Witch Hunter: Lord of Lust and Sin

Chapter 119: Land of Mystery [Part 12]

Richard, still unaware of the things happening in the places he can’t see, was focused on gro- sealing the woman who had once been the center of his existence.

"Richard? You don’t need to help those bitches! They only want to use you!"

Skadi, upon realizing who it was that had her bound, confronted Richard.

Unable to move, she could only use her words to try and get out of the situation.

"Nah, it’s a give and take, I use them and they use me, there’s no such thing as a free meal in the world. Some don’t want to think in such a way but I am personally a believe of the whole world being a huge interconnected zero-sum game"

"Zero-sum game?"

Skadi replied with confusion at the words which she had likely never heard of before. Despite having obtained the experiences of countless lives, having "memory" did not equate to knowledge.

Even a person with photographic memory would flat on their face when concepts are used freely by those that mastered them.

"It means that someone’s gain is another loss, in this world, nothing is obtained without a cost and the reason why it’s not a complete hell hole where people fight for benefits constantly is because good players know how to get benefits while making the loss on others imperceptible"

Richard explained the meaning of the words that Skadi did not know or had a hard time grasping. He even added a bit of sage like wisdom on top!

Of course, having such a casual conversation during battle was something that few would dare to even think of doing but Richard and Skadi had nothing to do at the moment.

Richard could not let go of Skadi as he was completing his spell while Skadi was completely immobilized.

This should have been the opportunity for either of their companions to make a move but Morgana is guarding Richard and Skadi’s reinforcements are-

"These beasts... how could they bear such power?"

"A collection of mad souls- what kind of monster would... Odin was right! These mortals are not but barbarians who only know blood and war!"

"Kill them!"

The forces she had led into the mystical realm were being routed and controlled by the army of monsters that were summoned by Cindy.

"How?!"

Skadi was able to get a glimpse of the battlefield and didn’t know how to react.

The soldiers that had decimated her people in the past, the army that Merlin did not dare to wage war against resorting to striking the heart of Asgard with a strike that would cripple the army before the war-

Such a force that even Merlin had feared... it was now being treated as nothing more than a wave of ants by a single witch who had summoned an army of hideous beasts from the void!

It was unbelievable!

"Well... Cindy is a very hard working witch, even when she had enough power, she didn’t stop improving herself. Moreover, she’s not the type to hold onto memories. Her first creations were updated so her monsters were all at the same power level... in other words, the longer she lives, the stronger she becomes"

Richard casually explained to Skadi who had a look of utter disbelief on her face as she watched Cindy continuously summon monsters from her storage.

Though she was not the only one who could not really believe the sight.

Even Richard felt a bit overwhelmed at CIndy’s display.

He knew she had a ton of monsters kept somewhere but he never really thought that she had "THAT" many.

Moreover-

"She’s only calling for the smaller ones, she has quite a few groups of "special" monsters, then there are the giants which she only summons partially due to the heavy strain..."

Knowing of Cindy’s limits, Richard proudly explained the powers that Cindy still had hidden.

Not that it matters as the power he talked about were in full display.

Specifically, Cindy participated in the battle by personally stepping up to take down commanders of the army Skadi had brought.

While all the Valkyries were dealt with, the army of Einherjar was not leaderless.

After all, the Einherjar were not led by Valkyries, sometimes they were but this "immortal army" had been the backbone of the Aesir’s power in the past.

The Valkyries were not sent out for wars, the einherjar were sent alone and that meant that the army had their own leadership structure.

Still, being a commander in the Einherjar was not easy.

Only truly powerful warriors would get the opportunity to become commanders and that was seen in how certain einherjar charged Cindy with power that could barely rival Ragnar.

Of course, none of them could actually Rival that legend but since he was already gone and it was near impossible to confirm the facts-

"DIE WITCH!"

A bearded man clad in golden armor rushed towards Cindy.

His movements were swift and before Cindy could even turn towards him, the commander with a huge body had already reached her back.

