"I Became a Witch, but Now Everyone's in Love with Me!"

Chapter 58: Is this... the end?
Is this the end...?

That thought passed through the girl’s mind as the war between the two worlds left everything in ruins. Jiang Cha could feel it clearly now—the once-illusory sense of time aligning with her own. She felt the sorrow of the world itself, and the crumbling rules that could no longer hold it together.
The cost of the battle was unimaginable.
Five demon saints had fallen. Countless demon soldiers and generals perished.

Heaven was destroyed. The Underworld shattered. Only the Western Heaven stood untouched.
And at the center of it all—the Monkey King stood, undefeated.
“Why so grim?” Jiang Cha asked, her voice light but her eyes cautious. “You’ve taken revenge. You’ve conquered the world.”

“Jiang Cha, do you know?” the monkey girl murmured.
“What?”
They were still in the Water Curtain Cave, but the place they once knew was gone. The Three Flames Fire had left scorch marks everywhere. The waterfall had long since dried up. The mountaintop above had collapsed.

Heavy rain fell from a blood-red sky. The world itself seemed to wail.
“God isn’t punishing me,” Taotao said softly. “It’s begging me... asking me to help.”
Her expression was sorrowful. But the way she looked at Jiang Cha was full of pain, and something deeper—affection.

“If I kill you, this world can keep going. If I kill you, it resets. If I kill you... my monkeys and grandchildren will come back.”
“Then will you?” the girl asked, her red eyes shining, still smiling, though more gently now. “Great Sage?”
Taotao shook her head.

“No.”
“Everything I’ve done until today was my choice. So I’ll bear the consequences, no matter what. Whether or not you caused all this—doesn’t matter.”
Her armor hung in tatters. Her bloodied golden cudgel lay forgotten on the ground. But something in her had quieted—something that made her seem pure again. Like the mountain elf she once was.

“It’s just... a pity.”
She slumped into the only chair left intact, sitting back with a deep sigh.
A raindrop struck the stone, echoing faintly in the broken world.
“A pity I won’t see you again.”

“Taotao... are you crying?”
The girl leaned in, reaching to brush the water from her cheek.
But the gesture triggered something.

“I’m not!!!” Taotao suddenly roared, jumping to her feet.
“I’m the Great Sage Equaling Heaven! I don’t cry over witches! No one makes me cry! Not even when the little monkey died! Not even when the Water Curtain Cave was destroyed! Even if all three realms collapse—I still won’t cry!”
She stood shaking, panting.

Then came silence.
Tick.
Tick.

Because in the end...
It wasn’t the Monkey King who bore it all—it was Sun Taotao.
Everything had changed the moment the two met.

“You should go.”
Her voice was quieter now. Her form flickered faintly, becoming less and less real.
The world was collapsing. There wasn’t enough energy left to sustain her existence.

She knew now—she could never stay by Jiang Cha’s side.
Incomplete things shouldn’t fall for the complete.
“...Go.”

She said it again, head lowered.
But Jiang Cha didn’t move.
Instead, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) she raised her hand and conjured two jars of monkey wine.

The same wine they drank before the fight with Erlang Shen.
With a teasing smile, she held one out and said, “One more drink?”
Taotao stared, stunned. Then laughed.

“Why do you still have that!?”
She grabbed the jar and tore the seal open with one claw.
“Fine! I haven’t had monkey wine since Huaguo Mountain was destroyed!”

“Right?” the girl laughed. “That’s the Taotao I know. The real Monkey King.”
“You’re the one crying now. How embarrassing.”
“Get lost. I’m the demon king—I don’t care about some sappy witch.”

And so, on the ruined mountaintop, the monkey and the witch drank again. No talk of the past. No talk of the future. No talk of who Jiang Cha really was.
Just laughter.
Just arguing.

Like they always had.
Until...
They were gone.

...
“How was it?”
When Jiang Cha opened her eyes, the universe she knew returned—and with it, the smirk of her master.

Of course, Myrtle could tell her student wasn’t feeling calm. That was normal. All witches who experienced a fragmented world for the first time came back a little shaken.
She was still...
Never mind.

“It was a wonderful journey,” Jiang Cha said, voice light but tired. “A memory worth cherishing. But... how long was I gone? That story was long.”
“Four days,” Myrtle replied. “Long, but good. The longer it is, the better the yield.”
“Fair enough. Thank you for your hard work, Mas—”

Jiang Cha paused, eyes narrowing at something on Myrtle’s neck.
A red lipstick mark.
That definitely hadn’t been there before.

“Are you serious? You can order takeout in this place!? What’s next, interdimensional escort services?!”
“How could you say such a thing~” Myrtle laughed. “You think I’d stay here four days bored out of my mind while you played Monkey King?”
Jiang Cha: “...”

She knew her master was unreliable.
...
And somewhere else—

On a distant battlefield.
A blonde witch with black eyes, clad in golden armor and wielding a golden staff, struck down three massive starships with one swing. Just as she turned to charge into the next battle, she froze.
“What’s wrong, Great Sage?”

A nearby witch noticed her stillness and exploded her energy field to crush the mechas trying to ambush them.
“It’s nothing,” the blonde witch said softly. “I just received a memory... from a fragment of my old soul.”
“Seriously?”

“I never thought a soul I lost would be hiding in a fragmented world. Strange how karma works.”
“We don’t care about karma,” the other witch teased. “It’s been two hundred years since you were converted. Why are you still so sentimental?”
“I can’t change,” the Great Sage said, smiling faintly.

“Won’t change! Hahahaha!”
“Let’s finish this fight and report back. These kids can’t even handle a third-tier machine civilization without us stepping in.”
“Well, it is a holiday. We’re short-staffed.”

And so, the Great Sage marched on—still laughing. Still carrying that faint, lingering sorrow from a forgotten world.
A memory. A life.
A love.

Lost.