Chapter 74

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Anna ran at full speed.

Her mind was solely focused on rescuing the kidnapped girl.

Behind her, Marco shouted, “It’s dangerous!” but his voice didn’t reach her ears.

She only chased after the men dragging the girl away.

The winding alleyways.

“Stop right there!”

The men pulled the girl into a shabby building.

A staircase leading underground.

Below was nothing but darkness.

Anna hesitated for a moment, but she couldn’t stop now.

She took a deep breath and cast a holy spell.

“Holy Light!”

A radiant orb appeared in front of Anna.

Thanks to the orb, she could see through the darkness.

Anna quickly descended the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, a heavy iron door appeared.

Anna pushed open the heavy iron door, and—

Thud!

A dull impact struck her head.

Anna staggered and collapsed.

The mocking voices of men reached her ears.

“Heh heh, what’s this? A girl?”

“She’s using holy magic, so she must be a priestess.”

“Perfect. A priestess will fetch a high price.”

Something warm and wet trickled down her head.

Anna tried to get up, but her body wouldn’t obey.

Then, she felt hands lifting her skirt.

“Hmm, I heard priestesses value their purity. Let’s check, shall we?”

Anna’s eyes widened.

‘No, no…’

She wanted to scream, but only a faint moan escaped her lips.

“Hng, hng…”

“Oh, already? I haven’t even started yet.”

Soon, her skirt was completely lifted.

A sense of emptiness and shame washed over her.

Tears streamed down Anna’s face as she pleaded.

“P-please… please…”

“Alright, alright. Don’t rush me.”

“Heh heh. Hurry up. I want a turn too.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Just then.

Slash.

“?”

Something fell beside Anna.

It was a head.

“!!”

The head was grinning widely.

It didn’t even seem to realize it was dead.

“W-what the!”

“Another one’s here!”

A sharp metallic sound echoed.

Then, the clashing of weapons.

A fight had broken out.

When Anna barely managed to turn her gaze, she saw a familiar figure.

Marco.

He was fighting the men.

Marco was a fairly well-known adventurer in Bellagard.

In terms of swordsmanship alone, he was on par with Zeke, the leader of Anna’s party.

With Marco here, she could feel at ease…

‘W-what are you looking at?!’

Anna screamed inwardly.

Marco’s gaze was fixed on Anna’s lower body.

Her skirt, pulled up to her waist.

The underwear exposed beneath it.

Marco was staring right at it.

‘D-don’t look! No, more importantly, behind you!’

Thud.

Marco was eventually struck by a club swung from behind and collapsed.

He had been so distracted by Anna’s underwear that he let the attack slip through.

Anna’s expression turned hollow.

“Phew, he’s nothing special. I thought he was some tough guy.”

“Jackson died because of this guy…”

“Doesn’t matter. Actually, it’s better. I owed Jackson money anyway.”

“What should we do with him? Take him with us?”

“What for? Just kill him here. We only need to take the girl.”

“Right.”

One of the men stood in front of Marco with a sword.

But he only adjusted his stance, not swinging the sword down.

Another man, unable to stand it, shouted.

“Hurry up and kill him! What if he wakes up again?”

“I’m deciding whether to cut his throat or stab his heart.”

“It doesn’t matter! Move aside. I’ll do it.”

“Fine.”

Another man stepped in front of Marco and raised his sword.

But,

“…”

For some reason, the man froze in place, sword raised.

A dark energy had wrapped around his wrist.

“M-my hand won’t move…”

“What?”

“Stop messing around and finish it. The boss is waiting.”

“No, seriously, my hand…”

Thud. Thud.

Footsteps echoed through the space.

The men turned toward the sound.

“What now? Another one?”

A girl with white hair was walking toward them.

Her red eyes glowed ominously.

“What’s this? A kid.”

“Does she think this is a place anyone can just walk into?”

“Actually, this is good. We’ll grab her too—”

Suddenly, the men’s voices were cut off.

A dark energy coiled around their necks and cleanly sliced through them.

Thud.

The men’s heads fell to the ground simultaneously.

Blood gushed from their severed necks.

Swoosh!

The area was filled with a crimson mist.

“Hng, hng, hng…”

Anna trembled uncontrollably.

She was a fairly experienced adventurer, but she had never witnessed such a horrifying scene before.

Multiple men having their heads severed simultaneously, blood spraying everywhere.

“Hmm… her skirt…”

Brian and Thomas glanced at Anna’s underwear.

