Keeiiing!
A translucent blue curtain bounced back the thornbush, which had been invading the building.
Ka-ka-ka-kak!
The thornbush scratched along the surface of the sphere, seemingly searching for a way to crawl inside.
I saw soldiers running everywhere and a commander of the guard checking it out. Behind them, the people working at this accommodation were dashing around trying to block the windows.
Was there a frame installed to stop it? As I pressed a hard plate and pulled the frame beside it, it got blocked with a loud clunk.
And while the workers paused to confirm their status inside, the place we were in became a small shelter.
It’s definitely a residence for high-ranking people.
The security was better than expected. Given that the witch was casually burrowing in, she must be extraordinarily powerful for her size.
Right now, there aren’t many awake harvesters in the capital. Some were swept away by a branch extending along the road, some fell asleep from being pricked by thorns, and some were trembling inside their homes, watching in fear as the thornbush slowly encroached inside.
Even if you seal the door tight, branches grow through the gaps, stabbing people with sharp needles. It doesn’t slam like a bee, but the thornbush grows and slithers in. However, even being lightly pricked by it makes a person faint and fall asleep.
Since there’s a protective barrier here, it seems there are no thornbushes digging in.
“Is it safe here?”
“It won’t hold for long,” the commander replied to my question.
He was moving the soldiers with a cold expression. Perhaps because they were a guard unit, none of the soldiers were in chaos. Some were trying to communicate with magic, and others were pulling out mechanical puppets from inside and turning them on.
The mechanical puppet soon emitted light with its characteristic operating sound.
And not long after, it projected the view from outside the building into the air.
Wow. A hologram!
It seems there are strangely advanced aspects because it’s magic-based.
On the screen looking down from the roof height, a gigantic thornbush was growing along the vast road.
Thick tree trunks were extending along the road, and the branches were burrowing into houses.
As time passed, the number of awake harvesters dwindled.
And in the midst of it all, there was a harvester fighting until the end.
Victoria.
She was using water currents to cut down the approaching branches. Aside from the fact that they make you fall asleep when pricked, they were just ordinary trees, and she passed through the thornbush-filled space without much effort.
“Shadow? Raise the screen to the sky now!”
I was monitoring both the screen and the harvester, and the commander pointed at the upper part of the screen with his finger as if he had discovered something.
Is there a camera outside? The screen rose higher.
And above the city.
A huge black dragon was flying in the sky.
Its arms and legs. And its massive wings on the back. Two sharp horns on its head. It looked like a dragon no matter how you viewed it, but the commander spoke in a low voice.
“It’s the witch. Lower the screen immediately. Don’t show the whole view, just track her toes. Otherwise, she’ll detect us.”
Whoosh! The screen dropped down. It really seemed like the witch had not detected it and was facing the other direction.
“What will you do next?” I asked, and the commander spoke while clenching his face, hiding his tension.
“Don’t worry; just wait here. The kingdom has been preparing against the witch for a long time.”
He didn’t say they can defeat her. In reality, following along the screen, a beam of light flew at the dragon from the center of the capital.
And Solindiges was taking Aurora to the basement of the building where Aurora lived. Listening to what he said, it was apparent that preparations had been made to protect Aurora.
However, there was one breach at one point; thus, they had prepared thoroughly to ensure it wouldn’t fail again.
That’s right.
The fact that Aurora fell into a sleep from which she couldn’t awaken means they failed.
A normal person would have died long ago, but since she was a princess, she was kept alive based on cutting-edge technology. Just kept alive.
They drilled a hole in her body to supply nutrients, massaged her limbs daily to keep them from stiffening, and moved her slightly to prevent bedsores.
How could they have done all that if she hadn’t been a princess?
“You weak bugs! How dare you think you could defeat me! The queen of all evil will erase that delusion along with your country today!”
At that moment, a voice pierced through the building, and Maleficent’s voice echoed loudly.
Boom!
Though it wasn’t seen on the screen, the sound of an explosion echoed from the direction of the royal castle. Suddenly, the expressions of the people around me grew grim.
But that was only for a moment.
Suddenly, rocks shot from the ground towards Maleficent amidst the flames.
But nothing touched her; they all burned to ashes in the black flames surrounding her.
“There are some who do not know their place. Well, if you don’t know your place, I’ll have to teach you. [I hereby deprive you of the right to use magic!]”
Her words sounded oddly like they were being spoken simultaneously from both sides.
And the effects were immediate.
Outside, a clang sounded, and at the same time, all the machines inside turned off. Even the lights went out, and the interior darkened.
An inky darkness where you can’t see an inch ahead.
From the darkness came rustling and tapping sounds, then a small light flickered up.
“What is this?”
Before I knew it, the thornbush had burrowed inside, and the walls were already filled with black thornbush.
And one by one, those close to the wall began to collapse onto the floor. As a person fell, the thornbush crept toward them.
In the end, a frightened soldier swung his weapon only to be pricked by the thornbush stretching out from all directions, collapsing backward.
The commander swung his sword forward until the very end, but he too soon fell to the ground.
