Chapter 198 – A Revelation from the Heavens?
The countless people that had once filled the Witch’s Garden vanished in just a day, leaving only Lochter and behind.
As I walked along the blossoming flower path, I turned back.
It was the direction Karl had disappeared.
“He's completely gone, right?”
“If you an Karl, he's nowhere in sight.”
“Then, shall we begin?”
After confirming our surroundings, I approached a large tree nestled in the corner of the garden. Humming a tune, I started digging into the ground. Lochter watched with a puzzled expression.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“A treasure hunt.”
“Treasure?”
“I saw Karl hiding a ‘treasure’ here. Ah, found it.”
Before long, an item wrapped in cloth erged from the dirt. Brushing off the soil, I unwrapped the layers of fabric, revealing a weapon with a deep crimson hue.
A weapon shaped like sharp claws.
“This is…”
“The Damascus Crow.”
I grinned as I held out the crow-like weapon.
After killing the Jack and Howell brothers, Fenry kept one half, while Karl took the other as spoils of war. Before he was dragged into the Ghostly Forest, I had secretly seen him hide it here.
“Is it really okay to just take it without permission?”
“Karl will understand. There’s only one Hunt, after all.”
“I seriously doubt that…”
Ignoring Lochter’s concerns, I took the weapon and left the garden.
A dense forest stretched ahead.
As we walked alone together, Lochter voiced his curiosity.
“What do you think will happen next?”
“What do you an?”
“Blyer.”
“Considering the destruction and the chaos we left behind, Kal’s going to have a real headache trying to clean up the ss.”
“Why not go after Kal directly?”
I stopped and turned to look at him. Lochter t my gaze head-on and continued.
“Lyon and Wiley were taken down. His escort forces are weaker than ever—it’s the perfect opportunity, isn’t it? I heard there's a way to track his whereabouts.”
“Yes. There is a way to locate him.”
“Then now’s the best ti to eliminate Kal. You must have thought of it too. Is staying in this forest really so important that you’re willing to throw away that chance?”
“Yes. It’s important.”
“And why is that?”
“To live long and quietly?”
I shrugged and kept walking. It wasn’t that I hadn’t considered targeting Kal.
There was a high chance he was staying in Etor. I could pinpoint his location, and his guards were weaker than before, but rather than gambling on an imdiate attack, I chose to regroup.
Because the opponent is Kal Blazer.
If we had struck like a bolt of lightning without giving him ti to prepare, it might have worked. But from the mont we set foot here, we had already given him ample ti to anticipate.
A cunning man like Kal wouldn’t fail to predict an ambush—even Lochter could think of it, after all.
No, more likely, he’s waiting for us.
Though Lyon and Wiley were neutralized, Kal still had the Nest of Shamans.
A group of dark sorcerers centered around Rengua Field.
They were Kal Blazer’s core force, the magic bag of tricks that turned his plans into reality.
Walking straight into a trap reinforced by Kal’s intelligence and dark sorcery would be an incredibly dangerous and foolish move.
“So attacking first would be a disadvantage?”
“More than a disadvantage—it would be the worst possible move. Against Kal, counterattacking is the best strategy.”
“A counterattack? That only works if you can read the enemy’s movents.”
“You understand well.”
I had a rough idea of Kal’s movents. Though my presence had altered the story, the overall trajectory remained the sa.
He'll aim for Ordor Forest.
The secret to breaking through the Ghostly Forest was a trump card more valuable than any bargaining chip for the Arcane Order.
With the situation turning against him, Kal wouldn’t just give up on that.
All we needed to do was anticipate and prepare.
“If that’s your decision… understood.”
Since he had chosen as the one to confront Kal, Lochter accepted my reasoning and didn’t press the matter further.
However, he seed curious about the strand of hair I held in my hand. The mont we stopped walking, he asked about it.
“This is a witch’s hair.”
“…A witch? Why are you giving this to ?”
“Think of it as a toll. Hold it and walk in that direction.”
Lochter alternated his gaze between and the hair before stepping forward. Monts later, he vanished seamlessly between the trees, as if swallowed by a lie.
I smirked and followed behind him.
