Chapter 188 – Read It for Yourself
"Hey, this is really okay, right?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
When Lily nodded confidently, Karl gripped his dagger with a hesitant expression.
In front of him lay several deer with peculiar horns, their bodies limp.
There were seven in total, and according to Lily, they were called "blue-horned deer." She explained that whenever guests visited the forest, her grandmother would serve their at as a rare delicacy.
The deer were already dead—without a single scratch on them.
Soone had to handle the butchering, and Karl was assigned the task.
Given his long years surviving in the wild, this was no big deal for him.
However...
'Sothing feels off.'
The mont he gripped his dagger to begin the butchering, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine.
It wasn’t the usual danger sense.
Just an eerie unease.
Karl glanced at Arthur.
Arthur had told him to signal imdiately if he sensed danger, but this... this was too ambiguous.
Should he cut the throat or not?
"You’re absolutely sure about this?"
"Do you not trust ?"
How could I?
The words almost slipped out, but Karl ultimately swallowed them down.
Instead, he nodded forcefully, signaling that he trusted her.
This was Ordor Forest.
His survival instincts scread that getting on Lily’s bad side in this forest was a death sentence.
With her standing right here, surely it was fine…?
Karl decided to trust his instincts.
"Alright, my dear little lady, I’ll put on a spectacular show for you!"
"Whoa!"
"Haaah!"
With exaggerated bravado, Karl cleanly severed the deer’s head.
Normally, a young lady would faint at the sight of blood splattering everywhere, but Lily simply clenched her fists excitedly, her face beaming with joy.
Witches really were built differently.
"Here, cut this part next. It's the tastiest bit."
"Here?"
"No, here!"
That’s… the heart.
This woman.
Karl let out a dry chuckle and tightened his grip on his dagger again.
Just then, Lily’s face stiffened with sudden alarm.
The sa went for the people gathered around them.
The onlookers, who had been watching with curiosity, froze before screaming and backing away.
"What’s wrong?"
"T-the front…!"
"Front?"
Karl turned his head—
And dropped his dagger.
The severed deer head twitched.
Then, it lifted its gaze toward him.
Its lifeless eyes snapped open.
[How insolent, human.]
"UAAAAAH!"
The dead deer spoke.
Crunch— Crack—
Starting with the headless deer, the other lifeless carcasses began rising one by one.
They stirred, their bodies creaking, scanning their surroundings with eerie, glowing eyes.
Their icy blue pupils glead in the dimming light.
The grotesque sight instantly silenced the once lively garden.
No one dared to move.
Fear paralyzed them.
"B-but you said they were for eating?!"
"Hey! Say sothing!"
Karl staggered backward, looking to Lily for an explanation.
But—
"...Where the hell did she go?"
Lily, who had been standing right beside him, was gone.
It was as if she had vanished into the earth.
At the sa ti, the once bright sky darkened.
The once beautiful garden turned to gray.
"AAAAAH!"
"H-help!"
Screams erupted.
The lush flower fields and vibrant forest lost all color, turning into a barren, lifeless wasteland.
The ground itself began swallowing people.
They clawed and thrashed, screaming for their lives, but it was useless.
Like quicksand, the earth devoured nearly ten thousand people in the blink of an eye.
"...What the hell."
Karl swallowed hard as he looked around.
The Forest of Ghosts.
That’s what this was.
The beautiful garden was turning into a haunted wasteland.
What the hell was going on?
Karl frantically searched for his companions.
But—
They were gone.
Arthur.
Lochter.
His subordinates.
It was as if they had never existed.
Huuuuu… huuuhh…
"...No way."
From the ashen ground, ghosts began crawling out.
Their figures were horrific, each more grotesque than the last.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
They surrounded Karl.
His dagger trembled in his grip.
He had survived countless battles, faced death more tis than he could count—
But this was sothing he had never encountered before.
Pure terror.
Even his danger sense wasn’t activating—his instincts were broken.
"This… this doesn’t make sense…"
His crisis detection wasn’t working at all.
Grinding his teeth, Karl lifted his gaze to the severed deer head.
It floated midair, glaring down at him.
The mont their blue eyes t—
"You insane, talking-head bastard! What do you want from ?!"
Karl shouted in defiance, trying to shake off his fear.
The deer’s mouth moved.
[Die.]
"UAAAAAH!"
The ghosts sward him, their jaws sinking into his flesh.
***
[It’s a large-scale hypnosis.]
"...Damn it. This is unexpected."
Karl’s frantic scream barely had ti to ring out before sothing else happened.
Heinz, who had been standing nearby, suddenly collapsed.
His face went blank, and his body slumped to the ground.
I quickly checked his condition.
He was still alive.
But his eyes were wide open, staring blankly, their irises clouded over in a gray haze.
Seeing that, Reto muttered—
[He’s been hypnotized.]
Damn old hag.
So talking things out wasn’t an option after all?
Thud—
I turned my head.
People were collapsing one by one.
The children who had been playing, the long line of people waiting for food—
Like falling dominoes, they all dropped.
Thousands of people crumpled like straw dolls, unable to resist.
Next were the soldiers and knights.
So knights managed to draw their swords and take defensive stances, but—
They wobbled after a few seconds and lost consciousness.
Even my own companions, who had been rushing toward Karl, collapsed helplessly.
"Karl."
Karl was trembling, his body giving out as he toppled backward.
Beside him—
Lily had collapsed as well.
I let out a low sigh.
Even Lily Base Couldn’t Withstand It
Even Lily Base couldn’t endure this large-scale hypnosis.
That ant Elder deia wasn’t the only one here.
