City of Witches Chapter 196

“Ghk! Gheuk! Ghk!”

A momentary silence fell.

The student who had been swallowed by the piranha had their lungs shredded by sharp teeth, dying without even being able to let out a proper scream.

Just as juice flows when you put a ripe raspberry in your mouth, a beautiful stream of fresh blood trickled from the piranha's mouth.

“Kyaa!”

“........”

“What the hell...?”

“Is he dead?”

“Is this for real?”

“Is this a hidden camera prank?”

“Bullshit, what kind of prank is this? This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”

Even after witnessing such a scene right before their eyes, people only whispered among themselves in place, not fleeing.

If they had heard gunshots, if someone had been flung by an explosion, if a robber with a weapon had gone on a rampage.

A clearer reaction would have emerged then.

But the sight of a giant fish chomping down on a person under the department store's halogen lights.

Their brains failed to recognize the crisis in this scene dripping with B-grade horror movie aesthetics.

It was only after seeing the student's limbs dangling like scraps caught between the piranha's teeth.

Only after an unbearable fishy stench that couldn't be dismissed as a mistake filled their nostrils.

Only after an unnaturally large amount of blood flowing down its chin formed a puddle on the imitation marble floor.

“Wh-what the f-f-fuck is that!!!”

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“119! 112! Call them all!”

“What! Why isn't my phone working!?”

“Mom! Mom!”

They belatedly grasped the situation.

The men's clothing section of the department store descended into chaos with screams, tears, shrieks, and confusion.

Amidst people scattering like baby spiders, Black Armor passed by, slashing through the piranha that was the source of the terror.

Siwoo, who had jumped from the middle of the escalator, instantly created shadow armor and a Longsword.

Adding his weight and the force of the fall, he cleaved through the piranha with a full-powered strike.

There was a solid feel to the impact.

As Siwoo's blade passed, the piranha, cleanly bisected, fell to the floor, spewing blood.

Even after its body was halved and it hit the floor, the piranha kept opening and closing its mouth and flapping its tail.

That sight alone was chilling.

“Gather here!”

Siwoo called out loudly to the people.

But a crowd plunged into extreme chaos had no reason to follow the instructions of a single person in an orderly fashion.

This was a disaster.

“What the fuck is even going on here.”

Siwoo removed his eyepatch and scanned his surroundings.

It was almost certain this piranha was a Homunculus.

However, judging by the flow of magic power around, this interior was not a Hidden Boundary.

From what he had heard from Sharon, Homunculi don't bring this many humans inside a barrier when hunting their prey in the first place.

Meaning, a Homunculus had appeared in the Mortal Realm without even a Hidden Boundary and was slaughtering people.

““Assistant!!!””

The Twins came running up the escalator towards the bewildered Siwoo.

“Stick behind me for now. We don't know what might happen.”

A person had died right before his eyes.

He didn't know what threats awaited.

Entering a combat-ready stance, Siwoo realized he was calmer than he thought.

Even considering the several life-or-death battles he'd been through, it was as if, like a Veteran of a Hundred Battles, separate from the turmoil in his heart, his eyes were scanning the battlefield situation and preparing for variables.

“Can you reach Deneb-nim?”

“No... I can't!”

“I-I tried both my Artifact and cell phone, but neither works at all.”

“What the hell is this damn...”

The one piranha that caused this chaos was already dead, but the air prickling his skin, the ominous atmosphere thick with foreboding, told him.

It wasn't over yet.

It hadn't even begun yet.

Something else was coming.

-ting ting ting ting ting

As if answering Siwoo's expectation, all the lights inside the department store began to vanish one by one.

No, they didn't vanish completely.

It was as if they had sunk into the deep sea, their luminosity suppressed to the limit.

As the department store had no other windows, the entire building instantly became pitch dark.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“What, what is it? A terrorist attack?”

Darkness induces fear.

The commotion in the department store also reached its peak.

The uproar grew not only on the current floor but also from the floors above and below the escalator.

“Ah....”

And then Siwoo saw them.

Appearing from who knows where.

