"Make us open our eyes? By telling us that everything we've ever believed was a lie," Ennis said scornfully, but there was a hint of doubt in her gaze now. "And how exactly are you qualified to make such claims, anyway? You still haven't told us who you are.”

  "Fair point."

  For the very first time today, the woman's shoulders tensed slightly, just enough for her previous confidence to waver.

  The crowd was watching, still holding its collective breath as it waited to see how this exchange would end.

  But when the woman spoke again, her words held a quiet conviction behind them:

  "I'm someone who's seen what true sacrifice means when it comes to Void Magic...and I know that none of you can truly understand the price of such power until you've experienced it yourself.”

  "If you're so certain you've seen what 'true sacrifice' really means," Ennis began, choosing her words carefully, "then give me one thing: proof. Show us that you know what you claim to know, and I'll acknowledge that maybe you have the upper hand here.”

  The woman was quiet for a moment. Her gaze softened slightly, but her voice still held that same steely certainty. "Proof, hm? Very well."

  Louise leaned forward in her seat next to Mars with wide, curious eyes.

  Even Ennis was watching the woman more closely now. Something was coming, they all knew it.

  "...But before I show you my proof," the woman said, "I'd like to see yours first.”

  Mars and Louise glanced at Ennis, their attention focused on the old witch again.

  Ennis's jaw tensed slightly beneath the hood. "My proof?" Her voice sounded calm despite a hint of wariness. "You're referring to the fact that I use Void Magic, I assume.”

  "Precisely."

  The woman had her full attention directed at Ennis now. Even the crowd of onlookers was watching with heightened curiosity.

  A moment passed as Ennis stared at the woman, her expression unreadable beneath that hood. Then...a small sigh escaped her lips.

  "...Fine. I'll show you mine, then you'll show me yours. How does that sound?”

  The woman nodded in agreement, a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes: the old witch had acknowledged her challenge.

  The crowd shifted forward a few inches as everyone waited for the proof that was about to be showcased, and Louise's eyes were almost sparkling with excitement by this point. There was no doubt that whatever was to come would knock a few socks loose…

  Ennis took a deep breath, then clapped her hands together once.

  A shockwave of her aura erupted outward, sending visible ripples through the air itself. The ground trembled slightly beneath them as if reality had just been tugged by some unseen force.

  Louise gasped while Mars leaned forward in interest, they'd seen this kind of display before from Ennis, but never with such an audience watching so intently.

  The woman merely crossed her arms and nodded slowly: "There’s your proof." Her voice was calm despite the sheer power that had just been unleashed right before their eyes…

  "Alright, here's your proof."

  With that statement, the woman vanished, just like she had before.

  The crowd gasped in shock as she disappeared without a trace. Louise let out an involuntary squeak of surprise while Mars' eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

  Then,

  CRACK.

  A sudden noise echoed through the air as if something invisible had been forcibly torn apart by sheer willpower alone! The space where this mysterious figure stood suddenly shimmered unnaturally for just a second...and then she reappeared, now standing right beside Ennis herself instead!

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "Proof enough?"

  The woman's voice was quiet, almost eerily so, as she stood beside Ennis, having blinked through space itself in an instant. No magic circles, no chanting, not even a flicker of visible aura. Just...reality bending to her will.

  Louise’s jaw dropped open completely now, even Mars looked genuinely shocked for once instead of her usual aloof self!

  And Ennis? The old witch actually flinched, taking half a step back before catching herself with narrowed eyes: "How did you...?"

  The woman just smiled thinly in response: "Sacrifice."

  Silence. Dead silence.

  For a moment, no one breathed, least of all Ennis, who was staring at the woman with something dangerously close to fear flickering in her eyes for the first time in decades.

  Then Mars let out a slow whistle. "Well… shit."

  Louise was practically vibrating beside her, torn between awe and terror as she squeaked: "That’s, that’s not possible! You can't just, teleport without casting?!"

  But the woman didn’t react beyond a slight tilt of her head toward Louise. "I just did." Then her gaze slid back to Ennis, piercing and unreadable. "...Your turn."

  The challenge hung in the air like smoke after a wildfire, inescapable.

  some messages omitted

  Ennis's hands twitched, fingers curling slightly at her sides, but she didn't refuse the challenge. The tension in the air was palpable, thick enough to slice with a knife.

