As I followed the direction where I sensed the blue reaper, I suddenly felt an urgent signal from it.

“A suspicious Object has appeared!”

The message seemed a bit rushed and somewhat fearful.

When I arrived at the location where the blue reaper had signaled, I found it in pain. Seeing this, nothing else mattered. The giant hag and the mysterious cave were of no concern anymore.

I even forgot that I had been searching for the "Mirror of the Blue Witch" as I brought the garden into reality.

The blue reaper, now in my hands, was trembling, its eyes squeezed shut. Letters kept appearing and disappearing in the air.

“It hurts.” The message repeated as the blue reaper expressed its pain.

As I blew the embers into it, the torn arm slowly began to regenerate.

It became clear that the blue reaper was quite different from the Golden Reapers. It had already shown its uniqueness with its ability to fly and cast spells. But now, I noticed that its regeneration speed was significantly slower than that of the Golden Reapers.

Furthermore, the hags weren’t supposed to be powerful enough to overcome physical immunity, yet the blue reaper had been injured. It seemed it didn’t possess physical immunity either.

The expressions of the Golden Reapers, who had gathered around, were like those of siblings worried about their delicate and fragile younger brother.

Once the blue reaper's arm had fully regenerated, it fell asleep, exhausted. I gently stroked its head, smoothing its brow, which had been furrowed as if in a nightmare, until its expression became peaceful.

After placing the peacefully sleeping blue reaper on a marshmallow in the garden, I withdrew the garden, returning to the lakeside.

Rest here, I'll get revenge for you soon.

For the sake of the blue reaper’s peaceful sleep, I decided that the hags would be dealt with at the lake. There was no need to use spatial manipulation on Objects of their level.

The cocoa, marshmallows, and sweets that had filled the world disappeared, replaced by the dark night sky and the vast lake.

Three hags, similar in size to the one I had dealt with before, and one giant hag.

Since they mentioned having sisters, these must be those “sisters.”

The hags, who had been trembling when they saw me, seemed to relax a little upon returning to the familiar lakeside. The giant hag, catching my gaze, spoke with a tense expression.

“We didn’t realize that little one was your servant. Please, forgive us….”

I scanned the hags and the giant hag, but I didn’t see a mirror anywhere. Were these hags not the Blue Witch?

Seeing that I remained silent and just stared at them, the giant hag’s tone shifted, becoming more authoritative.

“Surely you wouldn’t oppose the Blue Moon over something so trivial?”

The giant hag spread her arms wide, and the blue moon reflected in the water expanded until it filled the entire surface of the lake. The large, luminous blue moon cast a powerful aura, filling the lake with its light.

“The Blue Moon is eternal. You must feel its power.”

The giant hag’s expression turned from one of humility to one of smug confidence, as if certain that I would have no choice but to retreat.

Boasting with just that?

Even if you commanded a thousand fiends, if you hurt my fragile little one, there’s no forgiveness for you.

With a bored expression, I summoned the Golden Reapers. The hags, seeing themselves surrounded on all sides by countless Golden Reapers, began to panic.

“Fools! Don’t lose your composure!”

The giant hag barked at the hags, her sharp teeth, like those of a shark, clattering as she growled.

“So, you’ve decided to fight? As long as the Blue Moon exists, we witches are immortal. You will regret this. You and everything you hold dear will forever fear the night and the shadows!”

Despite the giant hag’s ominous warning, the Golden Reapers continued to close in.

Seeing this, the giant hag began to chant a curse in a loud voice.

“You will all melt away into a pool of blood!”

The black waves of her curse struck the Golden Reapers, but it had no effect. The curse dissipated as soon as it touched their skin.

“You will all be blinded, unable to see!”

“Your limbs will twist, and you will be unable to move properly!”

The hag’s gnarled hands lashed out at the Golden Reapers, cursing them with every word. The contrast between her twisted, enraged face and the calm, unyielding expressions of the Golden Reapers was stark.

The hags tried various tactics, from negotiating to cursing, but the Golden Reapers steadily advanced, their small steps inching closer and closer.

Finally, when the hags were cornered, unable to move any further, I clapped my hands.

Clap.

At the signal, the Golden Reapers charged. This time, their rush was faster and more intense than usual, likely driven by a desire for vengeance on behalf of the blue reaper.

“You cannot harm me!”

“You will wail in agony at the slightest breeze!”

Even as they were being mercilessly torn apart by the Golden Reapers, the hags continued to spit curses.

