Chapter 239
Chapter 239
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 239
Chapter Title: The Lucky Witch (3)
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1.
Kybele Periwinkle set down her phone and checked on the conditions of the two.
Siu had passed out from the Drowned Witch's powerful mental attack, while Sharon had collapsed with wounds severe enough to pierce her lungs.
First, she laid them side by side on the bed that had been restored as the inner barrier lifted.
Spirits don't die easily from ordinary injuries.
Even severed limbs regenerate after sufficient time, and even if the body is pierced through, they recover with the right measures.
However, even accounting for a spirit's durability, Sharon's injury was grave.
The harpoon wielded by the Drowned Witch was made of seawater.
The problem was that this seawater wasn't mere sea water given form through magic.
It was an extreme poison compounded from fear and despair.
It might not burden the body much, but the mental damage... it was unlikely no accumulation had occurred...
Of course, with Periwinkle's intervention, the "worst outcome" would be avoided.
True to her glorious title as the Lucky Witch, Periwinkle's actions mostly flowed as intended—and she had no particular desire to see an Evergreen die.
"What does it have to do with me, anyway."
As Periwinkle yawned lazily from the sofa, the person on the other end of the call burst through the door.
It was Eloa Tiphereth, who had been tearing through Seoul like a madwoman in search of Siu.
Knowing that Tiphereth had stood as Siu's guarantor and that her contact was saved in his phone, Periwinkle had called her right away.
She had rushed over so frantically that her peach-colored hair was a tangled mess from the haste, and her wide eyes were threaded with bloodshot veins.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Kybele Periwinkle... oh?"
Without even finishing the greeting, Eloa brushed past Periwinkle and examined his state on the bed.
"Siu... Are you all right?"
Periwinkle withdrew the hand she'd extended for a handshake and shrugged.
Ignoring a greeting upon first meeting was somewhat rude, but considering a guardian's state of mind, it was understandable.
Eloa checked Siu's condition. He lay unconscious, his face pallid as a corpse.
Fortunately, he didn't appear to have sustained major injuries.
But her brief relief soon gave way to gloom once more.
Sharon, lying beside him, bore a wound that looked ominous even at a glance.
"Both are fine. A bit banged up, but they won't die. Well, it's all thanks to me."
"What happened?"
To Tiphereth's question, Periwinkle explained calmly.
Of course, she omitted the part about stalking them to peep on their sex and focused instead on her own heroics.
"Care for a drink?"
Having finished her explanation, Periwinkle sauntered over and handed Tiphereth a can of beer from the fridge.
Instead of taking the can, Tiphereth seized Periwinkle's hand.
Then she bowed her head.
"Thank you... thank you... truly, thank you..."
"No need for that. We witches have to look out for each other. Still, if the Duke insists on making a fuss, I won't turn down a humble token of gratitude."
"I'll prepare ample compensation. I won't forget this."
"Think nothing of it."
With the handover complete.
No need to linger in this dreary place.
Periwinkle pulled a business card from her belongings and handed it to Eloa.
"It was a personal transaction, after all."
"Transaction?"
"Please remind him not to forget to call this time. Well then."
"What do you mean, transaction?"
Eloa pressed persistently, sensing it had to do with Siu.
But Periwinkle exited the room without a backward glance.
"She'll figure it out well enough~"
2.
The night of chaos came to an end.
Eloa, who had nearly suffered yet another loss, had no time to berate herself for her mistakes.
She had to rush Sharon and Siu straight to the Wizpoint Gwanghwamun branch.
"It doesn't seem like an emergency, so it's a blessing amid misfortune."
Sharon lay on the neatly made sickbed, her upper garments removed.
Silver needles, long and slender, were embedded in spots across her body, with moxibustion burning atop them.
It was healing from Sua-sensei, who had some skill in the arts, so for now, relief was in order.
For Eloa, who had nearly repeated her error due to her muddled mind, it was a tiny comfort.
Sua approached Eloa, who sat before the tea table, straightening her disheveled hanbok.
Sharon's treatment was important, of course—but the root reason Eloa had come straight to Wizpoint was that Sua-sensei had summoned her directly.
Naturally, the business was a meeting on last night's attack.
"Thank you. Now I have a bit of face left to show Siu."
"I'm glad to have been of service."
Humility shone on Sua's face, but deep shadows cloaked it.
Last night—when Eloa, Siu, Sharon, and Periwinkle had been assaulted.
