Chapter 232 – Witch Hunt (7)
“What’s this? You look like a dried up kernel of corn.”
…..Ananta was memorable since the first time we met. My comrades all laughed, and Vieira Dune shook her head.
I suddenly really wanted to look at a mirror. I didn’t think I was ugly…..did I really look that bad?
Anyways, Ananta was always close to crossing the line, saying mean things like that like it was nothing.
She had a sharp atmosphere around her that made it hard to approach her. That was why the team members laughed, but they asked me again and again why we had to keep her close.
However….why did she look like a dog that was all bark and no bite to me?
I wanted to become closer to her, even if that wasn’t part of the conditions that Brahm outlined.
His brother said the impression he got from Ananta was that she was ‘venomous.’
Also, it was that she was lonely.
Her loneliness behind her frozen exterior was what pulled his brother towards her.
‘Since he always stuck his nose in others’ businesses.’
Though he used to be holed up in his room all the time, he quickly caught onto things and often interfered.
At first, Ananta was annoyed that his brother kept on following her around.
She continued to insult him and even attacked him with a sword later on.
Sighing, she relented to his pleas to become her friend and asked him a question.
-Do you like me?
-No. I have a girlfriend.
-Then what is it? Why are you bothering me? Go ahead, tell me to meet that geezer. I’ll cut your tongue out right after.
-So you’re saying that you won’t use your sword if I don’t tell you to meet Brahm, right?
-We’ll see.
-Hehehe. I’ll play with you.
-What?
-Your bark is fierce, but your eyes are sparkling like a puppy. So I’ll play with you. Aren’t you grateful? You won’t ever find a friend like…..!
-Seriously, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
-Ack! You said you wouldn’t use your sword!
No one knew what she was thinking as they engaged in playful conversations like that. However, one thing was for sure. These conversations marked the start of Ananta opening up to Jeong-woo.
Arthia was sick of Ananta’s insults and didn’t go near her anymore.
Their relations.h.i.+p ended with Ananta and Brahm reuniting, her falling in love with his brother, and rescuing Sesha.
And now, Ananta was in front of him.
‘Why are you like this? Ananta.’
The person that he saw in the diary and Brahm’s memory was here.
She loved his brother pa.s.sionately, but her affection was never returned.
She was an unfortunate woman who had raised Sesha like her own, but she couldn’t even hug her anymore.
She had been pushed to the edge of the world and was, in the end, caught by the witches.
Boo investigated the souls of many witches, and he delivered the information he learned to Yeon-woo.
Thanks to that, Yeon-woo knew the general situation of what Anata had been through.
-What about the test subject? Where is BX-71?
-Test subject? Why are you looking for that from me?
-Do you think anything will change just because you pretend not to know? I’m talking about the Dragon Human you took! The vessel that is needed to birth our mother!”
-Haha! Hahahaha!
-Why are you laughing?
-You guys are crazy. Completely.
-What?
-Tell this to Vieira Dune, the b.i.t.c.h that’s referring to her daughter as a test subject and a vessel. I’ll rip her apart one day.
Test subject BX-71.
It was what the Walpurgisnacht called Sesha.
They did many experiments to bring their ‘Great Mother’ to their plane, and they found Faust’s knowledge in that process.
They had experimented with all kinds of beings and narrowed their options down to using Sesha.
And it was not just Ananta, but everyone in the gla.s.s coffins who were such test subjects.
There were all kinds of beings—a normal human man, baby goblins, spirits, old people, and so on. Something in common among all of them was that they were unmoving in the purple liquid, like dolls.
Sesha was BX-71. She only received the name ‘Sesha’ after she met Ananta.
-You can look forward to it. I’m not nice enough to forget about this. I’ll kill every one of you by ripping your legs and arms from your body.
Ananta continued to resist under the horrible torture.
No, she even glared at the witches in her bloodied state.
Because of this, the witches felt s.h.i.+vers when they looked at Ananta even though she was bound up so she couldn’t move.
After they realized they couldn’t learn anything from Ananta, they a.s.signed her a mysterious number called PA-12 and sent her to the labs.
Ananta was also a Dragon Human. Her ident.i.ty was completely set, so it was hard to use her as a vessel, but she was great to experiment with.
