The ghost stared at Azel's expression as if waiting for him to break… she was waiting for panic, for denial, for screaming, or at least something.

Most people would be horrified to learn a centuries-old witch was now clinging to their soul like a parasite.

Azel… simply looked mildly inconvenienced.

'Sure, enjoy your stay,' he thought dryly.

Gwendolyn's pupils shrunk to pinpoints.

Her lips parted slightly, surprised that this man… actually this boy, compared to her age wasn't trembling at all.

He just accepted it as if she were a stray cat that forced itself into his house.

Azel coughed lightly and turned back to the women. "I'm fine… just twisted something."

Mira narrowed her eyes, unconvinced, but she still gently pushed him down to sit on the cavern floor.

"Then take a break. We'll handle the rest." She glanced at the small mountain of crystals they'd harvested. "You can heal yourself, right? So do that."

Azel nodded though another voice whispered in his mind.

Sniffling.

'Nyala.'

[Yes hubby… I'm very sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't stop her. Sorry I let that evil witch roam around in your soul…]

'It's fine. All of you tried your best,' he thought reassuringly.

His gaze drifted back upward to Gwendolyn, who was floating just above his knees, still staring at him like a historian seeing a myth come to life. 'So she really is the Witch of the End…?'

Gwendolyn perked up instantly. "You know the name I gave myself?" Her lips curled into a proud grin. "Hehe, I knew it. You were a fan."

He really wasn't, but he didn't bother correcting her.

The Witch of the End from the game was a completely different entity entirely… she was the final boss, an apocalypse and meant to be a child of the sky. This one wasn't any of the above but she, like all of the people in this world, felt real.

'Since we're going to be living together,' Azel thought, as he examined her features properly, 'I'll need to know more about you.'

Gwendolyn's face brightened like a maiden receiving a proposal. "Oh? Is that a date? I haven't heard that word in centuries. Do you young people still go out for picnics on dates?"

Azel fought the urge to rub his temples.

'No. We go to restaurants.'

"Ree-star-ants?" She hovered closer, leaning forward until her ghostly breasts nearly smacked him in the forehead. "Pronounce that again."

'Restaurants. Places for eating.' He explained the way a math tutor explained addition to a toddler. 'Though a ghost like you can't taste anything.'

She halted mid-air.

"…Taste?" She blinked. "Oh. That's true… I have no taste buds."

Then, with zero hesitation, she floated onto his lap, spread her legs casually as if his thighs were her personal throne, leaned in, and kissed him.

A cold shock spread across his lips… it was not unpleasant, but startling then warmth returned.

Gwendolyn pulled back with a satisfied hum.

"There. Now I can taste whatever you taste." She winked proudly.

Azel exhaled through his nose and decided to pretend none of that happened.

The girls finished gathering the crystals.

"That's like a hundred…" Mynes muttered, already stuffing them greedily into her storage ring. "I'm taking them."

Mira walked over to Azel with a determined expression.

"I can walk—" he began.

But the knight commander shut him up by lifting him into a princess carry like he weighed nothing.

"Don't talk," she ordered firmly, her cheeks slightly pink. "You've helped enough today."

Gwendolyn burst into laughter, floating behind Mira like a mischievous fox. Mira couldn't hear her but Azel absolutely could.

"You can't fit through the narrow path like that…," Mira muttered after two steps.

She shifted him and threw him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Azel sighed.

"This woman is touchy… I like her."

They finally crossed back through the narrow tunnel and emerged into the damp cavern mouth.

"We're finally done with the mission," Mynes stretched with relief. "Which means we can return to the capital."

"But how will the Emperor know we're finished?" Mira asked, scanning the sky. "We'll have to go back to the wall and see if we can establish contact."

"Come on Mira… let me down."

…

As they walked through the Blood Zone, their pace this time was relaxed, Gwendolyn drifted ahead of them like a child discovering the world for the first time.

She crouched low on all fours, trying to push aside leaves and failing, of course, since she couldn't touch anything.

"Hey! Handsome sir!" She waved frantically at Azel. "Come eat this plant so I can taste it! I didn't even know this whole forest existed!"

'Weren't you the one terrorizing everybody?' he asked mentally.

"That wasn't me, that was my shadow." She huffed. "I can't retain every memory she gathered. It's like having a pet cat bring you a dead rat… I only got the highlights. But she never told me about a forest. I love forests!"

Azel raised an eyebrow.

'Your shadow is as haughty as you, then.'

Gwendolyn spun around mid-air, smirked, and shook her ass playfully… her skirt lifted shortly after and her panties showed once more.

"I know you want in there. Who wouldn't want to bed the hot ghost attached to their soul?" she teased, licking her lips. "Right now the only person I can touch physically is you, you know… meaning we can—"

Azel walked past her.

She floated after him like a disappointed puppy. "Wow. Rude. Virgin much?"

Azel smirked.

'I'd have you know… I can confidently satisfy anyone in bed.'

Gwendolyn gasped dramatically. "Oh?! Should we test that?"

He ignored her… Again.

She pouted. "Fine. Whatever. Why do all these trees feel like blood?"

'Because they are blood,' Azel explained. 'A massive war took place here about a hundred years ago.'

Gwendolyn's eyes widened. "Ohhh… that explains the big booms I heard in my sleep a century ago."

They finally approached the wall. It had been fully manned again, soldiers busy cleaning off the blood, repairing mechanisms, and restoring the interior.

Evening light spilled over the battlements.

Mira led the way proudly.

The front guards straightened immediately, saluting.

"Knight Commander Mira! It's an honor!"

They passed through without delay. Instead of the previous elevator which lay in ruins, ropes dangled down the outer wall.

Above, workers were fixing the mechanisms.

"This feels like a military bunker from my time," Gwendolyn muttered, peering around. "So much damage… Did my shadow do this?"

'Yes,' Azel answered.

"Damn. That Girl has anger issues."

Mira leapt up the wall with a single push of aura. Mynes floated upward using her enchantments… surprising Azel, who raised an eyebrow.

"So you could float?" he asked.

Mynes froze mid-air.

"Fuc—"

Azel jumped up effortlessly.

Gwendolyn fluttered beside him. "Damn, my shadow was thorough… this place is wrecked."

Mynes landed beside him, sulking.

Mira finished speaking to the replacement commander and turned back to them.

"We'll have to get lodgings here and wait until tomorrow," she said. "The Commander has allowed us to get our own personal rooms… we'll just have to manage."

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