Chapter 153

[Translator – Prøks]

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Chapter 153: Slaughter Fest

High in the sky.

Powerful mana was gathering. The density of mana was so thick that just looking at it made their hearts pound and their breath catch.

The apostles were shocked.

‘What’s this?’

‘Was Iris’s magic this powerful?’

‘Has she reached a new level?’

The witch Iris.

One of the two rulers of the continent.

She was indeed a great mage, comparable to her rival, the Ice Dragon.

But she was never this powerful. So they couldn’t help but think that the witch’s realm had advanced.

‘Or…’

‘It could be the appearance of another witch…’

How did the witch first appear on this continent?

She appeared with a crack in the sky. And now, the same phenomenon was observed again.

Even bigger and darker than when Iris appeared.

There was no reason why another witch couldn’t appear on the Caesar Continent.

Perhaps the magic they were witnessing was being cast by this new witch.

In any case,

The purpose of casting such a tremendous magic was predictable.

It was most likely to boost morale.

Armies usually went through a boisterous process when holding a departure ceremony.

Of course, judging by the shape of the crack, it was possible that another being had appeared on the dragon’s side as well…

But no matter who they faced, as long as they had someone who could unleash such powerful magic, the enemies were doomed.

Soon, the magic took shape.

A crimson flame, formed from a small dot like the sun, appeared so high in the sky that it was impossible to tell how high it had been created.

The apostles were convinced at this moment.

Their victory was certain.

Even the dragon tribe couldn’t withstand such a powerful mage.

With excited voices, they shouted.

“As expected of the great witch!”

“Waaaah!”

—Long live the witch!

Humans and undead alike,

Regardless of race, they all sang praises.

The magical energy gathering in the sky was worthy of such praise.

Then,

The flames began to grow rapidly. No, it wasn’t growing, but…

‘Huh?’

‘It’s falling?’

‘Towards us?’

The meteor plummeted at a tremendous speed. The army of 100,000 couldn’t even react.

They hadn’t even considered the possibility that the magic would be directed at them, and by the time the magic started to descend from the sky, it had already gained momentum, leaving no time to do anything.

Kwaaang!

The meteor crashed into the middle of the encampment, causing a massive explosion.

* * *

The witch’s army cheered like enthusiastic fans watching an idol.

He could roughly guess what they were misunderstanding. So, he used that misunderstanding to his advantage.

Just like now.

The five-stacked Meteor hit the center perfectly.

Intense heat and explosion.

When the smoke cleared,

More than two-thirds of the 100,000 troops were dead. Without leaving a single corpse behind.

The surviving troops weren’t in good shape either.

Their bodies were shattered by the shockwave, staggering. They were closer to death than alive.

“Oh my god…”

Iris stared at the scene with blank eyes.

The apostles and their subordinate troops.

It wasn’t that she had any great affection for them.

Witches were chosen from among the most talented mages across all dimensions.

This was true even for the apprentice witch. In other words, it was a kind of elitism.

The creatures of the lowest dimension?

To her, they were just pawns to be used and discarded. Only beings from higher dimensions were considered worthy of being seen as living beings.

However,

‘How can such beautiful magic…’

Iris was admiring a different aspect. The power to kill 100,000 with a single spell!

The power itself was impressive, but even more impressive was the control of the magic.

If a magic of that scale had hit the ground, it should have affected the nearby tower as well. But there was no tremor felt here. If there hadn’t been a noise from outside, they wouldn’t have even known a meteor had fallen.

It was truly perfect control.

Even for a Grand Witch,

If they possessed a power similar to Merhen’s, and dropped a meteor in that state,

She wondered if they could achieve the same result. It was that impressive. Iris said with sparkling eyes,

“Th-that’s amazing… Truly!”

—Of course. It’s Merhen’s magic.

“How did you control it so delicately?”

—Silly? You’re the enemy. Why would I tell you?

“…”

Iris instantly deflated at the blunt truth.

Regardless,

Kim Minwoo looked at the message.

[Over 70,000 monsters hunted with a single attack!]

[Title, ‘Feast of Slaughter’ acquired…]

[Level up…]

[Level up…]

Endless level-up messages.

