LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 77
Chapter 77
“Is this the place?”
“Yes, Lady Brosia. The last traces of the Blue Witch were here.”
“…You’ve done well. You’ve made a significant contribution. When we return, I’ll inform Lady Sola of your efforts.”
“Thank you!”
Clink… Clink…
Three witches and two puppets protecting them.
“Lady Brosia, this is a dungeon.”
“I can feel it too. Who would have thought such a place existed?”
The puppets were once renowned witch hunters. After being captured by the witches, they were brainwashed through enchantment magic and reborn as puppets.
Witches weren’t suited for physical tasks, so they usually traveled with familiars or these puppets.
“The Blue Witch… must be captured alive. She… excuse me, the item she stole is crucial.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I will remember.”
“However… I didn’t expect the Blue Witch’s coven to possess such a dungeon. It’s quite puzzling.”
“They might have reactivated an abandoned dungeon by chance. In a way, it’s fortunate. The grudges of the dead witches can be settled with the dungeon core here.”
“…That’s a reasonable point. Let’s move forward.”
Whoooosh-
[Intruders detected.]
[Dungeon defense initiated.]
“We need to release the Soul Bell.”
“You plan to be thorough.”
“Of course. Missing this chance would bring great disaster.”
Jingle…
A witch tied a peculiar bell to her staff.
“What is that?”
Asked another purple witch, seeing the Soul Bell for the first time.
“Soul Bell. It rings in response to released magic.”
“Such a treasure…”
“The stronger the ring, the stronger the monster… It helps gauge the enemy’s strength and prevents ambushes.”
The bell was silent.
“Let’s go.”
Rustle… Rustle…
There was no sign of life on the fifth floor. It was as if the village had been abandoned and all the residents had left.
“There are traces of habitation… but it’s like the monsters vanished.”
“Thinking about it… if there were hidden monster forces, the Blue Witch’s coven wouldn’t have fallen so easily, right?”
“That’s a reasonable deduction. I agree. If this dungeon were filled with monsters, they wouldn’t have been annihilated.”
There was no response on the fifth floor where Phenex should have greeted them. The witches, preserving their strength, pointed ahead.
“That seems to be the passage leading up.”
“…”
The Soul Bell remained silent.
“There might be traps, so you move first.”
“Yes, Lady Brosia.”
The puppets moved without any resistance to the command.
Even after entering the fourth floor, there was no negative reaction, so the witches followed, reassured.
“It’s strange. Do you feel it?”
“Yes? Ah… you mean it’s the same as the lower floor?”
“This place is more peculiar. For example…”
Hummm…
Brosia’s staff vibrated.
[Brosia uses Trap Detection.]
[Traps detected nearby.]
“There.”
Swish…
Brosia approached and touched the trap.
“Lady Brosia! It’s dangerous…”
“No, it’s inactive.”
“What? Then why…”
Brosia muttered.
“Because it’s already been deactivated. Or rather… someone intentionally stopped it.”
The other witches felt a chill.
“Are you saying someone is helping our pursuit?”
“Who knows. It could be a mistake, a coincidence. Or… it could be true.”
They couldn’t stop the pursuit just because it felt eerie. The Purple and White Witch pursuit teams had been annihilated, and the injured Blue Witch was right ahead.
If they retreated now, Brosia would be held accountable within the Purple Witch’s coven, and if the White Witch’s coven captured the Blue Witch, they would gain the upper hand.
“Let’s go a bit further. We have the Soul Bell.”
“Ah! That’s right.”
“There will be no problem.”
It was just a bit of unnecessary anxiety. There seemed to be no monsters on this floor either.
Rustle… Rustle…
As they passed through the terrain of the fourth floor, the ominous feeling grew.
If there were traps, they would have caused significant damage, but they kept encountering areas that seemed designed to be dangerous.
Despite this, there was no interference.
Why?
Why indeed?
“…A door?”
“A door. What should we do?”
“…The Soul Bell hasn’t activated, so it should be fine. Open it.”
The puppets opened the door.
Rumble…
The cold iron door opened, revealing a field of glaciers and eternal snow.
Step… Step…
“…You?”
A girl stood in the field.
“I was told to stop you here… so I must.”
“Are you a servant of the witch? Where is the Blue Witch? If you speak willingly, I’ll let you live today…”
“Lady Brosia!”
“…What are you doing, interrupting the conversation!”
The witch spoke with a pale face.
“Horns… horns.”
“…What?”
A human-like but incredibly beautiful figure.
And horns.
“Could it be…”
Sss…
A frozen soul emerged from within Ipos.
Creak…
One of her rings turned halfway.
“Snow Rabbit, come out…”
What is this place?
Half-transparent rabbit ears perked up on Ipos’s head, and a snowball-sized rabbit tail formed at her back.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!
The Soul Bell shook wildly.
“Scatter, it’s a demon!”
Boom!
The door they entered through closed.
[Boss battle initiated.]
[Ipos, the Frost Demon, blocks the retreat with an avalanche.]
[Ipos’s trait 【Communion】 is active.]
* * *
“We need to escape! Now!”
