Lavender Witch [1]

After barely escaping a Sixth Star Abyss, a woman with beautiful dark-onyx hair and purple-amethyst eyes managed to enter the Exit Portal.

But…

An anomaly occurred…

What she thought was the Exit Portal, was actually a Gate connected to a Fourth Star Abyss Realm.

Wounded and exhausted, the woman slumped down, leaning on a tree.

Scanning her surroundings, she could make out that this Abyss Realm had just started its Tenth Wave.

Demon colonies were spread out, with Viscount Demons leading them.

'...!'

BOOM!

A large crash was audible from the distance of where the woman lay.

She could sense the familiar concentration of Demonic Miasma from where the crash was.

'Did he follow me here?'

Prior to escaping the Sixth Star Abyss, the woman had made it all the way to the Fifth Wave.

It was all going well until a Marquess Ranked Demon appeared.

'They were supposed to appear in the 20th Wave.'

Caught off guard, the Marquess Demon managed to injure the woman.

But at the same time, she was able to chip his horn.

A significant damage, as the horns were a Ranked Demon's weakness

They were an equal match.

'And to think it was only a Marquess…'

It's not like the woman was weak, she was in fact powerful.

One of the most powerful mages in the world.

Selena Lucine, the Lavender Witch, and a Sixth Star Mage.

She was currently hiding from the Marquess ranked Demon.

She could sense that the crash from a distance was due to the Marquess Demon.

But…

'Why is he there? Doesn't it seem like he stopped moving?'

If the Demon was looking for her, then why did he stop?

Curious, Selena climbed the tree and got up on the branch.

Scanning, she could see where the Demonic Miasma was coming from.

'A cave, huh?'

What was the Demon doing there? And what did he find that made him stop his pursuit?

Selena instantly sealed off her mana core so the Demon wouldn't be able to sense him.

.

.

After what felt like half an hour, the Demon finally left.

If Selena were to hide from the Demon, then the best place to hide would be where the Demon had already searched.

With that line of thought, Selena cast Flight, and flew towards the cave.

.

.

Arriving at the cave, what met her sight was a boy with raven-black hair passed out on the floor.

The boy's complexions were pale, Selena could tell how severely drained his mana core was.

And…

"This cave stinks…"

A pungent odor emanated from the cave.

Selena was very sensitive to smell. The first thing she did was cast a parfum spell.

'Lavender Haze.'

Fruuuuu!

Purple dust started to permeate the air as the cave began to smell like lavender.

"All better."

Selena turned her head and scanned the area around her.

When she focused her gaze, she could make out a pile of silhouettes in the corner.

"Is that…"

A pile of dead Demons about to decay.

"No wonder this cave had a rotten smell."

Snap!

With a snap of her fingers, Selena burnt the bodies with a purple fire spell.

Turning her attention to the boy, she lifted him gently and placed him against the wall.

Suddenly, Selena noticed something on the boy's cheek.

Placing her hands on his cheek, she began observing the peculiar design.

"A Demon Mark… it must've been the Marquess. But to think he let the boy live and placed a mark on him instead. He must be someone special."

Selena's hand started to glow purple as her hand was on the boy's cheek.

Fruuuu!

Slowly, the Demonic mark started to fade.

After living for 21 years, Selena had a passion for research.

Her current research was about Demons.

Something like erasing a Demonic Mark was child's play for Selena.

"But… the Marquess will realize sooner or later that his mark disappeared."

Selena had to leave soon, but she couldn't just leave the boy to die.

Selena realized the cave was compromised. Even if she didn't erase the mark, the Demon would come anyway.

With a wave of her finger, Selena lifted the boy with a gravity spell.

After casting Flight on herself, Selena left the cave while lifting the boy.

***

Shin jolted awake from his comatose state.

What met his sight was an unfamiliar cave.

'The Demon… Noct, what happened?'

[You passed out, Shin. The Demon's gone.]

Shin let out a sigh of relief.

'Ah, that reminds me, the mark. Did you manage to remove it?'

[Not exactly… look to your left.]

'What do you m–'

Turning around, what met Shin's line of sight was a woman with dark-onyx hair that cascaded around her shoulders, seated beside him.

Beautiful purple-amethyst eyes that could bewitch any man, and her soft luscious, succulent lips curled into a smile.

"Hello there."

"...!"

Shin couldn't respond, surprised by the sudden appearance of a beautiful woman.

Suddenly, Shin's eyes started to strain, as tear beads started forming.

Tears streamed down Shin's cheek as he let out a soft, trembling cry.

Seemingly flustered, the woman waved her arms around.

"H-Hey… what's wrong? Did I do something?"

After being stuck in the Abyss for over a year, Shin couldn't contain his emotions at the sudden appearance of another person.

His mental state had gotten really bad, to the point where he'd begun to doubt reality itself.

It's not like he'd given up on escaping, but the thought of reuniting with his family seemed painfully out of reach.

He started questioning himself if it was all a bad dream following his death as Artorius.

And now a real human being was in front of him, a real person he could interact with.

It was all too much for Shin at the moment.

Even Kings can cry.

After calming down, Shin wiped his tears, and turned to face the beautiful woman.

"Sorry, I just got a little emotional there. Were you the one who saved me?"

"I wouldn't say saved, I found you passed out on the floor and decided to take you with me."

Her voice was crisp and clear, like a silver bell.

"I see… thank you."

Shin lifted his head down in appreciation.

Taking in the woman's appearance, Shin noticed a familiar brooch on her clothes.

"Is that an Arden Academy Crest?"

Shin knew what this was. He would always hang out with Souzen and Jerome whenever he was free.

Jerome would often wear the Arden Academy Crest.

"Ah, you mean this? Yes, I'm actually a part-time Professor there."

"Interesting… what do you teach?"

"I occasionally teach Magic whenever I have time."

"I see… so you're a mage?"

"That's right. Ah, apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Selena Lucine."

Shin's eyes widened in surprise.

He was familiar with the name.

No Ascender in this generation hasn't heard of the name Selena Lucine.

The Lavender Witch, the prodigy of the Clan of Mages, the Lucine Family.

The only mage in history to have reached the Sixth Star at the age of nineteen.

"Miss, Selena Lucine. So you're the Lavender Witch?"

"That's right, so you've heard of me?"

"Yes, I've read about you in our Estate's library back when I was a child."

"Estate… So you're a noble?"

Shin realized he's yet to introduce himself, he didn't want to be rude in front of Selena.

"Yes, my name is Shin Nocturn."

The moment the word Nocturn left his lips, the woman suddenly stood up, wide eyed.

"Nocturn?! Like the Nocturn Family?!"

"Yes? Is something wrong?"

"No… it's just, how did a Nocturn as young as you end up here on a Fourth Star Abyss?"

"Well… it's a long story."