The sky had colpsed, but now it was slowly repairing itself.
The world, which had been chaotid seemingly on the verge of destru, was gradually returning to normal.
But the most heartbreaking thing was—
Azami Yuki—myself—couldn’t feel anything.
He stood in the middle of the now-bustling campus hallway, the pce where he had lost something most precious to him.
Yet, strangely…
There was no sadness.
No anger.
No disappoi.
No feelings at all.
He asked, “…What’s happening to me?”
The words came out of his own mouth, but he wasn’t even sure if it was really his voibsp;
Erika, who stood a few steps away from him, looked at him with a gaze full of judgment.
“Oh… You didn’t realize it, did you?”
I shifted my gaze to the girl.
“…What do you mean?”
Erika approached him slowly, then poio her ow.
“Try to feel something.”
I frow her words. I didn’t know what this girl Erika, who had so easily erased the alternate version of myself, nning. But I also didn’t know what to do now. So I tried what she said.
I tried to recall the feelings I should have been able to feel.
The sadness of losing Azami Yuki—the female version—of myself, who had forcibly brought me to this ied world.
The anger of being trapped in this situation.
The fear of what would happe.
But those feelings weren’t there.
Empty.
As if all the emotions that should have been inside me had been erased just like that.
Azami Yuki—myself—froze.
“…What’s happening to me?”
Erika smiled faintly.
“It’s simple. You’ve bee something that’s no longer human.”
I looked at my hands.
Physically, nothing had ged.
But I knew.
I was no lohe person I used to be.
Erika walked closer, then whispered in his ear.
“gratutions, the new 'Indepe Witch'.”
My eyes widened.
I quickly turo Erika.
“…What did you say?”
Erika sighed as if she was tired.
“Huh… Think about it. The rule created by Azami Yuki still applies. Only 'Azami Yuki' reach the pinnacle as an Indepe Witch.”
I clutched my ow. I knew what Erika meant, but deep down I refused to believe it.
“But I—”
“—am not the Azami Yuki who wrote that rule, right?” Erika cut me off casually. “However, now the Azami Yuki who wrote that rule is gone. And because you—Azami Yuki from a different world—are here, in this world, the world’s rules sider you as 'Azami Yuki', making the rule she created remain valid and unerasable.”
I bit my lip.
So, that means—
“…I’ve repced her?”
Erika smiled faintly.
“Yes. You’ve repced her as the 'Indepe Witch' and also repced her existehat has disappeared from this world.”
I chuckled softly.
But the ughter sounded hollow.
“Haha… So, me. Without effort. Someone who has never been involved in something as absurd as this before, easily obtaihe power coveted by all Witches?”
I raised my hand.
With just a thought, I knew I could bey at will.
I could ge the world.
I could rebuild everything.
But—
“…Why ’t I feel anything?”
Erika looked at me with an indescribable expression.
“Because that’s the price you have to pay.”
Azami Yuki turo her.
“…Price?”
Erika nodded.
“An 'Indepe Witch' isn’t just the stro Witch. They are existehat are beyond this world.”
Azami Yuki fell silent.
Erika tinued.
“You now transd humaence, even transding the cept of time and cause-effect. You are no longer bound by the ws of this world.”
Azami Yuki clutched his chest tighter.
“But… Why ’t I feel anything?”
Erika expined.
“That’s because you’ve lost your humanity.”
Azami Yuki just stood there expressionlessly, emotionless.
“An 'Indepe Witch' has absolute freedom, but in exge…” Erika looked straight into his eyes. “They lose their emotions.”
Azami Yuki still couldn’t believe it.
He had lost everything that made him human?
He had lost the feelings he had always taken franted?
“And that means…” Erika added, “No matter what you do now, you will never be able to feel hatred or paihe loss of the female version of Azami Yuki who oed in this world.”
Azami Yuki looked down.
No sadness.
No anger.
Even when he remembered Azami Yuki—the female version of himself who should have been in this ied world and had spent a long time with him before disappearing right in front of him…
He still felt nothing.
Instantly, he felt disgusted.
Not because of what had happened.
But because he couldn’t feel hatred for what had happeo himself.
“…This is disgusting.”
Erika sighed.
“That’s why 'Indepe Witches' rarely st long.”
Azami Yuki looked up.
Erika tinued in a ft voibsp;
“Those who bee 'Indepe Witches' usually only have two choices.”
Azami Yuki listened carefully.
“One, accept their dition, being aehat tio exist forever without purpose.”
Azami Yuki gritted his teeth.
“Two, destroy themselves before they pletely lose all awareness of what it means to ‘live’. Like what the female version of Azami Yuki in this ied world did.”
Azami Yuki ched his fists.
“…That’s not a choice.”
Erika shrugged.
“That’s the price you have to pay.”
Azami Yuki took a deep breath.
Then he raised his hand, letting his new power flow through his body.
“…Then, I’ll choose a third option.”
Erika raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? What’s that?”
Azami Yuki looked directly at her.
“If that’s the case, I’ll choose the third option. I’ll find a way t her back.”
Erika blinked a few times.
She realized what Azami Yuki was about to do. “…You realize where that will take us, right?! It’s impossible. You ’t do that. YUKI?!”
Azami Yuki smiled faintly.
“So? I ’t even feel any attat to this world anymore…”
He then turned around.
“But I’m the 'Indepe Witow, aren’t I?”
An infinite power pulsed within his body.
“If there’s anyone who do the impossible…”
Azami Yuki’s eyes glowed darkly.
“…Then it’s me.”
Erika looked at him with an indescribable expression.
Then, Erika was about to take immediate a to stop Azami Yuki from starting whatever he was trying to do.
“YUKI, STOP?!”
And with that, a new journey began.
Not to ge the world.
But t baething that should never have been lost.
