Echidna's smile lingered, carrying a strange, unspoken weight as her eyes locked onto Subaru. The warm trace of her earlier "friendly" demeanor had completely dissolved. In its place was something far sharper—a delicate blend of veiled contempt and an almost predatory curiosity. It was the kind of look that made Subaru feel as if she were sifting through every corner of his mind, reading him like an open book, seeing every flaw, every fear, every fragment of intent.
"Truth be told," she began, her voice honeyed yet faintly poisonous, "I have no plans involving you, dear." She tilted her head slightly, as if assessing a curious specimen under glass. "Weren't you the one who so suddenly appeared in my tomb?" Her lips curled into a razor-thin smile. "Of course, if you prefer, I could send you back right now. Would that satisfy you?"
Her steps were slow but deliberate as she closed the remaining space between them. The air seemed to thin, and the dark glint in her eyes swelled like an abyss threatening to pull him in. "The right to converse with the Witch of Greed… no one else could claim such a privilege. For our dialogue to exist, only one condition is required: that both of us remain here. So, let us strip away the excess—leave nothing but what is necessary."
Subaru's lips twitched into a faint, sardonic smile. Under his breath, he muttered, "Roswaal would do anything for the right to speak." The chuckle that followed was soft, yet it carried a bitter undercurrent—half self-mockery, half resignation.
Her gaze sharpened to a blade's edge. "If all you want are words, then so be it," she said. "I will recognize your hunger for answers… and your ambitions, no matter how deep they run."
Even as she spoke, the table before them dissolved into nothing. The sunlight dimmed to gray, then bled away entirely as the sky above fractured like shattered glass. The cracks widened, devouring all light, until the world became nothing but a ragged scrap of land suspended in an infinite, trembling void. The ground under Subaru's feet shivered, threatening to give way at any moment.
And yet, in that suffocating darkness, Echidna's snow-white hair seemed to gleam like moonlight on still water. "Well then… what is it you wish to ask, Natsuki Subaru?" Her tone was calm, almost inviting, yet every syllable carried the weight of a test.
"Do you want to know of Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony—who dared defy the will of the gods to save the world from famine, only to create monstrous beasts and bring about the opposite fate?" The shadows in her eyes deepened, stretching like ink.
"Or perhaps of Carmilla, the Witch of Lust—whose dream was to flood the world with 'love,' gifting emotions to those never meant to feel them?"
"Minerva, the Witch of Wrath, who would respond to the cries of a war-torn world by striking down its people… in order to heal them?"
"Sekhmet, the Witch of Sloth, who crossed the Great Waterfall alongside the dragon, driven by no ambition but the wish to rest?"
"Typhon, the Witch of Pride—youthful, innocent, yet cruel—who judged the guilty with her own hands and tore apart the wicked without hesitation?"
Her voice lowered, weighted with self-awareness and the faintest tinge of pride.
"Or… do you seek to know about Echidna, the Witch of Greed? The embodiment of hunger for wisdom—who pursued and absorbed every truth, committed deeds she would regret even at the edge of death, and yet… never stopped searching?"
Then her tone plunged deeper, as though the air itself grew heavier. Each word pressed down upon Subaru like unseen chains. "Or maybe… you wish to speak of the most dangerous of all—the Witch of Envy. The woman who cast every other witch into their death, devoured them as her sustenance, and in doing so, made the entire world her enemy."
At her final words, the void surrounding them convulsed, splitting apart with a sound like a scream. Light and form rushed back in an overwhelming wave—the ground solidified, the fractured sky knit itself together, and the artificial sun blazed above once more. A gentle wind stirred, carrying with it the eerie sense that what had just transpired might have been a dream. Yet the lingering echo in Subaru's chest told him it was anything but.
Subaru forced himself to stay composed; his heart was pounding so violently in his chest that it felt as if each beat might tear free from his ribcage. His palms pressed firmly against his knees, knuckles whitening as he tried to keep them from shaking. Every breath he took was measured and shallow, like a man trying not to disturb the surface of a still pond. Sitting across from Echidna in that strange, otherworldly space, he fought to maintain an expression of calm, though the pressure in the air seemed almost tangible—heavy enough to weigh on his lungs. To break that oppressive silence and shake off the gnawing unease curling around his thoughts, he decided to finally voice a question he had been holding back for what felt like ages.
"Honestly, I'm not all that interested in talking about witches," he said, his eyes sliding away from hers, his voice trembling just enough to betray the tension building inside him. "This is a spiritual realm, after all… sometimes it feels like I could turn my head and find someone looming behind me." He cast a sideways glance at her, searching her expression for the slightest twitch of amusement.
Echidna's lips pressed together in faint displeasure, as if wounded by the casual dismissal of the long and passionate explanation she had just given. "You wound this maiden's heart, Subaru… truly, there is nothing you wish to know? Nothing at all?" Her words carried a soft undercurrent of injury, but also a gleam of curiosity that was sharper than her smile.
