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Ancient Witches.

This term referred to witches who had lived for nearly a thousand years—long before even the founding of Gehenna, the City of Witches.

Duchess Keter, the founder of Gehenna, the one who shaped the witch society’s order.

Duchess Erelim, the head of Jinri Jinmyeong Academic Society, the largest academic society in Gehenna.

The ‘Witch of Revelation’, the guardian and overseer of the Prophetic Institution.

The ‘Witch of Verdure’, who wandered the world freely, living as she pleased.

The ‘Witch of Time’, who built her own cradle and locked herself away inside it.

The ‘Witch of Whispers’, who continued to stir up chaos from the shadows.

The ‘Witch of Proverbs’, who was known in the past for devouring countless witches whole, but she was currently missing.

The ‘Witch of Aries’, who was once chosen to lead Qliphoth, only to turn on her allies and disappeared after slaughtering several of them.

Including the ‘Witch of the Deep Sea’, the nine witches were known as the Ancient Witches. But, after Keter purged one of them 300 years ago, only eight remained.

In truth, the title ‘Ancient Witch’ didn’t carry much inherent meaning.

At best, it just meant that those witches had lived for a very long time.

Still, there were two reasons why even Criminal Exiles regarded them with reverence.

First, the fact that they had survived for so long without passing their brand on meant that their talent was nothing short of extraordinary.

Excluding Lilith, whose real name remained unknown, all of them were grand witches. If it wasn’t for Keter’s overwhelming presence, any one of them could have dominated their era.

But, if this matter was just about raw strength, they’d just be admired, but not feared.

What made the Ancient Witches truly terrifying was the second reason, the fact that they had all survived in that ruthless, dog-eat-dog era.

Before Gehenna existed, the concept of exilement didn’t exist.

And by extension, the idea of Criminal Exiles didn’t exist either.

Back then, the quickest path to rise up on the ranks was to kill another witch and take their brand, so fratricide was extremely common.

After Keter took on the role of enforcer, they each withdrew to their own domains, but it was undeniable that every single Ancient Witch was a warrior forged in brutality, and that their mindset was completely different from that of modern witches.

A certain witch, Claire, who was trying to seek out the Witch of the Deep Sea—known to be dead in the public’s eye—for her help, was particularly troubled by this aspect.

They might dub Criminal Exiles as murderers or lunatics, but Ancient Witches were monsters that no one could ever predict.

Even though she’d be negotiating under an Oath, just the mere idea of speaking with one of them was already deeply unsettling.

“How much longer am I supposed to wait?”

Currently, she was standing alone in the vast, open ocean of the South Pacific, one of the most isolated places on Earth.

Even people who struggled to grasp the fact that 70% of the planet was covered in water would have no choice but to believe it if they were standing here.

Despite her hovering high above the ocean, all she could see was the endless expanse of shimmering blue water.

And this made sense.

After all, the place Shalit Nuckelavee, the Witch of the Deep Sea, designated as the meeting point was, in fact, the very center of the South Pacific—commonly known as the Point of Inaccessibility.

The nearest uninhabited island was over 2,000 km away, and there were no maritime or aerial routes anywhere nearby.

It was a backwater place out of all backwaters as the only sign of civilization one would see here was when decommissioned satellites or space debris were dropped from orbit.

Even for a grand witch like Claire, getting here was a challenge.

“She’s already past the agreed time...”

The witch was already annoyed over the fact that the Witch of the Deep Sea just decided on the meeting spot one-sidedly. Now that she hadn’t even shown even a glimpse of hers after 30 minutes, it went without saying that she was enraged.

With her vision as a witch and the fact that this was a wide-open area, she could see things coming from several dozen kilometers ahead, and since she hadn’t seen anything, it meant that she had to wait even longer than this.

But she had come all this way. No matter how angry she was, she couldn’t just leave empty-handed.

Annoyed, Claire crumpled the remote letter in her hand.

At that moment, a dark shadow appeared beneath the ocean’s shimmering surface.

Seeing something burst from the water at a sharp 45-degree angle, sending a violent spray of water into the air like a breaching whale, made her breath hitched.

“...”

A sleek, streamlined body, a flat upper deck, a towering vertical rudder that resembled a dorsal fin with an observation tower rising behind it...

The identity of the huge lump of metal that suddenly appeared was a submarine.

It was a modern piece of equipment that Claire was familiar with.

