Chapter 197
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The gate being blocked—preventing other spirits from crossing over—should have been impossible.
Approval from the Spirit Realm meant presenting the human named Park Chan-woo to all spirits.
And among them, if any spirit favored him, a meeting would be arranged.
Naturally, nothing should have been able to stand in the way and block the ‘gate.’
In the first place, though it took the form of a ‘gate,’ it was nothing more than a formal expression and procedure.
‘All the spirits are reluctant to cross over.’
They couldn’t even bring themselves to think of crossing over.
It meant some being—one with immense influence over the entire Spirit Realm—was approaching.
Even that was a blatant violation of common sense.
‘A being that could force ego-less spirits to stop in their tracks.’
The vast majority of spirits had no ego.
At best, they moved according to their contractor’s command, following the voice engraved on their soul.
And they were instinctively drawn to things they had an affinity with.
Park Chan-woo’s affinity with nature, having awakened to the Five Elements, was at a level most spirit contractors could not match.
Even druids who lived with nature as their companions had not achieved the balance of the Five Elements.
It wouldn’t have been strange for a flood of spirits to come for him.
‘…They’re afraid.’
The most powerful weapon that could overcome instinct was fear.
It meant something had made all the spirits tremble in terror—and that something was now approaching the ‘gate.’
Even Transcender Lil could tell it was no ordinary presence.
Soon after—
Swoooosh.
A black fog-like substance began to seep out through the ‘gate.’
It filled the lab in an instant.
Thud. Thud.
Then something stepped out from within the fog.
At the same time, Lil couldn’t help but flinch.
—A spirit…?
No matter how she looked at it, it was far removed from the form of a spirit.
And that wasn’t all.
Craaaaaack—!
Thump!
The ‘gate’ Lil had summoned shattered as something else followed behind.
—
“What in the world is happening inside?”
After a long time passed with no sign of Park Chan-woo coming out, Dagon asked.
The golems answered.
-We do not know either.
-One thing is certain. He is growing stronger.
-Our master.
They were the golems who had tried to save Park Chan-woo by offering their Mana Cores.
Fortunately, their offer had been rejected, and they hadn’t become sacrifices. Still, the cores linked by his blood were steadily being strengthened.
That meant Park Chan-woo was growing stronger in real time.
“He’s getting even stronger in there…?”
Dagon’s eyes widened.
The eccentricities and miracles shown by the human Park Chan-woo—whom he believed without a doubt to be ‘Dragon God Sephiro’—were countless.
So many that it was hard to imagine there was still room for him to grow.
“Haha! Isn’t this a cause for celebration?”
It was then.
Black Dragon Ataraxia, who had been watching from the side, burst out laughing.
He looked genuinely delighted, as if he were dying of joy.
His eyes held not the slightest hint of worry.
“The magic that manifested inside the lab has erased the witches’ curses. Lord Sephiro has usurped the Magic of the Transcendent.”
“The Magic of the Transcendent…!”
Dagon was horrified.
Transcenders were the most veiled beings in the Abyss.
Supreme monsters that demon merchants like him could never approach.
It was said that the power they wielded in their Transcendent Abyss rivaled that of a respectable demon king.
And yet they never left their ‘Transcendent Abyss,’ obsessed with honing their Authority within it.
That Authority—that magic—had been stolen by Sephiro.
It was absurd. Nonsensical.
But the one in question was Sephiro.
When he moved, all impossibilities became possible.
Ataraxia’s gaze shifted to the three witches.
“Now. Speak, you witches. Tell me what is in there. Tell me what the ‘Black Witch’ cast everything aside to find.”
“…!”
The women, who had been staring at the floor with half-resigned eyes, flinched as they met Ataraxia’s gaze.
They had already understood there was no hope.
Ataraxia would never let them live.
And as he said, it wouldn’t be strange at all if they were dissected by Sephiro.
“There are many ways to force your mouths open, but out of consideration for our long acquaintance, I’ll ask one last time. What is the item you were trying to retrieve from in there?”
“…Kill us.”
The witches didn’t answer.
They would rather die than betray the Black Witch.
Even stripped of their titles and abilities as witches, their devotion to the ‘Black Witch’ was sincere.
Ataraxia smirked.
“Killing you is too easy. You should know the method I will employ is far from a peaceful death. Of course, I’m sure you already know that.”
“…”
The witches trembled again.
They knew all too well.
Black Dragon Ataraxia.
Just how cruel a bastard he was.
He would stop at nothing to get results.
He wasn’t a dragon who was merely skilled at tracking.
The Black Witch’s favor couldn’t have been only because he was good at it.
He would do it.
No matter what it took, Ataraxia would make them talk.
He would rummage through their minds, break them, and commit filthy acts with drugs and things too vile to mention—anything, as long as he got an answer.
In the end, the witches would be the ones begging him to just kill them.
That was why the witches of the Abyss did not easily provoke Ataraxia.
And why they couldn’t do anything despite the Black Witch’s favor—because of that cruelty.
Ataraxia was more witch-like than a witch, more demonic than a demon.
Someone you kept your distance from unless you were thoroughly prepared to kill him.
…That was Black Dragon Ataraxia.
“Please, keep your mouths shut. This is my first time dealing with witches, after all.”
Ataraxia’s smile deepened.
