Chapter 322
Chapter 322
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 322
Chapter Title: Girl of Steel #3
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We left Delphi and headed to a nearby beach.
To be precise, a wide open space.
A beach called a sanctuary that no one approaches. Had I once met the sea nymph, the mermaid Ariel, in this place?
The reason we came here was that it had the least foot traffic and the widest open space, so we could face Gloria without worry.
“Now, let’s focus and prepare!”
Luna poured some bag she had gotten from somewhere onto the golden sands of the beach.
Gush gush-.
The red liquid overflowing from there dyed the golden sand in an ominous glow, leaving marks.
“Luna, what’s that?”
“It’s the blood of the sheep we slaughtered yesterday! I got it from the market early this morning.”
Pouring the blood of slaughtered sheep onto the beach was quite eerie, but Luna soon stamped footprints here and there on top of it, drawing a circle and inscribing a hexagram inside.
“Hassan, lie face down here! And I’ll give you this blanket, so cover yourself up to your face! Don’t take it off until I say it’s okay!”
I lay face down on the bizarre pattern made of footprints, just as Luna instructed, and covered myself with the blanket.
“Is this good?”
“Yeah! This is Ideope’s night witchcraft, the Veil of Night. It’ll erase your presence and scent!”
Veil of Night, huh. I wondered where I had heard that name before; it felt like there was something similar among the blessings Knox had given me.
In fact, the effect of reducing presence was exactly the same as the blessing 《Veil of Night》.
That meant if I stayed quietly under this blanket, Gloria wouldn’t detect my location.
“Paranoia, ink-!”
“Here it is…! Ah-.”
At Luna’s call, Paranoia opened its mouth, and a palm-sized leather pouch popped out from between its soft cheeks.
Judging from the sloshing sound inside, it seemed like a container of ink.
“Brush-!”
“I’ll give you a brush too…!”
Soon, Paranoia even spat out a single fluffy brush, and seeing it, the creature looked like it had completely become Luna’s inventory.
What on earth did it carry in its mouth?
But Paranoia’s blessing 《Squirrel Storage》 was originally best suited for that kind of use.
Luna’s combat power, which had struggled with carrying tools for voodoo and witchcraft, seemed further bolstered by Paranoia’s blessing.
“Everyone, gather here! I’ll draw the Armor of Night on you!”
Luna soon wrote strange, incomprehensible characters on Hippolyte’s face, neck, arms, and such. Hippolyte slightly furrowed her brow upon seeing the scribbles on her own body.
“Drawings on my body. It feels like I’m Antiope or something. What does Armor of Night do?”
“It’ll protect your body from a big impact once or twice! Elfride, give me your hand too!”
Scribble, scribble-.
Luna then messily wrote black letters on Elfride’s hands and face with the brush, even though she looked reluctant.
Elfride stared at it intently for a moment before saying something.
“It looks like those rune letters that were popular in my hometown long ago. I can feel a strange flow of mana. It seems like a very old, complex spell.”
“Of course. It’s a spell only advanced witches in Ideope can use!”
Luna’s skills had risen to that level already. In truth, during the time she learned witchcraft and pharmacology under Nemea, Luna had made remarkable progress.
Her level had gone up too. Luna’s current level stats were like this.
『Name: Luna Knoxdoty Lv. 29
Strength: 8
Agility: 13
Vitality: 8
Trait: 《Flopping》 《Gluttony Lover》 《Nocturnal》
Status: 《Lion’s Bewitchment》 《Voodoo Enthralled》』
By level alone, it wouldn’t be strange if she reached Silver Tier soon. Knowing how hard Luna worked where no one could see made it feel natural.
After all, Luna was the daughter of beings who became incarnations of night and darkness.
But Luna soon added softly, as if embarrassed by her own bold declaration.
“B-but it’s not night, and I haven’t received the oath of an advanced witch yet, so don’t rely on it too much. It might not activate.”
“Blocking even one attack would be a huge help. Anyway, we need to prepare thoroughly against Gloria.”
And so, after half a day or so passed, Luna wiped the sweat beading on her forehead with the back of her hand and shouted.
“Done! Now we’re mostly prepared; all that’s left is summoning that wicked bitch!”