“Aaaah!”

“Spare me!”

But the curses grew fewer and the screams more frequent until, at last, there was only silence. All that remained were mangled masses of flesh.

“You will regret this…”

The final curse from the hags' remains was their last. But it was useless.

The black-clad agent slowly regained his senses in the quiet stillness.

The moonlight streaming in from the ceiling, the softly glowing crystals—it was the same cave where he had lost consciousness, but the atmosphere had completely changed.

The overwhelming presence of the blue woman was gone.

Where’s the girl?

The agent’s eyes fell upon the blonde girl lying peacefully under the moonlight. Her figure, bathed in the blue light, looked serene, as if she were simply sleeping.

With a mix of hope and fear on his face, the agent rushed to her side, kneeling next to her and gathering her in his arms.

She appeared unhurt, breathing calmly.

“Miss! Are you alright?”

His voice echoed faintly through the cave, breaking the heavy silence that had settled there.

“Ah, Mister... you’re here,” the girl said weakly, opening her eyes with a faint smile.

Her blue eyes, glowing softly, focused on the agent’s face.

Sensing something in her expression, the agent tried to speak, but the girl’s feeble voice filled the space instead.

“I should have listened to you... I failed.”

As she spoke, something began to change within her. Blood started to well up from her chest, where no wound had been before.

“Objects that grant wishes do fulfill them, but I thought it would be alright if I made the contract with lots and lots of conditions...”

A sharp wound, as if from a stab, suddenly appeared on the girl’s chest, and blood poured from it. The agent tried to stop it, but the wound was too deep.

“I just wanted to go on an outing together, without worrying about my family, my grandfather, or the Objects...”

The blonde girl’s eyes lost focus as she gazed at something unseen, and then she stopped breathing.

Closing her eyes, the agent stood up with the girl’s lifeless body in his arms.

There must be a way.

Even if it means making another wish with that woman.

Near Yangcheon-gu Lake, at the cave's edge, the remains of the hags were being cleaned up.

The blue reaper, having recovered, was helping with the cleanup.

“Please burn to ashes!”

“Burn completely to ashes!”

“Make sure to burn into ashes!”

The blue reaper’s words set the hags' bodies ablaze, while the Golden Reapers diligently dug the ground. It was necessary to fulfill the destruction conditions for the hags, which were all the same: “Burn to ashes and bury in the ground.”

Wait, there’s something odd.

Within the giant hag’s body, I discovered a strange Object that wouldn’t turn to ashes. It was a red heart that continuously spewed flames.

It must be a high-ranking Object, given the unusual destruction condition it had: “Stop the heart from beating and submerge it in water.”

As I stared at the softly pulsing heart, the Golden Reapers finished their task of burying the ashes. As soon as the ashes were securely buried, I felt a shift in my abilities.

The blue reapers multiplied.

Ten of them.

That’s a significant increase in numbers.

But how many more hags would I have to capture to match the number of Golden Reapers? It doesn’t seem like there are any more hags around this lake...

The Golden Reapers seemed delighted by the increase in blue reapers, laughing as they surrounded and hugged them with overwhelming affection.

The blue reapers, overwhelmed by the boundless goodwill radiating from the lively Golden Reapers, seemed unsure of how to handle it. Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, they pulled their hats down and fled to the sky.

As I watched the adorable mini reapers, I suddenly felt a disturbance from the lake. At the same time, I sensed the presence of an Object, and the mirror-like surface of the lake began to swirl.

Is the Blue Witch finally making her appearance?

While resting at the lodging near Yangcheon-gu Lake, the woman covered in tattoos felt a tremor in the ground.

The earth was shaking.

It wasn’t a strong tremor, but it was definitely noticeable.

Startled, the woman rushed outside of her lodging.

Could it be that the lake’s monster is already appearing?

A gigantic, enormous creature surged from the lake’s surface.

The guardian of the lake, known as the lake serpent.

People on Earth would probably give it a name based on a famous legend.

Hydra.

The monstrous serpent, rooted in the vast expanse of Yangcheon-gu Lake, towered over everything, seeming taller than any building. It was a colossal creature made of water.

“Haha, why has the lake’s serpent appeared already…?”

The woman muttered to herself in despair.

The crystal needed to stop that serpent isn’t ready yet.

It needs about a day.

A day is more than enough time for the Hydra, tainted by the curse, to turn all of Seoul into ruins.