Lioro was a little pissed.
'Where the hell did this random witch come from?'
He was thinking of simply erasing her existence with a Hollow Purple, when he stopped.
[Ritual Magic 'Cursed Oath' Detected…. Requirement not met….. Genius Class is taking effect….. Condition fulfilled.]
It was ritual magic, not a curse.
Plus, it didn't have a tier…
Lioro blinked, then instantly learned the spell.
As knowledge about the ritual filled his mind, Lioro couldn't help but look at the witch with newfound interest.
'It uses experience to cast a curse…'
Meaning, strictly speaking, this magic didn't have a tier cap.
The higher the experience used, the greater its effect.
Standing before the trembling witch, Lioro suppressed his urge to pin her to the ground and forcefully learn all her magic.
After all, there was still a marriage going on.
Looking at Shadow, he said in a low voice.
"Take her away. Her magic is useful."
Shadow instantly understood his meaning and grinned.
The witch seemed to have heard them, but before she could say anything, a black shadow flashed and she, along with Shadow, disappeared from the place.
Controlling his raging mana, Lioro looked at everyone before saying,
"The nuisance has been dealt with. Let us proceed."
*Murmur*
The crowd erupted into countless chatter. Everyone stared at Lioro and Yoriichi in shock and wonder.
Their gazes toward Anna and Kristoff also lit up.
Arendelle had the strength to even beat the witch! From now on, this kingdom would become famous!
"Just who is that young man? A wizard?"
"He seemed quite close to Queen Elsa…"
"Are they together? If not—"
Ignoring the chatter of the crowd, Lioro walked toward Elsa.
As soon as he came beside her, Elsa reached out and held his arm.
"Thank you."
Elsa said as she tightened her grip around his arm.
Lioro smiled and said,
"It's Kristoff and Anna's marriage. Of course I'm not going to let a witch interrupt it… at least a god will have to take action to stop it…"
Elsa stopped after hearing the word 'god', then rolled her eyes and smiled as well.
"Stop joking. What if you jinx it?"
"I have curse, destiny, and fate immunity, so that's not possible… okay, forget I said anything…"
Lioro shut his mouth under Elsa's silent glare.
With the witch gone, the marriage went as planned, without any more setbacks.
After Anna and Kristoff kissed, dancing started in the ballroom.
"Y-Yoriichi-san! Would you like to dance?" Tsuare asked with a blush on her face.
Yoriichi tilted his head in confusion before looking at the western-style dance going on in the ballroom.
"Dance? But I am unfamiliar with this style…"
"I-It's okay! I'll teach you!" Tsuare gathered her courage and took Yoriichi's hand before pulling him along.
"Ohoho, Sister Tsuare is getting bolder…" Isobel said with a knowing smile on her face.
"It's good to be young," Falan said in a calm tone before turning to Levi and smiling.
"Although it doesn't seem Yoriichi-san is the only one…"
Isobel heard him and turned her head in confusion, only to see the most shocking scene of her life.
She saw her bro, Levi.
Dancing with Ninya.
Holding her waist and hand.
Wtf?!?!?
Isobel's mind short-circuited.
'Bro Levi!'
'Weren't you supposed to be a clean freak!?!?'
'Has love truly made you blind!?!?!?'
What she didn't know was that Levi was even more confused than her.
'Have I truly fallen in love?'
'If not, then why don't I feel any aversion to her? I feel like she's extremely clean… even more so than myself… but that's not possible… so i-is it truly love??'
While Levi was questioning his life, Ninya was having the time of her life, smiling brightly while wearing the ring Lioro gave her.
"You've improved," Elsa said with a smile.
"Still not as good as you, though," Lioro replied, lightly holding her waist.
"You'll improve with practice."
"I'll need a good teacher."
"Hm, I think I know someone who can help."
"Oh? Then please introduce me."
"Hehe, I will soon…" Elsa said in a meaningful voice.
----
As the sun set, the day turned to night and the celebration drew closer to its end.
People started leaving the palace, making the lively hall turn silent again.
Under the night sky, everyone retired to their rooms.
Though Anna and Kristoff's room was especially lively tonight…
In the middle of the night.
Elsa stopped before a door and said in a small voice,
"Lioro, it's me, Elsa. Can you open the door?"
Getting no response, she wondered if he had fallen asleep.
Feeling curious, she knocked on the door.
Creek
'It's open?'
Elsa tilted her head before carefully pushing the door and looking inside.
And what she saw…
Made her freeze in place.
----
[Inside the silence barrier.]
"Wahahahaha! Tell us everything you know!!" Shadow shouted in a batshit crazy voice as he ruthlessly whipped the poor witch.
Tears continuously flowed down the witch's old face as she shouted in an unresigned voice,
"I already told you everything I know! Everything! Let me go! No! Please don't hit me anymore!!"
"Silence, wretch!"
*Swish*
Lioro stood to the side, learning every spell the witch had to offer using his skill points.
Just then, hearing the door creak, the two of them simultaneously turned their heads.
Their gazes landed on Elsa.
And Elsa's gaze landed on them.
For a moment, silence filled the room.
Then, Shadow suddenly extended his slime suit and covered the crying witch's mouth.
