Adonis waved goodbye to his last customer for the night. He was closing early today. He briefly glanced at a now caliginous tranquil alley as if expecting someone to show up. It was rather chilly outside that Adonis could see his breath under the dimming single lamppost on the sidewalk.

‘Ahh, I could use a stick.’ He took a cigar out of his trousers’ pocket and lit it by snapping his fingers. As the smoke quickly dissipated through the thin cold air, he was puzzled by Celeste’s actions earlier. It was rather strange for him to see her with ferocity reflecting in her lucent emerald eyes. So hypnotizing yet sickening since it was a look that he was familiar with. That nauseating lust for blood.

“Celeste, what happened to you?” He murmured as he puffed the nicotine into his lungs. He closed his eyes for a bit. Seeing her today made him remember the past. The tragedy that had befallen in the fate of white witches.

‘Does she even know that she’s the last of her kind?’ Nah, he will wait for the right time to tell her everything. ‘The truth...’

He threw the stick somewhere and closed the door behind him. As he moved to the bar counter, he felt an unknown presence coming from the adjacent room where the kitchen was located. He leaned partly to get a glimpse of the room but no one was there. Just now, he was certain someone was watching him. Uneasiness slowly crept inside him, seconds passed, the tension arose in the air as he took up arms reaching for the glaive that hung around his waist.

“Who goes there?!” He shouted. A few squeaks were heard.

Wooooshhh!

Adonis winced when a surge of foul energy breathed throughout the area. “Gahh—fucking bruja!” He exclaimed in his eastern dialect. Bruja was another name for dark witches or sorcerers, people who sold their souls to demons, and was a common term in the orient.

He quickly lacerated his forefinger and used his blood to draw a magic circle in his palm to activate the defenses that he emplaced all over the establishment. A demonic shrill rolled the entire area, and Adonis saw the horrific entity materialize before him. The dark witch was hanging upside down the ceiling of his bar, bloodshot eyes glaring at him and her loose mouth was wide-opened as if her jaws were falling out, showing her sharp jagged teeth.

“BRING ME THE WHITE WITCH!” The witch screamed desperately in an eery siren. Her slender, pale, dead-like arms twisted abnormally, her head was tilted almost at a one-hundred-eighty-degree angle. It was a horrific sight but Adonis was far from being petrified. He was pissed!

“How...” his hands were shaking in anger. “How dare you come into my pub and stench this place, you fucker?!”

The bruja moved her head in the other direction while cackling like a mental. She was salivating as she descended from the ceiling, the smell of a white witch was like an addictive drug to them. The witch was delirious from the scent.

‘How the fuck did this black witch catch wind of Celeste?’

Adonis threw his glaive towards the black witch at high speed, but the witch was quite agile and reacted quickly to dodge it. He anticipated that and already readied the magic incantation and trapped the witch the moment she stepped inside the magic circle that was on the floor. The witch was caught in it and a loud boom was heard. It created a huge mess inside the pub; broken seats, upturned tables, and shattered glasses.

“This is my domain. I don’t welcome insignificant, sullied creatures here!” He roared, eyes enveloped with deprecation as he stared down at the burning corpse of the witch.

He was about to turn around when the body started to move again. He was caught off guard when the witch released her dark energy for the last time and struck at him. He was going to get hit before he could get away from it.

“Hnn—! Huh?”

A magical barrier covered him just in time before the dark energy could get to him, followed by massive liana vines which ripped the floor open and wrapped the burned body of the witch. As the grip tightened on the corpse, he could hear the appalling sounds of bones cracking before the vines took the body deep to the ground. This tremendous power could only belong to the Forest witch, the green caster. Sure enough, he found Celeste standing across the room, wearing a black cloak, eyebrows curved down, and looking mad.

“It seems you still need a lesson or two, Adonis. Didn’t we teach you not to wind down in front of your enemy? Dark witches are masters of deception! Don’t be fooled!” She nagged as soon as she took out the barrier which was enfolding him.

The tension in the air finally disappeared and he made a sigh of relief. He thought he was a goner if Celeste didn’t interfere. A human body was so frail to even withstand huge amounts of black magic. He didn’t have any magical ability. He only learned how to make magic by using base materials and natural elements. Unlike mages whose power came from magical artifacts and needed a medium to store mana, the white witches had taught him Alchemy. It was a piece of forbidden knowledge. The practice was soon erased from the surface of the world for it was a double-edged sword, it could improve or destroy lives.

“Aunt Este, your timing is impeccable!” He grinned from ear to ear and gave an ‘okay’ finger sign at her. The Forest Witch was still furious but he just chuckled when she continued to give him an earful. “This kinda brings us to the old days huh?”

“And you never learned anything, you ungrateful brat!” She hissed.

“Sheesh! I could have defeated it but then you barged in so...”

“Yeah, you would’ve already lost your head if I hadn’t.” Celeste waved her hand in one swift motion and all the shambles in the room returned to their original place as if the commotion never happened.

“It’s strange,” Adonis uttered. “I was so sure I put apotropaic periapts to ward off malicious energy that tries to enter the premises. I don't have any problems with it in the past few years. How did that bruja get in?” He headed to the kitchen where he first detected the presence earlier. Celeste followed close behind.

