Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: The Tale Left by the Witch☆ (4)
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On the steep roof of the library, the Research Faction's base.
The rooftop around the spire, currently being bombarded by countless weapons, was silent. The battle that had just raged across the magically-defended roof and the ground below felt like a lie.
I stood there, motionless, riding a flying greatsword.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The ferocious wave of minions had ceased.
The clones left by the [Priest of Discord], Ófnir, all maintained a chilling silence. It was a stillness reminiscent of an office the day after news of restructuring breaks. The quiet was so absolute, devoid of even the sound of breathing, that I felt for a moment as if I were trapped in a frozen sliver of time.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The countless clones of Ófnir, which had popped up like cockroaches.
All those menacing black suns had stopped moving in unison.
‘…Is it over? Ah, ahh…! Right, I can’t say that.’
A cold sweat trickled down my back at the line I’d nearly uttered.
If I were some random Yellow Turban grunt, I would have died the moment I said that. But since I kept the ominous words from leaving my lips, nothing happened.
Get a grip…!
‘No matter how much he specializes in minion waves, this is a Priest-level boss who’s naturally resistant to Ether. I can’t take him down like I did the [Priest of Corrosion]… and I don’t know how long I can keep mindlessly bashing his clones with weapons. I just have to buy time until Hilde is free.’
I took a deep breath, trying not to let my guard down.
“Hoo…!”
The cold touch of the red spear in my hand felt vivid.
*Vwoom—!*
The weapon was handed to me by Mila, the timid rabbit librarian I’d barely gotten acquainted with.
But a faint repulsive force emanated from the tightly gripped spear.
Feeling the subtle resistance, as if it were rejecting its wielder, I gave a bitter smile.
‘Is it only this manageable because it’s a weapon from the Research Faction, who are skilled in Ether manipulation? I guess any weapon not given to me by my cat at home feels like this.’
To minimize the repulsion I felt from the spear, I adjusted my posture on the greatsword Mila was controlling. However, the altitude was awkward, and my view was obstructed.
‘If only I had a small walkie-talkie, I’d ask Mila to raise the flight altitude a bit…’
But there was nothing of the sort here.
Inside ‘The Sage’s Chamber’, they were likely preoccupied with preparing for bombardment, with Freyja at the center. In any case, they needed to sort things out over there quickly before any real support could come my way…
For now, I was the only one who had to fight here.
My job was to safely clear out the minions physically until the main body arrived.
Okay.
Mission reconfirmed.
In the suffocating silence.
My tension caused all sorts of thoughts to race through my mind.
“…”
If I get hurt being reckless this time…
I’ll be imprisoned in a cave meant for nasty pink-haired girls. I’d probably be trapped there for the rest of my life, forced to act cute for fan-service events, a punishment that would see me forgotten from the main story.
Though the one I’d have to act cute for wouldn’t be the players, but Hilde, who seemed the most likely candidate for the cave’s owner. I never knew she had a hobby of imprisoning her friends.
‘Is it a hell from which I can only be freed by wearing a shameless swimsuit and becoming a high-performance, limited summer alt…? That’s a bit embarrassing.’
Interaction in our natural states.
I could do anything but that… that was my final line. Wasn’t that why I’d kept refusing my juniors’ invitations to bathe together?
But now I might have to become a limited 5-star event swimsuit alt Clara all by myself…
It was a truly terrifying thought.
Even if it was a swimsuit… if I had to wear one, it would only be fair if the other person wore one too. But Hilde would probably refuse, saying it was beneath her dignity. Then what was the difference between that and being naked all alone?
As my nervousness spawned all kinds of nonsense, a faint, genuine thought squeezed its way out from my heart.
‘…And she probably wouldn’t answer me if I asked why she gave me that forehead kiss, either.’
The softness I still vividly remembered on my forehead.
Is that kind of skinship normal between friends?
I’ve never been a high school girl in my past life, so I wouldn’t know.
“…”
As I was lost in such thoughts, I continued to scan my surroundings, my eyes darting about restlessly. My awareness was operating at three times its normal capacity.
“…”
Observing…
Observing…
Observing…
The countless black suns were still frozen.
