Chapter 1058 – #251_The Story After Death (4)
#1052
1.
“I feel nauseous….”
Gretel stuck out her tongue and panted like a dog with heatstroke.
Unlike other magic, this task of reading the traces of souls wasn’t just about Siwoo sharing memories and emotions.
Gretel also had to act as a medium, and whether she liked it or not, she was somewhat affected.
She couldn’t assimilate emotions or thoughts, but it meant she had to watch a person’s final moments over and over again.
Even watching a movie with a disturbing story wasn’t pleasant, but having to repeatedly witness a ‘real death’ that wasn’t acting or directing was far from enjoyable.
Gretel, a complete stranger with no real connection, was in this state.
How must it be for Shin Siwoo, her lover?
“…Hey, are you okay?”
Siwoo’s face was pale.
His body was sticky with sweat, and his eyes were bloodshot.
His half-lost focus and trembling lips were the characteristics of someone whose mental state was in tatters.
“I’m fine.”
But his voice was colder than a frozen lake in midwinter.
He didn’t shed a single tear.
Strictly speaking, Gretel was the one who dealt with medical magic, which was closer to the realm of the mind and soul, that is, the mental realm.
That’s why she knew.
That wasn’t in the realm of mental strength anymore.
It was closer to the actions of a madman.
“It must not have been easy. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Siwoo washed his face for the last time and roughly wiped the water off with his sleeve.
It was definitely meddling, and Gretel usually hated getting involved in other people’s affairs, but this time she felt like she had to say something.
He looked quite precarious.
“I have a rough idea of what you’re trying to do. Don’t overdo it.”
Was he going to start growling and talking down to her again?
“Thank you for the advice. I’ll see you again.”
But contrary to expectations, Siwoo bowed politely and thanked her before letting Gretel go.
2.
Based on five memory explorations, he had obtained a lot of information.
The appearance of all 52 people involved in the attack, the types and characteristics of the magnetic magic they used.
But this alone didn’t complete the plan.
There was an absolute lack of information.
Siwoo asked Branch Manager Sua to provide information about the Rehar Group from the Location Point DB.
Its history was only 80 years.
It wasn’t that old of a group.
The group’s leader was the war witch ‘Herya Balhiriye’, 22nd rank.
It was composed of several teams that usually lived separately, but when a request came in, they formed a task force.
Their main tasks were to receive requests from the state and subjugate homunculi, and to act as mercenaries in disputes between witches.
In addition, they were involved in various shady businesses in collusion with the Russian Red Mafia, such as pornography production, casinos, drug and weapons smuggling, and human trafficking.
“It’s not enough.”
But even after scraping the Location Point DB, the information wasn’t sufficient.
Because it was made up of small, scattered organizations, even the faces and aliases of the main elite members were not properly known, and even the main bases were on a continental scale, such as ‘South America’.
If he hadn’t seen Dorothy’s memories, he would have been lost from the start.
It was a hope that he could use the tactic of individual attacks, given that it was a loose, scattered organization rather than a tightly knit group under a hierarchical order.
On the other hand, it was a problem that it was easy to cut off the tail and that there were too many gates to go through to find each one.
If he didn’t know who was where, revenge was impossible from the start.
He felt impatient.
How should he find them?
Siwoo went to see Linne, who was being treated.
“Linne, how are you feeling?”
“I’m much better.”
Thanks to intensive treatment, her condition had improved a lot.
She still couldn’t stand up properly, but she was able to breathe on her own without relying on a respirator, and she was able to communicate.
As expected of Linne, who lived 99% of her daily life expressionless.
There was no sign of sadness in her.
But Siwoo knew her true feelings.
Linne was also very sad and discouraged.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect you properly.”
“It’s not Linne’s fault. And I have a plan.”
“A plan?”
Siwoo hugged her back and patted her.
To be clear, he didn’t intend to involve his lovers in this.
He was excluding his teacher, Amelia, and Linne because they weren’t in fighting condition, but even if they were, it would have been the same.
Siwoo was going to cross the line.
He was going to throw off the shackles.
There would be no justice in that process.
This was their justice that they had put forward.
He would take the sin into his own hands.
He loved his lovers too much to drag them into the mud with him.
“I’d like you to be the only one who knows about this for now.”
“My love. I will help too. Once my body recovers a little more….”
“No. Especially not you, Linne.”
Linne was from the public sector.
And this was a precarious line to walk, even in light of Gehenna’s ethics.
Siwoo was an unknown quantity.
But if Linne, who was notorious as a sword demon, hunted witches to achieve a certain goal, it was highly likely that it would lead to problems due to the immediate worsening of suspicion.
This meant that there was a high possibility that problems would arise in the process of Linne’s incorporation into Gehenna in the future.
“Instead, please tell me everything you know about the Rehar Group.”
