Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[ "Witchcraft..." ]

The light, the blue flames in his eye sockets, flickered and burned brighter than ever.

There was a new light of hope in them, something he didn't think he would ever see after being trapped in that place for so long.

The being before him was the most special one he had ever met, and his desire to serve her was as solid as the divine stone.

He had wanted that, but the chains restricting him were the toughest things... or so he had thought until just a moment before.

Witchcraft...

He obviously knew what it was and the person before him had said that she was a witch just a moment before, so he knew what she meant from that question.

It was obvious that she wanted him and he also wanted to serve under her. And if they were talking about witchcraft, one of the most powerful forces of this nature, then his misery, the chains binding him, could very well be shaken off!

He could be free, follow her just like he wanted, and probably could also help her in the fight with the bastard evil spirit.

Witchcraft. It was a powerful technique exclusive to only witches.

It was a manifestation of the truth of reality and the abilities of these witchcrafts varied from witch to witch.

His master, this great person standing before him, possessed the greatest and purest darkness he had ever seen. So the witchcraft she possesses would also be just as special, right?

There was expectation and hope in his previously dead, disappointed, hopeless eyes.

He was looking up at her, and she was, naturally, smiling.

She also had no doubt she could free him from this misery. She actually possessed that much power, after all.

Her witchcraft... It was the ability to cut off anything she wanted with just one move. Anything. And it included the bonds like Mana and Aura oaths, relations, memories, physical objects, and any part of one's body.

Of course, there were restrictions, but they were something like the inability to instantly kill the opponent, the inability to harm spiritual creatures, and the inability to harm anything related to origins.

So, she can't actually kill him by destroying his soul origin, but he didn't have to know that.

She can use her witchcraft three times a day, for now, and with these many restrictions. But just one use consumed too much of her mental and physical stamina as well as concentration, so she rarely used it.

Maybe her growth will increase her abilities, decrease the restrictions and become more useful, but for now, she knew it was enough.

It was just a deal and not even an origin oath. The bonding of these two things was totally different.

She knew it would be possible to free him, so she didn't waste much time.

"Get ready Morries." she commended, and he nodded without a word. He could see the seriousness in her eyes, after all.

[[ Good luck master. ]]

She smiled again and nodded at him as he went back into his mark.

She took out a good-looking (level-6) artifact scythe which was one of the many spare ones that she carried just to use her witchcraft and got ready.

"Haaa..."

Standing behind the lich, she first took a deep breath, gripped the scythe in her hand, closed her eyes, looked deep inside her own self, and started manifesting her own interpretation of the truth called 'reality'.

"Manifesting witchcraft," she raised her scythe, entered a state of extreme concentration, reached the place deep in her mind that contained her purple gate in an infinite dark place, placed her hand on the gate... and opened it.

"[[( Severing the life )]]!"

And as soon as those words left her mouth, in a fraction of a second, the scythe in her hand, the (level-6) artifact, was covered in a bright, blinding purple light and she swung it...

-Scythan.

The scythe of light was swung before an empty area but in the short moment she swung it, a strange red chain had manifested behind him, and when the scythe of purple light touched it, the chains, the thing that signified the 'deal' of the evil spirit and this lich, was severed!

The red chains that manifested just for a moment and were cut off by the slash of light vanished the other moment and the deal that bound the two beings was no more and… the lich, Morris, was now free.

[ "...?!" ]

Of course, he was also shocked by the sudden freedom that he was blessed with by the great witch standing behind him... or the witch that 'was' standing behind him.

"Haaa... haa..."

Right now, she was on the ground, covered by sweat, and the weapon in her hand was also disintegrating into particles of purple light.

She looked too tired after just that one technique, but the lich understood what it must have felt like. He hadn't seen or known exactly how bad the after-effects that vary from witch to witch would be for her. But it certainly didn't look good.

He only now realized just how much she was sacrificing by freeing a lowly being like him.

The being that he praised as the master was now suffering before him and this was so sudden that he didn't even know what he should do.

He was frozen in his place and looked at her with a worried expression, but thankfully... she didn't take this unwanted suffering for long and called out her cute kitten, Clover.

-Ooooooooong.

"...?!

Meoooooow!"

And as soon as the kitten appeared out of thin air, it shouted at Reinelle like she was angry and her master was a fool!

She was angry, but she hurriedly flew to her side and licked her cheeks with her ethereal tongue.

-Shwaaaaa…

"Yes, yes. Master is a fool. He says that too. But, well, what can I do? Getting a servant and a good lich at that was an achievement even he couldn't overlook, right?"

"Meeeee! Meow!"

"Yes. I know it was dangerous, but you knew I would be ok anyway, right? And I have you, so what was there for me to worry about?"

"Meeeeeeew!"

"Ok. I will be more careful next time."

"Mew."

"Hmm."

She caressed the head and neck of the cute green-white spirit kitten and got up from her place.

Now, she looked fine... something that astonished the lich. But as he looked at the spirit beside her, he instantly grasped the identity of the adorable-looking creature.

