City of Witches Chapter 236

-Creak

The sound coming from the door of the hotel, which had recently been advertised as having completed renovations, was a 'creak.'

That's not even funny.

And Siwoo and Sharon realized why such a sound had been heard.

What had changed with the appearance of the Homunculus wasn't just the unidentified liquid quietly pooled beneath the floor.

Everything inside the room was decaying.

The lamp that had been sparkling just moments ago, the newly wallpapered walls, each piece of furniture that hadn't yet seen much human touch—all were crumbling away as if a very long time had passed.

The thick, fishy smell that pierced the nostrils carried the scent of the deep sea.

".....Huh?"

But as the door opened,

even though the hallway, which had somehow become as dreary as the room's scenery, came into view,

the enemy's figure did not appear.

Looking again, there was only a painting of questionable taste hanging on the opposite wall.

"Don't let your guard down! Balance!"

Sharon snapped at Siwoo, who had loosely lowered the sword in his hand, and immediately swung her wand.

In her hand, she now held a topaz the size of a stone.

As Sharon, who had elevated her own body as an 'altar' and the topaz as an 'offering' to the fire element, swung her wand, the area was engulfed in flames as if a flamethrower had been discharged.

-Whoosh!

It would be a mistake to think of the flames, which consumed the surrounding oxygen in an instant and spewed forth, as merely hot fire.

Using a high-quality offering of this level released heat so intense that even the blast furnaces of ordinary steel mills would pale in comparison.

Not knowing where the enemy was, she attacked everything around to eliminate blind spots.

The licking, spewing flames turned everything visible into ashes.

It wasn't the kind of scene one would typically imagine when thinking of the word 'combustion.'

After all, the bed that had just hosted a heated night vanished as if evaporated the moment the flames touched it.

Even though the enemy's figure hadn't been seen yet, Sharon was already panting.

It wasn't due to Magic.

Her body had frozen from excessive tension and fear.

"Siwoo, there's no time for a detailed explanation, so I'll make it quick."

"Is the opponent that dangerous?"

"It's the Drowned Witch. The most dangerous among all the enemies we've faced so far. It's notorious even among the Homunculi raised by the Cowardly Witch."

Cowardly Witch.

Generally, a Witch's strength is determined by their Hierarchy.

The higher the Hierarchy, the more diverse Magic they can wield, and if there is a difference of two or more Hierarchies, victory or defeat is practically decided without even considering combat experience.

But exceptions always exist in the world.

The Cowardly Witch, Sochtil, was only at the 19th Hierarchy.

Nevertheless, after becoming a public enemy, Sochtil killed one Witch of the 21st Hierarchy, one of the 20th Hierarchy, and two of the 19th Hierarchy.

How could such a thing be possible?

It's because Sochtil's innate magic is 'commanding Homunculi.'

Strengthening and dominating various powerful Homunculi and deploying them on the battlefield means a significantly wider range of strategic choices.

It can force one-against-many battles.

Based on Homunculi with diverse characteristics, advantageous matchups can be constructed.

She herself can remain unseen, forcing a one-sided war of attrition.

The Cowardly Witch is a Witch specialized for 'Great Witch battles' in a different sense than Siwoo.

-Ooooh

A ghostly sound spreads through the room.

Simultaneously, the scattered flames crackling around extinguished as if a candle had been blown out.

The water pooling on the floor had already risen to ankle level, and something resembling rust-colored liquid was streaming down the walls and ceiling.

It feels like being trapped in a Titanic cabin that has sunk deep into the ocean.

Along with the fate of soon being submerged and dying.

Siwoo looked around.

All of this is, in any case, a product of Magic.

Then his left eye should be able to see through it... but that blind faith immediately crumbled.

"This can't be..."

"What is it?"

"I can't see the flow of magic power. I'm looking properly, but still..."

It's not visible.

As if obscured by thick fog, no matter how much he looked around, he couldn't find the flow of magic power or the enemy's figure.

For Siwoo, who had always secured an advantageous position in battle with the ability of his left eye, it brought a disorienting feeling akin to suddenly going blind.

