Chapter 166: Ruins(1)
Chapter 166: Ruins(1)
The White Witch parted her lips as if she had something to say.
Morning was already approaching.
Kerry prompted the hesitant witch.
“If you have something to say, please say it quickly, my lady.”
“W-Well, it’s just…”
For some reason, the White Witch’s face was flushed bright red.
Finally, she pouted and said.
“...I have nothing to say.”
“If you have nothing to say, then why are you fidgeting like a puppy that needs to go?”
“!”
“Wh-Who are you calling a puppy that needs to go! I am the great White Witch. Kerry, you will watch your tongue.”
“You really have nothing to say? Then I’ll be on my way.”
“...Already?”
“What do you mean, already? The sun is coming up.”
“But the last time you came to show me the necklace… didn’t you leave early then, too?”
“…”
In the past, I would have teased her, asking if she was sad to see me go, but after seeing how much she was struggling last time, I wasn’t in the mood.
“I’ll drop by again later when I have a moment.”
“…”
Even with the promise of a return visit, the White Witch’s expression remained ambiguous.
She didn’t seem to dislike the idea of me coming back soon, but her eyes suggested she wanted something else.
Seeing her squirm slightly, Kerry realized.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since the Witch and I have done it.
Kerry looked at her.
“My lady, by any chance, do you want to have sex right now?”
At Kerry’s blunt question, the Witch’s face turned red all the way to her ears.
“Wh-What nonsense are you spouting!”
Though her words were a denial, her already slick cunt was screaming in delight.
It rejoiced, thinking Kerry’s cock would finally enter. They hadn’t been able to do it during their last meeting due to a lack of time.
“So it’s not that, right? Besides, I couldn’t even if I wanted to right now. I have plans with the party early this morning, so I need to go back now to have enough time to prepare.”
“…”
“You said that last time, too, and left early…”
“I’m sorry. I’ll make you feel good next time, so please let it go for today.”
“Th-There is no need to make me feel good!”
“Oh, come on. You know you like it.”
“I do not!”
Kerry cupped the White Witch’s face and kissed her.
Of course, she didn’t pull away.
The White Witch’s lips met Kerry’s.
His sweet tongue slipped past her lips in an instant.
With her lust already at its peak, the White Witch felt as if she would melt from his kiss.
He pulled his lips away. The White Witch licked her own, as if in disappointment.
“Well then, I’ll be going now.”
“Do as you will…”
Kerry said one last goodbye and vanished.
Left alone, the White Witch sank to the floor.
It was just a kiss, but the desire that flared up had made her legs give out.
For a long while, she stared with longing at the empty space where Kerry had been.
*
Lina’s party was all asleep in their room at the inn.
They all got along well, and the sight of them sleeping together seemed fitting.
While everyone else slept with peaceful expressions, one person was twitching as if having a nightmare.
It was Lina.
Lina was dreaming.
A dream of standing alone on a battlefield littered with corpses. An endless horde of undead swarmed her.
She killed and killed the advancing undead.
But no matter how many she slew, there was no end.
The scene of her comrades in arms turning into chunks of rotten meat only to rise again repeated itself endlessly.
The one creating this horrific spectacle was a single woman.
The Black Witch.
The lover of a man whose face she couldn’t see.
She was Lina’s arch-enemy.
Her dependable companions were all gone, and in the dream, Lina was left alone, swarmed by countless undead.
The immortal army, which never dwindled no matter how many she killed, was truly terrifying.
“Stop!”
Lina shot up from her bed.
Cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
It was that dream again. The one with the faceless man and the Black Witch.
The spirit of Endymion told me. Something is interfering with my memories.
That was why she couldn’t see the man’s face.
If only Elpis were in this world, she would have asked her to remove whatever was blocking her memories.
But Elpis didn’t even hear Lina’s prayers.
Perhaps it was to be expected.
The last time she had seen Elpis in her past life, the goddess had spoken as if bidding her a final farewell.
Lina hadn’t been able to meet Elpis since she regressed. It was a possibility she didn’t want to consider, but perhaps Elpis was…
Just then, someone hugged her from behind.
