Chapter 17

Wandering through the darkness of an alleyway at the heart of the night there was only one thing going through Hugo's mind, one thing that would change how people perceived him without fail.

'It's really dark.' Hugo thought blandly, his thoughts opposing his appearance so much that it was hard to believe that he was the one who thought them into existence. Regardless, his thoughts did not matter.

What truly mattered was where he was. It was a small alleyway, one filled with litter and graffiti like any other, and yet was completely devoid of the homeless for some odd reason, an oddity never pondered by any but the homeless themselves.

Pausing where he stood Hugo looked at the wall for a moment before calmly pressing on various parts of the wall, infusing his dark crimson mana into the wall as a form of identification for his future visits. While mana colors may be the same each mana had a unique wavelength that separated them from one another.

It was an almost flawless system however with the advent of incredibly expensive items such as the mana altering necklace Hugo currently wore he could change his wavelength with enough skill. Of course, making a believable wavelength was its own issue altogether.

A person's mana wavelength was similar to their DNA, it was an unchangeable facet of their being that belonged solely to themselves. Some may be similar to it but it would never truly be the same. Replicating or imitating it was no easy feat.

In response to his mana, a speaker suddenly appeared from within the wall, a distorted voice sounded out without a moment's pause. "Password." The voice demanded, not a shred of emotion in the voice.

"The Witches dance in the crimson purgatory." Hugo chanted calmly. Truthfully, what he was doing was a bit of a gamble since he wasn't actually sure of how this would function nor how it would affect his plans.

"Accepted. Welcome to the Coven." The voice announced, the wall making way for him. Stepping through without hesitation he was immediately met by luxury like no other accompanied by dozens of people were luxurious suits talking to one another freely.

The Coven was something Hugo had only heard of through Lucille and he didn't truly know what he was to expect. She explained it as a place information flowed freely and that if he said a 'certain phrase' the leader, the Crimson Witch, would assist him in any way he wanted.

Of course, there was no way to verify the information and he was obviously skeptical of the Crimson Witches intentions but her help would be necessary. He could do it by himself but he would run the risk of running out of time without external help.

However, with the help of the Crimson Witch, it wouldn't be impossible for him to succeed with time to spare. That is if Lucille's words were to be trusted. Hugo found it difficult to believe that the Crimson Witch truly 'knew all the world's secrets' as Lucille claimed. However, there was a reason to believe it.

'Witches are always unpredictable.' Hugo thought to himself, fondly remembering a series of memories he hadn't thought of in quite some time. Witches were a race of humans, a subspecies if you will, that had an innate connection with mana.

That was what most people were aware of however the truth of the matter was that they were children of the Akashic Records, each one having a deep connection to the ultimate truth. The Witches were people greedy for knowledge to the point of murder and yet sensible people.

Due to their connection to both mana and the Akashic Records, they all had powerful magic attributes. Many say that if the Witches were interested in conquest then perhaps they could take over the entire continent.

Walking through the hallways Hugo received many eyes, each one analyzing him as though he was merely a way to earn more, though he ignored them all. He had long since gotten used to such eyes.

'Compared to them the disdain of the nobles is quite cute.' Hugo thought to himself blandly as he wandered deeper into the building where the Crimson Witch was said to reside. While he wasn't sure where she was exactly he was confident he could find her.

"Halt. Bronze members may not pass this point." A guard spoke coldly, a spearhead blocking his path. While Hugo wasn't quite sure what levels the members had he was confident he could get out of it, he had an important sponsor after all.

"Get out of my way." He spoke coldly, his voice no different than a blade ready to bisect the guard before him. His left hand was raised in front of their guard's eyes, a thin platinum medal accompanied by six stars and a flame in his hand.

It was a form of identification Lucille had given him, most likely already expecting such a 'greeting'. While Hugo had no idea what its value was he trusted that the Hero of Light's identification would be more than enough to back his arrogance.

"O-Of course Sir!" The guard spoke hurriedly, a mix of fear and awe in his voice as he stepped out of the way. To Hugo, he seemed like quite the powerful warrior and yet his method of identification still caused him to react in such a way.

'What did you give me Lucille Oran?' He pondered, trailing his crimson irises over the medal before returning it to his storage tool. There was no use questioning it when he could merely ask her when he returned.

As if hearing the news no other guards blocked his way as he made his way through the Coven, looks of fear replacing the curiosity the spectators once held in their eyes. Admittedly, such a reaction did intrigue Hugo however he had more important things to do.

Yet the fear held in the eyes of the crowd soon vanished as he entered deeper into the Coven, the once large crowd thinning into barely one or two people. He had passed six sets of guards and none had stopped him yet.

However, he himself was the one to stop. It wasn't because he was intimidated nor because he was nervous, it was merely because there was nowhere else to walk. There was only an ornate door and a single woman standing before it.

'She's strong.' Hugo noted. She wore a complex maid outfit and yet he could tell that she was no weaker than he was when it came to pure mana. With his status weakened it was impossible to defeat her but as an A+ rank on the weaker end of the spectrum, Dion Aster would normally struggle as well.

While she still solidly sits upon the throne of A+ she was stronger than her ranking would claim meaning she, like Dion, had stats that reached above her rank. This was what somebody similar in ranking to her could tell at once.

'What magic tool is she using to disguise her strength?' Hugo contemplated in interest. Everything about her screamed that she was an A+ rank like himself however he knew, perhaps instinctively, that she was at least an S rank.

She was weaker than Dimitri Alden but she was certainly deserving of the ranking. Whatever reason she purposefully appeared weaker than she truly was did not matter to Hugo, what mattered is that she was here for him.

"The Crimson Witch would like to meet you, envoy of the Hero of Inferno." The maid announced professionally, her figure bowed perfectly and her long black hair draped over any weapons she had behind her, perfectly concealing her nature.

'Lucille Oran… you're insane.' Hugo mentally declared, a sigh of irritation escaping his lips.