Chapter 18- The Voodoo Witch
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Days passed as we moved around America. We saw several creatures during this time, which also became part of my collection. We also ran into a bunch of monsters (greek monsters), but they were too weak and mostly focused on hunting Greek demigods. Yep, Percy Jackson was mixed into this universe. Camp Half-Blood did exist, but Percy was probably around the same age as me and hadn't gone to Camp Half-Blood yet. And as we all know, the real shit only starts when the protagonist shows up.
Today we were heading to New Orleans, a city famous for its voodoo witches. Of course, there was a certain werewolf infestation in the area too. I didn't plan to add werewolves to my sanctuary, since they were part human. Though, I did sneak in some demigods, just for research purposes. Don't worry, I didn't just grab random innocent demigods. I waited until I saw some monsters hunting them. Then, just before they would've died, I put them into stasis and stored them for future research. What, you thought I was gonna save them? Please, I'm a devil. Taking only the ones who would've died anyway is already me being generous.
New Orleans has its own charm, especially the older areas. I decided to check out voodoo magic here, so I excused myself from the group and scanned for all the strong beings in the area. Sadly, there weren't any. Even the strongest witches were only about as strong as mid amongst high-level devils. But hey, that didn't stop my curiosity.
I stepped inside a small shop at the edge of the street. I had turned myself into an adult to perfectly hide my identity. Devil magic is way too convenient. Inside the shop, at the counter, stood a young woman in her early twenties with jet-black hair and emerald-green eyes. She was beautiful and had this classic witchy vibe. I mean, yeah, she was a witch. Her strength and her age made her talent pretty obvious.
"Hello, welcome to Zephy's Flowers and Charms. What do you wish to purchase?" she asked with a smile.
"Hey. I heard there are special luck charms sold by witches here. Can I get one of those?" I asked. Of course, I wasn't gonna start showing my real purpose right away.
"Well, yes, we do. There are a lot of varieties of luck charms. Which one do you want?"
"Obviously, the most expensive one," I said, making her face light up.
"Of course!" she said, pulling out a gorgeous-looking flask filled with herbs and flowers. It smelled nice, too. It was enchanted, but the magic was weak. It might bring a little better luck to an average human, but other than that, it was just a scam.
"This is our best-quality luck charm," she explained with a businesslike smile. "It's made from exotic herbs and flowers imported from all over the world and enchanted with the strongest witch magic. It'll bring great luck to its possessor—maybe you can dabble in gambling, and become the best gambler. And it only costs $2,500."
"Well… although the magic is kinda nifty, isn't it way too weak? And the flowers and herbs are just for fragrance, right? If the strongest magic of witches is really just this, it's pretty disappointing." Time to poke the bear. She seemed talented enough to be a decent pawn, so I wanted to push her into a little fight. If she impressed me, I'd show her my full power and maybe recruit her. After all, in the supernatural world, strength is basically charm and everyone tends to follow strong people.
"Well… it is pretty strong for humans. It'd really bring them good luck," she said warily, eyeing me like she was ready to fight.
"So, who are you? You don't have the aura of a magician," she asked.
"Isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself first before asking someone else to do the same?" I said, throwing in some sass.
"Hmph, as if you haven't already investigated everything about me since you came here," she said with a hint of pride.
"Well, believe it or not, I didn't. I just sensed your aura and figured you were one of the strongest witches here, despite your age. So, here I am."
"What do you want from the witches? The fact that you can sense everyone's auras even if we hid it means you're not ordinary. What's your purpose?" Her eyes glowed like green orbs, and her magic radiated around her.
"From witches? Nothing. You, on the other hand... I'll decide after this little test."
Before she could respond, I teleported both of us into a separate dimension. I didn't want to wreck her shop. But that alone freaked her out.
"What have you done? Where are we?!" she screamed, panicking as she looked at the blank void.
"You can worry about that later. For now, you've got something more important to deal with," I said, firing a shot of demonic energy at her. She chanted a spell to create a shield but still got sent flying several meters from the force.
I guess I had to tone it down. I wasn't trying to actually hurt her. She stabilized herself and started chanting again. I felt weak energy trying to infiltrate my body—probably an illusion. But come on, my demonic energy was way too strong for her illusion to work. I still pretended to be confused.
Seeing her "attack" work, she conjured two spells at once. One hand released a fireball, and the other launched a wind ball. They combined into a much larger, hotter fireball. But it still wasn't enough. I swatted it away like a fly.
Over the next hour, she threw over 500 different spells at me. I didn't even flinch. This was just a power show, after all.
Eventually, the witch collapsed to her knees, panting heavily as she stared at me in frustration and fear.
"Who… who are you?!" she gasped, fear written all over her face.
"I am Maximus Agares, a devil and heir to the noble Agares clan," I said, letting my full aura erupt. It was like Conqueror's Haki—too overwhelming for weaker beings to handle. For her, a mere high-rank witch, my peak Satan-level aura was more than enough to terrify her. She fainted on the spot.
Well… maybe I overdid it. I transported her to my sanctuary dimension, setting her up in the castle I built for myself, and healed the minor injuries she had. About thirty minutes later, she woke up, looking around in fear. But instead of the void, she saw the beautiful sanctuary.
"Am I dead? Is this heaven? It's as beautiful as I imagined it would be," she mumbled.
"No, you're not dead, and this isn't heaven," I chuckled, startling her. She turned to see me.
"Who are you, kid?" she asked, eyeing me suspiciously. I was back in my original form.
"Well, this is my true form. I'm Maximus Agares. Sorry for scaring you and making you faint earlier," I said with a smile.
"That was you? Why'd you attack me? We don't even know each other…" she asked, her fear returning.
"Now, now, don't be scared. It was just a test. See? You're not even injured. You're a powerful witch—what's a little scare to you? Now, be a good girl and introduce yourself."
She stared at me blankly for a moment, deep in thought, then finally replied:
"I'm Zephine Ravenwood, the youngest daughter of the Voodoo Queen."