novelraw Chapter 69
Chapter 69
Chapter 69: Eden, the Garden (8)
The triangle-headed giant lost his life to his own blade. He never would’ve dreamed he’d meet a freak who lopped off his entire forearm and stole his sword.
The giant’s limbs rolled all over the flower field.
The blue meadow was stained with blood.
“Blegh….”
Nike pried his way out through the giant’s entrails. A disgusting stench rose up, worse than anything even Nike had ever smelled.
“What on earth have you been eating! Bleghhhh!”
Nike slipped and tumbled between clumps of viscera. His whole body was drenched in the giant’s blood. A rancid, nauseating stink radiated off him.
Even so, Elena walked up without a twitch and held out her hand. She didn’t care about the smell at all.
“Nike, take my hand.”
“Hah? Thanks.”
Nike offered a hand caked with filth. Elena grabbed that filthy hand without hesitation and hauled him up. Nike fell straight into Elena’s soft arms. Elena hugged him tight.
“You were magnificent, Sword of Destiny.”
She was so unreserved that even Nike felt thrown off.
“Uh, thanks.”
“…Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
Nike shook his head. Aside from one heavy hit that had scraped his muscles, he was fine. It was just a few abrasions, and even those healed quickly.
If anything, his mana had dropped from casting powerful spells in succession. Since the enemy had been a giant, the expenditure had been that much greater.
He’d had to warp space in proportion to its size, then burn it with glass flame.
In the past he would’ve already been exhausted and collapsed, but by now Nike’s mana reserves had grown enough that he was still going strong.
Everything he’d experienced and consumed had helped him grow.
Nike answered with heat.
“I’m fine!”
“Ahaha. That’s Nike for you. So spirited.”
Smiling, Elena healed him. As she chanted a prayer, golden light wrapped around Nike and wiped away his wounds and the filth as if rinsed clean.
“Oooh! Elena! Are you an angel!”
“…Calling a person an angel? That’s blasphemous, Nike.”
“You’re like an angel!”
While Nike shouted in excitement, a faint blush colored Elena’s cheeks.
‘As I thought… you really are the Sword of Destiny. Witnessing such great power was a tremendous honor for me. Ah, I’m burning up again. A man I want.’
The more she looked, the more attractive Nike was.
Wanting him only stoked her heart hotter.
There was a reason Morgana treasured him so much.
It wasn't a simple infatuation.
Nike’s very existence was the most special and precious this land had ever known.
It was closer to the desire to possess the most beautiful jewel in the world.
‘Nike… descendant of the Shepherd. I see you.’
Elena’s feelings for Nike deepened.
They grew thick, dark, and sticky.
They were nothing like the fresh, youthful curiosity from the beginning.
Elena clutched her chest.
‘Why in the world am I like this….’
The surge of emotion wasn’t easy to control.
She even found herself wondering if she’d always been this emotional.
Elena drew a breath and held it for a moment. The conversation paused with her deep inhale. She gazed softly into Nike’s gray eyes.
She was enthralled.
There was no way out now.
Elena had become Nike’s slave.
“…Nike. Let’s go.”
“…? Alright.”
Well, he’d been getting eyes like that far too often lately, so Nike didn’t mind.
If anything, he was closer to being sick of it.
The more he received those looks, the more he missed Rowen and Hestia. Their eyes were plain and unburdening. He could feel their pure affection.
‘Vice boss, Tia.’
Thinking of Rowen, who was surely training hard somewhere, and his classmate, who’d be suffering in the witch’s clutches, Nike started walking.
* * *
The Witch of Motherhood’s familiar had died.
The problem was that innocent girls were being ruthlessly sacrificed as well.
The closer they got to the Witch of Motherhood, the greater the damage became.
The witch treated life as trivial.
The archbishop of the Hall of the City God did not.
It was a disadvantageous fight.
If the witch took the girls’ lives at will, that was trouble in itself. The Sun God’s doctrine placed human life above all else.
‘Among the witches I’ve seen, she’s one of the worst….’
