LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Upon hearing the news of a witch’s appearance, we quickly assembled an investigation team and followed Koning.
“Ipos! Hurry over here!”
Phenex, already close with Ipos, called out.
Amon was peacefully sleeping, so we couldn’t bring him along. Thus, our investigation team consisted of just me, Koning, Phenex, and Ipos.
“Uh… I’m usually a bit slow…”
“Really? Want me to carry you?”
“Uh… no, it’s fine! Just… leave me be. I’m not used to this place… that’s all.”
Phenex grinned and spoke to the new friend.
“You’ll get used to it soon! It’s a nice home!”
“A nice home… yeah…”
Phenex was generally friendly, but he was especially warm towards Ipos. After some thought, I recalled the demon compendium.
‘Ipos is also an outcast.’
Both Phenex and Ipos were unaffiliated with any faction. Hell was divided among various factions, so there weren’t many demons who operated alone.
Perhaps Phenex felt a sense of kinship with Ipos, who was in a similar situation.
Whooooosh…
“The blizzard is fierce.”
“It’s always like this here!”
Talking with Koning, I fell into deep thought.
‘It’s good to build a dungeon, but we mustn’t neglect scouting the surroundings.’
We almost missed the witch’s trail.
Crack…
A sound of something collapsing.
Through the blizzard on the ridge, something seemed visible.
“There it is!”
Though not clearly visible, it looked like a magical clash.
Click…
I took out the monocular prepared before the Autumn War and checked through the blizzard.
Boom-!
Infusing magic into the staff, I repelled the distant enemy. My clothes were already in tatters, barely holding any value.
‘…It’s a witch.’
Swoosh…
Beside me, Koning, Phenex, and Ipos were blankly watching the scene I was observing.
“Can you see it?”
“Yeah, I can see it.”
“…Yeah, I see it.”
Demons were physically and magically superior to humans, but devils were beyond comparison.
“Ah!”
“…She fell.”
“It’s over, how disappointing…”
Phenex and Ipos simultaneously declared the end of the battle. After confirming the situation with the monocular, I spoke to them.
“Let’s get closer.”
This place was near the Frost Nest, and all the enemies seemed incapacitated. They all appeared dead.
‘We can’t miss this chance to gather information.’
Approaching those who fought might be dangerous, but I had two demons with me.
Witches were long exiled from both the Empire and the Kingdom Alliance, so there was no need to worry too much about the demons being discovered.
Crunch…
Crunch…
Whooooosh-
The fierce blizzard raged.
Snow piled up on the ground, and the wind was strong enough to make walking difficult.
“It seems like a small skirmish!”
I fully agreed with Koning’s assessment.
There were about five bodies.
The magical traces matched as well.
Swoosh…
I pulled out a figure buried in the snow.
“It’s a corpse. Already dead.”
“Dead here too!”
“Here… too…”
“All dead, it seems!”
The witches who fought appeared to have self-destructed.
Two witches in white cloaks and hats.
‘The White Witch Coven.’
Two witches in purple cloaks and hats.
‘The Purple Witch Coven.’
The witch covens of the frozen lands had complex relationships, so internal conflicts were possible.
“Why here of all places? How ironic.”
Swoosh…
As I struggled to lift my foot buried in the snow…
Thud-
Something caught my foot.
Swoosh…
A woman, her hat gone and cloak burnt, making it impossible to identify her coven, was pulled out.
“A corpse?”
Thud…
I laid her down and was about to move to check for other traces when…
“Master! This human seems to be alive!”
“…What?”
“She’s alive, definitely.”
“…”
Thud.
I laid her on her back to observe her properly.
Blonde hair and delicate features.
Upon closer inspection, she was quite beautiful.
‘She looks familiar…’
At that moment, the woman, who I thought was dead, weakly spoke.
“…Help.”
“…”
“Help… me…”
…I remembered.
I knew who this dying woman was.
‘The Blue Witch Coven.’
The Blue Witch was a key figure in Episode 6… that is, she would be the clue to my currently stalled Episode 4.
“Koning.”
“Yes!”
“Take her to the nest.”
“Swiftly! I’ll ensure her safety!”
* * *
“Haa… Haa…”
The witch’s fever showed no signs of abating.
The Garden of Regeneration was a facility powered by the dungeon core to regenerate familiars. When a forest-type familiar was present, it could harness the life force within this place.
“This is difficult.”
Ariel frowned.
“The Garden of Regeneration won’t work unless it’s Faust’s familiar… The power of recovery won’t reach her.”
“What about direct treatment?”
Bzzz—
Amon approached from behind me.
“The injury is severe, and most treatments won’t work. She’s lost a lot of blood…”
“Is there no way?”
“There are always quick and easy solutions. Most of them reside in this head of mine, have you forgotten?”
She was a star of wisdom.
She would know at least some emergency treatment methods. After all, she had sent me to this distant, frozen land to survive.
“A familiar contract.”
“…What?”
“If left like this, she will die. Isn’t it obvious? You need to form a familiar contract with this witch.”
“But…”
This was the first time I had heard of such a thing.
‘This system wasn’t in the game?’
I was momentarily flustered.
“Why are you so surprised? Familiar contracts originated from the demon’s covenant.”
“…The demon’s covenant?”
“Yes.”
“I have no intention of taking a human as a familiar.”
“It doesn’t matter. You can annul the contract as soon as she recovers.”
The idea was to maintain the familiar contract only until the Garden of Regeneration’s life force could be utilized.
‘What a clever loophole.’
I wondered if contracts could be nullified so easily, but if Amon said so, it must be true.
“There is no time. I will prepare the ritual immediately…”
“Wait. What if she refuses?”
