Chapter 153: The Most Painful Axe
When I returned to Adrang’s quarters, he had already gathered all the witch hunters in the annex.
I found myself in a situation similar to the emergency meeting from my past life, where suspicion and doubt crossed like walking on thin ice.
“Take a look at this first. This is the valuable information provided by Jung Yong.”
With a thud, Adrang presented the information I had written down earlier to the witch hunters. They examined it closely, muttering under their breath.
Knightrea especially stared at it with an intensely sharp gaze. That woman is kind of scary.
“As you can see, the records of the 15 challengers have been unnaturally erased. It’s the same with any data. Refer to the notes I’ve attached.”
“… Indeed. With this level of thoroughness… there’s no way to doubt it. To be able to avoid the eyes of the Unterland Information Bureau, what kind of organization could they be…?”
Thanks to Adrang’s active defense and the verification of the authenticity of the information I brought, even Knightrea, who had held onto her suspicions until the end, finally conceded. I barely managed to earn their trust.
And when I delivered the news of Portia’s death, Adrang was shocked beyond imagination.
“Miss Portia… is dead?”
With a thud, Adrang sat back heavily in his chair, looking dazed. He kept repeating those words, as if he couldn’t believe them.
I glanced around subtly. The others seemed equally shocked.
“Ah… that lady. She was a bit old-fashioned, but she was quite strong…”
“Does this mean our opponent was even stronger? We must be extremely cautious.”
Elfride and Geom Rim each murmured a few words and closed their eyes. Knightrea stood by silently, arms crossed, eyes closed, without saying a word.
Paek Eun and The Golden One exchanged subtle looks and then closed their eyes.
“… Let’s observe a moment of silence for the fallen comrade.”
Adrang muttered under his breath, closing his eyes as well.
One, two, three.
A brief moment of silence followed, just like in my past life. Once it ended, Adrang’s usual ashen and dispassionate gaze returned.
“I must have looked quite wretched. I never thought I would lose a comrade.”
“… No. It’s normal.”
Adrang, did you just do a backflip? You’ve gone full-on psycho now, Jung Yong.
30 minutes ago, I wanted to deliver a somersault kick to your ass.
“This shouldn’t be happening to someone as strong as her. Her death is a regrettable loss, brought about by my greed. I’ve repeated the same mistake… the time when it happened to my wife.”
“Woof… Brother, it’s not your fault… cheer up…”
Adrang gritted his teeth and reproached himself. Elfride fidgeted beside him, trying to console him.
He didn’t seem this sad in my past life. Knowing what I know from that life, it felt quite awkward.
‘No, that’s not it.’
In my past life, right after hearing about Portia’s death, Adrang was attacked.
Perhaps during the battle, he regained his composure and restrained his emotions as the leader of the witch hunters.
‘It seems he truly cares for the people he considers comrades?’
That’s something new I’ve learned about Adrang.
As I’ve noticed before, people like this are incredibly annoying when they’re enemies, but they’re reliable allies. Unlike Halsenberg, who’s always wishy-washy, Adrang seems to draw clear boundaries in his relationships.
‘Rephrasing…’
I glanced over the sorrowful faces of the witch hunters.
The remaining five people here have been selected by Adrang as “trustworthy individuals.”
“Is that really true?”
Without realizing it, my gaze became sharper.
Though I’m known as a pushover, I’m the type who is very clear about money matters with close friends.
I believe that setting clear boundaries with close relationships builds long-lasting trust.
“Eye of Mimir.”
I narrowed my eyes and began observing everyone.
I hadn’t had a chance to check the status windows of the witch hunters, excluding Adrang and Portia, because of the chaos. Even though Adrang is known to have a keen eye for people, there’s always a chance.
“… Ha.”
The moment I checked the status windows of the five, I unconsciously smirked.
I’m not this cynical for no reason; this world has shaped me this way.
Another win for the ever-doubtful Park Jeong-yong. Shit.
“Shit. It makes sense.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“No, nothing.”
I feigned ignorance in response to Adrang’s questioning gaze, unknowingly grinding my teeth.
‘There’s a traitor.’
That’s right. Something felt off.
Adrang is an unparalleled expert in human combat, claiming to be the “strongest protagonist” isn’t an exaggeration.
His basic sense of combat, appropriate use of skills, the transcendent wild senses granted by Hero Sense, and his ability to control distance—all of it is nearly perfect.