While Ófnir’s clones remained motionless, the main body had yet to appear… but I couldn’t be sure.
My perception had its limits.
Anything happening outside my 100-meter detection radius had to be seen with my own eyes. The presence of the main body I’d felt stirring in the nearby underground could have been a decoy, so I held my breath and scanned the area meticulously.
‘To be honest, even this level of perception is beyond imagination compared to other [Unique Ether] users…’
It was arguably the only specialty of [The Pink Spiral].
But an individual’s ability is still just that—an individual’s.
It seemed I wasn’t enough to serve as a human radar all by myself.
“…”
Amidst the countless sounds of explosions.
Our standoff continued.
“…?”
But now, it was starting to feel strange.
It felt like we’d been playing freeze tag for nearly two or three minutes.
‘Are these guys just trying to avoid the auto-tracking mechanism of The Sage’s Chamber?’
I inwardly clicked my tongue.
If that was the case, I’d worried for nothing.
He wasn’t called the Priest of Discord for nothing.
To taunt his opponent with such a high-level feint.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Dozens of Ófnirs stood with their mouths shut tight.
Each one was frozen in the exact spot where they had been about to charge.
As soon as they stopped moving, the black Ether residue ceased to flow from their wounds. Because of that, the barrage of weapons fired from ‘The Sage’s Chamber’ ignored them, flying off to automatically track magical skills throughout the city.
‘Is she busy because of that…? It seems Mila has completely let go of controlling the greatsword too.’
The greatsword hadn’t moved for a while now. It seemed that after this strange situation began, Mila the rabbit librarian had something else to focus on.
I glanced at the thousands of projectiles soaring into the sky.
*Swoooosh—!*
*Swoooosh—!*
*Swoooosh—!*
“…”
The purple weapons ignored the black suns. They were being fired like missiles toward various parts of the city. I couldn’t guess why the black suns had frozen their expressions so coldly.
‘Usually, the one who moves first in these situations is at a disadvantage, but…!’
Right now, I had the support of ‘The Sage’s Chamber’.
In that case, it was worth trying to engage them in close combat, even without flying.
I jumped off the greatsword and landed on the ground below the library building where the clones had appeared.
*Thud—!*
I readied my spear again, preparing to charge. As I got ready to turn their heads into mush once more, I tried to figure out the true meaning of this game of freeze tag.
‘A disruption in command? No, all the clones are connected to Ófnir’s mind… Or is the main body about to appear? He’s not the type to announce his attacks so openly…?’
*Tap!*
As I landed and took my stance, one of the black suns in the distance, still playing freeze tag, spoke in a low voice.
“…Anliang. Wen Chou. Lu Bu.”
“What…?!”
“Guan Yu. Zhang Fei.”
“…?!”
*Whip—!*
My eyes widened, and I couldn’t help but react to his words.
‘How does he know about the generals of the Three Kingdoms…?’
This was … a fantasy game world that originally had no connection to Earth. That’s why I couldn’t believe he was casually mentioning the names of generals from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Moreover, this guy was one of this world’s masterminds… a high-ranking executive of . His abilities alone gave him the combat power equivalent to three [Unique Ether] users.
Despair washed over me.
The four wings that had spread under the moonlight.
The [Priest of Corrosion], whom we had barely defeated by burning everything.
‘Don’t tell me… he’s a transmigrator like me…? The [Priest of Discord] is the Prophet that the [Priest of Corrosion] mentioned…?!’
What if the one called the Prophet was a transmigrator who entered the game like me?
And what if that Prophet was the [Priest of Discord] standing right in front of me now...?
‘Did I… fall into another trap.’
My heart pounded wildly, and my mind went blank.
But.
Amidst the chaos, one thing came to mind.
“…!”
In that fleeting moment, a certainty struck me.
No.
This guy isn’t a transmigrator or the Prophet.
The words mumbled by the [Priest of Corrosion] came to mind.
*『…And to think that [The Fate of the Three Heroes] has gathered as well…』*
*『…It is truly as ‘he’ said 1,500 years ago…』*
The [Priest of Corrosion] would never refer to the [Priest of Discord] with such a title.
