Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 51

Ash Witch (3)

“You mean the Holy Sword?”

Lucia raised her hand with a puzzled expression. Her hand touched the holy sword wrapped in cloth.

And at that moment, the trembling disappeared like a lie.

“Don’t you feel wrong?”

Lucia said. Dallen scratched his nose.

what is this. I definitely felt it, right?

“…You look like a ghost.”

Lucia frowned slightly. She whispered softly at a volume that was difficult for the warlock ahead of her to hear.

“As you may know from Uncle Albus, the holy sword Dallen is carrying has completely lost its sacred power.”

Plump.

Her hand struck the holy sword wrapped in cloth. It was a rough sound, different from the strange vibration from before.

“Look. Even if a non-owner like me or Dallon touches it, there’s no reaction, right? This is evidence that although he barely managed to become corrupted, he completely lost his divine power due to the devil’s magic energy. In fact, it is difficult to even call it a proper holy sword anymore.”

Dallon knew too.

A holy sword that has lost its power or has had its corruption washed away is nothing more or less than a solid sword.

As it is a vessel that contained enormous divine power, it cannot be broken in most cases, but all of its inherent abilities have been lost.

As a game item, it is a weapon with infinite durability but no special options.

Of course, it was possible to recover that ability by receiving divine power from the Holy Knights’ secretariat for a long time.

Or, through a very rare special event, God once again gave strength to the holy sword.

However, the former is an event that takes about a hundred years, and the latter is an event that requires the legendary paladin to possess the holy sword.

Both were in a completely different situation from what they were now.

“hmm.”

Dallen scratched his chin. It was suspicious, but it wasn’t something to worry about at this moment when the Ash Witch was just around the corner.

The group continued into the forest. The surrounding landscape became increasingly heterogeneous.

Strangely twisted trees and yellow dead grass. It seemed as if the entire forest was being robbed of its vitality by someone.

The only thing alive was the red flowers that appeared occasionally.

Lucia muttered unintentionally as she looked at the bright flower alone among the dead leaves.

“Mandrake…”

“The witch sacrifices people to raise Mandrake. They have made some kind of contract with an evil god and are artificially multiplying mandrakes in return for human sacrifices. “That forest is dying because of that.”

The Bucktooth Warlock suddenly opened his mouth. Lucia frowned.

“Why are you saying that?”

“…I don’t know. I wonder if my conscience will be pricked now. “I just seem confused.”

Dallen tapped Bucktooth on the shoulder from behind. What I meant was to stop talking nonsense and have a good time.

Bucktooth walked quickly without saying a word. Dallen said, following behind him with wide strides.

“Hundreds of Mandrake roots grew in just a few weeks. No matter how much of a witch she is, unless her bloodline ability is to grow plants, she can’t do this on her own. So, I guess I got help from an evil spirit.”

“Why are you doing this? “What on earth are you going to do by raising so many Manddrakes?”

“We talked about it at the inn tavern, didn’t we? “The witch who lived in this city is said to be full of poisonous poison for humans.”

Lucia nodded. Dallen spoke as he walked leisurely behind the warlock who was busy playing with his feet.

“Assume that a few more months pass like this and a Mandrake grows to approximately a thousand roots. And what if that mandrake pulls out and screams at the same time?”

“…That chorus of screams would be enough to reach Lvivbach.”

Lucia’s face became thoughtful. Dallen nodded.

“Lvivach will become a city of death that day.”

“I learned that even though she is a witch, her roots are the same as humans. Is her revenge on humans that bad? why…?”

Lucia bit her lips tightly. Dallen shrugged. It meant that I didn’t know that far.

This time I wasn’t making excuses.

The game doesn’t even show when the Ash Witch started sharpening her sword at people.

Even if someone told me, I had no intention of listening.

Not all witches are evil to begin with.

There also existed witches who were friendly to humans despite the hardships they suffered. The Feather Witch is a representative example.

In the end, it was said that it was the path chosen by the Ash Witch herself that expanded the scope of revenge to all of humanity, not to individuals or groups.

And since she chose the destruction of humanity as her wish, there was only one thing for Dallen to do.

Stop the witch’s plan.

Furthermore, it is to punish him so that he cannot use any more evil tricks.

‘The first step of the plan is to multiply mandrakes abnormally.’

Using the power gained by sacrificing dozens of people, over a thousand mandrakes are made to bloom.

It was the starting point for the next step in the contract between the witch and the devil.

The real core of this contract is to sacrifice all the humans in the nearby area, including Lvivach, using the chorus of screams emitted by the Mandrake.

The Ash Witch, who offered thousands of sacrifices to the evil spirit, gains the power to fight armies alone according to her contract.

This is how the ‘Corrupted Ash Witch’ is born, which is considered one of the worst boss mobs in the mid-game.

This was the result of a witch overflowing with hatred towards humans, who gained the power of an evil spirit in addition to the power of her bloodline.

‘That means at least it’s not the worst boss mob yet.’

This was an opportunity.

A chance to get ahead of one of the worst boss mobs.

The current witch has only awakened the power of her bloodline and has not yet received power from the evil spirit.

Of course, he was an enemy as dangerous as the devil, but he was not at a level that could not be dealt with at all.

‘The Ash Witch, who has gained complete power, becomes the protagonist of the apocalypse, surpassing the Holy Sword Demon and the Great Apostle. ‘I have to end here before I grow any further.’

Nothing has changed.

From the time we dealt with the would-be giant monster in the low streets of the Bronze District.

He even killed the Great Apostle before the Great Realm was fully prepared and defeated the demon who had not yet corrupted the Holy Sword.