CLANG—
“…What is this place?”
“Amazing, isn’t it? Welco to the Sanctuary of Witches.”
Lochter looked around in awe, inspecting the huts seamlessly blended with the forest. He tilted his head back, his gaze drawn to an enormous tree.
He murmured in astonishnt, his voice barely above a whisper.
“It’s massive…”
“I bet you’ve never seen a tree this big in all your years.”
“I haven’t. Why couldn’t I see this before?”
“If you could, it wouldn’t be a sanctuary, would it? I’ll show you sothing even more fascinating. Follow .”
“To where?”
“To et your lifelong partner, I suppose?”
At my teasing words, Lochter’s expression stiffened as he stared at the strand of hair in his hand.
He seed to be misinterpreting its aning.
His next words were spoken with utmost seriousness.
“Is there a witch who desires ?”
“…What?”
“If that is the condition for an alliance, I will accept it for the greater good. But before that, have I ntioned that I already have a wife and daughter?”
“…Excuse ?”
“I assu they also know that I am quite old? And that I am a wanted man?”
I had no idea how he managed to arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion.
His unnecessary seriousness was exhausting.
And yet, despite the determination in his eyes, he kept listing excuses.
Shaking my head, I stopped in front of a small well and pointed downward. Lochter peered inside, his brows furrowing.
“What is this? It’s too dark to see anything.”
“This is punishnt for your nonsense.”
“What?… Ugh!”
I kicked him down the well.
There was only one reason for doing so.
I had learned from my own experience yesterday that he would never go down willingly.
After all, I had been kicked down here yesterday.
By the dwarf, Dorneth.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The harsh clashing of tal echoed from afar.
Startled by the sound, Lochter quickly inspected his surroundings.
When he turned his head, he found Arthur standing beside him with a smile.
“Where is this place?”
“The Witch’s Forge.”
“…A forge?”
“The place where witches craft their enchanted tools.”
The space gradually brightened.
It was a vast underground chamber encased in earth. The sound of tal striking tal echoed from a passageway ahead.
“Let’s go.”
“Next ti, give a warning before you kick or throw sowhere.”
“Don’t you know what a surprise is?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You’re no fun. Co on, your partner is waiting. Lead the way.”
Arthur gave Lochter a light shove on the back, making him suppress a groan as he stumbled forward.
The long corridor stretched ahead, leading sowhere unknown.
Clang—! Clang—!
Lochter walked slowly, following the rough sound of hamring tal from beyond the passage.
“This is fascinating. Is it magic?”
As he walked, he observed his surroundings. Floating in the air were countless fist-sized flas, hovering and darting about as if they were alive.
Strangely, they passed through both Arthur and himself without harm.
Each ti one of these flas brushed past, it seed to whisper—so laughed, so sobbed, others scread in anger or howled with fury.
The eerie sensation sent chills down his spine, yet the place also carried a mystical allure.
“Don’t even ntion the word ‘magic’ in front of witches. Unless you want to end up as one of those flas.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
A gentle breeze brushed against his face.
Each ti the warm wind caressed his body, he felt a peculiar tremor in his chest, as if unseen hands were slowly trailing over his face, chest, and thighs—tempting him.
Just as he began to feel a strange sense of excitent, Arthur’s warning ca.
“Stay sharp. It’s not you they’re calling—it’s the flas.”
“What is this wind?”
“It’s the essence of the Witch’s Fla.”
“The Witch’s Fla?”
“These flas are lost souls, most of them filled with deep resentnt. The reason they gather here is because of that fla.”
Arthur pointed ahead, drawing Lochter’s attention to the space beyond the corridor.
Clang— Clang—
Between the shadows, violet flas flickered and vanished repeatedly.
The mont he stepped out of the passage, a vast open chamber revealed itself.
At its center was a small forge, where a dwarf was hamring away at sothing laid atop the fire.
The hamring that had echoed through the tunnel ca from this very spot.
Clang—!
Now the tallic clang was so loud it seed to vibrate through his skin.
“He was in that exact position yesterday. Don’t tell he’s been hamring all night?”
“You were here before?”
“Yes. Master Dorneth said the preparations were complete, so I requested the work to begin.”