On top of that, the witch looked extremely powerful. Ordinary witch-hunters, priests, or holy knights wouldn’t be enough.
Now it was clear why every punitive force they’d sent had vanished without a word.
‘I can’t be sure I can win either. The Witch of Motherhood… Can I defeat that…’
Nike was the only hope.
He used the enemy’s strongest weapon, magic. He had no fear, and he could strike where they didn’t expect it.
He also wasn’t affected by other people’s deaths. By excluding human emotion, he could carry out the mission more efficiently.
He was a born hunter.
A weapon of the gods.
‘I believe in you.’
With the Sword of Destiny at her side, Elena’s steps held no fear.
“It feels out of place in a lovely meadow.”
The two of them arrived at a massive mansion.
Its fence was rusted, and withered rose vines twined around it. The thorns made it hard to climb.
A gloomy air hung over the place. It didn’t feel lived in. Crows they hadn’t seen before perched all along the fence.
“The witch is in there.”
Nike pointed at the mansion. Indicating a broken window, he spoke with certainty. The witch was there.
He sensed a presence that even the archbishop couldn’t feel. He’d felt it in his skin from the start.
“In there… is she? Then we’ll need to be careful.”
Elena didn’t doubt him for a second. She knew that what Nike said was the truth and the answer. She submitted to fate faster than anyone.
Once Nike gave the destination, Elena took the lead at once. Most would hesitate at the thick fog of mana underfoot, yet she advanced.
Her blind faith in the prophesied man moved her feet.
Sweat beaded on the hand that gripped her warhammer. They could be ambushed anytime, anywhere.
They’d already reached the inner sanctum of the witch’s nest, so vigilance was only natural.
Drop your guard and you’d be hit again. Their foe was a master of mind magic, so much so that even the archbishop of the Hall of the City God could barely remember her.
Elena paused, turned, and asked over her shoulder.
“Nike, do we keep going?”
“We can go. The witch invited us.”
At that, Elena tilted her head.
“What do you mean?”
“Look ahead.”
Nike shrugged. When Elena turned her head forward again, the mansion doors stood wide open. Two girls in maid outfits were holding them.
In a place that seemed ready to collapse, the two girls were dressed impeccably, which only made the scene that much creepier.
Elena let out a low sigh.
“…My.”
“I’m hungry! I want food!”
“…You’re hungry at a time like this?”
“If they don’t feed me, I’ll kill them!”
Nike grumbled as he walked. Elena chuckled under her breath.
‘Hungry in a situation like this. How cute.’
In a situation where anyone else would’ve wet themselves, hearing words like that left her speechless. She was starting to have trouble deciding if he was brave or just dumb.
Soon Nike and Elena reached the mansion door.
“Welcome. Welcome to Mother’s Garden.”
“Welcome. Welcome to Mother’s Garden!”
Two neat young girls curtsied, holding their skirts as they welcomed Nike and Elena. They moved with polished etiquette. Every girl abducted to the flower field learned the manners of nobility.
“Please come inside. A banquet has been prepared.”
“Please come inside! A banquet has been prepared!”
“Ooh! Thanks! You’re good kids!”
Elena hesitated to enter. Nike, on the other hand, strode up the steps and went through the doorway. The girls still stood there smiling, holding the doors.
‘…So I’m invited in too.’
It was a different reaction than before.
In the bad sense, Elena had been invited to this mansion as well. It was an invitation earned by provoking the Witch of Motherhood.
‘An invitation to death huh.’
She’d fought witches, interrogated them, and carried out purification rites, but she’d never before stepped straight into a witch’s nest.
Even for an archbishop, it was frightening. Elena quelled her trembling heart by thinking of Nike. There was a trust in him that was hard to explain.
Soon the tremor faded, and resolve settled in. Elena stepped inside.
“All invited guests have entered. We will guide you to the second floor.”
“All invited guests have entered. We will guide you to the second floor!”
The girls spoke. They moved ahead of Nike and began to lead the way. Inside, the mansion was thick with cobwebs, and not a single window was clean.
