City of Witches Chapter 340

"Huh?"

Diana was struck with an impact as if she had been hit on the head.

Dead.

The magic power battery she had been meticulously building over 15 turns was killed in an instant.

Moreover, it was severed by Siwoo's stones, laid down early in the game, connecting in an off-beat rhythm to cut off its lifeline.

For the first time during the match, Diana lifted her head to look at Siwoo's face.

He wasn't smug about his trap working, nor was he gloating about thwarting Diana's attack.

He merely rested his chin on his hand, scanning the board with calm, settled eyes.

As if everything was going according to plan.

A prepared attack being foiled mid-execution.

This situation is described as 'the waist being cut off.'

Naturally, it's a frequent occurrence in Witchboard, where both sides exchange moves.

But the method was a dispel pin.

Moreover, a dispel pin originating from stones arranged quite some time ago.

Unless she had been dancing in the palm of his hand from the very beginning, this was impossible.

Did he anticipate what Diana would do?

What plan she would prepare?

Before a clear outline even formed?

No.

That can't be.

This was probably just a lucky shot.

A meaningless, random move that coincidentally aligned with the situation and transformed into a sharp, brilliant play.

"Not bad."

"You flatter me."

An opponent who relies on luck in the game.

Yesterday was the same, and today is the same.

An opponent who has no intention of playing fairly and properly, only resorting to a bunch of strange tricks.

Diana calmly examined the dead magic power battery.

It wasn't completely dead yet.

It could be revived.

If she gave up on stabilization and connected a path to a new magic power source, utilizing the Rune she had preemptively occupied in the upper-left area, it was possible to restore its function and fire within 5 turns.

After all, a dispel pin is ultimately a check and a defensive measure.

Witchboard is a game where you win by destroying the opponent's magic power source.

You can't win the game with dispel pins alone.

Thus, she calmly searched for an alternative.

This is the power of standard play.

There's a sense of stability that allows one to quickly regain composure even if shaken by a sudden situation.

"Ah..."

Just as she was about to reactivate the magic power battery after 3 moves.

The same thing happened again.

A sharp dispel pin, based on pre-laid stones, nullified Diana's Magic Circle.

How is such an agile dispel possible?

Diana's brilliant eyes quickly found the answer.

Those three magic power sources, tightly clustered together.

The concentrated magic power sources, which at first glance seemed inefficient, effectively support dispel pins requiring momentary output.

Was he aiming for this from the start?

"......"

There was still one more chance to save the magic power battery.

Because there were a total of three magic power sources that could activate the battery.

But would it really be okay?

This time, it would take 7 turns.

If the magic power battery, in which nearly 40 turns had been invested, were dispelled again and completely died, even recycling through disassembly and reconstruction of the Magic Formula would become impossible.

A major part of her Combat Power would be lost in one fell swoop.

According to standard play, she should avoid risk and disassemble the magic power battery.

It was correct to recover at least a part of it and use it as a new resource.

And that was an extremely natural choice even considering Diana's playing style, which seeks stability without overreaching.

After all, if she dragged it into a long game, she was confident she wouldn't lose.

But Diana felt an indescribable displeasure.

Having her secret move anticipated and being forced to revise her strategy.

If she backed down here, even if she won, it wouldn't feel like a proper victory.

"I'll give you some credit."

She should have vaguely sensed it when she saw his innate magic.

It seems he has a knack for dispelling Magic.

But could she detect and block it this time too?

Diana pretended to occupy a Rune, feigning distraction, while simultaneously trying to build new stones for the battery's reconstruction.

"Kuh...!"

And the moment she feigned distraction.

A dispel pin, as if finding it cute, plunged in to completely dismantle the battery.

Even if she had prepared defenses for immediate restoration, it would have been insufficient, but she had even tried to distract the opponent by hoping for their carelessness, so the Great Witch's death was instantaneous.

The expression 'stubbornly insisting on the impossible and crashing headlong into it' couldn't have been more fitting.

Diana belatedly tried to salvage the situation overturned by excessive carelessness.

But Siwoo, having seized the momentum and swiftly switched to offense, and Diana, forced to fight while bearing too great a loss.

In terms of the destructive power of a single-point breakthrough, Siwoo's firepower, with his densely arranged magic power sources, was overwhelming.

For five minutes, she helplessly lost each Rune she had painstakingly captured, and her belatedly prepared defenses were all seen through and pummeled.

One of Diana's magic power sources was destroyed.

If she hadn't stubbornly insisted for no reason, she could have at least raised a signal fire for a counterattack even after losing the magic power source.

There was also the method of dealing with it with minimal defense and waiting for the next opportunity.

But due to her pointless stubbornness, the gap had widened too much.

It was practically like fighting after giving away dozens of moves.

Moreover, as long as the rule of one move per turn per player remained, even a Great Witch wouldn't be able to turn the tables.

Eventually, the second and third magic power sources collapsed in a chain reaction.

Defeat.

The two characters were branded into her mind like a Brand.

Diana's shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

"It was an excellent match. I guess I got lucky."

Diana, seeing Siwoo smiling happily, almost flared up and shouted but composed herself.

This wasn't decided by skill.

A sudden dispel strategy.

Combined with her own self-inflicted blunder of stubbornly clinging to an already ruined strategy.

But rather than looking pathetic by getting angry here, it was right to show the magnanimity of a Countess's daughter by gracefully acknowledging her mistake.

"I think I underestimated you too much."

