Betek
patreon
Chapter 383: The Authority of the Witch of Vainglory
🕑 Added 2024-11-15 11:00:06 +0000 UTCDespite being a final boss-level character, Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, appeared as a white-haired, expressionless girl. Wood had no illusions about taking her down easily.
“If long-range slashes are useless, then magic is probably just as ineffective. Maybe it's time to try close-quarters combat?”
From the earlier attack, it was clear that his strike was turned into "nothingness" upon contact with Pandora, likely because of her Authority.
Since it became something unreal, naturally, it couldn't hurt her.
However, Wood suspected that Pandora's Authority had limits. The Vainglory Factor might only be able to make non-living things unreal.
Otherwise, she could simply use her Authority to erase Wood's very existence, turning him into nothingness—there would be no need for such a drawn-out battle.
To test his theory, Wood gave up using sword techniques, and instead used wind magic solely to boost his speed.
With Moon Walk combined with Shave, Wood already had the ability to move rapidly through the air. With the "Heart of the Gods" and wind magic amplification, his speed now surpassed the third cosmic velocity, far beyond the speed of sound!
In an instant, Wood disappeared and reappeared directly behind Pandora, showing no mercy as he aimed a whip-like kick at the back of her neck.
But to Wood's surprise, his attack did not dissolve into nothingness. Instead, Pandora applied her Authority to herself!
In other words, Pandora had turned herself into an illusion. No matter how fierce the attack, it was impossible to hit something that didn’t exist, and Wood's entire body passed right through her.
“BOOM—!”
A deafening roar echoed through the air as the ground shook violently. The ice covering the entire Elior Forest shattered into countless shards under the force of Wood's devastating blow.
“It’s pointless,” Pandora said, maintaining her usual blank expression. “No matter how strong you are, before my Authority, it is all for naught. Your will and strength are powerful, and my words may not affect you, but you cannot break through my illusions.
“A thousand years ago, the only reason I lost was that my opponent was the Maiden of Truth. Truth and illusion naturally oppose each other, so in a sense, my power was countered by hers.”
Watching Wood shatter the ground and obliterate the frozen forest with a single blow, Pandora remained indifferent.
However, her tone revealed that she acknowledged Wood's strength, and she no longer used the elevated manner of speech she had before.
Pandora was not the Archbishop of Greed. She was the one who granted Authority, not the one receiving it. Unlike the Archbishop, Pandora's power was almost invincible.
The keyword here was "almost." Her ability seemed to have no flaws, but it still had limitations.
Pandora could twist reality with her words, but her Authority only affected those within her reach. This meant that her power had a range limitation.
Of course, this limitation only applied when targeting others. When used on herself, Pandora faced no such restrictions.
Unless she faced someone like the Maiden of Truth, someone whose abilities were a direct counter to hers, she would always remain undefeated.
On the other side of the battlefield, the Witch of Envy and the Witch of Greed were also clashing. Unlike the other Great Witches, who disliked the Envy personality but not the Satella personality, Echidna despised both.
Echidna disliked only a few people in the world, perhaps three or four. These included the two personalities of the Witch of Envy, Emilia, and Emilia’s foster mother Fortuna.
Now, three of those four were here, and Echidna was showing no mercy toward the Witch of Envy.
While Echidna was one of the stronger Great Witches, the Witch of Envy was still beyond her. Fortunately for Echidna, the Witch of Envy was not at full strength, which evened the odds and allowed Echidna to hold her own.
“Conqueror's Imbuement—One Hundred Ghosts Sword Style: Kamaitachi!”
Ferocious winds tore through the atmosphere, slicing not just the ground but splitting the entire Elior Forest in two.
For the first time, the stoic, emotionless Pandora looked surprised!
The reason was simple: her power to deceive the world had just been breached!
Several minutes earlier, faced with Pandora's overpowered Authority, Wood had resorted to attacking her with every power he could muster.
And when he used Conqueror's Haki, he found something unexpected: even though Pandora had turned herself into an illusion, she was still affected by it.
Conqueror's Haki was the rarest of all Haki, possessed only by those destined to be kings. In addition to providing a mental shock, it also allowed the user to imbue their presence with "Conqueror's Aura."
Wood had always thought the potential of Conqueror's Haki had not been fully realized. After all, Oda had only illustrated it to a certain extent.
Although he didn't fully understand the principles, one thing was clear: Conqueror's Haki could affect Pandora. Naturally, Wood used the most advanced form of Conqueror's Haki, Conqueror's Imbuement, to attack her.
Initially, Pandora had brushed off Wood's attacks, but when the lightning generated from the clash of Conqueror's Haki struck her illusion, she finally began to take him seriously.
For the first time, she moved from her original position, but she was not fast enough. The icy blade in Wood’s hand tore her robe, revealing a large expanse of skin beneath.
“What is this power? Why can it affect my Authority?”
Pandora could not understand the nature of Haki, but she could tell that it was similar to the power of the Maiden of Truth, yet distinct.
Through several clashes, Wood began to understand why his Conqueror's Haki could counter Pandora’s Authority.
Pandora's Authority worked by diminishing things, turning them into illusions that could deceive even the world itself.