Now it truly felt like being trapped in a darkroom.

-Sploosh

And then it appeared, tearing through the water surface spread on the floor.

Both Siwoo and Sharon couldn't help but freeze at that horrifying sight.

Basically female... he thinks.

Because she had long hair soaked like seaweed and was wearing a dress.

But her appearance was no longer human.

Her body, swollen from being soaked in water, ignoring human proportions and grown large, resembled a pufferfish.

The arms and legs extending from it also swelled ridiculously, writhing unnaturally.

Only the eyeballs, which seemed about to pop out of her pale face—no, already half-protruding from their sockets—glowed with a piercing blue light as they stared at Siwoo and Sharon.

"Fuck...."

"Ugh...."

At the sight of the Drowned Witch, true to her name, Siwoo spat out a curse and Sharon gagged.

But now wasn't the time to leisurely frown at the disgusting spectacle.

Siwoo immediately gripped the spear he had created and lunged forward.

Although he had been startled by the sudden appearance of the Homunculus, actually seeing its form gave him a sense of confidence.

Because that drowned-corpse-like Homunculus had only two eyes.

He had survived quite a few battlefields until now.

Moreover, unlike when he moved haphazardly, the current Siwoo possessed systematic combat skills.

No longer relying on the shadow armor, he could directly strengthen his body through magic power and maximize that power using the principles of Foot Technique.

Even the renowned and powerful Duke Tiferet had praised Siwoo's achievements to the fullest.

He thought he could surely handle a mere 'Homunculus' with only two eyes.

Tiferet had said that weapons are ultimately extensions of one's limbs.

Even if the motion of gripping and thrusting a spear is the same, Siwoo's thrust, honed and tempered over time, more delicately traced the instinctual imagery drawn by the 'Contract of the King of All Maladies.'Stronger, faster, more precise.

Even Siwoo, who had swung his spear quite a bit, thought it was the cleanest strike among all his attacks so far.

-Whoosh!

Just before the lethal thrust that tore through the air could pierce the homunculus's plump body,

it was severed powerlessly.

"...What the..."

Siwoo looked at the Spear of Shadow he had thrust with all his might.

The spear shaft was cut off like a straw sliced by an extremely sharp sickle.

What was even more bewildering was that he couldn't understand why.

He felt something like the spear tip touching something, saw something white flash before his eyes, and before he knew it, the spear was severed.

Siwoo raised his gaze to look at the monster.

A chilling cold that froze his spine flared up.

Its expression was distorted.

Both lips were pulled upward, its already large eyeballs rolled around, and from between its slightly parted lips, something like black seawater flowed out.

It was hard to believe, but that expression was a smile.

It was laughing soundlessly.

While he stood frozen before the scene steeped in disgust and terror,

-Kwaaaang!

A sudden explosive sound rang out right in front of him.

"What are you doing suddenly rushing out! I told you we need to run away!"

Sharon, gripping her wand.

Before her, a magic circle engraved with a spinning diamond shape floated.

And with an ear-splitting sound, the homunculus's weapon, which had collided with the magic circle, stopped right in front of their noses.

The weapon was a large anchor chained to it.

However, it was clearly not meant only for stopping ships.

Despite the overwhelming sense of weight felt at a glance, the anchor head was pointed like a harpoon tip, and the anchor flukes shone sharply like well-honed blades.

-Kugugugugung!

Things along the trajectory where the anchor had been swung collapsed belatedly.

It happened at such a fast speed that the aftermath of the destruction arrived half a beat late.

At least three cabin walls collapsed simultaneously, and things caught between them, like iron doors or furniture, shattered like glasswork.

-Chwarureureuk!

With the sound of chains coiling, the anchor disappeared with a plop into the water surface spread beneath their feet.

Siwoo, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events, had no time to talk with Sharon.

Because the second attack came.

After pushing his concentration to the limit, he barely managed to capture two anchors that surged above the water surface like dolphins, without any prior movement, at a speed far faster than Siwoo swinging his sword with all his might, and likely with far greater force.

"Kuh!"

Sharon, having consumed two corals to create two barriers, held them up like shields to block the anchor's attack.

