City of Witches Chapter 173

Sharon, having exhausted all her magic power, was of no help in terms of combat power.

Rather, the situation required protecting Sharon from the swarming black dogs, making her, if anything, a penalty.

Protecting Sharon, dealing with the swarming black dogs, and preparing a finishing blow for the mother dog still desperately trying to climb the building's side.

The phrase "triple hardship" was truly fitting.

But he had plenty of similar experiences already.

In situations where retreat was impossible, the 'Magic' Siwoo had meticulously built up had always guaranteed the success of his plans.

All Siwoo could do now was trust in his own strength.

"Stay back a bit more!"

Siwoo shouted at Sharon while thrusting his Spear of Shadow with all his might.

Sharon also knew she was of no help whatsoever.

Yet, it was still frustrating to just stand there, stamping her feet, watching Siwoo struggle.

If only she hadn't exhausted the magic power she had gathered earlier, intending to settle the score, she could have helped a little.

"Y...You can do it! Siwoo!"

Sharon ended up cheering him on.

The spear curved at a bizarre angle, piercing two charging black dogs simultaneously, while the shield smashed another black dog lunging from the side.

Despite his left and right hands performing completely different movements, they flowed without a hint of awkwardness.

"Bloom!"

Simultaneously, Siwoo amplified his magic power.

Absorbing magic power through his left eye, which bore the fancy name 'Magic Eye,' and amplifying it.

Amplifying, and amplifying again.

From a general perspective, this was an extremely dangerous act.

Amplifying magic power required careful and meticulous computation, as noise inevitably arose during the process.

Otherwise, the magic power mixed with noise could short-circuit the magic circuits, potentially causing serious internal injury to the caster.

Meaning it was not something to be done while moving one's body violently.

But amplifying magic power and filtering noise was one of Siwoo's areas of greatest confidence.

Because it was the part he had refined and refined again during his slave days, when he couldn't store a single drop of magic power, in order to activate large-scale Magic Formulas.

"Ah...."

Sharon watched the perilous act, akin to a tightrope walk, with a nervous heart.

Her feeling of helplessness, of being unable to do anything, was momentarily forgotten; she couldn't help but gape at the wondrous sight.

Because the total amount of Siwoo's amplified magic power was becoming as dense as the magic power Sharon could handle in her peak condition.

Moreover, Siwoo wasn't just amplifying magic power.

He was instantly converting the amplified magic power into shadow.

On the side of the rooftop where Sharon and Siwoo stood, an immense amount of shadow was piling up layer by layer.

The nature of the shadow was different from usual.

If before, the particles were so fine it felt like smoke, now it was closer to iron sand than smoke.

"Grrk!"

Siwoo swung his shield, knocking away a dog that had bitten his arm and was hanging on.

A searing pain spread—had the teeth piercing his armor reached his forearm?

Doing computations while fighting apparently lowered his performance.

But there was no other way.

If his life was forfeit anyway, he had no choice but to gamble with it.

Siwoo recklessly drew out shadow using the amplified magic power.

One could tell by looking at the particles that this shadow was not the same as usual.

Shadow compressed to be denser and far heavier than mercury.

He had maximized its weight by combining it with the earth element.

The technique was similar to creating shadow wings or reinforcing his entire body with armor.

Only now, he wasn't thinking about anything else, just adding mass.

The shadow, imbued with the maximum mass Siwoo could bestow, was gradually swelling on one side of the rooftop.

At first glance, this act seemed meaningless.

Simply having a lot of magic power and having the ability to control it were separate issues.

Similarly, no matter how much Siwoo amplified his Magic and replicated shadow, he could hardly utilize them.

At best, he could only control them to keep the shadow from scattering and to gather it.

But this preparatory work would become his trump card.

-Crrrrumble!

The building shook violently.

Because the mother dog, having leaped from afar, had latched onto the midsection of the over-30-story building.

The entire building swayed as if caught in an earthquake, beginning to tilt like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

"Si...Siwoo! More and more are coming! The building's going to collapse at this rate!"

