Sword of Salvation-Chapter 119: - Tower of 9 Gods (3)

Nearly three hours later, Mariel and the two women accompanying him finally reached the 278th floor. Julia immediately collapsed, breathing heavily. Sean was the same, though she was in slightly better condition. Sweat covered their fair skin, especially Julia’s. They were quite exhausted.

"You both need to train your bodies more," Mariel commented, sitting down opposite of them. "If you were to become—"

Mariel abruptly stopped speaking and looked up. Sean also instinctively sat down. The thudding sound that shook the ceiling and stairs came from the top floor of the tower. However, Mariel was not too surprised. This only confirmed that one of his two assumptions had been correct.

"Sean, don’t take your eyes off Julia. We don’t want her being taken hostage."

Seeing Sean nod, Mariel stood up again and immediately climbed the stairs.

He moved quickly to the 279th floor. From there, he stepped onto the 280th floor. Unlike the 279th floor, the 280th had no ceiling. The floor contained tiered steps arranged in a perfect circle, resembling seating levels. Upon seeing the nine statues surrounding the space, Mariel finally understood why the tower was named the Nine Gods Tower.

Sitting between two of the statues, at the very top of the seating area, was a woman named Eya—though her hairstyle and clothing had changed from earlier.

"You didn’t drink my poison, and you killed my pet demon. Do you know what that means?" The woman, whose eyes matched the brown of her hair, did not wait for Mariel’s response. She immediately stood up, a magic staff appeared in her left hand. "It means you have made an enemy of the Dark Witch Freya! You have challenged the only apprentice of the Black Mage Anya Belsidian—one of the legendary Four Pillar Mages. Do you understand?!"

The black-robed woman shouted in fury, clearly enraged that Mariel had slain her demon.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re truly beautiful, Dark Witch Freya. That robe suits you perfectly. You’re magnificent."

That response was not what Freya had expected. She blinked in surprise, momentarily speechless. Mariel did not waste the opportunity. He immediately swapped places with the staff in her hand and then kicked the self-claimed witch, sending her flying out of the tower.

Freya, caught off guard by losing her staff and being kicked out of the tower, looked panicked for a moment. Mariel watched her expression with a smile on his lips. However, his smile quickly faded away when Freya managed to regain control and conjured a new magic staff.

The red-eyed young man once again swapped places with Freya’s new staff and then landed a punch to her stomach. This time, the witch plummeted even faster. But unlike before, she did not panic. The woman stretched both hands upward, and in an instant, dozens of identical magic circles appeared around Mariel.

"Vincula Explosio!"

The spell, shouted at the top of her lungs, instantly caused all the magic circles to glow brightly. Mariel did not hesitate—he swapped places with the witch again. And at that moment, a massive explosion engulfed the area within the magic circles.

Mariel slowed his fall by creating a platform of wind and hovered in the air. Then, he looked up at the explosion site. He wouldn’t be surprised if the witch had perished—the blast had been enormous. But he also wouldn’t be surprised if she had survived. Freya wouldn’t claim to be Anya Belsidian’s sole apprentice if she could die so easily.

As the smoke cleared, the witch stood firmly on a magic circle, her face filled with fury. Her robe was tattered, revealing parts of her smooth, pale skin. She no longer held her staff, likely wary that Mariel would use the same trick again.

A surge of energy erupted from Freya’s body as she shot toward Mariel, a pair of black dragon wings emerging from her back—she had activated unification mode in an instant.

Mariel was not in the mood to play. So he let the witch approach him without any intention of dodging. And the moment she was right in front of him, Mariel nullified her power.

Freya’s eyes widened in shock. Without saying a word, Mariel seized her throat.

The witch thrashed. She kicked frantically. Her hands clawed at Mariel’s right arm, trying to break free. But Mariel ignored her struggles, gazing at her with an unreadable expression.

"You have three choices," Mariel said seriously. "Die by my hand. Die at the hands of the villagers. Or leave your fate to the royal court. Your choice?"

Freya said nothing. And even if she wanted to, she couldn’t. Mariel had tightened his grip until the witch’s face turned pale.

"If you don’t let her go, these two women will die as well."

Hearing the sudden statement, Mariel immediately turned around. And in an instant, he was face-to-face with a twelve-year-old girl with short platinum hair. She wore a witch’s hat and sat on a flying broom with her arms crossed. A thorny black rose floated behind her.

