Chapter 38: Mythical Detective Case File, The Nightmare At Droom Village 5
1790 Words
“Kid!?”
Leroy instantly stood and approached him the moment that he entered the room along with Ms. Mabel. However, his expression was far from the composed man that commissioned and assisted him earlier. The Leroy that stood before him now has a face that can’t stop trembling and eyes that are eaten away by hopelessness and desperation. It was a sorry state but Grimm had already expected that as the final hour of Remy draws nearer, the despair will get the best of him.
Despite all those toughened up façade that the he tried so hard to show everyone, Grimm is well aware that Leroy is just as affected as Pearl onto what happened to Remy. Through his memory, Grimm learned that Remy addresses and revered Leroy like her own Brother and Leroy loved the little girl just as much. So whatever pain it is that currently consumes Pearl, the same is also eating away Leroy as he helplessly watch little Remy fades into nothing.
“Oh my God, you’re back! How did it go? Did you make it? Can you save Remy?”
He asked, voice hoarse, wobbly, desperate, as he pushes himself to emit a weak glint of hope.
But when Grimm sighed and shook his head with an apology, that nearly nonexistent light instantly perished into oblivion, sinking Leroy into the same state as Pearl as he sat back down to the chair like a broken doll.
“N-no…no…Remy…” He gazed onto Remy and then to Pearl, barely containing the tears pooling behind his eyes before his face completely fell into his palms and let the anguish finally set loose. “Remy!”
“I’m so sorry,” Grimm apologizes again as he too could not contain the tears and anger from flowing. He’d done his all but it still has to end this way. It’s so infuriating but it must be done.
“Saving Remy?” Ms. Mabel frowned. “What are you boys talking about?”
Grimm explained everything to Ms. Mabel and towards Pearl as well, though it’s debatable if in her current state she’s actually giving any attention to a single word he’s saying.
“I tried to do something but I failed miserably. I could not prevent things from ending up this way.”
“Is that the reason why looked so troubled when I saw you earlier?”
Grimm looked down gloomily and nodded.
“Oh Wilhelm,” Ms. Mabel placed her hand on his shoulder to soothe him. “You’d done your best. You’d tried to help Remy and the village despite not knowing us. That alone was only already admirable. So don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not your fault that there’s nothing more that you could do.”
“Yeah, you’re right…” Grimm interrupted and lifted his head up, showing a fierce face completely opposite from his initial expression. He then tightly grabbed the hand of Ms. Mabel that was placed above his shoulder with a nearly crushing force.
Receiving the intense pain, Ms. Mabel screamed in agony and tried to remove the constricting hand to no avail. “Wilhelm! Aghh!!! Let go! What’s the meaning of this!?”
Grimm didn’t respond. Instead, he frees himself from his Human disguise.
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Shadowclad Released!
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*[Mythical Detective’s Persona] has been released.
*[Soul Devourer Blades], [Field Perception], and [Black Tempest] has been released.
*The [Deathbringers] had been equipped.
*Your Race reverts back to [High Human]. All Stats increased by 20%.
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The release of the Shadowclad ignited a burst of terror filled aura that shook not just the extent of the clinic room but the entire Droom as a whole. And those that were caught within its range were pierced with an unexplained and soul wrecking terror.
SHIVER!
FLINCH!
Leroy and even the unresponsive Pearl, by receiving the dark blast at close range, were extremely shaken. Their sorrows, hopelessness, and frustrations, were all blown away in a blink of an eye and were instantly replaced by an intense fear.
They fell and scrambled on the floor, gazing up at Grimm’s True Form with nothing but pure horror.
“W-w-what are you!?” Leroy murmured with trembling lips.
Grimm heard his words of confusion but had it ignored. Instead, he fixed his glare towards Ms. Mabel, who though also stunned by a great extent due to his actions, is surprisingly the least affected among the three by the blast of his aura despite being the one nearest to him. “…It’s not my fault,” and then he said, resuming his earlier response as he pointed his Deathbringer directly into her face. “It’s yours!”
And pulled the trigger.
GUNFIRE!
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+You initiated a Range Attack at Point Blank, [Deals an additional 300% damage].
+Your attack pierced through a Defensive Magic.
+The lodged Mana Bullet exploded, [Deals an additional 300% damage].
+You inflicted a Colossal Damage.
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At the same moment, Grimm released his hold on her and let the force of the shot blast her away. The force sent her flying, crashing her into the wall with a loud boom.
“Arrrggghhhh!”
She screamed, covering her face with her palms as she writhed in pain.
“Mabel!” “Mabel!”
Leroy and Pearl both shouted with worried voices.
Grimm had shot her at point blank and in the head. If it were in Grimm’s world, that attack would have resulted in an instant death. But fortunately, Avelot works differently. Though that inflicted damage was colossal, Death door’s isn’t opening for her anytime soon as she still has 40% life points left in her Health Gauge.
“Please stop,” begged Leroy. “Why are you hurting her? I thought you said you wanted to help us? Why are you doing this?”
“Focus more on the hag than on me and your questions will be answered.”
“…W-what? What are you talking about?” Confusion consumed Leroy but was soon enlightened by the events that succeeded.
“Damn you!” Mabel hissed in a rather distorted tone. And removing her hands from her face, she fired something from inside her mouth which turns out to be her tongue. It stretched and blasted with great speed directly aiming to pierce Grimm’s head.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Unfortunately, her tongue attack miserably failed to connect as Grimm swiftly and precisely intercepted and severed it with three consecutive gunshots.
