Rewrite That Witch
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Chapter 1473: Quarantine

“So King’s City has already fallen…”

In the Rose Café, Valkries set down her cup and turned to the window. It was drizzling in the Dream World. Water droplets gathered on the glass, trembling, then slid down to merge with the ghostly reflection of her profile.

Her eyes held too many things at once.

When Roland had told her over the phone, he had sensed the churn beneath her voice. She had arrived quickly afterward — mud on her trousers, as if she had not paused to change — yet when they finally sat across from each other, she said nothing. She listened to his account and let him speak without interruption. For Nightmare Lord, that restraint was unusual.

“Given the limitations of what we could observe, we haven’t been able to verify every outcome. But the subsequent reports make it likely that Mask was aboard the Deity of Gods. If that’s so, every obstacle between us and the Bottomless Land has been cleared. We are one step closer to the truth.”

Roland offered no condolences.

This was the price of attempting to end the Divine Will. The demons had paid a far greater price. Any consolation would be cheap pity in borrowed words — and Valkries’s pride would make her feel it as an insult long before she admitted it aloud.

“I don’t know what we’ll find when we get there,” he continued. “But as long as we can escape the repeating war, I will keep my promise. What remains are the clues to Mist Island, and the question of whether the Sky-sea Realm has established a presence there—”

“The demons will not help you in battle against the Sky-sea Realm.” Valkries spoke for the first time. “Even without a King, the lords won’t accept the new arrangement so readily. Hackzord may use my name to hold the army together, but only barely. You will need your own strength to deal with whatever crawls out of the sea.”

Roland thought of the distance between Neverwinter and the northern shore of the Land of Dawn. The floating island’s strength was its Aerial Knights, but air power alone could not hold ground.

“Gaining the support of one or two individuals is not impossible, however,” Nightmare Lord added. “Sky Lord, for instance. And Silent Disaster.”

“You mean—”

“The Western Front army is still under Hackzord’s command — which means you have access to the continent ridge connecting south and north. With a Distortion Door, the distance isn’t unreasonable.” Her composure had settled again, back to the mask he was used to. “So as long as you move your reinforcements to Everwinter’s Northern Region quickly, you should be able to catch up to the floating island.”

“Teleportation. That’s viable.” If Valkries had brought it up, she had already considered raising it with Hackzord. The plan was as good as confirmed. Not a joint operation against the Sky-sea Realm — but this was already far more than he could have reasonably hoped for. “Thank you.”

“I’ve said it before. All of this is for the race. You don’t need to thank me.”

“I know. But humans are among the ultimate beneficiaries. So regardless of whether you need it, I’ll say it anyway.”

“Do as you like.”

The café sat in stillness a moment, rain tapping at the glass.

”…Is that everything you wished to say?” Valkries asked at last.

“I had many things to say. I don’t think you’d want to hear them.”

“Hmph.” The look she gave him said at least you know better. “Then go. You’ll have much to manage after a battle like that.”

“Indeed.” Talking with someone intelligent was always easier. Roland checked the clock on the wall — three hours and twenty minutes in the Dream World. By the difference in time flow, the celebration probably hadn’t ended yet. “Then I’ll—oh?”

He stopped.

There was a commotion in the alley outside. Despite the rain, people were drifting out of shops and doorways, gathering in the street. Umbrellas were lowered or forgotten. Phones appeared in hands. Every face turned upward, wearing the same expression — something incredulous, something they could not quite name.

“What are they doing?” Valkries had noticed it too.

“No idea. Let me look.”

He stood and stepped out of the café. At the door he stopped dead.

Far off, a thin red line climbed the sky. It reached upward and connected with countless hexagons suspended in the clouds, forming a vast structure — an umbrella of interlocking shapes that spread until it blanketed the horizon.

“What is that? A new laser show?”

“The range is enormous—”

“The light isn’t coming from the city center. That’s the wrong direction.”

“Should we move closer?”

The suggestion swept through the crowd immediately. People began to move, drawing others into their current. The alley filled with bodies.

“That’s no laser show,” said Valkries, who had followed him out.

“I agree.” Roland’s brow tightened. The clouds were dense, but it was still day — no laser could penetrate this brightly. More than that: the red beam pulsed and shimmered, as though something flowed within it like blood in a vein.

And what unsettled him most was the honeycomb of hexagonal “scales.” He had seen something like this before, when the Oracles attacked Zero. That barrier had been solid as a mirror. This one was transparent. But the structure was the same.

He called Garcia. She answered quickly — the sanatorium was untouched, Zero was fine. He let out the breath he’d been holding.

Then the phone vibrated again.

Fei Yuhan.

“Where are you? The Association has sent an emergency notice — all formal martial artists are to return to base immediately.”

“What happened?”

“Sky City has gone dark. All communications severed. The situation is still under investigation. But that red beam in the sky — it was fired from above Sky City.”

Roland went still. Sky City was on the other side of the world. The curvature of the earth alone should have made it invisible. That beam should have been below the horizon.

He thought of the Bloody Moon, how it had been visible from every angle.

”…I understand.”

“One more thing — is Valkries with you? Bring her.”

How does she know I’m here with Nightmare Lord? But Fei Yuhan had already ended the call.

“That was the Association?” Valkries asked.

“Yes. This is likely related to the Oracles.” Roland steadied himself and prepared to leave the Dream World. This was not something to resolve quickly, and there was a large Witch army on the floating island that could provide support at a moment’s notice. Far safer than here, where only Ling and Dawnen stood guard near the café.

He closed his eyes and reached for the other world.

The familiar dizziness did not come.

He blinked. Tried again. The café, the rain, the street, the impossible beam of red in the sky — all of it remained exactly as it was.

As though the other world no longer existed.

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