Chapter 68: Don’t Startle the Witch

When Raive opened his eyes, he was no longer in the underground space from earlier, but in a new, inexplicable place.

At a glance, it looked like a laboratory, but without any machinery inside. There was only a single monolith standing in the middle, joining the floor and ceiling as one.

Raive stepped closer, watching his surroundings as he went.

Then he read the monolith’s inscription.

"The Trial of Darkness, the eighth of the eight tribulations."

"Protect the monolith for half a day, and gain insight for your destination."

"Fail, and you shall not be allowed to leave until the end of your isolation."

After digesting the words, Raive felt both relief and panic.

First, thanks to the riddle-like content of the monolith, he knew his guess was right. The eight dungeons were tied to clearing the trial itself.

But there was one problem.

He couldn’t clear them all by himself.

This was the eighth of the eight tribulations, and clearing it meant defending the monolith for half a day. Judging by the numbers and the phrasing, the other seven had to be the same type.

Meaning, even at his best, there was no way he could clear more than one dungeon before the trial ended!

"In short, I need to distribute everyone to clear all eight dungeons at the same time..."

But first, Raive had to test one of the eight tribulations.

Screech!

Not long after, the sound of monsters scurrying across the floor approached rapidly. Raive quickly drew his sword and readied himself.

Then, a few moments later, the enemies appeared.

"..."

Insects of various shapes and sizes.

The hair all over Raive’s body stood on end as he watched the disgusting swarm crawl through the darkness. His instincts kicked in, and he swung his sword at full power, making sure no insect made it anywhere near him.

Of course, Raive wasn’t particularly squeamish about insects. In fact, he was fairly tolerant of them.

But when faced with a swarm of scampering, jittery bugs, even the bravest man would think twice before jumping in.

About ten minutes later, a voice echoed inside his head.

[First wave: 10,000 / 10,000 cleared.]

[Next wave in 30 minutes.]

"So the monsters come in waves with a limited number..." Raive muttered, taking mental notes. "And there’s a short rest between waves. This might be easier than I thought!"

And just like that, for the next 12 hours, Raive kept clearing the eighth tribulation dungeon.

...

"Hazel, have you seen Raive?"

Outside, on top of the walls, Shymine asked Hazel, who was busy swatting away the incoming monsters.

"Huh?" She raised a brow, glancing at Shymine before returning to her task. "I don’t know. The last I saw him was when he made those holes in the ground." She said.

Shymine had last seen him at that moment too.

But now, he was nowhere to be found.

Even the western wall, which should’ve been under his protection, was already getting pushed back. Given how responsible he always was, there was no way he’d just dump his job without taking precautions.

As such, Shymine was sure something unpredictable had happened to him.

Four hours had passed since the defense began, and the sun had reached its peak. It was so hot that even with their high stats, Hazel and Shymine were sweating buckets.

But still, the girls and all the soldiers didn’t stop.

They didn’t even fall back for breaks, fighting continuously until the monster waves began to slow. Enough that Shymine even had room to visit the western wall and clean up the mess Raive had left behind.

Just as they were catching a breather...

"Are you the agents of god who came with the black-haired man called Raive?"

Soldiers moved in around them, asking in a serious tone. Hazel and Shymine glanced at each other, realizing something was amiss.

"Yes, we are." Hazel nodded. "Is there a problem?"

As soon as she answered, the soldiers closed in, leveling their spears, as if to keep them from taking even a single step.

"It has been determined that your fellow agent, Raive Asterates, infiltrated a no-entry zone and harmed the soldiers standing guard. As his companions, we will be escorting you to an isolation cell for interrogation. You have no right to refuse!"

As expected, there really was trouble.

Hazel sighed, then turned to Shymine. The two nodded and raised their hands.

"Look. We can’t kill any of you, since doing that would get us killed too. There’s no way we’d try to harm you." Shymine explained. "Are you sure Raive did that? Where’s your proof?"

"I said, you have no right to refuse!"

Despite her attempt to defuse things, the soldier just waved his hand, ordering the others to attack.

Spears thrust forward, all aimed at the two girls.

But with +100 stats each, attacks that slow would never reach them.

Shymine waved her hand, freezing all the spears and the hands gripping them. Then, with a snap, the frozen parts shattered into tiny diamond dust, sparkling beautifully.

No pain, no blood. Only silent damage.

"A-Ahhh!"

"My hands... My hands...!"

"A witch...! She’s a witch!"

After a short delay, the soldiers began screaming in panic. They weren’t hurt, but having lost their weapons and their hands, they cried out in terror.

Right.

Even if they couldn’t kill, they could at least "neutralize" threats!

"Listen." Hazel stood, her gaze sharp and unforgiving. "We’re fighting for your kingdom, defending you from monsters... and this is how you repay us?"

She took a single step, and the entire wall shook. All the soldiers dropped to their knees, unable to keep themselves upright.

Hazel walked up to the leader of the knights, the arrogant one who’d been shouting nonsense at them from the start, and stared straight into his eyes.

"Rather than wasting your energy and personnel on useless stuff like this... send more to protect your people, you dumbasses!"

"Hiiik!"

The poor soldier, drowning in her killing intent from point-blank range, couldn’t help wetting himself in fear. Hazel caught the smell of ammonia, quickly backed off, and pinched her nose.

"Ugh... Just fuck off." She scoffed.

Then she opened her eyes, expressionless but radiating madness, and said, "But if you dare touch me or my allies again, I promise I’ll take everything but your lives. Capiche?"

Without waiting for his reply, Hazel waved her hand, using her skill, and sent all the men off the wall toward the still-advancing monster waves.

Of course, without weapons, they stood no chance at all.

The other soldiers on the wall could only watch in horror, sweating deep in their hearts.

’Never anger the ladies of Raive’s party!’