Even as the witches entered the fourth floor, Witch Ennis continued to cause a commotion.
“Brosia is one of the strongest among the Purple Witches! This dungeon is nothing…”
“Shh… Phenex.”
“Yes!”
“Keep her quiet.”
“Got it!”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
“Master wants you to be quiet.”
I took my eyes off Ennis and watched the witches heading towards the fourth-floor boss room.
Their unimpeded entry into the boss room was, of course, by my design.
‘While it’s important to build Phenex’s Unyielding stacks… it’s not the immediate priority.’
Once the dimensional gate relay is restored, the Unyielding stacks will be filled in no time.
Just as everything has an order, there was a task that needed to be completed first to prepare for the upcoming events.
‘I need to test Ipos’s capabilities.’
After a gacha pull, it was customary among users to run a defense mission with the newly summoned familiar.
Ipos, with her exclusive weapon, was undoubtedly a formidable demon. Given the resources invested in her growth, she was undoubtedly the strongest familiar in the Frost Nest.
‘Except for Amon with his activated Mechanism.’
So, I intended to verify it.
The true power of Ipos, the Frost Demon.
This was why I deactivated the traps and moved all the familiars to the upper floors. Against a fully prepared party, what kind of power would Ipos display?
‘Show me, Ipos.’
The battle of the demon with the most skills in Lemegeton.
* * *
[Ipos’s Mirror activates its special continuous effect.]
[Echo of the Frozen Soul activates.]
[Every three uses of a specific Frozen Soul ability triggers the unique Echo of the Frozen Soul.]
Ipos, this isn’t hell, is it?
“Yeah… I was summoned recently.”
What? So you escaped that dreadful hell?
“Yes.”
Haha! Great! What do we do first?
“They told me… to stop them here.”
So we have to kill them all… Got it!
A wisp of a spirit emerged from the girl with rabbit ears.
[During battle with Ipos, reaching 10 stacks of Frostbite will result in a Frozen state.]
[Every time a new Frozen Soul appears after the battle starts, the Girl’s Warmth activates.]
[Enemies touched by the Girl’s Warmth will have all Frostbite stacks removed.]
Swish…
The Girl’s Warmth is a gimmick-like continuous effect that doesn’t benefit Ipos at all. Without this effect, Ipos would be nearly invincible against a regular party without a named character.
“Seal their movements with curses!”
The specialty of the Purple Witch is curses and combat using talismans.
[Brosia uses Curse Incantation.]
[Launches a projectile in the form of text, inflicting a random minor curse on the target upon hit.]
[Cooldown is significantly reduced upon hit.]
Whoooosh-!
Curses flew towards Ipos.
Poof-!
Ipos puffed up like a fluffy ball.
[Ipos uses Snow Rabbit: Fur Puff.]
[Reflects projectiles and temporarily increases magic resistance by 80%.]
[Cannot move.]
Thud-!
[Ipos is afflicted with the Curse of Slowness.]
[Ipos’s movement speed is reduced.]
As the curses stuck, the puppets charged at Ipos.
[Wyberg uses Puppet Slash.]
[Inflicts additional damage to cursed targets.]
[Deals 150% of attack power and grants 50% additional damage and increased movement speed towards the target if cursed.]
Slash-!
A slash imbued with malevolent energy shot towards Ipos.
[Ipos uses Snow Rabbit: Hop.]
[Hop is a highly effective evasion skill that leaps a great distance.]
[Creates an ice patch at the landing spot and cleanses one harmful effect.]
Hop-! Ipos leaped far away.
Thud-!
The puppet charging forward stumbled and fell.
“Ugh…”
But it wasn’t a severe injury.
[Ipos uses Snow Rabbit: Snowball Fight.]
[Ipos throws a snowball, dealing 20% of attack power as frost damage and accumulating one stack of Frostbite.]
[If the snowball hits the target, it can be used again immediately.]
Thwack-!
Ipos threw a snowball at the fallen puppet.
“Ah!”
Thwack-! Thwack!
Thwack-!
The puppet, immobilized by the fall, was hit by three more snowballs before it could stand up and dodge.
Whoooosh…
[Echo of the Frozen Soul: Snow Rabbit activates.]
[For 10 minutes, Ipos’s speed increases by 10%, stacking.]
[Reduces the communion required to summon all Frozen Souls.]
The special effect of the mirror.
A unique ability only obtainable by equipping this exclusive gear.
The four snowballs that hit the puppet caused the battle to take an unexpected turn.
Whoooosh…
[Echo of the Frozen Soul: Snow Rabbit activates.]
[For 10 minutes, Ipos’s speed increases by 10%, stacking.]
[Reduces the communion required to summon all Frozen Souls.]
The second echo activated helplessly.
The Frozen Soul in the form of a snow rabbit laughed.
Fools! Haha!
“Who are you calling fools! With such power…”
Just wait! You’ll see!
Creak…
Ipos’s second ring turned halfway. Anyone familiar with Ipos would deem the current situation as the worst.
“White Fox… come out.”
The rabbit features disappeared from Ipos, replaced by a fluffy fox tail and ears.