Chapter 917 – #200_Cyberpunk And Witch
#911
1.
The pocket dimension where the gate was sleeping appeared this morning at dawn.
Its location is in the middle of the North Atlantic, connecting Europe and the Americas.
The allocation of personnel was done carefully, considering the situation.
Amidst the ongoing flood, Siwoo’s side could mobilize seven people.
Siwoo, Elroa, Linne, Amelia, L’Huer, Sharon, and Professor Sua.
All of them are personnel who are dealing with the situation while moving between location points in Korea and Japan.
However, it wasn’t possible to lead all of them to the gate.
Homunculi are dangerous and can only be dealt with by witches.
If a homunculus wreaks havoc in the middle of a city for just one minute, it means that at least a three-digit number of casualties will occur.
Even now, casualties are occurring every second in various parts of the world.
In this situation, if all seven of them head to the gate, and with no alternative power available, Korea would no longer be a safe zone.
Many civilians would be sacrificed.
Neither Siwoo, Elroa, nor the other lovers wanted that.
According to Lydia, the hardliners moving to obtain the gate are only Urshula and Priscilla, both 22nd-tier.
The team was formed accordingly, and personnel were selected at a level that could reinforce power in case of an emergency.
If this deal is a trap and they have to escape, a large number of people would be a hindrance.
If it’s a thoroughly planned trap, they would likely have a good grasp of Siwoo’s side’s power.
They would have deployed enough personnel to handle all seven of them.
That means the fewer the people, the more likely it is that everyone can escape without anyone being left behind.
The personnel under Siwoo were as follows:
Elroa, the specialist in the Great Witch War and undoubtedly the strongest force.
Linne, who has abundant combat experience and a thorough understanding of the public’s way of thinking and the public itself.
Along with Siwoo, who can use spatial teleportation, they were the most optimized personnel for independent action and escape in case of an emergency.
Sharon was excluded because her tier was somewhat behind and she had recently ascended, so there were still many areas to improve.
L’Huer was put on hold because she was an essential force for establishing a wide defense line covering not only the South Sea but also the East China Sea and the East Sea.
Amelia was excluded because she had not fully recovered the magic power she had used up in the last battle.
Professor Sua was not easily moved because she was practically the commander of the East Asian location points, not just the guardian of Korea.
Even with just this, there was one 23rd-tier, one 22nd-tier, and one near 21st-tier.
It was a powerful team that most forces wouldn’t dare to touch, but it was far from perfect.
It was such a sudden situation, and they had no choice but to be swayed by it.
“…”
Looking down at the clouds and the black sea visible through the window of the private jet, Siwoo remained silent.
Before boarding the plane, Amelia and Sharon were worried about Siwoo.
Since the priority was safety, not the success of the capture operation, Siwoo didn’t actually need to be on the team.
Although he was a 21st-tier, at the top of the witch pyramid, there were plenty of witches stronger than him.
But no one voiced that fact.
Everyone knew.
That if any one of them were in danger, Siwoo would have made the same choice.
So, they suppressed their anxiety and respected Siwoo’s decision.
It was trust.
L’Huer, who had rushed over in a panic at the news that Dorothy had been taken hostage, stared intently at Siwoo with unusually calm eyes and asked.
‘Siwoo, please be sure to save my friend.’
He knew how much L’Huer liked and followed Dorothy.
If L’Huer insisted on joining, he was planning to switch her with Linne and add her to the team.
But L’Huer didn’t do that.
‘I trust you. So, I will wait for the day you come back hand in hand with Dorothy while protecting the weak humans.’
‘Because that’s what you would want from me.’
‘My royal decree, the strongest, must also be the strongest.’
‘Come back safely.’
She only showed a burdensome amount of trust and a roundabout farewell that meant to be careful.
That was also trust.
The two trusts weighed heavily on his shoulders.
The realization that he was heading towards a dangerous situation was pervasive, but his heart was eerily calm and slow.
Underneath it all was anxiety, impatience, and anger.
Like an explosive waiting to detonate, anger was piling up even at this moment.
“Husband.”
“Yes.”
Linne, who had been placing her sword on her lap and meticulously wiping it with a white cloth, called out to Siwoo.
Elroa was sleeping next to her to fulfill the price of the contract.
While Siwoo was immersed in worried silence, Linne was as usual.
Even as they were moving to the place that would likely become a battlefield, her action of wiping the sword was no different from how she was in the inner quarters of Hyangwolru.
Since she was expressionless, it probably didn’t show.
“Your expression is too dark.”
“It’s because of the situation.”
Linne, who had been staring at Siwoo with a bitter smile, sheathed her sword.
After subtly glancing at Elroa, who had fallen asleep under a blanket, Linne sat close to Siwoo.
“Tension is poison.”
“I’m not tense.”
“Husband, it means that maintaining composure is important in any situation.”
