Chapter 62
Chapter 62
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Black Witch
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Tower of Arrogance had gone bankrupt.
It wasn't just collapsed or destroyed—it had been utterly annihilated.
Just like how a Creator permanently loses their qualifications upon bankruptcy.
A truly irreversible loss.
The name "Tower of Arrogance" had vanished from existence forever.
But this bankruptcy had shattered even the limits of standard enforcement.
The Tower of Arrogance could accommodate up to 200 Arrogance Boxes.
And even that was only if one person gathered all 200.
It didn't matter if multiple climbers each collected a few boxes.
Only an individual mattered.
Collecting more than 200 alone was the problem.
But if asked whether that was even possible? The answer was a resounding no.
—......
The deepest depths of the Abyss.
The heart of the space known as the Abyss Depths.
There, the "Black Witch" stared down at her own hand.
The owner of the future-seeing eyes, "Bay Flow Myriad Eyes," had failed to foresee this event.
The Tower's bankruptcy had triggered a "forced execution" on her pinky finger.
The value the Tower owed had been paid from her very flesh.
This was impossible. Unthinkable.
No matter how much residual value demanded enforcement, no one could lay a hand on the flesh of the mightiest witch.
The Black Witch.
The pinnacle of all witches, the master of the Abyss Depths whom even the Abyss lords feared.
She was the Abyss Depths, and her body was its entirety.
Thus.
Losing a single pinky finger was akin to carving away a piece of the Abyss Depths itself.
...This was a shock unlike any the eternal Black Witch had ever experienced.
No one had ever dared touch the Black Witch like this before.
The Abyss Depths, a place even demons hesitated to enter.
And someone had severed a piece of the Black Witch at its core!
—A being beyond Providence?
If such a thing existed, it would defy the laws of nature.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
Yet even the Black Witch, peerless as she was, struggled to comprehend how anyone could exceed the limits so profoundly.
The number of Arrogance Boxes a single person could obtain from her created Tower of Arrogance had clear boundaries.
Gathering even 50 was a Herculean task.
That required becoming a closest confidant to Kahn or Adora and displaying all sorts of sacred relics.
100?
Possible, if one uncovered every hidden element in the Tower.
150... There was a sliver of possibility with hidden achievements on top of that.
But 200 entered the realm of impossibility.
To reach it, one would need to single-handedly display 10 relics in the showcase, climb the Tower's floors while constantly upgrading to better relics, achieve every hidden accomplishment and element, and never use a single box.
At exactly 200, an Eternal-grade reward was guaranteed.
Beyond that—around 250 boxes—would bankrupt the Tower and yield the ultimate relic, "Arrogance Star." But the Black Witch wouldn't just let anyone walk away with it.
She hadn't intervened because of the sudden "forced execution."
An unforeseen event in the blink of an eye.
Her pinky finger severed, the Arrogance Star had spilled out as compensation in full.
—......The Arrogance Star has been stolen.
Stolen.
Even she, its creator, hadn't anticipated a single human gathering 320 boxes alone.
Arrogance Boxes doubled in value with each one collected.
Even if 100 people each held 100 boxes—for a total of 10,000—it wouldn't match the value of one person holding 320.
Far short.
Yet 320 was an amount no single faction could amass.
Kahn and Adora.
One would need to be the absolute top priority for both.
But Kahn and Adora's natures were polar opposites.
Becoming the utmost confidant to both was no easy feat.
Especially Adora, who never kept anyone by her side.
In other words.
This being beyond Providence had pierced the incomprehensible and touched the Black Witch's flesh.
And stolen the Arrogance Star from her grasp.
Who could it be?
Who could take her star—and her pinky finger?
The Black Witch touched her witch's orb.
Soon, Adora's face appeared above it.
—Adora...
The astonishment didn't end there.
Of all things...
...Adora was smiling.
She wore a faint smile.
Gazing at someone.
A face the witch had never seen before.
A witch smiling? Unheard of.
And Adora, the witch of "death," was the furthest from mirth.
But that was it.
The image cut off with Adora's smile.
'They took everything.'
The Tower, the star, even Adora.
All plundered by this "Plunderer."
She wanted to see the thief's face, but even the witch's orb couldn't reveal them.
This meant they were protected by some absolute force beyond even Bay Flow Myriad Eyes or the orb.
—Adora. You can never escape me.
A faint light flickered in the Black Witch's emotionless eyes.
Astonishingly, it was the gleam of emotion.
Obsession. Or dominion.
And not just that.
—Whoever you are, being beyond Providence. You're no different.
A staff had appeared in the Black Witch's hand.
She swung it once.
Shoooooo!
Amid the smoke, an enormous black dragon materialized.
—Ataraxia. Ancient Dragon of Despair.
This black dragon wasn't merely dragon-like in appearance—it was a true member of the dragon race.
From the Despair clan, hailed as the pinnacle among dragonkind.
An elder dragon called an "ancient one."
Though sunken into the Abyss Depths as the Black Witch's servant, its status and rank were acknowledged across the Abyss and the Twelve Races.
