The Stagnant Witch’s Survival Method

Clank-

My whole body was tightly bound in iron chains.
Moreover, these weren’t just ordinary chains, but had sharp hooks attached that pierced into my skin.
Every movement brought excruciating pain – these restraints seemed designed for torture rather than just binding.

Clank-

I was being dragged along like that.
Unable to even scream amidst the terrible agony.
Because all those who had convulsed from failing to endure this pain had died on the spot.

“Ugh… urgh…”
“Hic… hic…”

Those who couldn’t accept reality and were despairing.
Those who couldn’t bear the despair and were crying while tightly covering their mouths.
I could see the appearances of those expressing their pain and despair in their own ways, but I could do nothing.

I just kept walking silently, trying to live even a little longer.
Even though what lay ahead was still death either way.
But even so, I kept walking.

And I kept telling myself.
To survive, to figure out a way to survive.

“This is…”

I muttered quietly.
So quietly that even the guards dragging us couldn’t hear.

“This is the world inside the game.”

Arcane Fantasy.
The game I had been enjoying right up until being summoned into this world.
I recalled it.
I wasn’t certain if this world was truly the same as the game, but I had to assume it was or there would be no point.
I knew Arcane Fantasy extremely well as a veteran player, but if this was a completely unrelated world, my chances of survival would be extremely slim.

Even though I was bound in chains that dug into my flesh moment by moment as soon as I was summoned, I continued my analysis.
The guards were not ordinary.
Women wearing large conical hats on their heads.
But with just gestures of their hands and feet, they could bring about the horrific deaths of the sacrificial victims being dragged along.
Seeing them smile as they killed people so casually, I deduced they had extremely evil natures.

“They are witches.”

In Arcane Fantasy, there were various factions.
Light factions like Paladins, Priests, Judges, Ascetics…
Neutral factions like Mages, Warriors, Rogues, Barbarians.
Evil factions like Dark Mages, Demons, Fallen Ones.

Among them, witches belonged to the evil faction.
Evil women who brought despair to the world by sacrificing human lives, tormenting souls, and selling them to demons.
Psychopaths who enjoyed slaughter and took pleasure in sadistic torture.

And I had become a sacrifice for those witches.

“Will I be able to survive?”

The situation certainly didn’t look good.
I had no power to resist being offered as a sacrifice, and it didn’t seem like I had been given any special abilities for entering the game world.
No, if there was anything, it was suspicious that I could make such judgments so quickly, but that wasn’t immediately helpful for surviving right now.

I could only endure.
With no immediate way out, all I could do was wait.

As I kept walking like that, I soon realized where our destination was.
There were young girls lined up there.
Seeing those girls, I quickly understood the reason.

“Witch ascension ritual.”

In Arcane Fantasy, the chosen ones could select their faction and had to undergo an ascension ritual for that faction.
As far as I knew, the conditions for the “Witch” ascension ritual were:

▶ The ritual performer must be a young girl under 14 years old.
▶ Required sacrifices: 1. Five healthy adults 2. Temptation honey herb 3. Horn of a Dark Agar.
▶ Make a contract with a demon by offering the sacrifices.

Entry into the witch faction was extremely easy.
For other factions, the ritual performer needed various conditions, achievements, or training.
But for witches, there were no conditions other than simply age and gender restrictions.
This was characteristic of evil factions.
Easy to enter, difficult to excel in.

“This gives me a gambling chance.”

I recalled my most recent memories a bit more.
I was definitely in the process of starting a new game.
I had customized my character again and invested accumulated bonus points.

This clear-headed state is probably an effect of those bonuses.
I remember adding one bonus related to mental strength.
Of course, I didn’t just add one bonus.

One of them was [Relaxed Ascension Conditions]
It helps with rituals for ascending to higher ranks within a faction, and especially for faction entry, it almost completely eliminates conditions.
It’s a useful bonus I always add.

So in my case.
▶ The ritual performer must be a young girl under 14 years old.
I could ignore this condition.

Surely that space where those girls are standing is the center of the ritual, if I can just manage to leap in there…
I could become the ritual performer rather than a sacrifice and enter the faction.

“Witch isn’t a great faction but I have no choice.”

It wasn’t a popular faction in the game.
Evil factions get beaten up by “Judges”, the safe and good “Paladins” are decent, the versatile “Mages” are solid picks, but “Witches” have many penalties and it’s tricky to advance to higher levels later on.

But this is no time to be picky.
A powerless person who hasn’t even entered a faction is truly at the bottom of the food chain.
If I can’t use this ascension ritual as an opportunity to enter the “Witch” faction, I’ll die.

“Now, go up there dear?”

The witches who had brought the sacrifices began the ritual.
They kindly directed a terrified girl to go towards the circle drawn in the center.
As that girl stood on the circle, a witch gestured once and dragged five sacrifices to the opposite side.

“V̵͉͇̻̥̌̌̉̈́̄́̿̎͗͜͢͜e̸̢̨̙͍͖͆̑̔́̑̐͋̍͢͞n̸̝̱͉̹̠̫̞̑̔̊̌̅̍̇̊͢ǐ̶̯̟̯̱̮̥͓̯̫̓̀͋̑͌͢ h̨̨̺͈̗͖̺͕̗̅̔̊̈́̀ų̧̦̦͇̘̫̘̖͆͑̒̿̏̎͢c̖̱̤̮̱̤̲̞̀̾͊̎͛̀̓̎ͅ,̷͉͉͈̟̞̜̊̊͂̔̃ d̪̺̩̠͎͑̈́̎̇́͊͘͟ȁ̸̢̧͉͈̺͖̪͒͆́̽e̶̡̦̩̲͕̪͌͌̇̆͒̿̍́̀͑m̡̱̲̠̭̪̙̻̖̽̎͗͂͋̇͐̂͒͂ͅǫ͓̤̤̹̀́̔͋̚͞n̢̧͙̜̟̟͙͍̄͋̓̂͑͒͜ȉ̷̬͙͕̥̀͐̾̈͟ǔ̱̹͉̖̠̜̇̉̓́̈ͅͅm̪̞̥̠͎̩̎̃̆̑͗͌̚͡”

As the witch chanted something like a song, the atmosphere of this space changed.
The candles lit to provide light went out, and a great darkness enveloped the girl.
After a very brief moment passed, all that remained in that spot were five dead adult men and women, and a girl who had collapsed as if she had lost her soul.

