City ​​of Witches 409

Chapter 409 – #88_Harvest Festival(2)

#408

1.
The largest existing cartel in Mexico, ‘Alcoriza Familia.’

This massive cartel, widely known for implementing the most refined violence and reign of terror, is responsible for 90% of Mexico’s total drug supply.
In addition, the profits generated from prostitution, human trafficking, arms smuggling, oil theft from pipelines, and illegal job placement amount to hundreds of trillions of won annually, and the number of official members alone is close to 30,000.

Even in the war waged by the president’s army five years ago, who had declared the eradication of the cartel, they emerged victorious. The head of Alcoriza Familia was already a king above the law, a figure of evil feared by everyone in Mexico.

However, not many people remember that the head of the largest cartel in history, Luis Alcoriza, was just the leader of a bunch of thugs who sold drugs in a rural village only about 20 years ago.

“Hoo, I don’t know.”

A vulgar room, filled only with ostentation and vanity, not the sophistication that has been passed down through generations.
Alcoriza, sitting on a leopard-print sofa in a scene that would be a great example if there were a book titled ‘How to Decorate Like a Nouveau Riche,’ wiped the cold sweat from his wide forehead.

His bulging belly made even the fit of his stylish white suit look awkward.
If you were to take off the shiny gold bracelets and designer sunglasses that adorned his wrists and neck, he would look no different from the unemployed people who are all over Mexico.
In reality, he was a man with nothing particularly outstanding about him.

“Why, this kind of thing…”

Alcoriza fidgeted with a gold-plated revolver, trying to calm his anxiety.
But no matter how hard he tried to calm down, the sweat wouldn’t stop flowing.

He was a notorious figure worldwide, a godfather whom even ordinary citizens on the street couldn’t dare to insult, but even he was terrified of the ‘witch.’

Back when he was still dealing with meth and opium in gram units.

As usual, after a few drinks, Alcoriza was cursing about the excessive protection money demands when he happened to meet a woman.

It was a white woman with beautiful jade eyes and aristocratic platinum blonde hair, who was a mystery as to how she could walk around unharmed in Quauhtepēc, where even strong men were shot and killed.

Normally, Alcoriza would have made an obscene joke or tried to touch her.

But instinctively, feeling both the ominousness and nobility emanating from her, Alcoriza bought her a drink and had a polite conversation with her.

That act of kindness, given without much thought, changed Alcoriza’s fate.

‘It’s a bit awkward to take this for free. Do you have any desires you want to fulfill?’
‘Haha, I was born a small-minded person, so I just wish I didn’t have to pay protection money.’
‘Is that really all? Try wishing for something bigger? Maybe I can grant it. I am a witch, after all.’

Bianca introduced herself as a witch.
Of course, he thought it was a joke.

“Hahahaha.”
‘I’m serious? Not one of those poor women who were falsely accused and burned at the stake. A real witch.’
‘If that’s the case, make me the biggest drug lord in Mexico. I’ll buy you even better drinks than this.’

He thought it was just a cheap joke he had made while drunk, but Bianca Bellili made it a reality in less than five years.

Everything went smoothly as long as he followed her instructions.
The heads of rival organizations who opposed them died without a trace.
She provided an unlimited supply of mysterious drug refining methods that he had never heard of or seen before.

Alcoriza was a timid and quick-witted man, but he wasn’t completely incompetent when it came to business.
With Bianca’s help, he took over smuggling routes and absorbed clients from the cartel he had unified, and his organization grew explosively. When he came to his senses, he was the drug lord of Mexico, whom no one could oppose.

It felt like he had become Faust, who had made a deal with the devil.
No, that wasn’t it.
As time went on, he realized that she was actually closer to a devil.

But Alcoriza, intoxicated by the cornucopia, obeyed her orders and reaped the rewards.
Wealth, fame, and power that overflowed no matter how much he scooped up with his hands.
If he handed over less than half of his net profit, Bianca would make everything a reality.

After the cartel was on track, Bianca didn’t interfere much or give any specific instructions, only taking the protection money.

Then, she suddenly gave a strange order.
She ordered him to gather about 10,000 of his organization members at Alcoriza’s mansion within 48 hours.

Even though Alcoriza Familia wielded immense power in northern Mexico, this was clearly a risky move.
It would attract the attention of the joint police force, draw the intense interest of various intelligence agencies, and perhaps even give the United States a reason to intervene directly.

But more frightening than the consequences of this reckless choice was the unknown intention of the witch.
Alcoriza, who no longer felt nauseous even when he saw people being dismembered, knew that Bianca Bellili was fundamentally different.

He still often encountered nightmares of Bianca killing rival cartel leaders with a bright smile.
It wasn’t the gruesome scene that was frightening.

