Chapter 1220 – #286_For The Witch (3)
#1214
1.
Meanwhile, Siwoo, trapped within the Arca in the fish tank, was unaware of how the war was progressing. His immediate plan was to quickly get the Arca under control and get out.
The situation itself was very, very good.
He had essentially defeated Orselia, the leader of the enemy forces. Although the method was somewhat embarrassing to speak of, it was her own fault for digging her own grave, so there was no need to dwell on it.
There were two important points.
First, he had emerged from the fierce battle with the mid-boss Orselia with almost no losses.
The Seven-Colored Spear was still pristine, and the Titan was only depleted enough to function. The spirit body, enhanced with various doping, was still in near-perfect condition and hadn’t consumed much processing power. If anything, his stamina was the only thing that had taken a serious hit.
Clearing a mid-boss without using potions, skill cooldowns, or stamina was undoubtedly a positive outcome.
Second, he had obtained a new artifact after defeating Orselia.
This was actually the bigger piece of good news.
Now, Siwoo had to face the traitor, former Duke Erelim.
Originally, he had planned to save a significant portion of the 23rd-tier witch power for the boss raid, but Hexennacht had prepared for war much better than expected, leaving him to bear the brunt of it.
He had learned from the Witch of Aries and Sister Kybele that Erelim was ultimately after Siwoo and his precious daughter, Malika, making the fight unavoidable.
Even if it was inevitable, he couldn’t be complacent.
His opponent was a 25th-tier being.
Considering how much the level of magic jumps every five tiers, it would be a completely different ball game compared to the fight against Orselia, where he had at least managed to hold his own.
In that regard, seizing the box—the Arca—was a stroke of incredible luck. It had given him a chance to increase his odds, even if just a little.
Therefore, Siwoo decided to allocate a bit more of his limited time.
Although Orselia had used the Arca to cast most of her magic, it wasn’t just about the item’s power.
After all, she was the one who created the box, and it was Orselia’s overwhelming self that had subjugated and controlled so many people.
The ability to use parallel processing dispels, control tentacles, and use erosion through the box was also due to the control of Orselia, the main CPU. Siwoo couldn’t simply obtain all of that power.
At the very least, he needed the cooperation of the witches within the box to utilize parallel processing.
“There’s no need to be so stiff. I’m not a weirdo.”
“Yes…”
“Ahem.”
“Ahem…”
But it wasn’t easy.
The Arca was a space that manifested the scenery of the mind. After Siwoo completely seized it, the structure of the mansion melted and was rebuilt, soon taking the form of the Geminae Count’s estate. It seemed that the mansion Siwoo found most impressive was his mother-in-law’s house.
“Um, well… so… yes, Mr. Shin Siwoo. Siwoo Hesed, Count of Gehenna, Head of the Hesed Society.”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“…Yes. Well, um… you’re a man, but you’re also a witch.”
“It just happened that way.”
“Yes. That can happen… I guess, yes.”
However, just because the space had changed didn’t mean their memories had.
The witches gathered here vividly remembered the male dominance Siwoo had displayed. And they also remembered the unspeakable debauchery he had shown, albeit due to Orselia’s impulses.
Amira, who had barely managed to open her mouth, clamped it shut and hesitated, while one of the witches next to her poked her in the side.
‘Do it properly! Amira! You’re the representative!’
‘Oh, no, did I want to do it? What kind of representative is a representative chosen a minute ago…?’
‘Still! You’re the highest tier! And when you were bragging about being a princess of the kingdom with the longest history!’
‘I… I never bragged!’
‘When you were looking for the pyramid!’
‘Kyaaaaah!’
She thought she was whispering, but Siwoo heard everything. Wasn’t he a martial artist whose senses were at their peak?
His impression from beginning to end was that this was some kind of farce. Compared to Orselia, Lydia was a bitch, but she was a cool one.
Lydia Magnus, the Golden Witch who had generously left her goddaughters to the man who had taken her life. Still, I don’t miss her…
But the witches trapped inside the box were desperate in their own way.
Their snappishness towards Siwoo wasn’t just due to simple embarrassment.
They only maintained their proper forms in this mental space, as they were originally part of the artifact. They couldn’t do anything on their own and were merely puppets granted temporary autonomy through their master’s commands.
That meant that since the artifact’s owner had changed, their master had also changed.
Amira had said something about “thank you for freeing us,” but that was just another way of saying, “New master, please treat us well.”
Of course, it wasn’t just lip service to sound good.
As seen during Siwoo’s “erosion” process, where they were forced to endure all sorts of shameful acts, Orselia was a terrible master, as bad as it could get.
She used her puppets with cruelty, with a self that felt suffocating just by being touched, and with torture that was almost like a constant torment. She would often throw those who resisted or were innocent into the junkyard simply because she was bored.
If they had the right to choose another random master, all the puppets would have gladly shouted, “Yes! Anyone but her!” So, Shin Siwoo wasn’t a bad option as a second-best choice.
But that was a pipe dream.
The man before them now had the omnipotent power to handle 56 beautiful women as he pleased. He could manipulate their mental states, kill them and resurrect them, or make them worse than dead.
Even if it was a mental world, wouldn’t anyone go crazy if a pervert who had sent 56 women at once gained god-like powers?
