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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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In the colossal cavern, a magic circle glowed with an ominous violet light.
Within that magic circle was a woman.
A woman with black hair and black clothes.
She was deathly pale, but her beauty remained undeniable.
The elderly mages around the magic circle gazed at the woman in the glass tube and chanted spells.
The murmuring incantations were foreboding, and the violet light of the magic circle illuminating the cave was even more so.
One of the old mages then said,
“Let’s take a short break.”
The old mages, their faces etched with wrinkles, finally stopped chanting.
The violet light illuminating the cavern vanished from the magic circle. Red torches illuminated the dark cavern.
The old men wiped away their sweat. Being old, they were mages with decades of experience under their belts.
Dozens of them, sweating profusely, had chanted spells, but there was no change in the cave.
The black-haired woman in the glass tube remained pale. But none of the old mages found that strange.
As everyone caught their breath, one old man said,
“By the way, did you hear? The Hero came looking for Barickmeteo.”
“…”
“Is that scoundrel’s end finally near?”
“He was stupid but useful.”
“He’s not the problem. There’s a black stele there, isn’t there?”
“Support?”
“We sent some. As much as we could, but…I don’t think they’ll be able to handle the Hero.
We’re short on manpower too.”
“Tsk.”
The black stele.
It was an object the old men had planted across the continent to awaken the woman before them.
Those black steles, embedded throughout the continent, were devices that absorbed the energy of ley lines.
“Troublesome. How did the Hero find out about that stele?”
“Is there a possibility information leaked from within?”
“Hmph. We killed everyone who planted them. The only ones who know about that stele are its guardians and us.”
“Elena…is there no possibility the Goddess gave a revelation?”
“That’s probably the most likely possibility. But even Elena shouldn’t know all of our plans…”
The old men each spoke, engaging in a heated discussion.
The Hero’s actions were unusual. She was clearly hostile towards them and seemed to know their future plans intimately.
“Let’s all calm down. Our task is already set, isn’t it? To awaken her as quickly as possible.
That is our sole aspiration. If the Hero interferes with our work, we just need to finish it before we are hindered.”
At his words, the old men nodded. The old men began to move busily again, and the magic circle once more glowed with its ominous violet light.
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Barickmeteo relentlessly hammered Kerry’s shield.
He gnawed at the shield with his proud claws and teeth.
But the shield remained unmoving.
‘My teeth, which can even chew steel, aren’t working!’
He knew the troublesome man had excellent magical abilities. He estimated him to be at the level of an intermediate mage.
But this far surpassed the level of an intermediate mage.
“Haaah! This annoying bastard!!”
He had thought he could easily tear and kill him if only the Hero didn’t interfere, but he couldn’t.
Watching Kerry casually play it cool inside the shield made a furious heat bubble up inside him.
But he had to calm down here.
If he couldn’t capture the troublesome man now, he had to eliminate the Hero’s party first.
Before the shadows fighting the heroes disappeared.
Then Kerry shouted.
“Lina! Is there no way? A way to break the spell…or something I can do to help.”
You’re a regressor. Give me something to work with so I can move.
Lina was being pushed back by her shadow at that moment.
It was a shadow with equal power, yet Lina, the original, was being pushed back.
The image of Kerry secretly entering the abandoned house last night wouldn’t leave Lina’s mind.
Separately, Lina knew a way to break this spell.
But right now, that was something only Lina could do. Meaning telling Kerry would be useless.
Lina was the key to breaking through the situation, but she couldn’t perform at her full ability. That frustrated her immensely.
‘Damn it! Kerry coming back late at night with the Saint… What does that matter?!’
As Lina’s shadow, its swordsmanship was excellent, making it difficult to handle.
Barickmeteo looked at Lina with satisfaction and smiled.
“Good. Troublesome man…I’ll kill you later.”
Barickmeteo began moving towards the party fighting their shadows.
That was dangerous.
Even now, the party was barely holding on, fighting their shadows equally, and if Barickmeteo intervened, the balance would surely collapse.
“You cat bastard! Where are you going? You said you wanted to kill me?”
Barickmeteo glanced back and scoffed. Annoying.
As expected, a provocation wouldn’t work in a situation like this.
Kerry took out a Lesser Magic Storage Orb.
It was an orb containing the Fireball spell.
Kerry poured a lot of mana into the orb and shot a fireball.
