Chapter 1221 – #287_The Witch Of The Constellations
#1215
1.
“……”
“Are you okay?”
“…Please leave me alone….”
Taking a minor misunderstanding as a fuse, Margarita, having finished her grand self-destruction show, trudged to a corner and sat huddled against the wall.
Several witches close to her offered kind words of comfort, but even after adolescence, people need time to be alone.
Feeling somewhat pathetic, Siwoo steeled himself.
The tension had completely dissipated, but there was definitely something he needed to address.
“I need your help. Do you understand what situation we’re in right now?”
“Yes, we watched from inside the box.”
“Clearly, Gehenna and Hexennacht were at war, right?”
Everyone nodded.
Being practically one with Orselia, they understood the external situation without much explanation.
Orselia was not a public enemy for no reason; most of the witches within Arca were from Gehenna.
Siwoo asked for their cooperation.
“I need your help.”
“If you need our help…?”
“Could you cooperate so that I can manipulate Arca, just like when Orselia was sent to the junkyard?”
No sooner had Siwoo’s question fallen than a witch popped up from the corner.
It was Luna, who had been wearing the maid costume.
Still, she was the one he had talked to the most, so he was somewhat glad to see her.
“Is what you’re asking really a request, Master?”
However, the image Luna had shown was also forced by Orselia.
Having broken free from control and regained her senses, she asked with a very distant tone.
Strangely, there was even a hint of fear.
“We can’t thank you enough for saving us from that vile woman who eats anything. But Margarita isn’t entirely wrong. In the end, we’ve only changed masters, and we’ll end up serving you, forgetting even our duties as witches, won’t we?”
Luna’s appeal cast a shadow over the faces of the other witches.
“You’ve achieved great things as a man, so over time, you’ll come to control Arca. We know that’s bound to happen even if we don’t help you.”
That was indeed likely.
Even if Arca was not easy to control, it was still a tool created with the assumption that it would be ‘used,’ wasn’t it?
Right now, they could only use parts of the box with the witches’ cooperation, but it was clear that someday he would be able to manipulate Arca without their voluntary consent.
“If we refuse to cooperate here, you’ll make us pay the price when you fully possess the box in the future. So please understand that we cannot literally accept your request.”
“So?”
“We want a promise. If we help you, you will absolutely, absolutely not make any demands that go against our will….”
-Kugugugung!!!
Suddenly, a sound like thunder cracked, and raindrops began to patter against the mansion’s windows.
Though not a single breeze blew, the flames on the candlesticks danced and swayed, creating a ballet of light and shadow.
An uneasy murmur spread among the witches.
The change in the mental space’s environment was a phenomenon caused by Siwoo’s very unpleasant mood.
It was after the instincts hidden deep within him were unearthed due to the erosion.
The erosion process was over, but the raw, sticky impulses, like oil poured over his head, still lingered.
It meant he was easily impulsive, easily swayed by emotions, and easily turned barbaric.
To Siwoo, Luna’s attitude did not feel like a victim trying to secure minimal safety out of fear.
It felt like a woman who had been rescued from drowning was now demanding that her baggage be taken care of as well.
Was this another one of those?
Just like in Hexennacht, were they trying to take advantage of him because he seemed a bit easy to deal with?
Were these women, who couldn’t even move in front of Orselia, trying to climb on top of him now that a new, somewhat easier master had arrived?
Should he have set the tone instead of just accepting their thanks?
If he set an example and made them obedient, wouldn’t there be no need for persuasion?
Even if he couldn’t control the box, Siwoo’s safety was absolutely guaranteed within it.
One of the most fundamental rules of Arca was that ‘a puppet cannot harm its master.’
Conversely, wasn’t it true that he could grab anyone and beat them as much as he wanted without any resistance?
The ferocious impulses amplified with each echo.
A strange voice was mixed in with those impulses.
It was Orselia.
Don’t hold back.
Just conquer them, right?
Do you think you’re that different from me?
Anyone who tastes even a fragment of this omnipotence becomes captivated.
How do you think I managed to control so many witches?
The way to use the box is simple.
First, you just need to show one person how those who defy you will be destroyed.
You can influence just one person, even in your current state, can’t you?
These bitches are threatening their master, aren’t they?
They know you have to fight Erelim.
They’re being cunning, knowing that you can’t use the box without their cooperation right now.
“……”
His cold reason was telling him.
There was no way he could hear Orselia’s voice.
She was waiting for the end of her long, agonizing torment in the junkyard, isolated from the box.
So, this was a hallucination to rationalize Siwoo’s impulses.
It would be easier to rationalize if he could blame his weakness of will on someone else’s temptation.
It was also the danger inherent in the box itself.
A human given omnipotent power, even in a very limited space, could not easily handle that sense of omnipotence.
“Get lost.”
And so, Siwoo barely managed to shake off the hallucination.
Too bad. See you next time.
Orselia’s mocking voice faded away.
“Wait a minute!”
Eshley, who had rushed in at the tense atmosphere, hugged Luna.
