Chapter 226 – Witch Hunt (1)
Hwak!
Marquis Caliburn entered a new space through the portal. It was the outer sections of the Tower. Unlike the 23rd floor, this was full of hot air, and the thick scent of blood wafted around him.
His face hardened at the sight in front of him.
Everything was in ruins. There were destroyed buildings and traces of a violent battle.
For a moment, Marquis Caliburn wondered if he opened the wrong portal.
That was because the place that he had entered coordinates for was the Kelat Auction House. Nowhere else in the Tower had flourished like it, so of course he would wonder if he arrived at the wrong place after seeing the ruins.
But the moment he saw the subordinates of the Blood Land sitting on top of the remnants of the buildings, he realized that he was at the right place.
“What happ…..!”
“You’re here?”
Marquis Caliburn was about to shout at the subordinates, but a familiar voice spoke up from behind his head. It was the voice of Duke Ardbad. The marquis turned his head and unwittingly gasped.
“Sir…..!”
“Don’t make a big deal out of it. The underlings will become uneasy.”
Duke Ardbad waved his hand like it was nothing and plopped down next to his subordinates.
His right sleeve was empty. The toned and muscled arm was gone.
“What…..happened?”
Marquis Calirbun pushed his anger down. As the Blood Land rose, he battled his way through countless battlefields, but he had never seen a bloodied battlefield like this.
Because he had been staying on the 23rd floor after the Demons’ Forest was destroyed, he wasn’t up to date on what happened.
Duke Ardbad took a big bite from the bread he was eating and spoke nonchalantly.
“The Red Dragon went crazy.”
“That means…..?”
“You’ve heard about that thing called the Trigmegistus’s tablet or whatever, right?”
“Yes.”
“In the auction house it was being sold, the Red Dragon made a fuss. I guess they weren’t satisfied with just turning the Magic Tower, the magnate’s people, and the Bureau into their enemy. Humph!”
Marquis Caliburn felt like he knew what happened after that. It probably meant that they had turned all the other clans that had participated in the auction into their enemies. He could guess what went down.
The confrontation of Red Dragon, who was trying to steal the tablet, and people trying to stop them. Red Dragon had won.
To be honest, it wasn’t that surprising. It was a bit humiliating, but even the Blood Land was no match for the Red Dragon. Those guys were strong even to fight against the entire Tower without even blinking an eye.
However, he couldn’t believe that they had taken one of Duke Ardbad’s arms.
The Duke Ardbad he knew wasn’t someone who would easily lose to someone, unless it was the Gluttony Emperor. No, even the Gluttony Emperor wouldn’t have been able to attack him one-sidedly like this. Ardbad didn’t symbolize ‘power’ for nothing.
But he lightly waved his hand like he didn’t want to walk about it.
“Aside from that, how did it go with the Hoarder?”
“We received a promise that he would come visit the capital. Also, with Baron Lao…..”
Marquis Caliburn explained what he learned. Duke Ardbad nodded his head, since it was all things they had guessed.
“I see. With this, the Emperor will be put to ease a little. Anyway. The Elohim, those bastards must have gone crazy too.”
Duke Ardbad’s eyes were burning up.
From Red Dragon to Elohim. He didn’t know why there were so many people after them.
“Everyone in this Tower is nothing but a parasite to burn up. I don’t know why it’s so hard to regain our promised land.”
Duke Ardbad muttered with annoyance.
“Caliburn.”
He called for the marquis.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Marquis Caliburn quickly bowed, kneeling. In a battlefield, the commander’s orders were equivalent to the Emperor’s. The marquis’s eyes shone.
“We’re going to prepare our military. Get ready.”
It meant that the parasites who tried the Emperor’s will would be swept away. It was a declaration of war.
Marquis Caliburn’s body trembled. The peace that a group called Arthia had created through their death was finally about to crack.
“Yes, at once!”
***
A long time after Duke Ardbad and Marquis Caliburn left with their subordinates, a new red portal opened, and Yeon-woo and his party appeared.
“It’s a mess.”
Brahm looked around the Kelat Auction House, or what was left of it, shaking his head in disbelief.
Even if it was understandable that they turned their backs on the other clans, what about the Bureau? On top of that, touching the auction house meant that they had turned several mysterious merchants’ unions into enemies as well.
It was hard to know the exact power of the Guardians from a player’s standpoint, especially the 12 Zodiacs, the greatest Guardians that even the gods and demons couldn’t touch.
If they stepped up, the Red Dragon wouldn’t be able to avoid damage.
And the unions of the mysterious merchants? They couldn’t step up and fight against the Red Dragon like other clans or the Bureau.
However, as large as the Red Dragon was, they needed that many more supplies. If the unions cut them off, it would be hard for them to fight.
There was no way the Red Dragon wouldn’t know something that even a child knew.
Did they have something to back them up? But since they were being this arrogant, it seemed like they were just leading everyone, including themselves, on the road to destruction.
“That’s how rushed they are right now.”
“I guess. If their queen dies, everything’s over for them.”
Brahm calmly nodded his head at what Yeon-woo said.
If the Summer Queen died, the power that they had would cave in like a sandcastle. Thinking about it now, it was like they were dangling off the edge of the cliff at the moment.
“If they’re kicked about one to two times more, they’ll fall straight into the abyss.”
“It’ll be fun to watch if something that big falls.”
Yeon-woo smirked and looked into his shadow.
“Boo.”
Checheche—
As the shadow stretched out, a robed Lich appeared.
[Please. Give me your. Orders.]
“Find where the Red Dragon went.”
