Chapter 1070 – #254_Anger, Purity, and Greed (2) – DeepL
#1064
1.
I have begun to act separately from Leroy and Sharon.
The reason is twofold.
That they would be unexpected support for our enemies when Xiu’s identity is eventually discovered.
And that the remaining mercenaries of the “former” Lehar group are in the hinterlands.
What drew Leroy and Sharon to this dangerous mission was the presence of a natural mobile fortress called Akula.
If it weren’t for that, they would have tried to go it alone, even considering the risk to themselves.
Once I got the hang of it, the hunt became easier with each passing day.
I’d slaughtered the last batch of mercenaries, and the rest were nothing but scraps.
“Please, please, help me…!
“I was only doing what I was told…!
“I’ll be a good boy from now on…!
It was more uncomfortable to listen to these final words than the difficulty of the battle.
None of them were a match for Xiu.
The sensation of being killed after a one-sided hunt was not only unpleasant, but physiologically repulsive.
Every time he thought about it.
Dorothy, who should have been killed by these creatures.
The despair she felt.
The despair she felt.
The more I thought about it, the more my mouth filled with blood, and the more it filled with an unpleasant venom.
“Whoa….”
Round and round we go, back to Medellin, Colombia, an old warehouse.
This is the last of the vampire hunt.
Xiu wipes the blood from his face roughly with his sleeve and pulls out a lotus flower.
The red energy from the witch’s corpse drenched the lotus in blood.
It’s been two weeks since I left Akula and started hunting on my own.
Thirty-five people have been killed so far.
The lotus has about 30% of its capacity left before it blooms.
Very little left.
We’re almost there.
-Woof
“Hmm?”
At that moment, the lotus flower that had been absorbing the red energy stopped working with a sound like an engine shutting down.
It was as if it had reached a saturation point.
This was unexpected, but we can’t afford to waste any more time.
I stuffed the mercenary’s body and headed for my makeshift hideout along the closed sewers, just as I had calculated.
“What.”
Lotus stopped absorbing.
The monstrous priestess, who had been ravenously devouring humans and witches alike, had begun to eat.
A sudden shiver of anxiety ran down her spine.
I can smell Dorothy’s cold corpse wrapped in a white cloth in the morgue, the stench of blood, gore, and disinfectant assaulting my nostrils.
The horrifying realization that this might be the last we’ll ever see of Dorothy sends chills down my spine.
“Shit.”
I use my mind, which can read the flow of magic, to see what’s going on.
In essence, the lotus has absorbed energy like a creature.
Whether it’s a soul or a life force, Xiu isn’t sure.
But he can tell from the lotus’s behavior that it releases some of the energy it has already absorbed, like vomiting.
To use an unflattering analogy, the lotus is rejecting a “bad meal.
From what I’ve observed so far, the lotus has more and more gauges as it moves up the hierarchy.
Like the red branches that animate an inanimate subject, the lotus flower that was the basis for it was an ambiguous opus that was too vague to be evaluated as a mere example.
“…….”
My anxiety subsided, and I quickly came to a conclusion.
The current situation was similar to an in-game item enhancement.
The lotus had reached a certain level and was no longer able to break through the upper limit with low-level materials.
There are two ways to overcome this situation.
One is to increase the amount of materials by an order of magnitude.
That’s what Paola Sochitl did, and that’s what Ea Saadalmelik did.
Even if you use the low-quality material of human beings, the lotus flower will bloom if you ignorantly beat the quantity.
The other is to raise the quality of the ingredients.
Ingredients of high enough quality to satisfy this picky eater.
You can do this by focusing on the Great Witch.
Xiu sighed in relief that things hadn’t gotten that far, and put the cigarette in his mouth.
It wouldn’t make much difference.
The scavenger hunt is over anyway.
Almost all of the opponents from now on would be Great Witches.
As long as the materials are of high quality, it’s naturally guaranteed.
However, there is a concern at this point.
The Lehar group, led by Herja, has banded together and disappeared.
Even their collaborators within Hexenacht don’t seem to know of their whereabouts.
That’s something for another day. I’m most concerned about something else.
Lydia is too quiet.
Xiu proposed a game of “Xin Xiu Monopoly” to her.
The Lydia we’ve been watching would definitely go after Xiu alone to monopolize all the profits.
With enemies everywhere, how many helpers should she have?
However, Lydia’s silence for far too long for a woman of her caliber was a little unnerving.
What on earth is she up to that she can be so laid back?
2.
It’s a fact of life that the more prepared you are, the more successful your hunt will be.
