—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The legend the White Witch told was, as she said, a bit outlandish.
In summary, it was the story of an ancient man who gained divine power, became immortal, and founded a nation.
“It is the ancient kingdom that became the origin of your bracelet, the artifact. But it is a story so old it is only treated as a myth, so it is not to be taken seriously.”
A man who became an immortal king by gaining divine power. Not bad.
Regardless of whether that legend was true or false.
Since the White Witch said it wasn’t very credible, it seemed he didn’t need to worry much about it.
“And the concern that you might be controlled by Elena if you gain divine power also seems a bit excessive. If that were possible, there would be no apostates, and no need for inquisitors to judge corrupt religious figures.”
This was awesome.
This meant he could keep sucking the Saint’s milk—no, her divine power—without any worries.
The addictive taste of that milk came to mind, and his mouth watered. He immediately wanted to take a sip.
He wanted to enjoy himself with the White Witch today, but it was seriously late.
He was sure that if he enjoyed himself now, he definitely wouldn’t be able to return on time.
“Witch. I think I have to go now.”
“Is that so…Are you returning early today?”
“It’s already almost morning.”
“That’s right…it’s almost morning.”
Seeing the dejected Witch, he couldn’t help but feel sorry. Maybe he should have come tomorrow and played all he wanted.
“Oh, now that I think about it, you once told me you want to directly use magic, didn’t you? When will you seriously learn that?”
Even though he said he was leaving, she kept finding topics to hold him back.
She truly seemed reluctant for him to leave.
Lately, this behavior had become more pronounced, giving him the feeling that she was anxious about him leaving.
Kerry noticed the White Witch’s intentions but pretended not to and spoke.
“I need to learn that quickly too.”
“Yes. You absolutely must learn it.”
Come to think of it, he still hadn’t inscribed the Hero-grade orb with a new magic spell.
That meant the magic to peer into dreams was still there.
Damn it. The Saint had completely distracted him.
Initially, he had felt secure thanks to the bracelet Lina gave him, so he had apparently neglected the orb.
Complacency was forbidden. He’d have to take better care of it from now on.
“Witch. The sun is really rising now, and I have to go. Instead, next time I come, I’ll make you twice as happy!”
“You’ll make me twice as happy? What do you mean by that?”
Kerry suggestively clapped his hands together. He meant sex.
The White Witch understood the signal, and her face immediately turned bright red.
“T-There’s no need for that! Twice as much…I can’t even handle it as it is. No. Wasn’t that for your benefit in the first place, not mine?”
“Anyway! I’ll definitely make up for what I couldn’t do today! Even if it’s tomorrow night!”
“I said you don’t have to!”
“Witch. Then I’m really leaving now.”
The White Witch waved her hand at Kerry.
Kerry suddenly vanished, as if he had never been there in the first place.
The White Witch was left alone in the silence of the bedroom. Sometimes, she wondered if Kerry was truly real.
She even felt as though he might be a figment of her imagination, created out of intense loneliness.
“I…I need to change my underwear.”
She had hoped he would give her some attention today.
To think he would just leave like that. But when he promised to do it twice as much, her vagina involuntarily ached.
And that intense yearn for sex, doubled…
The White Witch recalled the scent she had caught when Kerry came close, teasing her.
The scent of another woman.
Sometimes Kerry came back with the scent of other women, but today, for some reason, it felt even more bitter.
A man like Kerry was hard to find even 100 years ago. He must be very popular outside.
The White Witch didn’t want Kerry to leave. She was afraid of losing him to another woman.
But the White Witch knew. The more she obsessed, the more difficult Kerry would find her.
The White Witch could only comfort her bitter heart alone.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Kerry returned to the abandoned house where his party was staying. As expected, dawn was breaking outside. He had lingered too long.
Fortunately, however, everyone in the party was asleep. Even the Saint had fallen asleep quickly, snoring softly.
Kerry carefully laid down in his original spot.
Just then, Lina, who had been turned away from Kerry, slowly opened her closed eyes.
Lina had been awake. Since the Saint returned. She had pretended to be asleep even then.