… Witnessed by me in my past life, I was utterly defeated even with the support of Ether and the Sacred Seal’s effects.
Why did Adrang, the great warrior, get defeated so easily in an ambush back then? This was something I’ve been questioning.
No matter how clever Adrang is, he’s bound to be struck down, even by a trusted weapon.
‘This shitbird… how should I deal with them?’
My gaze was fixed on the traitor, pretending to act sorrowful as part of my method acting.
Soon, a fairly good idea came to mind.
‘That’ll do it.’
During the time I worked odd jobs in housing while living in a dormitory, I once extracted a confession from someone who stole my wallet using a similar method. Human nature being what it is, it should work here.
“Mr. Adrang. Excuse me for a moment… could I have your ear?”
“Hm?”
I subtly approached Adrang unnoticed by the others and whispered in his ear.
“Mr. Adrang. Remember when you agreed to believe my lies, if any? Is that still in effect?”
Adrang glanced at my face. I put on the most serious expression I could manage.
He nodded solemnly in agreement, and I nodded back.
“If that’s the case, please listen without reacting from now on.”
“…”
“There’s a traitor among us. I’ll proceed with the screening. Would you assist me?”
“…!”
As per my request, Adrang didn’t react in any way.
He merely scanned the room intermittently with frigid, sharp eyes.
‘… Those eyes.’
A familiar gaze sent shivers down my spine.
It was the same look he gave me before mercilessly slaughtering me in the bamboo forest.
He’s decided to root out the troublemaker. With that confidence, I slowly began to speak.
“In that case, let me tell you who the traitor is and about the plan.”
“Is everyone prepared?”
Adrang quietly asked while fastening the strap of his gauntlet.
His silver gaze swept over the darkness. Around him stood the members of the witch hunters, led by myself, checking their gear and emanating a determined look.
After exchanging glances with each person, Adrang nodded and continued.
“Carry out the operation as you’ve been briefed. Adrang, The Golden One, and Paek Eun will deal with Casas’s apostles hiding in the residential district. Elfride, Geom Rim, and Jung Yong will sweep the commercial district. Knightrea, since you lack close combat abilities, evacuate with my daughter, Ruci, and Seseona. Any questions?”
There was no reply. Everyone nodded in full preparation.
I didn’t have much to prepare, so I just idly polished the blade of my Vestark sword.
‘Adrang indeed. Quite aggressive.’
This offensive plan wasn’t my suggestion.
I had planned to hunker down in the mansion and defend against attackers. But Adrang went one step further, suggesting we preemptively ambush the infiltrators of the Godless.
“For too long, the witch hunters have been helplessly losing against Casas’ apostles. This golden opportunity provided by Jung Yong might not come again.”
His words were reasonable. Even I, whose mindset was deeply rooted in waiting, felt embarrassed.
So, the traitor screening plan was slightly adjusted to fit this new strategy.
‘It’s okay. It’s within the expected range so far.’
The traitor likely reported everything about the witch hunter’s gathering to Hector. Hector already knows we’re all gathered at Adrang’s mansion.
That’s why there was no attack on Adrang this time like in my past life.
‘Rather, that gives us more opportunity.’
They are utterly convinced they have the informational advantage.
They wouldn’t even imagine we know their locations or would dare to attack them in ambush.
Thanks to the information I painstakingly gathered, the traitor unintentionally became a double agent. They’re probably shitting their pants right about now.
“Let’s move. Good luck to all.”
Adrang’s quiet command rang out.
Everyone nodded and began running in their respective directions.
As soon as the team split up, I asked Elfride to remove the sleep curse on me.
I had already undone Luci’s curse before the operation, but I hadn’t been able to have mine lifted because I was discussing the betrayal with Adrang.
Elfride spoke in her usual slow manner.
“Mr. Park Jeong-yong… right? You’re under a curse…?”
“Yes. Can you help?”
“It’s hard to tell from the outside, but… hmm, that white-haired lady had the same… hidden issue…”
Elfride blinked her eyes, sniffed, and lightly touched my chest.
She let out a short gasp of surprise, her eyes widening slightly.
“My goodness! It’s true… you’re under an intermediate sleep curse.”
“Phew. As expected.”
“Eh-heh. Amazing. How did you notice, Mr. Jeong-yong? It was supposed to be undetectable… even I didn’t notice it until I touched you…”
Elfride circled around me and soon nodded.
