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Chapter 82: Witch\'s Forest 2

The Witch’s Forest was riddled with corpses of monsters and members of the Eclipse Clan.

A considerable battle had occurred in the area hours ago.

“Ugh… This is making me sick…”

The horrible stench that permeated everywhere made the invisible Silvia scrunch her nose.

The other mercenaries had the same reaction.

Everyone was grumbling and making short dissatisfied comments about the smell.

“This stench is absolutely disgusting.”

“Fucking hell…”

The only relief was that there weren’t many monsters attacking them.

The Eclipse Clan seemed to have somewhat cleaned up the outer area of the forest.

‘But I don’t see any survivors.’

After listening to the blonde young man’s story, Woohyuk didn’t have hopes of finding any.

As he silently walked, he slowly recalled the past.

‘The witch is someone they would have a hard time to defeat.’

She was one of Lilith’s subjects who represented the seven deadly sins.

They had the strength comparable to the 72 Demon Kings, and commanded over countless monsters.

It meant that even Woohyuk could not easily defeat her.

“Can we actually kill this witch, brother-in-law? Even the Eclipse Clan was annihilated. Shouldn’t we ask for reinforcements…?”

“No. That will just create a bigger chaos and more confusion.”

The Witch of Envy Kriemhild could cast wide-range debuff magic.

Her opponents who get affected by that magic fall into a state of confusion and attack their own allies.

That was how the Eclipse Clan had gotten erased from existence within half a day.

‘Our men won’t be of much help either.’

Those with a low Spirit stat could only fall powerlessly to the curse magic.

Although everyone had drunk the Saint’s Potion and increased their resistance to abnormal status ailments, that wasn’t enough to confront the witch.

They would simply resist losing consciousness and could only try their best to stay awake.

‘We must win the battle as swiftly as possible.’

As long as they could find the abandoned monastery, victory wasn’t out of reach.

However, the forest was shrouded in a dense black fog and his visibility was considerably reduced.

They would lose their way if they just blindly advanced into the forest.

“Is this even the right direction? It feels like we’ve been walking in circles…”

“It’s just your imagination.”

He had lent Tinia the jabberwocks, so the chances of the Blue Hawk Mercenaries falling into traps were diminished.

Obviously though, the jabberwocks would lose their way from time to time and hesitate to choose a direction to go to.

As Woohyuk was talking about all kinds of topics with the invisible Silvia, an unexpected racket suddenly rang out.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“A monster attack!”

“Th-There’s too many of them!”

A horde of different monsters had assaulted them.

A battle had started. Before heading to fight, Woohyuk first tried to reassure Silvia.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“Look after my sister as well. She tends to try to solve everything on her own.”

“Of course I will.”

Tinia was the central figure of the Blue Hawk Mercenaries, so if she were to die, the whole group would fall apart.

As he cut down the hell hounds that lunged at him, Woohyuk checked on Tinia.

‘She’s doing fine for now.’

Like a veteran mercenary leader, Tinia was cutting down her enemies on the front lines.

She truly lived up to her name as ‘Windstorm Tinia’. The monsters facing her were ruthlessly cut apart by a turquoise vortex.

“Krrr!”

“Kieek!”

After realizing that Tinia was a powerful opponent, the monsters gathered together and attacked her at the same time.

Their numbers were considerable.

However, everyone around her was busy fighting their own fights, and nobody could help her.

“Tinia!”

Seeing her sister surrounded by monsters, Silvia raised her staff and cast a magic chain.

Her magic linked the monsters together so that they got recognized as a single entity.

Due to her little sister’s help, Tinia managed to avoid the crisis.

Slash!

The turquoise vortex struck a troll and ripped it to shreds, along with 5 other monsters that were linked to it.

The remaining monsters ended up facing the same fate.

A single moment of confusion amongst the monsters had ended up costing their lives.

Once she finished dealing with them all, Tinia turned to her sister and gestured her gratitude.

‘They make a great combo.’

Woohyuk nodded as he watched over the two siblings.

It was most probably because they had been matching their breaths and timings since a very young age.

