The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 240

240

“Oh, thank you. These days, human trafficking rings are getting more and more rampant.”

The village they found after leaving the mountain range was Byeokgyeong, under the jurisdiction of the Aran Clan, one of the Seven Capitals, Six Gates, and Three镖 [a type of security or escort service in martial arts novels].

“Human trafficking ring?”

In what could barely be called a government office, vagrants were gambling with dice. When Rain and his group handed over the tied-up bandits, one of them said this with a yawn.

“They kidnap able-bodied people and sell them as slaves. With the witches disappearing one by one, they’re becoming quite extreme.”

The disappearance of the witches…….

Just as the self-proclaimed witch Shirin had said.

A vagrant, picking his teeth with a toothpick, threw the dice and said,

“Still, because the ‘Witch of the North Mountain’ is nearby, this place was very peaceful even though it’s remote, but now it seems they’re appearing here too.”

“The Witch of the North Mountain? That Witch of the North Mountain?”

Miria asked with surprised eyes, and the vagrant nodded as if finally understanding.

“Yes, you know about her. This bumpkin from the Empire knows a thing or two.”

Rain had only just begun to learn the Southern dialect, so his pronunciation was clumsy, but there was no major problem in hearing and understanding.

“The Witch of the North Mountain is famous for her eminence. Everyone on this continent knows her. Her real title is ‘Witch of Justice,’ though.”

“As far as I know, there was a Witch of the North Mountain even when my grandmother was alive.”

“Hey, how could she have lived that long? It must have been a title passed down through generations, because they have to protect the seal.”

Seal?

What seal?

“This guy really doesn’t know anything. What seal could it be? Lady Friede’s 300-year-old seal on the monstrous bird, Pulladun!”

Pulladun……?

Rain’s expression suddenly hardened.

Among the Uruk tribes, one of the six major demon races, there was a tribe that raised monstrous birds named ‘Tuaki.’

‘Come to think of it, the place I fought Pulladun was near here…….’

Pulladun was an abnormally large and fast monster even among these Tuaki, and it was so swift and strong that sealing it was the best they could do at the time.

“What do you think? She’s called the ‘Witch of Justice,’ so she’s different from Shirin. That guy called himself the ‘Witch of Righteousness.’”

“We can’t completely rule out the possibility that Shirin is the Witch of the North Mountain, so it’s best to stop by there on the way.”

While talking with Miria, they headed to an inn next to the government office.

In the front yard, Bart was feeding grilled fish to a kitten, and Aki and Setsunen were intently watching the cat.

“Meow.”

A 3-4 month old cat with gray fur and black stripes.

Setsunen was frightened, while Aki bravely reached out her hand. The cat didn’t run away but seemed to enjoy the touch.

Aki asked with shining eyes.

“Why does a meow meow, meow?”

Bart’s answer was simple.

“Because it’s cute.”

“Is it cute if it cries with its own name?!”

“That’s right.”

“Aki, Nen, did you eat well?”

Then Aki ran to Rain and clung to his leg.

“Aki.”

“Yes?”

“AkiAki.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“AkiAkiAki.”

I’m going crazy.

Aki always makes me laugh.

Rain smiled contentedly and stroked Aki’s head.

“…….”

Setsunen watched the scene of Aki happily enjoying the touch with a sulky look and felt jealous.

“……Setsu.”

“?”

“SetsuSetsu.”

“???”

Then she crawled onto the table and snuggled into Rain’s arms.

The ultimate attack pose, wanting only his attention!

As the hand stroking Aki moved to Setsunen’s head, Aki’s eyes narrowed this time.

“AkiAki (Don’t copy Aki).”

“Setsu (Not copying).”

“AkiAkiAki (My sister might punch you).”

It might sound like animal communication to human ears, but the dragonkin were definitely communicating with this!

“…….”

“…….”

The baby dragons, glaring at each other as if they would devour each other, began to shout the next moment!

“AkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAkiAki──!”

“──SetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsuSetsu!”

The sisters’ fight ended the next moment, the moment their heads were touched equally.

“Don’t fight. I have two hands.”

Don’t fight.

You have to walk the same path, from now on. And probably won’t see each other for quite a while soon.

The sight of Rain and the baby dragons exchanging smiles looked heartbreaking to those who knew the future.

“They’re so close, but the fact that they’ll have to separate soon must be torture for each other.”

“Torture, torture, torture.”

Rem shook his head, already cracking open a bottle of alcohol in the middle of the day.

“So, what have you decided to do now? Gosl.”

“We’ll leave right away, on a route that goes through the North Mountain.”

The North Mountain referred to Roseon Peak in the Schurigana Mountains, which was, in short, the starting point of the mountain range and the boundary of the region.

When they climbed the peak through the heavy rain that had begun to pour from the foot of the mountain, all that awaited them there were ruins.

It seemed like there had been a shrine, but even the framework had been gnawed away by something, leaving only the foundation.

“Is this the right place?”

“It’s terrible.”

“There’s still a faint trace of poison.”

Only two children, who somehow survived, were sitting on the foundation, getting rained on.

“What happened here?”

The older-looking child had already transcended even fear and opened his mouth with hollow eyes.

“They were all eaten, by bugs.”

“The witch? We came because we heard there was a great witch here. Was she not here?”

“They hung the witch upside down, drained all her blood, and then fed her to them.”

“Drained her blood?”

Rain, receiving bewildered looks from his companions, bit his lower lip and explained.

“Since witches manipulate dragon energy, Dragon Words, into spells, there’s a theory that their blood contains mystical power like that of a dragon.”

