Chapter 1097 – #261_His Return (2) – DeepL
#1091
1.
The day Xiu sealed the gates of Hexenacht with Sharon.
Gehenna was bustling like never before.
The atmosphere had been tainted by the Lehar Group’s raid on Bordertown just a few days earlier.
The cider truck that had washed down that choking sweet potato in one fell swoop was the Colonel.
“Oh my God, really? This is awesome!”
“I’m going to be a bitter bitch, you just welded the ‘door’ shut?”
“That’s right! In the middle of enemy territory!”
Premium subscribers to Gehenna’s top gossip paper, the Dandelion.
“I’m about to burst from all that Duke One Erelim blathering, drink!”
“Cheers!”
“By the way, the Witch of the Acorns is a joke, what kind of nuclear warhead do you think you’re sacrificing to use fire elemental magic?”
“Witch of the Acorn… ah, Sharon Evergreen, who calls her that these days?”
“Well?”
“The witch of uranium.”
“Kya, that’s cool.”
“To the Witch of Uranium and Hsin-Siu!”
“Here’s to you!”
Pompous people who like to sit in bars and cafes and gossip.
“I guess Baron Xinxiu wasn’t exaggerating when he said he defeated Ursula in one fell swoop.”
“It’s been a while, but didn’t Bianca, the Witch of Desire, also fall at his hands?”
“Yes. He’s certainly an extraordinary man in many ways, including his work with the Hessian Society.”
Even the most high-minded witches, those who made the study of magic their life’s work, put their heads together and praised Baron Sinsiu’s accomplishments.
The Red Roof Salon, Gehenna’s premier social club, was no exception.
“What a fine example he has set as Baron of Gehenna.”
“He’s going to have a nice new name now.”
“They’re already calling her many names. The Witch of the Phallus, the Witch of True Education.”
“I turned down a partnership the other day. I think we could be on good terms.”
“You too, Baron? I was thinking something along those lines.”
“He’s a man, isn’t he? How about this, instead of the witchy tinnitus?”
“Do you have any ideas?”
“Demon King.”
“Oh…. Crazy, but plausible?”
Amidst the chatter, a sighting of Cynthia returning to Gehenna half a day after Sharon was reported, and soon the unbelievable rumor was making waves.
“Did you hear that? Xinxiu is back in Gehenna….”
“Are you talking about Xinxiu again? Let’s stop.”
“…He killed the head of the Lehar Group and the head of Solidus.”
“What? Wait, the Witch of War and the Witch of Gold Coins?”
A bar, a café, a society, a salon, all of which had been buzzing with talk of Xin Xiu a moment ago.
At the drop of a fondant, everyone froze.
The silence was short-lived, however, and was quickly followed by a roar of laughter.
Disbelief followed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, the Witch of War is a notorious mercenary leader, and not just any leader, she’s a pro at combat, a pro.”
“The Hexenacht thing was fair enough, but Herja went too far.”
“You’d never say that if you saw that ignorant muscle.”
No wonder.
Gehenna isn’t just full of witches stuck in Gehenna.
There are witches who travel back and forth to the real world, and there are witches who travel back and forth to public life.
They explained much more succinctly why this rumor was impossible.
“Who are the Lehar Group? They’re a bunch of crazy bitches with teeth, and they just took out WitchPoint Seoul.”
“They’re bitches. I had a dirty business deal with them 20 years ago, and I washed my hands of them. They’re starving dogs with no pride and no sense of propriety.”
“And what about that big boss, Herya? I hear that even the greatest accomplishments fall like snow in front of her.”
“She doesn’t travel alone, and she’s always accompanied by her men.”
“…But what if it’s true? He’s a man who does outrageous things all the time. He could have been responsible for the Gehenna invasion and robbed the Rehar group.”
“Arthur. Not even the Pink Duke could do that.”
The news of his killing Lydia is absurd.
Even the Gehenna witches, who are notoriously hard to please, stiffen at the weight of the golden witch’s name.
“Lydia Magnus. A terrifying bitch. Twenty-three levels up, and she’s making sacrifices to the Thought Realm like that.”
“And what about the top of the Solidus, has there ever been a large public group in the history of witches that was so well united?”
“My late master told me to never, ever, ever get involved with that woman, Lydia.”
“At least she’s been playing politics since she got to the top of Solidus, but she used to be more terrifying.”
“The beast is dead? I don’t believe it.”
Lydia Magnus is a titan in public life.
Her power is unquestioned, and the power of her organization at the top of Solidus rivals that of the Great Society of Gehenna.
In Gehenna terms, she is a reaper in the position of a third duke.
“Do you think the Duke of Tiferet can win?”
“The Pink Duke is said to be strong, but it would be too much for him. He always moves alone, and it would take Duke Erelim and the elite of the Qin Lie Academy to talk to him.”
Thus, the rumor of “Xin Xiu killed Lydia” was not even discussed as true or false.
It’s just not possible.
No one seriously believed that Lydia Magnus’ death was true.
And so the week passed with a witch’s natural curiosity piqued.
The Hessian Society made no comment, and Cynthia made no public appearances.
The gossip and rumors seemed to have died down.