Gliding leisurely as if prowling an aquarium, waving their fins and tails.

Dozens of piranhas.

Before Siwoo, his body frozen, could stop them, the Twins rushed out.

Each held a beautifully crafted musket rifle.

As they aimed and fired Simultaneously, two piranhas prowling the air fell with a thud.

“Assistant, we'll help too!”

“We can protect ourselves!”

“Odil-nim, Odette-nim.”

It was the Musket 'Janissary' that fired Artifact Magic Bullets, prepared in advance by the Countess after the Ea Sadalmelik attack so the Twins could at least protect themselves.

“We're confident in hunting too.”

“We've done it a lot!”

Without further hesitation, Siwoo immediately created two strands of Ribbon and Twin Swords and leaped into the midst of the piranhas.

Please stay still.

Please don't move.

Siwoo's wish was futile. With a collective gasp of horror from the crowd, a bloody mist erupted in an instant.

Just as piranhas swarm to bite prey when they smell blood, dozens of piranhas simultaneously began to snatch and swallow the humans around them.

One student, bitten by teeth, was flung into the air.

Like flies swarming a corpse, multiple piranhas rushed at the student pierced by teeth and began tearing into them.

Limbs were torn to shreds, and only hot, murky liquid fell with a plop plop.

“Kyaaaaah! Mooooom!!!”

“Uwaaaah, what, what are all these things!”

“Status window! Status! Inventory! I awaken to a life of gaming aaaaah! Ghk! I'm bitten!”

By that moment, Siwoo had already cleaved through five piranhas and was piercing others with his Ribbon.

The piranhas were pathetically weak but fast.

To civilians with no means to counter them, they were no different from beasts freely flying through the air.

On top of that, they were cunning to the extreme, too busy enjoying the prepared feast while avoiding Siwoo to offer a proper fight.

No matter how hard Siwoo rushed in and cut down a few, the rate at which people around him died was much faster.

The Twins also assisted diligently by firing their guns, but it was like trying to stop a typhoon with a palm."Come here! I said come here!"

No matter how loudly Siwoo shouted to gather people, his voice was drowned out by screams, shrieks, and the sounds of flesh and bone being torn apart.

Only about ten quick-witted people at most were huddled beside the Twins, who were frantically firing their guns, trembling uncontrollably.

In an instant, the entire floor was dyed crimson with blood.

Now, there was no place to step that wasn't stained dark red.

A pungent stench and the smell of iron, along with chunks of entrails and severed limbs, lay scattered coldly on the display counters.

"Damn... this fucking mess..."

Siwoo felt the blood drain from his head.

It was already too late.

In the 20 seconds it took Siwoo to kill ten Piranhas using his Ribbon and sword, most of the humans on this floor had become food for the Piranhas.

"H-hey, what on earth is going on?"

"This is some kind of broadcast shoot, right? This isn't real, is it?"

"S-special forces or something?"

"Mommy... Mommy... I'm scared... save me..."

The survivors beside the Twins, each in a state of panic, clung to Siwoo, who was clad in armor and slaughtering the monsters.

What should I do?

Is this really reality?

Those things probably don't exist only on this floor.

Then just how many people have been caught up in this?

Is there a way to save more people?

This is an incident on a scale that couldn't happen without someone behind it.

Who's behind it?

What are the other Witches doing?

Should I send the Twins away first?

Is this something I can handle alone?

It's all so unreal.

"...Assistant!"

"Assistant!!!"

Suddenly, the loud shouts of the Twins ringing in his ears made Siwoo gasp for air.

"Snap out of it! What are you going to do spacing out like that?"

A ringing filled his ears, and as his blurred vision cleared, only the Piranhas remained in sight, lined up and staring this way, ready to devour the remaining prey.

The swarm of Piranhas, perhaps wary of Siwoo and the Twins who put up fierce resistance unlike easy prey, didn't rush in recklessly.

Odil, aiming her musket in the standoff, asked.

Siwoo shook his head.

He'd worry later.

First, he had to deal with the immediate crisis.

"First, I'll evacuate them."

"Evacuate? How?"

He had regained some of his composure.

