Chapter 520 – #109_Missing(7)
#520
1.
Kleh, her arms twisted behind her, was bound by chains to the ceiling.
Her head bowed, teeth clenched, she was tormented by cold sweat and a headache, but she still checked her condition.
This place seemed to be a prison designed to prevent magic itself through some kind of ritual.
It must be suppressing the circuits, fundamentally blocking the manifestation of magical power.
It would be an extremely effective method for other witches, but it wasn’t a perfect method of confinement for Kleh.
Unlike typical witches, she distributed and stored her magical power in her blood.
If her body’s wounds recovered even a little, she could regain her transcendent physical abilities.
If she could just buy a little time, she could break these chains and stone walls like rotten ropes and a gingerbread house.
-Clack, clack
The sound of approaching heels made her raise her head.
There stood the Perfume Witch, who had been bombarding Kleh with questions until just now.
“Cough!”
The moment the tip of her finger touched Kleh’s forehead, without a word,
Kleh felt all the circuits she had painstakingly reconstructed twist.
The feedback caused a rush of blood, and Kleh coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Don’t even think about escaping.”
In this underground prison, only Count Jemena could use magic.
But before going upstairs, Count Albireo had handed over a ‘key’ to facilitate the interrogation.
It was an artifact that eased the prison’s restrictions for its holder.
“……”
Kleh kept her mouth shut and glared at Amelia with a fierce gaze.
The realization that her plan had gone awry brought fear and dread about the future, but she judged that not everything was ruined yet.
“From now on, I’m going to torture you.”
“……”
With Amelia’s gesture, fine, white particles began to seep into Kleh’s body.
“The particles I’ve injected into your body are seeds. They resonate with the waves and bloom into flowers. Before, I only knocked you out, but…”
-Snap!
The moment Amelia flicked her finger, Kleh squeezed her eyes shut.
Kleh was also a great witch with knowledge of magic.
Based on her experience alone, she could guess what was about to happen.
-Thud!
But the flowers bloomed not on Kleh’s body, but on the chains that bound her.
Half-hanging, Kleh confirmed that the chains that had been constricting her wrists had turned into a pile of flowers.
“It won’t be like that from now on.”
A clear threat.
Kleh felt her breath quicken.
“To be honest, this is my first time torturing someone.”
Amelia approached Kleh step by step, and Kleh, looking up at her fearfully, retreated.
“I don’t expect to be skilled from the start. It won’t be easy to control my strength. So, I hope you’ll answer honestly when you can still speak.”
As she awkwardly retreated, Kleh realized that her back was against the cold stone wall.
And that in this inescapable situation, being more afraid would only get her devoured.
“Are you very worried?”
“……”
After all, this was Gehenna, and Kleh was a captured enemy.
She understood what her treatment would be.
With the title of enemy, she had to give up any thought of returning alive.
In that case, instead of being scared and whining, she would at least get under their skin.
With that thought, Kleh bared her sharp fangs and sneered at Amelia.
“Too bad for you. That Shin Siwoo guy is probably already dead.”
A provocation that implicitly acknowledged her involvement in the incident.
Amelia’s response was simple.
“Kuh…!!!!”
Kleh watched as her little finger crumbled in an instant.
It collapsed, scattered by the flower cluster that pierced through her skin as it bloomed.
There was no pain.
Also, due to Kleh’s constitution, she would recover from this quickly.
But watching a part of her body disappear was a terrible horror.
Amelia, who had committed such an outrage without batting an eye, said in a calm voice.
“He’s still alive.”
Alive even after entering the fish tank?
Kleh tried to grasp the truth.
There was no need for Amelia to bluff.
Was it a problem that Deneb Jemena had gone in with him?
But the fact that they hadn’t come out yet meant they hadn’t found a way to escape.
Unlike the monster with near-infinite regenerative power, a witch’s magical power was limited.
So, the result was only a matter of time.
After finishing her assessment, Kleh felt a sense of relief.
Although her plan was only half-completed, she felt a sense of satisfaction that she had gotten one over on several witches who strutted around as ‘nobles’.
“So what? He’s going to die soon anyway.”
Kleh still sneered.
“No. You’d better pray that he’s safe.”
Amelia willingly responded to the provocation.
She lowered her upper body and met Kleh’s eyes.
“If something happens to him, you’ll die in more terrible pain than any suffering you can imagine.”
Kleh, who had held her breath at Amelia’s statement, as if she would definitely do so.
As if trying to fight the fear that was gripping her heart, she pushed Amelia’s chest with all her might.
“What did I do so wrong? I just gave back what I received! To that crazy Tiferet Duke…!”
She tried to get up and rush at Amelia, but was easily subdued.
Kleh struggled and shouted with a bizarre expression that was somewhere between laughing and crying.
“Because she took Bianca from me, I wanted her to feel the same sense of loss…! Bianca was my everything!”
Whether Bianca had planned to kidnap Shin Siwoo first, or whether the Tiferet Duke had simply responded justly.
None of that mattered.
To have Bianca, who had coldly turned her back on her to become a more useful witch, look back at her.
That was the purpose of Kleh’s life.
But now it was irreversible.
Nothing but a burning desire for revenge would take responsibility for Kleh’s life.
