Chapter 205
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Who Is It?
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"Ice Ball! Ice Spear! Ice Arrow...... Damn it all!"
A high-level player from the Magers Guild, Alex, who had been relentlessly firing off skills from atop the city walls, spat out a curse.
It wasn't because of dizziness from overusing his skills.
It was because no matter how many skills he unleashed, the waves of shadow monsters showed no signs of thinning out.
Splat!
"Hngh?"
Perhaps because he had briefly eased his onslaught.
A shadow monster that had scaled the walls seized Alex's ankle with its tentacle, sending him tumbling down.
True to his high-level prowess, he reflexively activated Ice Cutter even in his panic, slicing through the tentacle and attacking the monster.
But soon, a look of despair crossed his face.
The tentacle monster was just the beginning. Shadow monsters were now clambering over the walls in droves.
The Blue Dragon Clan's knights leaped back and forth along the walls with spatial jumps, slashing at the monsters, but it was merely buying time.
If the shadow monsters kept spawning endlessly as before, the city's fall was only a matter of time.
'Why... why is this happening......'
Alex fought on, activating skills to fend off the death closing in, but his heart was already steeped in despair.
At the same time, a wave of bitter regret surged up, making him want to vomit blood.
'We never should have messed with the London Great Barrier!'
It was what all the citizens had hoped for.
He had thought it was the right thing to do.
Above all, he had trusted the lord.
As a proud member of the Magers Guild, he had gladly contributed to dispelling the twilight hours.
But if he had known the result would be this disaster, Alex would have opposed it fiercely, even if it meant expulsion from the guild.
Too late for regrets now.
Before he could even dwell on his anguish, all his skills hit cooldown, and he was buried under shadow monsters.
As the gaping maw of a shadow monster descended to bite off his head, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Splat!
Sticky fluid splashed across his face, and the headless body of the shadow monster collapsed.
Too sudden was his brush with death and revival; he blinked, struggling to grasp reality.
Finally realizing he was alive, Alex scrambled to his feet in bewilderment.
More than half the shadow monsters that had climbed the walls— not just the one on him— were now bisected or cleaved apart.
"Wh-what just happened?"
He wasn't the only one stunned.
From the Magers Guild players to the Blue Dragon Clan knights.
Everyone fighting in the city was baffled, clueless as to who had done this.
Everyone except the elite experts of the Blue Dragon Clan, led by Lucas, who were weaving through the hills with the elders, diverting monsters away from the walls.
'That was just now... a flash?'
Before the monsters were shredded.
Lucas, who had glimpsed a streak of light skimming the walls, first thought of the Heavenly Net Bird Formation Style from the Seventy-Two Demon Arts.
But he dismissed it himself.
'No, no psionic energy. And I've never heard of a player in London with a skill like that.'
'If not Heavenly Net Bird Formation or a skill, then how......?'
'More importantly, who?'
Doubt clouded the faces of Lucas and the elders.
But only briefly.
To stop monsters from piling up like towers to scale the walls, they refocused on swinging their swords and cleaving foes.
Thus, they failed to notice.
A young man in the shadow of the tallest spire on the count's castle, quietly swinging his hand once more.
Secret Art of the Demon-Slaying Dragon Sword
斬魔龍殺劍 祕術
"A formless sword is invisible."
無形劍是隱形的
⟨ Invisible Sword Threads ⟩
Splat!
The instant the slender threads whipped through the air.
The remaining half of the monsters on the walls were cleaved apart root and stem.
Sword threads extended like blades, precisely slicing only the monsters while sparing the players and knights fighting there.
"Tch, still not quite there."
But Rimon Asfelder, the one who had pulled it off, clicked his tongue lightly.
He should have wiped them all out in one go, yet it took two swings to achieve the desired result.
Still, it was a remarkable feat.
If he hadn't severed the constellation of Liu Gangcheol and gained the sensation of wielding countless roots like living things, along with parallel processing ability, it would have taken several more swings.
Of course, a minor difference.
For him, with his perfected body, it merely made handling sword threads a bit smoother.
But when a Sword Master like Rimon handled 'swords' more smoothly, the results were terrifying.
Zip-zip-zip-zip!
Dodging swung forelimbs to pierce eyes, stealthily coiling around necks to sever, slicing torsos clean through, or whipping entire bodies to smash and crush.
The pinnacle of technique.
Not just quick-draw or illusion swords, but soft, rigid, and even heavy cuts.
Techniques that normally required straight swords, curved blades, linked chains, or two-handers, all executed with mere slender threads— magic as if by sorcery.
Thanks to that, every monster climbing the walls turned to corpses, stabilizing the defensive line somewhat.
Rumble!
Right then.
In the heart of London, where shadows surged like waves, a pillar resembling a building suddenly erupted.
"Wh-what the hell is that?"
Alex and the Magers Guild members gaped at it in horror.
It was a building, yet utterly unlike one.
A house made entirely of candy.
Topped with a mirror house.
Stacked with a clock house.
Added a door-covered house, and so on.
Five bizarre houses piled up and bound like a colossal beanstalk— calling it a building felt like a misuse of the word.
While others panicked, Rimon remained unfazed.
He just let out a short scoff and muttered under his breath.
"Figures the old hag would be slow as ever."
[Witch sis, hurry! Hurry up!]
"Don't rush me so."
