My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 115 Kalia, have you ever thought about destroying the world?
[Ding, the third stage of the quest series—The Fall of the Capital—is now partially complete.]

You have successfully resolved the inner conflict of the Night Witch, Kalia.

[Unknown interference detected...]

[Interference successfully eliminated.]

[Mission Objective 1 has been completed. Given its connection to the side quest "Echoes of the Past," the host may choose to collect the reward first, or choose to settle the rewards together after completing the side quest.]

[Note: The side quest "Echoes of the Past" allows you to choose to complete the quest.]

After Kalia took the ribs Roland was carrying, the system notification sounded.

But what worried Roland was that something was clearly wrong with the system today.

Forget it, Brother Tongzi has been acting strangely ever since he was bound to me.

Putting everything else aside, its own timeline is still ten years in the future.

Roland naturally chose to ignore the system's suggestion.

I'm not in a rush right now.

Moreover, according to the previous almost-started series of quests, it seems that as long as I don't complete the Echoes of the Past side quest, the new series of quests won't start.

Why not finish the task slowly and give yourself a well-deserved break?

Moreover, if we spend some time getting information out of Kalia, we might be able to find the third memory storage point.

If you can get the full reward, why choose the lower-tier one?
After watching Kalia devour the nearly one and a half pounds of roasted ribs in his hand with lightning speed, Roland asked with a smile, "Not full yet? I see it's about time for the banquet to start tonight."

"Tch, do you think I'm just a guy who's never full?"

Kalia rolled her eyes at Roland, annoyed: "You bastard..."

Kalia, who had intended to punch Roland with her little fist, realized that her hands were still covered in the sauce from the grilled ribs, so she simply changed her punch to a shoulder bump.

"Come with me. Banquets and such are too noisy, and they're all strangers."

"Although there are many delicious foods, they don't allow me to eat in peace..."

So that's the reason!

That makes sense, though, since this kind of banquet is generally not a simple occasion for eating.

"But if we don't go, are we just going to leave Cellina there alone?"

"Ugh, she didn't even come to the one at noon," Kalia said irritably. "Damn it, you two disappeared without a trace, leaving me all alone at the banquet!"

"And then what happened?" Roland asked, somewhat curious.

"It's nothing, some people just kept coming up to make small talk. I ignored them. After I finished eating, I packed some food and came to the city gate to wait for you."

Kalia's answer truly surprised Roland.

Well, it's not really surprising.

Although the thought that the banquet might become awkward if Kalia and I didn't go... whatever.

"Alright, where do you want to take me?"

"It's a secret." Kalia put her index finger to her lips, turned around and smiled at Roland.

The two left the park, left the main city, and headed back into the forest.

At this time, snow still remained in the forest, and only a few narrow paths that had been urgently cleared by the city defense troops were barely passable.

Roland followed behind Kalia, taking in the surroundings.

Are you planning to go back to the treehouse?

Looking at the somewhat familiar return route, Roland asked Kalia beside him.

"No, why would I be in such a hurry to go back? It's just that the place I'm going to is very close to the treehouse."

"Actually, the old lady had no idea that when I was a child, I often sneaked out when she wasn't looking."

"Of course, I don't dare to go too far, otherwise the old lady will easily find out I'm not here."

"We're almost there. Once we can see the light from the barrier, we'll head left into the woods."

Kalia explained, but still did not reveal their destination, simply leading Roland through the snow-covered forest.

Along the way, they encountered several magical beasts, but fortunately they were just giant spider-like magical beasts common in the forest. Roland didn't even need to do anything; those giant spiders were torn to pieces by the writhing shadows amidst Kalia's screams.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a waste!"

Roland shook his head with heartache as he looked at the giant spider venom that had spilled all over the ground.

If the venom sacs of these giant spiders hadn't been broken, they could have fetched a good price! Enough for Kalia to eat her fill for half a month!
After feeling heartbroken, Roland looked at Kalia, who was now clinging to him, and said speechlessly, "You grew up in the forest, after all."

"Besides, this spider monster is only at the first level of strength. It shouldn't be that scary to you, right?"

"Even if you're scared, these guys are all broken into pieces now, so there's nothing to be scared of, right?"

Kalia quickly looked up and retorted, "Just because you've seen a lot doesn't mean you're not afraid!"

"Besides, it's normal to be startled if such a huge spider suddenly jumps down from above your head!"

"Okay, okay, so where are you taking me?"

