaned and repeated the same words.

“Please… No…”

She was crying with a pained look on her face, like someone was torturing her. She was crying so much that her cheeks were soaked.

“Please, please, don’t do it. Please…”

She begged in a choked voice. Her body trembled slightly.

‘She’s hallucinating.’

“Elaine! Come to your senses!”

He shook her vigorously, but she still didn’t respond. In fact, she only shrank back even further, as if avoiding something.

He gritted his teeth and raised his head. Numerous monsters were present, as if all the entities on the mountain had flocked to them. Specter are driven by fear and despair. They were all flocking to her, as if drawn in by her appetizing scent.

What is so frightening? What is so painful? What is the fear she harbors that is so sweet to them? What is the fear she harbors that frightens even someone as strong as her? The woman who is so steadfast and brilliant that nothing seems to slow her down.

A swirling snowstorm poured down on them, stronger than before. Snow kept piling up on top of her. It didn’t go away even though he kept brushing it off again and again. Her cold body was being endlessly buried in the snow. Her hands were so cold.

He bit his lip until it bled. It felt like her body would freeze even before her mind was eroded. It seemed like her closed eyelids would never open again.

Just thinking about losing her made his blood freeze. His heart sank at his anxiety. He took off the coat he was wearing and wrapped it around her.

In an instant, he was dressed in only a shirt. The cold was so sharp that it chilled his bones, but he didn’t care.

He just wrapped his arms tightly around her.