Chapter 218
Chapter 218
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Chapter 218 - #49_회고(2)
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----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Ebonarch Chapter: 218 Chapter Title: Reminiscence (2) ----------------------------------------------------------------- The typical landscape that springs to mind when one mentions the "Arctic."
Amelia stepped out onto the snowfield where a blindingly white expanse stretched endlessly in every direction, erasing any sense of front or back. She still couldn't quite believe that this solid, boundless surface was actually a massive chunk of ice drifting slowly over the sea. Nor the winds that clawed at her skin all day long. Nor the sky, robbed of its sun, locked in twilight for days on end. Nor observing life taking root and persisting in such harsh desolation. All of it was a first for her. With a travel bag in one hand and the hit list from the Kether Duke clutched in the other, Amelia trudged across the frozen tundra when she suddenly halted. Finding a homunculus hidden in a pocket dimension amid this snowy plain, where the horizon was visible in every direction, was like searching for a needle in a desert. The locations marked in the hit list were little more than vague indications of where the homunculus might be lurking. Her fingertips trembled faintly. Her body was telling her she needed rest. Spiritual bodies required no sleep or food. The bone-chilling cold could be warded off with magic to some extent. But that didn't make her an infinite energy machine from some fantasy. Without a map, relentlessly tracking the homunculus without pause—it was only natural her body would protest.
"........."
Yet Amelia felt no fear. No despair or complaints. Having already lost everything, questions like "Why must I do this?" had long since been discarded. She simply carried out the task like a machine.
"Wail."
As Amelia's lips moved, waves of mana rippled outward. In response to her call, billions of tiny particles scattered in all directions, becoming extensions of her senses. Though the particles painted the polar night in vivid colors—a spectacular sight—Amelia regarded them with indifferent eyes. To question, to feel, to harbor emotions—such things only brought suffering. So she offered her heart to the freezing winds. If she froze her feelings until necrosis set in with a deep purple hue, she wouldn't feel pain or loneliness. The one thing Amelia was most confident in, the task she'd performed longest. Defining her duties and obligations, immersing herself without projecting emotions. She repeated it endlessly. The particles that had spread from Amelia returned to her side even faster than they'd dispersed. They resembled a beautiful star cluster adhering to celestial laws without guidance, orbiting faithfully. Amelia's sky-blue eyes narrowed slightly. -Boom! Rumble rumble boom! A tremor shook the ground. A barrier unfolded on the reverse side, and cracks spiderwebbed across the Arctic ice floe—ice that had never melted or shattered before. Amelia didn't panic. This ritual she'd repeated for days wasn't strictly about locating the homunculus. It was to notify the creature, hidden in the polar regions for hibernation, of a witch's presence. An invitation announcing that a delectable witch was here. And the homunculus had accepted Amelia's invitation. -Rooooaaaaar!!!! The homunculus emerged with a roar, driven by instincts etched into its core: devour the witch, protect the legacy. Its form resembled a whale. Even after arriving in the present world, Amelia had glimpsed whales near the sea—rolling belly-up, spraying water. She remembered their unbelievable size and majesty. But the monster now before her couldn't be dismissed merely as "whale-like."