Because she and the Saint were still on awkward terms.
‘Why did those two…disappear at night and then reappear?’
No. To be precise, she hadn’t seen them disappear together.
When Kerry and the Saint went out together, Lina had been asleep.
But the mere fact that the two of them had disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the night was strange.
‘Why did Kerry and the Saint leave together? Could it be…?’
No way. It couldn’t be. Kerry had Natasha.
No, even that was just Natasha’s one-sided advances, so even if Kerry and the Saint had started dating, there wouldn’t be a problem.
Lina’s chest felt heavy.
She wasn’t Kerry’s girlfriend or anything. Why did she feel this way?
Like when she sometimes saw the face of a man she couldn’t recognize in her dreams.
Her chest felt heavy, just like when she saw that man. Perhaps it was just a simple misunderstanding.
Maybe they just happened to leave together at an inopportune time.
‘Besides, the Saint and Kerry…they weren’t even close. There’s no way they’d be dating.’
The heaviness in her chest eased a little.
‘Should I ask Kerry in the morning? What happened that made them leave together…?’
Then it happened. A blatant killing intent began to be felt from outside.
Lina shot up from her spot.
“Enemy! Everyone, wake up!”
At Lina’s words, the party woke up. Kerry hadn’t even gotten a proper nap. Just let me sleep, damn it.
The group quickly finished their battle preparations and went outside the abandoned house.
Faint lights gleamed in the thick fog.
“We’re surrounded.”
“Something’s off. Do monsters usually form such a siege? They usually rush in instinctively. It’s as if they were waiting for us to come out.”
“That’s right. And judging by the shadows in the fog, there are also types of monsters that don’t usually gather in groups.”
“Then this is…”
“Barickmeteo’s doing, no doubt.”
The group nodded.
That cat-bastard was the only one who would pull a stunt like this. Bring it on. He wasn’t intimidated anymore.
Victoria came close to Kerry.
“Kerry. Don’t leave my side.”
“Yes, Victoria.”
Then, a beast’s howl echoed.
AwoooOOOOO-
That howl became the signal, and dozens of monsters charged at Lina’s group.
Lina dashed forward first.
Natasha glanced at Kerry, confirmed he was safe, and then ran out.
Victoria protected Kerry and the old woman. The Saint also subtly moved closer to them.
The party had grown stronger than before.
Lina had obtained Hermes’s Boots, greatly increasing her movement speed.
She was fast before, but now she moved so quickly that the sound of cutting wind could be heard as she slaughtered monsters.
Natasha was the same.
Natasha’s movements, now that her curse was completely broken, were truly light.
It felt as if she was half-flying, barely touching the ground, as she killed monsters.
Victoria also killed monsters charging from the rear with her shield and sword. Victoria, shield in hand, looked dependable.
“…As expected of the Hero’s party, you’re strong.”
The Saint, seeing Lina’s group fight for the first time, murmured.
Indeed, they were overwhelmingly suppressing the enemies, to the point where the rear didn’t feel the need to step in.
Before long, the surroundings were quickly strewn with dismembered monsters.
Kerry didn’t just watch.
He used the tracking magic engraved in the Lesser Magic Storage Orb.
A wave of mana spread out. From the returning wave, he sensed Barickmeteo.
“Barickmeteo. Stop hiding and come out. You came for a fight, didn’t you?”
From the direction Kerry spoke, large yellow eyes began to glow.
These were the eyes that hadn’t moved even when all the other monsters charged.
“Kukuku.”
With heavy footsteps, a lion-headed monster appeared from the fog.
Lina stood at the very front of the group, raising her sword towards the lion-headed monster.
“To think you’d crawl all the way here. You truly are a bothersome lot. First, let me ask one thing. Did you kill Nasen?”
Lina replied on behalf of the group.
“…Yes. You too will soon follow Nasen. Barickmeteo.”
“…”
Barickmeteo stroked his beard.
Nasen had certainly gone out to find a good item for him.
He worried that perhaps the heroes had taken that good item.
Of course, the good item Nasen was looking for, the Doll Ginseng, Kerry had already safely acquired.