“…”
Linne’s dark eyes looked at Siwoo seriously.
Siwoo could tell that there was genuine concern hidden within her seemingly expressionless face.
“The more life-threatening the fight, the heavier the weight on that fight, the more important it is to maintain a clear mind. That’s the most important thing.”
Linne, giving advice from experience, firmly held his hand.
Her slightly cold hand massaged Siwoo’s hand as if giving him a massage.
“It’s not just my safety at stake.”
“I know. I know that you cherish the people around you. That’s why I’m worried.”
“…”
“To relieve tension, it’s good to act as usual. Your shoulders are too tense right now.”
Linne naturally sat on Siwoo’s thigh.
And she carefully kissed his lips.
“Kissing between men and women is effective in relieving tension.”
Linne finished the kiss with a blunt tone and spoke seriously.
But her cheeks were so red that they would be stained if you stuck paper on them.
In many ways, the clumsy Linne was doing her best for Siwoo.
“Thank you, Linne.”
Only then could Siwoo manage a faint smile.
2.
With the ‘door’ sealed, Gehenna’s most effective means of transportation was blocked.
Of course, if you were a witch who could use magic, it would be faster to travel long distances, but the important thing was efficiency.
Since they had to enter the battlefield in the best condition, Siwoo’s group was provided with a supersonic passenger plane.
It was a smaller version of the passenger plane that had been discontinued in the 2000s due to safety issues.
The plane, which had departed from Narata Airport and arrived in the middle of the North Atlantic in three hours, gradually lowered its altitude and speed, waiting to enter the ‘door’.
-Kugung! Kwagwang!
The cargo hold of the plane.
In the cargo hold, where soundproofing was not as good as in the cabin, the sounds of the rain and thunder outside were clearly audible.
The huge clouds and thunderstorms clearly concealed the location of the ‘door’.
Even satellites couldn’t pinpoint its location, so unless it was a prophecy, no one would be able to find this place.
“Preparing for descent. 30 seconds until reaching the descent point.”
The co-pilot, dispatched from the location point, spoke to one handsome man and two stunningly beautiful women with a tense expression.
At the designated time, the plane would pass over the ‘door’, and the three of them would jump into it at the right moment.
“Countdown 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds,…”
-Thud!
As the hatch opened, the internal and external air pressure mixed, and wind and rain swept inside.
The co-pilot held onto his belt tightly to avoid being sucked out, and continued the countdown.
“3 seconds! 2 seconds! 1 second!”
The co-pilot shouted at the top of his lungs to avoid his voice being drowned out by the crashing waves, and held onto the handle and belt tightly to resist the wind that seemed ready to throw him out of the plane.
On the other hand, the three people, who were not wearing parachutes or any other equipment, were completely calm.
They simply jumped out as if stepping over a low window.
Free fall.
The three people fell, their clothes fluttering faster than the rain.
As they broke through the thick rain clouds and continued to fall, a golden crack in space appeared in the middle of the sea.
The three people’s bodies disappeared as if they were phantoms.
3.
“Gweh.”
The nausea from dimensional travel never gets easier.
Siwoo, with his hands on his knees, tried to soothe his queasy stomach.
“Are you alright?”
This is the pocket space where the gate is located.
It’s like Hexennacht or L’Huer’s fish tank.
It was not uncommon for the Creation Witch’s relics to be in a separate space.
After all, her creations, the homunculi, created subspace, hibernated, and freely crossed dimensions.
The place where the three arrived was a two-lane asphalt road crossing a wasteland.
Even when looking around, it was a desolate land with not a single tree growing.
Since it was the middle of the night and there were no proper lights, it was dark all around.
“Huh?”
At this point, Siwoo sensed a strange feeling.
This space was created by the Creation Witch to hide the gate.
That meant it was a space that was at least older than Gehenna.
But the material used to pave the road Siwoo was standing on was asphalt, even if it was a bit poorly maintained.
Could it be that something went wrong and they came to the wrong place?
“Teacher, something’s strange, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Teacher, Linne?”
“…”
Elroa and Linne didn’t answer.
They were just staring blankly at something with their mouths open.
Only then did Siwoo raise his head and look in the direction the two were looking.
There was a wall.
A very, very sturdy and high wall that surrounded the city, crossing the wilderness.
Beyond the wall, which was clearly made of cement and steel frames, the lights from the buildings that reached the sky and the searchlights illuminated the sky brightly.
Even from a distance, it was clear.
That those buildings were not of a height that could be created with the technology of the present world.
No matter what building on Earth you brought, it could not be compared to even one of those skyscrapers.
“What is that…”
And Siwoo couldn’t help but be stunned again by the phrase that appeared on the large electronic billboard next to the wall.
[Welcome to Daejeon Metropolitan City, the city of entertainment and pleasure]
First of all, this was not a space that existed in reality.
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Caution: Rear
