Suddenly, I found myself thrust into what felt like an endless void. I looked around. The villagers were not present. Not even the flames and the shouting.
Just silence. And the cold.
A bitter, creeping cold that gnawed at my skin the same way the fire had devoured it moments ago.
Was this… hell?
The afterlife?
They always said hell was darkness. An eternity of emptiness.
But in front of me, there was something else.
A contract?
It hovered there, pulsing faintly, its edges shining like fractured glass.
I reached out, curiosity overriding fear, but my fingers slipped right through it.
[SYSTEM RESPONSE: REQUEST ACCEPTED]
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Terms and Conditions Loading…
Do not resist.
Do not speak unless permitted.
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The Administrator is entering the system…
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The void rippled, and a sound emerged.
"Poor thing," they cooed. "A world that begged for your perfection, only to spit you out when you didn't fit their mold. A world that whispered love, only to recoil when they saw what love meant to you."
I stood frozen, frantically looking for the source of the sound but found nothing, only the eternity of the darkness.
"Let me help you," they whispered, "Give yourself to me. I will give you power, revenge… I will drag you back to that worls. But everything has a price..."
"You will be consumed by what you love."
"You will become them."
"You will eat them."
"You will possess them. Until you lose yourself."
Whatever this entity was standing before me, one thing was clear, it had its own ambition.
It seemed... hungry.
I couldn't decipher entirely what it was, but now, at least, I understood why it was here.
The awakening of my Accord.
The Accord is the defining source of power for witches in this world. But it is not something passed through bloodlines or etched into one's fate by birth.
It is not a gift and certainly not a blessing.
It is a conscious alignment, a bond forged willingly between a witch and a greater cosmic force.
It could be one of the Seven Thrones, the ruling Planets, guardians of destiny.
Or the Ecliptic, realm of the Upper Universe, shrouded in unreachable starlight.
Or… the Hollow Deep, the bottomless Void, where forbidden things crawl beneath existence.
There was no denying that this entity infront of me was from the Hollow Deep.
Or rather, I am the one in the Hollow Deep.
"As we speak… am I burning at the stake?" I finally found the courage to ask.
"Yes," the entity replied, voice smooth as silk, cold as ice. "Your body screams, but your soul resides here… with me."
I hesitated, then asked, "What… exactly are you?"
A low laugh rippled through the abyss, curling around me like smoke.
"I am Leviathan, the Eidolon of Envy."
"Envy…?"
"As I am, so are you," they said. "I envy warmth… love… belonging… yet I am cursed never to taste them. So I offer my power to those who seek what they desire. Turn them into witches."
"And if I refuse… my body dies?"
"Yes," Leviatha answered simply.
But how could I let everything I suffered for… everything I clawed and bled for… be stripped away?
How could I let her walk free after this?
After all of them turned their backs on me?
"Then grant me one wish," I whispered, my voice steady with quiet rage. "I'll take everything she has. And that bitch… will take my place."
I stood before the flames once more. The familiar shouting filled the air, but this time, it wasn't for me.
My vision sharpened.
There, bound to the stake, was a girl, her eyes wide with terror, her face twisted in confusion and raw horror as the fire curled hungrily around her legs.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" she screamed, her voice cracking, spit flying from her mouth and evaporating instantly in the rising heat.
"YOU DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU?! HELP ME! HELP! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!"
The flames climbed higher, licking at her skin, devouring the fabric of her clothes, peeling it away like paper.
I was confused too.
I should've been the one burning on that stake, the one screaming, thrashing, begging for mercy.
But it wasn't me.
The girl in the flames, she looked just like me.
Same face. Same voice. Same eyes wide with horror as the fire peeled her skin apart.
But when I looked down…My breath caught.
The skin beneath my hands were familiar.
The curves, the softness, the shape, it was undeniable.
Leviatha had kept her word.
Our souls had switched.
I was now in my former lover's body.
She was the one bound to the stake… burning.
She writhed, her skin blistering, cracking open like roasted meat.
Her feet blackened, the muscle and sinew peeling back, exposing raw, bleeding bone.
Still, she screamed, her voice turning ragged, inhuman. Her flesh bubbled as the fire devoured her thighs, climbing mercilessly higher.
I watched in fascination, and a sick, hollow satisfaction, as the flames reached her face.
Her skin split like overripe fruit.
One of her eyes burst, yellow-white fluid hissing as it met the heat, dripping down her charred cheek.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[WELCOME TO THE WITCH SYSTEM]
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✔ Soul Transference: SUCCESSFUL
✔ Pact with Leviathan, Eidolon of Envy: SEALED
✔ New Title Acquired: Witch of Envy
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[CURRENT STATUS]
▸ Name: [REDACTED]
▸ Current Vessel: [Former Lover's Body]
▸ Affiliation: Hollow Deep
▸ Title: Witch of Envy
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STATS
➤ HP: 140 / 140
➤ MP: 200 / 200
➤ Strength: 8
➤ Agility: 12
➤ Endurance: 9
➤ Intelligence: 18
➤ Willpower: 22
➤ Charisma: 16
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[ACTIVE POWER UNLOCKED]
▸ Mirrorblight — Curse of the Imitated and Broken
You can mimic the abilities, talents, or traits of others, but your version of them is warped, corrupted, a reflection of their strengths, twisted by envy.
The more you resent someone, the stronger the imitation becomes, but it always leaves them shattered in return.
Effects:
Temporarily copy the target's abilities, physical traits, or talents.
Your version is unstable, chaotic, but overwhelmingly powerful in short bursts.
The target suffers Decay, loss of their strength, talent, or identity, as your envy devours them.
The effect is strongest against those you covet or resent.
Limitations:
The copied power breaks down quickly, like a cracked mirror.
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