After all, she used one frequently in her illegal smuggling business.

But, she had never seen one with this size.

From a single glance, it seemed to be over 100 m long, and it was clear that it was a military submarine.

She knew that some witches would build their workshop underwater, but she never imagined that someone would build one inside a submarine.

Following the open hatch at the top, Claire stepped inside and walked down the narrow path, guided by a crew member

Of course, the crew members weren’t humans.

They were all wearing old Soviet military uniforms that looked awkward on them, but that should be the least of one’s worries when looking at them since their appearance was a grotesque appearance of a failed hybrid of human and fish.

Their backs arched outward, their fins ran up to their foreheads, while their skin was covered in dark green scales.

They had bulging, unfocused eyes—similar to what deep-sea fishes had—that were covered by nictitating membranes. Their fingers were webbed and those fingers would twitch as their gills kept flaring, releasing a strong fishy smell.

Every part of their body was so grotesque that Claire had to resist the urge to kill them on sight.

“This...w-way...this way...”

Guided by the strange, barely intelligible speech of one of the crew members, Claire walked while glancing around.

Now, she understood what was going on. This submarine had been modified into a witch’s workshop.

Tentacles of unknown origins, stretched in such an intricate way as if they were part of an organism’s internal organs, wrapped around various pipes, supplying mana to the whole submarine.

The rhythmic pulses vibrating throughout the space made it clear that this submarine itself was kind of an artifact.

After passing through the engine room’s corridor, Claire stepped into an unexpectedly pristine lounge.

Fifty years ago, it might have rivaled a luxury hotel lounge, but now, it felt outdated, unable to keep up with modern trends.

Lining both sides of the room were fish-human crew members identical to the one who had guided her, standing at attention like guards. At the center, a woman sat with her legs crossed, chin tilted up arrogantly.

“Welcome to our kingdom, ‘Akula’.”

Her eyes were a deep, abyssal blue, fitting her title, and her almost black-blue hair cascaded down her shoulders as she spread her arms in a gesture of welcome.

She looked younger than Claire had expected.

However, just as he was about to swallow her saliva at the atmosphere that could not be taken lightly and gave a rough greeting...

“We see that you are greatly impressed by our workshop. A most fitting reaction. Any who behold such an overwhelming workshop cannot help but feel their heart shrink in awe.”

“No...”

“And why wouldn’t you? A submerged displacement of 48,000 tons. A length of 172 meters. A width of 23 meters. Doesn’t that make it worthy of the title ‘submarine cruiser’?”

Before Claire could get a word in, the Witch of the Deep Sea had launched herself into an endless monologue, bragging about her submarine.

How it had been modified to dive as deep as 5 km despite its size, how it was on its way to reach 2 km deep, how flawless its internal amenities were, how it was undetectable by radar or even fixed sonar...

She even shared how she had secretly acquired it when the Soviet Union collapsed, heavily modified it, and armed it with 20 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each carrying 10 MIRV nuclear warheads, along with the latest torpedoes she had painstakingly procured.

“...”

For nearly ten minutes, Shalit rambled on, all excited. It was to the point that Claire had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying, ‘Who the hell cares, you goddamn nerd?!’.

But she knew she couldn’t let herself get swept up in this nonsense.

After all, this could be a mere psychological tactic; distracting her with a flood of useless words to establish dominance.

She barely managed to swallow down her curses.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s impressive. I get it. So can you stop now?”

“But, I still have 30 minutes worth of explanation...”

The Witch of the Deep Sea frowned but finally shut up.

Is she really an Ancient Witch?

Even if this was part of some psychological game, it was way too different from what she had imagined.

Claire had often been called immature, but this was beyond even that. It was as if she was a brat showing off her favorite toy.

“Let’s get to the point. We don’t have much time.”

“The point, huh... Ah, you mean that Oath or whatever?”

“That’s right. The previous Asmodeus risked her life to save you. A life for a life—that was the vow you swore on the honor of the Nuckelavee. Now, it’s time for you to keep that promise.”

Claire got straight to the reason she was here, revealing the name of the male witch she wanted dead.

Shalit, who had been sprawled on the sofa, suddenly lost all interest, listened to the request, mulled it over for a moment, then gave her response without a shred of hesitation.

“So, I want you to kill that man—”

“We refuse.”

“...”

“By the way, since when do men become witches?”

Claire felt a headache coming on.