It was Victoria.
“Huhu. Lina, it seems you had another nightmare.”
“…”
Lina looked around and saw that the entire party was awake, watching her with sleepy eyes.
Her face flushed.
Should she be relieved that at least Kerry hadn’t seen? If he had, he would have mimicked her and made fun of her again.
“I apologize. I woke you all. More importantly, Lady Victoria.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Please stop feigning ignorance and remove your hand from my breast.”
Victoria, under the pretense of hugging her from behind, was groping Lina’s chest.
“Oh, my. I didn’t even realize.”
“...Don’t you ever get tired of this?”
Arwen watched Lina and Victoria.
Do women from the outside world normally play by touching each other’s breasts?
Arwen whispered to Natasha, who was next to her.
“Do… do they often touch each other’s breasts?”
“Of course not. It’s just… Victoria is a pervert, Princess.”
“…”
“She’s probably after your breasts too, Princess Arwen.”
“What?! Th-That’s not…”
This was a problem. Arwen’s desires had recently awakened, and she was already finding it harder and harder to hold back each day.
If she was stimulated by having her breasts touched, she might have to do something lewd again to relieve the urge.
Lina pushed the clinging Victoria away and addressed the party.
“Fortunately, it’s not too far from the time we were supposed to wake up anyway. It would be best to start preparing for our departure.”
As if waiting for those words, Natasha shot up from her spot.
“Then I’ll go wake my husband now!”
Natasha had been anxiously waiting to see Kerry since last night because of the no-entry order.
She darted over and knocked on Kerry’s door.
*
Lina’s party left the temple. The high priest and other priests came out to see them off, despite the early hour.
“May the hope of Elpis be with the heroes.”
Lina had said that today, they would find the second Black Monolith.
The Black Witch. To stop her from awakening, we have to destroy the Black Monoliths as quickly as possible.
Lina knew that the Black Witch would be resurrected using the power of the Dragon Veins.
“Everyone must be prepared. This time, our enemies will be ready for us.”
There was no way The Organization didn’t know the hero party had crossed the border.
They had likely made thorough preparations.
The party ran, following Lina’s lead.
Thanks to Arwen’s buffs, even Kerry could run without needing to be carried.
But the expression on Kerry’s face as he ran was quite grim.
It was because he had heard about their destination from Lina.
Lina said the place we’re going to is one of the ‘Ancient Ruins’.
The Organization had supposedly hidden the Black Monolith deep inside the ruins, which were filled with dangerous traps.
But the traps didn’t matter.
There was only one thing on Kerry’s mind. The Witch had said that the way to undo her seal was in some ruins.
It might be in a different ruin, not the one they were heading to now, but still.
As Kerry ran with a serious expression, someone was watching him intently.
It was Arwen.
Arwen kept stealing glances at Kerry.
Ever since Kerry had touched her ears, her feelings of affection for him had grown even stronger.
Sir Kerry. Why does he look so serious…
Was he hurt somewhere? Or perhaps, had she done something wrong?
She wracked her brain but couldn’t recall making any mistakes. That was a relief.
In truth, she had mostly just been watching Kerry lately, so it was a needless worry.
Just as Arwen was looking at Kerry…
“Princess Arwen, in front of you!”
A tree branch appeared before her, but Arwen didn’t see it. She had been too busy looking at Kerry.
Thwack!
Arwen ran headfirst into the branch.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a thick branch, so she wasn’t seriously hurt, but it was incredibly embarrassing.
Especially when Kerry approached with a worried look, she was so ashamed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into and hide.
Arwen tried to act nonchalant, though her face was as red as a beet.
“I’m fine. L-Let’s hurry!”
Arwen ran to the very front, despite not knowing the way. But without knowing the path, she couldn’t possibly lead.
She soon turned back around and said.
“...Which way should we go, Lady Lina?”
“We’re almost there.”
Lina approached Arwen with a gentle smile. It was a relief that her companions were so kind.
Just as Lina had said, after going a little deeper into the forest, they saw what looked like very old ruins.
