City of Witches Chapter 269

Eloa abandoned all thoughts of "what comes next."

The fear of death was severed by the clean movement of her sword.

Instead, what filled her mind was solely the act of seizing victory in this hellscape.

Once she emptied herself of distracting thoughts and anguish, her body became a single sword, and the sword became one with her body.

Eloa, unleashing her magic power to her heart's content as she danced with her blade, was the storm itself.

The White Knights, who were undoubtedly formidable foes, were being cut down and split apart as if they were mere foot soldiers.

Amidst the white forest of spears swaying like a bamboo grove battered by a storm...

-Shwaaaeaeaeck!

A crimson spear crept through the gaps with a sinister sound.

The Enemy Knight was cautious to the end.

He never attempted to face Eloa alone.

Employing a tactic like a revolving wheel, he sent White Knights in one after another to create openings, waiting for the moment Eloa showed a weakness to occasionally strike.

-Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!

Even within the clamor that had transcended the realm of sound and transformed into a shockwave, Eloa clearly perceived the presence of the Red Branch stabbing at her back.

It was thanks to the Contract, 'Transcendent Perception,' which allowed her to sense all attacks within a 30-meter radius, even if they came from her blind spot.

"Hah!"

Eloa swiftly rolled her body across the ground, already shattered like a cookie, evading the spear thrust.

Directly clashing with the Red Branch was not a good choice.

Prioritizing evasion had led her to resort to such unsightly movements.

After even dodging the barrier extending from the Red Branch, she tried to turn her body toward the Enemy Knight and leap.

It was that Red Branch reviving these White Knights.

Ultimately, if she couldn't kill the Enemy Knight, this fight would never end.

However,

-Click! Click! Click!

The Enemy Knight instantly retreated, pulling his body back.

Blocking Eloa's attempt to charge was a wall of hundreds of White Knights that felt like a white fortress.

Devoid of emotion or reason, they did not fear in the slightest to stake their lives to protect their commander.

Even if Eloa's resilient body and fearless sword strikes transformed into a gale and advanced, it was impossible to pierce through all the White Knights densely arrayed with their spears leveled like a phalanx formation.

It was a clever exertion of force.

If Eloa began to show signs of fatigue, he would likely actively intervene in the engagement to go for the kill.

"Huff, huff... huuuuk..."

Her breath had already risen to her throat.

Her breathing grew so intense she could taste metal on her tongue.

There was no need to stall any longer.

It was truly time to end this.

She had to stake all her magic power and all her strength on a single, all-or-nothing strike.

-Drrrrrrruk!

Both feet planted firmly on the ground like a deeply rooted tree.

The sword slanted downward.

From afar, she could see the Enemy Knight's eyes gleaming mockingly as he made a final, desperate struggle.

-Oooooong!

The oppressive pressure of magic power bearing down from all sides.

White blood vessels bulged on the back of Eloa's hand as pinkish magic sparks began to fly brilliantly.

-Jazak—-!

At the Enemy Knight's command, sensing an ominous omen, the White Knights charged at Eloa in unison.

Disregarding their lives, they used themselves as shields, building a massive fortress wall between Eloa and the Enemy Knight.

They intended to block Eloa's attack with their bodies.

Gathering all her power into a single point, an extreme point, she swung.

If her body, spirit, and sword became one,

That slash would reach the heavens.

The moment she silently raised and drew her sword, all distracting thoughts vanished.

Neither death nor life, nor even that boundary, existed; they were solely placed upon the sword's edge, thinner than a strand of hair.

Heaven and earth trembled.

The sword strike, swung as if to cleave space, as if to cleave heaven and earth, drawing a clean line, displayed power on a different dimension from anything before.

The White Knights surging toward Eloa vanished simultaneously as if swept up in a nuclear blast.

The flash of light, erupting and raging like an explosion from the concentrated release of magic power.

The moment Eloa's sword was drawn above her head.

————-!!!

The sky became visible.

A tunnel 45 meters underground.

The result of cleaving through the walls, bedrock, and thick foundation all the way to the surface was a fissure hundreds of meters long.

