They returned to the witch's residence. Many problems have plagued him recently; he was supposed to be resolving a conflict, but in the end he ended up causing another of equal magnitude. Now he and the witch were equals to the townspeople.
"I guess now you understand why I don't like them" he said expressionlessly.
"They're somewhat… complicated to deal with. I think diplomacy is a bit more complex now…" Light responded, his face somewhat unhappy, unsure of how to resolve the situation.
"Do you still intend to try to lift the curse?"
"Well, I need some solution to resolve the curse" he replied with a sigh.
"There are several ways to solve this. You could annihilate them, and then there would be no more curse, or…" a mischievous smile, somewhat frightening as she was a witch.
"…you could kill me" laughter echoed in the room. They both understood the absurdity of the suggestion; Light had barely survived against the dwarves, who were killed with a single attack by her. If he had any doubts about why they didn't deal with her directly before, now he had none.
"Can't you just lift the curse quickly and then put it back? That should solve my problem."
"Well, if you don't mind angering your lord, we can think about that. I could charge a price for it" she said. In her view, his lord must be someone benevolent who wanted them to help whoever they met along the way, perhaps some noble.
"And what would the price be?" seeing a spark of hope.
"Killing Phantaminum, of course, or at least imprisoning him," the witch said contemplatively. His hope was swept under the rug; it would be easier to try to kill the witch, and that had everything to go wrong.
"Of course, in that case, we can carry out a joint operation. You wouldn't be alone" life returned to his eyes.
"What's your problem with Phantaminum?" trying to understand what was happening in this city.
"Phantaminum is the true Lord of Dirgrad; he pulls the strings like a puppeteer. The city provides some important things for him, mainly sacrifices for his demons. Simply put, Dirgrad is at peace and developed because it's a farm, Phantaminum's farm."
'But what the…'
"He's not a dwarf. In fact, I don't even know what he is. From the characteristics, he seems to be some kind of humanoid."
"He's stronger than you and is the one who actually runs the city. Why didn't he interfere with the curse?"
"The curse has been useful to him for now. In the future, he will charge me for it, but at the moment, several vengeful spirits with hatred for the witch are forming."
"Before I cursed Dirgrad and became your favorite villain, there were others who played that role. There has always been someone" she paused, and Light weighed her words before reaching a conclusion.
"You also serve him!"
"Of course. All the bigwigs here serve him. Rorik also serves him, as do Catis and the administrator. The main figures here all follow his orders, except for that idiot Catis. The others want his downfall."
"I was brought from far away to be the villain of the moment. Rorik caught his attention when he was young and ended up following him out of greed, of course. That was a long time ago. At the time, I didn't know about the atrocities happening or the true objectives."
"What are the true objectives?"
"He's obsessed with a door inside his mansion. It's been there for a long time; the wall around it has long since fallen, yet it remains whole and untouched. It's impossible to open, and he wants to open it at any cost."
"He's building a great army of demons and vengeful spirits to prepare, and when he has enough numbers, he'll sacrifice everyone in the city to cross to the other side."
"Although I'm not a fan of dwarves, this, of course, includes me unless I'm killed first so the next villain can take over. And we have an excellent candidate right here" her gaze fell on Light.
"What's the plan?"
"We infiltrate his mansion, surround him, and attack silently, without his creatures noticing, and we leave, with him alive or dead," she explained concisely.
"That doesn't sound like a plan" Light was somewhat skeptical of Ruari's abilities.
"What kind of plan did you expect? He's surrounded by demons, if he isn't one himself, who love conspiracies on top of that. If we spend too much time thinking and detailing, he'll certainly find out about it" her impatience was obvious in her words.
"We at least need help. Rorik should be able to assist. He's currently imprisoned by the guards. With his help, it should be easy to rescue him and proceed with the plan."
"That will alert him, not to mention that it's not worth the risk of saving him…" her voice was loaded with conflicting emotions.
"You two must have quite a history together" he tried to understand what the problem was between them.
"Of course, we fought a few times in the past. Although it was just a small spectacle, I still carry the pains of those battles today. I'm sure the same goes for him."
"I propose forgetting the past, saving him, and heading there."
"I reject the proposal. I'd rather die and serve as food for those dogs than work with him" she waved her hand in disbelief.
"If we manage to kill him, old Rorik will probably have some power among the dwarves and can give you access to the library" he continued to try to persuade her.
"These are just conjectures; he could simply turn against me and finish me off for good."
"Are you afraid of him?"
"No, not at all. I just want to avoid confrontations. Dwarves have always been choleric."
"I'm sure that old man is too tired to think about that" reflecting on his words, she concluded.
"Either way, I can't leave the swamp until it's time to start the operation. Otherwise, he'll act immediately. If you want, you'll have to go get him alone and face some more dwarves, perhaps getting stuck in the barrier again."
'But…'
"Do you have anything to help me, at least?"
"If you want, I can give you some potions; they should kill you a bit sooner, but they might be useful." Light vehemently refused the offer.
"Is there a place here to rest? I'm a bit tired, and I'll have to fight again later." She guided him to a guest room. It didn't make much sense to have one—did someone visit her?
"If you have any item with mana, give it to me later." As soon as he lay down, the system alerted him:
[Rejoice, mortal!]
[Your deeds have been recognized!]
[Your new title is….]