"The Eye of Oblivion?"
Kurose Akira stared at the newly acquired effect of the demonic eye, a trace of disbelief surfacing on his face.
Only now did he truly begin to understand how that Witch of the Night had managed to evade the Witch Church's relentless pursuit—and still run rampant within the Kingdom of Stars.
The Eye of Domination and the Eye of Oblivion working in tandem…
That combination was, frankly, absurdly overpowered.
"Kurose Akira-san~ are you all right?" Ivsha asked with concern.
Alice and the other members were also staring at him intently, clearly afraid that something might have happened to their guildmaster.
"Relax, I'm fine," Kurose Akira said, waving a hand to reassure them. He slowly stood up and walked into the washroom, wiping away the blood that had gathered at the corner of his eye.
Looking into the mirror, he noticed that his left eye seemed to be glowing with a dazzling radiance—but the light vanished in the blink of an eye.
"So it looks like the demonic eye didn't cause any other physical changes…"
His expression darkened slightly. This was likely the reason he couldn't resonate with the Night itself.
Still, the effect of the demonic eye had already taken hold, granting him a passive counter-type ability.
Just like when he had met Princess Vivian before—when the Witch of the Night's origin magic had caused Vivian's demonic eye to fail and rebound upon her.
Now, Kurose Akira had made that power his own.
And he could control it freely.
"Feels pretty good."
The corners of his mouth lifted faintly. He realized he was adapting to this change far better than he had expected.
When he walked back out of the washroom, Ivsha and the others were still waiting anxiously.
"Really, I'm fine," he said quickly, doing his best to soothe everyone.
"As long as you're okay~"
Only after Kurose Akira reassured them for the third time did Ivsha and the others finally let out a sigh of relief, smiles returning to their faces.
At that moment, Loserine returned to the guild.
Seeing everyone gathered around Kurose Akira, she asked in confusion, "Did something happen?"
"It's nothing," Kurose Akira shook his head, then added, "You came back at the right time. We're heading out for a mission. This time, everyone's coming."
"Understood~ Kurose Akira-san (Guildmaster-sama)~"
...
A black wind swept past, and the eerie surroundings made Kurose Akira frown slightly.
He looked around. Misshapen black trees covered the area, and the soil beneath his feet reeked of decay, making him wonder how a witch could possibly live in a place like this.
Straight ahead of him stood a small, silent hut shaped like a pumpkin.
"So this is the witch's cottage…"
Kurose Akira murmured to himself, preparing to lead Ivsha and the others inside.
But before that, he had Loserine scout ahead to check for hidden dangers. After all, a witch's dwelling was not something to be taken lightly.
"There's a fluctuation of magical power here," Loserine said the moment she stepped inside. She immediately drew the Vowbound Sword at her waist.
At the same time, several illusory figures appeared around the witch's cottage.
Sharp, piercing laughter followed.
"Ahahahaha~ Where did these little bugs come from? Daring to cause trouble on my territory? You're asking to die!"
The shadowy figures attacked Loserine simultaneously, jet-black magic surging through the air.
"Falling Moon!"
Loserine didn't hesitate for even a moment. Moon-clear swordlight bloomed from the tip of her blade.
In an instant, the illusory figures were pierced through by moonlike sword qi and dissipated into nothingness.
Yet the shrill laughter rang out once more.
"Heh. Didn't expect this little bug to have some strength. But this is only the beginning!"
As the voice fell, the black mist rapidly condensed into a massive black panther nearly ten meters long, lunging at Loserine with thunderous force.
[Shadow Phantasmal Panther (Elite)]Level: 35 (0 / 14,000)Race: Witch ConstructStrength: 448 / Agility: 420 / Mana: 300 / Constitution: 525Growth: 8 (All attributes +8 per level)Skills: (Expand)
"A level-35 monster…?"
Kurose Akira's eyes sharpened. He hadn't expected a level-35 witch construct to be guarding this cottage.
"Ivsha, Alice, Fuli, Flora—keep your distance and attack with ranged magic!" Kurose Akira issued his orders decisively.
"Understood!"
They quickly moved into position and began gathering mana.
Their stats weren't enough to confront the Shadow Phantasmal Panther head-on. Only Loserine could stand against it directly.
"ROAR!"
The panther let out a deafening roar and pounced toward them like a streak of lightning.
"I'll hold it back!"
Loserine stepped forward, her longsword intercepting the panther's ferocious assault without hesitation.
Although her raw attributes were inferior to the monster's, the buffs granted by [Crystalline Construct] and [White Rose & the Vowbound Knight] allowed her to fight it head-on—and even gain a slight advantage.
