Chapter 82: A worthy opponent meets a true equal
Watching Anna and the others fall straight into the mine pit, Peiya stayed unusually calm.
Normally, she would have used magic to pull them out right away.
But today was different.
They were no longer teammates. In other words, they were strangers now. Not even friends anymore.
At least, that’s how Peiya saw it.
Pretending not to know each other was better for everyone.
“What are you looking at? The Ice Bear King suddenly became much stronger. Be careful,” Elise said as she held her sword and moved to the other side of the cave, noticing Peiya was distracted.
“Nothing. Just a few unlucky people that even the magic circles didn’t want,” Peiya replied. “But about the Ice Bear King… something feels strange. Could it be related to the poison on its body?”
Holding the holy cross, Peiya skillfully cleared the toxins around them.
For some reason, her affinity with holy light was extremely high.
Thinking about it…
Being a saintess almost seemed more interesting than being a witch.
For a moment, it even felt like she was being changed by the holy light.
Power really makes people overconfident.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield…
The Ice Bear King released a large purple-blue mist and rushed forward like a cannonball.
Its expression was no longer the same. It looked sharper, more dangerous. Its mouth stayed tightly shut, as if it had completely lost the ability to communicate.
Based on experience, Peiya guessed that the bear guard earlier might have sealed some kind of power.
When the Ice Bear King was conscious, it could talk normally.
But after merging with the bear guard, it became violent and uncontrollable.
Could this be some kind of “dual-form boss”?
Peiya didn’t have time to think further. A sudden ice spike attack interrupted her thoughts.
After the fusion, the Ice Bear King’s strength and speed had increased greatly. Even getting close to it was dangerous.
“It’s much stronger now.”
Peiya cast another blessing on Elise. The frost power responded to the new strength and became more active.
Elise swung her sword. Compared to before, it was now much harder to pierce through the Ice Bear King.
Maybe…
This was its true strength.
“Don’t rush in blindly,” Peiya said, forcing herself to stay calm. “It mentioned a Witch earlier. I think this is related to that.”
Strangely enough, Peiya herself was a witch, but she didn’t feel any presence of witch power here.
“Is the Witch awakening?” Elise asked, no longer attacking head-on. She chose to conserve energy and fight carefully. The cave was too small for large-scale magic, using it might collapse everything on top of them.
“Maybe…” Peiya said, a little unsure. “Anyway, buy me some time. I’ll try to find what it mentioned earlier. The most important thing now is to make it regain its senses. If we kill it now, we’ll lose all the answers.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“It’s a secret. Just hold it off for a while.”
Elise hesitated, but seeing Peiya’s determined look, she changed her tone.
“You’ve thought this through?”
“Yes. This time, let me protect you.”
“Idiot. I don’t need that kind of protection. Just come back safely, understand?”
“Of course. And if something happens, you can just put me back together.”
“Don’t say things like that. I’ll distract it. You find a way around.”
Peiya nodded. With the speed boost from holy light, she moved behind the Ice Bear King. She picked up a crystal that had been left behind and saw that inside it were dead insects.
The insects were tangled together, some even passing through each other’s bodies. It made Peiya feel sick.
Following the trail of dead insects, she found the area where most of them were gathered. It was wet, sticky, and gave off a strong, terrible smell.
She remembered what the Ice Bear King said earlier and forced herself to walk deeper despite the smell.
This was the narrow cave that had been revealed when the “hourglass” flipped earlier. At first it was tight, but the deeper she went, the wider it became.
Then she noticed something at the very top of the cave. A bleeding tree, surrounded by clusters of crystals.
This scene looked very similar to something in her memories…
Around it was a pool of blood formed by the insects. As soon as it sensed Peiya getting closer, the crystals turned bright red, and a curse spread across the whole area.
Peiya suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head.
Nightmares rushed into her mind like waves. The strange divine tree she had seen again and again in her dreams now appeared in real life.
Her body started to heat up, like a magnet being pulled toward another magnet.
Even her body began to change. Cracking sounds came from her bones.
Her silver-white hair grew wildly, like plants after rain.
Peiya staggered forward, as if something was pulling her.
No… I can’t go closer.
She tried to push away the thoughts in her mind, but the force kept pulling her forward.
In that critical moment, she placed her hand on the Judgment Cross, trying to clear her mind.
But as soon as her fingers touched it, the cross seemed to be covered in blood. Its bronze surface turned red, as if it might break apart at any moment.
However, this change only lasted a short time. Soon, it returned to normal.
Then, a strange laugh sounded in her ear.
“So, you finally came. Is this the choice of fate? I didn’t expect that 500 years would pass in the blink of an eye~”
“Who… who’s there?”
Peiya looked around, but saw no one.
Then the voice spoke again.
“Don’t be so surprised. I’m just a leftover soul. If you scare me away, no one will talk with you.”
Peiya forced herself to stay calm. “Are you… a witch?”
The shadow laughed again.
“Me? Of course not. How could I be such a great existence? But… it’s close. Today, a new Witch will be born.”
“Put down that cross. Do you really think something like that can stop us? Little one… should I call you ‘Calamity,’ or Peiya?”
“You know my name?” Peiya tried to buy time, slowly stepping back.
But suddenly, her path was blocked by thorny vines. An hourglass appeared out of thin air.
“A name is nothing. Don’t struggle. You designed all of this yourself. You know exactly how you would be tricked into coming here. What a pity though… You’ve become obedient. I liked you better before, when you would step on my head the moment we met. My lord… when are you going to step on me again?”
“What… what are you even talking about?” Peiya was completely confused. “Why are you speaking in riddles?”
“I don’t know you, and I don’t know any ‘Calamity Witch.’ Let me out! I want to go home! If you bully me, the Pope will come after you! I… I’m from the Church! If you want to attack me, go attack the Pope first!”
Holding the cross, Peiya tried her best to act like a true believer. She even gave off a faint holy aura.
She had seen Church members before, imitating them wasn’t hard.
After hearing this, the remaining soul laughed again.
“That old man? He doesn’t even know how many years he has left to live. My mission is to stay here and witness the birth of the Witch. If you think I’m in your way, then transform into my beloved Witch and deal with me however you like~ And if you could step on my head again… that would be even better.”