The Witch of Binding (1)
"Eat it?"
At Jin-hyuk's shout, Russell opened his eyes, looking dumbfounded.
Come to think of it...
Russell had a vague idea of what Jin-hyuk meant.
After forming a soul imprint with his Bulgasari friend, hadn't his body transformed whenever he consumed his opponent's weapons or steel?
If that's the case...
Judging by how cold and hard these tentacles felt, they seemed to share the properties of steel.
So this is iron, huh?
Once his thoughts reached that point, Russell didn't hesitate to bite down on one.
"...!"
"W-What on earth is that?!"
"Urgh?!"
The witches trembled, utterly shocked that he would actually eat the tentacles.
Setting aside the fact that his teeth and stomach were strong enough to digest such a thing, how could anyone even conceive the idea of eating those tentacles?
Countless witches had met their demise by those very appendages.
"Ugh..."
"He's completely insane."
"He's... coming!"
The blood monks rushed forward through the gaps between the tentacles, carrying mandalas on their backs, but it was futile.
Having consumed the steel, Russell's muscles and bones began to swell rapidly.
"Raaaaaaah!"
Russell's body expanded to giant proportions.
Considering his entire frame was now made of solid steel, he was nothing short of a walking disaster for his enemies.
"Wow. Talk about a perpetual motion machine," Jin-hyuk remarked.
The steel tentacles surged forward endlessly, and Russell kept devouring them.
With each bite, his body absorbed the steel, growing larger and sturdier.
Using his massive frame, Russell trampled the blood monks and swatted the floating witches out of the air like flies.
Rumble!
Soon, Russell grew so colossal that the canyon itself seemed cramped.
Bracing his legs, Jin-hyuk naturally leaped onto the giant's shoulder.
"Nice. Let's keep going like this."
"...What? Free loading?" Russell grumbled, but he kept marching forward nonetheless.
"Kill him! Kill him!"
"Don't let him get any closer!"
The enemy did not stand idly by.
The witches unleashed their magic spells with everything they had.
Their primary element was ice.
Considering that metal is vulnerable to extreme cold, it was an excellent tactical choice.
Crack!
They focused their ice magic entirely on one of his feet.
It was somewhat ironic that they were freezing the very steel tentacles they had deployed to protect themselves, but it was the best way to slow Russell down.
"Using their brains, I see," Jin-hyuk smirked as he watched Russell's foot slowly freeze over.
Dragon's Pressure
Roar!
The skill erupted.
"...!"
Exposed to Jin-hyuk's fear aura, the mid-tier witches instantly froze in place.
Flash!
Not missing the opening, Jin-hyuk lunged into the midst of the frozen witches.
He unfurled his wings and slaughtered them all in a flash.
The witch's blood splatters.
The skill Holy Fire reacts to the blood containing special power.
"Hmph!"
While Jin-hyuk was clearing out the witches, a loud crack echoed.
Shatter!
Russell broke the ice binding his leg and resumed his march.
"Let's go."
"Right."
Leaping back onto the giant Russell's back, Jin-hyuk's eyes gleamed.
"..."
Looking up at the blood-red sky, Chardis let out a deep sigh.
"Is this how it ends?"
She had expected this to some extent.
She knew that Lee Jin-hyuk and the high ranker Russell could tear through everything in Blood Rock Valley to reach this place.
However, she hadn't anticipated that they would exploit her own steel tentacles to reach her doorstep without wasting any stamina.
Especially not before the 'vessel' could be moved.
"To think they would be this capable."
Chardis fell into deep thought as she looked at the vessel and the two enemies closing in.
She now had two choices.
First, sacrifice all her subordinates to move the vessel herself.
Second, step forward to buy time or stop them while her subordinates moved the vessel.
Hmm.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Chardis nodded.
"Move the vessel."
"But, Witch of Binding..."
"It is for the best. No matter how hard you try, you cannot defeat them."
Chardis looked at a few of the witches.
