Free Web NovelChapter 56: Investment 56— Right into the Mouth of the Danger
Seria’s eyes darted around in the cold dark space. As far as her eyes could see, it was only darkness—pure darkness. She stomped her legs on the supposedly solid foothold she was on.
’There’s a ground. Which means—’
Multiple blue spell circles burst forth above Seria’s head, firing rapidly in different directions. Seria listened carefully to see if any of the shards would hit something. She heard a whooshing sound, then suddenly the ice shard completely vanished.
"Really! An illusion."
Seria’s mana flared, the ground beneath her feet started to freeze over.
"Cardien Yodx."
The entirety of the space was frozen in thick cold blue ice.
"Shatter."
Seria snapped her fingers and it cracked like a mirror—then it shattered and fell to pieces.
"You aren’t cut out to be an illusionist. I’ve been through worse!"
Seria laid eyes on a lady with wine-coloured hair dressed in a maid’s uniform, legs crossed on a throne at least ten stairs away from Seria.
"Seria Ale Migalison. I expected nothing less from the one they call—"
Entoma paused briefly, purposely letting the suspense seep into Seria’s mind like poison.
"The Witch of the North. Destined to usher the world into the Dark Age."
Seria’s facial expression turned more sour; the hatred in her eyes was replaced with something else—worry and fear.
"What... did you just call me?" she stuttered.
Entoma took her dear time to waltz down from her throne to reach Seria.
"How long are you going to fight your destiny—"
"You don’t belong with them—"
Entoma brought her mouth closer to Seria’s ear.
"You belong with us!"
She leaned backwards.
"Even your dear fiancé is keeping secrets from you."
Entoma muttered in a convincing tone. Her voice sounded enticing, true, and right. Seria stood frozen, not moving an inch. Memories of the past that she would rather forget came rushing in like a flood.
When Seria was just three, barely able to control her mana, the children in the playground mocked her for being motherless. They laughed and pointed fingers at her.
"Seria, I can’t believe you don’t have a mummy. How unfortunate for you."
"My mother spoils me rotten."
"Look at my mum over there. She brought me to the park. Seria, where’s your mum?... Oh, I forgot, you don’t have one. Such a shame."
"Hahahaha."
The children continued to laugh and laugh, and Seria just stood there taking all of the insults. Then she suddenly couldn’t take it anymore, so she crashed out and froze the playground solid. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Even after that, they still insulted her.
"What a freak!"
That’s how she earned the name the Witch of the North, but in time the nickname was forgotten and replaced with her most recent one.
Entoma’s voice ended Seria’s flashback.
"Listen, I believe you should stop subjecting yourself to their antics and foul play."
Entoma stood right in front of Seria. Seria’s lips moved.
"You are right—"
"I knew you wo—"
An ice spike stabbed Entoma through the torso.
"I should stop subjecting myself to your boring and irritating speeches."
Other ice spikes formed on the floor and drove through Entoma’s torso. Entoma spat blood from her mouth. She was thoroughly held down and couldn’t move.
"You are quite nasty yourself—"
Entoma raised her head slowly.
"It’s a shame I have to kill you."
Her blood turned to a green liquid that melted the ice spikes off her.
’Acid.’
Seria leaped backwards before the green liquid got to her. It melted even the tiles.
The holes in Entoma’s torso closed almost immediately. Even her uniform was repaired. Seria knew that she wasn’t an opponent she could hold back against.
"Legion."
Large cockroaches rose from the ground and marched towards Seria in huge numbers.
Seria let out an icy breath. Sharp ice spikes bulged from the ground, killing one cockroach at a time.
"There’s no end to them."
Seria let out a frustrated sigh.
The number of spikes she could produce in a minute wasn’t enough to even halve the cockroaches.
To make things worse—the cockroaches started spewing a green liquid from their circular tunnel mouths filled with jagged teeth.
The liquid melted any and everything they came in contact with, without mercy. One touch from that liquid and Seria would turn into a bloody pile of mush.
"Cascade the heavens and flip it upside down—"
"Mewell Wall."
A wall of ice lifted her ten feet upwards away from the cockroaches. They crashed against the wall and turned into disgusting piles of green goo.
The rest tried to melt the wall with their acid, but that didn’t work either.
"Reaqio!"
Giant ice spears fell from numerous spell circles above the wall. All the cockroaches were crushed and utterly destroyed.
’It seems these little ones are of no use against her, but—’
A centipede rolled out from within Entoma’s sleeves, down her arm to the ground. When it got to the ground, its size increased drastically until it was almost the height of the ice wall.
’You have to be kidding me.’
Seria had two choices: either use Absolute Zero or hammer down the centipede with a large and powerful strike.
The magnified centipede slammed its head into the ice wall. One hit and the wall already began to crack. Seria almost lost her balance.
"Absolute Ze—"
She stopped for a moment to think. Something wasn’t adding up, and she had just figured it out.
"You almost had me... Entoma, was it?"
Seria tilted her head to the side and placed a finger on her chin.
"I also know a few things about you—"
"Like how you are a Dark Emissary disciple. And from that symbol on your neck, you must be—"
Seria pointed at the profound tattoo on Entoma’s neck.
"No.12."
Entoma grinned from ear to ear.
"And how’s that going to help you..."
Seria smirked.
"At least now I know I was correct."
She sneered.
"And also the reason behind why you were pushing me to use Absolute Zero—"
"Someone high up must have ordered you to take me alive. That’s why you wanted me to drain myself with Absolute Zero."
Seria had already pretty much figured out Entoma’s plan.
Green wisps of mana surrounded Entoma. The ground cracked beneath her feet. Her mana skyrocketed, reaching the very high ceiling.
"Looks like I won’t be taking you in alive after all."
