City of Witches Chapter 235

"T-t-t-teacher... M-m-m-master...."

Siwoo's outline begins to distort.

Skin and muscles melting away as if draped over shifting mountains.

Simultaneously, the room's scenery splits into hundreds of fragments like viewed through a kaleidoscope.

Eloa watched the spectacle, gripping her sword until the end.

The scene, undulating like a wind-whipped lake, shattered into pieces, revealing the identity of what was—or had been—Siwoo.

-Glurggle...!

It was a Homunculus.

One could tell immediately even without seeing the three gleaming eyes.

No creature like that exists in reality.

Three eyeballs buried in an unidentified mass of flesh floated in the air.

Below them, black tentacle-like things resembling arteries from a rotting animal carcass dangled in clusters.

From a slightly parted mouth in the flesh beneath the eyes, a saliva-like fluid dripped sluggishly. Coming to her senses, Eloa realized her own body was also sticky all over with that liquid.

Eloa had hunted countless Homunculi while traveling the world.

Having received vast amounts of information from Witch Point, she identified the opponent's nature at a glance.

The identity of this monster before her was a Dream Demon.

-Ooo...! Ooo...!

The monster, frantically waving its tentacles as Eloa seemed to regain her senses.

There was no reason to dwell on feelings of disgust or the like.

If the opponent was a Homunculus, there was only one course of action to take.

Hunt it.

It wasn't even a fight.

The Dream Demon was far too weak to block Eloa's sword strike.

-Swoosh!

Eloa gripped the Contract Sword firmly and slashed upward diagonally.

A sword strike refined to its utmost limit, without any excess, bisected the Homunculus's central mass obliquely without even a sound of cutting through flesh.

-Kyeeeeek!

With a bizarre shriek like a crow's neck being wrung, the Dream Demon's severed body tumbled onto the bed.

Naturally, the Hidden Boundary extended from the Dream Demon also began to fade away.

"........"

Eloa looked down at her own naked body and the dissolving corpse of the Homunculus melting away into the air.

Although the fight itself was utterly trivial, it had been an extremely dangerous moment.

One's personal strength and the level of danger are not always directly proportional.

The Dream Demon was merely a Homunculus with three eyes, but it had a record of assassinating two Witches.

Of course, assassinating a Witch typically above the 15th Hierarchy is nearly impossible.

Because even while sleeping, or unconscious for some reason, the Autonomous Defense is always active.

When sensing hostility, when a hostile target lays a hand on the body, when a sudden attack comes.

The Autonomous Defense System inherent in the Brand defends against it, intercepts it, and counterattacks.

The Dream Demon was a Homunculus specialized in bypassing that Autonomous Defense.

It creeps into a sleeping Witch's dream, infiltrates the mental world, assimilates with the magic power, and neutralizes the Autonomous Defense.

Thus, it takes the life of the Witch rendered defenseless.

If Eloa had realized any later, she likely would have had her throat slit on the bed without any defense.

Eloa used Magic to dissipate the unidentified sticky liquid clinging to her body.

And then it dawned on her.

Siwoo is in danger.

"Siwoo...!"

Eloa's body shot toward the balcony like the wind.

The Dream Demon is famous not only for being the only Homunculus capable of assassinating Witches.

It is also well-known to be a Familiar of the 'Cowardly Witch'.

Recent accidents and incidents lined up in her mind one after another.

The replicated Homunculus reported by Teacher Sua, the modified human heart that emerged from it as an offering.

The White Knight encountered on the rooftop, identical in form to the Enemy Knight.

And the mass slaughter incident at Coex.

Finally, the 'Dream Demon' that attacked Eloa today.

Teacher Sua had initially linked this case to the Cowardly Witch, Paola Socitl.

Though they hadn't been able to locate the Cowardly Witch, famous for her skill in hiding her tracks.

With an audible click of fitting pieces, all the clues interlocked.

The series of incidents recently occurring in Seoul were orchestrated by the 'Cowardly Witch'.

What her purpose is for causing these events is unknown.