And then the thorns touched me.
I didn’t fall asleep.
The sharp thorns pierced my skin, yet I didn’t feel drowsy at all. My body remained perfectly capable of movement. I grasped a plant devoid of light and warmth and twisted reality.
Thud!
Surprisingly, I felt a slight resistance.
Drawing on the experience I gained in the second world, I carefully concentrated my power into a single point. With the sensation of a soap bubble bursting, a white branch appeared on my hand.
As I wielded it, the thornbush retreated from me.
Indeed.
Wielding the branch again, the branches crawling in through the window widened and broke the window they had been blocking.
Yep, I think I understand how to use this.
I grasped the branch and climbed up.
When it came inside, the thornbush seemed to have determined my technique; it bore no malice towards me. Surprisingly, there was no explicit intent to kill anyone from this thornbush.
So, I couldn’t directly reach Maleficent with it.
In other words, it meant I could go meet her.
I went out through the window. There were many thornbushes around me, but swinging the white branch made them automatically make way.
Once outside, I looked at the sky, and there was no longer a witch hovering above.
Still, it wasn’t hard to find her.
The harvested empowered person was fighting against the witch.
In the capital, there are more than 300 empowered individuals. Of those, only 43 chose to fight the witch.
However, their numbers were gradually decreasing.
Some were torn apart by the claws of the transformed witch, some roasted by flames spewed from her mouth, and some melted away by magic.
Yet they fought desperately.
Not only were they shooting their powers, but they were also combining abilities or using the terrain to attack the witch.
But time was on the witch’s side. More and more harvesters were murdered by her or pierced by the black thornbush, succumbing into sleep.
And the witch wouldn’t leave the sleeping ones unharmed, trampling and killing them without a second thought.
She mocked, claiming weaklings had no right to live and that such crude techniques wouldn’t work against the most wicked of herself.
One by one, empowered individuals were slain, leaving only one last person remaining.
Victoria Bet.
From the harvester’s perspective, there were several times Victoria almost succumbed. However, Maleficent did not attack her when she had the chance.
At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but when Victoria poured water regardless only to see another person die, I realized it was intentional.
She was letting her go.
And the last person, the black-scaled dragon’s claw, gripped Victoria’s body.
“Ah, poor little lady. Did you think you could defeat the powers of hell?”
Victoria’s abdomen crumpled.
Maleficent, in her dragon form, tightened her grip on Victoria.
Victoria trembled from the pain, and then she extracted blood from her hand to form a spear, shooting it at the witch. Did she think her eyes would be weak even in dragon form?
However, the thorn she tossed got blocked by the dragon’s eyelid and lightly bounced back.
“Haha! That was cute, but it won’t work on me. Tori. That’s not enough.”
Victoria showed a look of panic. Then, staring at Maleficent, she stuttered as she opened her mouth.
“Malie?”
“Ah, indeed. Malie is my nickname. Not Merryweather, but Maleficent. Remember it, Victoria Bet.”
Like a cat toying with its prey, Maleficent chuckled and changed from the dragon’s form to that of a familiar guard.
In other words, it meant that it wasn’t that Maleficent had transformed into Merryweather; that was actually her form from the start.
“What happened to Belle!”
Victoria then yelled loudly.
“Ah, that monster? She’s probably already fallen asleep from being pricked by the thornbush. Even if she hasn’t, she wouldn’t be able to escape this thornbush prison. I’ve been watching for a long time, and her own power doesn’t seem that strong,” Maleficent laughed.
“Nobody can help you, Tori.”
Then she slowly tightened her grip.
“Why are you doing this?”
Eventually, Victoria, with tears streaming down her face, asked Maleficent in a quivering voice.
“Because I am the queen of evil? Ah, of course, that’s not the only reason. A long time ago, around the time you were just born, the king insulted me. So I’m making him pay for it, but he cowardly rid himself of that debt, don’t you think?”
She was talking about Aurora. No wonder their names were similar; the story of the sleeping beauty was being recited.
“The king trampled on my honor, so the nation must repay that debt.”
An unreasonable reason.
Victoria whimpered, barely managing to voice her feelings, and her voice was strained due to Maleficent’s tight grip.
And I arrived at the location where the two were battling.
At this rate, it seemed Victoria would explode; I decided to grab attention. Being like a fairy tale villain, she would likely be interested in a nursery rhyme.
“Don’t cry. You shouldn’t cry.”
I also hoped that Victoria could find peace of mind in the process.
As I waved the pure white branch, clearing the surrounding black thornbush, I approached them.
“Santa Claus doesn’t give gifts to crying children.”
Hearing the nursery rhyme, Maleficent’s grip wavered. Then soon, she released Victoria, who fell to the floor and began coughing.
Maleficent didn’t cast a glance at her and stared directly at me, asking with a fierce glare.
“Who is Santa Claus?”
She asked, her face filled with fear and confusion. I replied like this.
“He’s someone who doesn’t give gifts to naughty kids. Merryweather. You’ve been tricked.”
“My name is Maleficent, you monster.”
Maleficent responded with a growl.
