Chapter 180
After Ataraxia left, the Black Witch lifted the Witch Orb and examined it closely.
“…Ahetta.”
Ahetta’s image rose above the orb.
His face—exactly as it had appeared during the Third Night—was filled with panic as he tried to forcefully punish someone.
Cornered and desperate.
Even as the Master of the Moon and Night Administrator, he had resorted to direct manifestation against mere humans.
Why?
—Arch… mage.
The moment Ahetta appeared, he clearly spoke the opponent’s name.
Archmage.
The Witch Orb was a supreme treasure—one that could illuminate a designated point, rewind its flow, and reveal every surrounding detail.
The greatest of all witch artifacts.
It was the reason she could observe the Abyss from this Deep Abyss without anyone knowing.
There was nothing her orb could not reveal.
Even a Demon God’s domain was transparent to it.
‘I can’t see.’
This time, only Ahetta was visible.
Everything around him was obscured.
The Archmage himself was hidden—as if enveloped in a barrier or protected by some overwhelming magic.
The Black Witch rotated the orb again.
—Wish? You… you can use Wish?
A Wish user.
Not only had he stolen the Star of Arrogance, he had even seized Adora’s Wish?
If the Archmage truly wielded Wish, then it was natural the Witch Orb could not recognize him.
Wish protected its wielder.
‘There are only a handful of beings in the Abyss who can use Wish.’
Even if he stole it, using it properly was another matter entirely.
Magic capacity.
A talent that had to far surpass even ancient dragons.
In other words—
‘Archmage… a name that already implies extraordinary magical ability.’
Among the dragon race—the species lords of magic—only three had ever handled Wish correctly.
Ataraxia was gifted, but not to that level.
Of course, possessing Wish didn’t automatically make one stronger than a dragon who lacked it.
If Ataraxia used his full power, he could match a dragon who had achieved Wish.
But the difference remained clear.
Wish raised the capacity of magic—effortlessly, unconsciously.
It stabilized mana.
Prevented runaway.
Even dragons suffered backlash when pushing magic to its limits.
Magic itself was inherently imperfect.
Wish corrected that flaw.
In short—
‘Wish is essential to cast magic surpassing the Twelve Realms.’
Anyone attempting magic beyond the Thirteenth Realm without Wish would self-destruct.
Thus, only a minuscule number of beings in the Abyss could perform such magic.
Dragon God Sephiro was one of them.
Sephiro’s magic was exceptional.
But aside from him, the dragon race’s so-called ultimate magic was…
Lacking.
‘Black magic is complete.’
To her, intuitive black magic—sacrifices for power—was superior.
Black magic should reign above all magic.
Yet the Archmage was using magic surpassing even black magic.
One thing still puzzled her.
‘…The Wish he has must be Adora’s.’
Black mages could indeed possess Wish.
Death Witch Adora had talent even among witches.
The Black Witch had planned to complete her awakening—turning her into the Lord of Arrogance—by letting her awaken Wish as she killed Kankun.
But the Archmage stole Adora’s Wish.
It was certain.
The faint trace of Wish sensed at Ahetta’s moment of shock matched Adora’s black magic perfectly.
‘Did he kill Adora and steal it? Is it even possible for a mage to wield the Wish achieved by a black witch?’
There was no precedent.
Even in all the Black Witch’s endless years, she had never seen such a thing.
Magic power and black magic power were mutually hostile—
they should collide and annihilate one another.
Chijik!
Chijijik!
The orb suddenly sparked, and the vision was forcibly cut off.
Again.
It had happened several times already.
Her eyes sank deeper.
“I cannot let that be taken as well…”
Not the Star of Arrogance.
Not Adora’s Wish.
She had already lost both to the Archmage.
But the treasure Ahetta hid in the Secret Laboratory—
That was something she could not allow him to take.
That came before killing the Archmage.
‘Ahetta… a mistake to entrust it to you.’
The treasure in the Secret Laboratory.
A supreme artifact she had entrusted to Ahetta.
Incomplete at the time—but Ahetta swore he could finish it, even establishing a Secret Laboratory.
