"Drip..."
In a daze, Emilia heard the sound of water droplets.
The air around her felt chilly and a damp sensation pervaded everywhere.
She felt the hardness of the stone behind her.
Her hands and feet seemed bound by something.
Under such a situation, Emilia gradually regained consciousness.
"Mmm..."
With a soft moan, Emilia slowly opened her eyes.
The moment she opened her eyes, a face appeared in her field of vision.
It was a chilling and creepy face.
It was so pale that it looked devoid of any color.
It was so gaunt that it looked almost skeletal.
Even this figure's eyes were slightly protruding from their sockets.
Inside, there is a crazy emotion that can almost be said to be without a trace of reason or rationality.
Such a face was staring at Emelia from a distance of less than five centimeters from her eyes.
"————!"
A sense of horror surged through Emilia's heart.
Yet, as Emilia felt terrified, the face staring at her emitted a chilling laughter.
Though it seemed like laughter, tears streamed from the eyes of the person.
"Oh... oh... oh oh oh oh...!"
It was a crying voice filled with emotion.
Then, the face moved away from Emilia, revealing the full appearance of the person before her.
It was a man wearing priest-like robes, with green hair atop his head. His skin looked as if it were decaying, presenting a terrifyingly pale complexion. He unfolded his arms, holding his own body, crying while expressing joyous sobs.
"How beautiful...! How beautiful...! How incredibly, unbelievably beautiful!"
The ecstatic madman, with tears still flowing down his face, expressed gratitude as if thanking the heavens for being born into this world. Holding his head, he trembled as he spoke.
"My brain is shaking..."
With that, the madman suddenly put his fingers into his mouth.
"Pū Chī..."
Amidst the sound of skin tearing, the madman bit his fingers to the point of bleeding.
Blood flowed from his mouth.
"You...!"
Emilia felt a chill rising in her heart as she looked into the madman's eyes with a mixture of fear and disbelief.
Not for anything else, just because the madman's behavior and actions are too incomprehensible.
However, the madman paid no attention to Emilia's reaction. He seemed immersed in his own world, twisting his body while holding his head.
"This is just like a legend! No! It's the real deal! The silver-haired Half-Elf is right in front of me! This is the favor granted to me by Witch! Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love!"
The madman who screamed in emotion like no one else put his fingers into his mouth one by one and bit them one after another, causing the blood to dye his teeth and also dye the bitten fingers, the bright red color looked so dazzling in the dim space.
It was as if he felt no pain, engaging in meaningless self-mutilation.
At least, for the kind-hearted Emilia, this scene was not only meaningless but also extremely shocking.
At that moment, Emilia couldn't help but turn her gaze away, only to realize the reality of her situation.
Before her was a dark and gloomy space, seemingly an underground cave.
And Emilia was bound by chains at the deepest part of the cave, tied to a rock, unable to move her body.
"I..."
Realizing her situation, Emilia was first stunned, then she finally remembered.
She was supposed to be on the battlefield.
On the battlefield fighting against the Hakugei (White Whale).
But just as Emilia was about to move forward to assist Fang Li, she suddenly felt a heavy blow to her neck.
And then, when Emilia regained consciousness, she was here.
"Why..."
Her brain, which had just awakened, had not fully functioned yet. And because of the madman's incomprehensible behavior, Emilia couldn't react.
However, at this moment, the madman, who was self-mutilating, suddenly stopped his laughter and sobbing. With a terrifyingly crazy look in his eyes, he turned his attention to Emilia's body, tilting his head at a ninety-degree angle, as if his neck had been broken. Without any emotion, he spoke.
"This is a perfect opportunity! Although I want to hold a trial at this moment! But it seems impossible! Aah! This is also a test granted to me by Witch! Yes! I know! This is a test! But! But but but but but but but! But the test is also because of love, ah, love!"
The madman's tone suddenly returned to a fanatical state. His head was twisted at 90 degrees and tilted to the other side at the same angle, and then he shook his head back and forth like a pendulum as if he were crazy.
For Emilia, it was impossible to suppress the fear and apprehension in her heart toward such a person.
However, compared to fear and apprehension, Emilia noticed another fact that she had to pay attention to.
"Witch..."
Emilia's gaze toward the madman changed.
"Are you with the Witch cult?"
With one sentence, the madman's actions abruptly stopped.
Then, he smiled.
"This is quite rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself to an important trial subject! Aah! Witch! Please forgive my negligence! Forgive me!"
The madman hugged a nearby rock and, with all his might, slammed his head against it, causing it to break and blood to flow from his head.
However, this time, Emilia did not feel afraid of such madness. Instead, she stared at him sharply and interrogated him.
"Answer me! Are you with the Witch cult?!"
The ruthless questioning was an indication that Emilia regarded the madman as an enemy.
In response, the madman stopped his movements again, and regardless of his bruised and bloody head, he slowly turned his neck like Doll, turned his head, and looked at Emilia, his corpse-like pale face remained stiff. It was at this moment that his body seemed to react and turn around, making his full body face Emilia.
Then, the madman grinned, raised his hand, and made a grand gesture toward Emilia.
"Yes! That's right!"
"I am the Sin Archbishop of the Witch cult! The devotee of 'Sloth'— Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti!"
Having said that, the Witch cultist named Petelgeuse solemnly bowed to Emilia and, with a crazed expression, made this declaration.
"Forgive me for keeping you waiting, Witch."
...
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