The Web-Weaving Witch’s Counterattack

Inside the room, Natsume Oto sat on a chair, flipping through a manga in her hands out of sheer boredom.

“So boring.

Flona called me all the way here just for this, woof.”

At first, when Natsume Oto heard that Flona wanted her help and that it involved the Web-Weaver, she thought she would finally get to fight.

Instead, she was told to help watch over and look after Kirishima Shiro and the others.

What a disappointment.

“Good thing Serianna’s bed is big enough.

Otherwise there’s no way three people would fit, woof.”

The contents of the manga failed to hold her interest, so Natsume Oto lifted her head and looked toward the bed, where three people lay sprawled out, all unconscious.

Moreover, the three of them each had completely different sleeping postures.

Serianna, a master-class sleeping expert, slept peacefully.

She lay on her side, her fair, smooth thighs hugging a pillow, choosing the most comfortable position possible.

According to Anna, she was maintaining Kirishima Shiro and Mayvi’s dream states.

But that pillow confused Natsume Oto a little.

Why was Flona printed on it?

The purple-haired girl on the left was someone Natsume Oto didn’t recognize.

Anna said her name was Mayvi, apparently a demon race princess.

So do demon princesses all sleep this aggressively?

It was practically like she was claiming territory.

Her arms and legs were spread wide, taking up nearly half the bed.

The blanket had been kicked into a lump.

Her clothes were hiked up, her exposed stomach rising and falling with her breathing.

She even muttered in her sleep,

“Darling, let’s continue.

Ignore that hero.

She looks kind of like a dog.”

If Mayvi hadn’t mentioned a hero, Natsume Oto would have thought she was talking about her.

Wait.

How did I just put myself on the same level as a dog?

Natsume Oto subconsciously tugged at the collar around her neck.

It was all because of this collar.

She had no idea who invented it.

This price was seriously full of bad taste.

Flona had even placed a fixation divine spell on it.

Well, at least it was better than being eroded by malice.

Speaking of malice, Natsume Oto looked toward Kirishima Shiro with worry in her eyes.

Shiro was currently under the influence of the Web-Weaver’s threads, causing her malice to continuously increase.

Even after Flona noticed something was wrong and sought out Anna, and Anna immediately put Shiro to sleep, the malice still continued to grow slowly.

Because of this, Shiro would occasionally show expressions of pain.

Natsume Oto was very worried, but she herself had already become a half-witch, so she couldn’t help much in this regard.

Flona had said that as long as they found the owner of the threads, it would be fine.

As for how to make the owner of the threads solve Shiro’s problem, Natsume Oto could figure it out even with her power-filled brain.

Just beat them down until they kneel, then drag them back as a *rage s*ave.

She was thinking so hard about it that she accidentally muttered it out loud.

Hoshino Sakio, who had also been brought in by Flona to help, was there as well.

Her ability to turn misfortune into fortune might come in handy at a critical moment.

At the moment, she was accompanying Doll while playing.

When she heard what Natsume Oto said, she completely froze.

What kind of influence could make Natsume Oto think like that?

She turned her head and saw the manga in Natsume Oto’s hands.

The cover clearly read: Caterpillar War God.

Hoshino Sakio instantly felt at peace.

Seeing that Sakio’s attention had wandered, Doll asked curiously,

“Subordinate, what does *rage s*ave mean?”

Thinking about the actual meaning of that term, Sakio’s face instantly turned red.

She panicked and said,

“D-Doll, you’re still too young.

It’s better if you don’t know.”

“I’m not small!”

Hearing that, Doll immediately felt indignant.

To prove how tall she was, she jumped up and stood on top of Sakio’s head.

“But—”

Sakio tried to explain further, but Natsume Oto interrupted her.

“It’s fine if she knows.

Doesn’t that term just mean a defeated subordinate who obeys the strong?”

“I see.”

Doll nodded in understanding.

Sakio, however, looked completely dumbfounded, as if the dictionary had just been rewritten.

“Is that… what it means?”

“I wonder when Flona will be back.

She went out to fight and didn’t even bring me along, woof.”

Poor Natsume Oto.

Ever since becoming a half-witch, she hadn’t had many chances to act.

Because black flames originate from malice, she could only release them, but couldn’t actually control them.

Because of this, she’d recently been practicing controlling the black flames and had achieved some results.

Yet Flona still didn’t take her along.

Just as Natsume Oto was lamenting “having dragon-slaying skills with nowhere to use them,” Kirishima Shiro suddenly sat up.

“Flona succeeded!”

Natsume Oto felt a flash of joy, but quickly realized something was wrong.

At this moment, Shiro’s eyes were glowing an alluring red, within which the faint shape of spider webs could be seen.

“Flona, in the end, you’re still one move short of me.”

“You’re not Shiro!”

In response, “Kirishima Shiro” slowly curled her lips into a smile.

The smile carried mockery, like poison wrapped in sugar—sweet on the outside, lethal within.

“Of course I’m not.”

Before the words even fell, the rabbit-ear hair ornament burst into dazzling light.

Magical Girl Silver Moon appeared instantly.

Just as Natsume Oto rushed toward her, frost mist had already spread rapidly around her body, freezing everything within sight.

“Kirishima Shiro” looked at the icy world around her with satisfaction.

“This body is pretty good.

It’s mine now.”

As she spoke, eight spider legs made of crystallized ice extended from her back.

“This looks much better.

But before that, I need to deal with the trouble here first!”

“Kirishima Shiro” looked at Natsume Oto, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture mid-punch.

Cracks suddenly appeared in the ice, spreading rapidly.

Before the fractures could cover the entire surface, black flames erupted like a lurking beast.

Wrapped in scorching heat, Natsume Oto burst through the ice and leapt out.

“I don’t care who you are.

Get off Kirishima Shiro right now!”

Her voice was filled with rage.

……

Time rewound to moments earlier.

Flona was still pulling on the Web-Weaving Witch’s threads, urging coldly,

“Then hurry up already.”

Every second of delay increased Kirishima Shiro’s danger.

The threads were pulled taut.

Seeing holy light about to surge in again, the Web-Weaving Witch sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, a hint of dark malice flashing in her eyes.

She was, after all, a witch.

A Monster King who monopolized an entire city.

Yet here she was, like a dog on a leash, being toyed with by Flona.

If her true body could come here, she would strip Flona naked, bind her to a pillar, and let countless insects tear at her flesh!

“I said I can undo it.

But I never said I would.”

The cunning Web-Weaving Witch played a word game.

“I don’t have the patience to waste time with you.”

Flona’s gaze turned colder.

“Undo it, or not?”

“What a pity.

Time’s up.”

The Web-Weaving Witch didn’t answer, instead revealing a smug smile.

She sensed that Kirishima Shiro’s soul had completely fused with her threads.

Now, it was her turn.

She could now fully transfer her consciousness into Kirishima Shiro.

As for the soul threads in Flona’s hands…

Breaking them would be even better.

“Hahahaha!”

Amid the Web-Weaving Witch’s manic laughter, the threads snapped.

Muraki Ichiro collapsed to the ground like a wind-up doll that had lost its key, completely lifeless.

“Don’t run!”

Flona tried to give chase, but a crack split the ground and blocked her path.

“Flona, do you know why they’re called sacrifices?”

“The death of a sacrifice awakens it.

Go on—play with it properly!”

The Web-Weaving Witch’s arrogant voice still echoed in the air.

Flona stared at the cracked ground.

As dirt exploded outward, a colossal object burst from beneath the earth.

The sight made Eye-Ball’s pupils shrink violently.

【That’s one huge earthworm!】