Chapter 176

Beneath the overcast sky filled with dark clouds, the Black Thorn Tree wriggled like a snake. Amidst it stood Heukbal-ui Sonyeo, a girl with black hair and an enormous dragon arm that defied the laws of physics, glaring at me.

“Did you come to stop me?”

She asked while looking at me.

“I’m cold.”

When I replied this way, Maleficent flinched in surprise. Even though I still don’t know if what I experienced in that surreal world was an illusion or a dream, I understood the pain indirectly.

The moment we touched, it wasn’t maddeningly cold. It’s just that the cold kept getting stronger endlessly, which is why it’s terrifying.

There’s no limit to it. Or rather, it’s impossible to adapt.

I was submerged in such freezing cold, and when I realized that even committing suicide would be a luxury, that’s when I truly went mad.

Even after that, the cold continued to torment me.

“My warmth is just melting away into thin air.”

It’s fine that the Harvesting System is dead; after all, it takes warmth when someone dies. But the people the Harvesting System will kill in the future—or the ones who could become part of the system—are already gone.

“I don’t like that.”

With that, I swung a white tree branch to clear thorns from my surroundings.

The writhing Thornbush Building slowly shrank.

Maleficent frowned as she watched this and spoke.

“So you’re freely moving here where magic doesn’t work. What kind of power are you using?”

Flick.

Maleficent transformed her dragon-like hand back into a human one. Victoria, who had been collapsed beneath it, carefully walked toward me.

“Bell. That woman. She’s strong.”

“I know.”

I had fallen victim to a mental attack. My mind had been laid bare.

She’s not an ordinary person. Someone who calls herself the Queen of Evil must be incredibly powerful. Claiming oneself as evil is essentially boasting about possessing absolute strength.

“Aren’t you two on bad terms?”

Maleficent asked Victoria.

Are you trying to sow discord here? Isn’t that a bit crude? If you can, show off some incredible magic instead.

“It was fake. Both Bell and I knew you were up to something strange. Stop it.”

Moreover, since they pretended to have a falling out, sowing discord wouldn’t work.

Victoria glared at Maleficent while slowly gathering water from the surroundings. However, there was hardly any water left.

The surrounding air was already parched dry, and I could feel Victoria straining her strength. It was a unique sensation, but I roughly understood what it felt like.

It’s the movement of trying to squeeze something that isn’t there.

Wobble.

Suddenly, Victoria stumbled and fell to the ground. Psychic abilities don’t use magic power but consume concentration and physical strength. Since she lost a lot of blood earlier, it makes sense for her to collapse.

“That much blood loss must make standing difficult, huh? Should I put you out of your misery soon?”

Maleficent mocked her, but unlike before, there was no trace of superiority on her face.

Until now, when attacking the Harvesting System, Maleficent was immersed in the belief that no matter what we did, we couldn’t defeat her.

But now, she’s gauging my reactions.

Every time she speaks, she can’t help but check how I react, unable to hide her emotions as her gaze stays fixed on me.

I approached Victoria, who was gasping on the floor, and sat on her.

“Kyaa!”

Victoria screamed. But if I didn’t do this, this kid might really pass out from anemia. Her focus isn’t sharp right now.

She’s struggling under the pressure but can’t say anything because she’s enduring it.

“Isn’t that too harsh for a kid suffering from anemia?”

“For a kid full of murderous intent, it’s an appropriate weight.”

If Victoria’s opponent wasn’t Maleficent but a warrior with mediocre skills, her head would’ve been lopped off by now.

Even with some safety nets in place, Victoria, who single-handedly destroyed the Fishman forward base, is far from ordinary.

I swung the white tree branch again at the Black Thorn Tree creeping closer from the ground.

The Black Thorn Tree regressed. This witch. Moving so sneakily.

“No matter how many times I see it, I still don’t understand the principle behind it. You did the same thing last time. Even though you shattered the nightmare immediately, I didn’t expect you to go inward instead of outward.”

“Nightmare.”

She’s talking about the hallucination I saw yesterday.

“Did you learn anything about me from it?”

I asked her.

Then Maleficent shut her mouth. The silence meant she hadn’t properly figured anything out. It seems she saw the same things I did while following me.

Since no one said anything, there was nothing to learn.

I learned a lot too. If the Harvesting System had existed, there was a possibility that everyone whose warmth I stole had entered inside.

But those were just memories.

Because Thungkesuni was there. Until she disappeared into the depths of the ocean, I never touched her light or warmth.

Therefore, such possibilities don’t exist.

It’s simply a hallucination created by memories.

Although Thungkesuni stood out more than others. Daegon and the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign also stood out quite a bit, so they must be pretty high-level.

Or maybe they left a deep impression on me.