She then placed a lock of hair she had snipped from me onto a magic circle with a strange aura and set it ablaze.
As Luna had told me beforehand, I pictured Gloria’s appearance in my mind.
“Gloria-.”
And repeated her name.
Sizzle sizzle-.
A weird protein smell rose from my burning hair, overpowering the beachside saltiness and spreading everywhere-.
Finally, after some time, patter patter footsteps approached, and a Samarian woman draped in white fur appeared on the beach.
“I felt like oppa was calling me, so I came.”
That voice was the one intensely etched into my mind yesterday, now familiar. Chills prickled my spine, my instincts screaming at me to flee.
She really came.
Throb, throb-.
My elbow and side from yesterday’s beating began aching again, the pain excruciating.
“Hassan-nim! That wicked Samarian has appeared again…!”
Paranoia, hiding under the blanket with me, explained the situation. Of course, I could see everything through the slightly parted gap even without its words.
“Really, hiding like this means she won’t notice…?”
“Shh, stay quiet, Paranoia-.”
I clamped my palm over Paranoia’s mouth. If it kept chattering, there’d be no point in us hiding under the blanket on this bizarre magic circle.
What if the witchcraft failed or we got spotted because of Paranoia? As I tensed up just a bit-.
“What’s this? Oppa’s nowhere, just some beggar girls. Weird magic circles everywhere. What, did you summon me to trap me? Huh?”
I could see Gloria baring her fangs and scowling fiercely. Fortunately, Luna’s Veil of Night witchcraft seemed to be working properly.
But spotting the trap instantly. I thought Gloria was deranged, but her judgment was sharper than expected.
“If oppa’s not here, whatever. I’ll head back. I don’t have time to humor this suspicious nonsense.”
Gloria started to turn away.
Of course, Hippolyte had warned me: “She’s more cautious than she seems. Like a wild animal. She might not fall for our trap easily.” So I had anticipated this to some extent.
That was why I was here.
So I opened my mouth.
“Gloria, I’m right here.”
“…What? Where’s that voice coming from? What shady crap are you pulling?”
Gloria growled savagely, whipping her head around. Afraid of being spotted, I pulled the blanket fully over, and right then, Luna’s voice rang out as if on cue.
“We’re hidden well around here! If you want to find your oppa, you’ll have to take us out! We’re witches who want to use him and eat him up!”
“This…? You think you’re my rival or something? A squishy witch like you won’t even leave a shape after my fist hits.”
“No, I’m your rival, Gloria.”
Shing-.
Hippolyte drew her sword and positioned herself in front of Gloria. Up to here, everything was going as planned.
Lure Gloria smoothly to the Shadow Bind witchcraft circle we had prepared in advance, seal her movements, subdue her, force a surrender, or at least get a lock of her hair.
That was Luna’s plan.
“Hassan-nim, wh-what happens now?”
“Dunno. Let’s eat popcorn or something. Got any snacks?”
“Shall I pull some from my storage? There’s leftovers from yesterday…!”
Sharing whatever was in Paranoia’s mouth felt too gross and iffy, so I decided to hold out.
That was when Gloria spoke.
“Amazon, I still vividly remember you sulking after losing to me. Wanna get pummeled again? Make you write a reflection like last time?”
“Back then, we were both kids. If you think it’ll be the same, that arrogant nose of yours is about to get broken.”
“Blah blah, so annoying. You’re the ones shaking in fear because you can’t face me without this petty scheme.”
Shing, clang-.
Instead of replying, Hippolyte leveled her longsword.
Her sword hummed strangely and began emitting something like golden mist—or maybe powder.
Gloria kept talking.
“This is obviously a witchcraft circle. While we fight, that elf with the staff’ll lob fireballs at my back. And bind me with some shady formation.”
“H-Hassan-nim, that woman knows everything…!”
Paranoia yelped in surprise. And sure enough, it was just as Paranoia said. I thought she was a dumb brute, but Gloria had keen eyes and sharp judgment.
Of course, that made sense.
Gloria was said to be the top student at Kairos Academy, which had produced countless Gold Tier heroes.
What if she didn’t take the bait and bolted? Should I throw off the blanket?