For a place that worked girls like maids, the nest was shockingly filthy. An unknown stench of rotting bone and meat filled the air inside.
Elena frowned at the smell. It wasn’t the same reaction she’d had when she’d embraced Nike, who’d been rolling in the giant’s guts.
One of the girls caught her faintly displeased expression.
“Guest. Are you uncomfortable?”
A light shake of the brown hair braided into pigtails revealed the girl’s face. Because of that, Elena got a clear look at her.
A baby face that stuck in the eye.
She couldn’t have been even ten.
‘…Madwoman. No, even calling you a woman is too kind. Witch.’
Elena bit her lip and shook her head.
“No. I’m not uncomfortable. Where’s the mistress of the house?”
The girl grinned and answered.
“She’s waiting in the dining room on the second floor.”
“…I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yes. You should. It’s a truly splendid banquet.”
In the girl’s smile and answer, Elena sensed foreboding. The witch’s damp, sinister intent showed through them completely.
“Turkey, maybe!?”
“Hahaha! Seeing how excited you are makes me happy!”
“Of course.”
“Kya-haha! Let’s go!”
Meanwhile, in that short span, Nike had already made friends with the girl. Warm fondness practically dripped from her eyes when she looked at him.
‘…Even while brainwashed by a witch, they still feel physiological attraction. How interesting….’
Elena clenched her fist and climbed. It was a spiral staircase. They seemed to go on forever.
“…”
After climbing what felt like the same stretch three times, Elena finally noticed something wrong.
The stairs went on without end. When you finished climbing them, you connected back to the beginning in a warped loop.
‘Since when…?’
A chill ran down Elena’s spine as she looked at the girl. The girl was still silently climbing at Elena’s side.
“Hey. Little one.”
“…You catch on pretty quick.”
“H-Haha… getting tricked twice. I really admit it. You really are good.”
Elena twisted her lips.
The first time she’d let it happen on purpose, but this time it was truly humiliating.
Even though she’d been on high alert, she’d still fallen for it. There was no excuse. Sweat ran down the back of her neck.
She felt in her skin that her life was really in danger.
The girl opened her mouth.
“Praise from the archbishop of the Hall of the City God? How rare. A once-in-a-lifetime honor. I should hang your neck somewhere to commemorate it. Won’t you offer me your neck?”
The voice was the witch’s, the one she’d heard before.
“May the Sun God look upon us and—”
* * *
“Mother’s cooking is the best on the continent! Not just the Empire, but in the desert kingdom to the north, the lost kingdom of the star, and the lake kingdom to the south, we’ve never seen a chef like Mother!”
“Oh… I can’t wait.”
Nike climbed the stairs, swallowing saliva. It was news shocking enough to make the Empire’s best faint, and she’d said it was the best on the continent. It was truly incredible.
He wanted to taste Mother’s food as soon as possible.
His steps quickened as he went up. He finished the stairs in no time.
On the second floor, girls in maid outfits stood in two lines to greet him.
“Honored guest, welcome. The mistress of Eden, Mother of All Things, awaits you within.”
“Honored guest, welcome. The mistress of Eden, Mother of All Things, awaits you within.”
“Honored guest, welcome. The mistress of Eden, Mother of All Things, awaits you within.”
“Honored guest, welcome. The mistress of Eden, Mother of All Things, awaits you within.”
“Honored guest, welcome. The mistress of Eden, Mother of All Things, awaits you within.”
“Oh! Nice to see you!”
Nike spread his arms in delight at the grand welcome. It was a hospitality with a different flavor from Vilnogos.
‘Elena?’
Suddenly a presence vanished. He looked back and saw no one.
When did it happen?
Even Nike hadn’t sensed it. He was just about to turn and look for Elena when it happened.
“Nike. I’ve been waiting.”
“Hah…?”
A familiar voice sounded. A girl stood there in the same outfit as the others. She was a little taller than the rest.
Nike’s finger twitched.
“Tia?”