Chapter 420
Chapter 420
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 420
Chapter Title: Chapter 420 - #90_검증
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 420
Chapter Title: Deneb's Fury
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There was a common expression people often used.
The air freezes.
There could be no better way to describe the chill running down one's spine in the face of extreme tension and an imminent crisis.
"Ah..."
"Hic...!"
"......"
Odil let out a quiet sigh in her frozen state.
Odet was equally petrified, gasping in horror.
And Siwoo was rigid in the absolute worst scenario imaginable.
We're fucked, he chanted inwardly in a loop. The only thing moving in the room was Deneb Jemernai's white hair, whipping about amid her killing intent.
Albireo knew about Siwoo's relationship with the twins.
Albireo Jemernai, who had understood Siwoo's promiscuous entanglements with women—including the twins—after a single crisp slap on the cheek.
She had repeatedly emphasized one thing above all.
Absolutely never let her younger sister, Deneb, find out about any of it.
This wasn't something she'd mentioned just once or twice.
Unlike Albireo, who took a relatively tolerant view of romantic entanglements, Deneb was a strict parent figure—prickly and rigid, unlikely to control her emotions properly, she'd said.
That was why Siwoo had minimized his physical encounters with the twins since returning to Gehenna.
And yet, he'd been caught.
Not just kissing, but grinning like an idiot while locking lips with the stark-naked twins.
"Little Master...! How did this happen... Hmnya..."
"Little Master...! We can explain everyth— Yawwn..."
The twins, hastily wrapping themselves in the blanket to defend Siwoo, suddenly flopped face-first onto the bed.
Deneb had pursed her lips and cast a sleep spell.
Siwoo met her gaze.
A piercing stare leaving no room for talk or even the slightest mercy.
And in it, he could see her resolve hardening instantly.
"Sing."
Siwoo felt circular waves radiating from Deneb's body, blanketing everything around them.
It was an Inner Barrier, slicing the world to layer another atop it.
Deploying an Inner Barrier within Gehenna was legally restricted, permitted only for unavoidable cases like large-scale magic experiments—and even then, only after prior notification to city hall.
It had potential for abuse in illegal experiments.
But Deneb surely hadn't deployed it on a whim for some experiment.
Especially not with that bloodthirsty mana pouring out, having already ejected the twins from the barrier.
Adrenaline was surging through Siwoo's veins like pre-battle readiness.
No joke—this could end in death.
As he swallowed dryly, unsure what to say, Deneb spoke first in a clear, resonant voice.
Unlike her furious appearance, it was as coldly sunken as a winter lake.
"The twins suddenly portaled here at this hour, so I followed to see what was going on."
But that didn't mean Deneb was composed.
"You know what you were trying to do, right? Blinded by momentary lust, daring to lay a hand on our precious twins."
Touching an apprentice witch was a crime among crimes.
Normally, she wouldn't have let Siwoo anywhere near them.
Yet Siwoo was a benefactor of the Jemernai family, and Deneb had judged that he and the twins shared mutual romantic affection.
So she'd turned a blind eye, assuming perhaps a kiss or two, out of trust that he wouldn't cross the line.
But the scene she'd witnessed today was unforgivable.
It wasn't just about sex.
Odil and Odet had nearly been robbed forever of their chance to become witches.
Deneb, knowing full well what that meant, felt fear as a witch herself.
"You crossed a line you should never have."
"Deneb, I can explain..."
"I won't hear it."
Before he could plead his case, a prickling danger stabbed at his skin.
He'd rolled through countless life-or-death battlefields.
His instincts, sharper than thought, rang the alarm.
-Bus Collision Force
Building wall shatters against flank
-Kwaaang!
An enormous impact smashed into his side, bursting through the building's outer wall.
In terms of sheer force, it was like being hit by a bus barreling through a city intersection without stopping.
If Siwoo hadn't instinctively manifested and donned his black armor, bones would have snapped clean wherever they were struck. Strangely, the magic delivering this physical blow took no discernible form.
Siwoo quickly ripped off his eyepatch.
Even if he was in the wrong and understood her anger, dying without a chance to explain was unacceptable.
"You are no longer a guest of the Jemernai family."
-Bwoong! Bwoong! Bwoong!
Only after removing the eyepatch could Siwoo perceive the mana flows and grasp what was happening.
With each breath Deneb exhaled alongside her mana, the surrounding air synchronized.
Shattering fine buildings like gingerbread houses with ominous roars were iron maces of compressed air, rounded like wrecking balls.
"Heinous villain who tried to rape an apprentice witch."
-Kwajijik!