The einherjar cheered as they rushed forward to stop the monsters from supporting their master. The moment their commander appeared behind the witch who summoned the army of beasts, the einherjar cheered as their rush towards the monster got even more chaotic.

Cindy detected the movements and turned to face her opponent but the large war axe the commander carried was already swinging down and Cindy should have been fated to be cut in half right down the middle of her body but-

"Guh-""

The war axe froze in midair, it was trembling-

The whole battlefield went silent, the einherjar froze as they did not know why their commander stopped his attack right as he was about to split the damned witch in two but their confusion was answered as quickly as it came-

"What?"

"WHEN?"

Manifesting around their commander, multiple gigantic arms, lifeless and grey in color and looking like it was nothing more than skin and bones.

Yet those arms were so large that two fingers were enough to pinch the war axe in place.

The trembling weapon of the commander was a result of the user of the war axe exerting as much strength as they could to make the weapon move.

But no matter how much strength he used, the war axe refused to budge.

Alas, even if the commander wanted to use his whole body for power... such a thing was impossible as another large hand had already pierced through his stomach while another two bound his legs.

The strength he used to pull the axe down to at least scrape the woman’s head came only from his upper back and arms- obviously, that much strength was not enough to move his trusted weapon.

"COMMANDER!"

The einherjar screamed as they witnessed another hand manifest and slowly reach out to their leader’s head.

It did not come from the front but from behind their commander.

Of course, despite not being able to see it, the commander that had charged at Cindy, with all his experience and the enhanced sense of becoming an einherjar- he could sense the hand of death slowly coming for him.

He did not know what form it took but he could feel its whisper.

In the past, he would not worry about death for an einherjar would be revived endlessly by the system set up by the aesir.

At one point in his life, the commander felt as if the war and blood he had craved had grown stale.

The excitement of battle was lost to the pseudo immortality he was cursed to live through.

Yet...

When Merlin took down the Aesir and stole the einherjar system away... he thought he could finally rest...

Alas...

Used as nothing but a tool by those that had defeated his previous master, the commander and all his men were not but tools for the Gods who walked among mortal men.

But now-

As the commander set his eyes on the woman beneath him.

Small in frame, a weak stature that did not look like it could bear any weight-

Such a frail mystic...

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

The excitement, the joy, the glory-

The feelings he once lost had returned to him.

This is not an immortal battle-

This is a life and death struggle-

If I want to continue on I need to live-

To live I need to avoid death-

To avoid death I need to win-

To win I need to-

The commander met the young witches eyes, unlike his seasoned gaze that had seen millions of wars, billions of deaths and taken millions of lives-

The witch was nothing more than a novice.

A small chick that had yet to see all of the world.

Yet-

"DIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!!"

For the first time in centuries, the commander had regained the gusto for battle that he had lost long ago.

This may be my last act but let it be my greatest yet!

All his strength, all his power, he gave it all up.

A crimson air was exuded from his body as the war axe that had been trembling and unable to move had shifted ever so slightly.

SLIP!

The commander bet everything on chance, a momentary lapse of judgement, an oversight-

If his war axe could slip through the two fingers-

*CRACK*

"No-"

Alas, the axe which he hoped would slip through the defenses had crack and then-

*SHATTER*

The weapon that had been used to take countless lives broke-

It shattered into a million pieces and then-

*smile*

The commander felt it, the wind of death that had long eluded him-

His vision was enveloped by total darkness and-

*splat*

It was neither an epic death nor an eye catching one, for the commander who his subordinates viewed as someone close to the legendary figures that they had fought in the the past-

For such a person to die such a death-

"It was that quick? I was expecting more resistance, you know? With a lot of screaming and all that"

Richard watched the giant hand grasp the commanding einherjar’s head and with little to no effort turn it into mush.

"Even I would take a moment when squishing ants..."

Richard muttered and at that time-

"How about a roach?"

"So long as it doesn’t fly around..."

"What a wuss"

"What did you say?! Huh?"

"Finally noticed?"

Richard stared at the woman with golden locks, his face showing an expression of utter shock and disbelief.

But it soon vanished as he returned to a calm look and asked-

"Do I know you?"