—Minwoo. Did you level up a lot?

“Yes. I went up 30 levels.”

—Really? Congratulations! You leveled up a lot?

“Yes. It’s more than I expected.”

Kim Minwoo nodded in satisfaction. Although he had killed 70,000, most of the monsters were already lower level than him.

The main ones were the Chimeras and Spectral Knights he met at the fortress, and they were only in the mid-200s.

‘Whereas I was 330.’

Usually, when there was a level difference, the experience gained would decrease significantly.

Considering that the required experience also increased rapidly as the level went up,

‘I leveled up quite a lot.’

It was a very satisfying amount of experience for just a flick of the finger.

Moreover, the experience gain didn’t end there. Merhen’s mana was completely depleted by the five-stacked Meteor, but

[Unsummoning Merhen!]

[Summoning Merhen…]

He could summon her again by using 500,000 mana.

And in perfect condition.

‘This is why summoning a Legion Commander is broken.’

Even without the Death Lord discount, it only cost 100. The amount of mana required for summoning was fundamentally overflowing.

“Take care of the rest.”

—Okay! Leave it to me.

The remaining army, finally realizing something was wrong, began to resist fiercely.

They ran towards the tower, or fled in terror. There were various reactions, but the outcome was the same.

[Merhen casts Great Storm (SSS)…]

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A massive wind suddenly appeared.

Just like the end of the Spectral Knight Order he had seen before, the remaining troops were all swept away.

[Merhen casts Hellfire (SSS)…]

Flames were sucked into the storm. Even the apostles who had luckily survived on the outskirts couldn’t withstand this attack.

Velitas had died from two mini-breaths from Cedric.

Moreover, this was dozens of times more powerful than the mini-breaths from before. It would have been strange if they had survived.

The remaining army was completely wiped out.

His level increased by another 10.

A total of 40 levels, bringing his level to 370.

The few remaining small fries were taken care of by the orcs and elves.

After the cleanup, he collected the items. They were all junk, except for one.

The 4th Apostle’s Ring.

A unique fragment item obtained from defeating Velitas.

[1st Apostle’s Ring…]

[2nd Apostle’s…]

[3rd Apostle’s…]

The remaining apostles also dropped their rings. The moment he gathered all four rings,

[The Apostle’s Rings combine!]

[They transform into the Apostle’s Complete Ring!]

They merged into one, transforming into a light green ring.

He checked the stats of the completed item.

[Apostle’s Complete Ring]

[Rank: Legend+]

[Requirements: Level 300 or higher, Mage Only]

[The rings of the apostles who pledged loyalty to the witch have been combined into one. This is their complete form.]

[Effect 1. Mana +200]

[Effect 2. All magic skill performance +20%]

[Effect 3. Casting speed -20%]

[Effect 4. Magic Defense +20%]

“Merhen. You wear this.”

—Wow! Are you really giving it to me?

“Of course. You worked hard, so you deserve this much.”

He couldn’t wear it anyway, since he was a Caster, not a Mage.

—Hehe. Thanks, Minwoo! I’ll work hard!

Merhen jumped up and received the ring.

He then took off the Magic-rank ring on his left hand and put on the ring he had just obtained on top of it.

‘This concludes the first cleanup.’

He thought about the things that absolutely had to be done on the continent before the Witches’ Coven and the Dragon Legion’s investigation teams arrived.

Feeding Hayang the fragments.

He had already fed her in the central and northern regions.

If he visited the remaining three places and fed her the fragments, he would be guaranteed to reach 100% in the ice attribute.

And…

He looked at the witch, Iris.

“Iris.”

“Yes.”

“Are there any other races besides elves and dwarves on this continent?”

“Yes. Mainly barbarians and gnomes.”

“They probably have skills too, right?”

“Skills?”

“Yeah. Dwarves are blacksmiths, and elves are alchemists. Things like that.”

Iris seemed to understand and nodded.

“There are similar things. Gnomes can create runes, and barbarians… uh… I’m not sure if it’s crafting, but they get tattoos.”

“Runes and tattoos?”

“Yes. Runes are created separately and embedded in equipment, like special effect items. Tattoos are known to grant mystical powers when engraved on the body. I tried to get one myself, but… they were stubborn.”

