Chapter 20: Witch Cooperation

-with Nia and Beelzebub-

"Miss Nia, are you sure we're going the right way?"

Beelzebub asked while following Nia walk through a deserted path covered in white snow as the freezing winds blew on their body causing them to shake from the cold temperature of the area.

"I'm pretty sure this is the right place, just be careful for any ambush from the demons on this area, we're traveling towards the fallen holy city which is now conquered by the demon civilization... It's not a surprise if a demon attack us in this place"

Nia gave her a thumbs as she turned back to face her and  a pretty young woman with long flaxen hair and lake-like blue eyes. She is the witch that they broke out from the prison of Border Town, helping her escape from her execution while stealing a few gold in the treasury for their own use.

"Where are we going, Miss Honjou?" (Anna)

"No need for formalities, just call me Nia, we're going to stay in each other's company for a long time so I suggest you get used to speaking with us" (Nia)

"T-then, Miss Nia" (Anna)

"Remove the Miss" (Nia)

"N-Nia, where are... we going?" (Anna)

"We are going to gather the other witches in this area, we need more allies so that we can safely travel to Sleeping Island and the other 3 kingdoms to gather the surviving witches" (Nia)

"I-isn't that dangerous?" (Anna)

"Dangerous... We've been in far more dangerous situations than this Anna, we're a lot older than you think we are" (Nia)

Nia comforted her while patting her head to release the tension on her body.

"We're already close to them anyway... The only problem is their leader... She's has a few loose screws in her head, so it's going to be hard to convince her unless I use [Memory Transfer] on her to erase her useless ideals"

Nia muttered while tracing the map that she drew on her head as they walked through the path of snow, while trying to remember how to activate the skill [Memory Transfer] that she learned during her time with Lucias and the other girls.

Although she didn't learn any type of combat skills, she was still a force to be reckoned with due to her access to endless amount of information along with her new skills [Brainwash], [Amnesia], and [Memory Transfer]. 

"Well, convincing them should be easy because of their members, nicknamed 'Nightgale' can easily spot if any of us are lying to them, so earning their trust is quite easy"

Nia explained before stopping in her tracks along with Beelzebub, confusing Anna from the sudden change in their demeanor.

"Beelzebub... Can you sense her?" (Nia)

"Hmm... I can, but it seems like she didn't come here to harm us" (Beelzebub)

Beelzebub while activating her [Heat Sensor] to pinpoint her exact location before scattering a few dozens of flies towards her location to watch any suspicious movements that she might do.

"Invisibility... She must be 'Nightgale' but what is she doing here..."

Nia muttered before signalling Beelzebub to ignore her as they continued to move towards the temporary shelter of the Witch Cooperation.

"Let's ignore her, she isn't the type to suddenly attack someone without thought"

Beelzebub nodded her head while Anna followed them from behind with a confused expression on her face.

"Ano..."

"Hmm? Oh don't worry about what happened earlier it's just that someone was watching from the shadows, nothing major"

Nia explained while smiling at her direction to keep her feeling at ease, but failed as Anna froze on her spot due to the mention of someone following them from behind.

"Don't be so nervous, Anna, we're going to protect you until you can properly control your flames"

"M-mn"

Anna nodded her head as she held her hand before the 3 of them continued traveling through the snowy path.

3 Hours of walking passed and the woman still followed them from behind, watching their every movement as they arrived in front of a cave that the witch cooperation stayed at temporarily from the blizzard.

"We're here, you can come out now, Nightgale-san"

Nia called out to the empty land behind them, while Beelzebub surrounded her location with hundreds of flies to keep her from escaping.

"... How did you find me?"

A soft and feminine voice called out before revealing herself to the 3 of them. The layer of magic on her body that made her Invisible slowly dissipated, revealing a slender young woman with mature charming features, her blond hair are cascading down like a waterfall.

"Instinct, my good friend, I can tell that you have a lot of questions for us, Nightgale. So why won't you ask it since I know you wouldn't let us enter anyway without knowing our true purpose of coming here, isn't that right?" (Beelzebub)

"... Then how did you find our location?"

She asked while holding the handle of her weapon behind her back, readying herself to attack them if their they mean harm towards the other witches.

"Hmm... You can say we just followed your tracks to know your location" (Nia)

"... What's your objective for finding us?" (Nightgale)

"We only wanted to talk with your leader Nightgale, we didn't come here to bring harm but you can say our objective is quite beneficial to all of you" (Nia)

"Huh?" (Nightgale)

"Then let me give you a sample, Nightgale-san, if you continue moving towards the Holy Mountain... all of you will die"

Nia smiled, waiting for Nightgale's answer as she knew that she was checking whether or not she was lying to her.

"... Follow me"

She relaxed her guard while keeping her dagger in its sheath as she walked towards them, entering the cave as she signaled for them to follow her.

"I don't know your real objective but if you plan to harm any of us... I won't hesitate to kill you" (Nightgale)

"You can try if you want, Miss Nightgale" 

Beelzebub provoked her with a large smile on her face as all of them entered the cave, surprising the 40+ witches inside.

"I'm back, and... we have company"

She reported before walking towards the group of witches, sitting near the bonfire to keep themselves warm from the harsh weather outside the cave.

