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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
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Chapter 198: Abyss (1)
“But why did Medea betray the Eastern Witch Council? Isn’t that group like a dream for witches?”
—Medea was a great prospect in the Blood School. It was certain that she would be the next leader.
—Like Ananke. But… The light was only temporary. She dabbled in forbidden magic.
“Forbidden magic?”
Snap!
Leluya snapped her fingers.
Then, a piece of paper popped out onto her hand.
[Special Criminal Wanted Poster]
[Subject: Medea Eraser]
[Crime List: Development and Experimentation of Forbidden Magic]
[Exploitation and Amplification of Life Force]
[Forcibly extracted the life force of seven hundred witches.]
[Forcibly imbued life force to turn witches into monsters and increase proficiency.]
[Caused a large-scale disaster in the First City.]
.
.
The wanted poster contained Medea’s face and a list of crimes.
“So, you’re saying she extracted the blood of others to strengthen herself?”
—Close. She greatly enhanced her abilities through this magic and temporarily gained power comparable to a lesser god.
—But she lost control of herself. A large-scale disaster occurred. Many witches died in the First City.
—The Eastern Witch Council considered this a serious violation of taboos. They expelled her from the Blood School, sealed her power, and ‘demoted’ her to the Heavenly City to have a time of atonement. Also…
Leluya, glancing this way, continued.
—…To make Medea perform a specific task.
—Simply put, to find something in the Heavenly City.
—She couldn’t return to the Eastern Witch Council before that.
“But she ran away. Didn’t they send her too comfortably? They could’ve just imprisoned her or killed her.”
Leluya sighed at those words.
—Her talent is real. An excellent witch feeds ten thousand ordinary witches.
—It was a waste of talent to kill her.
—Even when sending her to the Heavenly City, they placed numerous restrictions on her. A large number of surveillance personnel were also dispatched. Escape was impossible in the first place.
“But she did it.”
Leluya rolled her eyes.
Soon after, she sighed and said,
—Yes, she broke the seal. To some extent at least. That was an unexpected situation.
Putting that aside.
“If she’s one of the Seven Lords, she’ll be in the 1st District. It’ll be hard to find her.”
Medea was in the 1st District and he himself was in the 9th District. The chances of them meeting right now were slim.
The only way would be to lure Medea to the lower districts.
‘With what?’
There’s no particular reason for her to come.
It’s hard to imagine Medea coming down nicely if he called on her using the names of the Eastern Witch Council and Ananke.
‘They made a pact.’
That’s why she said she had to grant three wishes. It’s hard to imagine her coming down nicely to grant them.
Unless she’s hiding very well, he’ll meet her eventually.
Although, much later, there was also the option of meeting Medea when he would go up to the 1st District.
The advantage is that by then, he would have built up enough power to confront Medea if any problems arise.
The disadvantage is that he wouldn’t be able to immediately utilize Medea, who seems like a useful pawn.
‘I also have the issue with the Red Flag right now.’
He would have preferred to meet her on his next trip to the Heavenly City.
The three wishes thing was pretty interesting, but what intrigued him the most is her ability.
Blood School.
It’s a school related to blood, and he happened to have an artifact related to blood.
‘Blood Jade.’
It’s an artifact that can absorb and collect blood to strengthen summoned creatures.
Wouldn’t a witch of Medea’s caliber be able to influence this artifact?
That’s why he was interested.
—Do you want to find her right away?
“If possible?”
—Then there’s a way to summon her. I mentioned earlier that she once gained power comparable to a lesser god.
—We sealed that power and contained it in her heart. It would be a very tempting item for Medea.
—I currently have the heart. The benevolent Ananke gave it to me.
“…You’re going to give me her heart?”
—Yes.
—If you want it.
—You’re free to use it however you want.
“The conditions are too good?”
Of course, He and Ananke were currently in a cooperative relationship.
But that’s that.
Handing over an item that a special criminal would go crazy for is a different story, isn’t it?
—I told you earlier. We asked Medea to find something.
—She’ll need the power contained in the heart to find it.
—In that sense, returning the heart wouldn’t be a bad thing. You become a sort of delivery person.
“Aha.”
Putting that aside.
He stared at Leluya.
“What happens if I take it?”
—Go to the Heavenly City.
—The heart is no different from her clone. Medea, sensing its beat, will come find you.
—Of course, she’ll try to take it away.
“I have an inventory. Will she still find it if I put it in there?”
—She won’t come if you’re on Earth. The distance is too great for her to sense it.
—But she’ll come to the Heavenly City.
—No matter where you hide the heart, she won’t fail to sense it.
‘Oh my.’
She’ll come even if he puts it in his inventory.
As expected of a Seven Lord.
“Can I bind her securely by invoking Ananke’s name?”
—It’s a pact.
—It’ll be possible to some extent.
—However, the pact isn’t an unlimited wish ticket. There will be limits to the requests. For example, she won’t just die obediently if you ask her to.
Leluya warned.
After hearing the explanation, Kim Minwoo nodded.
For example, let’s say he asks her to stop the Red Flag.
How hard she tries to stop them would depend on Medea’s feelings.
‘That’s why they added the phrase ‘if she likes you’.’
If Medea likes him, she might fulfill the three wishes very actively.
