The Devil's Cursed Witch

On the other part of the continent, in the human kingdom of Thevailes where the Black Witch Zaria Lynx was residing these days.

After coming to terms with the young King of Thevailes, agreeing to help King Samer Vailes wage war against its neighboring kingdom of Megaris, the Black Witch became an esteemed guest of King Samer.

In order to fulfill the agreement, she chose to stay in the vicinity. The King of Thevailes provided her lodging outside the capital, a small secret manor within the dense woods owned by the royal family, and thus, considered a restricted area by the common people.

After Zaria secretly took residence in that manor, she also casted a spell of deceit around it, the barrier effectively hiding its presence from people's eyes.

At this moment, the sound of someone being slapped echoed within one of the rooms. An  enraged woman was glaring at the two men kneeling in front of her with their heads lowered.

The woman had pale white skin and long black locks spilling over her long black dress, her all-black ensemble giving off a dangerous vibe despite her stunning beauty, while the two men were also equally good-looking despite the blood and bruises on their faces.

Three supernatural beings, a witch and two warlocks, and all three of their bodies were emitting black magic.

The woman scowling down at the men was precisely Zaria Lynx.

"How can you be so incompetent?! How can you not know where your subordinates are and where they have disappeared?"

One of the warlocks spoke, "Apologies, Master, but we are still investigating where the three of them had disappeared. We searched for them and..."

"And what?"

"We found nothing but traces of blood. The possibility of them being abducted is low, but the chances of them being killed is even lower. We are not sure if that blood even belongs to them."

"Blood? If you say that, then you must have found something suspicious."

"Their disappearance itself is suspicious. The last communication with them before we discovered that they're missing was just shy of an hour. If they had been attacked, they would have at least attempted to reach out to us, but there was nothing. They're simply...gone. This had never happened before.

"But if another supernatural being indeed attacked them, there should have been traces of a fight, but there was nothing."

The other warlock explained, "As such, Master, if they did not defect or run away, then the only other explanation we can come up with is that a powerful being must have entered our territory without being noticed and killed those three. That enemy ought to be as powerful as Master."

Zaria continued to pace in the room while thinking deeply about it. "What about the trace of power that's left behind?"

"There is none, Master. That is why we say we are not sure if there is a third party involved. If there was, then that being was not only powerful, but cautious  enough to not leave anything behind..."

"...or he is familiar with our group to know how to deal with us without being caught," Zaria spoke as she rubbed her lips.

"Master is wise."

"Those scums from Agartha might have caught our tail," she commented after giving it a thought.

"What if it's the King of Megaris? He might be trying to get back at us for abducting his wife."

"The spies reported he and his wife are on a voyage westward. His hands are already too full to care about us in such a situation. I can think of a few busybodies from Agartha who can work this silently right under our noses."

"Master, there is that archer who saved the Queen of Megaris and that golden eagle. Could it be that person?"

"I almost forgot about that mysterious troublemaker"-- she put her hand forward and an object appeared on her palm-- "who is now not mysterious at all."

It was a broken body of an arrow which had ancient elvish runes carved on it.

"Yorian, my old friend," she smiled slyly. "We will get even the next time we meet."

The two warlocks had puzzled looks on their faces. These two were part of the generation born after the war from a century ago and had never heard of that name.

"One of my old friends from Agartha." Zaria toyed with the broken arrow. "I wonder what he is doing in this part of the continent. Could it be that Agartha sent him out to search for us?"

At this point, the witch had no idea that the High Elf had become a wanderer after the war.

"Master, can that archer be the one who attacked our people?" one of the warlocks asked.

"There is a possibility, but I will need to personally check if I can find his tracks within Thevailes. However, my intuition says it is not him. I believe someone from Agartha..." She stopped as she narrowed her eyes. "... that Dragon? Could it be that barbaric lizard finally got the guts to leave his nest to target us?"

"Do you mean the King of Agartha?"

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 She laughed as countless thoughts played inside her mind. "Another possibility. There are only a handful of beings powerful enough to kill our people without us noticing, and he is one of them."

Seeing her expression, the warlock sighed in relief. "I believe Master has a plan?"

"Of course. Don't be afraid. That barbaric lizard has a funny weakness, and we can even lure him towards us and have him in the palm of our hands."

"You mean that female Divine Eagle, Master?"

Zaria nodded. "I didn't keep her alive till date for nothing. She--well, her life will come handy when the time comes he tries to sabotage our plans. She will be the key to dealing with Draven, just like in the past. I know exactly how foolishly sentimental he can be. In order to save her, I bet he will willingly step on an obvious trap to prevent us from killing her."

An evil smile spread on her exquisite face.

"It's good if he does not find us, but it will be definitely better if he does."

The two warlocks could only wonder about what was going on in her mind, and heard her change the topic, "By the way, has my pretty little bird arrived yet?"

"Yes, Master. Before we came to report, she had been moved inside this manor's underground chamber."

Zaria then waved to dismiss them before turning to leave. The door behind her opened and she disappeared behind it.

Inside the underground chamber which was dimly lit with a few lamps, the sounds of Zaria's footsteps echoed loudly as she walked along the long stone pathway. Each step of her followed a strange rhythm, getting louder and louder, as if she was deliberately announcing her approach to the being at the end of the pathway.

She stopped in front of an ordinary-looking wooden door lined with enchantments and spells. She leisurely grabbed one of  the nearby lamps before opening the door. The chamber was pitch black, and only the lamp in her hand made it possible to see the situation inside.

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