“Dorneth? …You an the ruler of Beneta?”
“That’s right.”
“Why didn’t you ntion this earlier?”
“He told not to reveal his presence to uninvited guests.”
Dorneth seed entirely unaware of their arrival, completely absorbed in his hamring.
The forge blazed fiercely, and atop it was a crimson tal rod, glowing with a faint violet hue as it was struck.
The Witch’s Fla.
The fire within the forge burned an unusual shade of purple.
Recognizing the importance of the work, they chose to wait until Dorneth finished.
After a while, the hamring ceased, and Dorneth carefully lifted the red-hot tal with a pair of tongs.
As the tal left the forge, the violet flas flared upward, spreading an intense energy throughout the chamber.
The once gentle breeze suddenly whipped into a violent gust—
Kiaaaaah—!
“Guh…!”
The floating flas rushed toward the forge in a frenzy.
More flas poured through the surrounding rock walls, as if summoned, turning the scene into a teor shower of ghostly fire.
It was like watching thousands of moths hurling themselves into a blazing inferno.
The flas vanished, consud entirely by the violet blaze.
Lochter turned to Arthur, his face filled with wonder.
“What’s happening?”
“The witches call it ‘rest.’”
“Rest?”
“They say this process grants lost souls a path to peace. Instead of wandering eternally as vengeful spirits, they are given a chance to forget everything and start anew—it’s the witches’ way of showing rcy.”
“Can the dead truly start anew?”
“No idea. Never died before.”
I wasn’t sure if the concept of ‘reincarnation’ even applied in this world.
The only thing I knew for sure was that the Witch’s Fla had the power to reshape ancient tal—specifically, Damascus steel.
That was all the information I had gathered.
“Why are you here already? I told you to co tomorrow.”
Dorneth, who had been examining the tal with satisfaction, finally noticed them and furrowed his brows.
“It’s already been a day.”
“Ti passed that quickly?”
“As expected of a great master. I’m in awe of your focus, Master Dorneth.”
At my flattery, Dorneth chuckled and stretched his back.
His attire was unmistakably that of a blacksmith.
He proudly wore the signature white hat that only master artisans possessed—though, to , it just looked like a baker’s hat.
Dorneth grinned and placed a simple rod in front of .
A crimson rod.
It seed he had successfully reshaped the Damascus tal I had obtained from Fenry.
“You were doubtful at first, but you pulled it off.”
“My pride wouldn’t let fail. Damn stubborn tal.”
His gaze shifted to the Damascus Crow in my hand, and he nodded.
“I was worried about not having enough material, but with that piece, it should be just right. I can forge anything now.”
“Will it take another full day?”
“No. Now that I’ve done it once, half a day should be enough. The real question is—what kind of weapon do you want? The more complex, the longer it’ll take. What form do the witches want?”
“A sword.”
“A sword?”
Instead of answering further, I stepped aside and pushed Lochter forward.
“This man will be the owner of that sword.”
“…A human? The witches gave this precious tal to a human?”
“Do you know what Damascus ans in the ancient tongue?”
“‘Indomitable Will.’ Are you testing ?”
“That’s not what I ant.”
I handed Dorneth a piece of paper.
It was sothing I had written myself, though I claid it was from the witches—a docunt listing Lochter’s Divine Na.
“…Hmph.”
The mont Dorneth read the phrase ‘Indomitable Will’, his expression changed.
I leaned in, lowering my voice as if revealing an earth-shattering secret.
“When the Damascus tal appeared, a man with the exact Divine Na written in the ancient language appeared before the witches.”
“…You’re kidding.”
“The witches believe this man is the rightful owner of the tal.”
“…Destiny, then.”
“Yes. Destiny. Just as it is fate that you, Master Dorneth, are in the Witch’s Forge. Just as it is fate that you are the only dwarf capable of forging this tal.”
“A revelation from the heavens…”
“Exactly.”
I glanced at Lochter and subtly signaled him.
“…What am I supposed to do?”
“Just go along with it.”
I gestured toward Dorneth.
The dwarf stood there with his eyes closed, savoring the so-called ‘divine revelation.’
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