historical setting would be ideal, and if there's salem trial type oppression going on, that'd be great too. I just want a powerful woman who either is actually a witch, or is just seen as one for whatever reason, who's actively hunted down for it, yet she manages to constantly evade or frustrate them through her own power.

I would actually like a happy ending if possible, and maybe romance with an enemy soldier or something? Those are just optional though. A dark and grim atmosphere is what i'm really hoping for though.

This is really specific I know, but i just really want to read something where the woman is demonized, and hunted down for something. She can be good/evil/antiheroine, whatever, I just want her story to be the main focus. She can be normal i suppose, so long as she's constantly fighting for her life and outsmarting/outfighting those after her. I just really like and prefer witches.

Is there anything out there remotely similar to any of this? or am i just dreaming?

No ecchi/hentai/adult/yaoi or shounen ai please. 😀 🤣

Perdition Prison- where there are no guards, no rules and no escape. Only the strong survive: http://perditionrp.freeforums.net/

Not the exact match, but Pale Horse

Well, definitely not dark, but there's Sleeping Prince. And The Kind Black Witch by Ueda Shinshuu from Arcana 7.

If you're up for an anime, Witch Hunter Robin?

Junketsu no Maria may be what fits your needs. It's about a witch during the Hundred Year's war in France who is known to help the people near her town as well as trying to stop the war through non-lethal means, but at the same time, feared and targeted by people not from the town as well as the Church (and their deities) for being a witch (and slowing the rate of people dying). It has some ecchi but it's worth it.

I hope the angels stop interfering because they're assholes trying to create a monopoly on religion which is accurately describing Catholicism in that era. Poor Valkyries.

Definitely checking out Pale Horse and Arcana 7 🙂 I've already read Sleeping Prince, and it's definitely cute, but like you said, not quite what I'm looking for in terms of tone.

I'm super open to anime suggestions so just let me know 🙂 Witch Hunter Robin definitely looks interesting.

and OMG! this is the first time EVER that I have actually liked an ecchi manga! Thank you so much for recommending Junketsu no Maria. It's practically exactly what I was looking for. 😀 That's just so cool. Love the main characters too, they're just excellent. I haven't finished it yet, but it looks amazing!

Are there any more out there?

Perdition Prison- where there are no guards, no rules and no escape. Only the strong survive: http://perditionrp.freeforums.net/

If you haven't heard yet, there's also an anime adaption coming out for Junketsu no Maria.

Now that I recall, there is one other that barely fits into the initial description. Hyakunen Renbo is a shoujo romance story about a long lived female apothecary and her love interest in the region's royal family. She's despised as a "witch" as, per the story, "witches" have black hair, can talk to animals, and can cure diseases (through their use of medicinal plants), but she's loved by the story's male protagonist which sets up your normal shoujo romance.

Other than the ones listed in this thread, there's not much left to mention as this specific list of tropes is not something that is written of much primarily due to the society of origin being Japan. I would imagine these tropes would be more common in the West.

Seconding The Pale Horse

And Black Wind fits I think. There's also a major character in The Voynich Hotel that fits your criteria, but the setting isn't historical or oppressive.

Oh, and Majo no Shinzou, sort of. Though I don't think anyone's really chasing the main character...

Vaguely fits, but the heroine of The Tarot Cafe has a backstory like that.

She was persecuted for being a witch in some previous century. I think she was burned at the stake but I don't recall.