Shhhhhhhh—

Beneath a darkened sky, thick and heavy rain poured down without pause. The sky, which had teetered on the edge of tears, finally released everything it had held back, sending its heavy rain down upon the earth.

CRACK!

Lightning split the sky from the earth, sharpening the air. The thunderclap that followed rolled across the mountainside, and the forest fell silent, as though it had covered its ears. A damp, oppressive air seeped slowly through the branches, and even the wild beasts held their breath. The entire mountain waited in silence, carrying some terrible premonition.

“Everyone! Move now! Hurry!”

Beneath a sky that gaped open like an empty ceiling, a woman cried out as the rain lashed against her body. Her voice was desperate, and her movements carried an unwavering resolve.

“Sorcerer! You must take cover as well!”

As the people followed her lead and ran deeper into the forest, the guard at her side called out breathlessly. In the downpour where one could barely keep their eyes open, the sorcerer’s face held a strangely calm light. She shook her head gently, as though she intended to absorb every drop of rain through her own skin.

“I will follow once everyone has evacuated safely.”

“They’re all out already! We can’t afford to delay any longer! You have to go now!”

The guard urgently grabbed the sorcerer’s arm, but she brushed the wet hair from her face and looked back. Beyond the ridge in the distance, countless soldiers were marching toward them. The sorcerer bit down on her lip, then quietly shook his hand off.

“We can’t run from this. If we fail to stop them, everyone we protected will die.”

“But if you stay here, you will——!”

“That doesn’t matter. So go. Now!”

“So, Sorcerer… please… hh——!”

There was no stopping her now. A massive column of water surged up and wrapped around the guard in an instant, swallowing him whole. In the wind that raged like madness, he could no longer keep his eyes open, yet, strangely, the sorcerer’s back remained vivid and clear in his sight. 

Something wet traced the corners of his eyes, whether tears or rain, he could not tell. Fate had brought them to this point and forced this parting upon them. He could not stop her. He quietly closed his eyes and bowed his head.

Today, the Undine Sorcerer, who had always stood at the front for her people, would disappear from this world. That truth tore at his chest, but his feet could not stop. He could not let her sacrifice be in vain.

“Undine Sorcerer. I finally get to look upon that noble face of yours. How cleverly you managed to slip all those people away behind your back. But now, you’ll need to offer up that pretty neck of yours.”

The man who sat on horseback before her wore golden armor. He had removed his helmet and hung it over one arm, and he grinned savagely. He had waited so long for this moment that his entire body visibly trembled with excitement.

“You vile wretch, did you think you could attack my people and walk away unscathed!”

“Heh… heh heh heh. Ha ha ha ha! The one in danger right now is not me, but you. How dare a woman! You don’t know your place, yet you raise your voice.”

“Right. I suppose that’s all you have to say.”

The sorcerer quietly raised her right hand, and a brilliant light bloomed from her fingertips. In an instant, a massive column of swirling water erupted before her and coiled around the man at its center, swallowing him whole.

Shhhhhhhhhh—

The downpour that had been tearing through the sky poured into the great water column, swelling it even larger.

“Wh, what is this! What are you doing!”

The man and his soldiers cried out in panic. The sorcerer guided the water column with both hands in a gentle, sweeping motion, and a smile touched her lips.

“For the crime of harming my people. I will make you pay for it with my life.”

At that very moment—

BOOM! 

The sky split open, and a massive bolt of lightning struck down through the water column. At the same instant, a blinding light burst from the sorcerer’s body. Within a light so intense that nothing else could be seen, the man instinctively pulled his soldiers back and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

And then, when the light faded.

The man stared ahead with a twisted expression. The sorcerer was nowhere to be found. Where she had stood, only blackened ash remained, letting off a faint curl of smoke.

“What… in the world just happened?”

The man dismounted from his horse and muttered in disbelief as he looked back at his soldiers. But no one could explain what had just taken place. He exhaled sharply through his nose in fury and slowly approached the pile of ash. He clicked his tongue and was about to bring his foot down on the ash without mercy, when—

The world before his eyes turned yellow.

A strange golden light that left no room to breathe swallowed the world whole, and a moment later, when that light disappeared, the man and every soldier who had followed him vanished without a trace.

As though they had never existed at all.

* * *

In thick darkness where nothing was visible even an inch ahead, a faint consciousness slowly stirred. Drifting in a weightless sensation, a languid warmth, and a quiet freedom from all thought, the mind suddenly snapped awake, like a splash of cold water thrown over it.

“……?”

When she opened her eyes, what entered her sight was a dry, cloudless sky and gently rippling water. She slowly pushed herself upright in a daze, and two entirely different sensations reached her at the same time. 

On one side, a hot and dry gust of dusty wind, and on the other, the moist texture of bark and damp air tickled her skin. The wind that swept in carrying swirls of dust tossed her hair, and the sensation of it grazing her cheek felt startlingly vivid.

“I was certain… I died. What is going on…?”

Undine furrowed her brow carefully. This world, wherever it was. Could this be the celestial realm people spoke of, the place only the virtuous among the dead could reach?

But soon the corners of her mouth lifted in something close to self-mockery. Before her death, she had taken countless lives along with her own. Someone like her could not possibly deserve entry into the celestial realm. 

Then where was this place? 

Lost in that thought, she gazed quietly at this strangely divided world, a land where dryness and moisture existed side by side.

It was then. A voice calling out to her reached her from a distance. She turned to look, and a middle-aged man in a pressed-down straw hat stood with a white towel draped around his neck.

“Miss! You can’t go in there! Come out, quickly!”

At the man’s flustered shout as he waved his hand at her, Undine walked toward him without quite thinking about it. He looked like someone who managed this area. The man noticed she was barefoot and, in surprise, held out the towel from around his neck.

“Good heavens, a grown young woman wandering around with no shoes on? Here, wipe your feet with this first.”

“Oh, thank you…”

She was accustomed to going without shoes, but she could not refuse his kindness, and she quietly wiped her feet. The man stroked his unkempt beard and looked her over.

“By the way, miss… I’m a local here, but I’ve never seen you before. Where are you from?”

“…….”

The words would not come.

‘What am I supposed to say…?’

Revealing her identity was dangerous. If this village was anywhere near her homeland, the name “Undine” would already be forbidden. After a moment’s deliberation, she shook her head.

“……I see. You must have reasons you can’t speak of.”

The man seemed to understand, and he nodded, looking at her with sympathetic eyes. The stranger’s clothing was peculiar. A white dress stained with dirt fell to her calves, and the sleeveless garment looked more ragged than what a passing beggar might wear. Even in the capital, no one would wear something like that, not even as undergarments.

“Miss, could it be that you’re not from this country? Did you come from abroad?”

Undine did not answer, and the man continued asking.

“Your name? Your age? …Do you have somewhere to go?”

She met every question with silence.