"High witches. Is the 'Bloody Moon' complete?"
"Yes. It is complete."
"Good. Activate it."
Hummmmm!
The high witches moved toward their respective magic circles.
Standing in their designated positions, they slammed their staffs into the ground and began chanting incantations.
The power of the Banished Constellation begins to shroud the world.
The blood-stained moon reveals a fraction of its faint power.
Rumble!
The dark clouds covering the sky parted, revealing a crimson sphere.
Like a bloodshot eye, the red moon looked down upon the entirety of Blood Rock Valley.
Just by showing itself, countless things began to change.
Bloody Moon reveals itself.
• The mana efficiency of all entities using the power of the Banished Constellation increases by 20%.
• The physical and magic resistance of all entities using the power of the Banished Constellation increases by 300.
• All stats of the Witch of Binding, Chardis, increase by 300%, and all her skills and items are enhanced by the power of the Bloody Moon.
Flash!
A beam of light descended from the Bloody Moon, enveloping Chardis.
At the same time, the mana surrounding her began to radiate a brilliant, crimson glow.
Hummmm...
Chardis floated upward as if ascending to heaven.
"Rise."
As she waved her hand, the 'things' wandering Blood Rock Valley began to stir.
Those who had died here.
Those who had been unjustly sacrificed and experimented on by the Three Fusions Bloodline.
"Screeech! Aaaaargh!"
"Skreeee! Eeeee!"
They all turned into Wailing Ghosts, gathering around Chardis.
"Hmm..."
They weren't ordinary Wailing Ghosts.
Each of them was merging and binding with Chardis's tentacles.
Rattle!
The corpses of the Potala Palace monks, Blood Sect members, and witches rose like zombies.
Tiny tentacles controlled by Chardis were attached to the crowns of their heads or their spines.
The moment the connection was complete, a single gesture from Chardis summoned a massive army along with countless tentacles.
"This should be more than enough."
Chardis's body glowed with an even brighter blood-red light as she soared higher into the sky.
Soon, she and the Bloody Moon overlapped as if they had become one.
"Skreeee! Eeeee!"
"Aaaaargh! Aaaaargh!"
The tentacles made of fused Wailing Ghosts began to cluster together, obeying her commands.
"I see you."
Floating in the air, moving alongside the Bloody Moon, Chardis opened her eyes wide.
"Come."
She glided toward Russell, whose colossal figure was easily visible even from a distance.
With unstoppable momentum, Russell and Jin-hyuk advanced in perfect sync, literally clearing everything in their path.
But that didn't last long.
"Hmm?"
The sky flipped, and the entrance to Blood Rock Valley slammed shut.
The countless corpses of the witches floated upward against gravity, and the sense of direction and gravity itself began to warp.
"Jin-hyuk! Look at that!"
"I see it."
As the enemy forces retreated like an ebbing tide, that bizarre monstrosity began to fly down from the sky.
"Chardis."
"...You know her?"
"No. She's just famous."
Chardis.
In his past life, Jin-hyuk had teamed up with Dang So-wol to defeat her.
But the situation was different now.
He was facing her much earlier than he had in his previous life.
In my past life... I fought her after I had gained some control over the power of the Wailing Ghosts.
Back then, Chardis couldn't control Wailing Ghosts like this.
She only knew how to manipulate tentacles and magic circles.
Is the situation better than back then?
Jin-hyuk fell into thought as he watched Chardis approach like an ascended being.
No. It's worse.
Although there were two of them on his side, Chardis was unleashing her full power within her own domain.
The high witches were maintaining the satellite, the Bloody Moon.
"Russell. Let's divide and conquer."
"Divide and conquer?"
"Yeah. You see that vessel they're making?"
Jin-hyuk smirked.
"Go smash it."
"What about that crazy woman?"
"I'll handle her."
"Heh... I like the sound of that."
Russell currently possessed an incredibly massive body.
In his current state, he would easily be able to tear through those repulsive creatures to destroy or secure the vessel.