—You have a task.
The black dragon bowed its head at her words.
"Anything within my power."
The Ancient Dragon of Despair was the Black Witch's loyal hound.
A problem-solver who accomplished whatever she commanded.
Never once failing, she issued her order without hesitation.
—Adora has awakened "Wish." Bring it to me. Along with the Arrogance Star.
At that, the Ancient Dragon of Despair—Ataraxia—'s eyes flickered faintly.
Wish.
It was something even his kin coveted.
Hadn't an ancient dragon of the Light clan awakened Wish and ascended to the Dragon God Temple?
Gaining the chance to serve the Dragon God.
That elevated the Light clan's prestige immeasurably.
Puffed up their pride.
For dragons, possessing Wish was that profound an honor.
'The Arrogance Star!'
And the Arrogance Star, no less!
The Black Witch's most treasured possession.
Someone had taken it.
The Death Witch Adora.
Or someone connected to her.
Realizing the gravity, Ataraxia grew solemn.
"...I shall retrieve it without fail."
With news of the Tower's bankruptcy.
Park Chan-woo gazed at the two rewards floating in the air.
One was a necklace.
A diamond-shaped blue gem embedded in it.
'Arrogance Star.'
The treasure called the ultimate relic.
Clearly no ordinary item at a glance.
Even he, who had seen countless priceless artifacts, was seeing this for the first time.
He examined it closely, but no details emerged.
'Does it require conditions to reveal its info?'
It happened sometimes.
Treasures or relics that unlocked only after meeting criteria.
The Arrogance Star seemed to be one that revealed itself only upon specific achievements.
Park Chan-woo naturally shifted his gaze.
To the other one floating beside it.
This one had a somewhat grotesque form.
'......The Black Witch's pinky finger.'
A pinky finger hovered in midair.
That was the Black Witch's pinky finger.
The result of forced execution on the Black Witch for the Tower's remaining debt.
"That finger..."
Perhaps due to the terrifying magic radiating from it.
Adora opened her eyes and spoke.
Disbelief mingled in her gaze at the pinky finger.
Park Chan-woo grasped it and shrugged.
"It belongs to the 'Black Witch.'"
"......!"
The name she'd half-expected slipped from Park Chan-woo's lips.
But knowing the Black Witch's enormity, Adora's eyes couldn't help but waver slightly.
The apex of all witches.
The matriarch called the Black Witch.
"I think I know what power the Black Witch holds."
Park Chan-woo turned the pinky finger this way and that before speaking.
Every witch wielded a different kind of power.
Like Adora with "death."
The Black Witch possessed something unique too.
But nothing was known about it.
Information on the witch dwelling in the Abyss's deepest recesses was exceedingly rare. The Black Witch was little more than a name.
Park Chan-woo was the first human to uncover her ability.
"The power to turn falsehoods into truth."
"......Falsehoods into truth?"
Even Adora seemed ignorant of the Black Witch.
If she was, then all other witches were too.
Park Chan-woo explained slowly.
"The Black Witch can bestow false qualifications. Even the 'Creator' qualification."
Qualification.
The prerequisite for any action.
Even Creator status arose from specific conditions.
"But it requires a sacrifice. To forge a 'Creator' qualification, part of the Black Witch's flesh is needed."
The pinky finger served that purpose.
Vast magic was concentrated within, but the Black Witch's body was wholly a sacrificial vessel.
In essence.
'A body that serves no purpose beyond sacrifice.'
Astonishing, wasn't it?
Born solely to be offered up, turning lies into reality.
He'd never seen such a monster before.
Perhaps "怪異"—an enigma—fit better than monster.
Embodying unknowable phenomena.
The Black Witch herself was no different from a rift.
"What do you plan to do with that finger?"
Adora asked.
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
"Hmm."
Honestly, he didn't know.
The Black Witch's flesh turned falsehoods into truth as a sacrifice.
One pinky could even create a Creator.
But Park Chan-woo had no desire to become one.
He'd considered offering it to the God of Offerings, but...
The finger was deemed valueless.
Even if it made illusions real, it originated from falsehood.
The God of Offerings saw the Black Witch herself as worthless.
"Then why not make me a Creator?"
"......?"
An unexpected suggestion.
Hearing it, Park Chan-woo tilted his head inwardly.
Adora continued.
"To confront the Black Witch, you need qualifications to enter the Abyss. And I want to become the Abyss's master to aid you."
"You've decided to make an enemy of the Black Witch?"
"Yes."
Immediate answer.
Adora seemed resolute in destroying the Black Witch.
Convinced she was behind it all.
The massacre of Kahn's tribe. Climbing this Tower to kill him once more.
And attempting to crown her "Lord of Arrogance" without permission—Adora had no reason to follow her.
Park Chan-woo pondered briefly.
Then decided.
"Very well."
Adora could be a Trojan Horse.
Infiltrating Creators, a weapon to slit their throats for Park Chan-woo.
Not a bad idea at all.
Plus, if she gathered intel on Creators' movements, the benefits were endless.
He acted on his decision immediately.