Echidna stood on the wind-swept hill.

As the fierce northern wind lifted her tattered clothes, her skeletal legs became visible. Despite facing head-on the wind strong enough to disturb the sea, Echidna’s body remained perfectly steady without the slightest tremor.

Echidna’s chapped lips began to split into a long crack as she quietly closed her eyes and read the energy of the angry wind.

“Hm….”

A sobbing-like voice flowed from between her wrinkled lips, and soon that bizarre crying sound had transformed into laughter.

“Hm, hm… khu, hm, haha, hahaha!”

Growl!

The storm clouds heavy with rain and wind crashed with thunder and lightning.

Then rain poured through the split clouds with a rushing sound. The sea, which had been swaying with the wind, began to grow increasingly rough. The size of the heaving waves was also growing.

“What has made you so angry, Triton? Hm? What!”

Echidna suddenly shouted toward the darkly surging sea. Thick raindrops that seemed to have torn through the gray sky plunged into the roughly churning sea. Perhaps because of this, the sea’s force grew even fiercer. As if it had gained an ally.

“For something to stir your heart like this…. That human woman must have quite captured your fancy.”

The tsunami, growing larger as it approached the coast, was like an army made of waves. The mighty warriors of the sea, impossible to avoid or resist, were all rushing toward the small coastal village.

Echidna looked down at the small village. The humans who had been in chaos from the sudden downpour seemed to finally grasp the situation and began loading their carts. The sight of humans fighting over horses, desperate screams…. It was no different from the hell she had witnessed.

The humans finally began attacking each other, and some even took advantage of the chaos to loot other houses’ possessions.

“Move! That gold is mine!”

“Get lost, this is my donkey!”

“Aah! Geril, what are you doing! Take me too!”

In that chaos, one haggard middle-aged woman looked up toward where Echidna was.

The woman, who seemed undecided whether to leave or stay, began running toward Echidna, pushing through the crowd.

Echidna alternately watched Maya running toward her and the tsunami approaching the village while growing in size.

Wondering who would be faster, Echidna giggled and lent strength to Maya’s steps. The haggard middle-aged woman running desperately appeared before Echidna in the blink of an eye.

The woman fell backward in shock at the strange occurrence she couldn’t comprehend.

“Ah, no, how, when did I get here?”

Her foolish voice trembled. Looking at her pathetically, Echidna scratched her throat and whispered in a rough voice.

“Foolish mother. Why did you run toward me?”

Maya gasped in surprise and opened her eyes wide, then immediately jumped up, knelt before Echidna, and said.

“I, I don’t know who you are, but I ran here thoughtlessly because I felt you would know the answer.”

“What do you wish to know?”

“Previously, an unknown god’s priestess said I could meet my son if I stayed here. But at this rate, it seems the village will be submerged… Should, should I stay here?”

Echidna quietly smiled as she looked at Maya.

Meanwhile, the size of the tsunami rushing toward them continued to grow. Ten minutes at most… As she gauged the time, Echidna whispered to Maya.

“You’ve come to the right place. I’m the one who took your son.”

“What?!”

“Are you curious about your son?”

“O-of course! Return him immediately, why did you… w-why!”

Maya fearlessly shouted at Echidna with a crumpled face. Giggling, Echidna whispered cunningly.

“Everything is because of that girl.”

“That girl….”

“You know the name. Livia Horn.”

“…!”

Maya’s eyes grew wide and shook violently. Echidna circled around Maya and spoke again.

“Do you want to see your son? Shall I take you to him?”

Maya’s mind raced at the witch’s words.

Everyone would die if they stayed here anyway. They had missed the right time to escape the village due to the sudden downpour that struck like lightning. Though the village was on the coast, it was situated on high ground and had never suffered major damage no matter how much the water rose, which had led to complacency.

However, the rapidly rising seawater had reached the village entrance, and what had seemed like ominously swelling waves in the distance had suddenly shaken even the elevated ground. The continuous small earthquakes soon encouraged the waves. And now a tsunami large enough to be visible from the village was rising.

They would die anyway if they stayed here.

Then… wouldn’t there be a chance to live if she followed this witch? Wherever that might be….

Maya quickly nodded.

“I’ll go anywhere if you’ll take me…!”

“You hate that girl, don’t you?”

“Of course I do! I should have killed that girl properly then…. My biggest regret in life is not killing that girl with my own hands!”

“Good. What excellent hatred. It will be a great help to my curse.”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“Didn’t you ask to be taken to your son?”

Just as Maya felt something ominous about the witch’s words, she felt something wrapping around her feet. A black snake coiled up her leg and instantly bit her thigh with fangs dripping poison.

“Aaaagh!”

Black smoke rose from Maya’s body as she screamed.

“What is this! No! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!”

“If you want to blame someone, blame that girl. All of this is because of Livia, that woman.”

“Li-Livia… Livia…!”

Echidna encouraged Maya to hate Livia until her dying moment.

Her blackened body, stained with poison, began burning with black fire, and eventually the human form disappeared, leaving only condensed black smoke.

Echidna placed the black smoke on her palm while searching her clothes and pulled out a small bead. This was to grant Maya’s wish.

“Be together with your beloved son.”

Chuckling, Echidna used sorcery to put Maya’s soul into the bead where she had bound Phedum’s soul.

The mother and son who finally met again reacted violently as if discovering each other.

The condensed smoke writhed grotesquely as if alive. Echidna added her power to that state, chanted a spell, and threw it toward the tsunami that had approached within reach.

Whoosh!

The smoke, torn into hundreds of strands, scattered into the sea like black thread-snakes.

“Let this powerful hatred become a curse and devour humans!”

As Echidna cackled while spewing words of curse, a cough burst from her mouth. Black blood flowed from between her pale, wrinkled lips, but Echidna continued laughing.

“…You’ve come to love a human, Triton. Triton! That will be your downfall. If I cannot kill you, I will tear your heart to pieces, Triton! This sea you love will be cursed!”

Behind the witch’s eerie laughter, the mountain-like tsunami approached within reach.

Crash!

The wave mountain finally swallowed the entire village with a thunderous roar. The sea’s fury swallowed an entire island.

The tsunami greedily devoured everything attached to the ground and continued to surge for a long while.

As if the sea’s anger had not yet subsided.

***

Livia was dragged frantically to the bottom of the sea by Triton’s hand. Without even time to blink, she was swept through the earth, across the sky, and to the bottom of the sea.

No words were exchanged, but the murderous intent pressing on her soul revealed his anger.

She needed to say something, but the god’s rage, which she faced bare, crushed her soul.

Bang!

As if Triton’s protection had disappeared when they were dragged to the bottom of the sea, pressure strong enough to burst her entire body crushed her.

While she was taking labored breaths as even breathing was difficult, Triton threw Livia against the black wall like a spear and whispered while choking her.

“When did you start planning to deceive me, Livia?”

“Tri-Triton… ugh.”