Chapter 133
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Snow White
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Craaaaaack!
Right beneath the shattered barrier, another one materialized.
Drip.
Blood trickled from Dabih and Vega's mouths.
They must have pushed themselves too hard to block my attack.
I wondered if the new barrier they conjured could hold off my strike even briefly, but its form soon began to warp.
Sizzle...
"Wh-what the hell?!"
Just like Snow White falling into a slumber after biting the poisoned apple, the barrier was corroded by the toxin, losing its mystical properties.
With the poison nullifying that power, all it had left was raw defensive strength.
And that defense couldn't withstand my attack.
Craaaaack!
Countless cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier.
"Ugh... gah...! Dabih!"
"Vega! Hold on just a bit longer!"
They tried desperately to hold it together, but a pair of slightly barbaric medieval fairies couldn't possibly defy the force of universal gravitation.
"Kaaaaah!"
Booooom!
In the end, their barrier shattered completely.
"Guh... ack...!"
It couldn't have been just the barrier that broke.
Even if it absorbed some of the impact, that earth-shaking force didn't just vanish.
They took the brunt of my attack almost directly and were sent tumbling across the ground from the shockwave.
They no longer even looked like fairies—their original kin were nymphs.
Beings with the ability to freely manipulate water, but cursed with such tiny frames.
Thanks to their contract with the witch, they'd grown larger, but that was it.
Their chronic durability issues remained unsolved.
That's why they were rolling around like this now.
Honestly, even tougher races wouldn't have come out unscathed.
The strike I just unleashed was stronger than any attack I'd used before.
"Caw... caw..."
Of course, the price I paid was a mild concussion.
Lucky for me, my sturdy skull and triple-layered Command Roar kept my head from splitting open.
I hit the ground, wings trembling.
"Swung... swish!"
Swungswung quickly smeared herbs from his pouch all over me.
"Caw..."
Appreciated, but a concussion isn't something you fix with that stuff, you know?
At least there were no bruises or bleeding. Small mercies.
Thanks to this thick skull of mine, probably.
"Caw!"
More importantly than patching me up, we needed to finish those two off.
"Awooooo!"
As if sensing it, Black Wolf let out a howl.
Maybe it amplified physical abilities like my Command Roar.
Or perhaps it intimidated foes into cowering.
"The grand ritual is almost complete! Heh heh... First, let's tear that crow to shreds... Got it, nyang! Just kidding, nyang!"
The red cloak started some shady maneuver, only to yelp like Sun Wukong getting scolded by the Three Pure Ones.
What the hell was that guy scheming, anyway?
"D-Dabih! Are you okay?"
"Ugh... Vega! Priority one: eliminate those pests!"
They'd taken devastating damage, but close-quarters combat wasn't their forte to begin with.
Even in this state, they could still launch a dangerous counterattack.
Shwaaaaa!
Not droplets this time—a downpour.
Stronger output than before, even.
If Dabih and Vega had unleashed their powers like this from the start, it would've been tough to break through.
But their choice wasn't incomprehensible.
They'd borrowed Snow White's power for what amounted to absolute defense. Why go all-out right away?
If I hadn't used my trick, piercing that defense would've been impossible, so their strategy was the best they had.
Boom boom boom!
Each raindrop carried a tiny explosion.
Negligible for bodies as sturdy as Black Wolf's or the red cloak's, but the sheer volume was the problem.
Bam bam bam boom!
Just a sting at worst, but enough to restrict their movements.
"Ngh... Vega, I can't hold out much longer! We need to end this!"
That last move was purely Dabih's power.
Forcing it out in his condition made him vomit up black blood.
"Got it, Dabih. Thanks for buying time. That black omen is critically wounded anyway. The other two... I can handle them."
He dodged the falling rain, shifting position bit by bit.
He wanted to join the fray immediately, but his body wasn't cooperating.
Still, it was fine.
He trusted Black Wolf and the red cloak could manage.
The barrier had been the real hassle; without it, the red cloak's strike would've ended things.
"Wolf! Team up, nyang!"
"Awoof... That speech pattern never gets easier on the ears."
Black Wolf whipped shadows like lashes to cover the red cloak.
Boom!
The explosion rang out, but the corporeal shadows blocked every hit, leaving the red cloak unscathed.
"One cat prowls the forest, nyang!"
As she chanted, her physical abilities surged.