"It seems so. Honestly, even while attacking, I wondered if this was right. Haha."

"Kuh..."

Hearing the strangely humiliating reply, Diana calmly reset the Witchboard.

"So, this makes it 2 to 1, I'm in the lead, right?"

She was aware it was petty.

In truth, Diana hadn't considered defeat.

Therefore, she hadn't even bothered keeping the score in mind.

But she couldn't accept 'defeat' as it was.

If it wasn't treated as losing just one match in a multi-game series, her pride couldn't bear it.

"Ah, so we're counting yesterday's game in the total score too."

"Of course, we're counting all lifetime games in the total!"

Siwoo answered, blinking as if he hadn't thought about it at all.

And Diana, flaring up as she answered."I see. Then will you continue?"

"Of course."

Thus, the fourth game by Diana's count began.

A change of heart.

Diana approached the game anew, leaving not a shred of complacency or carelessness.

Even if she had been momentarily angry and surprised, her play was always stable and orthodox.

In contrast, from Diana's perspective, Siwoo's play was bizarre and utterly peculiar.

-Tap

Siwoo's finger, imbued with magic power, once again tapped a completely unpredictable spot.

An abrupt, unexpected move Diana hadn't anticipated at all.

At a glance, it looked like a blunder, a reckless move that could only be seen as a mistake, one that wouldn't be strange even if called a throwaway.

Her mouth itched.

She wanted to ask what on earth he was thinking.

But not asking about matters related to the game was mutual courtesy.

Diana calmed her heart and did what she had to do.

Before they knew it, they had exchanged 50 moves and the game was racing towards the mid-game.

In terms of advantage, Diana was ahead 7 to 3.

In the fight for key Runes, if Diana subtly provoked a skirmish, he would give up and retreat without hesitation.

Meanwhile, he wasted moves on meaningless places completely unrelated to the fight.

He deployed essential defensive Magic, but like a turtle retracting into its shell, he showed no sign of any counterattack.

"Hmm…."

The fight for territory.

The passes held.

The Runes.

Even the placement of magic power sources was in her favor.

But Diana did not let her guard down.

Maybe before, but she had now experienced his strategy of attempting unpredictable moves at unpredictable timings twice.

It was a fight she could win just by solidifying her position steadily and patiently, without rushing.

A hunch came.

It was the timing.

If she converted the resources secured so far into an offensive and began an all-out assault…

She could force a surrender within the next 22 moves.

The very moment she was about to launch an attack from a stable expansion.

"Shall I start fighting too?"

Siwoo's counterattack began.

Diana's formation was, figuratively speaking, a flawless suit of full Plate Armor.

It felt like a cold blade slipping into the seam that was exposed for just a brief moment when she drew her sword for the finishing blow.

"No problem."

But there was no problem.

The preparation was already perfect.

Worried she might miss something, Diana widened her eyes.

She had anticipated he would try something strange again.

Diana calmly settled her heart and prepared to face Siwoo's attack.

Because she was confident that if she blocked it, she would win.

Then, a Dispel Pin that poked right at a sore spot.

"Another obvious trick… But it's as expected."

Diana allowed a slight smile.

The timing was exquisite, but this time she had prepared a countermeasure against the Dispel Pin.

It was Siwoo's specialty to suddenly connect the seemingly reckless moves scattered here and there and utilize them as a Dispel Pin.

But what if the attacks weren't poured out all at once in one concentrated burst, but were distributed and input sequentially?

Diana instantly split her prepared magic power batteries into ten.

It wasn't difficult.

She had secured the Runes necessary for the distribution in advance.

Like water splitting into multiple streams when a showerhead is attached, the opponent suddenly had to deal with ten strands of attack.

Could he Dispel all of this too?

With the Dispel Pin, whose conditions were extremely demanding?

Preposterous.

Unless it was a vastly higher-level expert than Diana, such madness was impossible.

Unlike Diana, whose magic power sources were moderately distributed, Siwoo's magic power sources were in one clump.

In this situation, it was a matter of sacrificing flesh to strike bone.

Diana, resolved to give up one magic power source, continued her attack.

"This… seems like I've won?"

That's what Siwoo said the moment he destroyed one of Diana's magic power sources.

"What nonsense is that now?"

Is he acting like that just because he destroyed one magic power source?

How does he plan to block Diana's ensuing attack?

Diana ignored him and began pouring on the attack.

And.

She soon realized, to her bone-chilling dismay, that his words were not an empty boast.

"I-impossible…."

All ten attacks were Dispelled.

As if he had anticipated she would force a sequential input, Siwoo calmly severed the core of every attack.

The moves that had seemed utterly meaningless, that she had thought were just wastes, connected and blocked Diana's attacks.

Like an air defense system intercepting countless launched missiles, there wasn't a single gap.

"……."

"That was another excellent game."

"It's not over yet."

Diana steeled her will, even though her all-out attack had been Dispelled and one magic power source was destroyed.

Losing like this was frustrating.

Diana desperately struggled to defend against Siwoo's attack, which naturally pressed down with force, but the result was the same.

Defeat.

She had lost again.

"I learned something."

At the unbelievable result, Diana finally contorted her expression in frustration and quickly pressed the reset button.

"It's 2 to 2 now, right? Let's go again."

"Um… I'm sorry, but time's up. I enjoyed today as well. If you visit again tomorrow, I'll gladly welcome you."

Time had already flown by unnoticed.

Diana could only clench her fists and be, in effect, chased out of the Host Bar.