Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Chapter 18: What Happened That Night (2)
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Vena stared at the lab entrance with a face full of worry.
Given how quiet it had been so far, it seemed the incident hadn't broken out yet.
'Should I go in...?'
She paced around the entrance, unsure what to do. Then, someone walked out from inside.
"Vena?"
"Z-Zel."
He was Zel, a fellow black sorcerer.
Zel eyed Vena with clear displeasure.
"What are you doing here?"
"Uh? Oh, that is..."
"Hila's pissed off at you big time. She was ready to kill you if you showed up."
"Ah!"
At Zel's words, Vena remembered the errand she'd completely forgotten about in her panic. Normally, the thought of Hila chewing her out would have her on edge, but today, a sigh of relief escaped her instead.
"Are you crazy? I said Hila's furious!"
Hila was infamous among the fellow black sorcerers for her nasty temper.
Especially to Vena, she was like a devil incarnate, so Zel couldn't fathom Vena's reaction.
"Did fear drive you insane?"
"N-No."
"Whatever—I warned you."
With that, Zel headed off somewhere.
As he vanished from sight, Vena let out another sigh of relief. It wasn't just any relief; it was because no problems had arisen in the lab yet.
"Let's go in."
Vena clenched her fists tight and entered the lab.
The lab looked the same as always. But nearby, a small commotion erupted.
"Where the hell is that bastard Pica?!"
"You crazy fuck!"
The source of the noise was Nelson and Vol.
They were snarling and scanning the surroundings. Spotting Vena, they rushed over.
"You seen Pica?!"
"Haven't you seen that fucker?!"
"N-No, I haven't."
Vena was utterly flustered by their enraged looks.
The two men, opposites in build, wore matching furious expressions.
"What's going on?"
"That bastard pitted us against each other."
"No idea why, but if we catch him, he's dead meat. No mercy!"
Apparently, Pica had done something to them.
"But it's weird, right? That's not like him."
"Yeah. The guy's not the type to blab secrets like that. What the hell got into him?"
"We'll find out when we catch him. Come on, let's hunt him down!"
"Right. Whatever it is, he pays!"
Nelson and Vol dashed off again to search for Pica.
Left alone, Vena bit her nails.
'No way.'
She knew Pica too.
He, Nelson, and Vol were called the trio, and their bond was rock-solid. Pica wasn't the type to suddenly sow discord.
Which meant...
"Nah, no way."
But a corner of her mind still churned with anxiety.
If the Pica they meant was that person...
"G-Gotta find him."
No time for just thinking.
Vena started frantically searching for Pica too.
Pica was nowhere to be found.
The lab was big, but not so vast she couldn't search it thoroughly.
Their paths must keep missing each other.
'What if it really is him? What then?'
A chill ran down her spine.
The lab blowing up was bad enough, but the fear of it all tracing back to her was worse.
A stray thought crossed her mind: maybe now was her chance to escape this place.
But she still lacked the courage.
She just wanted to find Pica as fast as possible.
Then, someone tugged at a strand of her ponytail.
"Kyaa!"
"You. Think my words were a joke?"
Vena fell flat on her butt, then looked up at whoever had grabbed her hair.
"H-Hila."
"How long ago did I send you on that errand, and you crawl in now? And instead of coming straight to me, what the hell is this, you trash?"
"Sorry, sorry! I forgot."
"Hahaha! Forgot?"
"Kyaa!"
Hila glared fiercely and yanked Vena's head forward.
Then she pulled out her wand from her bosom and jabbed it into Vena's cheek.
"You call that an excuse?"
"Forgive me just once..."
"Forgive? Oh—guess I really do look like a joke to you."
She smirked with one corner of her mouth and raised the wand upward.
Black mana began condensing at the wand's tip.
Vena cried out desperately at the sight.
"H-Hila! Wait!"
"Trash like you needs punishment."
"Hila!"
[Pain Struggle]
A curse of writhing agony
The wand infused with the curse swung toward Vena.
Vena clung desperately to Hila's arm, pleading.
"Please, please forgive me!"
"Let go."
"Please..."
Tears streamed from her terror-filled eyes.
But Hila had no mercy to offer. Her face twisted into sadistic glee, arousal burning in her eyes.
"Come on, writhe for me..."
The wand halted right before Vena's nose.
She didn't know why Hila stopped, but relief washed over her that the curse hadn't touched her. She started to thank Hila for pausing.
"Th-Thank you, Hi..."
"What the hell are you?"
Hila's eyes widened in fury.
She flung Vena aside and stood up.
Vena was bewildered by Hila's sudden shift. What had she seen?
She followed Hila's gaze.
"Pica!"
There stood Pica, the one she'd been desperately hunting.
"Didn't get caught."
He'd slipped out of the lab without detection.
He'd nearly killed someone on impulse when he sensed a presence. If he had, he'd be cornered in deep trouble.
Jamie moved to another area immediately.
Leaving the lab wing, he entered the living quarters—from bedrooms to lounges, the black sorcerers' daily spaces.
He scanned around and slipped into an empty lounge, plopping down roughly.
With a weary face, he muttered,
"All this from the black magic I created."
The nature was different from back then, but it had persisted into the modern era, shaping this mess.
He knew that.
But knowing and seeing it firsthand were worlds apart.
Other black magic sects probably weren't much different. Some might even be worse.
"This isn't what I wanted."
