Chapter 39: A Barrier Against a Night Lord

Ordeal was trapped in eternal darkness.

The sky had long since lost its blue.

And yet here ..

Inside the witches’ barrier .. It appeared exactly as he remembered it from his previous life.

Seeing his reaction, Luna smiled faintly.

“It isn’t real,” she said, her gaze also lifting.

“It’s merely a false sky… one we use to deceive ourselves every day.”

She walked forward.

Ethan followed.

Activating Wise Raven’s Insight, he quickly understood what she meant.

His enhanced vision stripped away the illusion.

They stood within an enormous oval-shaped barrier.

The “sky” was nothing more than its ceiling.

Outside, the world still suffered beneath the oppressive eclipse.

“The barrier has taken on that hue due to the density of mana concentration…”

Luna turned to him in surprise.

“Incredible. You figured that out on your own.”

Her praise was genuine.

“Pure mana manifests in a color close to celestial blue. It made it ideal for constructing this sanctuary.”

She looked around with quiet pride.

“This is our paradise. The paradise we are prepared to defend with everything we have.”

From her tone alone, it was clear how deeply the witches cherished this place.

The elaborate traps and labyrinthine defenses now made perfect sense.

“If others outside knew this existed,” Ethan said thoughtfully, “they would claw at it without hesitation.”

How many humans out there longed to see a blue sky again .. even if it was artificial?

“You’re right,” Luna replied. “So be grateful. My master invitation is proof she values you greatly.”

Ethan nodded, though doubt lingered in his thoughts.

They continued deeper into the witches’ territory.

Other witches glanced at them as they passed.

Many of those looks were hostile.

And most of that hostility was directed at Ethan.

’They haven’t confronted me yet… because of her.’

He understood now.

Luna was not an insignificant witch.

She ignored the stares entirely and kept walking until they reached the deepest part of the barrier.

“We’ve arrived,” she said, gesturing toward a cottage larger than all the others nearby.

“My master awaits inside.”

Taking a steady breath, Ethan followed Luna in.

Inside, they found what they were looking for.

Vanessa sat calmly in a wooden rocking chair, swaying gently back and forth.

This time she wore a sorceress’s robe, different from the dress she had worn before.

In her hands rested what appeared to be an ancient grimoire.

And before her, a modest fireplace burned with a quiet, steady flame.

Unlike the city outside, this place was far simpler—so simple, in fact, that the witches relied on fire itself as their source of light.

“I have brought him as you requested, Master,” Luna said respectfully.

Vanessa lifted her gaze toward them.

“Well done, my dear. Welcome back,” she replied warmly, like a grandmother greeting a beloved granddaughter after a long absence.

Then her attention shifted to Ethan.

“Welcome, Ethan Heart. And allow me to apologize—for my conduct, and for that of my disciple.”

Ethan stiffened slightly.

“There is nothing to apologize for, my lady. I am perfectly fine.”

“I know,” Vanessa chuckled slyly. “You passed through the labyrinth and endured Luna without suffering harm—despite being Level One. Quite commendable.”

The realization struck Ethan at last.

’This old witch… did she orchestrate everything from the start?’

The magical maze.

His encounter with Luna.

None of it had been coincidence.

Vanessa had been playing with him.

“So that’s why you sent me to inspect the barrier,” Luna muttered, her own understanding dawning a second too late.

“Master…” she complained softly.

Vanessa’s smile never wavered.

“Do not be upset, my dear. It was part of your training as well.”

Her gaze sharpened as it returned to Ethan.

“You came to have your curse restrained, did you not?”

Ethan nodded.

“Yes. I would be grateful if you could.”

Vanessa rose from her rocking chair and gestured for both of them to follow.

“Then come.”

They obeyed, tension lingering in the air.

Ethan felt uneasy because of the place itself.

Luna, meanwhile, was unsettled for an entirely different reason .. she still did not understand why she had been summoned as well.

Soon, the three of them arrived at a strange chamber—one that appeared to be carved within the massive tree itself rather than built inside the cottage.

It was a hollowed space.

At its center lay a circular seating area sunken into the floor.

Surrounding it on all sides were blue crystals, glowing faintly.

“These… contain an immense quantity of mana,” Ethan observed.

Vanessa nodded.

