The Sponsored Heroines Are Coming for Me-Chapter 261

The Blood Witch had forgotten her own name.

It had been a long time since she had lost it.

But there was one thing she did remember—when she was young, she had been especially afraid of the dark.

She must have been about ten or eleven years old at the time.

— “Move it! What, just because you twisted your ankle, you think you can sit around? Get over here. Looks like you need a few more hits!”

— Smack!

— “If I catch you sitting down, clutching your leg again, you’ll be hanging for a week!”

Hanging meant exactly that—being tied up and suspended in a solitary cell.

Bound tightly with a rope as thick as a snake, at first, her skin would sting. Then, as the rope dug into her, the pain turned into sharp, throbbing aches. Eventually, her whole body would burn with unbearable heat, until she lost consciousness—again and again.

More than anything, this punishment was meant to be endured in complete abandonment. Until the time was up, no one would check on her.

There was no one to hear her. No one to acknowledge her suffering. The emptiness itself stripped her even of the will to groan.

The scars from those punishments still remained on the Blood Witch’s back and waist.

That was her everyday reality.

All because her parents had sold her to a brothel.

She had sometimes wondered if they had their own reasons for doing so.

But she never had time to dwell on it.

If she didn’t work hard, even for a moment, she would be cursed at, beaten, strangled, and locked away.

Every day was terrifying.

For a girl barely past ten years old.

‘Maybe selling my body would be better.’

That thought came to her one day.

In a brothel, a prostitute was a product.

At least, she wouldn’t get beaten.

At least, she wouldn’t be tied up.

At least, she wouldn’t be whipped.

‘I wouldn’t have to be locked in the dark…’

She was a child who had already been abandoned once.

And the Blood Witch feared darkness more than anything.

The kind of darkness that felt like it would eventually swallow her whole.

— Clang!

Lost in thought, she knocked over a teacup.

It was meant for a customer.

Her palm was cut, and blood dripped freely, but she immediately fell to the floor, begging for forgiveness.

The scalding tea seared her wound, but she hardly noticed.

“I-I’m sorry…”

There was a particularly large woman.

Everyone called her Madam.

She was always ruthless to the young Blood Witch.

She carried a small whip in her pocket at all times and lashed out the moment she saw a mistake.

“You useless brat!”

Smack!

Her head snapped to the side.

Her vision turned black for a moment before coming back.

“I-I’m s-sorry…”

“Shut up, you filthy sl*t!”

Thud!

The beating began.

She was used to pain.

But the moments when her vision darkened from the force of the blows—those were the scariest.

And what she feared even more was opening her eyes to see the madness gleaming in the Madam’s gaze.

“Fine. I’ll pluck out your eyes. A worthless thing like you doesn’t need them.”

The Madam knew the young Blood Witch feared the dark more than anything.

And she enjoyed tormenting her for it.

She wasn’t bluffing.

Even if she didn’t take both eyes, she would take one without hesitation.

The shattered teacup in her hand looked especially sharp.

“N-No…”

The Blood Witch scrambled backward across the floor.

But she realized something.

She had no way to resist.

The woman in front of her was too big, too brutal.

There was no way to escape.

It was hopeless.

And then—

— Slash!

For a moment, the world was dyed red.

Scarlet flowers bloomed in the air, slashing through everything they touched.

It wasn’t magic.

There was no magic that could stain the world with such an ominous shade of red.

But in the Blood Witch’s eyes, that crimson glow was the most dazzling thing she had ever seen.

At least, it wasn’t darkness.

Thud!

The Madam collapsed.

The woman who had always spat threats now only gasped soundlessly, her mouth moving but no words coming out.

A few streams of blood trickled down from her lips.

Her once-fierce eyes had rolled back, revealing nothing but white.

“…Ah.”

The Blood Witch instinctively knew—she was dead.

But surprisingly, the sight of her first corpse didn’t scare her.

And for the first time, she realized—the fear that had always weighed her down was nothing at all.

— Step.

Footsteps echoed.

A man stepped inside.

He muttered, as if inconvenienced.

“A kid’s the only one left, huh? What are you, a slave?”

“…Yes.”

“Too young. Not even worth the life energy. Just pretend you didn’t see anything. I’ll let you live.”

“…Okay.”

Step.

As the man turned away, his shoes stained with blood, the young girl called out.

“Mister, what was that?”

“Blood Arts.”

“Can I learn it too?”

The man glanced down at her, as if the question were absurd.

Oddly enough, the young Blood Witch did not find him frightening.

No—there was nothing left for her to fear.

Strength.

She had realized that strength alone was the key to salvation.

She had seen it herself, in the collapsed body of the Madam she had once feared the most.

Thus, the Blood Witch grew up in the Bloodstone Cult.

She became Two, before that, an Elder.

She was called the Blood Witch, though she had never liked the title.

She despised the word witch.

That was the only reason she preferred Blood Witch over Blood Mage.