However, Mariel’s attention was not on the little girl. His eyes were fixed on Julia and Sean, who hovered to the girl’s right and left. Their hands and necks were wrapped in rose vines. Like Freya, their faces were also deathly pale.

"I understand," Mariel said, then released his grip and supported Freya’s body from behind. His right hand restrained the witch’s hands, while his left hand held a wind sword, aiming it at Freya’s neck. "Release them too," he added.

As if obeying Mariel, the vines around Sean and Julia’s necks immediately loosened, allowing them to breathe again.

"Are you Anya Belsidian?" Mariel asked.

Earlier, Freya had boasted about being Anya Belsidian’s student. That name undoubtedly belonged to one of the "Four Pillar Mages". And if she truly was Anya Belsidian, it was no surprise that Sean had been defeated without resistance.

"Hand over the woman. I will release these two. Then, I will speak with you."

The little girl didn’t seem willing to negotiate. Her expression showed indifference to everything. She only wanted her demand to be met. She wouldn’t listen to anything Mariel said until he complied.

"You know she has committed crimes in the Kingdom of Denland, right?"

"This is my final warning. Hand over the woman. I will release these two. Then, I will speak with you."

Mariel could try to take Julia and Sean by force. He could throw Freya aside and use his temporary power-nullifying ability on the girl. Then, he could save Sean and Julia and place them in his dimension. However, if she had been watching him all this time, she might have already prepared to counter his abilities. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"It seems that’s the only way," Mariel said—unwilling to risk Julia and Sean’s safety. "But what if you break your word?"

"We can release them at the same time."

Mariel nodded at her words. And on the count of three, they released their hostages simultaneously. Since they were over two thousand meters in the air, the three freed individuals immediately plummeted.

Without a second thought, Mariel flew toward Julia. He didn’t need to worry about Sean—she was a mage. And just as he caught Julia, he saw Sean already standing on a magic circle. On the other side, Freya was also standing on a magic circle. The witch’s head was bowed as the little girl approached her.

"Are you okay?" Mariel asked, his gaze fixed on Julia’s beautiful face.

"I’m fine. Just a little sore on my neck and wrists, but it’s nothing. Thank you. This is the second time you’ve saved me. And, Mariel..."

"Hm?"

"...I won’t tell C that you hugged me."

"...I won’t tell her that you hugged me either."

Julia’s lips curled into a faint smile. Mariel returned it with a subtle smile of his own. However, the moment was quickly shattered by Sean’s voice piercing their ears. The blue-haired mage was now in front of them.

"I’m fine now, Sean. I’m not traumatized either. Mariel caught me at the right moment. What about you? Are you okay?"

As he listened to Sean and Julia’s conversation, Mariel scanned the area searching for the little girl and Freya. However, no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find them. The two women had vanished as if swallowed by the sky.

"Mariel, I know who they are!"

The shout snapped Mariel’s attention back to the person in front of him.

"The woman you fought is Freya Nemeria. She was my senior, graduating two years ahead of me. I never spoke to her, but I know she was the top graduate of her time. She called herself the Dark Witch because she created a spell capable of enveloping the entire academy in darkness."

"And the other one?" Mariel asked.

"She’s Anya Belsidian. One of the ’Four Pillar Mages’. She specializes in space-time magic. They say that among the four, Anya Belsidian is the strongest. I believe it, too, because she’s the only one who mastered space-time magic to a level where she can rewind the deaths of those who died unnaturally."

"After hearing Freya boast about being Anya Belsidian’s student, I suspected she is Anya Belsidian. But why does she look like a child? As far as I know, all the ’Four Pillar Mages’ are over sixty. Medea Samareas is the youngest among them. Am I wrong? Or did Anya Belsidian master immortality magic while she was still that young?"

"Er, according to rumors, Anya Belsidian hates having an adult body because she despises monthly bleeding. She also dislikes having a ’perverted’ body like Medea Samareas. So, after mastering immortality magic, she deliberately used time magic to revert herself to that form."

...Mariel didn’t know what to say after hearing such an unusual reason. From what he knew, women dreamed of having an attractive and seductive body like Medea’s. He didn’t know there were women like Anya.

In the end, Mariel simply shrugged and opened a dimensional portal beside him.

"Let’s go. Even though I had to let that witch go, and even though I failed to determine Freya’s objective, at the very least, I completed my mission."