A sword aura, as if hurling her life itself, flashed before the Enemy Knight's eyes.

————-!!

With a roar as if a bombardment had occurred, it collided with the Red Branch the Enemy Knight thrust forward.

Simultaneously, a semicircular Distortion Field spread out, and a barrier branched out like Leaf Veins.

The Enemy Knight's body, which had handled Eloa without difficulty until now, shuddered for an instant.

Even if he dispersed the physical impact through distortion, even if he dispersed the energy once more through the barrier,

Having faced such immense force head-on, he had no choice but to be pushed back significantly.

The shield formed by the Distortion Field was not merely a physical barrier.

It was an impregnable shield that cleverly twisted and manipulated the direction of any powerful physical impact applied to it, distorting the very 'force' from the outside into something meaningless.

Under normal circumstances, Eloa's sword strike would never have overcome that shield.

-Kwa-jik!

However.

The moment Eloa's slash collided with the Distortion Field spread forward like a shield, it began to shatter.

The impossibly concentrated force and physical power had finally made the impossible possible.

-Bba-ddeu-deuk!

And as if there was still power remaining, the slash digging into the hollow center of the Enemy Knight's body,

Definitely connected.

The crimson breastplate, which had been without a single scar, dented and crumpled as if struck by a hammer.

However.

That was as far as it went.

The Red Branch's ability to regenerate the White Knights must have had its limits too.

Perhaps due to the extreme consumption required for defense, the White Knights Eloa had cut down in unison did not regenerate.

Judging by the Enemy Knight's staggering appearance after receiving the blow, he wasn't in perfect condition either.

If she could have unleashed such a slash just one more time, the goddess of victory would have smiled upon Eloa.

-Krrrrrr

But the Enemy Knight was not dead and still had strength left.

Without falling, he glared at Eloa with eyes burning with hostility.

"Hoo..."

Not a handful of magic power remained in Eloa's body.

As the price of the contract was exacted, an immense burden settled on her muscles and bones, making it difficult even to stand properly.

-Click!

The Enemy Knight moved.

That movement was clearly not normal.

The movements of his limbs were unnatural, as if he were moving after being electrocuted by a high-voltage current.

-Kra ra ra ra ra

Nevertheless, the Enemy Knight walked toward Eloa with a joyous laugh.

It was a laugh too human for a monster, making Eloa feel uneasy.

Treading on the remains of the White Knights that would not rise again, the Enemy Knight stood before Eloa.

-Whap!

"Keuhuk!"

The broadly swung Red Branch struck Eloa in the abdomen.It was a spear thrust measuring 3 meters, swung by a 2.5-meter giant.

Eloa, struck by the unsharpened back of the weapon, was sent flying through the air for over ten meters before crashing down unceremoniously.

It wasn't a killing blow.

As proof, Eloa was still alive, clutching her stomach as she writhed and struggled to rise.

Even if she couldn't fight, she had no intention of dying pathetically, face down in the dirt.

-Clank clank clank

The Enemy Knight shifted its steps toward Eloa again.

-Thwack!

The gauntlet, swung roughly, slammed into Eloa's cheek just as she barely managed to stand.

With a sound like dry leather being beaten, Eloa was sent sprawling another several meters.

The inside of her mouth was torn, blood flowing, and the lingering shock felt like her skull might split, causing agony.

By that second blow, she fully grasped the Enemy Knight's intention.

The Enemy Knight intended to exact thorough retribution upon the foe who had tormented it for so long.

It was an utterly human thought, but considering the human-like aspects it had shown so far, it was hardly surprising.

Eloa tried to rise again and lift her sword, only to realize she couldn't possibly lift it.

She had no strength left, not even a chick's tear's worth.

The only path ahead was to be used as an outlet for its rage, violated until she became a tattered corpse.

-Krrrrr

Eloa, her hair completely disheveled, covering her face.

And over her, the Enemy Knight casting its shadow once more.

At the moment the Enemy Knight's arm rose again, Eloa saw it.

Particles undulating darkly like a cloak, seeming to cleave the space between the Enemy Knight and Eloa.