“Do you think I’m going to be scared now, no matter how I die? Where is Tiferet? I want to see that bitch sobbing in grief and sorrow.”
Seeing Kleh, who had started laughing like crazy, Amelia realized that she was mistaken about something.
Kleh was saying that the Tiferet Duke, who had been close to Siwoo, was the real culprit who killed the Lust Witch.
It was Siwoo who had knocked down the Lust Witch, but it was Amelia who had dealt the final blow to Bianca, who was trying to commit suicide.
Even then, Siwoo thought there was a possibility that Bianca had faked her death and escaped.
Of course, it might just be a misunderstanding, seeing that she didn’t do anything to prevent her business from being destroyed…
There was no need to correct the detailed facts.
The goal now was not information exchange, but the interrogation itself.
Amelia said.
“I killed Bianca Bellili.”
“……”
With that statement, Kleh became silent as if she had pressed the mute button.
No, as if she had pressed the pause button, she wasn’t even breathing properly, and was looking up at Amelia with shocked eyes.
“…Lies… no, uh…”
A shocking statement that reversed the initial premise.
Words stammered out.
Bianca, who was more dignified, willful, and stronger than anyone else.
A life buoy and a conqueror she wanted to be dominated by.
Kleh had long been unable to accept the fact that Bianca was dead.
If an ordinary witch had made such a statement, she would have scoffed at it.
She thought that there was no witch who could stand against her except for Keter or the Tiferet Duke, who were known to be the strongest.
“The Lust Witch died by my hand.”
But.
It was possible for the witch in front of her.
The one who had easily subdued the resisting Kleh as if twisting a child’s wrist.
Amelia Merigold, who had no hesitation in torturing her, was capable enough.
At that moment, Kleh discovered a radiance.
The flames of fate that she had seen in Bianca when she was wandering, having lost everything instead of gaining freedom.
A beautiful, burning fire that attracted moths, even though they knew they would die if they approached it.
2.
About two days after the date in the fish tank.
The Kraken was defeated.
Deneb’s magic, which had been further developed and refined through repeated research, succeeded in bringing the Kraken, who was using Nigawa in the sea, to a near-death state.
It was Siwoo who drove the wedge in there.
After creating a large axe instead of a spear or sword, he rushed at the Kraken, whose stamina and regenerative power had dropped to the bottom.
It was less of a fight and more of a demolition of a building, and after a fierce battle, he crushed its head.
It sounds like a very simple task when put into words, but everything in the world tends to become simple when expressed in a couple of lines.
The beginning and end of World War II can also be summarized as a failed art school applicant committing suicide if you roughly cut out the beginning and end.
Anyway, thanks to the Kraken, who was desperately struggling until the end, both Siwoo and Deneb were exhausted.
“Finally, we succeeded.”
“I know…”
Even the voices that naturally celebrated the victory were weak.
They looked like they would fall asleep if they had a bed right now.
The pier was in such a mess that it was impossible to find its original shape, and only the black sea, which seemed to have decreased in level, proved the traces of the past battle.
The Kraken’s corpse crumbled and disappeared.
From the center of the huge head that had been half-dragged onto land, a blue bead rolled out.
Its shape was very similar to the citizen ID that was submitted when going through the ‘gate’ of Border Town, so it seemed that this was the ‘pass’ for the fish tank.
At the same time, the bell tower, which had always been noisy, was regenerated and created a circular ring.
It looked like it was saying, ‘This is the exit~’ to anyone.
It was the moment when Deneb’s guess that this world was a pocket space like Gehenna was confirmed.
“It’s really over now.”
“It was an eventful adventure. To have such an experience in my old age… Well, it wasn’t all bad.”
Realizing that it was really over, the two looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.
Since they had lost their self-control and passionately mingled their bodies, Deneb had become quite considerate.
She didn’t act like she was going to eat him alive like before, and Siwoo wasn’t afraid of her anymore.
“Siwoo, you’ve worked hard.”
“Countess, you’ve worked hard too.”
“You haven’t forgotten our promise, have you?”
“Of course. I’ll keep it a secret.”
They had only had proper sex like real lovers once, and they had kept their distance after that…
He was willing to grant Deneb’s request.
“I’ll escort you. Let’s go.”
When Siwoo reached out his hand, Deneb, who had been hesitating, slowly nodded.
“I need to sleep as soon as I get back.”
“Me too, now that we’re out, I won’t be able to recharge my magic with Siwoo’s help.”
As they were chatting and trying to grab the pass, Siwoo and Deneb were so surprised that their hearts sank.
This was the fish tank.
Originally, only the Kraken existed in this world besides Siwoo and Deneb.
But in the place where the Kraken’s corpse had been, a witch was standing with her chin raised, as if she had been there from the beginning.
Long hair flowing like the dark blue night sea.
Eyes as deep and dark as the deep sea.
She was just as beautiful as any other witch, with no other special features.
“…Is it you?”
Nevertheless, both Siwoo and Deneb felt it at the same time.
An angry expression, a surging magical power, a heavy tremor as if facing a natural disaster.
“You vermin dared to harm my people…”
Hearing the voice cracking with anger, they both thought of one name at the same time.
“You will pay for that sin with your lives.”
The owner of this fish tank, and the old witch who was already known to have been purged by Duke Keter.
The one with the alias of the Deep Sea Witch.