Sharon, her face pale, looked down at the scene of hundreds of black dogs swarming.

It was a case of being soaked in a drizzle.

No matter how overwhelmingly superior Siwoo was against these pathetic dogs, with numbers like this, it was a different story.

Moreover, having reached the rooftop, there was nowhere to run.

"Just a little more...."

It still wasn't enough.

He needed to gather a bit more.

If he didn't finish it in one strike, he would be the one cornered.

Siwoo continuously used amplification, drawing out more shadow.

His head and eyes were starting to ache.

The magic circuits spread throughout his body were screaming in pain, clearly from overexertion.

It was a terrible sensation, like hot flames flowing through every corner of his blood vessels.

-Grooooooowl!!!

"Almost! She's almost up!"

A roar of joy, with prey right before its eyes, reverberated as if to tear the eardrums.

The mother dog, having succeeded in its precarious climb by digging its claws into the building.

It was close enough to smell its uniquely foul stench.

"Now!"

Siwoo swung the Ribbon with all his might, sweeping away all the Homunculi around the rooftop.

Leaping back, he wrapped an arm around Sharon's waist and simultaneously infused magic power into all the shadow he had gathered until now.

"Bloom."

And at the same time.

-Screeeeeech!

With a horrifying, deafening noise, the building tilted and collapsed.

The idea Siwoo had conceived was simple.

In a way, one could say he got inspiration from watching the department store collapse earlier.

The impact generated by the collapsing department store was a mass weapon in itself.

An impact and force truly close to a calamity, incomparable to common accidents seen around.

A building was by no means an unbreakable fortress.

Didn't the meticulously designed Twin Towers, meant to prevent terrorism and accidents, also crumble from a mere collision with airplanes?

Even when demolishing a building, removing just a few load-bearing pillars causes the rest to collapse under its own weight.

The building Siwoo had evacuated to was already tilting, its midsection and lower parts collapsed due to the Homunculus rampage.

In other words, it was a situation where it wouldn't be strange for it to break apart at any moment.Then is there any reason not to use it?

Siwoo added his own little touch to the situation.

Creating the shadow was to determine the 'direction' and 'timing' of the building's collapse.

That's how dozens of tons of shadow piled up on one side of the rooftop.

Of course, even a dilapidated building could withstand this much.

But what if he injected magic power into it momentarily and gave a simple command?

It didn't need to be a complex command like creating a spear or armor.

Siwoo's magic control was far too lacking for that.

However, a simple execution like 'amplifying the mass for a few seconds' was possible.

Siwoo poured all the magic power he had amplified so far into the shadow at once, granting it all the mass he could bestow.

Now, a question.

What would happen if thousands, no, tens of thousands of tons of mass, increased in an instant, surged toward the weakened side of the building?

The answer is simple.

It would collapse in the direction where the monster was rampaging.

The heavy shadow and the entire weight of the building crushed the Homunculus that had been crawling up the outer wall.

Even the screams of the Homunculus were drowned out by a deafening roar, as if thunder had struck right beside them.

The thick dust settled instantly under the timely downpour of rain.

"Ugh... Ughhh...!"

With a stomach-churning sensation as if he'd been punched, Siwoo vomited bile while lying face down.

Sharon, covered in dust, patted his back.

"A-Are you okay?"

The devastated Shinchon Rotor.

The scenery, which he had frequented for everything from food hunts to putting up flyers, was now desolate as if bombed.

"I-I feel like I'm gonna die..."

To get straight to the point, Siwoo's gamble of collapsing the building to defeat the Homunculus was a spectacular success.

The Homunculus, crushed under the shadow that had momentarily swelled to tens of thousands of tons in weight, was subsequently buried under the collapsing building's debris and crushed to death. Siwoo managed to barely escape with Sharon by extending a Ribbon to the adjacent building.

It was a stunt action he never wanted to do again.

From Siwoo's perspective, it was fortunate that all the small Homunculi that had emerged from its body right after the mother dog died had also perished.

Judging by his physical state, if that hadn't happened, he would have likely been taken down by mere minions right after defeating the boss monster.