Boo nodded and floated up to the sky, holding his black bead up.
Hwak! The bead emitted a light downwards and started to pour out magic.
Boo had grown at a fast pace, exceeding the powers of most other Lichs with rune magic, Victoria’s studies, the other research that had been gained from studying the Philosopher’s Stone, the power ‘Lawless Book,’ and Demonism.
Brahm looked at Boo with an interested face.
“That guy is even more amazing every time I see him. Where did you find him?”
“What are you talking about?”
Yeon-woo had found Boo through an earring he earned as a reward. As far as he knew, Boo was a player from a long time ago.
“Hm? You didn’t know? I don’t think he realizes it yet either, but that guy was probably pretty famous when he was alive. Even if he’s a Lich, that kind of growth is impossible. To be exact, it’s probably better to describe his new powers as ‘getting them back’ rather than ‘growing.’
Brahm stroked his chin.
“Even if no one knows, that guy was probably above the 3 friends you got there. If compared to people now…..he would probably be one of the Nine Kings.”
[…..!]
[…..!]
[…..!]
Shanon, Hanryeong, and Rebecca’s emotions were relayed to him through his connection with them.
Of course they would, since they had considered Boo beneath them as he still couldn’t speak properly.
Yeon-woo also had a strange face.
‘Boo was originally on the level of the Nine Kings?’
Yeon-woo had only met two of the Nine Kings so far—the Martial King and the Summer Queen. However, he had seen a bit of the others through their shadows on the 21st floor, so he could guess what kinds of beings they were.
But Boo being compared to them? He couldn’t imagine it.
And furthermore, why had such a person fallen as a soul and become bound to an artifact as a mere Tutorial reward?
Also, the artifact that Boo had been inside of was rank D. It wasn’t something that such a person would have used.
The name ‘Boo’ was given because of the fact that he was a Witch Doctor. [TN: Witch doctor is boodoosoolsa in Korean.]
But Boo didn’t seem to react much to what they were saying, perhaps oblivious to the situation.
While Yeon-woo was deep in thought, Boo’s voice rang out.
[I will. Show you.]
The black bead shined a sharp light.
At the same time, several scenes flashed past Yeon-woo. They were scenes of what had happened in this place.
Hwak!
-Has the Red Dragon finally gone crazy?
-The treasure is just going back to whom it should belong. Isn’t that right? Items are taken with power. Isn’t that something you guys do well too?
With a scoff from Tom, the Beginning, and the clash between the Red Dragon and the others, the Kelat Auction house was destroyed instantaneously.
Like a ghost, Yeon-woo could watch everything from above the Auction House.
<Eye of Consternation>. This was the power that Boo had created using the Lawless Book as a reference. It recreated old events using the vestige left behind in objects.
The Red Dragon’s power was incredibly overwhelming.
It was shocking enough that the youngest of the Nine Dragon Sons, Tom, had come, but they even managed to push all the other clans back.
Duke Ardbad’s right arm was sliced off by the Old Sword, Hanan’s cane, and the two bishops from the Devil Army weren’t able to overpower the Murderer Twins, Jack and Ripper. Hawk Eye Troy extended his fingernails to massacre the rebelling scholars of the Magic Tower, and such gruesome scenes were happening all over the auction house.
‘It’s a mess.’
Yeon-woo was so taken aback that he laughed in disbelief.
This was what he had aimed for in the beginning, but it seemed like the scale would grow larger than what he had expected.
‘All the better for me.’
The dirtier the water became, the more they fought, and the person to benefit from all this was him.
Meanwhile, Tom took the tablet and moved to the 76th floor through a portal.
The commotion in the Kelat Auction house ended there, but the confusion that was left behind lasted for a long time.
Between the different clans and players, Yeon-woo found the witches he had been looking for. Looking down at them, he moved towards where they were.
They were familiar faces to Yeon-woo.
‘D’arc and Margaret.’
From some time ago, Vieira Dune started to be followed by people who seemed to be protecting her.
I didn’t know why, but the first witches who were born from the mother of witches, ‘Night,’ protected Vieira Dune at her side, becoming her teachers or her family.
Vieira Dune was the clan leader of Walpurgisnacht, but she couldn’t lead them alone. So there were people who became her godmothers, protecting her.
The first witches.
No one knew where they came from. However, it was widely known that they were old monsters that had been alive since the beginning of the Tower.
D’arc and Margaret were among those first witches, and they had taught Vieira Dune ‘Seduction’ and ‘Occult Power.’
-Just what happened? Why is the Emerald Tablet there? There are traces of something on it…..but it’s definitely the Emerald Tablet.
-Who leaked it? It seems like it’s from Leonte. Just who would do such a thing…..
The reason for the participation of the two witches was simple. It was so they could confirm the legitimacy of the tablet. And once they found out that it was real, they realized that someone had leaked the tablet. If they weren’t stupid, they had probably already guessed that they might be the ones to receive backlash for what would happen. But they couldn’t show it.
-First…..let’s get out of here.
Since they had confirmed the Emerald Tablet, they were planning on discussing what to do after returning to their headquarters, Brocken Castle.
D’arc and Margaret took the young witches under their command with them and recited magic to activate Teleport from far away the commotion to return to their headquarters.
‘Boo!’
Yeon-woo didn’t miss it.
Brocken Castle wasn’t a physical location. The ‘Endless World of Night’ that witches spoke about was in a subspace, and there weren’t any paths or coordinates to get into it.
So he ordered Boo to find the coordinates from traces they left behind, and the result was…..
[I have. Found it.]
Bingo.