Whoosh-
But it didn’t work. A low-tier spell wouldn’t affect Barickmeteo.
Barickmeteo casually shook off the fire clinging to his mane, putting it out.
“You damn cat bastard.”
Damn it. If that’s the case, he had no choice. It was an all-or-nothing situation for him too.
Kerry didn’t know if it would work out. But right now, there was no other option.
Kerry shouted loudly from inside his shield.
“Natasha! Go berserk! Right now!”
Lina shouted in a startled voice.
“Kerry?! No, you can’t! It’s too dangerous! If Natasha goes berserk, her shadow will go berserk too! This place will become a complete mess!”
Kerry shook his head.
If they stayed like this, the party would just get defeated. Now was the time to gamble on a small possibility.
“Natasha, go berserk!”
“But…Husband! Lina says it’s dangerous…I don’t want you to get hurt!”
That wasn’t it.
Even without Lina’s words, the sudden command to go berserk might have been too much.
Kerry’s shield was simply too strong.
No matter how much Barickmeteo struck, he couldn’t break it, so Natasha felt safe behind it.
This damn shield was an obstacle right now.
Kerry dispelled the shield.
“You cat bastard. I will take off the shield. Come let’s fight.”
Barickmeteo growled, seeing Kerry lower his shield.
“You’ve become too complacent, troublesome man.”
Barickmeteo moved surprisingly quickly for his large size.
He instantly moved behind Kerry.
Barickmeteo raised one hand high to tear Kerry apart.
That sight appeared vividly in slow motion to Natasha. Barickmeteo’s sharp, massive claws were about to descend on Kerry.
‘Husband…is he dying?’
“Graaah!”
Natasha instantly went berserk.
A red haze billowed from Natasha’s body. Its intensity was far fiercer than when she was restrained by the curse.
Barickmeteo’s eyes widened at the roar that reverberated through the air.
He had seen Natasha’s crazy state before, but now she looked even crazier.
“That…crazy bitch…”
“Yeah. Shield.”
Kerry, of course, deployed his shield in the meantime. Barickmeteo regretted missing Kerry, but he wasn’t disappointed.
“Hmph. You just watch your comrades die from inside there. When everything is over, it’ll be your turn.”
A man who powerlessly watched his comrades die.
Barickmeteo thought it was a fitting end for the troublesome man.
Then the situation began to unfold in a slightly strange way.
Natasha and Natasha’s shadow were seen snarling at each other, both berserk.
Barickmeteo had expected their fight to turn the place into chaos.
But imagination and reality were completely different.
“Natasha. Sit.”
At Kerry’s single word, Natasha sat down. Though she still growled, she faithfully obeyed Kerry’s command.
It was baffling that the crazy woman listened, but even Natasha’s shadow, even more baffling, obeyed Kerry’s command.
‘Phew. Thankfully, it worked out as planned.’
“Good job, Natasha. You’re a good Natasha when you listen to me. Remember?”
“Hehe!”
The party looked at Natasha and let out a wry laugh. The terrible thing they had imagined didn’t happen.
Barickmeteo shouted in disbelief at the absurd situation.
“Get up and fight! Shadow!”
At Barickmeteo’s roar, Natasha’s shadow flinched and trembled. As if it might disobey Kerry’s command and get up.
“Natasha. No. I told you to sit.”
“Hehe!”
At those words, Natasha’s shadow calmly sat down again.
Kerry’s lips curled into a smirk.
Barickmeteo saw that expression and instantly had a bad premonition.
“Listen…troublesome man…I’ll make you an offer. If you help me…I’ll give you everything you need…”
These guys, they always try to pull something like this when they’re about to die.
“Everything will be mine anyway when you die. Why would I listen to you?”
Barickmeteo’s brow furrowed into a frown. He was finally showing his true colors.
“This rotten bastard…”
“Natasha! Attack this lion-head!”
“Hehe…Graaah!”
Natasha instantly changed her demeanor and charged at Barickmeteo.
It was as if her suppressed instincts were unleashed all at once.
The interesting thing was that Natasha’s berserk shadow also charged at Barickmeteo.
Barickmeteo was now facing two berserk Natashas due to his own spell.
“These crazy bitches!”
With one powerful punch from Natasha, Barickmeteo’s waist instantly buckled.