After all, she remained hostile to me until the end.

“Bell. You pig. You’re heavy…”

Victoria groaned faintly beneath me, but I ignored her. I knew she was still drawing moisture from the bottom, and using her strength, so if she doesn’t stop, she’ll collapse.

“What are you going to do next, Maleficent?”

I asked Maleficent, who had somehow pulled out a cane with a yellow gemstone and pointed it at me.

If she decides to kill me, I can grab her and twist her around.

In short, the techniques I possess are close to counterattacks.

To put it in gaming terms, it’s not about utilizing the enemy’s attack power but waiting for them to fall into my gimmick.

So let’s scratch her pride a little?

Her skills intrigue me.

“First, Aurora Princess must sleep forever as promised, since she insulted me.”

“What? Did you not get invited to the birthday party alone? All by yourself?”

Creak.

Oh ho. She’s grinding her teeth.

A fairy tale witch came to mind, so I teased her, but it seems the Maleficent in front of me fits the bill too. She was a powerful witch in that story.

At least as powerful as the one standing before me.

“You have quite a temper. Bell, surely you weren’t sitting quietly like a vegetable on the bed all this time just to make me lower my guard?”

I shook my head to deny it.

“I thought Merriweather was guarding me. I stayed still because there was no need to move. Honestly, I just found out Merriweather was a witch moments ago.”

I don’t know what she did, but there’s a barely visible, clear and transparent ice floating in the air under Victoria’s gaze.

She’s filled with murderous intent to kill the witch in front of her even if she collapses.

While fearing Victoria’s murderous aura, I slightly lifted my foot and stepped on her hand. With a small groan, the blade disappeared.

Once I confirmed her strength had drained and she slumped, I got off her back.

Victoria has stopped, and now it’s time to deal with the witch.

A proud witch.

What would hurt her pride the most?

“Don’t be too disappointed. Even if you knew I was a witch, my actions wouldn’t change.”

I swung the white tree branch again to drive away the Black Thorn Tree dominating the background, making her believe I control this place.

“There’s no need, right?”

As if there’s such a huge gap in our levels that whatever you do won’t matter.

In reality, even knowing she’s a witch, all I can do is wait until I can act. But this statement will prick her pride.

Look.

Black smoke is flowing from around Maleficent now. And that smoke is slowly rising into the sky.

It means she wasn’t idly chatting with me.

The black smoke swirling high in the sky slowly forms a vortex.

“Trying to dazzle me?”

You want to show off? Knowing it would sound this way, I asked Maleficent.

BOOM!

Lightning poured from the center of the vortex.

But unfortunately, the lightning only destroyed the buildings around it.

Oops, what a waste.

The person sleeping inside died. Not part of the Harvesting System, so I don’t know exactly how they died, but the light gradually shrinking and disappearing gives it away.

“You missed.”

My comment carried the implication that she should aim better next time, so Maleficent pointed her cane at me.

But no lightning struck again.

“What are you doing?”

“Are you hoping to get attacked?”

Uh-oh.

Seems like I moved too obviously.

“It’s better if I take the hit than lose unnecessary warmth.”

I subtly changed the subject, but Maleficent glared at me. Strangely, she hasn’t attacked me yet. Given her behavior so far, she should’ve crossed that threshold already.

But seeing how obsessively she refrains from attacking me…

“Did Thungkesuni tell you something?”

She tried to hide her expression, but it was clearly visible.

Bingo.

It seems the Thungkesuni who mocked her inside that nightmare told her about her weakness. Of course, the Thungkesuni I met in the nightmare probably wasn’t the real Thungkesuni.

Analyzing it, I think the one who said it was my arrogant heart.

Despite desperately playing the role of a passive character, I considered ordinary humans as nothing more than matches.

Or perhaps as materials for the Harvesting System.

My arrogance in occupying the position of exploiting others.

Except for the endless cold, I was once an ordinary human, so it’s not strange to think that way. Still, despite maintaining appearances outwardly, it seems I couldn’t hide my inner thoughts.

How do you restrain yourself from rubbing it in when you’ve already defeated your opponent?

I understand. The problem is that this wasn’t said in a situation where she’d already won, but since it was said in a dream, let’s leave it at that.

If she heard that, I can reveal a little more.

“Maleficent, surely you’re not scared, are you? As the Queen of Evil, are you afraid of a monster without a sense of self?”

Of course, with Victoria listening, I twisted it slightly to provoke Maleficent.

“You find it easy to kill those weaker than you, but you’re scared to touch a monster.”

I deliberately turned my back on her.

“I’m disappointed.”

Then I approached Victoria, who was still clutching the stone floor and sweating profusely from dizziness.

Of course, through Victoria’s eyes, I saw Maleficent gritting her teeth.

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