“Argghhh!” Mabel screamed again, covering her bleeding mouth.
“Oh good timing,” Grimm gleefully said. “Now these two can see it for themselves.”
Upon those words as well as for witnessing the unexpected attack that came from Mabel, Leroy and Pearl simultaneously fixed their gazes towards her. And with her face freed from obstructions, her undisguised feature is now bare for them to see.
“Oh my God!” Leroy exclaimed in shock and horror as he absorbed what had been unveiled. Far from the kind looking Auntie that were revered by all in Droom, the Mabel before them now is the embodiment of one that is unsightly. Bent nose, crooked and decaying teeth soaked in blood, and a face of a heavily wrinkled and old hag tattered with dozens of warts and lesions. A horrible display that no one can tolerate glimpsing without getting nauseous in pure disgust. “What is that!?”
“The bane of this village that you commissioned me to find,” replied Grimm. “The Lotus Witch.”
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Name: The Lotus Witch of the Poison Toad Swamp
Race: Evil Spirit
Level: 150
Attribute: Dark*Curse
Max Health: 15,000
Weakness: Light, Water
Skills: *All Synthesis (Passive), *Command Potion (Passive), *Vitality~Despair (Passive), *Vitality~Nightmare (Passive), *Spear Tongue (Active), *Endless Slumber (Active), *Eternal Sleep (Active|Special)
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For identifying a Unique Monster, your Intelligence had risen by 5 points (+5INT)
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“How!? How did you…!?” Lotus Witch screamed in utter disbelief.
BANG!
A direct hit on the left shoulder.
“Aarrrghhhh!!!”
“I have no obligation of answering you,” Grimm said with a cold glare.
“Damn y…!”
BANG!
“Aarrrghhhh!!!”
Another shot, this time on the chest.
“And I also have no time to spare listening to your blabbers.”
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
And then, the bombardment of bullets began. Grimm purposely missed her weak spots to shred her Health points in a slower pace. Grimm’s purpose? To inflict more pain as her life shrink away. With his Hatred Stat activated, all the pain inflicted by his attacks is intensified.
“So, if you don’t mind.”
BANG!
“Perish.”
BANG!
By now, her Health is only in a percent. One more shot and she’s a goner.
“Fufufufu, you fool! You think you’ve won!? Guess again! End me if you must but the moment I exhaled my last breath, I will bring you all with me!”
Grimm frowned as Lotus Witch laughed maniacally, entailing that despite perishing she will still have the last laugh. And such words coming from the highly intelligent and cunning monster that Grimm couldn’t have outsmarted without the stroke of luck, those threats are not empty. Something nasty will surely happen once she dies.
But…
“No need to remind me…”
BANG!
“…I know.”
Grimm just snorted and pulled the trigger without any hesitation and with great annoyance. Here or in the real world, there’s nothing more that can annoys him than people that arrogantly lectures him of things he already knew.
Ding!
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The life of The Lotus Witch of Poison Toad Swamp had been eradicated.
Your Level has risen
Your Level has risen
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The Effect of the Lotus Witch’s Curses has disappeared!
ØCurse [Sleep] has been lifted.
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The notifications signifying his victory cascaded before his eyes. But not a second later, another one appeared carrying an opposite News.
Ding!
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The Lotus Witch’s Health had reduced to Zero.
Casting [Eternal Sleep]
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[Espionage] => [Eternal Sleep]
A Rank A Area of Effect Special Curse that instantly activates the moment that its bearer’s Health reaches zero.
Effect: Create an invisible Dome of 1km radius. Anyone who enters the range of this Dome will be inflicted with an incurable Sleep Curse.
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It was the announcement for the realization of the Lotus Witch’s threat.
Then, her skin began to c***k and part, creating fissures emitting bright purple lights that intensify as seconds passes by.
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Lotus Witch’s Dark Energy has been 100% charged.
When the fully charged dark energy is used, Lotus Witch’s body will explode. The explosion will deal 1,000 Damage to all Living Beings within the radius of 1 Kilometer. Afterwards, the Curse Dome will be created within the same range, sending those that will survive into an Eternal Sleep.
Time until Eternal Sleep: 10 seconds
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“You bastard…Now you’re dead!…You’re all dead!” The Lotus Witch furiously cried. Despite losing all her Health Points, she’s still conscious and breathing but only until the casting of Eternal Sleep ends.
Leroy and Pearl shouted in desperate voices. They could not see the details the way that Grimm does but their instincts are telling them enough that something far more sinister than the four years curse is about to happen.
“Oh really?” But while the two are panicking, Grimm just smirked at the witch’s taunts and snaps his fingers.
And upon that signal, a black slime-like substance began to extend from the Lotus Witch’s back.
“Ugh! What is this?” The Lotus Witch exclaimed as she struggles to break free from the growing constrains of the unknown black substance. However, her desperate efforts were deemed futile as the spread of black substance remains unstoppable.
“Damn you! What have you…?”
BANG!
Grimm blasts her face, ending her blabbers the same time that the black substance was just about to consume her head. And then, after completely covering the body of the Lotus Witch, the black slime-like substance shrunk until it was the size of a fist and with a ‘Poof’ the substance turned into a baby crow.
- Writer