A sword the same color as the sleek black armor that enveloped his entire body.

It was the very familiar back of someone.

"Enough, you son of a bitch."

The owner of the voice filled with rage was Siwoo.

Almost before the words ended, a Slash swung with all his might was directed at the Enemy Knight.

-Crash!

Just as Eloa had taught him, the shadow's sword swung true and slammed into the Enemy Knight's helmet.

With a cracking sound, the Enemy Knight's body staggered heavily and was sent flying.

Of course, if the Enemy Knight had been in perfect condition, it would never have allowed an attack from Siwoo.

No matter how much Siwoo had grown, the gap in their capabilities couldn't be bridged by luck or skill alone.

Yet, the fact that the Enemy Knight was sent flying far away proved its current state was not intact.

Just as Eloa had expended all her strength, that Enemy Knight had also suffered a considerable level of depletion.

Siwoo turned and asked.

"Master, are you alright?"

Eloa, who had been listening to Siwoo in a daze, snapped back to her senses.

Until then, having resigned herself to death, it had felt like being in a dream.

Seeing Siwoo brought her reason back.

"Wh-what are you doing now? Didn't you run away earlier?"

"My apologies for being a disobedient disciple. I couldn't just run away by myself."

It seemed the spatial distortion had acted in a damnably wide area.

Siwoo had to run over what felt like more than 10km before he could find Eloa.

And the scene he found was the Enemy Knight, having just won the fight, tormenting Eloa as if toying with her—how could he possibly turn a blind eye and not intervene?

Had her heart softened in the face of death?

Eloa forgot the situation and barely suppressed the tears that threatened to well up.

"This is not the time. We must flee!"

Eloa grabbed his wrist, but there was no wavering in his eyes.

It wasn't hard to tell he had finished making some kind of resolution.

"Master, that thing isn't in normal condition right now, right?"

The Enemy Knight slowly rising after being struck by Siwoo.

A long gash remained on one side of the helmet where the shadow's sword had bitten in.

An attack that should have been blocked by the Distortion Field or easily evaded had instead landed, leaving an effective hit.

In a way, it was a perfect opportunity.

If Eloa had just a bit more strength left, she could have won.

"Master, the Contract you gave me, can you take it back? It seems the best scenario here is to finish this decisively."

Eloa understood the meaning of his words.

They had driven off the White Knight and drained the Enemy Knight's strength.

A barely created chance for a 2-on-1.

If Siwoo and Eloa were to slip away now, it was unknown if they would ever get such a good opportunity again.

For the Cowardly Witch would surely prepare countermeasures.

'Let's attack it together'—that seemed to be the meaning.

But Eloa shook her head.

"Impossible. I have no strength left."

Taking back the Contract wouldn't allow for an immediate change, and besides, the Guardian's Contract wasn't meant for combat in the first place.

Above all, Eloa's body was already battered and broken from paying the price.

"Then I'll have to try alone. Is it possible?"

Eloa pondered.

It was a surprise attack, but the fact that it allowed a hit at all was proof enough that it was significantly weakened.

And she was thinking that this might be the last chance that would never come again.

Eloa believed in Siwoo's strength and talent.

Perhaps he could land the final blow on the Enemy Knight.

But was it right to push him into mortal danger based on a 'perhaps' possibility?

What if something were to happen to Siwoo...

As Eloa was about to voice these worries, she looked into Siwoo's eyes.

They were not the eyes of a hero who had forgotten fear and possessed absolute confidence.

They were the eyes of one endlessly doubting, afraid, terrified...

Yet the eyes of one who held the courage to take one step forward.

Perhaps she had thought of him as someone she had to protect too much?

If Eloa had thought of Siwoo not as a 'disciple' but as a 'comrade,' what judgment would she have made at this moment?

Eloa, slowly turning the thought over in her mind, tightly closed and then opened her eyes.

"It might be worth a try."

The moment she heard Eloa's words, Siwoo picked up his sword without a moment's hesitation.

"Then, I'll give it a try."

Author's Note (Afterword)

Ah... I'm a bit off with the timing ㅜㅜ Sorry