However, Socitl can control many Homunculi simultaneously, to the extent she was called the Witch of a Thousand Hands.

The important point here is 'many' Homunculi 'simultaneously'.

In other words, while Eloa was preoccupied dealing with the Dream Demon, it's highly likely that a black hand had also reached out to Siwoo and Evergreen.

"Siwoo!"

Eloa broke the locked living room window and entered the house.

But checking Siwoo's room, checking Miss Evergreen's room, and even meticulously searching the bathroom and kitchen just in case, she couldn't find either of them.

The absence of signs of battle was no reason for relief.

Homunculi hunt by deploying a Hidden Boundary, so it's possible they had already been dealt with and the barrier withdrawn.

"Ah......"

The moment she became certain the two were not here, Eloa felt an impact as if a lump of lead had dropped in her chest.

Simultaneously, a nauseating fear and terror instantly consumed her body.

The dark room, the ominous silence.

It forcibly resurrected a memory from long ago.

The agonizing memory of the day she lost Raphi.

"No.... No, no, no...."

Her mind simply went blank.

The color drained from her face, her hands and feet turned cold and trembled.

She couldn't lose someone again.

She couldn't lose him again due to a moment's carelessness and mistake, powerless like this.

Eloa frantically pulled out her cell phone.

Pressing the buttons of the portable terminal she never got used to even after years of use, she made a call.

She called Siwoo first, but...

No answer.

No one picked up despite several rings.

"How... what should I do... R-right... Sua, Teacher Sua...!"

This time, she called the branch director of Witch Point, Teacher Sua.

But it was the same.

No matter how many times it rang, no one answered, and the automated voicemail greeting played.

The sudden attack by Socitl's Familiar.

The disappearance of Siwoo and Evergreen.

Teacher Sua not answering her phone.

This wasn't normal.

Something terribly ominous was happening.

Eloa clutched her chest as if having a hyperventilation attack and slumped to the floor.

"This can't be happening... This can't be..."

Eloa, barely supporting her crumbling body, gripped her sword tightly and stood up again.Her eyes held a murderous intent and determination so fierce it was unsettling.

She forcibly suppressed the resurfacing trauma, along with all her worries and concerns.

I will find him.

I will definitely find him and protect him.

This time, I will not repeat the mistakes of the past.

"I Contract."

The twelve characters engraved on the side of the Contract Sword all began to glow.

A storm of magic power erupted, wreaking havoc and churning up the surrounding area.

The magic power unleashed at full Combat Power by a Witch of the 23rd hierarchy was a wave so dense with highly concentrated magical energy that a weak-willed Witch would be crushed and faint.

Eloa was a case who had modified all her Magic entirely for 'combat.'

Therefore, she could not handle precise tracking Magic or search Magic.

Then, the solution was to simply tear this entire area apart.

Eloa's body shot out the window.

She began racing through various parts of Seoul at a speed faster than the wind.

Today's search for the Homunculus also yielded no significant results.

After finishing the two-hour search, they checked into a hotel.

Following the wild, hot—in Sharon's words—'treatment session,' the two were lounging on the hotel bed.

Since Sharon was covering the lodging costs, it wasn't a particularly nice hotel.

It was a place on the outskirts of Hongdae, better than a motel but ambiguous enough that calling it a proper hotel felt off.

Unlike before, when they would mix bodies whenever their eyes met, their sex time was now concentrated to once every three days.

As a result, they spent such wild time together that they ended up lounging around until almost dawn.

"Haah... Today was good too."

Sharon, having finished a quick shower, was clinging naked to Siwoo's chest.

The breasts Siwoo had been sucking and nibbling on just moments ago softly touched his bare skin.

Sharon smiled happily and planted light kisses all over Siwoo's cheek.

"You say that every time."

"Because I feel good every time? Especially lately, you don't seem to get tired either."

"Really? Maybe it's because of the training?"

"Must be."

Sharon chuckled lightly and burrowed in even closer.

They were already almost fully pressed together, with no more room to cling, yet she tried to get even closer.

