Chapter 130
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Magical Girl of Red Hope
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Dabih and Vega's connection to a witch was information that was far too easy to figure out.
The Queen of Birds had been defeated by a witch, and those two had seized the opportunity to strike. Of course they were related.
Moreover, they had just kindly explained it themselves.
They had a contract with a witch, so someone like me wouldn't even be worth their time.
Their confident attitude even toward me, and the fact that they had cursed the Queen of the Forest—it all pointed to the same thing.
The witch they had contracted with was undoubtedly a high-ranking one.
She might even be on the level of the Witch of the Deep Sea.
But we weren't fighting the witch herself.
What we faced were her contractors.
In a way, they were akin to the witch's familiars.
So there was no need to be afraid.
If it were the witch who cursed the Queen of the Forest herself, that would be one thing, but dealing with her mere familiars was something we could handle.
And we had a witch on our side too.
"W-Witch…."
The reason I'd thought we had a chance from the start was the Red Cloak.
Since they were definitely tied to a witch somehow, showing them our own witch would likely make them flinch in fear.
"Hmm? I sense a rather familiar aura."
Having regained her strength, the Red Cloak tilted her head as she gazed at Dabih and Vega.
Another witch connected to them.
She must have sensed her power.
"Mm, good. Very good."
The Red Cloak looked satisfied at the sickle and hammer in her hands.
She was probably pleased to wield her weapons again after so long.
"So this is what it feels like to have power, huh?"
She muttered that, then stared right at me.
To be precise, at the feather on my chest.
Wait, are you eyeing my chest meat…?
"Hehehe…. Let's wrap this up quick…. Before Gretel calls me back…."
She seemed to have some scheme in mind.
But I wasn't going to let her have her way so easily.
The moment this was over, I'd send her packing.
"Arise! You too!"
The Red Cloak immediately invoked her authority.
One of the powers of her, also known as the Red Witch.
Undead manipulation.
The ability to create undead using buried bones as a medium.
This must be the "arise" she was always going on about.
"Urk! Dabih, be careful!"
"Vega! My love! Get ready!"
Dabih and Vega hugged each other, trying to resist the Red Cloak's power.
"Awooooo!"
A massive wolf wielding shadows.
A massive crow wielding the night.
A red witch raising the dead.
"Urk… I'll cut you down no matter what!"
The water fairy standing against them.
"Caw?"
Something felt off.
Didn't this make us look like the good fairies stopping the evil crow's schemes?
Though they were closer to corrupted beings than beautiful fairies themselves, our side's visuals were on another level.
No one would look favorably on a witch handling undead, wolf or no wolf.
That was when it hit me.
"Caw?"
I couldn't help but tilt my head.
"Kikikikik!"
The roar from what burst through the ground somehow sounded cute.
"Kukikik!"
The Red Cloak's power was still sealed.
I held her most important trait, and Gretel had placed restrictions, so she couldn't use magic freely.
To cast spells, she needed Gretel's permission.
More precisely, she needed mana supplied by Gretel.
The Red Cloak who came here had received mana from Gretel.
I'd thought it was just simple mana support, but witch magic wasn't that straightforward.
The same spell, yet different results.
"Kukikik!"
True cookie.
What emerged from the ground were cookie humans in human shapes.
"…Huh?"
The Red Cloak looked utterly bewildered.
Even she hadn't expected this outcome.
"Hm?"
Dabih and Vega's expressions changed too.
A witch had suddenly appeared.
With ominous words and a display of power, they'd been on edge, but cookie humans? Really?
They clearly had a different image of the Red Cloak in mind.
"Dabih, could those be…."
"Vega… I think the same, but… we can't underestimate them. That crow is suspicious enough, and now a witch too. Maybe it's some kind of deception?"
They must have found it incredibly suspicious.
Cookie humans popping out of nowhere.
It almost felt like biscuit soldiers would spawn every time she clapped.
"Kukiki…."
And the cookie humans were in poor shape.
The steady drizzle had made them soggy.
"Uh…?"