"We don't have time. Her other subordinates are probably moving the vessel as we speak."
"Leave it to me. I'll trust you to handle your end."
"You got it."
Jin-hyuk chuckled.
"Alright."
After bumping fists with Russell, Jin-hyuk leaped into the air.
Rising into the sky, Jin-hyuk came face-to-face with Chardis, who was staring directly at him.
"Lee Jin-hyuk."
"..."
"Player."
Flash!
As she glared, her pupils seemed to reflect within the Bloody Moon behind her.
You are exposed to the Bloody Moon.
Status ailments are inflicted upon players designated as enemies by the Witch of Binding, Chardis.
• You are afflicted with Bleeding.
• You are afflicted with Hallucination.
• You are afflicted with Decreased Magic Resistance.
All kinds of curses converged on him at once, but Jin-hyuk didn't even blink.
You have broken free from all status ailments due to the skill's effect.
This was because he possessed a skill that was of the Myth grade.
"Let's see then..."
Chardis ground her teeth.
"Try enduring this as well!"
The Bloody Moon opens its hideous eye.
You are afflicted with Curse Synergy.
From now on, all status ailments will stack and trigger synergistic effects.
Along with the system message, the Bloody Moon behind Chardis opened halfway.
A powerful curse immediately swept over Jin-hyuk.
Curses.
They were the most potent category among all status ailments.
The reason was simple.
Unlike standard status ailments, curses triggered synergistic reactions when combined.
For instance, if one was afflicted with both 'Poison' and 'Burn' simultaneously, instead of just taking damage from the poison and fire, it would trigger 'Mana Burn,' causing their mana to combust.
Because of this, not just anyone could use curses.
Depending on which status ailments were combined, a wide variety of additional effects could be produced.
Consequently, combining status ailments through curses was a feat only 'Special-grade Witches' like Majuron and Dang So-wol could pull off.
Since curses were unique to witches, they were also directly tied to their pride.
"What? Is this all?"
"...!"
But what was this?
He was taking the curse she had spent her entire life as a witch perfecting, completely raw.
It made no sense for him to endure it like this without even activating a defensive skill.
"How... on earth...?"
"It doesn't even tickle," Jin-hyuk scoffed.
The vessel that Chardis, her idol, mother, and god Majuron aimed for was the Ghostly Vessel.
To them, the Ghostly Vessel was their ultimate goal, their dream, and their everything.
However, the man standing before them, Lee Jin-hyuk, already possessed a vessel.
One that couldn't even be compared to the Ghostly Vessel.
A vessel meant for the Constellations that reigned high above.
Jin-hyuk was the owner of a vessel capable of housing not just a Legendary or Mythic Constellation, but a Transcendent one.
No matter how elaborate or enhanced by the Bloody Moon a curse was, pouring it onto Jin-hyuk was entirely useless.
Since all status ailments were fundamentally ineffective against him, the amount of effort or years spent refining them meant absolutely nothing.
The problem was that Chardis didn't have the slightest clue about this fact.
"...You insufferable bastard."
Chardis felt an inexplicable shiver run down her spine.
Even though she had unleashed the 'Curse of the Banished Constellation,' the man before her hadn't even blinked.
It wasn't just a simple nullification.
...He completely ignored everything I am.
To a witch, curses were their pride and identity.
It would be one thing if he had struggled and overcome her curse, but because it didn't affect him at all, Chardis couldn't help but fly into a rage.
To make matters worse, her opponent was mocking her, claiming a mosquito bite would have been more effective.
"Fine! Let's see!"
Consumed by absolute fury, Chardis shrieked.
"Let's see if you can endure this as well!"
Whoosh!
A blood-red energy radiated from her like a blazing sun.
Then, instead of mere energy, her tentacles began to intertwine, forming the shape of a massive magic circle.
Flash!
The eye of the Bloody Moon opened completely.
The Bloody Moon opens its eye fully.
A devastating curse begins to storm.