An overload was applied to the magic circuits throughout her body.

If she had deployed the same magic as usual, with something like water in a plastic bottle, her body would have been torn to shreds.

The Drowned Witch was as powerful as her notorious reputation suggested, and she would only grow stronger from here.

The attack didn't immediately follow.

The grotesque homunculus tilted its head without making a sound.

Siwoo could realize his judgment had been hasty from the half-melted mirror behind him.

The homunculus's back, reflected in the mirror due to its slanted flow.

There, 17 red eyeballs were embedded like boils.

The homunculus's core was originally protruding from its back, not its face.

How many eyes did that mother dog he caught last time, squeezing out all his strength and even collapsing a building?

Was it eight?

What about the White Knight he barely defeated after much struggle?

It had four eyes.

But a homunculus with 17 eyes...

Siwoo had always faced enemies stronger than himself.

Back then, he always recognized and acknowledged his own weakness and the opponent's strength.

So even when he saw an overwhelming gap, he could struggle with a heart that refused to give up.

But the self-confidence born from clumsy arrogance was shattered in an instant by an unforeseen threat.

"Siwoo. Listen to me carefully."

For a very brief moment, Sharon recited calmly.

Detailed information about the Drowned Witch flowed through her mind like a stream.

The Drowned Witch wields powerful physical-type magic like Ea Sadalmelik.

This alone wouldn't be a major threat.

The true danger lies in the seawater that has risen to ankle level.

This is proof that the homunculus has scattered magic power to 'corrode' the entire area.

The corrosion, no different from a wide-area debuff, reduces the efficiency of magic and the functions of the spirit body, as well as the very will and courage to fight.

Just like a human caught in a torrent flails about until their strength drains and they sink to their death.

The mind is encroached by fear.

No matter how much one resists, magic gradually becomes powerless, and ultimately, one falls into a weakened state where even self-breathing becomes impossible and dies.

This ability, which drags the opponent down to the swampy bottom, is why this homunculus bears the name Drowned Witch.

"You run away."

"Since I acted on my own, I'll handle it."

Siwoo, barely shaking off the burgeoning fear, gripped his newly created spear and tried to step forward again.

But Sharon, without even looking back, tapped Siwoo's breastplate with a thump and spoke in a trembling voice.

It was a desperate, quivering tone.

"Run away. Please, I'm begging you. While I buy time, ask the duke for help. That's the only way we can survive."

Even as she spoke, Sharon deployed her magic.

Consuming the expensive offering without reserve, she unfolds a large-scale magic formula.

The element of Void, which annihilates and harmonizes water, fire, wind, earth—all things.

A spherical orb, created with the maximum output that Sharon of the 18th Hierarchy can produce, spins round and round in the air.

Everything in creation originating from nature will vanish the moment it touches this orb.

Will it really work?

She couldn't be sure.

Magic that even 'corrodes' the mind.

When read in text, she just accepted it.

But facing it directly, a terror of a different dimension was conveyed.

Like trying to push one's hand into a roaring industrial shredder.

Just standing before the Drowned Witch, she felt the strength draining from her legs.

She was scared.

She was afraid.

Her heart, feeling like it would break any moment, made a precarious sound like a bowstring bent to its limit.

"Siwoo."

But Sharon did not run away.

Don't step back.

Siwoo is behind you, after all.

The city, abandoned with nothing after shouldering a great failure, always seemed shrouded in cold rain.

Even when pretending to be dignified, even when pretending not to yield...

She was actually lonely.

It was painful, and sometimes she wanted to give up.

That's when I met you.In this world where I stood alone and desolate in the rain, I cherished the hand you extended to me.

I still remember the warmth from your fingertips that you offered without hesitation.

That warmth.

Sharon Evergreen's most precious treasure.

Sharon suppressed the urge to turn and run, forcing herself to speak.

For these words might be her last.

They must be spoken.

The words she had always intended to say when standing beside him one day.

"I truly you..."

Sharon's words never reached their end.

A rusted yet sharp harpoon pierced her slender body with ease.

Behind Sharon, a vivid crimson flower bloomed.