“…I understand.”
Linne’s main base of operations was Japan, but as someone from the public sector, she was able to obtain a variety of additional information.
However, it seemed that Linne, who had already stepped down from the front lines, also had no way to track their location in real time.
Was it inevitable that he would have to break through by confronting them one by one, even though it was risky?
Unexpected support came from here.
Letters.
Countless letters arrived at the Location Point Seoul branch from all over the world.
The beginning of the letters was to mourn Dorothy, who had lost her life in this attack.
You could tell from her usual behavior.
Just like how she had rushed into enemy territory without hesitation as soon as she heard that her subordinate was isolated.
Just like how Sister Arin thought of Dorothy as a good memory.
Although she was a public figure, Dorothy had built up a good reputation.
The employees of the weapons smuggling ring that Dorothy led, the people she had connections with, and those who had received favors from her.
These letters were from them, expressing their anger at the situation and providing information in the form of reports.
They contained detailed information about the Rehar Group, secret bases, gathering places, and organizational charts.
The quality of information provided by witches in the public sector was that of an insider.
It was high-quality information that was incomparable to what Location Point had.
There were even some who sent letters directly to Siwoo, asking how they knew about the relationship between the two.
There were also those who said they would lend him a hideout in South America if he needed help.
Of course, he had no intention of accepting.
It might be a trap to take advantage of the opportunity.
With this, he had all the necessary information in his hands.
Now, all that was left was a little bit of time.
3.
Siwoo, who had returned to Gehenna, went straight to the Yesod Count’s estate.
It was to take the lotus flower.
He didn’t try to explain the details.
It wasn’t because he didn’t trust Count Yesod, but to keep it a secret from his lovers.
At this point, if Siwoo took the lotus flower, it was obvious where it would be used.
Everyone would try to stop this reckless plan or try to help.
That wasn’t what he wanted.
Since it was originally Siwoo’s artifact, there was no need to ask for consent.
“……”
The lotus flower, which had been entrusted to the annex of the Yesod Count’s estate for research purposes, was under strict surveillance and security.
It looked like an ordinary laboratory at first glance, but this was a witch’s workshop.
The lotus flower was strictly stored by dozens of barriers and magical devices.
What Siwoo was trying to do was not much different in difficulty from stealing the most important artifact in a museum.
However, these security devices were ineffective in front of the magic eye that could read the flow of magic power.
Siwoo’s body, which had melted into the darkness, slowly moved towards its target.
The sensors that detected movement were bent and avoided by combining shadows and distortion fields.
The sensors that detected weight were bypassed by using the blind spots that inevitably occurred.
The sensors that detected magic power also couldn’t stop Siwoo, who understood the wavelength of the Yesod barrier.
He held the lotus flower that was floating on the platform in his hand.
The lotus flower, which was too beautiful to be called the fruit of sin, was practically empty.
Ea had burned all the souls, connections, and magic power she had gathered to fight his teacher.
The artifact of sin that the cowardly witch had created, passed through the whispering witch, the witch of desire, and the witch of Aquarius.
He knew how many humans and witches had lost their lives for this lotus flower, and how many lives had been sacrificed to bloom it.
That was probably why it felt so heavy.
Siwoo placed a short letter he had written beforehand on the empty platform.
Considering her usual lifestyle, she would find this letter at the earliest, early this morning.
By then, Siwoo would have left Gehenna and gone to the mortal world.
Siwoo, who was quietly leaving the mansion and heading to the immigration office, had no choice but to stop.
“Siwoo.”
“Teacher.”
There, leaning against the slanted moonlight, was his teacher.
She wasn’t wearing the comfortable style of clothes she had been favoring recently, but her trademark short shorts and training suit.
It was clothing that emphasized activity.
Siwoo’s expression hardened.
In the past, his teacher had burned the lotus flower herself.
Of course, the situation was a little different then and now.
The lotus flower at that time was still incomplete.
It was also unknown whether the cowardly witch’s words were true.
The cowardly witch’s proposal was to transform the past by using humans who were easy to hunt as materials, so Eloa rejected this proposal and, realizing the danger of the lotus flower, disposed of it herself.
But the current lotus flower was much closer to completion than it was then.
Ea Sadalmelik had refined and improved the lotus flower that Lilith had stolen, and even developed the fraudulent magic of infinite resurrection.
She had discovered the fraudulent potential of this lotus flower, as well as the fact that the most efficient fuel was ‘witches’.
He would kill the enemy who had taken the life of his loved one and regain life.
At least, Siwoo thought this path was just.
But he was secretly thinking that his teacher might stop him.
That’s why he had tried not to face her…
Whatever he was thinking, had his teacher noticed after all?
“Take up your spear.”
She didn’t say much.
Instead, she quietly gripped her contract sword.