At the same time, Lioro removed the sound barrier and looked at Elsa before asking,
"Wanna join?"
"….."
Elsa blankly looked at Lioro, Shadow, and the bloodied witch staring at her with pleading eyes before saying,
"Alright."
"Lock the door behind you."
Elsa locked the door, making the witch cry even harder.
Lioro ignored her and created another sound barrier before turning to Shadow, who was about to start whipping again, and said,
"Actually, I know a mind control magic as well."
Shadow stopped and slowly turned toward him, still holding the whip in hand.
"...why haven't you used it then?"
"I didn't want to dampen your enthusiasm."
Shadow looked down at the whip in his hand with a regretful expression before putting it away.
"Go ahead."
"Tier 7 Magic: Charm All Race."
A green light escaped Lioro's hand and enveloped the witch, making her eyes turn vacant.
Shadow lowered his head and looked at the silent witch with curiosity.
Waving his hand before her face, he asked,
"Are you a witch?"
"Yes."
"Damn, your mind control works," Shadow turned back and gave Lioro a thumbs-up.
Lioro ignored him and told the witch,
"Is there any magic you haven't shown us yet?"
"Yes."
"Damn, the bitch was indeed lying! I should have whipped her harder!"
Elsa visibly took a step away from Shadow.
"...Tell us about every spell you have."
"Yes..."
Under the influence of the Tier 7 mind control spell, the witch left nothing out and revealed all of her magic.
While Shadow and Elsa listened to her explanations with great curiosity like good students, Lioro directly spent skill points to learn her magic.
[Tier 4 Spell 'Nightmare Crown' learned, Tier 6 Spell 'Prophecy Veil' learned, Tier 5 'Shadow Strike' learned, Tier 4 'Cursed Speech' learned.]
[Ritual Magic: Thread of Inevitability (Fate-based curse, costs experience), Delayed Doom (Same as Cursed Oath).]
There were several other spells, but most of their effects overlapped with ones he already had, so he didn't learn them.
As for the ritual magic, it seemed the witch was substituting people's souls in place of experience when casting ritual magic, and she only knew curse-based rituals.
Truly befitting her title as an Evil Witch.
While Lioro and Shadow were examining the new magic, Elsa, who heard about the effects of the rituals, suddenly clenched her fists.
'If Lioro hadn't stopped the ritual, then my sister and Kristoff…'
It was safe to say that their happiest day would have become their worst.
Regaining her focus, she started paying attention again.
It was a new field of magic. She felt her strength would definitely increase if she understood it.
On the other side, Shadow suddenly fell silent and closed his eyes.
After a moment, he opened them again and muttered in a serious voice,
"I see. I understand."
'Why is he suddenly acting like a protagonist?' Lioro was drawn to his words and couldn't help but look at Shadow.
A line of purple mana surrounded Shadow, causing wind to blow everywhere, startling Elsa.
Shadow stood in the middle, appearing calm, as if undergoing enlightenment.
Seeing the scene,
Lioro was confused.
'Why don't I see any new spell detected message?'
So he asked,
"You understood something?"
The wind settled as Shadow placed his hands in his pockets and silently approached Lioro before saying in a voice only he could hear,
"Nope. Just trying to act cool."
Lioro barely controlled his urge to slap this troll bastard.
Turning back to the witch, he asked,
"Why did you try to ruin the marriage? Was there someone else who influenced or ordered you to do it?"
"No. I was simply passing by. When I saw the beautiful castle, feeling jealous, I decided to cast a curse..."
"That's absurd..." Elsa said while biting down on her lips.
A layer of frost unconsciously started covering the ground around her feet.
"It seems we got everything we needed. Should we kill her?" Lioro asked, glancing at the slowly spreading frost.
Before Elsa could say anything, Shadow interrupted,
"Um, how about you hand her over to me? There are a few things I want to try."
"Hm? What do you think?" Lioro turned to Elsa and asked.
Elsa looked at Shadow, remembered how ruthlessly he was whipping the witch, then nodded.
"She's all yours."
"Thanks, best friend."
Shadow smiled, then quickly wrapped the witch up in his slime suit.
Seeing his enthusiasm, Lioro sneered internally.
'This bastard definitely had some enlightenment.'
Was he still thinking of beating him by developing new magic?
Heh! It's all useless. All his magic will end up making him stronger.
Shadow didn't know that Lioro had learned his 'Purple Mana', 'I Am Atomic', as well as his fighting styles.
'I'll give him the surprise of a lifetime when he challenges me next...'
After the witch was dealt with, Shadow and Elsa left his room.
While she was leaving, Lioro asked Elsa why she came to see him this late at night, to which Elsa dodged the question and ran away faster.
Thinking about her strange behavior, Lioro went to bed.
'Now I just have to enjoy the next few days filled with peace.'
With positive thoughts, he went to bed.
Only to be awakened by a not-so-welcome surprise the very next day.
"Hey, Cid."
"Yeah?"
"What is that?"
"Oh, this?" Cid squatted down and pointed at the long, fishy tail of a chained-up beautiful black-haired woman.
"This is breakfast."
"...That's a mermaid, you piece of shit."
"You think I don't know that?"
---------------
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