It was unmanaged, broken in many places, and covered in moss.
“Is this where the Black Monolith is?”
Lina nodded.
On the outside, it looked like an ordinary ruin. The sight of the forest and ruins intermingling even gave off a dreamlike atmosphere.
“From now on, we’ll proceed slowly and stay alert. Watch out for traps in the ruins… and for the enemy.”
Heeding Lina’s words, the party walked slowly, remaining vigilant.
The ruins were massive.
They knew it was large from a distance, but once inside, they could truly feel the magnificent scale of the structure.
Just then, Natasha spoke up.
“There’s some kind of drawing here!”
“A drawing?”
Could it be some kind of ancient record?
The party gathered where Natasha had called out.
Sure enough, there were pictures and characters that seemed to hold some important meaning.
Kerry couldn’t read the ancient language, but he could at least make out the pictures.
The drawing depicted a war.
Countless demons and humans were fighting.
In each army’s camp, a single figure floated in the sky.
On the demon side, there was a woman, and on the human side, a man.
Lina placed a hand on the ruin wall. From the look in her eyes, she seemed to know something.
“...Can you read the ancient language, Lady Lina?”
“No. But I know what this picture means.”
“May I ask what it means?”
“You may… but I didn’t realize you would be interested in this, Sir Kerry.”
Of course he was. He had to thoroughly investigate the ruins.
A clue to freeing the Witch might be here.
Lina began to speak.
“This is a depiction of the Holy War fought by an ancient civilization.”
The Holy War of the past? Don’t tell me it’s related to the war from Lina’s dream.
“The woman drawn on the demon’s side is the goal of the organization we’re chasing. Commonly known as the Black Witch. The Organization intends to resurrect the Black Witch and recreate the Holy War of the past, just like in this picture.”
“…”
So the Black Witch is the cause of the great war, both past and future.
Resurrection, huh. Lately, I’m really feeling that this is a fantasy world.
First, there was that guy Asmodeus, who was supposedly immortal.
“And the name of the man on the human side is Asmodeus.”
Right, that guy. Wait. Why is his name showing up here?
“He was the king of a now-fallen civilization. He fought against the Black Witch to protect his kingdom.”
The scale of this was getting bigger and bigger.
He knew it wouldn’t be small, being a hero’s job and all.
Lina continued her explanation.
The story she told was a depressing one. A nation destroyed by the Black Witch.
And now, that same stale story was about to repeat itself.
There were no clues about freeing the Witch.
Maybe I’ll search this place separately after we’ve cleared it.
The rest of the party also seemed a little burdened by the expanding scale of the situation.
By now, they must be realizing just how important the hero party’s mission was.
Or maybe not everyone is realizing it.
Even at this moment, Victoria was making a lewd gesture at him with her hand.
This lewd noblewoman! We’re in the middle of an important story, can’t you focus!
Just then, he felt a heated gaze and looked down at Natasha, who was stuck to his side.
Natasha was looking up at Kerry with innocent eyes.
When their eyes met, her cheeks turned pink.
Lina is working so hard to explain. Please look forward, Natasha.
Kerry turned his head to see what Arwen was doing.
Arwen, who had been staring at Kerry, was caught and whipped her head away in a fluster.
If you’re going to turn your head anyway, couldn’t you at least look at Lina, who’s explaining so diligently up front, Princess Arwen?
No matter how you sliced it, this was an important story with the fate of the continent at stake.
But even Arwen seemed to have no interest in the old tale, feigning indifference as she stared off into space.
Finally, the Saintess.
The Saintess was staring blankly at the sky.
Anyone would think she was the tragic hero of a drama.
She looked as if she were drowning in self-pity with a pathetic gaze.
The Saintess is something else, too.
In the end, the only ones listening to Lina were the old crone and Kerry.
“For the sake of not repeating the pains of the past, we must…”
Lina was still up front, passionately recounting history.
Even if only a few were listening.
Are we really going to be okay, Lina…?
For some reason, Kerry felt increasingly sorry for her.