Otaku Witch

After all, this lady is just too mysterious and eerie.

Adela had watched quite a few of her opponent’s duel records, but it was all in vain, as she found no useful information.

Every single one of her opponent’s duels followed the same pattern: she entered the arena, the duel commenced, her opponent got scared to tears, and then she won.

If it weren’t for the fact that many of the contestants who were scared to the point of holding their heads and crying, kneeling down to plead for mercy, were old acquaintances of Adela, she would have suspected they were faking the matches.

Otherwise, what kind of terrifying thing could reduce these seasoned duel veterans to such a state?

This is a duel, after all, it doesn’t end in actual death. At worst, it just means losing a match, so why would they have to beg for mercy?

She could only surmise that it might be some kind of powerful, sophisticated Fear Curse or something.

But the strange thing is that Adela had actually visited quite a few contestants who had faced Miss Nibelungen in recent days, trying to find out what exactly they had seen that frightened them so much, and whether that Fear Curse was really that terrifying.

But the truly frightening part was just beginning.

Because everyone had forgotten what they had seen back then, they had no impression of it, they could only recall the bone-chilling terror at the time, but as for why they were terrified, that was a blank.

Everyone’s memory had been erased, they only remembered seeing something incomprehensible behind Miss Nibelungen, something that undoubtedly existed there.

However, all those duel records clearly showed that once the mysterious witch stepped up to the stage, she didn’t move at all, and nothing was behind her.

There are only two possibilities for this.

One is that they all fell under some kind of Illusion Technique, seeing things that were just hallucinations, not real at all.

The second is they did see something, but it could only be seen by them, others, including the Photography Technique, couldn’t capture the image of that thing.

Adela leaned more towards the second possibility, after all, several of the contestants who lost to Nibelungen were Spirit System experts. If it were an Illusion Technique, even if they couldn’t resist it, they would have detected something.

Moreover, these Spirit System contestants wouldn’t just let it go after losing the match and forgetting what they’d seen. The witches of the Spirit System despise having their consciousness tampered with, so if they couldn’t handle it, they’d seek help from their elders.

One contestant even sought out her family’s elder, a true Sage, but even the Great Sage couldn’t help her retrieve the lost memory.

In short, the whole thing seemed eerie, like a ghost story.

But the Witch World is rooted in Magic civilization, stories of ghosts and myths might scare mortals, but not witches. However, in front of Miss Nibelungen, Adela felt fear she hadn’t in a long time.

It was an ancient and powerful fear, a fear of the completely unknown.

She couldn’t imagine what kind of power could render a Sage powerless.

And she might have to face that very thing soon; could she actually win?

Adela wanted to comfort herself by saying she could win, but given these findings, she couldn’t deceive herself.

Just, beyond the fear was curiosity.

She was genuinely curious about what exactly those contestants witnessed, the mysterious and terrifying thing. The more unknown and terrifying it was, the more curious she became.

Even though Adela knew this curiosity was wrong and inappropriate, she couldn’t control it.

So when she found out her first-round matchup was indeed Miss Nibelungen, she lamented her bad luck, yet found herself a bit eager.

She could finally see what those contestants were so afraid of.

She vowed to remember it, unlike the others who forgot upon seeing it.

Thus, Adela prepared extensively.

For example, she acquired Mental Defense Items crafted by Spirit System experts, various Memory Protection Potions, and Transformation Curses that provide high resistance to Illusion Techniques.

The meaning of this duel had changed; as long as she didn’t lose her memory, it would count as a win.

So, bring it on, let me see exactly what kind of thing you are.

On the arena, fully armed, she boldly faced the lonely, melancholic blonde girl standing opposite.

Then...

Then five minutes later.

When Adela awoke in the War Room, she confusedly blinked her eyes.

Wait, what happened? Who am I? Where am I? What was I supposed to do?

Her eyes were filled with bewilderment.

No way, could it be that my match was already over?

But I remember nothing.

Adela tried to recall what just happened, but her memory was blank. Just as she strained to remember, an overwhelming fear, cold enough to freeze her soul, washed over her, drenching her in sweat.

It was a fear akin to facing death itself.

...

Meanwhile, over in the arena.

The audience was discussing the previous contest, one they deemed unworthy of being called a duel.

"rnm, refund."

"What the hell was that? A rigged match?"

"I tolerated Miss Nibelungen’s previous matches, maybe she’s truly powerful and could one-hit KO opponents, but this is the finals, and her opponent was last year’s champion, and you still one-hit KO, that’s an insult to my intelligence."

...

Someone shouted furiously.

Some spectators remained more rational.

"It can’t be a fixed match, the Dragon King Cup is a major event, and Lord Dragon King himself is paying attention."

"Maybe she’s really just that good, though the match was indeed lackluster."

"Wait for the judges to explain, don’t rush."

....

However, the judging panel was in chaos, because most of them were just as confused as the audience, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

To them, the match began, Miss Adela collapsed in fear, pleaded for mercy, and then apparently ended herself.

And Miss Nibelungen really didn’t move at all; she just quietly watched her opponent’s performance.

With the audience demanding an explanation, the judges couldn’t very well say they too saw nothing.

Fortunately, they had a figure of authority to vouch for them.

Everyone’s gaze quickly turned to Lancelot, the Head Judge seated in the central chair.

To this, the Moon Rabbit Knight did not answer directly; she merely glanced at Dorothy.....

Okay, at the Puppet Dragon Marionette in front of Dorothy.

"Lady Witch of the Forest, do you have any thoughts on this?"

She asked.

Upon hearing the question, Dorothy finally snapped back from her previous astonishment.

Her mind replayed the image of what she had seen behind Miss Nibelungen.

It was a massive fortress city shrouded in mist.

A technological city with which the homebody witch was familiar.

Dragon Mountain City.

It was the War Fortress Dorothy herself designed during the previous Witch’s Night, so even though the massive mist-bathed city had become exponentially larger and more magnificent like a city of gods in mythology, she recognized it at once.

But how could this thing appear in reality?

Dorothy wanted to ask just that, but upon looking up at the fourth sun in the sky, she fell silent.

Well, compared to a new sun in the sky, a city from a dream manifesting in reality isn’t so surprising.

Moreover, it hadn’t completely become reality; that technological fortress city was magically in a quantum state.

To be precise, it existed in the Spirit World, just like senior Fanny before; a specific kind of Inspiration holder was needed to see it.

As for why others feared the city.

Haha, look at the myriad of main cannons lined up on the city walls. The city was designed as a war weapon to face apocalyptic crises, with firepower that would confuse anyone at first sight.

Of course, mere firepower might not frighten everyone.

The main point is that Dragon Mountain City’s current structure seemed familiar to Dorothy.

It’s akin to the Underworld System configuration.

Dragon Mountain City had become an Underworld city.

Looking at it directly was like facing Dorothy’s Gates of the Underworld, equivalent to facing death itself.

Haha, Nibelungen, Land of the Dead, it indeed fits now.

But the question is why Dragon Mountain City appeared?

Dorothy initially thought Miss Nibelungen was just here to participate in the competition for fun, but now she wondered if Miss Nibelungen was targeting her.

...homebody witch on high alert....