With my injuries from yesterday still healing, how much could I even do against her? As those thoughts swirled, Gloria laughed.
“But fine. You three, and the nymph hiding somewhere—I’ll take you all on-!”
Crack crack-.
Gloria clenched her fists.
But in a flash—her figure vanished like an afterimage.
Clang!
By the time I refocused, Gloria had drawn her club and was shoving back Hippolyte’s sword.
Intense sparks flew as Hippolyte gritted her teeth and braced with her thighs.
“What? Nothing’s changed at all!”
“Ifrit-.”
Right then, a incantation from behind. The air heated up instantly, and a massive fireball scorched through space toward Gloria.
“Fire wizard, huh? This just got annoying!”
Swish-.
Gloria leaped back effortlessly, dodging Elfride’s fireball. Flames devoured the spot where she had stood.
Sensing that intense heat, the leisurely smirk vanished from Gloria’s lips.
“…”
She must have realized Elfride’s flames were no ordinary fire. In truth, Elfride was an arsonist who had burned the World Tree and set Sodomora ablaze, incinerating much.
Even Hippolyte, who had seen countless fighters, admitted she’d never encountered a mage as aggressively offensive as Elfride, so those flames must have felt threatening to Gloria too.
We had a real shot.
As I thought that, Gloria’s eyes flashed with dark intent, and she charged at Elfride.
“Take out the wizard first before she pulls any tricks—that’s basic!”
Whoosh-.
The club raised high came crashing down toward Elfride’s head. At that exact moment, Luna yanked hard on the string-like objects clutched in both hands and shouted.
“Snake Snake Totem!”
Pssh-.
Something buried in the golden sand rose swiftly, blocking Gloria’s path.
“What, a hydra-?”
It was a snake head. A horrific serpent monster with razor-sharp fangs.
Of course, it wasn’t a real hydra—just a scarecrow stuffed full of straw or cotton under cloth—but it was enough to make Gloria flinch for a moment.
“What the hell is this? A doll!”
Gloria smashed the snake head in a fury.
In that gap, Elfride fled far away.
“Wanna taste my fucking club?”
Gloria seemed utterly pissed at being tricked. Veins bulged on her forehead, and the surrounding air crackled with tension.
But Hippolyte had closed the distance and swung her longsword down, forcing even Gloria to pour everything into defense.
Meanwhile, Luna set another trap, and Elfride chanted a new spell.
“Really three against one…! That wicked thing losing her cool, face all twisted…! It’s utterly satisfying…!”
Contrary to my worries, just as Paranoia’s hopeful cry suggested, Luna, Hippolyte, and Elfride were holding their own against Gloria.
Hippolyte, the only one who could withstand Gloria’s attacks, bought time; Elfride rained down massive damage with fireballs; and Luna created openings with various crowd control techniques.
In that exquisite balance, I even sensed something artistic.
“Gr, grrr-.”
“Got her! Shadow Bind!”
Luring Gloria all the way to the planned trap was a major triumph. Gloria’s movements sealed by the obsidian dagger plunged into the ground.
“Gaaah-!”
But Shadow Bind—even that, which had pinned Regulus, the eldest grandson of the monster king Echidna, for a few seconds—Gloria thrashed wildly against it, trying to break free on her own.
“E-Elfride! Hurry, blast her with a fireball! Won’t hold her long!”
“Hyaak-!”
But what came next wasn’t Elfride’s incantation—it was a bizarre elven scream.
“Wh-what is this thing! G-get off me!”
Growl-!
The thing clinging to Elfride’s head was bizarre. It looked like a sky-blue puff of cotton or a clump of sheep wool.
“Cotton candy…?”
Just like Paranoia said, it resembled cotton candy.
Crackle, zzt zzt-. Zap.
But the problem was that the thing’s body began sparking with an eerie electricity.
“G-get off! What the hell is this!”
Growl…!
Elfride flailed wildly with the cotton candy plastered to her face, and seeing the crackling currents everywhere made my nape crawl.
“Hey, duck your head!”
Forgetting I was supposed to be hiding, I bolted out and reached desperately for Elfride’s face.
“Lightning!”
Gloria’s thunderous roar.
At the same moment, countless bolts of lightning crashed down upon the world.