What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Seeing Weiss looking both embarrassed and dejected, Rena, who understood what was going on, somehow felt just the slightest bit guilty.

Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Leon tried to help Weiss change the subject: “By the way, Weiss, I heard the Church has a classified explosive formula. Do you know about it?”

“Huh?” Weiss had not yet recovered from that inexplicable blow. Hearing Leon say this, she showed a surprised expression, “A classified explosive, you mean Red Mercury? Where did you hear about something like that?”

“Red Mercury?” Leon froze slightly when he heard the term. That name certainly did not sound like an ordinary explosive, but he still answered Weiss truthfully, “From a craftsman who previously designed artillery for the Church.”

“How could a craftsman possibly know……” Weiss froze for a moment before finally realizing, “Ah, could it be that what you mean is merely the primer used in artillery?”

“Yes.” Leon replied.

Hearing this, Weiss relaxed slightly: “I do know a classified formula at that level, and I can prepare it as well. What do you want to use it for?”

“To develop firearms. If you can produce it, I hope you can give me the formula, then prepare some for my people to research.” Leon said.

He intended to memorize the primer formula Weiss provided. After all, this also belonged to technology in which the Church was ahead of this era, so it was worth recording.

As for those gunsmiths, simply providing them with the primer itself and informing them of the necessary precautions should be enough for them to study it.

As for whether they could successfully develop anything using this technology, he could only do everything within his power and leave the rest to fate.

“That’s not a problem, as long as you prepare the raw materials.” Weiss nodded.

“But what was the Red Mercury you mentioned just now?” Leon asked.

“That is……” Weiss hesitated slightly over this, “A special explosive formula sealed away within the Church. It is said that an explosive only the size of an apple could destroy an entire city. It is a high-level secret of the Church of the Creator, and only a few Cardinals, including the Pope, know the specific details.”

“The Church has something like that?” Leon was somewhat skeptical.

The power of this weapon sounded like a strategic weapon several centuries ahead of this era.

If they had something like that, wouldn’t the Noren Empire be able to dominate the world with ease? Why would even dealing with a single Moiland give them such a headache?

“It is said that Red Mercury can only be produced using a Third-Tier Creator’s Blessing, with a specific Sacred Relic as the material. Very few people even know this project exists, and it has never been used in actual combat before. There is actually also a claim that it is merely a smokescreen created by the Church to manipulate intelligence.” Weiss explained.

“Is that so?” For intelligence that could neither be verified nor easily distinguished as true or false, Leon could only set it aside for now.

“Leon, did you ask Lamia what kind of Blessing Ability this Great Witch Dorothy actually possesses?” Weiss asked again.

“Chimera.” Leon answered.

The Blessing Dorothy possessed was the same as the one once held by the Earl’s daughter Ophelia, the “Chimera” ability capable of modifying living creatures and grafting limbs together.

However, as a Third-Tier Great Witch, her power was inevitably on a completely different level from Ophelia, whom they had once captured with ease.

Of course, for them, the highest priority was still to prepare properly for negotiations.

“A Third-Tier Chimera Blessing is said to be capable of forcibly fusing different living creatures together and creating stable Magical Beasts that would never naturally exist. The Labyrinth she controls may very well be filled with Magical Beasts you have never seen before, so you must be especially careful. If possible, bring the Magic Mirror with you. At the very least, let me know your situation in time.” Weiss earnestly warned him.

“I understand.” Leon nodded.

……

The dim Hidden Chamber was covered everywhere with thin gauzy spiderwebs, layer upon layer, as though they filled the entire room, while countless spiders crawled up and down.

Several figures wrapped up like cocoons constantly writhed. Their entire bodies were encased in spider silk, without even the slightest opening except around their noses. As they twisted and struggled, they emitted muffled sounds.

Yet the spider silk adhering to their bodies seemed even tougher than steel. No matter how they struggled, there was not the slightest sign of it breaking.

A grotesque figure moved freely among the spiderwebs. Her upper body was that of a bewitching woman whose face was covered by a veil, while her lower body was a pitch-black spider.

Great Witch Arachne swept a satisfied gaze over the captives she had brought here. With a slight movement of her will, a swarm of small spiders immediately converged on the faces of those wrapped in spider silk.

Feeling insects crawling back and forth across their faces through the spider silk, every one of them experienced an unprecedented chill of horror.

However, these small spiders did not directly harm them. They merely bit open part of the spider silk covering their faces, exposing their eyes.

“You’re quite fortunate. The performance coming next is going to be spectacular, so don’t miss it.” Arachne smiled at them.

The moment she finished speaking, she extended one spider leg from her lower body and hooked the armored tip of the limb around a nearby strand of spider silk. Suddenly, a section of spider silk dropped sharply downward, bringing with it a man who had likewise been wrapped up completely.

The man’s head was exposed, allowing everyone to see the terror in his eyes. Only his mouth remained sealed by spider silk.