“One last question. How did you find this place? How did you know about and find the organization’s important hideout?”
Well, our Lina is a regressor.
“I have no obligation to tell you that.”
“…You annoying hero-bitch. If you want to die so quickly, I’ll grant your wish.”
Barickmeteo snapped his fingers.
At that moment, five shadowy figures appeared behind Barickmeteo.
The five shadowy figures looked exactly like Lina’s party.
“Another bothersome spell…”
Lina glared at Barickmeteo’s missing left arm. It had to be a spell that used that arm as a sacrifice.
Lina knew this was originally the spell of the idol worshiper.
“Kukuku. This time, this is the last of you troublesome lot.”
The black shadowy figures, resembling the hero’s party, charged.
Lina’s black shadowy figure charged at Lina.
Natasha’s black shadowy figure charged at Natasha. Each one was pursued by its own.
Even the old woman was pursued by a black shadowy figure.
“…”
Everyone faced their own shadow-like opponent.
Amidst this, there was one awkward person.
“…Me?”
It would be good if there wasn’t one, but no, it felt a bit awkward.
Then it happened.
Barickmeteo, with his massive body, approached Kerry.
“I’ll play with you, troublesome man.”
“…”
Why are you always picking on me?
Barickmeteo was so large he could swallow Kerry in one gulp if he wanted to.
A direct confrontation seemed utterly unwinnable.
Kerry looked at his party.
Everyone was wrestling with their own shadows.
“Husband!”
Natasha began to get agitated seeing Kerry’s danger. Then Lina shouted.
“Natasha! Don’t get excited! These shadows mimic our forms! If Natasha goes berserk, the shadow will go berserk too.”
What kind of annoying thing was that?
It was when Kerry was momentarily distracted by his party. A dark shadow fell over his head.
Kerry immediately deployed his shield at the chilling sensation.
“Shield!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Damn it. He thought he was going to die. Barickmeteo’s forepaw was blocked by Kerry’s shield.
“What kind of magic is this now? It feels different from what you used before.”
“You cat bastard. You’re so full of questions.”
“…C-Cat?”
Barickmeteo growled, sharpening his claws. Then he began to attack Kerry’s shield indiscriminately.
Crush-crush-crush! Bang-bang-bang!
Even with only one arm, Barickmeteo was sufficiently threatening.
Barickmeteo’s proud claws collided with the shield, sending sparks flying.
But it was useless.
The bracelet Lina gave him glowed, keeping the shield strong.
It was indeed a rare grade bracelet.
Hooray for Lina! Hooray for the Regressor!
Perhaps because Barickmeteo’s attacks were fierce, it was consuming a lot of mana, but the shield didn’t even crack.
From the start, the artifact bracelet Lina gave was a rare treasure that created a powerful shield proportional to the mana poured into it.
No matter how strong Barickmeteo was, it was difficult to break Kerry’s shield, who had 20 years’ worth of mana from consuming two elixirs, in one go.
“Gah…Hah…Huk…What kind of shield is this…? Weren’t you an intermediate mage?”
Judging solely by the shield’s perfection, it seemed comparable to an advanced mage.
Of course, if Barickmeteo had both hands and his full strength, he might have broken Kerry’s shield.
“Serves you right, you cat bastard.”
Kerry leisurely surveyed his party from within the shield. Everyone was clashing with their shadow-like counterparts.
Their skills seemed to match their appearance, as neither side was easily pushed back, maintaining an even fight.
Then it happened.
Lina stumbled and began to be pushed back by her shadow.
‘Why is our most reliable regressor being pushed back?’
Kerry didn’t know, but Lina couldn’t focus at all right now.
It was because she had discovered the Saint and Kerry entering late at night.
Lina received the shadow’s sword and thought.
‘I shouldn’t waver. Why can’t the image of Kerry coming in late at night leave my mind?’
The shadow in front of her was unaffected by any inner turmoil, just swinging its sword.
Lina wanted to be like that.
She just wanted to become a single sword and fulfill the Hero’s mission.
But in reality, her mind was filled with thoughts of Kerry.
Then Barickmeteo began to move towards the others.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
