How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending

The moment the words left my lips, the sun that had been lighting up the sea suddenly disappeared. Thick clouds rushed in, darkening the sky above in an instant. A gloomy current swept across the ocean, stirring the wind violently.

A heavy, oppressive pressure weighed down on the air. The waves surrounding the fleet rose and thrashed turbulently.

The navigators, having received the report, rushed onto the deck and looked up at the sky with worried expressions. Tristan approached beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Could a storm be coming? This is not usually a dangerous area.”

I muttered softly, and Tristan furrowed his brows. A sense of unease made my fingertips tremble. I clenched my fists tightly to avoid showing it when suddenly—

Bang!

A lightning-like flash split the sky in two and struck downwards.

The air seemed to tear apart, and the world flickered white. The light was mercilessly intense, reversing everything in my vision in an instant. A deafening roar ripped through the air, shaking the ship violently. Terrified, I wobbled trying to regain my balance, and Tristan urgently steadied me. At that moment, a bluish flame flared at the top of the raised mast.

“Tristan, the mast is on fire!”

If this continued, not just the mast but the deck itself could catch fire. I gripped Tristan’s sleeve and shouted in alarm. Yet his expression remained unusually calm, showing no immediate intention to give orders to extinguish the fire.

“Tristan?”

I called him again and followed his gaze upward. Then I saw the flames in an unusual form.

The bluish light seemed unreal, eerily beautiful, calm as if it did not belong to this world. It did not resemble ordinary fire but rather a blue glow, like the soul of a departed being, watching from the mast over the deck. There was no scent of smoke, no trace of ashes, not even a crackling sound. The flames slid dangerously down the mast without a sound.

Then, in an instant, they vanished with a soft pop.

Terrified voices pierced the darkened air.

“A-a witch…! The flames of the Walpurgis Witch!”

I could not tell who had spoken. The deck fell silent as if a mouse had died. Everyone held their breath. After a tense silence, trembling voices began to rise here and there.

“Yes, that is right. The Walpurgis Witch has awakened from beneath the sea. She has come to judge us!”

“We were not supposed to sail in the western sea. We committed unholy acts…”

“The flames of Walpurgis… Oh God, we have sinned, forgive us…”

The mast where the flames had appeared left no trace. The sky, darkened moments ago, gradually returned to light.

Even so, the chaos on the deck did not dissipate. Sailors knelt, making the sign of the cross and chanting prayers, unable to hide their anxiety.

I looked around the deck in confusion, unsure of what to do.

“What is that, Your Highness? The flames of Walpurgis…? Is this a bad omen?”

Tristan bit his lower lip and frowned deeply. He nodded gravely before speaking with difficulty.

“It is a legend passed down among the sailors of Hezekia.”

“What kind of legend?”

“They say that when one enters the forbidden sea, the dead awaken and call upon the Walpurgis Witch. The blue flames that flow from her fingertips judge the unholy and compel the dead to walk.”

I instinctively stepped back. The sailors murmured in fear, faces pale. Looking at them, I muttered weakly to myself,

“But it is just superstition, right…”

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind. I had read somewhere that a similar phenomenon had occurred on the sea in a past life. I cleared my throat and hurriedly spoke up.