After a moment's thought, Subaru raised his index finger, the movement deliberate. "There is one person—someone from ancient records and myth—who's been on my mind. Four hundred years ago, there was the one said to have sealed away the Witch of Envy the Great Sage, Flugel." His words seemed to sink into the air like stones dropped into a deep lake, and the stillness between them only grew heavier.
Then, without warning, a familiar voice stirred in Subaru's mind—dry, sly, and tinged with humor. It was Flugel himself. "You could simply ask me, you know," he drawled with a mocking confidence. "Unlike Echidna, I'm not obsessed with knowing everything—just the things that matter." There was a smugness in his tone, and something else too—an edge of impatience.
Echidna's eyes flickered briefly with a crimson light, the faint glow vanishing as quickly as it appeared. "Flugel, is it…" Her lips curved into a cool, unreadable smile. "Then perhaps it would do no harm to share a fragment of my memories with you." She inhaled deeply, and as she spoke, a dense fog began to gather above the table. It swirled and churned, shaping itself into a living stage where pale, ghostlike figures started to emerge, each detail sharpening into focus.
"Four hundred and twenty years ago, Flugel and I met by sheer chance. He had just slain a colossal dragon, its death throes shaking the land for miles. The battle was so fierce that even the forest I called home—what you now know as the Sanctuary—was torn apart, trees shattered and soil scorched black. I came to him at the very moment he ripped the heart from the beast's chest, my curiosity overcoming any hesitation. Most would have retched or fled from the aura I carry, but the white-haired man only looked at me as though he already knew my face. Yet I had never seen him before in my life. In his eyes, there was a strange war—one half burning with the urge to kill me, the other fighting just as hard to resist."
She let the words hang before continuing, her voice softening. "Later, I learned he sought to forge five weapons from the dragon's heart—each one an inversion of Od Laguna itself. I offered my assistance. At first, he refused. But I pressed and prodded, argued and coaxed, until at last he agreed. From that day forward, we worked side by side, forging more than weapons—testing one another in ways that blurred the line between rivalry and camaraderie."
In Subaru's mind, Flugel's voice suddenly thundered, brimming with outrage: "THAT WITCH TRIED EVERY POSSIBLE TRICK TO GET ME TO AGREE!"
Subaru arched an eyebrow but said nothing, his gaze locked on the drifting images inside the mist. They pulsed with life: the dragon's scales gleaming wet with blood, the flames consuming the wounded forest, the moment frozen in time when two figures stood together—not allies, not enemies, but forces destined to alter the shape of the world forever.
Echidna delicately wrapped her slender fingers around the porcelain teacup, as though it were something fragile and precious. She lifted it slowly, her gaze momentarily softening as the warm steam rose to brush against her face. Taking a deep, unhurried sip, she let the faint bitterness of the hot tea linger in her throat. That taste, subtle yet sharp, stirred memories long buried, and a bittersweet expression crept across her face. Subaru's eyes remained locked on her, drinking in every nuance, as if terrified a single word or gesture might slip past him. That unwavering focus drew a faint, almost imperceptible smile to her lips.
With quiet grace, she set the cup back onto its saucer, the sound of porcelain meeting wood barely audible. Her movements were deliberate as she reached for the teapot, its handle warm beneath her touch, and poured more tea into Subaru's cup. The fragrant steam rose between them, curling like delicate ribbons in the air, softening the atmosphere yet failing to dispel the lingering shadow of the past.
"Together," she began in a low, resonant tone, her eyes drifting to some faraway place, "we spent a full five years side by side. Every single day was its own trial… its own revelation. In that time, we crafted five weapons—two of them are the cursed blades you now carry. It was, without question, one of the most fulfilling chapters of my life. Flugel was the only one who could answer the questions that gnawed at my mind. His hunger for knowledge was boundless, insatiable. And in those years…" Her lips curved faintly in recollection. "We even created little Betty and Puck together."
She paused to breathe, as though each memory weighed heavily upon her chest. Her eyes glimmered with a mixture of pain and longing. "If I'm to be honest," she continued, turning her gaze back to Subaru, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, "the reason I find you so intriguing is because you remind me of him—Flugel. He was someone who could quench my curiosity, and I sense you are the same. In nearly every way, you mirror him… except for your attitude."
A smile tugged at Subaru's lips—half mocking, half uneasy. "Oh… is that so?" His voice hinted at unspoken thoughts lurking beneath the surface.
Echidna tilted her head, as if weighing how much more to reveal. "Roughly seven years after meeting Flugel, we encountered Reid Astrea. Our first meeting was anything but cordial. Reid challenged Flugel, and their battle raged for an entire week without pause. The clash of their blades tore through the night, each strike sending shockwaves through the mountains. The sound of steel rang out like a storm's relentless drumbeat. In the end, Flugel stood victorious—his endurance surpassing even Reid's unyielding will. The land itself, the stone beneath our feet, even the air we breathed bore the scars of their duel."
