How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Pudicitia Catacomb (1)

The magic circle that connects the subspace and the ground.

The gate, which summoned the evil monsters that gnaw at the roots of the World Tree, was emitting a red light and slowly rotating in the air.

I quietly recited the name of the owner of this summoning circle and, further, those who aimed to subjugate the Beastmen, weaken the World Tree, and invade the Great Forest.

Pudicitia Catacomb. Those who worship the Demon of Kindness.

The curse-laden aliases of the demon worshippers were as diverse as the number of those who hated them, but there was one word that best described them.

Masters of summoning magic.

Those who are more proficient than anyone else at creating dirty cracks between the beautiful earth and the bottom of hell, where countless evils reside, and subjugating the summoned magical beasts under their will.

“……”

I looked at the thick demonic energy emanating from the dimensional gate with interest. It’s a very elaborate magic circle.

To be honest, I was a little surprised.

It made me think that maybe both sides hadn’t just been declining over the past five hundred years.

Each and every one of the densely written hellish characters throughout the wide cavity were interlocked like chains.

“The High Priest, is it?”

At this level, there’s no mistaking it. They must have put in considerable effort.

If it were a priest serving God, they might have drawn a desperate holy sign in front of this wickedly powerful spell. Even a powerful one would have difficulty even scratching it without being prepared to sacrifice themselves.

I smiled softly and raised my hand.

But the person standing here now is not a novice Inquisitor, but a black mage who has reached the pinnacle of magic.

Even the High Priests of the Catacombs could not surpass me in terms of understanding and depth of knowledge of magic.

Slowly.

The thick demonic energy flowing from the orb above my head scanned the hellish characters of the magic circle as if exploring.

And it began to rearrange the characters, digging between them. Slowly, but with utmost certainty.

Rumble.

The color of the magic circle gradually began to change. But I still maintained my tension and moved my magical power.

This was no different from performing surgery on a living creature with an incredibly complex and large structure. A highly dangerous and delicate operation where a single mistake would immediately render all efforts futile.

But I had never failed this tightrope walk, not even once. Not even at the moment of my death.

Interference, transformation, expansion.

It didn’t take long to make the dimensional gate connecting the subspace and the ground mine.

After confirming that the takeover had been successfully completed, I exhaled the breath I had been holding and lowered my hand.

Maintaining this magic didn’t require a large amount of demonic energy.

The important thing in summoning magic is creating the first crack. Perhaps creating this magic circle required a tremendous amount of demonic energy, sacrifices, and the sacrifice of countless black mages.

Conditions that I wouldn’t even be able to attempt now.

But now.

Crrrrr……

From the enlarged crack in the magic circle, controlled by my will, the roars of giant magical beasts began to be heard.

An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

The hybrids of the Pudicitia Catacomb, who tried to seize the Great Forest without using their own hands, would now face powerful enemies they had never encountered before.

🔹🔹🔹

The first to sense something strange were the few werewolves standing near the cave.

“……?”

A werewolf, with senses far superior to that of an ordinary human, looked towards the cave with a slightly puzzled expression.

A faint vibration could be felt even though the distance to the cave where the summoning circle was located was quite far. At the same time, an unsettling atmosphere was carried by the wind, stimulating the beast’s instincts.

Flinch.

The werewolf, who had blood on his mouth as if he had just hunted a human, tried to ignore his involuntarily drooping tail.

All the Beastmen in the village already knew that the black mages of the Catacomb had installed something very dangerous inside that large cave.

He had vaguely heard that it was to summon beasts to weaken the power of the elves.

He had seen with his own eyes the thousands of large insects crawling out of the cave and heading towards the forest.

It was surprising and disgusting, but frankly, a little disappointing.

The head of the Catacomb, and all they could summon was a swarm of insects?

Of course, even he, a layman in magic, knew that summoning creatures from afar wasn’t easy.

Growl.

The ominous vibration was heard once again.

“……”

After briefly looking down at the small pieces of stone trembling on the ground, he suddenly raised his head.

And he saw.

Kwaaaaaang!

Giant magical beasts were furiously charging out, literally smashing the entrance of the cave.

The spectacle unfolding before his eyes was more than enough to completely erase the disappointment he had felt so far.

“Oh, oh my god……!”

“Wh, what is that?”

The Beastmen of the village began to murmur as they witnessed the ensuing roar and the giant magical beasts.

There was a hint of excitement mixed with fear in the eyes of the Beastmen. Whatever came out of that cave, they had the perception that it was on their side.

But it didn’t take long for them to realize that it was their shallow misconception.

Kwaaaaaang!

With a deafening roar that tore through the sensitive eardrums of the Beastmen, the body of a magical beast that had leaped an incredible distance crashed directly into the village.

“Ru, run─!”

“Kyaaaak!”

A terrifying appearance they had never seen before. Dozens of something that should be called tentacles rather than hands began to grind up the werewolves indiscriminately.

Kraaaaaaaaa!