The streamlined body, short neck, thick tail barely differing from the torso, pectoral fins splayed like wings, white whiskers stretching from mouth to chest—they were similar enough. But the sheer scale of the body drifting languidly through the air. Length alone: 900 meters? No, closer to 1,000? A casual twist sent the landscape shifting, and its infrasonic roar became a shockwave itself, hurling all frozen snowflakes skyward. And that wasn't the end. Alongside its blunt head, boasting twelve pairs of eyes, the massive whale bore the wreckage of shattered warships strapped to its back like cargo. The hit list's first page described this aberrant being. A living calamity that had swum the deep seas for 300 years, sinking hundreds of warships and claiming them as its arsenal. The King of the Abyss, Dagon. -Rooooaaaaar!!!! The whale's roar swept past Amelia once more. Laden with the stench of deep-sea brine and viscous oil, it split the ice. A human would have ruptured organs and died instantly from the shockwave alone, yet Amelia's expression remained unchanged. This was her first encounter with a homunculus. Even facing a battle that might claim her life, she found herself astonishingly devoid of thought. If her skills fell short and this life ended, so be it. There was nothing left to lose anyway. The warmth that had filled her hands had slipped away twice already through her own mistakes. -Whirrrrrr Only after feeling the mana coiling and gathering against her skin did Amelia shake off her reverie. Hundreds of main guns mounted on Dagon's body began sucking in mana. The overwhelming mana output and reflected glare from the colossal body pierced the pitch-black Arctic night. The sky brightened as if the sun had risen, and the massive cannons trained on Amelia unleashed their barrage. -KABOOM!!!!! No matter how potent a warship's main guns, they were useless against witches beyond a certain hierarchy. But these were ships it had sunk itself, fused into its body—extensions of Dagon. A genuine threat to witches, with a record of slaying three. The massive explosion engulfed Amelia's tiny form. The concentrated, compressed bombardment—unblockable by any worldly technology—shattered the glacier like a cookie. The overwhelming heat turned solid to vapor, which froze instantly in the subzero climate. Amid the artificial diamond dust, a bluish glow emanated. There stood Amelia, unscathed. The ground beneath her had been reshaped enough to redraw maps, yet not a fold in her garments was disturbed. Surpassing the 15th hierarchy where stigma magic and instinct unite. Transcending the 20th hierarchy of great witches who defy natural laws. Throughout history, fewer than ten had reached the 23rd hierarchy. Even without combat experience, such a witch dominated everything at her feet by her mere existence. -Grooooowl!!! Dagon twisted its body again. No witch had ever emerged so calmly from that attack in its 300 years. But repeat it relentlessly, pour on barrages until it couldn't be withstood. The sky-swimming beast gathered mana once more for a salvo. Meteor shower-like cannon fire rained toward Amelia. A storm of destruction where "natural disaster" fell short.
"Wail."
Amelia merely intoned. White breath escaped her lips. Silence fell. Hundreds, thousands of mana shells hung frozen, as if time had stopped. Filling her entire field of vision were her countless "particles"—too many to count. Her nature magic, transcended slaying Ea Sadalmelik, seized control of all mana in the vicinity. The suspended shells lost cohesion, dissipating into the air. The scattered mana was promptly converted into Amelia's particles, bolstering her power. -Grooooaaaaar!!!! Perplexed by the inexplicable phenomenon, the massive whale emitted a bizarre cry. But a beast couldn't comprehend how this had happened. It could only fire barrage after barrage in desperate struggle. And. -Whoosh whoosh whoosh Not a single shot landed properly. Bunker-buster caliber shells or not, halting midway to fizzle out short of the target rendered them meaningless. Amelia flicked her fingertip. A floral fragrance bloomed thickly, and the massive whale swimming the skies lost buoyancy and plummeted. Her particles had already infiltrated every nook of Dagon's body. -CRASH!!! Dagon crashed into the glacier, cleaving it in half before sprawling. The earth-shaking roar and billowing snow evoked an island plummeting from the sky. Amelia advanced. With each step, wildflowers native to the poles bloomed. Yet one cluster lacked color. Achromatic petals, stripped of hue by a curse, trailed her heels like a carpet. She soon reached Dagon's head. Freefall from hundreds of meters with that mass would be fatal alone. Black, oil-like blood oozed from its gaping maw. -Groan... Groan.... Too late for last-ditch struggles. Amelia infiltrated its open mouth and skin with particles before it could react. For a mana-driven homunculus, it was like inhaling colorless, odorless poison gas.
"......."
Amelia gazed steadily. Each glossy orb, far larger than her body, rolled toward her. Soon, she would end its life. Once the particles spread sufficiently, she'd bloom flowers to erase it. No particular emotions stirred. Had she not killed it, she would have been slain. She'd be the one lying there. No guilt over that fact. Suddenly, Amelia recalled a fairy tale her master had read long ago. A wretched soul, bereft of life's meaning, wandering the nine heavens as rotting flesh. Yes. This creature was no different. She couldn't deny its wounded form, awaiting death, overlapped with her own. Amelia reached out to the whale's massive snout.
"....You're just like me."
Mana waves from her hand triggered the particles permeating Dagon's body to bloom flowers. From maw to tail, blossoms unfurled like waves, surely claiming its life. As the body crumbled and achromatic petals scattered, Amelia turned to the next page in the hit list. ```