“──!”

“We should assume they’re preparing some powerful ritual. They’re planning to amplify it with the witches’ blood.”

But what kind of ritual?

Since the opponent is who they are, I can’t even guess what they’re up to.

“Boy, is the witch you’re talking about by any chance the Witch of the North Mountain?”

“Yes.”

“Is that witch’s name Shirin?”

“I can’t say. She said I should never tell her name.”

“Don’t do that─”

“─But that wasn’t her name. It’s someone else.”

At that moment, Rain moved towards the place where Friede’s energy was felt.

No way.

No, the energy is too weak to be called a real presence. In the first place, what’s being sensed now isn’t a presence, but just a simple afterglow of magic…….

“…….”

Rain’s steps stopped at what could be called a huge tomb.

But the tomb had been brutally dug up. Rather than someone digging it up from the outside, it was as if something had risen up from the inside…….

Footprints that hadn’t disappeared even in this unpleasantly humid rain soon came into view.

“Pulladun has awakened.”

What are you trying to do, Zernyx?

Are you planning to remove the barrier of the Holy City spread out in ?

‘But that doesn’t make sense.’

He told me to come to the ‘City of Beginning and End.’

That place is the Yellow City, .

It’s called that because it’s where the disaster ‘began’ and where the Rista Party ‘ended’ their expedition.

‘What should I say, it feels like he’s just urging me on rather than having a specific purpose…….’

That’s what’s bothering me.

If he’s up to something in this area, shouldn’t he be trying to stop me from coming as much as possible?

* * *

Schurigana Mountains, Northwest Ojun Peak.

A spirit appeared before the woman who was feeding human skulls to the disgustingly shaped ancient bugs.

Resonating with the spirit’s poison, the bodies of the Abyss Bugs swelled twice as large.

[You’ve worked hard, Sierra.]

Watching the skull disappear from her palm in an instant, the woman gave a seductive smile.

“I’ve worked quite hard. You have to give me a reward. Hotter than last time.”

She was speaking playfully, but it wasn’t just a little hard.

If it hadn’t been for the barrier amulet Zernyx had given her, she might have been defeated helplessly. As expected of the eldest of the three sisters, her power was several times greater than that of the second sister.

Zernyx playfully curled up his lips.

[Look forward to it. Haha, when I first joined the Black Church, I was called a pillar even though I wasn’t a pillar. You know why.]

“Ahahahahaha!”

[Well, with this, that’s two. We’ve caught ‘Justice’ and ‘Faith,’ so now there’s only one left.]

“We caught ‘Faith’ in the south first. But that ‘Righteousness’ is inside . There’s no way to get her out.”

The Red Holy City, .

has maintained its reputation as an impregnable fortress in any turbulent period because it is surrounded by the ‘Red Barrier’ left by the Red Sun, Schurigan.

As the devastated area becomes more extensive due to the erosion of the ‘Flowing Desert,’ this is why the region is intact.

[You still can’t get your head around it, my sexy subordinate. You don’t have to go in. Just make them come out.]

“How?”

[Burn all the villages in the city area and feed them to the bugs.]

“Aha.”

[Fear spreads quickly. When everyone heads to , kill them painfully one by one at the city entrance. They won’t be able to stand it.]

“But if we turn the entire city area into a sea of blood, the dragons might get involved?”

[Hmph, the dragons can’t use any power on the Adrion Continent. The Red Dragons are busy enough maintaining . The Yellow Dragons are struggling just to protect the Akrad Continent.]

My puppets have already begun executing Plan 606 throughout the Akrad Continent.

[The sporadic black magic incidents occurring in the six kingdoms, the Dunos Kingdom, and various parts of the Empire…… They won’t have time to pay attention to this. I’ve used all 887 of my puppets.]

These are the guys I’ve planted as executives in each country or city.

By now, the Akrad Continent should be plunged into chaos.

And in the first place, the Yellow Dragons have almost abandoned the Adrion Continent, so they won’t have the will or power to intervene fully now.

“If you’re being this proactive, the blood of the priestesses’ disciples must be that important?”

In fact, if you really think about it, there’s no need to collect blood to this extent, and there’s no need to burn cities and villages and kill so many humans.

The ritual is already in the final stages.

This is just a ploy to make that guy come straight to me, to , without straying off course. What I need is something else.

“But what should we do? Butem used quite a bit of that blood to revive that monster called Pulladun.”

[Hmm, you sound like you’re begging me to punish your colleague.]

“That ugly guy a colleague? Ugh, no thanks. The birds he has even eat my cute bugs.”

There’s no need to step in and punish him.

He’ll die soon anyway, by the hand of Rain Ludwig, along with all of you, the remnants of the Black Church.

From the beginning, what my ritual needs isn’t the witches’ blood.

‘It’s your souls, tainted with the Abyss.’

Because of the ritual engraved by the first pillar, that thorough old woman, the leaders of the Black Church could not kill each other.

Because the heart of the attacker would explode first.

The only one who could kill anyone as they pleased was the owner of the ritual, the first pillar.

‘Even Zernyx, who is above the leaders, could inflict painful punishments but could not kill.’

But what about now?

I’ve already secured the soul of the leader of the Slayers, the Dragon Slayer.

For some reason, Elamas’s soul disappeared like a lie, and I couldn’t get it…….

‘But these guys are enough to replace it.’

Zernyx curled up his lips as if he was very happy with the anticipation of the coming future.

[Is there a more merciful and benevolent superior than me? I won’t punish you. I’ll just coolly move on. So, from now on, admire me more.]