The Cowardly Witch's hordes of homunculi had struck witches across Seoul simultaneously.
Of the twelve witches in total, four had perished overnight.
Sua had repelled her attackers too, but at the cost of her left arm now being half-paralyzed.
"What in the world is this calamity..."
Eloa groaned.
The raid on Dagon's flute was solidifying as the Cowardly Witch's handiwork—and now this greater outrage.
Cracks seemed to echo from some strangely linked chain of events.
Like the harbinger of a storm.
"It's my karma for failing to respond properly."
"No need for self-recrimination. No one imagined the Cowardly Witch would stir up this much chaos."
Not to mention that the Kether Duke wouldn't intervene even now.
No one could have foreseen it.
"Still no contact from her?"
"I've sent word to the Ivory Tower several times already... but not a single reply."
It wasn't about shoving every problem onto Kether.
But witch society's peace did rely enormously on the Kether Duke.
Those powerful, perilous, greedy public enemies—brimming with ambition—cowered and sought compromises between desire and risk solely because of the Kether Duke's presence.
History showed the Cowardly Witch had already crossed lines twice.
She had massacred civilians without an inner barrier and struck down countless witches in a single stroke.
Yet the Kether Duke had not stirred.
Whatever the reason, if that deterrence vanished or weakened...
Public enemies witnessing the Cowardly Witch's case and thinking, "Oh? We can go this far?"—even that tiny spark of thought was terrifying to contemplate, the damage it might wreak.
It might be a mere probe for them, but it would mean countless witches and civilians dying.
"Let's get this sorted."
But there was no spare energy yet for future worries.
This was the time to deliberate countermeasures against the Cowardly Witch.
Sua spread documents on last night's attacked witches across the tea table with a rustle.
"Most of the targeted witches had close ties to Wizpoint."
"The ones who'd been aggressive about homunculus hunts."
The common thread among the victims was easy to spot.
The targeting had been brazenly obvious.
All had claimed hefty bounties from Wizpoint for turning in crystals.
In other words, witches who hunted homunculi—whether for coin or conviction—without shying away.
"It seems the aim was to flush witches out of Seoul via this incident."
"The witches will leave."
"Yes... Already... more than half have fled Seoul."
Four witches dead in a single night.
And the culprit a notorious public enemy like the Cowardly Witch? No reason for any witch to stick around.
Not just those directly hit—even ones who'd dodged homunculus scraps before would vanish.
They'd sensed, deep down, that this wasn't all Sochitl desired. Something far greater loomed.
"What does she want...?"
Eloa sank into thought.
Mass mana harvest via Dagon's flute.
The vanished Red Knight and the new molten copy White Knight.
And now, driving witches out with this raid...
Most baffling: This attack had expended most of Sochitl's forces.
The infamous Drowned Witch and dream demon—not to mention sundry tricky homunculi—all slain in one night.
"Unless driven to mania... this must be part of the plan too."
Eloa muttered.
Sochitl was mad, yes—but no fool.
She could discard cards she no longer needed.
"Still no trace of Sochitl?"
"She's a master at hiding herself... my apologies."
"No need. I'm useless myself right now..."
Sua hadn't just been sitting around sipping tea.
She'd taken the Gwanghwamun branch manager post for her hometown's safety in the first place—and to swiftly neutralize outliers beyond expectation, she'd been scouring for Sochitl long before.
But public enemies excelled at concealment.
Among them, the Cowardly Witch—who shunned frontlines for her familiars—was near impossible to track if she truly hid.
That was all.
"Redcliffe's gone missing too."
"The Witch of Embers?"
"Yes. Turns out she's a Trinity Academy classmate—and was thick as thieves with the Cowardly Witch before she turned public enemy. Suspiciously vanished right before the incident... We're tracking her now."
Eloa's head throbbed.
How many more would die or suffer...?
"What about requesting aid from Gehenna or other Wizpoints?"
Even voicing it felt half-resigned.
Would Gehenna's witches—lost in leisurely magic studies—descend to the present world to halt a malfunctioning, rampaging public enemy?
Other Wizpoints were unlikely to budge either.
"I'll negotiate with the government to fund persuasion efforts."
"Thank you."
"It's only to safeguard the land where I was born and raised."
That day's meeting ended without any sharp conclusions.
If only the enemy were visible—she could cleave them down...
But with whereabouts unknown, no recourse.
Eloa heaved a deep sigh.
Melancholy autumn rain fell from the ink-black sky.