[ "A healer... even after living for hundreds of years, this is my first time seeing one that can restore stamina and concentration. Indeed... master is amazing." ]

"Her name is Clover," she said while drinking a special light blue potion that he gave her, which restored all her lost Mana.

She introduced him to her dear spirit partner but the lich, her first ever slave-, her first ever follower, took a step back and nodded at her.

[ "Master. As you know, the pure spiritual creatures of nature, like this amazing spirit creature, do not like the undead like us much." ]

There was a sad expression on his face as he said that, and Reinelle understood his feelings.

Clover was already worried about this creature, this skeleton, just like she was worried about the previous undead they had encountered.

She naturally didn't like them. They were probably even disgusting to her.

She also practically didn't like this lich and was reluctant, but if this one was one of her master's pets now, then she at least didn't show it obviously.

"Mewww..."

But her natural dislike of the undead couldn't be overcome just yet. At least not at their first meeting.

Rein also understood that and nodded back at him. He had just been freed, but there was someone who didn't like him before him.

He knew that he would have to face countless situations like this in the future, but he was ready for that. His determination to follow and serve her was solid.

She talked with Clover for a bit, reassured her that she will take care of herself, and then said goodbye to her.

She was only going back inside her, but still, the little kitten knew that she wouldn't be able to come back for a while now.

"So Morries..."

She was looking at him with a look that a master gave their faithful knights and he understood that his will, his wish, will now be something that could become reality.

He was free now, the evil spirit had no control over him anymore, and the source of darkness that he was looking for on this island for so long... it didn't matter now that he was serving the greater and purer darkness than that thing.

The lich and witch duo were finished with their work, so... at the same time in another part of this tomb...

[< I lost... >]

The lizardman stood up with a large hole in his abdomen, which was covered by a strange golden light.

He might have died if this golden light wasn't there, but he survived the dual, and... he lost.

The champion that hadn't fallen before anyone other than that evil bastard fell once again. And this time, in an official scared dual.

He lost, and the winner was standing before him with the weapon that had pierced his solid body in his hand with a sad expression on his face.

He could understand that sadness... he also just wanted to go on for a bit longer if possible, but... alas. He was weak, and the opponent was strong. He lost and there was nothing more than this fact to this whole duel.

[< "Thanks for the duel." >] but his opponent said this while washing off the sadness and covering his face with a new brightness.

The lizardman also smiled at this smile.

The winner was saying thanks for the fight that he had won.

It was his first time hearing something like that. And it certainly didn't feel that bad.

[< Axion of humans... no. Master... please take care of me from now on. >]

He smiled more warmly and nodded at him with sincerity.

[< "I will certainly do so. So the first thing..." >]

He called his white crack and took out a bottle with a strange, glowing white liquid. After that, he asked the lizardman to bend over-, to kneel down, and the lizardman did so without a question.

He could already guess what he was trying to do. He also felt some strange energy from the glowing white liquid in the small bottle, and just this much was more reassuring than ever.

The hole in his middle body was vanishing with the golden light and his body was returning to a normal state.

The last blow he felt would most certainly have killed him and that was even in his best state, so he knew that the last one was something the opponent, his master, used to show him the extent of his strength.

And he saw it. He felt it. He lived the moment when he almost died. And if not for this strange, unexplainable light, he knew that he was as good as dead.

So he knew he could trust this person, this small but strong master, with all his being.

He kneeled down and his master, Eon, dropped a single drop of his strange glowing white liquid on the cursed artifact that the lizardman was wearing.

-Tap…

A single, pure white drop fell on the silver-gray necklace and as soon as it touched the surface of the artifact, the whole necklace, which was previously covered by a strange, thin dark smoke, glowed up!

It glowed in a strange mix of white-silver-gray and the light slowly turned darker and darker with each moment.

-Khaaaaaaaaaa!

After a while, something like a scream was heard from now pure black smoke that was floating before the necklace, and then... it turned into fine particles of white light and vanished into the surrounding.

[< "You are free now, Zuroro. I'm looking forward to your good work in the future." >]

He smiled, and the lizardman nodded while still kneeling before him.

[< I may be lacking but I will do my best. Please take care of me, too." >]

Axion nodded with the same warm smile and told him to stand up.

He moved to the other side of the cave while the lizardman was standing up and thanked his dear povpoi friends for the great interest they showed in their fight.

The povpoi and Mave were excited and wanted to talk about the things they saw for the first time~!

The cheerful Celes was the same as she absorbed all the clones and went back into her mark with a lively and cheerful voice. She had great fun watching them, just like how he had fun fighting there.

He was thankful to her, and he too wanted to talk with the povpoi and lizardman for a while before moving forward but, at this unexpected time, he, as well as Reinelle, heard a voice they weren't expecting before reaching the core room of this tomb.

[< Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! How the hell are the two of you still alive?! @#$#@#$@@#$$@! How the hell is a light user alive even after facing so many dumb creatures?!

What did the two of you do to my toys?! Why can't I use them?! And why the fuck are they standing by your side?!

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!! >]

They knew it was an emergency from that point on…