Lydia’s frustrating game of hide-and-seek was moving closer to victory, thanks to Kiara’s cooperation in using long-range surveillance magic.
“Good, good, very good.”
Earlier, Lydia had stolen a list from the Gehenna immigration office.
Sharon Evergreen, Leroy Nukelabi.
Of his lovers, only these two have any record of appearing in the mortal world, and neither has any record of returning to Gehenna.
There was no way to determine if they were truly moving to help Xinxiu.
We can’t even be sure that he would have dragged his lover into such a dangerous endeavor.
But Lydia was somewhat certain.
That the Xin Xiu she had seen before was not the same Xin Xiu she saw now.
That it would be impossible for him to attack the Rehar group and Solidus’s smuggling fleet at the same time.
“Mother, these are the results of the search.”
“Yes? Let me see.”
Kiara, who could trace back the slightest trace of magic, soon had information to back up Lydia’s suspicions.
Kiara’s own investigations had revealed that a 23rd-ranked High Witch had used a massive wave spell in a coastal village in western Peru.
“So she had helpers. A deep-sea witch?”
I rewrote the events in reverse order.
When Xinxiu was in the midst of her rampage, traveling back and forth between Lydia and Herya, many incidents occurred simultaneously.
It makes sense that Sinsiu would split the land and Leroy Nukelabi would split the sea.
“Now that makes sense.”
After a few more moments of reflection, Lydia turned to Kiara.
“I’ll put a team under you. You don’t need to tell them who you’re looking for. Start your search from where the last magic trace was observed.
They’re probably still splitting up and moving, the Deep Sea Witch on the sea and Cynthia on land, hunting down the remnants of the Lehar group.”
But either way, they won’t be too far apart.
Leroux and Xinxiu will also be close enough to cover each other if either is in danger at any point.
“Where should we focus our search? The way you’ve instructed us, the range is too wide and we won’t make it in time.”
So where is the witch of the deep hiding?
“Under the sea.”
Lydia is unaware of Akula’s existence.
But by combining the characteristics of a deep-sea witch with the conditions of the smuggling ship, she came up with an optimal solution.
“Specifically, deep water.”
After arriving at the location through the gate, Kiara immediately set to work on Lydia’s instructions.
Using the oceanographic maps, she pointed out the deep water and worked her navigation magic.
Eight hours later.
[Mother, we found the trail]
Lydia was able to report on the tracks of a giant submarine traveling through the depths of the ocean, powered by magic.
“Exact location?”
[We don’t know at the moment, but if we backtrack based on the traces we’ve already found, we should be able to find it soon]
With a little more time, he would be able to locate his lover in the ocean.
“From now on, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”
Rank 23, Witch of the Deep.
It’s a bit of a stretch, but the cost is worth the extra harvest.
Besides, you’re a young witch who hasn’t gotten much experience yet.
Capture the Witch of the Deep and use it as a hostage to summon Xinxiu.
Lydia’s plan seems to be going smoothly.
At this rate, the Goddess of Victory would kiss her cheeks.
“Lydia! Lydia!”
“Why, why, what’s wrong?”
“Herya, Herya, that crazy bitch….”
The secretary, who had come running in a panic, her hair a mess, stammered.
“Take a breath and speak slowly, I can’t understand you.
The secretary finished her report, barely able to catch her breath under Lydia’s sharp prodding.
“Herja, leading an elite member of the Lehar group, struck Gehenna.”
“What the hell?!”
Lydia exclaimed, bringing all plans to a screeching halt.
3.
Attacking the smuggling ship on top of Solidus is pointless.
Lydia had anticipated Herya’s revenge and had prepared for it, and even if the Lehar group were to attack, they would quickly suffer more damage.
However, a direct hit on the top of Solidus would give Lydia an excuse to target the Rehar Group.
At the very least, it was the Top of Solidus that gave the Rehar Group citizenship and welcomed them into the arms of Hexenacht.
Unless we can prove that it was Solidus Top who attacked the Rehar Group, we’re stuck with the straw that broke the camel’s back.
So how do you get screwed?
How do we get back at Lydia for being so unrelenting?
Taking the deputy’s suggestion, Herja kicked Lydia’s ass in the biggest way possible.
She attacked Gehenna’s gates without warning.
It was a bluff, and one that resulted in little damage to either Gehenna or the Rehar group.
A few of Gehenna’s smuggling ships are sunk.
A Rehar witch briefly appears in a border town before disappearing.
Another way to look at this seemingly uneventful event is this.
Solidus Top has declared war on Gehenna using the Rehar group under his control.
It says.