Sometimes, at times like this, he felt he was living a life of incredible fortune.

He was cohabiting with Sharon, whose beauty he could never have even dreamed of in the past, had no money worries, and felt no particular anxiety about the future.

It felt strange to think that all of this was a snowball that started rolling from his life as a Gehenna slave.

He had been warned that he could be attacked by a Homunculus and that public enemies might also have their eyes on him...

But honestly, you have to feel it to believe it.

Even though he was being cautious, amidst the daily peace, he couldn't realistically feel that such a crisis was approaching.

Just like how Koreans living in a divided country don't fear the danger of war every single day.

"I've been feeling a bit disappointed since the duke arrived. Before, I could do it with you whenever I wanted, every day. But now, I have to be mindful and can't do it as freely. Don't you feel the same?"

"I'm a bit disappointed too. But I need to get stronger. Who knows what might happen."

"I know that too... I'm just saying I'm disappointed."

Sharon pouted and voiced her complaint.

And then, still with her lips pouted, she stared intently at Siwoo.

"What?"

When he pretended not to know, she tapped her own lips.

"Uum... uuum... Hurry up..."

As expected, it seemed to be a signal asking for a kiss.

Still not enough, huh.

To be honest, Siwoo also thought, 'Today felt a bit short.'

Usually, when they stayed at a hotel like this, Sharon would keep pouncing on him with the determination to drain him dry.

Just as they were about to heat up the dawn again after another kiss.

Magic power began to spread faintly around them.

"What's this?"

Siwoo hurriedly sat up and scanned the surroundings.

The sensation against his skin and the unique magic pattern visible to his eye.

Having encountered it countless times before, he could sense the anomaly even before the barrier fully spread.

A Hidden Boundary was engulfing the entire hotel.

"Wh-what, what is it? Huh?"

"It's a Homunculus. Probably."

Sharon, who had been flustered by Siwoo's highly alert gaze scanning the surroundings, also noticed the abnormality once the barrier was fully formed.

A shadow oozed from Siwoo's body and enveloped him.

The amorphous substance soon solidified into armor, a shield, and a long spear.

Even though he had received special training from Tiferet for the past few weeks, he wasn't foolish enough to challenge a Homunculus hunt bare-handed.

Sharon also wrapped her naked body in her Witch attire and prepared for battle.

Holding her Wand, set with a large emerald, at a slant, she surveyed the area.

A strange tension formed, as if they had been suddenly thrown onto a battlefield.

"It's been a while since we hunted."

"Just when we were looking for one, it never showed up..."

Sharon, seemingly displeased that her fun had been interrupted, gripped her Wand tightly and looked around.

-Squelch!

"Huh?"

Just as he was about to move to the window to check outside while maintaining vigilance in all directions.

The sound of water coming from under their feet made both Sharon and Siwoo tilt their heads in confusion.

This is a hotel room.

But now, it was flooded with water as if it were a swimming pool.

The water, piled up just enough to soak the soles of their feet, was an incredibly dark color, as if drawn up from an abyss.

It was so dark that they couldn't see what color the original floor was.

"I've been training hard lately. Shall we see the results? If it doesn't work, we'll run."

Siwoo didn't think much of it.

It wasn't blood, just water. He figured there must be a Homunculus nearby that just spurted water.

Sharon's hand rested on Siwoo's shoulder as he made a light remark to ease the tension.

Sharon had been frequently checking the Witch Point's Homunculus database.

Therefore, she could immediately identify the identity of a Homunculus showing such precursors.

"Siwoo... Let's not... I think we should run."

'The Drowned Witch.'

A Familiar of the Cowardly Witch and a powerful Homunculus that had already taken the lives of three Witches.

No matter how he thought about it, it wasn't a level Siwoo and Sharon could handle.

"What? What's going on?"

-Squelch squelch squelch

Just as Siwoo asked what was happening, the sound of rapid footsteps from outside the door grew closer and closer.

The footsteps carried a thick, wet sound, as if stepping through puddles of blood on marble.

-Creak

And then.

The hotel door with its lock opened without any resistance.