  Then, slowly...she exhaled through her nose and let out a single word:

  "Fine."

  Louise practically vibrated with anticipation beside Mars, who just crossed her arms and muttered under her breath, “This should be good.”

  The crowd held its breath as Ennis reached into the folds of her robe...and pulled out a small, ancient-looking key. It gleamed dully under the dim light of the hall, unremarkable at first glance. Until Ennis closed her fist around it...and squeezed.

  A pulse of something dark and unfathomable rippled outward from that simple motion alone, like reality itself had flinched for just an instant before snapping back into place. And when she opened her hand again? The key was gone. Not broken or crushed… just erased like it had never existed in this world to begin with. Not even ashes remained as proof it had once been there at all.

  That did the trick: the crowd reacted in an instant.

  Louise's jaw dropped wide open in shock, Mars' eyes almost doubled in size. Even the woman seemed a bit flustered for once when Ennis just obliterated an object out of existence with absolutely no warning at all.

  And then came Louise: "No way...you actually, it's just…gone."

  "Completely obliterated." Ennis's voice held an undertone of satisfaction now that she'd actually won the challenge. "That. Is my proof.”

  The woman studied Ennis for a long moment, her earlier confidence tempered by visible surprise. "...Impressive," she admitted quietly. "But now comes the real question, what did it cost you?"

  Her tone wasn't mocking, it was deadly serious. "Because that wasn’t just Void Magic…that was erasure. And nothing comes from nothing."

  A beat passed before Louise gasped in realization, eyes darting to Ennis’s hands as if expecting to see missing fingers or some other gruesome price paid for such power.

  Mars sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth: "Shit...she’s right."

  Ennis said nothing at first...but when she finally lifted her gaze to meet the woman's again, something dark flickered behind those ancient eyes, an acknowledgment deeper than words could convey.

  "I paid the price."

  The words hung in the air like a solemn promise.

  Mars' expression twisted into something that could be read as both fascination and fear, a mixture of respect and uneasiness.

  And the woman, well, she didn't seem surprised. Only a hint of regret flashed in her eyes before her tone turned even calmer than before:

  "It's not just Void Magic that demands a sacrifice. All true power comes at a cost. I hope you know that now. I rest my case."

  A long silence followed as everyone processed what the woman had said, the words landing like cold, hard reality in the face of power.

  Mars and Louise exchanged hushed whispers of their own, both looking a little shaken now that they'd seen actual proof of what the woman had been talking about.

  But Ennis, the only one who seemed to truly understand the weight of the cost of power, remained quiet for a long while. There was a heavy, almost somber look in her eyes now, hinting at a secret burden only she knew about…

  A collective exhale swept through the crowd now, and even Mars and Louise seemed to relax a little bit once the 'show' was finally over.

  But the woman wasn't done yet.

  She took a half-step toward Ennis with an edge to her voice: "So I suppose you get the point now, right? About how real power costs real sacrifices?"

  Ennis was silent, jaw clenched. But in spite of her stubborn expression, the answer in her heart was…

  "...I get it."

  The woman's lips twitched into something almost resembling a smirk, not triumphant, but knowing. She dipped her head slightly in acknowledgment before stepping back to give Ennis space.

  "Good." That single word carried the weight of finality. Then she turned on her heel and began walking away without another glance behind her, leaving only silence in her wake as if daring anyone else present (or even listening from afar) to challenge what had just transpired between them...

  Louise let out a shaky breath next to Mars: "That was... kinda terrifying?"

  Mars grunted out something that sounded like a mix of "Understatement of the century" and "Yeah".

  But as they watched the woman's retreating back, it became clear that something had definitely been learned today….not just by them, but by every Void Magic user who'd witnessed that exchange between Ennis and the mysterious stranger.

  Louise shivered a little, rubbing her arms as if to shake off the lingering feeling of unease: "I'll never look at Void Magic the same way again."

  Mars gave a slow nod in agreement, her gaze still fixed on the now distant figure of the woman.

  "Yeah...that was definitely a reality check for us all."

  For a while, both she and Louise just stood there in silence, still processing everything that had unfolded. But eventually, the tension started to ease as the crowd around them began to stir again with hushed chatter.