But if she doesn’t like him?
She could fulfill the wishes in a disastrous way.
In the end, the core was simple.
Take the heart and summon Medea right away, or don’t take it and find her later.
That’s all there is to it.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Prøks]
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His worries deepened.
Frankly, it wouldn’t be strange if Medea tried to kill him and steal the heart.
If he’s unlucky, he’ll have to fight.
The reputation of the Seven Lords is not to be taken lightly.
Could he win if he fought Medea right now?
‘With the guidance of fate, it might be possible.’
Future Park Siwoo.
No, if he summoned King Siwoo, he might be able to face her.
The downside is the short duration.
But Medea would also suffer all sorts of penalties coming to the lower districts, so there was a chance of winning.
‘At least I can withstand one surprise attack.’
By then, the penalties would become severe, and Medea might retreat. Of course, fighting itself wasn’t a good option.
He wasn’t summoning her to fight.
“Give it to me.”
—Are you really going to take it?
“Avoiding it isn’t my style.”
They could try to resolve it through conversation. If he could meet Medea early, he might be able to have a smooth journey in the Heavenly City.
A dangerous but attractive option.
‘I can’t resist this.’
He was always the type to risk his life for a thrilling experience.
Thump!
The sound of a heartbeat echoed.
A gray heart was now placed on Leluya’s hand.
It was the size of a human heart.
[Sealed Heart]
[Rank: Special]
[The heart of the witch, Medea. A terrifying power wriggles within.]
He received the heart and put it in his inventory.
* * *
Two days passed quickly.
In the meantime, he finished preparing to go to the Abyss Lord’s residence.
The three guild members gathered at the guild house.
Park Siwoo, seemingly excited, snorted and said,
“A party, it’s been a while. It’s the first time for Sister Siah.”
As he said, the last time they went on a party hunt was probably…
‘An A-rank gate, the Giant Dungeon.’
It was a dungeon where giants of all professions appeared in sets.
They had drastically reduced the clear time there, making a name for themselves before facing the Ilsung Guild.
A lot had changed between then and now.
It was only two or three months ago.
Back then, Kim Minwoo was a newbie who hadn’t even reached level 250, but now it was different.
‘Level 491.’
He was among the top 2% of all Awakened.
From level 501 onwards, they were considered S-rank Awakened, and S-rank was just a label, but for most Awakened, it was an insurmountable hurdle.
‘Usually, they hit a limit level.’
Level 300.
The level cap for ninety-nine out of a hundred people.
“What level are you Siah?”
“162.”
“Siwoo, you?”
“Ahem. I raised mine quite a bit. 331.”
“Oh, you passed A-rank?”
“I worked hard. Still a long way to go, though.”
“What about Yerim?”
“541.”
Kim Minwoo nodded.
It wasn’t that Park Siwoo or Seo Yerim’s growth was slow, it was just that his growth rate was abnormal.
Just take Park Siwoo, for example.
Level 331 in just six months after Awakening.
Even Kim Minwoo, who had been playing this game for nearly 15 years, had never seen such a speed.
Of course, it was inevitable.
Isabella, who set the world record, took about a month to reach level 51.
Reaching level 200 in six months would be a big deal.
Moreover, considering the structure of the game where the experience required for leveling up increases drastically, reaching level 331 in half a year was by no means a slow growth rate.
The same went for Seo Yerim.
When they first met, her level was around the early 400s.
Now it’s 540, a difference of 140 levels, but considering the required experience, it was a tremendous leveling speed.
‘Han Siah is a newbie who just started.’
Of course, from her perspective, being Awakened since birth, she had been Awakened the longest.
Considering that she was confined in the Griff family mansion and only followed the academy curriculum for hunting in Korea, it wasn’t strange for her level to be low.
‘I heard she didn’t like hunting much anyway.’
How could she enjoy hunting by using the magic she hated so much?
Leveling up might have been just a formality for her.
Anyway.
The guild members seemed to have finished their preparations.
“Leluya.”
The witch nodded and reached out her hand. At that moment…
The swirling power gathered in one place. A small dot spread out into a surface and transformed into a circle.
A round portal opened its mouth like a maw. It was a portal filled with pitch-black energy.
—This is a portal connected to the Abyss Lord’s residence. The Lord resides in the Abysmal Sea.
—The Abyss peers into everything.
—Nightmarish memories, happy days, joyful memories. If you get swallowed, it’s over.
The Abyss Lord’s residence.
He heard it was a space filled with a pitch-black abyss like a vast sea.
‘They said it inflicts a kind of mental attack.’
And in the deepest part of that abyss, where the darkness is most profound, the Lord lives.
The problem is that the closer you get to the deepest part, the stronger the mental attack becomes, driving you insane.
It’s so dangerous that even a Grand Witch can’t reach the deepest part.
‘Once every 100 years.’
When the Abyss Lord comes out.
That’s the only time it’s easy to hunt it. Luckily, that time is now.
It’s a time when the Abyss Lord appears on the outskirts, so they can hunt it without being greatly affected by the abyss.
“Let’s go hunting.”
Kim Minwoo was the first to step into the portal.
Soon after, the scenery changed.
[Entering the Abysmal Sea!]
It was a space filled with thick black fog.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Prøks]
[Proofreader – Prøks]
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