The Red Cloak wore a deeply flustered expression.
"Hyak!"
Then she suddenly clutched her head.
A headache maybe?
"Ugh… No, do I really have to do that? Urk! Fine, nya! I'll do it, nya!"
I thought she'd drop the nya-speak while Gretel was away, but she seemed to feel some pain and switched right back.
She must have been talking to someone—probably Gretel.
"Ahem… Ahem…."
She cleared her throat a couple times and stepped forward.
Dabih and Vega flinched at her movement.
They might underestimate her a lot, but a witch was still a witch.
They knew she was hiding something.
Yeah.
Show us what you've got, Red Cloak.
Your fearsome power that made you my nemesis, if only for a short time!
"Swung…."
Even Swungswung held his breath, staring at the Red Cloak.
…He doesn't breathe anyway, but whatever.
The Red Cloak took another step.
Everyone tensed up.
What on earth would she show us?
"The Magical Girl of Red Hope, Chacha! Making my grand entrance, nya!"
….
"Caw?"
"Swung?"
"What?"
"Awooo…. What the heck is that…."
That shocking declaration and pose.
Thrusting out her modest chest in a seductive stance, the Red Cloak's face turned beet red.
She knew it was embarrassing too.
"…No choice! This is how I get the power…. No, she gives it, nya!"
"Caw caw."
Yeah, yeah.
I get all your tastes.
"Urk…. I'm serious…! Hmph!"
Boom!
When she slammed her hammer into the ground, an enormous crash echoed out.
Hm, so she really has to do that to get mana?
A magical girl wielding a giant sickle and hammer might look a bit scary.
But Dabih and Vega's expressions shifted.
It wasn't fear or mockery.
If anything, it was relief.
"Heh… So she's not a witch after all?"
"A magical girl, huh. Feels like we heard a funny joke, Dabih?"
They didn't seem to regard the Red Cloak as a witch anymore.
She had lost her witch powers and was fighting with strength borrowed from Gretel, so maybe she didn't qualify.
Still, her power itself was intact.
If anything, her physical might felt even stronger than last time.
Yet they looked relieved.
Maybe because she wasn't a full witch, they thought they could handle her.
"We were tense for a moment. Impressive."
"Indeed. It reminded us of the Witch of Sweets."
"But the Witch of Sweets vanished long ago."
"No way she'd return, but we tensed up just in case."
"No need for that now."
Dabih and Vega traded words back and forth.
Why were they so confident?
The Red Cloak might not be a witch anymore, but her power hadn't diminished.
And with the big bad wolf here, their odds should be even slimmer.
"Quite curious, aren't you, our little crow?"
"Oh my, how cute. If you weren't the enemy, I'd have made you my familiar."
"We were going to show it anyway… so we'll explain kindly."
"If the opponent were a witch, it'd be tricky to use that lady's power."
"Factions, was it? We worried it'd anger her, but now we're at ease."
Splash!
Water spears formed.
Three of them this time.
One aimed at me, Black Wolf, and the Red Cloak each.
But those attacks weren't reaching us.
Whoosh!
I dodged at high speed, targeting their flank, while Black Wolf turned to shadow, going for their rear.
Thud!
The Red Cloak swung her sickle and hammer together, smashing the airborne spears.
The attacks I'd dodged and Black Wolf nullified all turned to water droplets.
Countless droplets floated in the air, and Dabih and Vega smiled at the sight.
"Freeze."
The moment Dabih and Vega spoke,
Crackle!
The falling rain from the sky and the scattered droplets brimmed with immense mana.
Now shaped like sharp ice crystals, the droplets slowly rotated around Dabih and Vega.
I knew instinctively.
Each of those ice crystals was sharper and harder than any ordinary weapon.
White snow continued to fall, its power condensing.
The moment I saw that blindingly white snow, I realized who lurked behind them.
The witch contracted with Dabih and Vega.
And the witch who cursed the Queen of the Forest was none other than….
"Descend upon us, power of the Snow White!"
The Snow White Witch.
The tale of Snow White, twisted.