Shiverrrrr!
At the sight of that smile, the witches’ trembling grew even more violent.
“Stop.”
“Hmm…?”
In that instant, someone appeared at the entrance to the lab.
A woman stood where everyone’s attention converged.
Seeing her, Dagon spoke with a puzzled expression.
“Lady Adora?”
Adora, the Witch of Death.
She, who should have been in the territory of Valhalla, had appeared in the Eternal Land.
“A-Adora…!”
“You were alive?”
“H-How…”
The witches were just as bewildered.
Adora, the Witch of Death.
She was the one who should have become the Lord of Arrogance in the Tower of Arrogance.
And yet, the witches had believed Adora was dead.
They couldn’t find a single trace of her after the Tower of Arrogance.
A witch who bore the title of ‘Death’—a title even other witches shunned.
It was as if a cold wave had arrived.
To have such an intimidating presence simply by standing still.
Ataraxia spoke, intrigued.
“…I’ve heard the name. That the ‘Black Witch’ had a hidden favorite disciple. She never showed you even to me, so I suppose that was you.”
“I am no favorite disciple of the ‘Black Witch,’ you ominous dragon.”
“…I don’t know who’s calling whom ominous.”
If one compared the degrees of ominousness, Ataraxia couldn’t hold a candle to Adora.
In fact, she seemed even more ominous than the Black Witch.
He didn’t dare step closer.
Just being near her felt like he would suffocate on the stench of death.
Ataraxia glanced between Dagon and Adora.
‘They’re familiar with each other. Meaning she has some relationship with Lord Sephiro.’
He had expected something like that.
But he hadn’t expected Adora to be alive and walking around.
He had thought Sephiro had collected her ‘Wish.’
And yet even after collecting her ‘Wish,’ he had let Adora live.
More than that, he had hidden her.
He had prevented the Black Witch, the other witches, and even Ataraxia from tracking her.
Now he understood why.
“…You became a Creator with the ‘Black Witch’s’ body.”
When the Tower of Arrogance was cleared, the ‘Black Witch’s Little Finger’ had been chosen as proof of bankruptcy.
With that little finger, he had made the witch Adora into a ‘Creator.’
Of course she couldn’t be found.
“Adora. What is your relationship with ‘him’?”
“I am his business partner.”
“Business partner…?”
Ataraxia furrowed his brow.
A business partner.
A term for someone who worked together on equal footing.
It meant she was engaged in the same business as Sephiro, on equal terms.
He couldn’t understand it.
A business partner he hadn’t even known existed?
A strange jealousy stirred for a moment, but Adora paid it no mind and simply turned toward the witches.
“A-Adora! Save us!”
“The ‘Black Witch’ is waiting for your return!”
“You are the only witch worthy of receiving the ‘Black Witch’s’ favor!”
The witches shouted desperately.
Adora, the Witch of Death.
At a glance, they could tell her curse had matured tremendously.
She, who once couldn’t even properly control her own ‘Death,’ now looked serene.
A curse of that level was certainly enough to contend with Ataraxia.
If they escaped in the meantime, they could return to the Abyss.
They could regroup, come back, and kill everyone.
But—
“The ‘Black Witch’ wouldn’t have sent just you. There must have been an item and advice she entrusted to you.”
Adora knew the ‘Black Witch’ well.
Sending three high-ranking witches was proof of how important this was.
There was no way the meticulous Black Witch would have sent them with nothing but their bodies.
“Adora. Are you saying you’ll oppose us?”
“The Abyss, and the ‘Black Witch’?”
“How dare you…!”
Adora rebuked them with a blank face.
“Do you want to hold my hand?”
“…!!!”
The witches flinched and stumbled back.
Holding Adora’s hand was taboo among witches.
It was the decisive reason they found her ominous and kept their distance.
…Adora, while a witch, was the natural enemy of witches.
If a witch touched Adora’s body, their soul would burn away and be extinguished.
They would meet a terrible end—one incomparable to mere torture.
The witches squeezed their eyes shut.
“Wh-What’s in there is the Transcendent Grimoire.”
“The ‘Black Witch’ entrusted us with a sealing tool to seal the grimoire.”
“…She also explained about the ominous Transcender inside.”
One of the witches pulled out a gourd-like object and handed it over.
It was the sealing tool meant to seal the grimoire.
Adora took it, then asked again.
“The ominous Transcender?”
“…She said a Transcender called Lil the Betrayer is sealed inside the grimoire. A Transcender who must never be trusted…”
“She also said that if, by any chance, Lil appeared, we must never be seduced by the sweet words she speaks.”
“We’ve told you everything, so please…”
Desperation was etched into the witches’ faces.
It was as though they would rather be tortured by Ataraxia than hold hands with Adora for even a moment.
It was at that moment—
Craaaaaack—
Kuuuuuuung!
From inside the lab, another deafening noise rang out.
But it didn’t end there.
Ataraxia’s expression hardened in an instant.
“…Spirits?”
The presence he felt from within was unmistakably that of spirits.
Yet they were nothing like ordinary spirits.
They carried a nature he had never felt before.
And there wasn’t only one.
Then the witches spoke.
“Aah…!”
“This presence is…”
“Th-They are the fallen ancient evil spirits. We have to run!”
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