Subaru turned his gaze toward Flugel with a wry smirk. "You must be some kind of monster. Are you sure you're still human?"
Flugel's eyes went distant for a heartbeat, then darkened. "Actually… no. I don't think I am human anymore."
Echidna sipped her tea again, savoring it like one might savor the last warmth of a dying fire. "Reid and Flugel… they could not have been more different in spirit. And yet, somehow, their differences bound them together in a strange and unspoken harmony. Then…" Her voice grew heavy. "We met the one the world now calls the Witch of Envy—Satella. Back then, she was a silver-haired half-elf, breathtaking in her skill with Yin magic. At first glance, she appeared almost naive—harmless, even. But as time passed, it became undeniable that Flugel had developed a deep, unshakable affection for her. I stayed at his side for years… and eventually understood the truth. I never had a chance. My dreams, my hopes… each one withered and fell away."
Her tone turned cold, almost brittle. "I left them. Returned to the Sanctuary. I locked myself away from the world, burying myself in my research… until the great war came and shattered everything once again."
Subaru drank the last of his tea in silence. He already knew her origins, yet at this moment, that knowledge seemed irrelevant. Her words wove themselves into him, their weight pressing down until time itself felt suspended.
Echidna drew in a deep breath, as though even the air was steeped in the musty scent of the past and the weight of long-forgotten truths. Her gaze drifted into the dim, winding halls of memory, stretching into infinite distance. When she finally spoke again, her voice was no more than a whisper—soft as wind rustling through dry leaves, yet heavy with the gravity of a story that had only just begun to surface.
"The Witch of Vainglory, Pandora" Echidna drew in a long, deliberate breath, as though even the air she inhaled carried the musty scent of the past. Her gaze wandered into the foggy corridors of memory, her voice a faint rustle like wind brushing over brittle leaves—light on the surface, but heavy with the shadow of the tale she was about to tell.
"She launched a grand assault. What her true aim was… I still do not know. I never spoke to her face to face. Yet her presence alone was enough to poison the air, to wrap invisible chains around your chest. That day, the sky was covered in black clouds. Birds fell silent. The world itself seemed to hold its breath. Even time, it felt, paused—just to watch what was coming."
"When the battle began, Flugel and Reid were drawn to different fronts, each fighting for their lives in their own corners of the battlefield. Satella… she was pulling villagers from the shadows, rescuing them one by one. But fate, cruel as ever, played its hand. When Flugel was forced away, Satella stood alone before Pandora. To stop her… was impossible."
Echidna's gaze deepened. "Again and again… no, millions of times, that body was destroyed. And each time, it was as if the world rewound, the nightmare starting anew. The icy, unfeeling glint in her eyes never faded. Eventually… Satella was spent—utterly drained."
A thin silence fell between them. "It was then… that Pandora, with a sick, twisted delight, injected her with the Witch Factor of Envy. Satella's personality shattered. The pure fragments of her soul were broken apart, leaving behind only a greedy, bottomless darkness. She was no longer Satella. She had become… the Witch of Envy."
"The shadows spread," Echidna whispered. "First… she erased every witch—myself included. Then, without hesitation, she devoured all the innocents she had saved moments before. In a single night, half the world was smothered beneath a black shroud."
She lowered her head, eyes rippling with something unreadable. "The last thing I saw… was Flugel, his eyes brimming with indescribable sorrow, embracing Satella. I later learned that in that moment, he sealed her deep beneath the dunes, in a place no soul could ever reach. And then… Flugel vanished. No trace, no evidence. As if he had never existed."
For a fleeting moment, the raw grief on her face made her look like someone entirely different. But the mask slipped back into place, her lips curling into a cool, detached smile. "There. I've told you the story you wanted. Have I satisfied your curiosity, Subaru?"
Subaru tilted his head slightly, surprise, curiosity, and a hint of awe in his eyes. "I wasn't expecting something that deep… but yes, you've answered my question."
Echidna's lips curved in a faint smile as she snapped her fingers. "Think nothing of it. Now—what else would you like to know? We have time."
Subaru rose slowly to his feet. "I think I should go. Listening to you reminded me… I came here to free Emilia from the tomb. Thanks for the talk, and the tea." He turned to leave, but Echidna quickly stood.
"What?! That's it? Oh, come now! At least promise you'll come back later. You can't imagine how dull it is here." Her words grew muffled as she slumped forward onto the table.
Subaru sighed. "Fine… I'll come back. I still plan to take the trials."
Echidna's lips twisted into a mischievous smile. "Then I can't send you away empty-handed." She stepped closer, fingertips brushing lightly against his chest. Then, in a slow, unsettling gesture, she ran her tongue across her own fingers; her eyes flared suddenly, glowing blood-red. "I grant you permission to face my trials, Natsuki Subaru… I do hope you can satisfy my curiosity."
A light yet jolting flick to his forehead—instantly, darkness swallowed the world. A swirling vortex of shadow consumed him. When his eyes opened again, he was back in his own body.