In fact, the person she wanted to take revenge on was Duchess Tiphereth.

But she had specifically chosen to name Shin Siwoo instead, because no matter how strong the Oath was, there was always a chance the Witch of the Deep Sea would refuse a battle that put her life on the line.

Therefore, she put forward an easier target, Shin Siwoo, as a front.

Basically, her goal was to force Duchess Tiphereth and the Witch of the Deep Sea to get into a life-or-death battle.

But she didn’t expect that she’d be rejected like this.

Claire’s voice turned cold as she asked.

“Why? Like I said, Duchess Keter won’t make a move. Your opponent is, at best, a witch barely stepping into the realm of a grand witch. You won’t need even a speck of effort to dispatch him discreetly.”

“It is indeed true that our master received a favor from Asmodeus and formed a pact with her. However, we dislike conflict. And our master instructed us to live a long and peaceful life, rather than foolishly provoking others and meeting an untimely demise.”

Master?

That word, dropped so casually, suddenly made everything click into place.

The records described the Witch of the Deep Sea as someone exuding the dignity of a mature queen. And yet, the witch in front of her looked too young to evoke that image.

Of course, the woman standing before her was a full-grown adult, there was no doubt about it.

It was just, she lacked the maturity and experience that came with age.

For an Ancient Witch who had lived for nearly a thousand years, her mannerisms were too erratic, her behavior was too childish, and even her over-the-top, grandiose way of speaking didn’t suit her.

“What’s your name?”

“R’lyeh Nuckelavee. As you might have guessed, we inherited the brand ten years ago.”

The Witch of the Deep Sea that she had struggled to find...

Wasn’t the Ancient Witch she had expected.

That one had already passed on her brand to another.

Despite knowing about the Oath, she refused to cooperate without hesitation.

A flicker of murderous intent passed through Claire’s eyes.

Her plan had gone off course.

Which meant, she’d just have to go with the next best option.

She has only been a witch for 10 years and it’s still too soon for her to fully master the brand she had inherited.

There is no way she has real combat experience.

What if I kill her here, take the brand for myself, and plan my next move from there?

“Such blasphemous thoughts.”

Before Claire could fully process her idea, an eerie, beastly wail echoed in her ears.

It was bizarre. The wail was so deep it rumbled like the earth itself, yet at the same time, it cut through the air at an impossibly high pitch, just beyond the range of human hearing.

That sensation made it feel like some monstrous being had just brushed against her, leaving a chill deep in her chest. At that moment, R’lyeh spoke with solemn authority.

“You dare start a fight in our domain?”

Currently, they were inside a submarine.

Even now, it was diving deeper into the ocean.

No matter how confident Claire was, she wasn’t reckless enough to challenge the ‘Witch of the Deep Sea’ in the middle of the deep sea.

She raised her hands and let the mana she had been gathering dissipate, a clear sign that she had no intention of fighting.

Gritting her teeth at how tangled everything had become, Claire held back her frustration.

“In my presence, where deep respect and bowed heads are expected, you have bared your fangs, a transgression deserving of death. However, this time, I will overlook it.”

“How unbelievably generous of you.”

“Drawing a blade and staining one’s hands with blood is the duty of a butcher, not an empress. However, even if our guest carries a hidden knife with her, it is our duty as an empress to treat them with respect and uphold our Oath.”

“Are you saying...?”

A bluish bead formed in R’lyeh’s palm and floated toward Claire.

“We bestow upon you our Aquarium. Someone as vile as the man you mentioned could be dealt with as easily and discreetly as finishing a lunch set.”

At first glance, the bead looked completely ordinary.

But the moment she touched it, Claire felt the weight of something unfathomably dense and cold, mana compressed into a tiny orb no larger than a fingernail.

It was no surprise.

This ‘Aquarium’ was the very core of the Witch of the Deep Sea’s self-essence magic.

“I appreciate this.”

She may not have gotten direct help from the Witch of the Deep Sea, but considering how uncooperative R’lyeh had been at first, this was the best possible outcome she could get.

“One piece of advice.”

R’lyeh said casually to Claire, who was calming her fluttering heart.

Advice?

Claire naturally assumed it would be something like precautions when handling the Mystic Code, but...

“They say the passions between a man and a woman are like the stormy sea. If you let your emotions take over and rush to kill him in the heat of the moment, you might end up making a foolish mistake.”

What came out of her mouth...

Was merely such bullshit.