The Swamp Monster, no matter which direction he wanted to leave from, could only be trapped by those glowing shadows of the moon-night fairies. He wandered helplessly in a circle that grew smaller and smaller, and the gray mud falling from his body made Meili’s heart jump in fear, wishing she could scoop it all up and paste it back onto him.
As they walked, Meili noticed he was getting shorter and shorter. She lowered her head to look, only to see that his legs had at some point completely melted, the ground covered in a thick layer of swamp gray mud.
She could no longer endure it. She jumped down from the Swamp Monster’s body, endured the pain in her feet, and lifted her foot, wanting to kick away those moon-night fairies trapping them.
Mrs. Pegg’s expression was cold and severe, and even held a trace of arrogance as she looked at them. That gaze seemed to say: “It’s useless, no matter what you do, you won’t escape.”
Meili realized she couldn’t drive away those shadows of the moon-night fairies. She turned back nervously and grabbed the Swamp Monster. “You’re the Swamp Monster, you won’t die so easily, right? They all say Swamp Monsters are troublesome and difficult to deal with!”
She raised her head. There were still bloodstains on her neck, and her amber eyes reflected the light around them, blazing bright.
The Swamp Monster reached out, lifting her up and sending her upward.
Half of the house had collapsed. Seeing his own melting legs, he stretched out his hand, preparing to send her up to the first floor.
However, the circle formed by those moon-night fairies rose along with his movement, elongating and once again enclosing them. One of the Swamp Monster’s hands hit the ring they formed, and it was like a candle encountering a blazing fire.
“Tak, tak—”
The ring of dry grass, mixed with gray mud, fell to the ground with a thud. The Swamp Monster looked at the bare stump of his wrist, and could only avoid the circle of fairies, using his only remaining hand to place Meili back down again.
Meili reached for his hand, only to grab a handful of soft, rotten mud.
The damaged house at the edge of the forest sank into the swamp, ready to collapse at any moment.
A mysterious chanting sound, accompanied by bright light, spread out from the depths of the house.
The light that ordinary people could not see grew brighter and brighter with the chanting.
Dots of light appeared in the pitch-black forest beneath the night sky; many moon-night fairies were attracted by the magic’s fluctuations and appeared from within the forest.
They rode the wind and sat upon treetops, looking from afar toward that house, somewhat confused by the familiar aura coming from there.
“Is that the presence of a companion? But… something seems strange.”
“Why are so many companions gathered there? What are they doing?”
“So curious~”
Under the branches of the gorse flowers in the garden, faint lights also flickered.
The distant forests and grasslands, the nearby garden—countless lights floated upward, forming a dreamlike scene invisible to ordinary people.
Aunt Maggie’s husband, Bruce, Hesha’s parents, and nearly half the market’s crowd all rushed over. People held torches high, the atmosphere heavy and strange.
Evan was dragged along by his father, walking at the front to lead the way.
“Right there, the monster I saw before is right there!” Evan’s shout made everyone stop.
They stood below the hillside, seeing that house—once perfectly intact—now mostly collapsed, hard stone walls stained with mud, and the surroundings turned into an impassable mire.
“H-How did it become like this?” someone asked softly.
Someone else suddenly understood, “Could it be the Swamp Monster? Didn’t Maggie die in the swamp?”
“That’s right, Maggie was killed by the witch, swallowed by the Swamp Monster. The witch and the Swamp Monster must be working together, right?”
People talked among themselves, yet no one dared step forward. Only Uncle Bruce, worried for his son, couldn’t hold back anymore. Holding up a torch, he walked ahead and shouted his son’s name, “Julian!”
Hesha’s parents also stepped forward, calling out, “Hesha!”
“I’m… here…!” A figure covered in mud came running from the vegetable garden that had not yet fully turned into a swamp.
Evan and Hesha’s parents saw her, and with joy they rushed forward to embrace her. “Hesha!”
Taking advantage of the Swamp Monster’s appearance, the basement gained an exit. Mrs. Pegg was too preoccupied to care about her, so Hesha escaped from the basement.
Through Mrs. Pegg’s magical incantation, she had faintly glimpsed things far beyond her imagination. Her entire mind was in a daze, and only now, at last escaping with her life and seeing her parents and so many familiar people, did she suddenly burst into tears.
Her parents wanted to hold her and take her away, but Uncle Bruce stepped forward to block them, “Where is my Julian? Did you see my Julian?”
Hesha recalled Julian’s corpse hanging in the basement. Her whole body trembled, and while crying she said, “H-He’s dead, he was killed by Mrs. Pegg… Right, Meili! Meili is still down there, Mrs. Pegg wants to kill her!”
Hesha grabbed onto her parents again. “It was Mrs. Pegg who killed them. Meili is a good person. She tried to save me and now Mrs. Pegg is going to kill her. We have to save her!”
The crowd stirred in an uproar, voices clashing noisily:
“Mrs. Pegg isn’t dead? A ghost?!”
“How could she not be dead! Around this time last year, wasn’t it said that Mrs. Pegg died of illness! I think she was clearly a witch!”
“Julian is dead? Poor Julian…”
“Meili must be a witch too, aren’t they mother and daughter?”
“Charles, take your Hesha home quickly, she’s been deceived by the witch!”