"Guhhh..."

"Siwoo! You can't die!"

As Siwoo groaned and sprawled out on the ground, Sharon shed tears as if he were on his deathbed.

Even for a Spirit Body, it was obvious that pushing it this hard would lead to trouble.

"I'm not dying... I just want to lie down for five more minutes."

"Here, lie here."

Sharon quickly knelt on the ground and lifted Siwoo's head onto her lap.

"Hey, it's fine. The ground is hard; your knees will hurt."

"I'm okay. Since I couldn't do anything, let me at least do this."

Sharon said with teary eyes.

Knowing her personality of disliking being in debt, and lacking the energy to bicker over trivial matters, Siwoo silently accepted her lap pillow service.

"Ah... You really went through a lot."

"Went through a lot... You did everything..."

"No, but if you hadn't acted up in the middle of the building, I would've been caught and turned into dog food."

"If you hadn't carried me and run, I would've been eaten long ago, right? When we jumped into the building, you grabbed me so I wouldn't be dragged away. I was so grateful."

The two praised each other's contributions to today's raid.

But both Siwoo and Sharon knew that today's fight was Siwoo's one-man show.

Escaping from under the collapsing department store, fleeing from the pursuing monster, figuring out the identity of the culprit, and even dealing the final blow all by himself.

But admitting all that felt somewhat embarrassing and awkward.

Because it wasn't purely skill; luck played a big part.

Siwoo lay comfortably as raindrops tapped his cheeks.

The sense of accomplishment when all plans fell into place.

The thrill of analyzing the enemy's Combat Power, comparing it to their own, and figuring out a strategy.

It was a dizzying, exhilarating moment, though perhaps a thought that comes from surviving.

"I must've been out of my mind..."

"Huh?"

"It's nothing."

Siwoo slightly turned his head to gaze at the building debris that had become the Homunculus's grave.

Aberration rebar jutted out jaggedly between large concrete chunks, bent I-beam steel frames and wires, and miscellaneous items piled up, with mechanical smoke seeping out from within.

As a bonus, the black dogs that had tormented Siwoo and Sharon were crushed or dismembered, stuck in the debris.

-Grrrrumble...!

"Ah, please, no..."

But peace was short-lived.

The building debris shifted, and the precariously piled concrete chunks began to collapse with a rumble.

The Homunculus buried beneath was trying to rise and break free.

Was the damage insufficient?

Even after free-falling from dozens of meters high and being buried under all that debris, it was still alive?

Siwoo marveled at the Homunculus's formidable durability.

"Siwoo! Get on my back!"

While regretting why he hadn't escaped sooner.

Sharon quickly lifted Siwoo up.

"I can walk on my own."

Siwoo staggered, trying to flee, but stopped in his tracks.

-Groooow...

Finally, the Homunculus pushed through the largest piece of debris and emerged.

Its appearance was clearly abnormal at a glance.

All its legs except one foreleg were severed, and the red-glowing eyes all over its body were burst or crushed, oozing a black, viscous fluid.

Instead of an ear-splitting roar, only the dying gasps of a beast could be heard.

"Good."

He had been somewhat regretful about not being able to retrieve the Spear of Shadow.

Siwoo freed himself from Sharon's support and created a Spear of Shadow.

Holding the spear, forged as sharp and pointed as possible, he stood before the Homunculus's head.

Even just looking at the head, it was as large as a midsize sedan, so it made sense it still clung to life despite such an impact.

Siwoo could see them.

The four pairs of eyes on the dog's head that hadn't lost their light.

Their bizarre gaze, impossible to tell where they were looking, stared directly at Siwoo, who was about to end its life.

"It's your karma, so accept it graciously."Attacking an unresisting opponent felt somewhat unsettling, but this was a monster that devoured humans, caused calamities, and had intended to make Sharon and Siwoo its main course tonight.

Siwoo aimed the spear at the center of its head and drove it in deep.

A Word from the Author (Author's Note)

I'm a bit late wrapping things up for the final part!