Even if he had transmigrated into the [Priest of Discord] long ago, a gamer from would never fail to recognize ‘Clara’ of <central prism="" academy="">.
‘…Ófnir is not a transmigrator.’
If that’s the case… the true identity of the ‘Prophet’ is not the [Priest of Discord], Ófnir.
‘But this guy is testing me, recalling something from my words.’
The Three Kingdoms knowledge I had shouted without thinking.
The [Priest of Discord] had heard about the original game’s lore and stories related to the Three Kingdoms from the Prophet. And now, the [Priest of Discord] was convinced that I came from the same place as the ‘Prophet’.
‘I was foolishly caught because of what I yelled… but I learned something too.’
[The ‘Prophet’ doesn’t have the power of prophecy; he’s a transmigrator.]
[And the ‘Prophet’ is someone from the same place as me.]
[The ‘Prophet’ played the original game and transmigrated into the game’s past.]
The most threatening possibility…
The possibility that Ófnir was both the ‘Prophet’ and a ‘transmigrator’ was completely erased. In its place, clues to deduce the ‘Prophet’s’ identity emerged.
This single realization made countless mismatched stories fall into place. Why the things spoken by someone with prophetic abilities were not ‘the future of this world’ but ‘lore from the original game’.
‘What I need to find out now is… the state of the ‘Prophet’, and how much knows about this transmigrator…’
Ófnir’s clone spoke with a sneering voice.
“Kukukuk…! I see, so that’s how it is! You have one on ‘your side’ too, huh? No wonder nothing added up!”
“…”
“Kahahah!! Well, well…!”
I stared back at Ófnir’s clone.
Seeing the momentary flicker in my eyes, Ófnir’s clone seemed to have guessed my identity. He grinned, his expression filled with certainty.
‘Depending on how much this guy knows about the ‘Prophet’… the extent of my identity being exposed will differ.’
The moment that thought crossed my mind.
*Ruuuumble—!*
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the numerous clones began to disappear. I could feel Ófnir’s main body, which had remained stubbornly still in the underground far away, approaching.
“…”
He’s coming.
*Craaaash—!!*
The ground exploded, scattering debris.
A huge hole formed as cracks spiderwebbed across the surface.
And from it, a bizarre dragon with a body like a praying mantis emerged.
*Groooowl—!!*
“Kukukukuk…!”
“…”
Ófnir’s main body clicked its massive pincers and bowed its head toward me. The movement spread a musty smell, and its enormous shadow cast a dark pall over the area.
A form bristling with hundreds of thorn-like horns.
A chaotic dragonkin seeking to disrupt the order of this world.
“…”
Seeing that form, I steeled myself.
‘If The Sage’s Chamber provides maximum fire support… can I last a few minutes?’
In that state, Ófnir spoke in a creepy, whispering voice.
“Hand over the location of the ‘Prophet’ on your side, heh heh…! Do that, and I’ll let you live…!”
“…?”
What is he talking about now?
Ófnir, perhaps mistaking my bewildered stiffness for fear, continued his chilling persuasion with even greater fervor.
“It’s useless to hide it. Heh heh… The ‘Prophet’ from the outer world… you have one on your side, don’t you? Or should I search the Academy City myself for a ‘male who can’t use Ether’?”
“…?”
“Ooh! Such a commendable spirit, thinking of your comrade? You think I won’t find him? This is your last chance to sell out your comrade and live…! Hehehehe…!”
“…?”
First Lotha, and now Ófnir…
Everyone today was saying things I couldn’t understand, making me feel left out.
At that moment.
*Krrrrrrumble—!!*
*Craaaack—!!*
Toward the giant mantis-dragon.
Dozens of lightning bolts flashed and crashed down upon it.
And within that massive glimmer, there was a girl with a raised spear.
Hilde, her eyes filled with killing intent, spoke to Ófnir.
“Die.”
Uh, wait a second, Hilde…!
There’s still more I need to hear from him…!
But Hilde, unleashing lightning that split into hundreds, thousands of bolts, charged toward Ófnir.
*Craaaaash—!!*