……
In the chaos, no one knew who acted first—someone threw their torch toward the collapsed house. The inside was covered with wood planks and hanging curtains, all easily flammable. The torch happened to catch the curtain, and the fire spread instantly.
With one person taking the lead, the strong men all swung their arms, throwing torches into the house, wishing they could burn the two witches inside, so they wouldn’t continue bringing harm.
By the time Alex arrived with a squad of knights, the house was already engulfed by roaring flames.
They rode horses, and with only a narrow path along the way, they ended up arriving later.
“Oh—these people are far too impatient. A fire can’t kill a witch who has only a soul left, it will only burn that poor little girl to death—”
The owl flying beside Alex muttered under his breath, then urged continuously, “Alex, hurry and save her. If something happens to that child, Madam Freese will definitely be furious.”
“Alright, alright.” Alex signaled to the knights under him to part the noisy crowd.
“What are these knights here for?”
Alex smiled toward the direction the question came from within the crowd. “I am here looking for someone.”
The crowd was forced aside by the knights carrying swords, and no one dared to cause trouble again. Uncle Bruce, who had just learned of his son’s death, rushed forward, blocking Alex’s horse. “Sir Knight, do you know there is a witch here, and you came specifically to kill her? Please avenge my wife and son!”
Alex kicked him aside with his foot, complaining casually, “You people, not only are you not helping, you’re just causing trouble for me.”
As he spoke, he ignored the others. He had the knights push the crowd aside, then dismounted and walked toward the burning house, stretching out a hand adorned with a sapphire necklace.
Mr. Bole, the owl, flew to perch on his arm.
The gemstone on the necklace swayed lightly. The owl let out a string of incomprehensible murmurs, and the surrounding air rippled outward like waves of water.
The silver light rushed into the courtyard, pouring into the basement.
Within the circle of fairies, Meili held tightly to the Swamp Monster whose body had melted until only a head remained, glaring fiercely at Mrs. Pegg outside.
Mrs. Pegg, wearing the emerald necklace, was just about to reveal a victorious smile when she suddenly sensed the silver light entering. Her expression instantly froze, and she let out a terrified scream: “No—!”
“No! Freese!”
“Damn Freese!”
Mrs. Pegg felt that familiar fluctuation of magic, and she hurriedly gripped the emerald necklace to try to block the silver light, but her power was nearly depleted—how could she resist such a force?
The silver light was abundant in power, and in an instant it covered her pale golden magical glow, tearing open the things she tried to hide.
Those round stones the fairies loved, and the corpses of the fairies, were all covered by the silver light.
Bathed in that silver radiance, the shadows of fairies that trapped Meili and the Swamp Monster showed dazed expressions, and eventually dissipated.
They were fairies who had long been killed by the witch, trapped in this basement.
The silver light carried the unwillingness and resentment left behind when these fairies were killed, blowing through the basement like a gentle breeze, drifting toward the distant forest, sending a message to their companions.
The fairies in the forest raised their heads, smelling the bloody wind blowing from the house, hearing in the wind the murmurs of their companions who had died tragically.
Their pure and beautiful eyes suddenly turned red.
“That witch—”
“That witch killed our companions—”
“So many companions, they died so miserably—”
“The damned witch betrayed our witch, she must be punished—”
The fairies that surged out from the forest gathered together, swooping toward the burning house. Points of light of various colors descended like a galaxy, drilling into the basement covered by a magical barrier.
Ordinary people could not see such a scene. They only saw a sudden strong wind picking up in the forest, blowing toward them in a strange way, actually pressing down the burning flames, forcing the people to squint their eyes shut.
At once someone screamed in terror and fled toward the marketplace.
Not caring about those frightened people behind, Alex supported the owl perched on his arm and slowly walked toward the ruins of the house that still emitted white smoke and heat. “Let’s go take a look.”
In the basement, Mrs. Pegg’s figure was nowhere to be seen. All that could be seen were raging fairies gathered together densely like a beehive. They were currently tearing apart Mrs. Pegg’s soul.
“A witch’s power comes from nature, from these fairies, but once it is turned against them, it’s truly frightening.” Alex said a few words, already losing interest in Mrs. Pegg, who was destined to die. He turned his head to look at Meili nearby.
She sat in the muddy swamp. Because the moist mud surrounded her, she had not been burned by the fire just now. But she did not look well. She was grabbing at the mud on the ground, not knowing what she was searching for.
Alex pinched his chin. “Her name is Meili, right? What is she looking for?”
Owl: “Probably the Swamp Monster. The mud around her is what the Swamp Monster left behind. Mm, that smell… it’s the smell of trouble—”
“Haha, I remember now. Last time you even told Freese that this bold girl provoked a Swamp Monster, and it made that Swamp Monster follow her all the time.” Alex laughed heartily a few times. “Did the witch kill the Swamp Monster? That’s good too. Saves us the trouble of having to bring him along when we take her away.”
The owl flapped its wings on his arm, its eyelids shifting as though rolling its eyes, grumbling: “Swamp Monsters are the most troublesome things. It will not die.”
“Alex, hurry up. While it hasn’t gathered itself again, quickly take the little girl away. As long as we get far from here and the Swamp Monster can’t find her, it will be fine.”
“Got it. Everything is going smoothly, just as Freese predicted. What could possibly go wrong?” Alex jumped down into the basement, avoiding the frenzied fairies, and walked toward Meili who was crawling on the ground.