Yet he vanished without completing it.
A fool.
But blaming him wouldn’t solve anything.
Now that Ahetta was gone, retrieving that treasure was the priority.
The three high-ranking witches assigned to Ataraxia were for that purpose alone.
The laboratory’s location, entry, and depths would be heavily secured.
‘He hid it deep within the Eternal Land… thoroughly enough even I knew nothing.’
Ahetta had layered defenses endlessly.
Even if the Archmage somehow gained Administrator rights, finding the actual location would not be easy.
Ataraxia, however, excelled at searching.
That was why she ordered her to locate the Secret Laboratory—
and why she believed Ataraxia’s power was needed to reach its depths.
But the Black Witch did not tell Ataraxia everything.
“Watch Ataraxia carefully.”
She secretly instructed the three witches following her.
Ataraxia’s mission failure…
His excuses were flimsy.
In the Second Night, the Witch Orb recorded one disturbing moment.
—…$%@%# Your Highness?
She had seen Ataraxia looking at someone in shock.
But the name spoken had been censored.
Even the shape of his mouth blurred.
Only that scene had been visible before the transmission cut.
Who was it?
Whose name could not be shown?
Someone even her orb could not identify—
A Great Nine Lord.
Or—
‘Sephiro.’
There was no one else.
Dragon God Sephiro.
Could he have been in the Second Night?
‘Impossible.’
Sephiro only moved when intrigued.
He had been sealed inside the Dragon God Palace for centuries.
And when he moved, the entire Abyss shook.
If he had been in the Second Night, Ahetta would have been overturned instantly.
No…
So who was it?
Another being on Sephiro’s level?
The Black Witch turned the orb again.
This time, she saw Ataraxia and the three witches heading toward the Eternal Land.
“If Ataraxia really betrayed me…”
Her eyes darkened like a bottomless pit.
She spoke quietly to the witches following him:
“Once you recover the treasure—kill him.”
—
“Here, Father.”
Flap! Flap!
Cygnus descended before the Secret Laboratory.
Park Chan-woo, riding on his back, examined the hidden entrance.
“…Ahetta hid it well.”
Additional Reward #4 gave only Administrator authority.
Not the location.
Without Cygnus, he would never have found it.
Foxfire—
the power to reveal hidden truths.
Cygnus had awakened it after devouring the Fox Den.
Thanks to that, he had quickly discovered the hidden laboratory beneath the Eternal Land, near the crack—
a place impossible to locate normally.
Even the door was unusual.
A massive barrier of shadow.
Shadow of Death—
a barrier of the Twelfth Realm.
Even True Satyrus’s Boots would struggle against it.
The sheer amount of coin investment needed to forge such a barrier…
It showed how determined Ahetta had been to keep this place sealed.
As Park Chan-woo approached—
Ssshhh…
The shadow recoiled.
Tting!
—
《Proxy of Master of the Moon Ahetta confirmed.》
《Acquiring qualification of new Administrator.》
《Shadow of Death detects bloodline of Grand Commander of Death Anubis.》
《Hidden condition of Anubis satisfied.》
《Administrator qualification upgraded to Special Administrator.》
—
Special Administrator.
Park Chan-woo nodded.
So this was what Anubis meant.
Anubis had known about the laboratory all along—
and had hidden a superior condition accessible only to him and those bearing his bloodline.
Proof that what lay within was truly important.
He stepped through the opened door—and froze.
“…What is this?”
The laboratory was filled with Golems.
Five hundred Dark Guardians.
Three hundred Death Golems.
One hundred Nightmares.
Just their names were terrifying.
Creations even a Golem Meister would struggle to craft—
scattered everywhere.
But—
“…Why are they all broken?”
Dust-covered.
Corroded.
Damaged without exception.
He doubted any were functional.
Then—
Tting!
—
《All golems damaged due to prolonged exposure to a powerful force disrupting magic.》
《Repair the broken golems.》
《Repaired golems will acknowledge you as their master.》
《Depending on repair quality, you may obtain large amounts of experience, stats, or special golem-related rewards.》