Besides, this was a righteous team battle.
"Don't move!"
Alice reacted instantly, summoning ice-silk snow threads that wrapped tightly around the panther's limbs like a spider's web.
"ROAR!"
The panther struggled furiously, trying to break free, but the gossamer-thin ice threads were as hard as steel.
At the same time, Ivsha and the elven sisters began chanting.
A phantom of a holy nun appeared above the panther, surrounded by blazing flames and dozens of water arrows formed from condensed water elementals.
"Fall!"
At her command, three spells slammed into the Shadow Phantasmal Panther at once.
In an instant—
Terrifying magical fluctuations echoed through the space.
Holy power, flames, and water elements tore through the panther's body simultaneously.
Yet as a creature woven from vast darkness, it relied on dark mana to slowly regenerate its shattered form.
Seeing its body begin to reassemble, Loserine swung her sword once more, unleashing Falling Moon.
In the next moment, pure moonlight poured down like a torrential rain, completely piercing the panther's reforming body…
Under their combined assault, the Shadow Phantasmal Panther finally fell. The dark mana surrounding the witch's cottage dissipated with the wind.
As guildmaster, Kurose Akira witnessed the entire battle—and in his heart, he gave his guild members a perfect score.
Loserine's performance, in particular, was practically a bug.
Ignoring elemental magic tags allowed her to fight without restraint. She didn't have to worry about friendly fire from her teammates' spells, functioning as the main tank while outputting at full power.
Ivsha and the others' magic attacks also proved decisive at critical moments. Especially Alice—her ice-silk snow threads provided brief crowd control that bought the team invaluable openings.
Every single member of the guild was an indispensable key to this victory.
We six are seriously amazing!
Cough cough~
After dealing with the monsters outside the cottage, Kurose Akira entered without ceremony and looted the place clean. He obtained the following items:
[Letter of the Witch of the Night (Quest Item)][Witch Hat (Rare): A witch's hat! Increases mana potency by 5%.][Witch Gem (Rare): A gem containing pure mana. A rare material for crafting high-tier magic staves.]
"That's it?"
Even after stripping the cottage bare, Kurose Akira still felt unsatisfied.
However, the letter from the Witch of the Night seemed to be the cottage's lifeline. Once he took it, the once-sturdy pumpkin hut began to lose its vitality, rotting and collapsing.
In the end, it dissolved into a pool of mud, blending into the surrounding gloom.
"We should leave."
Kurose Akira had no desire to stay here a second longer. He activated the teleportation array and returned to the guild.
Just before submitting the special quest, he opened the envelope to see what the letter contained.
[Hahahahaha! I've created life!]
"..."
Kurose Akira frowned slightly. Every word of the letter reeked of madness and distortion. Were all witches like this?
Scared (cat meme)
"Submit!"
[Special Quest: Betrayal from the Night! (Completed)][You have obtained one free trait refresh.][Congratulations on completing a special quest!][You have obtained an Adventurer Recruitment Scroll (Green).][Your Player Rating has increased to E+!][You have obtained one random Player Trait!]
Wait—
Suddenly!
Kurose Akira sensed something off.
He remembered that he couldn't manually refresh player traits—this time, it was a random trait.
If it rolled a god-tier trait, wouldn't that be—
Before he could finish the thought, a gleaming trait flashed before his eyes.
[Dragon Knight]
"Oh?" Kurose Akira smiled in surprise. "That looks like a pretty exciting trait!"
Judging by the name alone, it sounded incredibly strong.
[Dragon Knight: Increases the probability of taming dragons by 20%. Deals 100% bonus damage to dragons. Grants a 50% combat power bonus to tamed dragons. (You also want to be a Dragon Knight?)]
"..."
"Huh?"
Kurose Akira frowned. This trait felt… kind of questionable.
Also, since he had the Dragon Knight trait now, where exactly was he supposed to claim a dragon?
A dragon…
The Land of Fallen Dragons?
…Whatever.
All things considered, he was satisfied with the trait.
Time to recruit adventurers.
With that thought, Kurose Akira took out the recruitment scroll he had just obtained, ready to welcome a new adventurer.
But just as he was about to use it, the Saintess Portrait stored in his inventory suddenly burst into a dazzling glow.
At the same time, a mysterious option appeared before his eyes.
[Do you wish to consume one Recruitment Scroll to grant two Authorities to the [Saintess] trait, and additionally create one new Personality?]
"Add… a personality?"
"???"
[Currently available Authorities: Chastity, Diligence, Generosity, Humility, Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust…]
[Warning! The selection of Authorities will directly influence the creation of the Personality. Please choose carefully!]
..
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