‘They even tried to sell her to the Elohim at an expensive price.’
This was also something he learned after squeezing information out from the witches’ souls. The Walpurgisnacht had heard that the Elohim were starting to tie up loose ends and contacted them.
‘Restoring the Superior species? How useless.’
The Elohim’s obsession with lineage was really amazing. It wasn’t that it was hard to understand.
G.o.dly blood became fainter as time went on, and powers would disappear. A few power-hungry families were even taking to incest.
However, even that had its limits, so they needed Ananta. They were going to use her to take their seeds and use her as a test subject when there was no use for her anymore.
Even if they pretended to be better, the Elohim was no different from the Walpurgisnacht. They were all trash that had to be cleaned up.
‘I should save her first.’
Yeon-woo found the source code of the magic circle with the connection through Boo, and contacted his magic power with the magic circle.
One of the advantages of the Philosopher’s Stone was that it could be changed to any type of magic power.
When his t.i.tle, ‘Blessed by Magic Power’ was added to this, the hacking process went smoothly.
Jing, pong—
All the pumps and pipes that led to Ananta’s gla.s.s coffin fell. Purple liquid poured out to the ground, and with the sound of something unlocking, the gla.s.s coffin slowly opened.
Yeon-woo quickly examined Ananta’s condition. Even though all the experiments were paused, she didn’t show any signs of waking up soon. Her face was pale.
‘She’s too exhausted. And her mind is being completely controlled. She needs to be treated quickly.’
Her mind was nearly gone, as though they had been trying to make her into a doll.
Yeon-woo stopped her exhaustion with a temporary healing magic and laid Ananta down in a capsule he pulled out from Intrenian.
It was a healing capsule that he had prepared in case of injury. Just being inside it would heal you.
“The next time you open your eyes, the family you wanted to see will be there. So just hang on and wait a little longer.”
Yeon-woo stroked Ananta’s forehead. Her rigid eyelids became less tense.
Did she hear him? Or was it just a coincidence? He couldn’t know, but Yeon-woo thought she seemed relieved. He put her back inside Intrenian.
In the lab, there were many other test subjects than Ananta. But he didn’t feel any life from them. They were breathing, but their souls were dead.
It was right to send them away so they wouldn’t be in pain anymore.
Woong—
Yeon-woo gathered Aura at his fingertips. Just when he was about to explode it…..
“What’s this! What happened here?”
“Why is the storage empty?”
“All the treasures have disappeared! The treasure chest of ghouls isn’t here!”
“The weapons storage is empty too!”
“Same with the archives! F, From the magic books to the Emerald Tablet—they’re all gone!”
“Just which rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d…..!”
“The labs! Run to the labs! Now! The lab is in danger!”
He could feel the witches suddenly running around with his Extrasensory Perception.
They had lost it from seeing the empty storage and archives.
‘I thought there wouldn’t be enough time. Boo did better than I hoped.’
How confused they would be. Thinking of Vieira Dune’s crumpled face, Yeon-woo smirked.
[Mas. Ter.]
Just then, Boo’s skull popped out from his shadow.
[The. Enemies.]
“I know. Good job.”
[Your. Happiness. Is. Great. Honor. To me.]
Boo bowed, his body trembling like he didn’t know what to do from the compliment. Inferno Sight burned with joy in his eye sockets.
Yeon-woo flicked his fingers and shot the gathered Aura. Snap. It was a skill he had recently learned after researching Aura.
Pipiping!
Tens of Snaps pierced the gla.s.s doors to land directly in the foreheads of the test subjects. Their heads swung and fell helplessly to the ground. Blood and purple liquid poured out to the cracked gla.s.s on the floor.
Boo absorbed the purple liquid on the floor. Those were all materials to make the Philosopher’s Stone too. He needed it to become stronger. He had already collected the other Philosopher’s Stones that were in the underground prison.
Vieira Dune and the witches arrived in the lab after Yeon-woo and Boo completely hid themselves.
“H, H, How did something like this…..!”
“The test subjects!”
“What about PA-12? Find PA-12 first!”
“PA-12 is the only one not here!”
“Dammitttt!”
