Chapter 82 - Witch’s Forest 2 (1/2)
A considerable battle had occurred in the area hours ago.
“Ugh… This is making me sick…”
The horrible stench that permeated everywhere made the invisible Silvia scrunch her nose.
The other mercenaries had the same reaction.
Everyone was grumbling and making short dissatisfied comments about the smell.
“This stench is absolutely disgusting.”
“Fucking hell…”
The only relief was that there weren’t many monsters attacking them.
The Eclipse Clan seemed to have somewhat cleaned up the outer area of the forest.
‘But I don’t see any survivors.’
After listening to the blonde young man’s story, Woohyuk didn’t have hopes of finding any.
As he silently walked, he slowly recalled the past.
‘The witch is someone they would have a hard time to defeat.’
She was one of Lilith’s subjects who represented the seven deadly sins.
They had the strength comparable to the 72 Demon Kings, and commanded over countless monsters.
It meant that even Woohyuk could not easily defeat her.
“Can we actually kill this witch, brother-in-law? Even the Eclipse Clan was annihilated. Shouldn’t we ask for reinforcements…?”
“No. That will just create a bigger chaos and more confusion.”
The Witch of Envy Kriemhild could cast wide-range debuff magic.
Her opponents who get affected by that magic fall into a state of confusion and attack their own allies.
That was how the Eclipse Clan had gotten erased from existence within half a day.
‘Our men won’t be of much help either.’
Those with a low Spirit stat could only fall powerlessly to the curse magic.
Although everyone had drunk the Saint’s Potion and increased their resistance to abnormal status ailments, that wasn’t enough to confront the witch.
They would simply resist losing consciousness and could only try their best to stay awake.
‘We must win the battle as swiftly as possible.’
As long as they could find the abandoned monastery, victory wasn’t out of reach.
However, the forest was shrouded in a dense black fog and his visibility was considerably reduced.
They would lose their way if they just blindly advanced into the forest.
“Is this even the right direction? It feels like we’ve been walking in circles…”
“It’s just your imagination.”
He had lent Tinia the jabberwocks, so the chances of the Blue Hawk Mercenaries falling into traps were diminished.
Obviously though, the jabberwocks would lose their way from time to time and hesitate to choose a direction to go to.
As Woohyuk was talking about all kinds of topics with the invisible Silvia, an unexpected racket suddenly rang out.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Th-There’s too many of them!”
A horde of different monsters had assaulted them.
A battle had started. Before heading to fight, Woohyuk first tried to reassure Silvia.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
“Look after my sister as well. She tends to try to solve everything on her own.”
“Of course I will.”
Tinia was the central figure of the Blue Hawk Mercenaries, so if she were to die, the whole group would fall apart.
As he cut down the hell hounds that lunged at him, Woohyuk checked on Tinia.
‘She’s doing fine for now.’
Like a veteran mercenary leader, Tinia was cutting down her enemies on the front lines.
She truly lived up to her name as ‘Windstorm Tinia’. The monsters facing her were ruthlessly cut apart by a turquoise vortex.
“Krrr!”
“Kieek!”
After realizing that Tinia was a powerful opponent, the monsters gathered together and attacked her at the same time.
Their numbers were considerable.
However, everyone around her was busy fighting their own fights, and nobody could help her.
“Tinia!”
Seeing her sister surrounded by monsters, Silvia raised her staff and cast a magic chain.
Her magic linked the monsters together so that they got recognized as a single entity.
Due to her little sister’s help, Tinia managed to avoid the crisis.
Slash!
The turquoise vortex struck a troll and ripped it to shreds, along with 5 other monsters that were linked to it.
The remaining monsters ended up facing the same fate.
A single moment of confusion amongst the monsters had ended up costing their lives.
Once she finished dealing with them all, Tinia turned to her sister and gestured her gratitude.
‘They make a great combo.’
Woohyuk nodded as he watched over the two siblings.
It was most probably because they had been matching their breaths and timings since a very young age.
As he pondered on how to recruit the two sisters to his side in the future,
“Brother-in-law, I have a question.”
Silvia whispered to him.
“What is it?”
“If my sister and I were in a dangerous situation, who would you save first?”
An unexpected question.
Woohyuk made a troubled expression.
He was in a dilemma.
‘It might be best to answer truthfully.’
It was meaningless to make up a hypocritical lie right now.
Woohyuk stared Silvia directly in her eyes and opened his mouth.
“I’ll save you first. Because that’s the promise I made with Tinia.”
“...Can’t you worry about my sister before you worry about me? She is someone who doesn’t deserve to die in a place like this.”
To Silvia, her older sister was an object of admiration.
She was a cheerful person who could do anything perfectly. She also wouldn’t cower in front of men and would always keep her back straight and head high.
If Tinia were to die because of her, Silvia would never be able to live on with the guilt in her heart.
Seeing her earnest request, Woohyuk gently stroked her head.
“Tinia also cherishes you with her life. If you were to die, she would feel the exact same guilt as you would.”
“But…”
“If Tinia worries you so much, stay by my side at all times. If you do that, I won’t ever have to make such a decision.”
As long as Silvia wasn’t in danger, this dilemma would never happen.
Once Woohyuk finished convincing her, Silvia silently nodded.
She had finally realized the importance of her role.
“Everyone has defeated the monsters. Get ready to depart again.”
“...Alright.”
They needed to keep marching persistently to reach the abandoned monastery before sunset.
The Witch’s Forest was impressive in size.
As he held onto Silvia’s hand, Woohyuk stared behind the bushes.
He sensed a gaze watching him from afar, beyond the dark fog.
The witch Kriemhild was observing him with her crystal ball.
‘Seems like she found out my identity.’
However, that didn’t matter to him.
His current objectives were to protect Tinia and Silvia from the monsters, and to recuperate Medusa’s Bronze Mirror.