Roland pointed to the dense spider webs ahead: "Friendly reminder, I think there will be more and more of these giant spiders if we continue forward."

"It seems we've gotten close to their nest. Are you sure we're not in the wrong place?"

“No.” Kalia nodded firmly. “When there are more spiders, it means it’s time to turn right.”

"...What kind of recording method is this?" Roland complained. "Would a normal person mark a place like this?"

"And didn't you consider the possibility that these spiders might move their nest?"

“Roland,” Kalia’s tone turned serious, “please don’t question the survival skills of the Blackthorn Territory’s natives.”

"Can this really be considered a survival skill?"

"Alright, alright, I won't hold your offense against you." Kalia generously raised her head: "We're here, just one more hill to climb."

As she spoke, Kalia manipulated her shadow to clear a dirt road overgrown with weeds that had been covered by snow and bushes.

It's clear that there might have been a man-made path here before, but it hasn't been used for a long time.

Roland silently cast a flash spell, illuminating the entire path before him.

Kalia, on the other hand, slipped inside the moment the road lit up, appearing extremely familiar with it.

Roland then realized that what was covered by snow and bushes was not a dirt road, but more like an abandoned tunnel.

Or, to put it another way, the hollow trunk of a giant tree.

Roland watched Kalia's figure disappear from sight and muttered to himself, "Could this be some kind of secret base of Kalia's?"

Thinking this, Roland bent down slightly and went inside, catching up with Kalia's footsteps.

Surprisingly, apart from the entrance being almost completely hidden by weeds and bushes, the internal passageways were remarkably clean.

Apart from some moss, there wasn't much else to see.

Soon Roland saw a light different from the Flash spell in his hand.

As he walked out of the tunnel, Roland discovered... that this was not a secret base at all.

Well, it's more open here than he thought...

I originally thought that after walking out of the tunnel, I would enter a place like a secret room or cave, filled with various small items or diaries collected by Kalia.

But everything before him told him that this was just a... cliff with exceptionally beautiful scenery.

A place... an important place where Kalia will choose to seal her memories in the future.

[Ding, congratulations host, you have arrived at the memory sealing point - the cliff of the nameless mountain]

After shedding all her tears and destroying her homeland once again, the witch chose to seal away her last beautiful memories here.

That was a (unknown interference), and (unknown interference)... She had hoped for (unknown interference), but (unknown interference)...

[Ding, congratulations host, you have successfully collected a memory.]

[Memory Collection Progress (3/3): Congratulations, host, for completing all memory collection.]

[Congratulations, host, on receiving a special reward: Tears of the World-Destroying Witch.]

[The Tear of the World-Destroying Witch: The last tear of the Eternal Night Witch, Kalia, carries with her lost beautiful memories; from then on, only despair and death remained in her heart.]

[This item may become an important tool in other missions.]

[Ding! Side quest "Echoes of the Past" has been completed. Rewards for the third stage of the "Eternal Silent Fall of the Royal Capital" quest will now be calculated.]

[Congratulations, host! You have received a special reward: one Spell Fusion Card and one Spell Evolution Card.]

Roland: “???”

That's it, Brother Tong is finally completely ruined.

Or was the so-called interference from before actually real?
This was the first time Roland had ever seen so much gibberish and interference in the system's information; it was as if no information was being provided at all.

The task rewards are still being distributed normally, which is one of the few pieces of good news...

"Hey Roland, what are you daydreaming about? Come here."

Kalia was now sitting on the edge of the cliff, her legs dangling in mid-air.

Roland sat down next to Kalia and said, "Aren't you afraid I'll push you and send you tumbling down?"

"Tch, you wouldn't do something so boring."

Kalia didn't care at all, then looked up and pointed to the crystal-clear night sky: "Look, isn't the scenery here nice, especially when looking at the stars?"

“Yes, it is indeed a rare sight.” Roland nodded.

Putting aside the howling cold wind on the mountaintop, the scenery here is definitely worth the journey.

"Roland."

"What's wrong now? Do I have to say thank you again? Can't you just quietly enjoy the scenery for a while?"

"Tch, how did you know what I was going to say?"

"It's probably just intuition... By the way, Kalia, did you ever, even for a fleeting moment, consider destroying the world?"

Roland's sudden question startled Kalia, who was staring at the night sky counting stars. She then turned to look at Roland: "Why are you asking this?"

"Just tell me if you have it or not."

“Okay… just a tiny bit.” Kalia pinched her index finger and thumb together. “Just a tiny bit.”

(End of this chapter)