Chapter 58: Black Magic

That was the strangest Wheel of Luck he had seen so far… if it could be even called a wheel.

It was literally three wheels blended together in a chaotic way, apparently held by strange chaotic energy.

If someone described this energy as white, they’d be right. And if they described it as black, they’d also be right.

It was pure chaos that defied Dante’s logic. Still, he knew from a book he read what it was.

’Black magic.’

Although it was called black, it got that name solely because of its evil nature, not for a visible feature.

The book only mentioned only a few traits of dark magic and some basic information. Obviously, it didn’t tell anything about what it truly was or how an individual could use it.

Of course, it didn’t mention that it could affect luck either. No, in fact, there were no books in the entire library talking about luck, or at least he didn’t find any.

Dante immediately used the Spiritual Eye ability. As expected, he saw two Spirit values—one being 10 and the other 3.

’Three? Even the children have higher Spirit value than that.’

Unless that second soul was damaged, Dante didn’t see how that was possible.

“I think we are near…” Dante hesitated as he whispered: “That creature seems to be one of the witch victims. I… don’t know what we should do with her. She is disfigured and has unnatural inhuman limbs, and apparently a second being is living in her.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened instantly: “I… I’ll check her quickly… I’ll try to help her.”

Elizabeth walked toward the trembling woman while Dante covered his sword in flames and surrounded the disfigured woman with Fafnir.

’Don’t hesitate.’

Understanding his master’s orders, Fafnir created a sword of shadow and focused on the woman.

After relentless training, Dante got the ability to create proper shadow swords, therefore Fafnir could as well.

“Don’t worry… I’ll try to help you.” Elizabeth whispered sweetly as she crouched in front of the woman and cast a light spell.

“KRAAH!”

The woman screamed in pain, chaotic smoke leaking out of her body. The next second, she lunged toward Elizabeth, aiming her tentacle toward Elizabeth’s neck.

Slash!

But before she could harm Elizabeth, Dante sliced her tentacle into pieces before kicking her away, connecting his misfortune with her.

As she was about to stand up, Fafnir suddenly stomped her head, pinning her into the ground, and brought his sword close to her human arm.

“WAIT!” Elizabeth screamed, causing Dante to order Fafnir not to cut her limb yet.

“What? Do you have something else to test?” Dante asked as he tilted his head.

He wasn’t planning to kill the woman, but cutting her limbs would make dealing with her easier. Whatever happened to this woman had taken her sanity, apparently.

Elizabeth nodded: “I have a few other spells.”

Dante sighed and created a chain of shadow, then he used it to tie the disfigured woman.

Elizabeth tried a few light spells with different effects, but all they did was cause pain to the woman. They didn’t even heal her arm that Dante had cut.

“I don’t think there’s hope.” Dante shook his head helplessly: “Should we just let her go like this, or…”

Elizabeth’s expression darkened: “I don’t know…”

That woman didn’t do anything wrong. She was just affected by some kind of black magic.

In a magical world where everyone can cast magic that defies all logic, there might be hope to save her.

Unfortunately, Dante didn’t know how to save her, and her mental state prevented them from taking her with them without trouble.

’Let’s just put something to track her then.’

Dante immediately shattered the Misfortune Chain, then he linked a Protection Chain to her.

“I cast a tracking spell on her. We’ll try to bring her to the town after we deal with the witch.” Dante said as he pushed the woman away.

That was the best use he had discovered for the Protection Chain. A tracking spell was indeed useful.

The woman immediately climbed a tree and hid herself between the leaves, still murmuring random words.

“Let’s continue.” Dante held Elizabeth’s hand and walked forward.

After the disfigured woman, they didn’t encounter anything other than a few rankless animals, which Dante easily killed.

Finally, after walking for a few hours, Dante saw the village far away.

’Are all the villages in this world in miserable states or am I so unlucky I only visit the miserable ones?’

In such a white and cold region, blanketed in soft snow, it was strange to see a village that… dark.

It was far better than the first village he had seen, but for some reason, the moonlight seemed to be less effective in the village, as if a hidden barrier was stopping it.

As for the villagers, they were walking and talking casually in the streets, and some even seemed to have small farms they worked in.

At the edge of the village, Dante saw a man and a woman clad in armors and holding long spears, apparently protecting the village. And as the quest showed, one of these guards was who asked for help.

Guards protecting the village, farms to provide food and medicine, buildings in good condition, and not many homeless people. Yet they all had intense misfortune in their Wheels.

Dante quickly explained how the village looked to Elizabeth before taking her to the village.

Once they reached the edge of the village, the guards approached them, their muscles tensed, suggesting that they were ready to attack.

“Oh, visitors! Are you here for some business?” The female guard said with a smile, noticing Dante and Elizabeth’s fancy clothes.

Instead of talking, Dante showed the quest to the guards. Seeing this, the guards’ expressions turned serious immediately.

“We can’t talk about that here.” The male guard said, his tone barely a whisper. Then he told the female guard to keep standing before asking Dante and Elizabeth to follow him inside.

After following the guard for a few minutes, they arrived at a small house.

“So, are you sure that the one you’re suspecting is truly the one who uses black magic?” Elizabeth asked. She was the one who could detect lies, so the guard wouldn’t be able to hide anything from her.

The guard sat on a chair and smiled bitterly: “Of course, I’m sure of that. After all, I saw her myself when I followed her secretly after noticing something strange in her behavior.”

Elizabeth frowned, but before she could ask anything, the guard continued: “Yes, I can tell when her behavior suddenly changes. After all, she is… my sister.”

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