As he pondered on how to recruit the two sisters to his side in the future,

“Brother-in-law, I have a question.”

Silvia whispered to him.

“What is it?”

“If my sister and I were in a dangerous situation, who would you save first?”

An unexpected question.

Woohyuk made a troubled expression.

He was in a dilemma.

‘It might be best to answer truthfully.’

It was meaningless to make up a hypocritical lie right now.

Woohyuk stared Silvia directly in her eyes and opened his mouth.

“I’ll save you first. Because that’s the promise I made with Tinia.”

“...Can’t you worry about my sister before you worry about me? She is someone who doesn’t deserve to die in a place like this.”

To Silvia, her older sister was an object of admiration.

She was a cheerful person who could do anything perfectly. She also wouldn’t cower in front of men and would always keep her back straight and head high.

If Tinia were to die because of her, Silvia would never be able to live on with the guilt in her heart.

Seeing her earnest request, Woohyuk gently stroked her head.

“Tinia also cherishes you with her life. If you were to die, she would feel the exact same guilt as you would.”

“But…”

“If Tinia worries you so much, stay by my side at all times. If you do that, I won’t ever have to make such a decision.”

As long as Silvia wasn’t in danger, this dilemma would never happen.

Once Woohyuk finished convincing her, Silvia silently nodded.

She had finally realized the importance of her role.

“Everyone has defeated the monsters. Get ready to depart again.”

“...Alright.”

They needed to keep marching persistently to reach the abandoned monastery before sunset.

The Witch’s Forest was impressive in size.

As he held onto Silvia’s hand, Woohyuk stared behind the bushes.

He sensed a gaze watching him from afar, beyond the dark fog.

The witch Kriemhild was observing him with her crystal ball.

‘Seems like she found out my identity.’

However, that didn’t matter to him.

His current objectives were to protect Tinia and Silvia from the monsters, and to recuperate Medusa’s Bronze Mirror.

He was prepared to do anything to achieve those goals.

Woohyuk started walking as he steeled his heart.

***

Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs).

It was a famous fable throughout the Eeth Continent.

The tragic love story of Sieg and Brynhild sparked a lot of controversy.

The reason behind the controversy was because the original Edda Chronicles that recorded the story had been damaged, and the finale of the story couldn’t be read.

Therefore, the stories that spread around were mostly recreations by different people.

However, people generally considered the most famous and plausible story as the fable’s true ending.

As he continued marching with the Blue Hawk Mercenaries, Woohyuk tried remembering everything he could about Kriemhild.

‘That woman did not tell the truth until the very end.’

The damaged part of the fable.

Restoring the damaged part was an important goal amongst the Overlords, and Woohyuk had once tried to uncover the truth, as ancient documents often held hidden skills or epic quests for people to uncover.

‘There may be a hidden clue here.’

Back then, the ones to conquer the Witch’s Forest were the Gray Wolf Alliance.

Woohyuk later defeated Kriemhild who had escaped and was planning for her comeback.

In the end, Woohyuk never gained any reward related to the fable. It had always bugged him.

‘I must meet this Rael guy.’

Woohyuk had never heard of the version Rael had told the sisters.

It would be worthwhile to meet him at least once.

However, even Silvia didn’t know where he was residing currently.

“He left you two behind?”

“Yes. Once my sister came of age, he handed down Tabris and disappeared. We’ve been asking around about him ever since, but we haven’t found any traces of him.”

Woohyuk also heard about the contents of the contract Rael made with Tinia through Tabris.

If they were to meet again one day, Tinia would have to listen to a single request of Rael’s.

After hearing that, Woohyuk made a puzzled expression.

“A request?”

“He said that he couldn’t reveal the details of the request yet because there were some circumstances or something.”

Rael had kept a lot to himself.

He had never revealed his birthplace, his homeland, and not even the reason why he was an independent mercenary.

‘This is quite suspicious.’

However, considering these events had happened 20 years ago, it was unlikely that Rael was a demon.

‘What about a God or an angel?’