Conqueror's Haki, on the other hand, was a power that amplified one's existence, projecting the so-called "Aura of Kings" and instilling a sense of awe and fear in others.
In simpler terms, Conqueror's Haki enhanced one’s presence, so much so that it could even shock others’ spirits.
Although different from the power of the Maiden of Truth, it coincidentally provided a countermeasure against Pandora’s Authority.
While Conqueror's Haki might not counter Pandora as completely as the power of the Maiden of Truth, Wood could now genuinely hurt her.
The white-haired, expressionless girl found herself at a disadvantage in terms of speed, strength, and magic, resulting in numerous injuries marring her alabaster skin.
“Why are you so determined to stop me? What do you gain from this?
“All I want is to make this world more real. Does what you seek truly compare to this world's authenticity?”
Like Sloth was not actually lazy, the Witch of Vainglory pursued something that opposed her namesake—the truth.
Pandora loathed lies and pretense, desiring a world where everyone expressed their emotions openly. That was her goal. (Note: This is entirely the author’s conjecture; the lore of Re is so complex that it ends up contradicting itself.)
When the Witch of Envy devoured someone, she could see their thoughts—in other words, she merged consciousness with them.
Pandora’s goal was for the Witch of Envy to resurrect and devour the world, creating a unified consciousness, devoid of deception and illusion. Each person would be able to clearly perceive the thoughts of others.
A mad girl with a mad plan, her extreme beliefs were no different from a certain dancing madman from another world.
From her perspective, she was not inherently evil, but to achieve her goal, she committed countless atrocities.
“I have no interest in the authenticity of this world,” Wood replied. “But I do understand that your persistence will bring trouble to many innocent people.
“Deception and falsehoods may not be virtues, but they are part of what makes people whole.
“A world without lies? Trust me, if such a world truly existed, it would only destroy itself even faster.
“For a Witch of Vainglory, your actions are incredibly foolish—you're denying your very existence!”
It wasn’t that Wood particularly wanted to lecture a centuries-old girl about life. The truth was that without using his words, he couldn’t hope to defeat her anytime soon, and there was a chance he could lose.
Yes, Conqueror's Haki could counter Pandora’s Authority, but Conqueror's Imbuement required a considerable amount of energy, and the "Heart of the Gods" also had its limits. Burning life force had a time constraint.
At the current rate of progress, Wood would run out of strength before he could defeat Pandora.
He had hoped that Echidna could quickly handle the Witch of Envy and come help him. However, it turned out that the Witch of Greed was quite unreliable. Not only did she fail to contain the weakened Witch of Envy, but she also allowed her to break the seal in the Elven Forest.
To be precise, the one who broke the seal was Puck—or rather, Puck was forced to do it.
One shouldn't forget that the Witch of Envy was currently using Emilia's body.
Since Emilia had a contract with Puck, the Witch of Envy had summoned Puck all the way from the Sanctuary and forced him to break the seal.
Once the seal placed by the Three Heroes was broken, the power of the Witch of Envy, which had been sealed away, flooded the entire Elven Forest like a tidal wave.
The rampaging Witch Factor dyed half the sky a dark shade of purple. From Lugnica to the Sanctuary, to Kararagi, to the Water Capital—across every corner of the world—one only had to look up to see a black-robed figure looming over the sky.
The Dragon Stone in Lugnica, the descendants of the Great Sage at the Sage's Tower, and the current Sword Saint Reinhard all turned their gazes skyward.
As those most closely connected to the Three Heroes, they could clearly feel that the Witch of Envy, who had once brought great calamity to the world, had returned.
The Witch of Envy once devoured half the world. Now, with her return, she was poised to devour the other half.
Seeing that the Witch of Envy had fully revived and that her objective was complete, Pandora had no desire to continue her fight with Wood. Her body gradually faded away as she vanished from sight.
As for Wood, watching Pandora's illusionary figure disappear, he had no intention of pursuing her—after all, the entire world was now in jeopardy.
Before him stood the fully revived Witch of Envy, against whom Echidna was utterly powerless. In fact, since the beginning of their battle, Echidna had been calling for Wood's help through their contract.
When Wood finally arrived, he saw black shadows converging to form a massive arm, which had entangled Echidna, attempting to drag her into a swirling vortex.
“One Hundred Ghosts Sword Style—Wind Slash: Kamaitachi!”
A violent gust of wind howled through the air, conjuring a giant weasel with razor-sharp claws, spinning rapidly.
The massive crescent slash severed the black arm and left a canyon, several kilometers long, carved into the ground.
“What on earth are you doing? Didn't you say that the Witch of Envy wasn’t at full strength and that you'd have no problem dealing with her?
“Is this what you meant by 'no problem'? If I’d arrived a moment later, you’d be back where you were four hundred years ago—being devoured!”
Echidna, freed from the grasp of the shadows, appeared beside Wood, who immediately chided her.
They had made their plans before leaving the Sanctuary. Wood was confident, but even he wasn't foolish enough to try to face two final bosses simultaneously.
Originally, Wood was supposed to handle the Witch of Envy while Pandora would be Echidna's responsibility.
But the most "brilliant" Witch of Greed had insisted on taking on the Witch of Envy herself, boasting of their past enmity and how, in her weakened state, the Witch of Envy would not be a match for her...