“I heard from a temporal source…. They said Herya is dead.”
“I heard from a friend, too. The Lehar Group has been quiet lately.”
The rekindling began with sympathy for the Lehar Group.
As befits a mercenary organization, the Rehar Group has been known to run amok.
From business disputes to turf wars, if they got involved outside of Gehenna’s sphere of influence, they’d show up like a bunch of street thugs.
Overnight, the thugs disappeared from all corners of the world.
The mystery of the timing was resolved in a surprisingly simple way.
‘Bring him to me.
“I’ll chew the son of a bitch’s heart out.
A public figure was caught running amok in the Ojai branch of WitchPoint.
Identified as the deputy leader of the infamous Lehar Group.
She burst into vengeful tears, revealing her hatred for Xinxiu.
During the interrogation, more facts were revealed that shocked Gehenna.
Xinxiu hadn’t just killed Herya.
He had ruthlessly exterminated about half of the Lehar group.
The process was not unexpected.
He strategized to split the top of Solidus and the Rehar group, walking a tightrope between the cracks and attempting to break through.
He led the Rehar to their demise.
“…Does that make sense?”
“I, I, I…. I don’t know anymore.”
“Didn’t you also slay the witch of the real gold coin…?”
The Gehenna witches were speechless.
The exhilaration they had felt at the news that the gates of Hexenacht had been sealed was diluted by an even greater shock.
Some felt fear, others awe.
“BREAKING: Lydia Magnus dead.”
The final nail in the coffin of suspicion and confusion was the mass funeral atop Solidus.
It was a private affair for the top brass of Solidus, but there were plenty of eyes and ears in Gehenna.
“The rumors are true?”
The blur of stories that had been out of focus for the moment took on a frighteningly realistic resolution.
The unbelievable events are all becoming true.
“So…. You mean all those rumors were true?”
“I thought you were just flying in a son-in-law for Zemernai or something….”
“I heard the Duke of Tifferet is also recuperating.”
There were no conspiracy theories about the Duke of Tipperet or Count Zemernai being behind this.
The scale of the event was too large to be fabricated for the honor of a protégé or son-in-law.
We now know that he was not a supernova that flashed in and out of existence.
I knew he was a legend, a new name in the long history of witches.
I knew that the half-joking nickname I’d given him, “The Devil,” wasn’t going to be the butt of a drinking joke.
At this point, the witches became curious.
Why had he done something so reckless?
Letters to Count Zemernai and a personal visit to the Hessian Society failed to answer their questions, but the answers came from an unexpected source.
At the Young Ladies’ Club, a social gathering of Gehenna’s apprentice witches.
“So…. Baron Xinxiu left to avenge his lover?”
“Mmmm, didn’t he say so?”
“Risking his life to take back the life of his beloved lover…. How romantic!”
“It’s like the story of the knight who fights the evil dragon to save the princess.”
With his monstrous horsepower reserves and innate resilience, Leroux rose from his sickbed in just a few days.
Often accompanying Odile and Odette in and out of the Young Ladies’ Club, Leroux noticed the apprentice witches looking at her with admiration and offered her a copy of Cynthia’s Strange Adventure.
“So, you’re saying it’s true that he defeated the Witch of Gold Coins and the Witch of War?”
“Yes. How else would he have returned to Gehenna? Hmph, after all, Jim also faced Lydia Magnus, the greatest villain of all time.”
Leroux sneaks in a bit of his own saga as well.
The little witches pricked up their ears and listened intently, not to rumors or circumstantial evidence, but to first-hand accounts of events.
“Wow…. You’re so amazing, huh? But didn’t you just defeat the Witch of the Gold Coin?”
“Nay, nay, for she was not in her best condition that day, for she was weak, hungry, and dizzy.”
“Ah, then you say you lost in the end…”
“Rude! Jim made the Witch of the Gold Coin use four strange gold coins, which in this world is called burning his heart out.”
-Bang!
Leroux had just finished recounting his heroics.
The twins burst through the door, looking terrifying.
“Hey, Leroux, I told you to keep your mouth shut!”
“Ew, you punk! How come you don’t turn into a witch?”
“No, he was just talking about how nice the fall weather is in Gehenna!”
Leroux excused with a shudder, but he lacked the shamelessness to fool Odile and Odette.
“Again, again, again, what a lie!”
“I couldn’t resist a cubit, and what are you doing here, this is the Apprentice Witches’ Club!”
“Zi, Jim’s first-hand experience is an inspiration to young apprentice witches growing up… Hey, get off me!”
“I won’t. You’re going to get in trouble.”
“You can’t! I’m about to tell you something really important!”
“You guys know this must be kept secret, right?”
Odile, dragging Leroy by the arm, and Odette, demanding that the apprentice witches join them.
“Of course, Odile and Odette…. You are so brave….”
“I think I just had a weird dream.”
The growing apprentice witches felt confused about the balance of power as they watched the 23rd ranked Deep Sea Witch being dragged away by the apprentice witches….
When she returned home, she confided in her teacher and mother.
“Master. This is a secret.”
“Mom, this is something I heard directly from the Witch of the Deep…. Do you really need to be the only one to know?”
Rumors spread from secrets.
