Chasing the murderer's blood trail, Andrew catches up with him just as he sinks into a dark alleyway. As Drew himself rounds the alley he's confronted by a potent metallic stench of rust and the sight of sprawling dead bodies on the alley floor. The dead were a combination of civilians and the city guards.
Andrew didn't need to guess that the one responsible for this is that murderer, as he clearly used this alley to his advantage to get Andrew off his tail.
And just when he thought that the night ran out of surprises to give him, he hears the clicking of heels in the alley. Coming into his view is a white-haired and blue-eyed witch clad in black.
The witch wore a fit, ankle-length, halter dress that splits by its center, showing the fishnet bodystocking that she had underneath the dress. On top of it all, she has a black fur jacket to keep her warm, an oversized leather belt around her waist, and the iconic witch hat on top of her head to protect her from the snow that begins to fall.
Her sudden but gentle sensual laughter sends icy needles digging into Drew's spine, numbing his nerves as she draws ever closer to him. When the witch got into striking distance, Drew swings his sword only for it to get caught easily by the witch's hand. She even had her pinkie out.
"That's not a proper way to greet someone, is it? Especially someone you'll be asking questions to." The witch lectured Drew on proper etiquette.
"Who are you people and what do you want to do with those circles!?" Drew hotly shouted back.
"Yelling will only make me feel less inclined in answering those questions of yours, but I guess I'll at least tell you my name." The witch throws Drew's sword back and pointed her index finger towards him.
The witch, with her demeaning gaze, smiled a bloodthirsty grin at Andrew.
A magic circle then appears in front her finger, and from it bellowed out a torrent of dark blue flames that throws Andrew out into the middle of the streets.
"My name is Adela, but the world calls me the Cerulean Witch. An endearing name don't you think?" Adela introduces herself. "Oh? Quick on your feet aren't you."
The witch is astonished to see Drew on one knee and in one piece with no burns at all on his body. Instead, he had a layer of ice covering him, particularly around his shoulder and arms.
"Don't get up. If you do it'll be your way of saying that you want to fight. Although I'm fine if you want to!" Adela mockingly cheered for Andrew to stand up. "However, if you want to live and have your questions answered then you have to listen to me."
Without much choice in the matter, Drew grits his teeth and resigns to Adela's proposal. He relaxed his tensed body and sat his butt down on the cold street. He still feels his adrenaline coursing through his veins that it made him antsy.
"Good boy! I'll give you a treat then by answering one of your questions," said Adela with a cheerful smile on her face.
"What're these magic circles for?" Andrew took out the parchment he stuffed in his pocket and showed it to Adela.
The witch was surprised once again.
"Are you sure that's what you want to ask me?" Adela confirms with disbelief clearly on her face.
"Is there anything else I would ask you?" Drew replied, slightly annoyed that the witch is stalling.
"I suppose you don't~ Fine, I'll tell you everything. That magic circle belongs to a man named Leiger Marques, and whoever has that circle drawn on them becomes viable for him to possess when his current body dies," Adela exposited. Seeing that Andrew couldn't fully process what she had said caused an impish grin to creep up on her face.
"Possession? What do you-" Andrew is cut off by Adela holding up her index finger.
"Ah-Ah-Ah~ I said I'll answer one of your questions, not two. Besides don't you need to run back to the forest? The city guards are here." Adela pointed over Drew's shoulder and it causes him to turn around.
He sees the iridescent orange glow of lanterns drawing closer to their direction and, as he turns back, he sees that Adela had disappeared into the fog.
Not wanting to get caught now, Drew gets up and rushes out of the scene while hoping that none of the city guards see him. Thankfully none of them did. Andrew could imagine the horrified looks on their faces when they see their fellow guards lying dead on that cursed alley, he thought of turning back and consoling them.
But instead, he went back home to ease his own fears, and on his way back more snow begins to fall. Winter's approaching.
Andrew dreaded what to do with the information he has now. He thought about telling Melissa but feared that she might pursue the Cerulean Witch and die by the hands of that murderer.
Contemplating how he would handle the situation, Andrew stared distantly at the door in front of him until its knob clicked. It opens up and there to greet him is Lucifia.
He sighed in relief which caused the she-demon to grin, showing her sharp teeth.
"What a weird reaction~ were you hoping for -hold on. You look like you saw a successful version of yourself. What happened?" Lucifia asked, her grin quickly turning into a frown.
"Can you tell me where Melissa is right now?" Andrew wanted to confirm something before going inside.
"Hah? She's fast-asleep, same with Aranea. By the way that old-man and his boy toy left to go back home. He told me that he wanted to talk to you tomorrow," Lucifia replied. "Now, tell me what happened to you."
"I see, that's a relief then. Anyways, we do have a lot to talk about, Lu." Drew goes inside and made his way to the living room.
Meanwhile, Lucifia is intently scowling at him as she follows him.
"Don't go giving me nicknames, especially bad ones," she tells him off.
Drew ignores it as he sits down on one of the sofas that are around a coffee table. He puts down the parchment with the drawing of the complete magic circle, but Lu takes notice of something else drawn on the parchment.
"Is that Melissa's ass?" Lu's scowl grew more intense.
"It's Meliss-ass, yes." Drew let out a shaky laugh while smiling.
Andrew then tells Lu what the magic circle is used for, and to Lu that adds another piece to the puzzle. Deciding that there's no reason for her to keep anything from Drew about this matter, Lucifia decided to tell him what she knows.
In turn, Drew also laid out everything he knows as well as the sources he got it from.
The two ended up reclining to the backrest of their seats as they realized what's happening, a strange traveling doctor is using their patients as unsuspecting respawns and a witch with her accomplice are trying to put an end to it.
"Leiger Marques, what do you think he's after?" Drew asked Lu who was holding the parchment and staring at it.
"Does it matter what his goal is? Your race- this man knows no shame. Extending his life by robbing it from others, it's pathetic from the eyes of those who naturally live past a hundred years."
Lu's typical sass shifted from playful to condescending, all because she found this Leiger character to be the most potent scum there is. But as she fruitlessly clutters her mind with ideas to counter Leiger's spell, it only ends up feeding her frustrations.
She slams the parchment down to the table and glared at Drew causing him to jump and freeze in place, paralyzed by Lu's scowl.
"In the first place can we even trust what that witch told you?" Lu griped and continued to argue "What if she's just playing you to her hand?"
"Well we can't really trust either side here can we," Drew composedly replied as he stares at the parchment, in doing so he's reminded of that murderer who was collecting the circles.
For some reason, he felt innate animosity towards a man like that.
"So, what're you going to do?"
"Prepare ahead. If I'm going to fight against a witch then I'm going to need more than my sword. Plus, in the off-chance that the capital knights arrive, I need to be ready to fight a different kind of monster."
"Hoh? Who are you talking about exactly?" the she-devil was intrigued.
"Sigmund, the capital's second best." Replied the anti-mage as his eyes welled with admiration upon uttering that man's name.
Drew gets up from the sofa and grabs the parchment, pocketing it. He lets out a sigh and turned to Lu with a smile on his face as he starts scratching the back of his head.
"He's like a mentor to me, and he's definitely going to kick my ass sooner or later for doing this." A nervous laugh left Drew. "Hey Lu, can you keep the Cerulean Witch a secret to Melissa for now?"
"I don't make any promises, but I can make a deal~" Lu snickered as she stood up and held her hand out for Drew to grab.
"Fine, fine, do whatever you want, just help me out," Drew tiredly replied as he slaps Lu's hand. The she-demon scowled at this.
"You're either bold or stupid, but I'll be taking your offer~"