He wasn't in a position to judge the black sorcerers here. In the past, he'd sacrificed countless lives to defy the 12 Gods too.
Still, this was wrong.
Lives weren't toys. Sacrificing them required iron resolve.
Anyone hearing this might call it bullshit, but the moment you cheapen life, power turns into a nightmare.
"Ganon. You were special after all."
Jamie had come here lighthearted.
Partly because he'd learned of Ganon, a black sorcerer who'd only studied it for his goals.
So he'd assumed modern ones were just a bit more vile.
"These are the seeds I sowed."
Seeds grown over tens of thousands of years were now uncontrollable.
But he couldn't just leave them.
Someone had to fix it.
"One more thing to do."
Besides revenge on the 12 Gods, he now had a must-do.
Take control of the entire black sorcerer society with his own hands.
No idea how long it'd take, but if this was his karma, Jamie would bear it somehow.
"Time to go."
He started walking again.
Then, far off, he spotted familiar pink hair.
But a man was gripping it. The man yelled something and raised his wand.
"Resolve made, and I see this."
Jamie chuckled wryly and headed over.
And now...
"I asked, what the hell are you."
Hila aimed her wand at Jamie, disguised as Pica.
"......"
"This bitch's no different, and now you're ignoring me too?"
"......"
"Ha! You two are a matched set of..."
"Vena."
Jamie called out to Vena then.
She flinched at the sudden summons.
"How long are you going to just take it?"
"...?"
"This guy that scary?"
"...What do you."
"Get up."
Vena felt an irresistible force in Jamie's voice. He'd woven magic into it.
But everything from here was purely her will.
Vena staggered to her feet. She didn't know why, but it felt like she had to. If not, she'd live like this forever.
"Ha!"
Hila burst into incredulous laughter.
"You two have lost it completely?"
"How long you gonna stand there?"
"Pica. You're dead today."
"Vena. How long are you gonna just take it?"
"I."
Hila lunged at Jamie.
Vena's head spun. Hila's face seemed distorted.
Always tormenting her. Mocking, cursing, treating her like a bug. Just because she 'wasn't black sorcerer material.'
'I know. I don't fit as a black sorcerer.'
She knew better than anyone she didn't belong here.
No—she didn't want to fit in a place like this.
Always wanted to run. Always wanted courage. Hated her own timidity.
She'd tried overcoming it time and again, but Hila always nipped it in the bud.
"Not anymore. I don't want that anymore."
Vena looked at the wand in her hand. No idea when she'd drawn it. But her trembling, terrified hand gripped it tight.
"I don't want to live taking it anymore!"
Hila couldn't laugh at that. She glared at Vena with boiling rage.
"Fine. Punishment won't cut it. Today, I'll give you a real hell..."
"Vena."
"I!"
Mana swirled wildly.
Pink hair whipped everywhere.
Black mana condensed at her wand.
Hila watched, unable to comprehend.
Vena aiming magic at her.
The slave-like wretch rebelling ridiculously. Swayed by a fellow bug's words, like she'd been enchanted.
She'd never imagined this.
"This is insane!"
"I don't want to live like this anymore!!"
Her first rebellion.
Vena swung her wand hard. Black mana sparked, spraying the pain curse.
But skill gap was inevitable.
"Pathetic!"
Hila shattered Vena's spell effortlessly.
Vena's face filled with despair, but her gritted teeth showed no surrender.
"I'm going to change!!"
Her eyes began to glow faintly.
Whummm—
Invisible energy poured from Vena.
Hila felt her whole body shudder.
"Wh-What did you just do?"
For an instant, everything shrank back.
But Vena herself seemed oblivious.
'No way.'
Jamie stared wide-eyed at Vena.
He'd thought her just kind. No clue she hid something like this.
No.
She hadn't hidden it—she hadn't known.
That moment had triggered her awakening!
'Knew you couldn't be my disciple.'
"You're fucking crazy!"
Absorbed and reflected!
Hila, having absorbed the curse, fired it straight back at Vena.
Vena flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.
But the curse never hit.
Peeking through slitted eyes, she saw...
"Wh-What?!"
A flustered Hila.
He stared in disbelief at the hand gripping his wand.
"P-Pica!"
"Vena. You've taken your first step forward."
Jamie's eyes turned violet.
A thick hand seized Hila's face. Irresistible pressure bound her body.
"The first time's the hardest. The second won't be."
"W-Wait!"
Darkness began eating into Hila's skin.
No pain.
Just erasure.
"How do you have this power..."
"Child, power beyond your station crumbles easily."
Merely a bit better than Vena.
Yet she'd grasped too much and gone mad.
Hila reached out desperately to survive, but she could do nothing.
"Ah."
Vena stared at the lone robe dropped on the floor.
Her legs gave out.
"Finally."
The hollow-eyed elder, Gav, rose from his seat.
He didn't know the details, but after long years of effort, it had awakened.
Though she herself hadn't realized yet.
'The isolation finally bears fruit.'
Gav recalled Vena's constant pained face.
For 10 years, he'd orchestrated everything to shun her.
Slowly, so no one knew.
Even those bullying her didn't know why they hated her.
Vena probably thought it was just her own failings.
"Feared she'd never awaken from the excess."
Luckily, a trigger appeared.
The immense talent he'd spotted in her as a child.
"The power of the Valkyrie!"
Gav donned his robe and raised his cobra-carved staff.
"No need for this place anymore."
Time to ascend to higher realms.