NOVEL WEB Chapter 894
Even after Joanna left, Odilia found it hard to get her head straight.
So much had happened in such a short time.
At a banquet she had joined without much thought, she suddenly found herself among witches who had been dumped in a strange, drugged state, was kidnapped by Joanna who stormed in with soldiers, subjected to weird teasing, had a bomb shoved inside her belly, and even faced threats regarding the other captured witches, not to mention discovering this place was some sort of biotech research facility in Arkhangelsk or whatever.
If she could think clearly in this situation, that would frankly be weirder.
On top of all that, her head was swirling with more thoughts than just that.
‘Water bed…’
Before waking up, she felt like she’d turned into a fetus.
She felt as if she had returned to her mother’s womb, or was snuggled up in her mother’s embrace—an oddly comforting sensation.
But… maybe it wasn’t just a simple illusion.
The bed she was lying on certainly didn’t look normal at all.
It resembled those water beds that were once all the rage.
But… something was different.
Instead of water, it was filled with a yellowish liquid, and the vinyl encasing it didn’t seem ordinary either. It felt smooth like vinyl, sure, but oddly enough, it had a bizarre softness that felt like petting animal skin.
Perhaps it was due to the liquid inside or the cover itself, but there seemed to be a warmth akin to human body heat lingering there, adding to the strangeness.
No, this wasn’t just in her head.
This thing was alive.
‘Is this… something made with witchcraft? But I feel a sense of incongruity?’
What she was lying on was undoubtedly an item pulsating with life.
Although her senses weren’t fully back yet, she was sure of it: either the cover or the liquid inside had to be alive. It wasn’t grand, but it definitely bore a life force. And having a life force meant it was at least doing minimal biological activities, which also meant it had undergone some modifications through witchcraft…
‘Did Joanna touch it? But still…’
But even so, it felt odd.
If it were purely a thing made with witchcraft, she wouldn’t have been oblivious until now.
Even with her senses still fuzzy.
‘A collaboration with another ability user? But it feels strange yet familiar…’
Odilia pondered and pondered over the bed she was lying on.
But despite her contemplation, she found no significant answers, and ultimately, no conclusions were drawn until she managed to sit up.
“Hah…”
As Odilia slowly raised her body, the things covering her began to slip away.
First, the half-wilted flowers fell off, then the vines that had entwined her limbs tumbled down weakly. Following them came her dress, which had all but become rags thanks to the witchcraft materials.
Borrowing Joanna’s earlier expression, it could be summarized as, “As I sat up, the floral blanket slipped away.”
As she tried to get up, she soon realized this place was likely some unknown space and that items such as cameras were probably set up to watch her.
Because it had been made with witchcraft materials, the surface area of her clothes shrank, increasing her exposure, but it was still better than being completely naked.
Thinking this, Odilia quickly changed and stepped out of the room.
Click.
The door opened without any resistance, and the hallway was completely empty.
In situations like this, you’d expect them to have people stationed to monitor or to send in unmanned drones or surveillance robots. Yet, it was strangely devoid of life.
As if they were certain she wouldn’t do anything “inappropriate.”
‘Well, who would act out with a bomb in their stomach?’
Odilia felt an irritation rising within her.
‘Cursed Joanna…’
But there was no way out.
With a bomb in her belly, she had no choice but to comply…
And not just any bomb, but a jewel bomb used by Joanna.
Any attempts to pull a fast one would result in an explosion.
The powerful blast would slice her into ‘Odil’ and ‘ia’ in no time.
There was a good chance her middle bit would be blown to bits, leaving only ‘O’ and ‘A’ behind.
‘Wait. Maybe with the power of magic…?’
While lamenting her situation, Odilia suddenly recalled someone.
An existence that wielded powerful magic.
The most competent shaman she had ever met.
If it were Shaman Park Jinseong, he could easily remove this terrible bomb that Joanna planted.
But…
‘I don’t have a smartphone, and there’s no chance they’d hand it back to me…’
There was no way to ask for help.
Unless the kidnappers were total idiots, they wouldn’t give her any means to contact the outside world.
She had exchanged messages with Jinseong before the kidnapping, but… it was just a trivial conversation about the golden rose changing color, not anything urgent that would make him guess what was happening and rush to rescue her.
‘And nobody’s likely to notice I’m missing anytime soon, either.’
On top of that, nobody was likely to realize she was gone.
Agnes often vanished for long stretches due to her wanderlust, and Ella and Anastasia would assume she’d simply been busy and hadn’t shown up. As for everyone else… though they might know her, none were close enough to know every detail of her private life…
She was stuck.
Odilia let out a deep sigh and accepted her predicament.
‘Right. An opportunity will come eventually. And with a new disciple, there’s no way Ness will wander off for as long as he used to. He’ll be back soon, realize I’m gone, and start moving to rescue me, so for now, playing nice and following along is my best option.’
Even with a bomb inside her, she probably wouldn’t face anything too severe.
There was a certain kinship among witches…
With that thought, Odilia floated down the hallway.
Was this a bunker turned into something uncomfortably narrow, long, and winding?
Then she noticed a door with voices coming from inside, and a nameplate attached caught her attention.
「 два 」
And seeing that, Odilia realized.
‘Joanna sold me to Russia…!’
* * *
Gold is widely known as an unchanging metal.
It never loses its color or luster under any circumstance and does not rust.
This brilliance could undoubtedly captivate many.
But in this world, nothing is absolute, and the unchanging does not exist.
Gold is no exception, and neither is the golden rose that Park Jinseong had given to Odilia.
‘Gold is unchanging, and the flower crafted from it symbolizes eternal youth and brilliance. But what does it mean if its color has changed?’
As soon as Park Jinseong saw the message Odilia sent, he noticed it.
There was an external factor causing the golden rose to discolor.
And after reading the next message from Odilia, he was convinced.
It was related to the omen obtained during the ritual of magic.
And the information that resembled a daydream he had before receiving Odilia’s message.
‘I felt witches dancing with several brooms.’
A sensory overload.
As his senses intertwining surged, he definitely perceived that.
Witches dancing wildly with multiple brooms.
And what else did he see?
‘It was a dance, yet not just a dance. It embodied instinctive movements, desires for pleasure, struggles, a dance seeking salvation, a ritual, or perhaps a celebration of rest.’
Condensed information yields different results depending on how you think about it.
The frenzy created through the overload provided perspectives from many angles, but at the same time, it also produced countless branches that made understanding difficult.
Yet amid this chaos, Park Jinseong reached a conclusion.
‘It feels like something’s gone wrong.’
Was it intuition?
Or was it a rational deduction drawn from grounds he couldn’t recognize?
Slowly, Park Jinseong moved towards the window.
Then, looking at the stars, he asked.
With his heart.
As a sound that could not be spoken.
In hazy thoughts that could not take shape.
With unrefined will, and thoughts that couldn’t be articulated.
Park Jinseong simply questioned the stars.
And the stars did not respond to his questions.
However, with a heartful plea, the world answered him.
Woooooooom.
‘Viktor’
Instead of a response, fate arrived.