One witch approached that girl, touched her body and muttered:

“Tsk, a failure.”

In this space, only the witches and I knew exactly what “failure” meant.
The girls murmured as they saw the ritual performer lying there quietly, but I knew that was the appearance of someone who had their soul torn out and died.

She had failed to make the contract.

But if that was revealed, the girls awaiting the ritual would fall into anxiety, so the witch erased the corpse without a trace rather than announcing it.

Of course, it was different for the sacrifices.
They realized the fact that they would definitely die from now on, and the fear they had been holding back burst out.

“Aaaaargh!”
“Demon, it’s a demon!”
“Please save me. Save me. Save me.”

But it was futile struggling.
They were dragged away one by one to become sacrifices, and this time too, the girl who had walked out failed the ritual and met her death.

But the witches didn’t seem greatly disappointed.
They probably didn’t expect most of the dozens of children gathered here to succeed.
No matter how easy it is to enter the witch faction, factions are still a transcendent realm.
Power and authority close to superhuman is granted – how could just anyone be able to do it?
If even five out of this group succeeded, it would be considered a great success.

The ritual continued.
After so many attempts, it seems one person finally succeeded.
The witches rejoiced and blessed the birth of a new witch, while the girl who had successfully contracted with a demon fainted from the shock of facing the demon.

“How obedient, you good child.”

When all the sacrifices were panicking in terror or trying to escape, I caught the eye of one of the witches holding my leash as I stayed quietly still.
Purple hair like silk, eyes glowing bright crimson.
A being that instilled fear just by looking at them.

The ability to strike fear into people with just a gaze suggests they are a high-ranking witch.

I deliberately didn’t answer and remained still.
I was clearly aware that there was no option of somehow sweet-talking the witch to survive.
They are extremely evil.
Monsters who see humans as toys and tear them apart with gleeful smiles.

Getting the attention of such a witch is not a good sign.
Perhaps because I didn’t answer, that witch didn’t seem too interested and turned away.

Instead, perhaps as retaliation for not answering, I was chosen as the next sacrifice.

At the center of the ritual was a young girl, and beyond her, the sacrifices were forcibly made to kneel.
I looked at that girl’s appearance.
A cute and pretty silver-haired, blue-eyed beautiful girl.
A face with some fear mixed in.
But there was also a slight hint of anticipation.

They must be children intentionally raised by the witches.
So they probably have expectations that they too can become witches.
But only a few lucky ones will have that chance.
The rest will die, unable to withstand facing the demon.
Moreover, even for the lucky ones, becoming a witch doesn’t mean a rosy future unfolds.

After all, the ultimate fate of evil factions can only be tragic.

“V̵͉͇̻̥̌̌̉̈́̄́̿̎͗͜͢͜e̸̢̨̙͍͖͆̑̔́̑̐͋̍͢͞n̸̝̱͉̹̠̫̞̑̔̊̌̅̍̇̊͢ǐ̶̯̟̯̱̮̥͓̯̫̓̀͋̑͌͢ h̨̨̺͈̗͖̺͕̗̅̔̊̈́̀ų̧̦̦͇̘̫̘̖͆͑̒̿̏̎͢c̖̱̤̮̱̤̲̞̀̾͊̎͛̀̓̎ͅ,̷͉͉͈̟̞̜̊̊͂̔̃ d̪̺̩̠͎͑̈́̎̇́͊͘͟ȁ̸̢̧͉͈̺͖̪͒͆́̽e̶̡̦̩̲͕̪͌͌̇̆͒̿̍́̀͑m̡̱̲̠̭̪̙̻̖̽̎͗͂͋̇͐̂͒͂ͅǫ͓̤̤̹̀́̔͋̚͞n̢̧͙̜̟̟͙͍̄͋̓̂͑͒͜ȉ̷̬͙͕̥̀͐̾̈͟ǔ̱̹͉̖̠̜̇̉̓́̈ͅͅm̪̞̥̠͎̩̎̃̆̑͗͌̚͡”

As the witch chanted the incantation, I straightened my kneeling legs.

Thud-!

The iron chains around my neck tore through my flesh, but enduring that pain, I threw my body towards the spot where the ritual performer should be positioned.
This was the only way I could survive.
The witches looked on with astonished gazes, but the ritual had already begun.
The dark mist spread by the demon enveloped me and the girl.

Then from the high heavens, no, from a place higher than the stars, clear gazes were directed at us.
Those red lights were ominous and terribly frightening.
“Ah, aaaagh!”

The girl immediately screamed and dissipated.
It seemed her soul had crumbled and she died, unable to withstand the demon’s presence.
The ritual performer died without making a contract, but the ritual didn’t end.
Because I was still here.

They clearly met my gaze.
The demons approached slowly while uttering incomprehensible, strange words.

-$%^%#%$%
-^&#%^^$%#$#

Fortunately, it seems [Relaxed Ascension Conditions] worked.
The demon didn’t refuse to make a contract.

I faced the monstrous beings.
Without avoiding or backing away.