[Do I look like I'm not rushing? Look, it's chaos out there!]
"Even so, I can't start without preparations done."
Atop the pillar in central London— formed by stacking five houses— Circe chuckled at Yuna Kyung fussing on her shoulder.
She slowly surveyed the London swallowed by waves of shadow monsters and asked casually.
"Well then, girls. Everyone ready?"
......
"Good. Let's begin."
No replies from anywhere.
Yet she nodded in satisfaction as if she had heard them, pulling out a red vial.
Inverting it, blood-red liquid spilled out, spreading to form a massive magic circle on its own.
At the circle's center, Circe drew a pouch, extracting its contents with treasure-like care, and said gleefully.
"The true Walpurgis Night."
The moment she dropped one item from the pouch onto the circle.
Anomalies erupted across London.
Rumble!
A sunken ship in the riverbed.
A dilapidated factory basement.
An old park hut.
Each entwined in water jets, rebar, roots, etc., shot skyward.
Their sole commonality: atop each roof, a magic circle with one woman stationed.
Thus, centered on Circe's five-house tower, 22 more towers encircled London.
The women spoke.
"TeSab (Tremble)."
"baRuma (Tilt)."
"Akarosy (Harden)."
"YaGaTing (Sing)."
"guAmos......"
"......"
⟨ Walpurgis Incantation ⟩
Like a word chain game.
Their words echoed across London without fading or quieting.
With each link, the echoes sharpened, overlapping into a bizarre melody like speech or song.
At the end of the 22-spell chant, Circe softly spoke.
"Zuiesz (Awaken)."
Rumble rumble rumble.
The 23 towers vibrated, mist rising from their bases.
"What nonsense!"
Karl trembled with rage.
He bellowed in a voice like tearing cloth.
"Revive the London Great Barrier? You think that's possible?!"
From bloodshot eyes to twisted face, devoid of his usual calm, he glared at Rose and shouted.
"That requires all 27 magical lineages! With five witches already dead, how do you propose to do it?!"
"......So you already knew about the witch murders."
"Don't change the subject! I'm asking about your delusions!"
So agitated.
Gazing steadily at Karl, radiating murderous intent like he'd kill if unanswered.
Rose calmly replied.
"Yes, Lord Karl, you're right. Normally, it's impossible."
The 27 magical lineages could revive the Silver Age's mightiest spell, the London Great Barrier, not just due to their prowess.
Their lineages traced back to the three arch-witches who created it.
Conversely, even arch-witch descendants couldn't without all 27.
"Without her, that is."
"Her?"
"The witch with jet-black hair you saw earlier, Lord Karl."
"Ha, what? You saying that clown with her parlor tricks is the Lady of the Lake?"
Karl sneered.
The three arch-witches founding the 27 lineages— Vivian, Morgana, Nimue— were long dead or missing.
"She's not the Lady of the Lake."
Rose readily admitted.
Adding just one thing.
"But she knows the London Great Barrier as well as the Lady did."
"You expect me to believe that drivel?"
Karl scoffed in disbelief.
"You must. Her name is Circe."
"This just keeps getting better. Where's a witch named Circe in the 27 lineages?!"
Rose answered softly.
"I never said she was one of the 27 magical lineages."
"What?"
"And Circe isn't her real name. Just a nickname."
"What does that......"
Frowning at Rose's increasingly baffling words, Karl suddenly froze.
Too excited earlier to notice the subtle pronunciation difference.
"Did you just say Circe? Not Sire?"
A minor phonetic shift by spelling, easily overlooked.
But Rose's tale conjured one being in his mind, from years studying witches.
"A witch called Circe...... Don't tell me!"
A peculiar pet name.
Exceptional skill.
Above all, Rose's bold claim of rivaling the Lady's knowledge of the barrier.
Combining them, Karl gasped in shock without realizing.
"The primordial witch Circe! That old monster still lives?!"
"Akma sa Ronan Κίρκη (My ancient name is Circe)."
"maKdur hoil esebT SsyaR Ekaman (The primordial witch who stole the gods' power, immortal who unlocked eternal life's secret)."
"Fals rOmaNum agNIws KaisIr dom ravat (Ruler of the greatest empire, pitiable sinner who defied the gods)."
"lsir magi Atur Gaius Julius Caesar ku RonaM asir (By the great magic king Gaius Julius Caesar)."
⟨ Primordial Witch Circe ⟩
Ancient Greece.
Daughter of sun god Helios, demigod lineage legendary even in the Silver Age.
Priestess magic permitted by gods, black magic defying taboos— she tread the precarious line between, one of the primordial witches.
Aunt to Colchis princess Medea, her teacher in magical secrets.
Thus establishing half the foundations of witchcraft across ancient Greece and Europe.
Rome's first and last empress.
Living history of magic, Silver Age's greatest witch.
Feared and revered as Magic Queen.
Shortened to Demon King or Sire Emperor.
With a seductive smile, she finished the incantation.
"Avalon. izot Kantra Az Sectos, tuRacS! (Rise. Misty isle drifting 'twixt this world and the next, Avalon)!"
⟨ Avalon's Mist ⟩
Boom!
With a massive surge of magical aura, the Silver Age's strongest spell— that halted Rome's advance and sealed the Demon King long ago.
Avalon's mist swept over London, engulfed by shadow monsters.