Anna’s dress was still pulled up to her waist.

Yet, she was trembling so much from fear that she didn’t even notice.

“Hng, ugh…”

Anna’s trembling gaze turned toward Lucy.

It was Lucy’s power that had just severed the men’s heads.

Lucy had used dark magic to annihilate the men in an instant without even lifting a finger.

‘T-this is the power of a witch…’

Until now, Anna had seen many mages during her time as an adventurer.

They all wielded powerful magic.

They shot fireballs, threw ice spears, and summoned sharp gusts of wind.

She had thought they were quite formidable.

But compared to the dark magic Lucy had just shown, it was child’s play.

None of the mages Anna had seen could kill multiple armed men in an instant.

Finally, Anna realized how absurd her suggestion to capture Lucy after escaping Cryfel Castle had been.

At the time, the others hadn’t supported her idea not only because Lucy had saved their lives but also because they likely knew capturing Lucy was impossible from the start.

After all, Lucy had effortlessly subdued a terrifying demon.

‘I… I almost made a huge mistake…’

If they had all tried to capture Lucy back then, the outcome would have been obvious.

They would have ended up like the headless corpses lying on the ground now.

“Are you okay?”

Lucy approached and asked.

Anna instinctively flinched.

Lucy pulled Anna’s dress back down.

“You’re hurt.”

Lucy glanced at Finn, who was perched on her shoulder.

Finn nodded and fluttered into the air.

She flew above Anna and spun around in a circle.

Sparkling powder fell from Finn’s body.

Anna felt her body glowing.

She was being healed.

It was similar to the effects of a healing spell.

“Th-thank you…”

Finally, Anna began to regain her composure.

Beside her, Marco was also slowly getting up after being healed by Finn’s powder.

Lucy asked Anna,

“What about the kidnapped girl?”

“Ah, I haven’t found her yet… I was attacked as soon as I came in… But it’s certain that these guys kidnapped her. They seem to be slave hunters.”

“Slave hunters?”

“Earlier, they said things like ‘she’ll fetch a high price’ when they saw me.”

Slave hunters were those who kidnapped people and sold them into slavery.

Slave hunting was strictly illegal, but because they operated so covertly, it was difficult to crack down on them.

Moreover, they were often connected to high-ranking nobles, making it nearly impossible to eradicate them.

“If these guys are slave hunters, this must be their hideout. We need to go deeper inside.”

At Anna’s words, Lucy turned her head.

A long passageway stretched further inside.

“Please, Lucy. Lend us your strength. We need to save that girl and take down these guys. Otherwise, there will be more victims.”

Anna spoke with desperation.

Even as she spoke, she felt shameless.

She had once wanted to capture the witch, and now she was asking for her help.

But there was no other choice.

Slave hunters usually operated in organized groups.

There might only be a few here now, but deeper inside, there would likely be many more enemies.

To fight them, they needed Lucy’s power.

She couldn’t do it on her own.

They could go outside and call the guards or inform the church, but that would take too long.

The hunters might notice and disappear without a trace.

This was their only chance.

“Please, Lucy…”

Anna was about to kneel.

Kneeling before a witch, especially a child, was a blow to her pride, but to save the kidnapped girl and take down these criminals…

Thud. Thud.

“Huh?”

Anna froze mid-motion in an awkward posture.

Lucy had already started walking further inside.

Brian and Thomas followed behind her.

“Hurry up, Anna.”

Marco tapped Anna’s shoulder and followed.

“These slave hunters picked the wrong people to mess with.”

◈

“…”

After a moment of dazed silence, Anna snapped back to her senses and hurried after Lucy.

They had picked the wrong people.

That was true.

“This is going to be an interesting show.”

Marco said with an excited voice.

Anna nodded and smiled faintly.

Meanwhile, Lucy, who was walking ahead, activated a skill.

[Night Vision]

A skill that allowed her to see clearly in the dark.

As the skill activated, Lucy’s eyes turned black.

The dim passageway became clear to her.

Lucy then activated another skill.

[Demon Summoning: Agrevan]

A magic circle appeared on the ground, and crimson flames erupted.

The flames roared and began to take on a massive form.

Black scales, sharp claws, wings on its back, and three pairs of horns on its head.

Soon, a menacing demon appeared.

The demon looked at Lucy with its red eyes and asked,

“Wh-where’s the doll…?”

 

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Hell yeah, asking the real questions.

Also, he really just lost because of women, smh…