Even the handling of the Retrograde Apostles and the Frogman tribe of gnoll warriors was all in the same vein.

Prevent the coming apocalypse in advance.

And the bodies that were swallowed up in the apocalypse are recovered.

Even though Jongjang also quickly started to show his hand in response to the variable.

‘If the hands of the apocalypse are approaching quickly, all you have to do is get one step ahead of them and cut off their wrists.’

Dallon slowly stroked the ax head on his waist and walked a little faster.

***

The forest of twisted trees and dead grass continued for a while. Dallen suddenly smelled a strange smell.

The fishy scent of blood and an unidentifiable disgusting scent. At first glance, it seemed like I could hear a bubbling sound.

“…evil magic is nearby.”

Lucia muttered behind her. Dallen looked back.

The paladin’s hand holding the sword seemed to be putting a little more strength into it. He shook his senses once and nodded.

“I think we’re almost there.”

It was as he said.

The lush trees disappeared after a short walk. The place the three arrived was a large clearing in the middle of the forest.

An open space without a single tree centered on the altar in the middle.

Next to the spacious stone altar built for the evil spirit, a large iron cage was holding live sacrifices.

Across from there, something was bubbling in a large cauldron.

“Farn?”

Lucia shouted in surprise. She ran straight towards us.

Up to twenty people were trapped and groaning inside the iron cage.

People who have lost one or two of their limbs and are looking at the sky blankly, half losing their senses as if they are under the influence of some drug.

Only after hearing Lucia’s cries did Dallan belatedly discover a familiar face among them.

“Farn! Farn! Are you okay? “Come to your senses!”

A boy who barely opens his eyes at the touch of a paladin shaking the iron bars.

Farn, a boy mercenary who was guarding the Galios Merchant Marine, was locked in a cage with other sacrifices, with one eye gouged out and his left arm cut off.

“Uh… Uh… Knight… Sir?”

“Why are you here! No, just wait a moment. “I’ll rescue you right away!”

Geek!

Lucia violently opened the iron bars, took out the imprisoned sacrifices one by one, led by the mercenary boy, and laid them out on the grass.

Bucktooth, who was watching the scene, muttered inadvertently.

“…Isn’t the witch there?”

A panicked voice. But at the same time, there is a hint of relief.

Dallen ignored it and looked inside the cauldron.

Thick contents bubbling up.

Deeply cooked bones and flesh float and sink inside the floating grease and bubbles.

It wasn’t difficult to guess what the stew was made from.

Because the size and shape of the bone fragments were clear evidence.

“Fucking cannibal.”

Dallen kicked the pot. The contents poured out and the things that had settled on the floor rolled along with it.

They were pieces of human limbs, heads, and dismembered bodies that had not yet melted.

At that time, a voice rang through the clearing.

“Tsk tsk tsk. “We need to teach our paladins and barbarians table manners again.”

Srurr.

Something is flowing from the cloudy sky.

It was as if a barrel that had been burned overnight was tilted and the ashes inside were poured out.

The ash that fell from the sky lingered on the outskirts of the clearing and then slowly stood up in the shape of a human.

“Didn’t even your late parents teach you that it’s not polite to tip over someone else’s table?”

***

A damp wind scatters ash.

The person standing in the middle of the ashes was an old woman with a hunched back and a hood.

Yellow eyes shining beneath the hood.

The buck-toothed warlock met those eyes and immediately fell to his knees.

“Damn witch!”

“Tsk tsk. Hans. “It was your turn to present the offering today, right?”

The witch looked at Bucktooth intently. She patted her bent back and slowly approached the warlock.

“Hans, Hans. “What did this old man say?”

“Witch. That wasn’t what I meant. “If you don’t want to die, tell me to lead you to the witch…!”

“Didn’t I tell you to pick and choose and bring an appropriate offering?”

The witch grinned. It was a childlike laugh.

However, the small wrinkles that rolled up along the corners of the mouth made that smile look like the smile of the devil.

“This old lady is a devil, so she has to eat children who don’t listen to satisfy her anger.”

“Ahhh……!”

The witch moved her finger slightly.

Then Bucktooth’s head popped out and was pulled out.

Bucktooth’s head flew across the forest like a cork.

Instead of blood, ash slowly flows out from the neck of the fallen corpse.

“Cluck. So, when the old man speaks, you have to listen. “Isn’t that polite?”

A witch cackling as she stomps on the corpse of a warlock.

“…The Ash Witch.”

At that time, Lucia, who had rescued all the prisoners who had been captured as sacrifices, stood in front of the prisoners and drew her sword.

“Of the four lineages of witches still alive, the Ash lineage is clearly stated in the Knights’ archives.”

Her sacred tattoo radiated light.

At the same time, the white flame of Danma blazes covering the sword.

“Treat him as a clearly evil person with no room for reform, the same as the devil.”

“…Hoo. “You were an interrogator?”

Lucia declared with her shield and sword in front of the witch who was twitching the corner of her mouth.

“Lucia Castachald, the interrogator of the Holy Knights who protect the cracks in the continent, will punish the Ash Witch from this moment on.”

Parallaerack!

The declaration was not completed.

The flying disk of light landed squarely between the eyes of the witch, who was smiling leisurely.

Dallen nodded at the witch with an ax in her head towards Lucia, who was looking at Dallan with a confused look.

“There’s no need to exert any effort. That’s fake.”

Lucia looked back at the fallen witch with wide eyes.

Then, the body that had fallen rose to its feet as if turning back time.

“…For a barbarian, you’re quick-witted, aren’t you?”

The witch grinned with an ax stuck to her head.