Capturing the Poison Sorceress
Kang A-jin pulled her gaze from the window as Titi and her gang entered the building. She then unleashed her sorcery. The talismans she flung settled into the corners of the ceiling. As they took effect, the atmosphere in the room sank into an eerie stillness. The sorcery she had cast concealed the room's presence entirely. It was meant to erase their mana signatures and lower the enemies' guard.
I sharpened my hearing, picking up the quick, stealthy footsteps. Those sounds were soon drowned out by the elevator's hum. They weren't being cautious at all. Overconfident, perhaps? It made sense if they saw their opponents as mere A-rank hunters. Titi being an S-rank level poison sorceress was obvious, and as an S-rank hunter myself, I knew all too well the vast gap between A and S ranks.
Dring—
The elevator doors slid open, and Titi's subordinates stepped out. But a woman's voice halted them just as they moved to advance. They'd sensed something off. Concealing their presence had been necessary—this room was packed with S-ranks and powerhouses on that level. But too much silence could breed suspicion instead.
I wondered if they'd botched it, but after a brief exchange, they started moving again. They must have suspected Kim Se-in wasn't in the building, but decided to check anyway before pulling back.
The footsteps drew closer. Separately from masking their presence, Kang A-jin floated several more talismans into the air.
Bang!
The door flew open, and the assassin hunters burst in. Compared to their reckless approach, they now moved with disciplined precision—but our side, having lain in wait, responded on a far superior level.
Kang A-jin activated the talismans hovering in the air.
Shwick—shwick—
The talismans transformed into razor-sharp ice spears, piercing the hunters' bodies.
"Gahk!"
"Keurk!"
It took less than a second. The four hunters Titi had brought lay dead.
Naturally, Titi, trailing behind, was thrown into panic. In that frozen instant, one of Valentina's pre-positioned dolls sprang to life. Its body, especially its arms, ballooned massively as it seized Titi and yanked her inside.
Snap!
As Titi tore free of the doll with a shake of her arms, the door behind her slammed shut.
She turned to face us quietly. What to say about her? She exuded an overwhelming aura. If Luiza's presence was bright and exuberant, overwhelming through sheer vibrancy, Titi's was calm and serene. Her expression and vibe chilled the heart like ice. Her lean, flawless figure evoked a mannequin or life-sized figurine.
Two such women standing side by side as twins... It was obvious why Luiza regretted Chichi not coming to Korea. The allure would be suffocating.
"Luiza..."
Titi's eyes locked onto Luiza first, it seemed. Rivals at the pinnacle of the poison sorcery world naturally kept tabs on each other. Her gaze shifted to Valentina. Shock was evident, though her face betrayed none. She simply withdrew the sharply honed mana she'd gathered, like one resigned to fate. Even relaxed, she radiated an aura that forbade rash action. No wonder she held fame in the underworld.
Her casual approach to this job was sloppy, but hardly her fault. How could she have anticipated Luiza, Valentina, and a bunch of other S-rank hunters here? Especially when the client was some mid-tier Korean corporate president. This wasn't a trap one could call out—it was just bad luck.
"Don't try any tricks."
Luiza suddenly uttered something cryptic to Titi, who appeared fully resigned.
"Hmph!"
Purple mist exploded around Titi. She'd tried slipping in poison undetected. Even with S-ranks everywhere, no one noticed—except Luiza.
This explained why Valentina insisted a poison sorceress needed another to counter her, bringing Luiza along.
"Finally met, huh?"
Valentina's voice brimmed with mismatched glee.
"Would've been nicer without the dramatics, but our cutie here's been dodging me. Anyway, we're together now—perfect~ How's your sister?"
Valentina spoke in Korean. Not Thai or English—Korean. I wondered why, but the reason emerged quickly.
"I owe you no answers, you pervert."
Titi replied in flawless Korean. I briefly thought sorcery language acquisition, but no—her subtle accent differed from Valentina and Luiza's. She liked Korea, apparently. At this level, she'd probably learned it herself. Whether Valentina knew and chose Korean on purpose, who could say.
"Pervert?~~ You misunderstand me big time, baby."
Valentina sounded disappointed.
"We'll catch up later. For now, time for a proper showdown? Watching poison sorceresses clash is dangerous, so I prepped a special stage for you~~"
At last, Valentina and Lisa's preparation shone. I'd guessed roughly, but not the details.
Suddenly, flash! beams shot from the dolls' eyes in midair. Space warped, the room's background solidifying around its occupants. Similar to a dimensional rift or shift to another plane, yet subtly different.
The frozen backdrop grayed, crumbling from the edges. A new scene emerged: dusky brown walls, musty air.
Those of us unaware of their plan—me, Valentina, Lisa—now understood. It was sorcery to relocate space itself.
And incredibly, the destination was a dungeon.
I'd once pondered using warp zones to enter dungeons solo. A theoretical musing—I never believed it feasible. Moving on Earth's surface differed vastly from bridging surface to dungeon. I vaguely knew the intricate rituals required.
Yet Valentina and Lisa pulled it off in ten minutes flat, working together. And what dungeon was this?
Kang A-jin remained composed, as if expecting it. Kim Se-in, however, was as stunned as me—if not more.
She clutched my arm. "Where... is this?"
"Looks like a dungeon."
I was near certain, yet phrased it cautiously for her. It could be a dungeon-like dimension, and surface-to-dungeon sorcery remained notoriously tough.
"A dungeon...? No way..."
Kim Se-in's face grew grave, but not overly panicked. She'd endured wild events since meeting me: healed from near-death via sex, grown to S-rank through intense passion. After that, a sudden dungeon shift wouldn't floor her.
I answered her, then turned to Kang A-jin. "Where exactly is this?"
Not questioning if it was a dungeon, but which one.
"An abandoned dungeon," Kang A-jin replied. "It's lost all function."
"Abandoned dungeon..."
I'd heard of them. Dungeons overflow with monsters; unraided long enough, they break, beasts bursting out. Abandoned—or "trash"—dungeons were the opposite: mana so faint inside, no monsters spawned. Legends told of S-rank hunters ruining F-rank ones into oblivion.
"In Korea?"
"Yes. Master likely targeted the nearest abandoned one for the destination."
Ah. Nothing left to say but impressive.