Of course, it felt totally different from what she'd shown against me—probably corrupted by Gretel's mana.
"Power of Snow White!"
Vega, gathering his strength, played his final card.
Dabih had bought time, and during it, he'd accumulated power to tap the witch's might once more.
This could get dicey.
Couldn't join right away, but he could help if things got hairy.
After taking a few gems from Swungswung, he focused his mind.
Ready to use Twilight Feather if the red cloak was in danger.
The sickle and hammer grew enormous.
Far beyond what human hands could wield.
Yet the red cloak swung them effortlessly, charging like a bullet.
Shwooooo!
"Annihilate them...!"
As Vega finished speaking, the red cloak twisted away sharply.
No need to take that hit head-on.
My strike had left them both in rough shape—Vega slightly better off, but sustaining Snow White's power like before was impossible.
Best to evade and wait for that power to run dry.
The red cloak and Black Wolf were practically at full strength.
She dodged by altering her trajectory and fell back briefly.
"Dodged that one nicely... Huh? Something's off, nyang?"
She was right—something was wrong.
Snow White's power should've unleashed the same attack as before, but nothing happened.
Holding back because she anticipated the dodge?
No way—her head had to be spinning too much for that kind of judgment.
Then why no attack at all?
"Ugh... Wh-what...?"
Vega clutched his head and screamed in agony.
Something gone wrong?
My injuries preventing him from using his power?
"Caw!"
Prime opportunity, but something felt off.
The red cloak heard my cry and retreated another step.
Attacking now felt like it'd backfire.
Could dismiss it as nerves, but a crow's instincts weren't to be ignored.
"V-Vega? What's wrong?"
"Snow White, Witch of ours! Why would you...?!"
Crack, craaaack!
Malevolent chill erupted from Dabih and Vega.
"Ngh!"
The red cloak evaded backward instantly, while Black Wolf snatched my scruff and pulled back.
Finally unleashing that last attack she couldn't before?
No, that wasn't it.
"No! We haven't lost!"
"We can do it! Mistress of Snow White!"
Dabih and Vega were begging.
To the one who'd granted them power.
"How disappointing."
That entity's voice echoed.
It felt eerily similar to the one from my dream.
The owner of that voice—the witch contracted to them.
Snow White's Witch, obviously.
"Mistress of Snow White! Just one more chance...!"
"You've stirred up unpleasant memories."
The Witch of Snow White was enraged.
Just her voice conveyed her fury.
Did my poisoned apple mimic piss her off that bad?
"Pitiful. Utterly pitiful."
"We won't disappoint you this time!"
"The contract is terminated."
The transcendent voice boomed across the entire forest.
Whatever had contracted with Dabih and Vega was displeased and severing ties.
Dabih and Vega's bodies shuddered violently.
"D-Dabih...!"
"V-Vega...!"
An ice storm howled in.
This attack wasn't aimed at us.
It was Snow White's power to eliminate Dabih and Vega.
"Ugh... grrrgh!"
Their powers vanished in real time, their very lives snuffed out.
Without even manifesting, merely speaking—it could claim lives of that caliber.
That was the Witch of Snow White.
"That was close. Aww, I'm scared of things that handle cold like that... Bad memories and all..."
"Still the same as ever, huh. Ahem, ever the same, nyang. The Witch of Snow White."
If that witch had turned on us too, we'd have been in deep shit.
But she couldn't—not right now.
Her voice had faded since unleashing the ice storm.
"No need to worry, nyang. She can only use that power because they were her contractors, nyang. Meaning we're safe on the other side of the river, nyang."
In this situation, her only available power was to erase them.
Coming from Chacha, another Night Witch, it was trustworthy.
He stared blankly at the merciless ice storm dissolving their contract—and their existence.
Fearsome power, but hey, we're safe, right?
"Crow, what're you doing? Why're you rummaging through the ghost's pouch...?"
I pulled a small vial from Swungswung's body.
Cockatrice poison.
Black Wolf spotted it and released me in shock. Seizing the moment, I charged straight into the ice storm.
What I had to do was simple and obvious.
Shrieeeeeek!
Chicken-foot kick.
Poison-enhanced edition.
Anything else, sure—but not letting this one go.
"Caaaaaaw!"
These guys were precious enemies who'd give me EXP.
Take them down, and I evolve!
"...Caw caw."
And you said you couldn't attack me anyway?