Rather, it was the fact that the sight of a rival cartel leader who had eaten his entire family after losing his mind and then committed suicide out of shock was not for any particular ‘message,’ but solely the result of her curiosity that was more terrifying.

“Is it because of the double books? Or is she really planning a war? Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Alcoriza racked his brain, trying to figure out his mistake or the witch’s plan.
As he continued to worry pointlessly, no one appeared even when the promised time arrived.
Alcoriza, with trembling hands, lit a cigar and suddenly felt something was off.

Even though his house was on a large plot of land, there should have been about 10,000 members of his organization milling about outside.
In other words, there was no reason for it to be this quiet, nor could it be.

“Jose! Nemesio! What’s going on!”

He called out to his two subordinates who should have been guarding the door with assault rifles.

“……”

There was no answer.
Alcoriza, with wide eyes, waddled towards the window.
Looking out the window, he muttered a low curse.

“Joder….”

A large, bottle-shaped mirage covered the mansion.
A bizarre phenomenon that could not be explained by any scientific method.
It was magic cast by the witch.

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

The garden and swimming pool, which were decorated in a flamboyant style to match Alcoriza’s nouveau riche tastes, were empty.
Even if all the members of the organization had suddenly started playing hide-and-seek while high on drugs, the silence was physically impossible.

Alcoriza gripped the slippery pistol grip tightly and trembled.
He could feel it.
The devil who had filled his coffers with mountains of gold had finally come to collect the price of their contract.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…”

Alcoriza muttered the Lord’s Prayer, looking around.

“Hello.”
“Hya!”

He pointed his gun towards the source of the voice.
There stood a woman with short, shoulder-length hair.
What was unusual was that she had inhuman red eyes and a beauty comparable to Bianca.

“A-are you… by any chance… the witch…?”
“That’s right. So you were Bianca’s money source?”

Not knowing what was going on, Alcoriza nodded hastily.
From the words ‘money source,’ he felt a possibility that he could save his life if he continued to pay tribute as he had been doing.

“Y-y-yes, I am!”
“Hmm… you look too stupid.”

The witch’s eyes narrowed.
Her sharp red eyes, which seemed to be evaluating him, quickly lost interest.

“Will you kill yourself?”
“Y-yes…?”
“I don’t want to get my ribbon dirty with the fat on your belly. So please kill yourself. You have a good thing in your hand.”
“W-witch! I’m sorry! I will be loyal! P-please… spare my life, spare my life… Kugh!”

A black ribbon suddenly shot out and pierced Alcoriza’s stomach.
It inflicted a pain far more terrible than being instantly killed by a gunshot to the brain.

“You never listen. It was a friendly piece of advice.”
“Kuhak! Kuaaa… Witch… please…”
“Bianca has terrible taste. Keeping a moron like you as a subordinate.”

As he lay on the floor, writhing in pain, he was able to understand how his 10,000 subordinates had disappeared as if they had evaporated.

His fingers began to melt and disappear without pain, as if they had been doused in hydrochloric acid.
Similarly, his entire body began to melt like a sugar cube in boiling water.

“A…a…no…!”

Alcoriza, who couldn’t even scream in his death throes, as it all happened in less than 3 seconds.
Something pale was sucked into the lotus-shaped artifact that Aea was holding in her hand.

“The fuel efficiency is terrible.”

Aea looked at the object in her hand and chuckled.
She had fed it not only the brand extracted from Bianca Bellili but also the lives of 10,322 people.
Only then did the lotus begin to glow and activate, making her want to laugh.

Even though it was an artifact that could distort and reproduce everything, it would never have been able to function normally with such poor fuel efficiency.

That is, if it had been when Keter was moving.
But she no longer moves.

The mystical light, filled with countless lives, sparkled like a prism reflecting sunlight.
The lotus, which had finally bloomed completely, responded to Aea’s call and wish, performing a single miracle.

“May you regain your past glory, and reach an even higher realm.”

The operating method itself was not difficult.
It was originally an artifact that had already been completed, and its purpose was for ‘resurrection.’
Aea felt the light permeating her body.

In the dark Ain.
She could feel the structures that had been plundered filling up densely.
The power of magic, surging and regenerating with more intense force than before, was being strengthened and gushing out.

A euphoria that was almost equivalent to an increase of nearly 10 ranks at once, something that an ordinary witch could not experience.

“Ah… ahh….”

The experience brought her pleasure comparable to an orgasm.
Aea moaned, savoring it.
And….

“You’ve returned, my lovely loom.”

The dense ribbons that had sprouted on her back fluttered like ornaments, welcoming the magnificent return of Aea Sadalmelik, the witch of Aquarius.