“If she refuses, she dies. Isn’t that all there is to it?”
The story was taking an unexpected turn.
Well, that’s fine.
But…
‘The Blue Witch is a quest NPC!’
She was supposed to propose quests during a series of episodes in the frozen land. Her original role was to lose consciousness and be found by Faust.
When she first encountered Faust in the story, she wasn’t injured like this. The episode began with the Blue Witch noticing someone had taken over the abandoned dungeon and coming to investigate…
‘What went wrong?’
Why was the Blue Witch on the brink of death, and why did she need to form a familiar contract to survive?
‘There is no choice.’
She was human and couldn’t harness the dungeon’s power, so only a familiar contract could save her.
“She seems unconscious.”
“It doesn’t matter. The familiar contract resonates with the soul. If the soul consents, the contract is valid even if she is unconscious.”
Bzzzz—
Amon extended her hand, and the Blue Witch’s body slowly floated up.
“……”
“……”
But there was no sign of the contract.
“…What was the incantation again?”
“……”
“It’s been so long… Hmm…”
After pondering for a while, Amon snapped her fingers.
“You shall serve me as my servant. Repeat after me.”
“Is that all?”
“The rest is in the ritual. It’s just a simple activation phrase.”
I repeated Amon’s words.
“You shall serve me as my servant.”
Whoooosh…
A sinister aura tried to penetrate the Blue Witch’s forehead through the magic circle.
Crackle…
Crackle…
The symbol of the goat skull, which I often wore, briefly appeared on her forehead before disappearing.
[★★★★★ Summoning the Blue Witch.]
‘So, a familiar contract without passing through the gates of hell is possible.’
Or perhaps, such contracts were more common.
“She has accepted. Now, we wait.”
* * *
Crackle…
Crackle…
The vines that had been entwining the Blue Witch lost their vitality and were torn away. It was as if they had been supplying a great deal of life force to the target.
Swoosh…
The witch slowly rose halfway up.
“Where am I…?”
“You’re awake.”
“Who…?”
The witch looked surprised at her own state of undress.
“Bring her some clothes.”
“Yes.”
There were plenty of civilian clothes suitable for a human woman. After changing into the clothes handed to her, she asked,
“Where is this place?”
“It’s complicated.”
“The familiar contract… why?”
“Because your body was in shambles. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone here who specializes in healing.”
I uttered the activation words to release the familiar contract that Amon had told me.
“Be free.”
Whoosh…
A mark appeared on the witch’s forehead…
Sizzle…
“Ugh…”
And then it disappeared.
“This should be enough compensation for answering a few of my questions, right?”
“…”
“Who are you?”
“…”
“Suddenly lost for words? I asked who you are.”
“…A witch.”
Even after revealing her identity as a witch, she looked at me blankly, surprised that I wasn’t shocked.
“You’re… a demon?”
“It’s not that surprising.”
“Well, you do have a dungeon.”
“Since a demon and a witch have met, shouldn’t we have a more honest conversation?”
“…”
“I am your savior.”
Sigh…
She sighed and reluctantly answered my question.
“The Blue Witch Coven. My name is Enis.”
Nod…
‘As expected, she is the Blue Witch.’
The key to this episode, the Blue Witch.
“Then I’ll call you Enis. Why were you being chased?”
“That’s…”
“Are you being chased by another witch coven?”
Clench…
Enis clenched her dress tightly and spoke.
“Yes, there’s a reason.”
“And what is that reason?”
“I appreciate you saving my life, but I have no obligation to answer.”
So that’s how it’s going to be?
Did she think I wouldn’t know the story of the Frozen Land?
“Internal conflict?”
“Ugh…”
The story of the Frozen Land went like this in the original.
The three witch covens that ruled the land had sealed a legendary being during their process of settling in this land.
‘Ekelart of the Glacier.’
The native frost shaman, Ekelart, who originally ruled the land.
After that event, the three witch covens settled in this land in a sort of alliance, and many years passed.
Shortly after Faust arrived in this land, a group that hated witches, the witch hunters, planned to break Ekelart’s seal to cause the witches’ downfall… Their method was quite despicable.
‘Internal conflict.’
They aimed to cause internal conflict within the witch covens, making them collapse from within. The player, Faust, helps the Blue Witch Coven to unite them and drive out the common enemy, the witch hunters, from this land.
That’s what was supposed to happen in the Frozen Land.
‘Not too difficult…’
At that moment,
Sob… Sob…
“Why are you crying?”
“They’re all… dead.”
“All dead?”
“The Blue Witch Coven… has been annihilated.”
…What?
No, that can’t be.
Something must be wrong…
“I’m the only Blue Witch left in the Frozen Land now…”
“…This is bad.”
The Blue Witch Coven was supposed to be alive.
Only then could negotiations with the Purple Witch Coven or the White Witch Coven be possible.
Bang-!
Someone forcefully opened the door to the inner chamber and entered.
“Storm! Be cautious! The witches are coming here!”
“…I see.”
It seems things are progressing a bit faster this time.
“W-Witches… They’re coming to capture me! We need to run!”
“…Where to?”
“Anywhere! I don’t know exactly where this place is, but my magic isn’t fully restored, so I can’t stop them! So…”
I interrupted Enis.
She doesn’t know where this place is.
‘Should I have distributed rice cakes when I moved in…’
In that case, I decided to let her know that Faust had arrived here, albeit belatedly.
“We have a new neighbor. Let’s welcome them.”
Enis misunderstood my words and became frightened.
“What do you mean…”
Lucifer, however, seemed to understand my intention and quietly asked,
“Capture?”
No.
“Exterminate.”