By the way, she was the one who had been going back and forth with Luna.
The older sister with a sexy beauty mark and a strong personality, whose weakness was her anus.
“Luna doesn’t know anything and was reckless, causing great disrespect to Master. I’ll take all the responsibility, so please, to Luna….”
Eshley, having slid on her knees almost like a ceremony, pleaded with a pitiful expression.
“Please, could you endure it with this body, with this body? I’ll do everything you ask to suit your taste, so please….”
Not only that, but she was even trying to throw off her clothes.
It was as if she was trying to cover for Luna’s mistake with her body.
“…Ha.”
He had lost his mind.
Siwoo scratched his head vigorously.
These witches were also pitiful victims.
They were only trying to secure minimal safety because they had nothing but anxiety about the future. Was it right to look at their efforts with resentment?
They were appealing to his conscience, knowing that even that was meaningless.
The air, which had been rattling uneasily like a mansion isolated in a storm, turned warm and cozy.
“You don’t have to do that. I know it’s hard to trust me. Well, we all saw each other in a bad state during the erosion phase.”
Siwoo gently helped Eshley up.
“I’m not asking for your cooperation for nothing. After winning this fight, I plan to take all of you out of the box.”
“What?”
“What do you mean by that…?”
That was the plan from the beginning.
He just hadn’t thought of it because he was swept away by his impulses.
“The box—Arca—is certainly a powerful artifact, but it’s too far removed from my style. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well like this.”
Everyone stared at Siwoo with wide eyes.
“I plan to support you in taking your brains, nervous systems, and brands out of the box so that you can have proper bodies again. Of course, it doesn’t seem easy, so it might take some time.”
It was such an unexpected answer that a reaction close to joy erupted.
However, some looked at Siwoo with suspicion, their eyes full of doubt at the too-good conditions.
It was such a one-sidedly favorable story that it made them suspicious.
“Is that, is that really true? Is that really possible?”
Oxana, a witch with attractive red hair, asked with tears welling up in her eyes.
“Fortunately, your brands and brains in the box are completely preserved.”
Siwoo explained his plan.
There were many outstanding witches in the Hesed Society.
There was Shin Yebin Smirna, a healing-type witch, and Gretel Neftis, a soul witch who could separate grafted souls, both of whom belonged to the Society.
Siwoo had also begun to seriously study the ‘rebirth’ of the lotus, so he could provide considerable help.
By applying the inherent recovery power of the spirit body, they had the ability to give new bodies to the puppets who had become brains in the box.
“Ah, finally…. Finally, from this wretched place….”
“Thank you, thank you so much….”
“How can we ever repay this kindness….”
But having the ability and having the will were two different things.
For someone to give up this powerful artifact, which could realize all sorts of filthy fantasies, just out of conscience was an act of kindness that was hard for some to believe.
Even if he said that now, who knew if he would wipe his mouth clean later and start fondling Oxana’s breasts?
“If that’s true, it’s a debt we must repay for generations, putting our witches’ honor on the line…. But how do we guarantee it?”
To the witches who showed cautious distrust to the very end, Siwoo drove in the final nail.
“Oh, and some of you might know this. I’m a disciple of Duke Tiferet.”
2.
The name of his teacher, who was unparalleled in righteousness, was heavy.
The witches, who had no other choice in a way, all nodded readily and cooperated with Siwoo the moment he mentioned her name.
Wasn’t I the one who saved them? He felt a little wronged.
“Ughhhhhh….”
Thus, with the cooperation of the puppets, Siwoo, having established a complete ‘link’ with the box, shuddered at the bizarre sensation as if his thinking ability was expanding.
It felt like a second brain had sprouted from the linked spine?
Like a large amount of spirit was seeping into that brain?
Anyway, it was definitely not pleasant.
[Are you alright?]
Fifty-six voices struck his mind directly like a single bundle.
“No, my insides are just turning upside down, blegh…!”
[Currently, only ‘parallel processing’ is possible. But it will be helpful to you, Master. Please, achieve victory and grant us new freedom….]
“I will. Oh, and if you don’t have a place to work, I’ll give you jobs.”
[How can you be so generous….]
In the fish tank that had transformed back into a chapel, only Siwoo and the glass box with floating gray matter of brains and wombs remained.
It seemed like it would be too cumbersome during battle, so he put Arca into a subspace and only maintained the link.
-Creak
As soon as he opened the old door and stepped out, what greeted Siwoo was not the scenery of the fish tank, a medieval port city.
White ash was falling.
The ash, falling profusely over the hazy green world, had already formed a small hill.
From right in front of him to the end of the horizon, tombstones that showed the passage of time stood askew.
A silence, stillness, and quiet that made it seem like you could even hear the sound of candle wax dripping.
-Thud
And far away.
A witch was approaching, stepping on the pure white sand like the first snow.
With each step, magical reflective light in the shape of tears scattered.
The final boss of this war.
The Witch of the Constellations, Blanche Erelim.