“As the first among you to speak rudely to me, he’s fortunate enough to serve as an example for all of you.” Arachne smiled, “When you were children, did you ever tear the wings off little insects, then feed them to ants? Watching them struggle uselessly is really quite amusing.”

The moment her words fell, under the gazes of the other captives, the man released a pained shriek. The surface of his skin began writhing incessantly, as countless living things moved through his body while gnawing at him, like maggots squirming inside a corpse.

Gradually, the writhing beneath his skin accelerated. Then, amid his increasingly muffled and piercing screams, wound after wound began tearing open across his face. Spider Magical Beasts the size of ants continuously poured out from his wounds and nostrils, only to find new entrances and burrow back inside again.

At the same time, beneath the spider silk covering his body, spiders also continuously bit through his skin and crawled out. Blood kept seeping through the gaps in the spider silk binding him, staining the silk red before dripping downward.

The spider silk sealing his mouth suddenly split open, and countless spiders surged out at once, instantly covering his entire face. Amid his distorted cries, they began gnawing away at his face.

The sight of their companion’s suffering was unbearable to watch. The others present all tried to avert their gazes, but because their heads were stuck in place by spider silk, they could not turn them. Some tried to close their eyes, only to discover that even their eyelids had already been completely stuck in place, leaving them unable even to blink.

“I prepared this especially for you. All of you had better watch carefully, and no looking away!”

Arachne ordered them, then continued enthusiastically watching the man being devoured by spiders.

As those spiders fed, they grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, from ant-sized to finger-sized, then gradually swelling until they were as large as fists, as though they were directly absorbing the target’s flesh and blood.

The man endured this gnawing that was like being cut apart by a thousand blades. His voice gradually weakened until he was completely submerged beneath the enlarged spiders and no longer made any sound.

Before long, the others could no longer see blood seeping through the gaps between the clustered spiders. Spiders crawled up and down among bloodstained white bones and spider silk.

“How does it feel?” Arachne leaned close to a captive whose face had already turned deathly pale from fear, reached out and pinched his face, then controlled the spiders to bite open the spider silk covering his mouth.

“……” The captive could finally speak, yet he trembled so badly that no words came out.

They were all underworld mercenaries who had once worked in the Earl’s territory. They had killed people, disposed of corpses, and seen severed limbs and mountains of bodies and seas of blood. But faced with Arachne’s bizarre half-human, half-spider appearance, the process of her using the Parasitic Infection Blessing to torture and kill someone, and spiders crawling all over their own bodies while they imagined the miserable death awaiting them, their wills were still crushed.

The Earl, Ophelia, and Bishop Beckett had disappeared, while Johnny had also completely washed his hands of the Foyle Region. The underworld mercenaries the Earl had used to handle business within his own territory suddenly became headless flies. After retreating in defeat from Arend Island, some defected to cadres in other territories, while others attempted to use the underworld bases and resources left behind by the Earl to start other businesses.

As a result, on this day, one of the underworld bases left behind by the Earl was suddenly visited by a group of people. None of these low-level underworld mercenaries recognized the Great Witch who had dealings with the Earl or her subordinates. During their attempt to resist the intruders, those killed on the spot could already be considered lucky. The rest were captured and brought here, where they began personally experiencing this Great Witch’s cruel hobby.

Arachne truly was not as skilled at infiltration and bribery as Dorothy, but when it came to interrogation, she was quite confident.

There should actually have been more efficient methods of interrogation, but she still preferred doing it this way, giving herself a little entertainment.

“Everyone only gets one chance.” Arachne bared her teeth and smiled coldly, “Tell me everything you know about ‘Fenrir’, and don’t leave anything out.”

About an hour later, Arachne, now in human form, walked out of the dungeon. The female subordinate dressed in nightwear who had been standing guard outside immediately bowed to her and handed over a handkerchief: “Mistress, did you obtain any useful intelligence?”

Arachne casually took it and wiped away the blood remaining on her hands. Muffled screams came from the dungeon behind her. Before long, those spiders would devour those people and the excess spiderwebs completely clean.

“Nothing much. It’s more or less the same as what that bitch Dorothy reported at the meeting. At least it can serve as corroboration.” Arachne said.

“Mistress, trivial matters like interrogation can actually be handled by us to share your burdens.” The subordinate said.

In Moiland, using people with Succubus Forms to apply Allure to others during interrogation was the most efficient method, and Arachne also had some quite capable interrogators under her.

“Don’t deprive me of one of my few pleasures. Anyway, these small fry can only know so much.” Arachne casually tossed aside the bloodstained handkerchief and coldly said, “Next, we’ll investigate the Magical Potion Trade in the area around Temple Island. Once I’ve thoroughly uncovered that Fenrir’s background, it’ll be his turn to properly experience what happens when someone gets in my way.”