“Alright… I can remove it easily. Not a high-level curse…”
“Then, I’d appreciate it if you could do it immediately. Time is of the essence.”
“Uhuuu… don’t rush me… the procedure for curing curses is important…”
By the time we’d been heading to the commercial district for about 15 minutes, I immediately understood why Adrang decided to split the group this way.
“Still, Mr. Jeong-yong… how can your body… smell so incredibly good? Agh…! No… I have my brother wolf… but… this smell… I, I might get addicted!”
Clearly, Elfride had developed this plan to somehow distance herself from me. Shit.
“That’s it, Sister!! Why the hell are you touching me everywhere since earlier?!”
What the hell! This woman is extremely persistent!
She’s been clinging to me under the pretense of treating the curse since earlier, and it feels like sexual harassment to me.
I’m experiencing sexual discomfort right now!
“This, this is a part of the treatment process… Ah-aah! This, this dense scent of black magic… you… how are you emanating such a sticky smell?”
“Ugh! Don’t touch me there!”
Elfride pressed herself close, asking me questions.
Her harsh breath and warm body were too close, threatening to cloud my judgment.
… Hidden under her baggy robes, there’s more than meets the eye. I realized that now.
The aggressive skinship from this older sister figure… it’s quite valuable.
Soo Ho (Older Brother Sooho) couldn’t help but jeer.
Finally, I managed to escape Elfride’s grip and moved a bit further away. She licked her lips with a hint of regret and began clearing her throat.
Elfride’s face was slightly flushed. With the distance, she’s regained some composure.
“Hmph. We already completed the cure… it’s really curious though. How can someone who isn’t a dark mage radiate such a strong smell of black magic?”
“There’s a reason for it. Yes.”
I evaded the question without lowering my guard.
Probably a reaction to the fiendish energies. Even the Three Fates said I smell good. Maybe I’m naturally emitting pheromones liked by creepy women.
It must have grown stronger due to the 2x death discount event in Kern, making me smell like soybean paste stew now.
“Anyway, Sister. Please prepare as instructed by Mr. Adrang.”
“Of course… for Wolf Brother’s request, it’s natural to help.”
Elfride immediately nodded at my words.
She began briskly moving around the commercial district. She touched walls, walked on the ground, and even patted it a few times.
At some point, Elfride’s hands emitted ominous dark light, which spread violently everywhere.
“Silencing Spell of Extinction (Silencio).”
Elfride mumbled in a low voice.
It reminded me of the eerie voices from the undying creatures at Halstenberg Castle, making me involuntarily shiver.
Gurgle-gurgle!
The dark light emanating from Elfride completely covered the sky of the commercial district. It even extended into the residential area, spreading endlessly.
The stars and the moon were veiled by a thin curtain of darkness, and a thick blanket of darkness enveloped Crossfade Street.
‘… This is somewhat… incredible.’
I was impressed by the sight.
A wide-range silencing spell covering two-thirds of the nation’s capital. I doubt it would be easy.
I glanced at her status window again.
[Name: Elfride Hexe]
[Nickname: The 53971334th Brave, One of the Seven Divine Weapons, Witch of Death Fragrance]
[Level: 384]
[HP: 210/210 MP: 4520/4520 ? Status: Normal]
[Strength: 3 ?Agility: 6 ?Intelligence: 1249 ?Hero Sense: 4]
A level higher than Adrang, worthy of being one of the seven ultimate weapons in the country. I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
Despite her mental quirks, she’s truly one of the Seven Divine Weapons.
“Now it’s done… except for us, no one can hear any sound under this veil…”
“Thanks, Sister.”
“Hehe… if you appreciate it, help me with something… help my relationship with Brother Wolf flourish…”
“I’ll… try my best.”
Elfride giggled ominously and stepped back slightly.
Satisfied, I nodded and drew my sword.
“Let’s start.”
In the next moment. I lunged towards Geom Rim, who had been quietly observing the silence from a distance.
Clang! The metallic sound rang out as a flash of lightning erupted. My surprise attack was deflected by a small ninja blade attached to Geom Rim’s arm.
The fluid movement was as though he had anticipated being attacked.
“Uh? What the hell are you doing, Jung Yong?”
Elfride, who hadn’t been given any explanation of the situation, was extremely confused.
She tried to rush over, but immediately recoiled as she sensed the massive killing intent emanating from Geom Rim.
Standing directly facing it, I couldn’t help but smirk, a deflated expression on my face.
“We’re handling the traitor.”