But in the end, it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter what anyone called her.

Only one thing mattered—becoming stronger.

That single, unwavering goal was all that guided her.

…And yet.

“…”

The Blood Witch stared blankly at Ian’s hand.

Radiance.

A brilliance that illuminated even the pitch-black world she had long lost herself in.

The element in one of his hands was so pure, it seemed capable of cleansing everything it touched.

And in his other hand—raw life energy, so desperate and overwhelming that it made even her reconsider the meaning of life itself.

As the two forces merged, something emerged.

Normally, such energies could never be combined.

But that very law was breaking before her eyes.

The Blood Witch looked up at the black sphere forming above her head.

Could it truly be called black?

She wasn’t sure.

It only appeared that way because it devoured all light around it.

“…”

And in that moment, she realized—

Darkness was no longer something to fear.

It was dark because it held everything within it.

This was salvation.

“Ah…”

Just like the first time she had witnessed it, tears welled in her eyes once more.

But the black sphere continued to shrink.

— Crackle!

Endless compression.

Then, the moment it seemed to cross a critical threshold—

— …

The crackling stopped.

The violent winds vanished.

The raging collision of energies dissipated into nothingness.

Silence.

And in that silence, she instinctively understood—

‘It’s going to explode.’

This chilling quiet was merely the prelude to devastation.

The Blood Witch instinctively raised a barrier.

Then—she hesitated.

Ian.

That child stood completely still, making no effort to protect himself.

What was he relying on?

No—perhaps it wasn’t trust.

It might have been an order instead.

If you don’t want to lose me, then protect me.

The Blood Witch had never obeyed anyone’s commands before.

But that didn’t matter.

Ian was her salvation.

She wrapped herself around him, shielding him with a protective barrier.

And then—they were thrown.

Usually, explosions came with an ear-splitting detonation.

But this time was different.

There was no sound.

— Crrraaack!

Instead, space itself folded and crumbled.

“…!”

The first barrier collapsed, crushed into nothingness.

The second shattered to pieces.

By then, the Blood Witch felt death approaching.

The third.

And finally—

When the last barrier broke—

“…”

The Blood Witch blinked slowly.

Surprisingly, there was no fear of death.

The overwhelming force surrounding her—this—was something greater than death itself.

It was absolute strength.

The very power she had always longed for.

Strength that could even drive away death.

“Ah…”

She let out a soft, trembling sound as she wrapped herself around Ian.

Nothing else mattered.

Even if she were to be burned away, as long as she could exist within this radiance—it was enough.

She whispered faintly.

And then, with a serene smile, she embraced Ian.

The sound of space collapsing, of reality itself crumpling, finally burst through the boundary—

— KWA-AAAAANG!

A belated explosion swallowed the entire world.

As if all colors that had been trapped within the darkness were now bursting forth, the Blood Witch watched as the barrier of the Bloodstone Cult crumbled into ruin.

◆

— KWAANG!

A rapier and an axe clashed.

At a glance, the gap in strength should have been obvious.

Yet, the woman wielding the rapier merely stepped back a few paces—that was all.

The man wielding the axe grinned.

“Snowflake Sword. As formidable as the rumors say.”

Two rested his massive axe on his shoulder and let out a deep, rumbling laugh—completely at ease.

Beyond him, on the distant horizon, an enormous monstrosity was beginning to emerge.

But no matter what that grotesque creature was, Asilia had her eyes fixed only on the man before her.

“You will not pass this place.”

Two.

The second strongest in the Bloodstone Cult, second only to the cult leader himself.

A man who stood on the boundary between human and god.

Perhaps, aside from the cult leader, he was the strongest of them all.

Asilia steadied her sword.

“You won’t pass?”

— KHAHAHAHAHA!

“You really think saying that is going to make me turn around?”

“If possible, I’d appreciate it if you did.”

— Kkhhhk!

“Such a timid answer for someone called the Snowflake Sword. Or is it just because you’re a woman?”

“…”

Asilia ignored the provocation.

The academy forces were already at a clear disadvantage.

She had to hold this western front.

Perhaps sensing the unshakable determination in her gaze, Two scoffed.

“The cult leader will arrive soon.”

“…”

“Even if you and those little students behind you somehow stop me, it won’t change a damn thing.”

“…”

“In fact, we probably don’t even need the cult leader. You see that thing over there?”

He gestured to the colossal monster looming in the distance.

“To be honest, I don’t even know what the hell that is.”

— Khhkhhk.

At that moment—

— KIIIIIEEEEEEK!

A monstrous, inhuman screech tore through the air.

“…What the hell?”

Two’s eyes widened in shock.

And then—

— KWA-AAAAAAANG!

A massive explosion erupted from deep within the Shadow Forest.

Asilia felt it instantly.

Something had shifted—something enormous.

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It was as if… the tides of battle had just turned.

And in this bleak, overwhelming battle, it might have been their only hope.