The resistance of the Beastmen, who could not use holy power or magic, was meaningless. Because there wasn’t just one magical beast.

Soon, the entire large village was engulfed in chaos under the relentless attacks of the other magical beasts that joined the fray.

It was a village of ferocious werewolves who hunted and ate humans and elves, but now they were the ones being hunted.

It didn’t take long for the large, multi-sectioned village to be annihilated.

If there were any surviving werewolves, they would have groaned at the sight of a human figure mounted on a giant magical beast. And they would have let out another desperate sigh at the following sight.

Thump, thump, thump.

The direction the forty-nine magical beasts were heading was not the forest to the east, but the Catacomb to the west.

🔹🔹🔹

An unseasonal rain was falling in the Great Forest. The drenched elf archers stood under large leaves, gazing beyond the barrier.

Elves don’t particularly like heavy rain. The heavy rain not only hindered movement in the forest but also disrupted their sensitive senses.

Moreover, the werewolves were now lurking beyond the barrier, eyeing them covetously. They had to listen to the surrounding sounds several times more carefully than usual.

“……”

The elf captain of the guard and the other elves stared straight ahead, being pelted by the thick raindrops that the leaves couldn’t completely block.

But the surroundings were quiet. There was no sign of the werewolves.

To be precise, the forest wasn’t exactly quiet. The sound of raindrops hitting the leaves hard was enough to make the elves’ long ears feel stuffy.

Whoosh.

The rain falling in the forest creates a more significant resonance than on flat ground.

The sound of water droplets colliding with the closely packed leaves and bushes was amplified and echoed.

“……”

Arieln, the guardian, perched atop a tree so tall that it offered a clear view of the open sky, suddenly lifted her head and looked up at the sky.

The sight of the water spirits giggling and splashing raindrops in the air was enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face, but she shifted her gaze further upwards, towards where the rain clouds had originated.

Dark clouds that started in the west.

The rain, which had begun so suddenly, carried a strange resonance.

🔹🔹🔹

Riding the deer of the Inquisition’s black mages or the elves was quite enjoyable. Both possessed speeds far superior to ordinary horses.

But the dizziness I felt now was beyond either of them.

Riding on the shoulder of a magical beast tens of meters tall and traversing the land was incomparable to anything else.

Perhaps only the members of the Sky Knights, who soared through the sky on griffins, could understand a similar feeling.

Apart from the dizziness that came from the overwhelming height, the sense of speed wasn’t that great. This was because the stride length was exceptionally long.

However, the surrounding scenery, which flashed by in an instant, gave me a rough idea of how fast I was going.

Thump, thump, thump.

Every time the giant magical beast in the lead took a step, the earth-shaking sound reached my ears. I stared straight ahead with a calm expression.

It’s a sensation I’ve felt after a long time. At the same time, I could feel the purring of the forty-nine magical beasts. It was a considerable force.

It took only an hour to completely wipe out several villages of werewolves that had been harassing the elves.

Considering the size of the villages, it was truly an incredible speed.

Of course, it was also thanks to the favorable matchup. Werewolves, who only possessed physical means, weren’t well-suited to facing large magical beasts.

Thump, thump, thump.

The magical beasts, moving at high speed, knew very well where they had to go.

The destination was the Pudicitia Catacomb.

The place where the High Priest who first created the summoning circle resided.

He would still be unaware of the danger that was about to befall him. The magic circle the High Priest had constructed was still functioning perfectly. Plus, I had added a little trick of my own.

Unless he deliberately looked closely, he wouldn’t realize that control had been transferred to someone else.

And by the time he realized it, it would be too late.

While he had been somewhat complacent, it couldn’t be considered negligence.

The villages, where thousands and tens of thousands of werewolves resided, were no different from a massive boundary facility, and the magic circle itself was a formidable defense mechanism.

It was grand magic that couldn’t be scratched with ordinary skills.

He probably couldn’t have imagined that there would be another person who could handle a dimensional gate made up of dozens of complex spells.

If anyone had tried to interfere with or destroy it clumsily, instead of blocking or destroying the magic, they would have been swept into it.

And they would have spent a short, unpleasant lifetime on a floor of hell filled with all kinds of magical beasts.

But instead of being sucked into that place filled with flames and debris, I expanded the magic circle and summoned the giant magical beasts to the surface.

Growl.

The black storm clouds, which had gathered due to the unsettling energy above the location where the summoning circle was installed, had already approached near where I was.

A phenomenon created by the distorted magic circle colliding with the surrounding mana.

The meaning was simple. Because I had forcibly twisted and amplified the summoning circle, I couldn’t keep these giant magical beasts on the surface for very long.

But it didn’t matter.

It would be enough to inflict fatal damage on at least one Catacomb.

Especially if that place was in a state where it couldn’t properly counterattack because its own power had backfired.

Pitter-patter.

Gentle raindrops tapped on my shoulder. I looked up and forward.

The rocky mountain range that had already approached before my eyes. It was the location of the entrance to the Pudicitia Catacomb.

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