Woohyuk couldn’t see why those kinds of beings would raise two war orphans for years. It wasn\'t that there was no reason at all, but he couldn’t think of a plausible one right now.

He was in deep thoughts as he pressed on his temple with his finger. Suddenly, a system message popped up in front of him.

[New Quest]

Name: The Mercenary who Disappeared with the Wind

Type: Chain (1/2)

Content: With Tinia, find Rael who is hiding in the Witch’s Forest and uncover his identity. You fail the quest if Tinia or Rael perish before then.

Other: Once failed, cannot be repeated.

‘A hidden quest.’

He probably got the quest from Silvia because she was deeply related to the two people in the quest.

But he didn’t expect Rael to be inside this forest.

‘I have a bad feeling.’

It was impossible for an ordinary human to survive in the witch’s sanctuary.

Rael most likely had a contract with the witch.

Woohyuk could finally ask about Rael’s circumstances and hear the answer from his own mouth.

Soon, they arrived at the abandoned monastery and Woohyuk went to see Tinia who was leading the group, bringing Silvia with him.

“Let’s move together from now on.”

“...Sure. I also prefer having Silvia by my side.”

According to the Eclipse Clan’s survivor, the witch Kriemhild used a powerful wide-area debuff magic.

If the mercenaries entered a confused state, they could potentially attack Silvia.

Even though Woohyuk had assured her he would protect Silvia, Tinia couldn’t help but worry about her sister.

While Tinia was talking with the invisible Silvia,

“Ho ho ho ho ho!”

A woman’s unpleasant laughter resounded from the abandoned monastery, and dark mana started spreading.

Woohyuk instantly realized who it was.

‘It’s Kriemhild.’

The Witch of Envy.

Her special skill was to awaken and stimulate the jealousy deep within people’s subconscious.

Most of the curses Kriemhild used were based on the power of that jealousy.

Therefore, when fighting against her, you had to pay attention to your allies’ movements as well.

Once he came up with a strategy, Woohyuk turned to Tinia and spoke.

“There’s something I need to say before we fight against the witch.”

“What is it? Something like ‘I love you’?”

“...I’m a necromancer.”

An unexpected declaration.

Tinia’s eyes went wide.

“A necro… mancer?”

“Watch carefully.”

Instead of explaining with words, Woohyuk summoned a skeleton soldier, and ordered it to do a popping dance. Tinia stared dumbfoundedly.

“Why are you showing this to me?”

“To prevent any misunderstandings.”

To face Kriemhild, Woohyuk had to use his full power. If he kept his powers and identity hidden, he would soon face death.

“Alright. I’ll warn the others about it.”

Woohyuk’s intentions had gotten through her, and Tinia nodded.

Silvia also made a convinced face.

As the siblings began to steel themselves for the battle,

“What brings you here with all these insignificant humans?”

A black portal appeared above the abandoned monastery, and a woman with maroon hair stepped out.

Kriemhild.

Her words were addressed to none other than Woohyuk.

She had sensed the hidden mana within him through her abilities as a witch.

‘She started talking before engaging in battle, just as I expected.’

There was no need to draw his weapon first, since he also had many questions to ask Kriemhild.

He ignored the curious gazes of the mercenaries and answered.

“I’m here to see Rael.”

“Rael? There’s no one going by that name here. Oh, is it one of the rude humans who trespassed into my territory earlier? If so, it might be best to consider him dead. Well, I do keep some of them alive from time to time for other uses.”

By letting some survivors return alive, the witch could spread terrifying rumors about herself, and she would have fewer trespassers to disturb her day.

The blonde man they had met earlier hadn’t escaped the ordeal, but had instead been spared by the witch.

Although the witch replied proudly, Woohyuk spoke again.

“Rael. A young man with fiery red hair and incredible sword skills. He disappeared 10 years ago. Back then, he used the greatsword this girl is wielding now. Does that ring a bell?”

“...Oh. Now I see who it is you’re searching for.”

The corners of Kriemhild’s mouth rose.

She turned her head towards the abandoned monastery and spoke.

“Sieg, come on out for a bit. You have some guests.”