And in this prison where there were no witnesses and nowhere to run for help, he could freely indulge his desires?
Would he be able to resist?
Recalling the time of the erosion, he wasn’t a man who knew restraint. Didn’t he eagerly explore their bodies while spouting out unheard-of vulgarities?
Honestly…
Well…
It was an amazing experience, the first of its kind.
It was so good that they wouldn’t mind experiencing it again once in a while.
He was so handsome that it made them wonder if a man could be like that, and his body was also wow.
Anyway? Maybe? Shame is shame.
Of course, not everyone shared this lukewarm sentiment.
“I thought we had finally escaped the cannibalistic demon, but now we’re the toys of a pervert who will go down in history. What a miserable fate.”
A woman stepped forward, boldly breaking the awkward silence.
The sixth daughter of Peter the Great of the Romanov Dynasty and his second wife, Catherine I, who would later become Empress, ‘Margarita Sieri’.
Yes, the one from the ice-free port.
Margarita, with her thick eyelashes, glared and stood tall in front of Siwoo, despite the protests of those around her.
“I have suffered enough. I don’t want to live as someone else’s toy anymore. If you are the esteemed Count of Gehenna, you must know honor, right?”
Her behavior was arrogant, as if daring him to hit her, but her voice had a faint tremor, like a poorly played violin.
She couldn’t help but be afraid.
The box—the Arca—was a terrifying mind-control space that had made even the mighty Margarita cry out like a harlot beneath a man.
The term puppet wasn’t just a figure of speech.
With a single whim, Margarita, despite her firm resolve, would serve Shin Siwoo like a tongue in his mouth for all eternity.
If he wanted, even the shame she felt would disappear, and if he changed his mind, she would endure the shame again and offer her body to him. If he got bored of that, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to increase her sensitivity tenfold and play with her.
“Please take my life now, while I am still myself. Let me die as Margarita Sieri.”
So, now was the time.
When this man didn’t yet know what he could do. Before he became desensitized to stimulation and sought new ones. Now, when he was still wearing a mask of hypocrisy, however clumsily.
Since they communicated through interconnected brains and neural networks when not in operation, the camaraderie among the witches in the box was extraordinary. Didn’t camaraderie grow stronger when people went through hardships together?
The other witches tried to stop Margarita’s rampage.
“Ma, Margarita! Don’t do that! No matter how unsightly you looked, suicide isn’t the answer!”
“That’s right! We’re all in the same boat! We were possessed by Orselia back then… There’s nothing to be ashamed of!”
“That’s not it! Can’t you all feel it?”
Margarita yelled back.
The witches flinched at her outburst.
“This man isn’t a savior! He’s just a second master who will violate our minds in a different way!”
“Th, that’s…”
“I still feel like I want to be held by this man! I want to pant under a man I just met today! Do you think I, Margarita, a witch of noble lineage, would think such things while in my right mind? It’s already started! He’s controlling us! Can’t you see this simple thing?”
“……”
“I refuse to be used as a source of lust. So, kill me. You wouldn’t like such an arrogant me, would you?”
Siwoo was dumbfounded.
Control? What control?
From what he had seen so far, the box—the Arca—wasn’t like a calculator that worked with the push of a button. Even if Siwoo was a genius, if he could have controlled an artifact from a completely different field, especially one that transcended artifacts and was more like an external brand, he wouldn’t have had so much trouble taming the Red Branch.
“I haven’t done anything.”
“Hmph, don’t be ridiculous! Ptooey.”
“Hey, that’s dirty…”
“Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey! Kill me! Kill me now!”
Margarita continued to provoke Siwoo, spitting at him like a hydra. Even though it was a mental space, it was still unpleasant.
“I really haven’t done anything, you know?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Then why is it that a noble woman like me still has wobbly legs just from having sex once? Why does my lower abdomen tingle, why do I want to act cute with a lisp, and why do I want to hear vulgar, nonsensical words like ice-free port vagina while being filled with cum?”
At that moment, Amira quietly stepped forward.
Amira had been chosen as the leader not only because her bragging was excellent but also because of her role.
In the Arca cluster, Amira was a node and also a junction that connected other nodes.
In other words, if Shin Siwoo did something in this space, she would be able to notice it.
“Margarita, our benefactor… hasn’t done anything in particular.”
“He must have hypnotized us! Hypnotized us into thinking he hasn’t done anything!”
“No, he just can’t control it. He doesn’t have the ability to do so.”
Margarita paused.
She knew that Amira’s words were not to be taken lightly.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Are we being deceived?”
“In the first place, there’s no way you can naturally control an artifact as soon as you get it. Not without our voluntary help.”
“What about unconscious leaks that affect us?”
“His ego isn’t that large. Orselia was an anomaly who tormented us with unconscious leaks even when she wasn’t in the process of erosion.”
Looking around, she saw the gazes of her companions.
Gazes that seemed to look at something pitiful, something sad, or something intriguing.
“……”
Margarita, who had revealed to the world that she still had wobbly legs, a tingling lower abdomen, and wanted to act cute with a lisp, and wanted to hear vulgar, nonsensical words like ice-free port vagina while being filled with cum just from having sex once, heard something break.
That something was probably Margarita’s dignity.
“Haa.”
Siwoo sighed.