"I'll use Coordinate Teleportation. The Magic I used to help you and Odette escape before. It'll take some time. Can you cover me until then?"

"Of course, just leave it to me."

Odil said confidently.

In Siwoo's estimation, these Piranhas were weaker than the hounds he faced before.

However, their speed was faster than any entity he had encountered so far.

High speed and the ability to move freely through the air meant they were difficult opponents for a type like Siwoo, who specialized in Close Combat.

On the other hand, Odil and Odette's shooting had been excellent even while Siwoo was fighting frantically.

Even though they were Apprentice Witches, he judged that as long as they possessed offensive Artifacts with formidable firepower, he could trust them with this task.

"Everyone, gather in front of me."

"At least explain what this is! Mister, are you a soldier?"

"You can at least tell us what's going on!"

In this chaotic state, the panicked survivors raised their voices as if to confront Siwoo, who seemed to know something they didn't.

"I'm not a mister or a soldier, and I don't have time to explain, so just gather. I'm trying to get you out of here."

But when Siwoo shook off his blood-soaked sword and shouted loudly, the complaints died down.

To them, the monsters that suddenly started eating people and the man who slaughtered those monsters in an instant, covered in blood, were equally terrifying objects.

Knowing that, he decided to use it.

He thought it would be easier to control them this way.

"Odil, Odette, please stand nearby as well."

Siwoo intended to stay here.

He thought there might be survivors who had hidden to escape the disaster.

His goal was to get even one more person out of this scene of slaughter.

But the Twins shouldn't be here.

As he said, since it's unknown what might happen next, evacuating them and informing the outside of the situation inside was the priority.

However, Odil and Odette didn't budge.

"No, we'll fight with you, Assistant."

"That's right! We're going to save people too!"

"This isn't the time for that! You need to inform Lady Deneb!"

"That's something we can have someone who gets out of here do. A single phone call, right?"

"But..."

Odil firmly cut off Siwoo, who tried to add an explanation.

"Assistant, a noble's honor doesn't come from their family name. It comes from fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of a noble person."

"That's what you taught us, right?"

He didn't remember teaching them such a thing...

It was true that he needed every bit of help he could get right now.

Especially since the guns the Twins were holding seemed like they would be excellent Combat Power against these terrifying Piranhas.

"Understood. Then I'll prioritize evacuating the civilians first. However, if I sense even the slightest hint of danger, I will evacuate the two of you first."

As soon as the order of action was decided, Siwoo looked around.

For a while now, he had been sensing a flow of magic power completely different from that of a Hidden Boundary.

A much heavier, deep-sea-pressured, dark-colored magic power was circulating in the area.

If so, he needed to move them much farther, to the outside of this building.

Siwoo handed his phone to one of the survivors.

"As soon as you get out of here, please call this number and this number and explain the situation. You absolutely must do this."

"W-what should I say?"

"Just say that monsters have appeared at COEX."

"Y-yes, sir..."

A buzz-cut soldier who seemed to be on leave nodded repeatedly, trembling.

This was no situation to calmly offer comfort.

"Odil, Odette, then I'll entrust the covering fire to you."

A blue circle began to form beneath the people's feet.

Siwoo's Magnetic Magic Coordinate Teleportation was activating.

This number of people and this distance.

He estimated the calculation would take over a minute.

Buying that time was the Twins' role.

The patience of the Piranhas, which had been observing the situation for a while, had also run out.

Perhaps stimulated by the blue light, the predators clacked their teeth, preparing to pounce on the survivors.

Trusting the Twins, Siwoo closed his eyes and fell into perfect concentration.Odil and Odette were no longer trembling as they once did.

Before, they had only received protection, but now it was time for the two of them to protect their assistant.

Odil and Odette stood as if shielding Siwoo, tightly gripping their musket rifles.

"Ready, Odette?"

"Of course, sister."

The twins aimed their gun barrels and pulled the triggers, firing a volley of magic power.

A Word from the Author (Author's Note)

If you ever encounter a Piranha that devours people in your daily life, simply approach the most beautiful woman you see and ask for help.