After just five exchanges, the house collapsed utterly.
Siwoo swiftly extricated himself from the dust cloud swallowing the roar.
"But considering our past ties and that you saved the twins twice, I'll show some leniency."
Deneb gazed down imperiously from atop a surviving pillar.
A faint translucent barrier around her repelled even the finest dust from her clothes.
Dozens of mana points flickered into being around her.
The Jemernai twins were one entity in two bodies, but she was a count in name and fact.
Even alone, she wielded combat power rivaling the 20th Hierarchy.
Otherwise, they wouldn't venture into the mortal world separately for business.
"If you won't listen to reason, I'll have to etch a painful lesson into your body. I'll shatter your limbs and banish you from Gehenna. Don't even think of seeing the twins until the inheritance is complete. Odil and Odet will be heartbroken, but they'll understand in time."
"Deneb, at least give me a chance to explain..."
"I said I won't hear it."
Her voice sliced cold as dozens of mana points flashed brilliantly.
With them came a barrage of dozens of violet mana threads.
Siwoo had to neutralize them or die.
She'd spoken of breaking limbs, but Deneb wasn't holding back much now.
"Pierce!"
Faced with dense, inescapable waves of mana pulses, Siwoo spread his shadows.
The thick shadow particles obscured vision while degrading the threads' performance.
Even so, he plunged through the torrent ripping up the pavement, running for his life.
Normally, he'd deflect the ranged attacks and close for melee.
As Eloa had assessed, Siwoo at full sincerity could hold his own against a lone count.
But this was his future mother-in-law.
And by any measure, the fault lay with him here.
Strike at an opening?
No decent person would.
Still, taking even one hit seemed like it would ruin him, so Siwoo's only options were enduring her assaults until her rage subsided or waiting for rescue.
"Yes, you've clashed with the Witch of Desire before. Is that why you acted so recklessly on overconfidence in your paltry skills?"
"That's not it! I can take responsibility! Let's talk first!"
No matter how he shouted, it seemed not to reach Deneb's ears.
She relentlessly bombarded Siwoo as he fled in panic, methodically demolishing Tarot Town within the barrier.
In under a minute, no intact buildings remained—only shattered rubble.
"————."
Then.
A strain of beautiful song flowed into Siwoo's ears as he dodged.
Even his mana-reading eyes saw only a violet wave surpassing supersonic speeds, impossible to evade.
"Kuh!"
"————."
⟨ Singing Magic ⟩
Jemernai Secret Autonomic Magic
A crystalline tone, like heavenly instruments beyond human lungs, rang out through the mana as a lash.
The instant Deneb's waves touched his skin, noise amplified within his mana.
Unrefined mana coursed through his body.
It mimicked poison flooding his mana circuits.
His semicircular canals, detecting balance and acceleration, were disrupted— the world spun worse than drunken stupor.
The rhythm unique to magnetized mana unraveled in unison, causing his black armor to bulge like poorly baked cookies.
All prior magic had been mere play.
This was the Jemernai family's secret technique: the unavoidable Autonomic Magic, Singing Magic.
Even plugging ears or rupturing eardrums couldn't fully block the vibrations transmitted via mana.
"Struggle, and you'll die."
Siwoo had never imagined such a spell existed.
In magic duels decided by split-second thought and judgment, a spell definitively neutralizing the foe was cheat-level.
-Kwang! Kwagwang! Kwagwang!
The ground flipped like under relentless bombing.
"Ugh...!"
Amid soaring dust, Siwoo half-crawled on hands and feet to evade.
He steadied his inner mana, refining the noisy flows.
Layering dozens of mana fields blocked secondary vibration damage.
But Deneb didn't stop singing.
"——————!"
Just as he barely dodged, her relentless Autonomic Magic shredded his painstakingly layered mana fields like paper.
How much longer could he endure?
Or should he just close his eyes, take it, and end the misery?
As he pondered, suspicious mana flows converged.
Deneb wasn't just restricting his movements.
Waves radiating from her body clashed against the barrier, reconverging at one point.
Even chaotically reflected, they stacked with subtle regularity into a new spell.
"Shit!"
-Massive Blast Incoming
Reflected waves form ultimate spell
Something huge was coming.
Had she realized from his dodging that even a decisive strike wouldn't kill him?
This wasn't something he could handle piecemeal.
Siwoo pushed his unsteady body to flee the epicenter.
And then.
-Puuuung!
An enormous explosion upheaved dozens of meters of ground, birthing a massive shockwave.
The belated thunderclap pummeled Siwoo's body alongside thick bedrock.
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