The entire Ordor Forest had moved.
"Everyone, snap out of it!"
At that mont, soone other than was still standing.
Lochter Felice.
He drew his sword and lunged at the floating deer head.
Ssskrrrk—!
The deer’s head was sliced in half, and the surrounding deer corpses instantly turned into lifeless chunks of at.
Lochter, panting heavily, kept his sword raised as he scanned the area.
A voice echoed from the air.
[Bearer of a divine na, Lochter Felice.]
"Who are you?! Show yourself!"
A woman… No, won?
The voice resonated throughout the entire forest, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact origin.
["Betrayer. You bear a defiled divine na."]
"A witch?"
["How foolish, to knowingly step into our domain."]
"I didn’t co here to fight."
["That’s what all humans say. They never co to fight. And yet…"]
From deep within the blue garden, a wave of gray poured out.
Lochter unleashed his aura to counter it, but the gray mist poured in from all sides, engulfing his body.
His arms, legs, torso—slowly, his entire body turned gray.
["Why is it that humans who claim they don’t want to fight always speak of submission the mont they fall?"]
"Guh… I…!"
["If you want to talk, prove yourself. Knight of Betrayal."]
"AARRRGH!"
Lochter clutched his head as his face turned gray and collapsed.
Monts later, his vacant eyes stared into the void.
He murmured weakly—
"Re… Reina… Bellin."
The nas of his dead wife and daughter.
Lochter fell to his knees, powerless.
Lochter was down.
I silently watched the scene unfold.
Now, no one was left standing in the garden.
I leaned Heinz against a tree, making him comfortable, then slowly rose to my feet.
And I walked to the center of the garden.
I looked around.
The Witch’s Garden was still beautiful.
The grass was lush and green.
Birds chirped.
The wind was warm.
The only difference was the ten thousand people lying motionless on the ground.
It was as if I was seeing the true face of Ordor Forest—hidden beneath its warmth.
Even Lochter, who possessed the divine na [Unyielding Will], couldn’t resist the hypnosis.
'Even the Stars of Demtor can’t carelessly step into this hellish forest.'
Before experiencing its true horrors, I walked over to Keros, who lay slumped on a rock.
I scooped him up.
"So this is why you were barking so much?"
His tiny body trembled as if caught in a nightmare.
I rubbed his belly.
Soft.
Warm.
His breathing was steady—his chest rising and falling in rhythm.
It was the sa as Heinz’s condition.
That was why I could remain calm despite watching my comrades fall helplessly.
[No one has died yet.]
"Yeah, I see that."
The witches hadn’t co here to kill us.
There was only one reason why.
'Because we were brought here by Lily Base.'
Of course, that didn’t guarantee our survival.
That part was entirely up to .
"Elder deia, I wish to speak with you."
[And who are you?]
I could feel sharp gazes piercing into .
The witches were watching.
I stood in place, slowly scanning my surroundings.
'They’ve all gathered.'
A chuckle slipped out.
As I turned in a full circle, I spotted faint golden lights flickering through the trees.
The leaders of each faction. The Ordors.
They had all gathered—
Because this involved Lily Base.
No wonder Lochter couldn’t hold out.
"I am a friend of the witches."
[…That is difficult to believe.]
"Do you require proof?"
Since the mont I beca friends with Lily, I had been thinking about Ordor Forest.
What should I do when I et Elder deia and the Ordors?
Should I act cautiously?
Should I try to win their favor?
But after becoming the leader of Hunt and clashing with Kal, the answer had beco clear.
I smirked and curled my fingers.
"Co at , all of you."
["How arrogant…!"]
I couldn’t let them think I was weak.
Because I was a human chosen by the Grand Witch, Lily Base.
If I wanted to lead my people out of this forest, take control of Elletor Fortress, and eventually command the witches against Demtor,
I had to leave an unforgettable first impression.
It had to be powerful.
‘I am a special witch.’
That’s what Lily had told .
She was different.
Because of that, everyone looked at her differently.
‘Arthur, you are special too.’
To control the witches, I had to be special—just like Lily.
["KNEEL."]
FLASH—
A surge of gray rushed toward from all directions.
My limbs were engulfed in gray mist.
At the sa ti, visions flooded my mind—mories ant to shatter my will.
Painful monts from my past.
As if they were happening right in front of .
- The first, second, and third tis I failed my university entrance exams, walking ho in tears.
- The ti I got rejected in a job interview and got dumped by my girlfriend.
- The countless humiliations I endured because of money—always money.
They were trying to create a crack in my mind, just like they had done with Lochter.
But—
It didn’t work on .
[Third ntal Barrier]
And—
FLASH—
"...!"
A golden light burst from my wrist, shattering the surrounding gray mist.
[The Siren’s Hymn.]
A hymn, not aid at the enemy—but at myself.
My mind cleared, the confusion fading instantly.
"Fuck, that was disgusting."
Digging up old mories with their witchcraft left in a foul mood.
It felt like waking up from a god-awful nightmare.
"Is this all you can do from the shadows? No wonder Demtor crushed you so easily."
["…Are you eager to see everyone here die? Do not provoke us carelessly."]
"Carelessly?"
I laughed.
Then, I unsealed my divine presence.
I had kept it locked away to avoid drawing Arcane’s attention.
But now—
The mont I released it—
[…What!?]
My divine na surged forward, filling the entire forest.
Just like they had recognized Lochter at a glance, the witches imdiately realized what I was.
A bearer of a divine na.
But then—
Silence.
The entire forest fell deathly quiet.
I smirked.
"If you can read it, go ahead. Read it."
[...]
They couldn’t.
Nothing was visible.
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