“I only came to sense that witch’s energy a few moments ago. It’s quite concerning to think that she had stalked me undetected,” she added and inspected the place. She noticed a fresh fissure on the window that was facing the faucet. She asked Adonis about it, “have you noticed this lately?”

“Uh no.” He tried to touch the fissure but a jolt of energy repelled his finger. “Argh—damn! It’s a loophole. How on earth did they manage to break one of my periapts?!”

“They probably bribed one of your employees. Periapts could only be broken inside its barrier.” Celeste pointed to the trace of white tiny powders of moonstone scattered on the floor. “Someone ruined it from here.”

“Fuckers!” He scowled and clenched his fists. “My precious salts... They’re gonna pay with their fucking lives for it. Didn’t they know how expensive this is?! I could only obtain these rocks once every five freaking years!”

Celeste just stared blankly at the man who was now throwing a tantrum over a 'salt'. “Oh dear, how childish.” In a blink of an eye, she summoned the earth element and invoked the moonstone like nothing.

His mouth dropped open at what he had just seen. “Did... Did you just summon a moonstone just like that?” He asked unbelievably.

She nodded nonchalantly.

“No, no, no...” He laughed hysterically. It seemed Adonis had lost it. “I waited five years... climbed the cursed Mountain of Carmere to get it, I almost died, hired the dwarves from Odylos to bray those rocks, and paid a hefty one hundred gold coins just to have it! It’s not that easy... Aunt Este, why are you doing this to me?” He bawled his eyes out while Celeste kept her poker-faced. This brat was so dramatic.

She moved out of the kitchen to the bar counter. Adonis was still in a bad mood. She threw the moonstone in his direction and he caught it swiftly. A crooked smile was seen on his face afterward. His mood changed drastically as soon as he took hold of the stone. What a shallow man.

“It was my fault that this happened in the first place anyway. I wasn’t careful enough. The black witch probably had been tailing me for days already. I could tell she put an effort into disguising and hiding her scent from me that she drained her life energy. And in desperation, bribed a worker here to break your periapt and attack me while I’m resting.” She released a heavy sigh. “Doni, thank you. But please, take care of yourself.”

Adonis looked at her quite confused. She sounded sentimental. Perhaps, did she has already found out about it? He wanted to know what was bothering her, her eyes seemed like she’d seen terrible things. “Aunt Este... Could it be that you...”

She shook her head. “Don’t mind it, Doni boy. I have something more important to do.” Her face suddenly became serious. “I know you didn’t expect me to visit Calsa but I’m leaving the Empire for good.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“It means exactly what I said. I’m leaving and I’m thinking of settling in Eastern Vahan near where the coven was. It’s been so long since I’ve seen my fellow white witches. Was it over ten years already? Besides, the Empire isn’t safe for me now. The village too...” She averted her eyes upon mentioning the town where she stayed for a long time.

“No! Don’t go to Vahan!” Adonis vehemently disagreed to her surprise but he immediately calmed down. “I’m sorry, I got carried away.”

“Adonis, you’re acting weird.”

“Don’t go to Vahan, it’s not safe. I can’t tell you the details yet. But just trust me this once, Aunt Este,” he pleaded which puzzled Celeste. Looked like Adonis was hiding something from her but it didn’t seem like it was something that would harm her. In her previous life, Adonis sent her a letter asking for her to meet him but the meeting didn’t happen because she was imprisoned by the Imperial knights the very next day. She didn’t know what happened to him after that and he never came to visit her.

She squinted her eyes and released a heavy breath. It seemed things were getting more complicated than she previously thought. But this was the first step to her new fate. “Alright, but I won’t go back to the village. I have my reasons too. Anyway, this is not the reason why I want to talk to you. Doni, do you know something about the Baron of Edelfort?”

“Yes. I know him.”

“Tell me.”

Adonis leaned back on the long counter and crossed his arms. “Is this regarding the children you came with this evening?” He asked but she didn’t respond. He took that as a yes so he continued, “Well, that bastard has been kidnapping children around town and the nearby villages. I think I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it, aunt.”

“You knew this all along yet you didn’t take any actions to prevent such heinous acts?”

“It’s not that easy. You don’t know anything, aunt Celeste, and I want you to better stay out of it,” his response prompted her annoyance.

“Have you no heart at all? I’m disappointed in you.” She turned away after hearing such words from him. She saw the look of frustration appearing on his face from her reaction. She wasn’t going to stand still and wait while there were kids out there being dragged away from their homes. “I’ll take this matter to myself. Stay here and be a coward for the rest of your life!”

“You don’t understand, this is not something you can handle alone,” he replied with a firm voice.

She ignored him and marched to the entrance but before she could even reach for the door someone had already opened it from outside. She was startled when two men entered the pub unannounced. She backed off instinctively causing her to lose her balance, however, a huge male hand grabbed her arm and pulled her in to prevent her from falling. She slammed on his chest in return and the hood on her cloak fell back due to the impact, revealing her face and unruly, long, ash-green hair.

Celeste was glad that she didn’t revert her hair to its original color or else, it could’ve gone worse if these strangers might recognize she was a witch. She was grateful that the man had saved her from plunging into the pavement. She looked up to see her savior to thank him but her eyes widened in unfathomable surprise when she recognized who it was!

It was the person she must not meet!

Ezekiel Nicholas De Clarzus... her executioner.