A kick from the shadow Natasha immediately shattered Barickmeteo’s sharp, gleaming fangs.
“Grr…Wait! Two against one…that’s cowardly!”
Justice always triumphs with the combined effort of love and friendship.
Natasha, already stronger, now doubled, overwhelmed Barickmeteo.
Barickmeteo couldn’t possibly handle it.
Barickmeteo swung his arm with all his remaining strength, shaking off the Natashas.
And as before, he tried to fly into the sky and escape.
At the same time, Barickmeteo, finding it difficult to deal with two Natashas, had no choice but to dispel the spell.
Natasha’s shadow slowly dissolved and disappeared.
“The shadow’s gone!”
Lina’s shadow, Victoria’s shadow, and everyone else’s shadows vanished.
Barickmeteo flew powerfully into the sky. Natasha jumped, charging at Barickmeteo.
It was dangerous for Natasha, who couldn’t fly, to engage in aerial combat.
“Natasha. Come back.”
Capturing the cat bastard was important, but the party’s safety was always the top priority.
Natasha, who had been clinging to Barickmeteo, returned at Kerry’s single word.
‘Are we going to let him escape again?’
But that wasn’t it.
A dependable voice came from beside him.
“Well done, Kerry. Now, leave it to me.”
It was Lina.
Lina stepped forward with a resolute expression, as if she could no longer tolerate showing any more disgrace.
At the same time, Lina quietly muttered,
“Hermes’s Blessing.”
It was the skill of the boots Lina had obtained.
No sooner had Lina finished her incantation than a ray of light began to shine down on the foggy forest.
The holy-looking light grew, brightly illuminating the sky.
At that moment, white feathers began to flutter down from the sky.
The scene of beautiful light and fluttering white feathers was like heaven descending upon earth.
Lina leaped high into the sky.
And lightly stepping on the white feathers, she began to run across the sky.
Lina, with her golden hair flowing, charging at Barickmeteo, looked as magnificent as a legendary hero.
“Barickmeteo!”
“…You hero-bitch!”
Lina instantly leaped, stepping on the white feathers, and slashed Barickmeteo.
Lina ran and raged across the sky as if it were her own domain, stepping on feather after feather.
Numerous stab wounds began to appear on Barickmeteo’s body. That was the end.
“Haaah!”
Barickmeteo’s blood scattered across the sky.
Judging by the amount of blood scattered, it was certainly a fatal wound.
Barickmeteo lost consciousness and fell from the sky.
A violent impact echoed in the forest where Barickmeteo fell, and a dust storm billowed up.
The party ran towards the spot.
Lina also descended from the sky, stepping on the white feathers. Awesome! Our Lina!
Lina seemed pleased that she had finally done her part, her expression satisfied.
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The party arrived at the spot where Barickmeteo had fallen.
Barickmeteo was not there, but bloodstains were splattered on the forest ground. As expected, his condition was not good, and there were signs of him hitting various places and scattering blood.
Barickmeteo was finally finished.
The party followed the blood trail.
Before long, they saw Barickmeteo lying collapsed. His body was already in rags from Lina’s sword.
Barickmeteo, desperately trying to hold back his spilling intestines with his hands, managed to lean against a rock.
Seeing him like that, it became clear that he was done for.
Barickmeteo wouldn’t die that easily, but a seriously injured person couldn’t escape from them.
“Phew…Phew…You damn hero-bitches…”
Barickmeteo muttered weakly.
He didn’t have his fierce eyes from before. He merely muttered with half-dead eyes, like a dead fish.
“I just…I just wanted to live well.”
“Everyone in the world feels that way.”
“…”
“Everyone feels that way? How ridiculous. You wouldn’t know. The pain of being unable to escape from the bottom of hell… Distinguished people like you will never understand that feeling.”
Screw that.
I’ve also been through hell and back in this other world.
I knew very well that this other world was maddeningly unfair compared to my longed-for homeland.
But he should have still respected boundaries.
“If I’m to die alone like this…I’ll take you heroes with me as companions on the journey!”
Barickmeteo roared.
At the same time, the space next to him began to shatter.
What appeared as the space shattered was a black pillar, ominous violet energy swirling around it.
“Black Stele!”
Seeing Lina’s surprise, it seemed it wasn’t an ordinary object. It was when Barickmeteo tried to approach that stele.
The Saint moved then.
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