Well,

Even the dwarves were stubborn enough to choose death over providing equipment to the witches.

Gnomes and barbarians wouldn’t be much different.

However,

“You didn’t kill them all, did you? I’d be really angry if you did.”

“…N-no! I didn’t kill them all! There are still many alive! Really!”

Iris hurriedly waved her hands and answered.

It wasn’t that they were intentionally kept alive.

It was just that the races he mentioned resisted fiercely, so it took time to subdue them. That was actually fortunate.

If they had all been killed?

They might have tasted Kim Minwoo’s wrath. No, it would be more fitting to say Merhen’s wrath.

The fear of being frozen stiff and unable to breathe properly.

It was a nightmare she didn’t want to experience again.

Kim Minwoo nodded in satisfaction at her words.

He felt much more at ease knowing they were alive.

Whether it was rune crafting or tattoos,

They had learned alchemy and blacksmithing, so there was no reason they couldn’t learn these as well.

Skeletons were omnivores.

“Those two races. Where are the most survivors?”

“Here and here.”

Iris pointed to the map. It was near the south and east.

‘Good.’

It seemed like he could stop by there, feed Hayang the fragments, make the weather warmer, and then approach the survivors.

He had saved the continent and even captured a witch, so he could start by building some goodwill.

“Let’s go.”

Kim Minwoo stood up.

It was time to move diligently.

* * *

Grand Witch Ananke.

One of the seven absolute rulers of the Eastern Witches’ Coven and the head of the Raven School.

And one of the two Grand Witches who survived the ‘Calamity.’

This meant she was fundamentally different from the other five Grand Witches.

They were the next generation of Grand Witches, chosen after the previous ones died, but she had continued to live on.

Ananke, who was meditating under a pitch-black tree as usual, opened her eyes.

The countless ravens perched on the tree also opened their eyes wide.

—Caw! Dead!

—Caw! Cute child!

—Caw! Three heads!

The ravens began to cry out madly.

Their pupils trembled as if consumed by fear, and they urinated.

Several of them even rolled their eyes back.

—Caw! We saw it!

—Caw! Finally!”

—Caw! He has returned!

—Caw! The smell of decay!

The ravens spewed omens of misfortune.

Ananke smiled and asked,

“Is it true?”

—Caw! It is!

—Caw! She has also returned!

—Caw! Fool! Fool!

—Caw! Your nightmare!

Suddenly.

Ananke’s brow furrowed.

As she clenched her fist, the bodies of the ravens that had cried out “fool” and “nightmare” burst into pieces.

“You’re wrong. Not anymore.”

The ravens all shut their beaks at once. It didn’t matter much to Ananke.

She had already heard everything she needed.

Soon, her figure disappeared.

She instantly arrived at the ‘Living Orb Chamber.’

It was a facility that confirmed the life and death of witches through the biological magic cast on their bodies.

The ones maintaining the observation were the senior witches. They were skilled individuals who had reached the mid-level ranks of the Witches’ Coven.

These witches quickly bowed their heads.

“We greet the esteemed Grand Witch.”

“Three heads. Who died?”

“…Leluya. A full-fledged witch. We were planning to form an investigation team.”

“There’s no need for that. I’ll go myself.”

“If that is what the esteemed one desires, then by all means.”

The Grand Witch’s orders were absolute.

If she said she would do it,

Then it had to be done.

For a mere senior witch, even showing curiosity was considered disrespectful.

“Where?”

“Leluya was heading to Sector 9.”

“That’s all I need to know.”

Ananke smiled.

Soon, her figure completely disappeared from the First City.

It took a few minutes for the senior witches to finally raise their heads.

‘…She’s gone.’

Only then did the witches breathe a sigh of relief, freed from the suffocating pressure.

In any case.

A few things were certain.

Since the Grand Witch herself was taking action, there was no need for them to dispatch a separate investigation team.

Also, Leluya’s death,

It wasn’t a simple matter that would end with the death of a mere full-fledged witch.

‘What’s involved in this?’

‘For the Grand Witch to take action herself…’

The senior witches pushed aside their complex thoughts and continued observing the Living Orb.

[Translator – Prøks]

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