“Your knowledge saves me the trouble of explanation. We witches use this chamber to deepen our affinity with mana. It is also employed when casting high-tier spells that demand vast reserves.”

By borrowing the mana accumulated within this space, a witch could unleash power far beyond her natural level—so long as she remained inside.

Smiling, Vanessa motioned for Ethan to step down and take a seat.

“We shall restrain your curse here.”

Ethan did not hesitate.

This was the reason he had come.

The restraint of the Curse of the Beloved of Darkness .. the burden that had rendered hunting nearly impossible for him.

He followed her instructions and descended into the circular seat.

Meanwhile, Luna stepped closer to her teacher.

“Um… Master. Why have you brought me here as well?”

She genuinely did not understand.

Vanessa’s response came swiftly.

“Of course. You are here because you will be the one to restrain his curse.”

“What?!”

The same reaction burst from two different places.

From Luna.

And from Ethan below.

Both stared at Vanessa in disbelief.

“I carry the Curse of the Blood Eclipse,” Ethan said sharply. “With all due respect, even you—as a Magic King—would struggle to restrain it alone. But her?”

He gestured toward Luna with a deep frown.

“That’s impossible.”

Luna, equally stunned, silently agreed.

But Vanessa was not joking.

“You understand nothing about curses, Ethan Heart. That is why it appears impossible to you.”

Her tone turned instructional.

“A Fifth-Tier Curse—the Blood Eclipse—is the highest classification of curses. Such a mark can only be bestowed by a being at the level of a Night Lord.”

“To purify or remove it entirely is exceedingly difficult. Many consider it outright impossible.”

Ethan already knew that much.

But what Vanessa said next was what he did not know.

“Restraint, however, is a different matter. It is not so difficult that my dear Luna here would be incapable of achieving it—provided she exerts herself seriously.”

Vanessa placed a hand on Luna’s shoulder, offering her calm reassurance.

Ethan, however, remained visibly skeptical.

“I do not understand. From what I see, she is at best an Advanced-Rank witch. How could she accomplish something like this?”

“A full explanation would be tedious and time-consuming,” Vanessa replied. “So I shall summarize.”

She began her lecture.

“A marking curse is essentially a seal—a mark placed upon your body by a Night Lord. It is activated through their mana.”

“In other words,” she continued, “the Eclipse Mark at the back of your neck functions much like a magical device. It requires the Night Lord’s mana to activate once its conditions are met.”

Ethan listened carefully.

The conditions of his curse were multiple.

The first: entering the curse’s domain—whereupon monsters and all creatures aligned with the Curse of Darkness would be drawn to him.

The second: the fall of night, when the Blood Eclipse’s effects intensified dramatically.

And there was no guarantee that these were the only triggers.

But in order for the curse to activate ..

It had to receive mana from the Night Lord who had branded him.

In other words ..

From the Demon of Balance.

“We cannot remove the curse, nor can we influence a creature on the level of a Night Lord,” the old witch said calmly, gesturing as she explained the method.

“But we can obscure it.”

“What we will do,” Vanessa continued, “is place a barrier around your Blood Eclipse Curse .. one that renders it invisible to the Night Lord, thereby severing the flow of his mana to it.”

She raised her hand slightly, illustrating the idea.

“Imagine this cottage as the curse mark itself, and the Night Lord as the eclipse above. What we are about to do is create a barrier that conceals you from him—just as this barrier conceals this place from the outside world.”

After Vanessa simplified it as much as possible, Ethan finally understood.

Still, doubt lingered.

“Will something like this truly restrain a high-tier curse… so easily?”

In response, Vanessa’s expression hardened, carrying a dangerous edge.

“Of course not. The Night Lord who branded you could shatter this barrier effortlessly if he so desired—whether it is mine, or Luna’s.”

She placed a reassuring hand behind her disciple’s back.

“But you need not worry. As long as you restrict yourself to the First Zone ..the weakest region within the curse’s domain .. it should not draw the attention of the one who marked you.”

Ethan rested a hand beneath his chin, contemplating her words deeply.

They did not pass lightly.

This was a gamble.

Nothing guaranteed that the fragile barrier protecting him would not collapse at any moment .. which meant he had no choice but to pray that the Demon of Balance would not decide to play dirty and destroy the restraint outright.

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