“It hasn’t been that long since their traces were left! The rat b.a.s.t.a.r.ds wouldn’t have been able to get far, so find them! Quickly!”
The witches first searched for Ananta in the messed up lab. However, they quickly started to look elsewhere as they realized Ananta wasn’t here.
Meanwhile, the other witches tried to calm the trembling Vieira Dune down.
“The materials for the vessel…..the vessel to call forth our Mother…..!”
The message that Vieira Dune received from the Great Mother.
It was to prepare a temporary vessel even if it wouldn’t last long.
She also said she would punish those who ruined her deep sleep.
It was more of a prophecy than a message, and Vieira Dune had thought of Ananta first.
They had been planning on allying themselves with the Elohim after selling her, but the situation was too urgent. And with Ione backstabbing them so directly, this was the only way.
However, all their plans would be ruined if Ananta was gone.
She looked around to see if there was anything else that could work as the vessel, but all the test subjects had holes in their heads the size of a fist.
It would really be the end of the Walpurgisnacht at this rate.
“Dune, calm down…..!”
“Calm down? How can I calm down? What’s everyone doing? What have you been doing to let things get this far out of hand?!”
Vieira Dune slapped away the hand of the witch trying to pat her shoulder and spat out those words.
Her pupil-less eyes were scarier than normal.
The witches all stepped back in surprise. Their leader, who hadn’t stumbled even once, was making a sharp voice for the first time.
At that moment, they were able to remember what kind of person Vieira Dune was.
She was the most witch-like witch.
She entered the clan without any background, sweeping away her compet.i.tors to become the leader.
Her compet.i.tors all died mysterious deaths. Poison, a.s.sasination, disappearances, brainwas.h.i.+ng….there was no evidence, but it was clear that Vieira Dune had done it.
That was why everyone, including the first witches, were scared of her. She was someone who stabbed her lover’s heart without any hesitation. She was someone who could take care of people like that without blinking an eye.
Furthermore, she was talented enough to receive the favor of the Great Mother. No one could touch her.
It had been quiet, without much happening, but Vieira Dune hadn’t changed.
No, her spite was greater after holding it in for so long.
Twist—
The hair under her hat began to spin to turn into snakes. Her signature skill, . The snakes that ate their parents and turned people into stone wrapped around the necks of the witches.
The witches turned pale. Their backs stiffened. The tens of snakes and Vieira Dune’s pupil-less eyes made them pause their breathing.
“Everyone. Listen well. Before the intruders come, find PA-12, no, Ananta, that b.i.t.c.h. Even if everyone here dies.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes!”
“Yes, understood!”
“Then run.”
Vieira Dune’s voice calmed down again, but the rigid atmosphere continued to close around the witches’ necks.
They frantically ran. If this went on, they may actually end up as Medusa’s food.
Vieira Dune activated magic to chase after the enemy too. There were traces of the security system being hacked. She was going to find how the source code was stolen and chase after the culprit that way.
As she did, she found something unexpected. The patterns of the magic power were somewhat familiar. It seemed like it was from a Draconic species. No, to be exact, it was similar to her old lover’s.
She had definitely killed him.
Vieira Dune suddenly felt a hair-raising fear, and just when she turned her head to the to the other witches—
Boom!
Something exploded from the ceiling. Glimmering black fire spread out and swallowed everything in its path.
It melted the witches around her, and chased after the witches that had gone out to search.
From the labs, archives, to the storage rooms, from the 6th floor to the 1st floor, everything underground shook.
Everything collapsed, not being able to take it. Everything that the Walpurgisnacht had worked for all that time fell in one sweep.
Yeon-woo appeared through the black fire and broke the barrier that had been protecting her.
“You…..!”
The moment she saw the eyes in the black mask, Vieira Dune’s eyes widened.
Even though he was wearing a wig, it was someone she held hands with, kissed, and spent nights with for over 5 years. The person who had smiled at her first thing in the morning. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize him.
Her dead lover was right in front of her.
Puk!
But Yeon-woo immediately swung Vigrid like there was no need to speak with her.
Vieira Dune’s head flew back in the air. Before it was swept up by the black fire, her eyes were filled with shock, terror, and fear.