"Who are you?"

The woman with emerald colored hair asked while looking fiercely at the 3 of them.

"We have come here to discuss a few things with you, Cara-san"

Nia says, getting straight into the point of their purpose for meeting them.

"... How did you know who I am?"

Cara asked in suspicion while summoning dozens of snakes using her magic to surround the 3 of them.

"Let's say... that's how my magic works, Cara-san, I can access any kind of information in this world without any kind of limitations... I came here to discuss an alliance with you and the witches of the Cooperation"

Nia explained patiently ignoring the snakes surrounding them while Beelzebub watched them in amusement.

"We have no room for discussion, we only have one objective and that is to travel towards the holy mountain where we can be safe... I won't tolerate anyone who interferes with our plan"

Cara says in rejection before standing up from her seat, commanding her snakes to attack them without hesitation.

Beelzebub immediately moved and cut the snakes apart with her bare hands surprising the witches from her speed and power to dispatch the snakes in a matter of seconds.

"If you continue your journey... you'll be faced with extreme disappointment and danger, Cara-san. I told you before, I can access any kind of information that exist, even the information about the 3 holy cities of the past"

Nia says causing Cara to Jolt from her seat from hearing the words 'holy city' from her mouth.

"Wha-"

"[Memory Transfer]"

Nia cut her off by reaching out her hand towards her as a string of mana connected her palm to her head, preparing to transfer all of the information that she had about the current state of the holy cities.

"I think it's better if you see it yourself"

"What are you doing?!"

The witches who saw her sudden attack shouted in anger before charging towards the 3 of them but stopped when thousands of flies covered their entire body, immobilising their movement as they floated from the ground.

"Don't worry, we're just transfering my memories about the holy cities to her brain, I doubt she will listen anyway when we try to convince her so it's better if we do it like this to save time and energy"

Nia explained before creating multiple strings of mana and connecting it to the head of every witches inside the cave, along with the paradise that she calls 'home' in her past dimension along with Lucias to use it as one of her bargaining chips in making them agree with her proposal.

"Why won't you just brainwash them, Miss Nia?"

"I'm not a big fan of brainwashing someone Beelzebub, and that will only limit their ability and potential. It's much better to have them as allies when they join us in their own accord"

Nia explained while transfering the last bit of information she had to them, but out of her expectations, all of them fainted from their spots as soon as the skill ended. Their faces were pale and they were sweating profusely with a visible frown on their faces, like they just witnessed a horrible nightmare in their dreams.

"...I forgot to consider their mental strength... and here I thought they were strong enough, but I guess I was wrong..."

Nia says in disappointment before throwing a piece of wood in the bonfire to keep the unconscious witches warm until they wake up.

"We will stay here for the night, until they wake up... It's a good thing I learned to a few skills in the past or else convincing them would have taken a lot more time"

-with Justice and Ingvild--

"... Something's wrong"

Ingvild muttered while dodging the fist of a black Goliath inside the 17th Floor of the dungeon.

"Something wrong?"

Justice asked before punching a giant dent on a black Goliath's stomach before kicking it away from her, causing it to crash against the walls of the dungeon.

"There are too many variants showing up in the floors... even below us are filled with variants"

"What's the problem with that, we can have more fun fighting them if they're more powerful" 

She shouted while performing an axe kick on the black Goliath, burying it's head to the ground as it turned into ashes, leaving nothing but a oddly colored crystal behind.

"It's strange... I haven't heard any God entering this place... So why are there so many variants spawning inside the dungeon?" (Ingvild)

"Hmm... Want to go in even deeper? We can investigate this ourselves if you want to" (Justice)

"... When the dungeon acts like this, it means that something powerful is inside the dungeon that is agitating all of the monsters to move to the upper floors... it's far to dangerous to move by ourselves... I suggest that we report this to the guild first to let them take care of this problem" (Ingvild)

"Right now? You're no fun Ingvild" (Justice)

"I think it's better than risking our lives in this place, so let's go"

Ingvild says before pulling her hand towards the path to the upper floors to report everything they found to the guild.

As they were about to step on the stairs leading to the 16th floor, both of them froze when they felt a powerful pressure pressed against they're back as a voice devoid of any kind of emotions call out to them from behind.

"You two... are strong, fight me"

The voice says causing both of them to turn their heads towards the source of the voice.

A teenage woman with long jet black hair, wearing nothing but a ragged cloth to hid her curvaceous body filled with black markings stretching all over her body as she stared at Justice and Ingvild with her single dark emotionless eye as the other had a long visible scar.

"Fight me!"

The woman spread her jet black wings into the air, releasing her aura causing the nearby monsters to suffocate from the pressure and power of her aura.

"This is?"

Justice asked with a casual tone, looking at Ingvild beside her while pointing at the woman in front of them.

"Well... Considering how powerful you are, I already knew this would happen in the future"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well our magic is quite foreign in this world that is why the dungeon itself didn't attack us when we entered inside, it's because it couldn't comprehend our power but the creature in front of us can..."

Ingvild explained before erecting a large wall of high pressured water, blocking the [Dragon's Breath] of the creature in front of them.

"Well, we never tested how powerful we really are in this world... I guess this is a good chance... to test it with the One Eyed Black Dragon"