City ​​of Witches 925

Chapter 925 – #201_Mascot Angel(3)

#919

1.
Thanks to Urshura and Priscilla’s rampage, Siwoo and his group got caught in the crossfire.

The situation was no different.
There was no room for dialogue or negotiation.

The Angel immediately summoned another large Angel force, and Siwoo, Rinne, and Eloa had to confront them.

Shield, the most basic application of the Providence Generator.

When combined with the resonance generated by multiple Angels, the Angel’s output increases significantly.

With the help of clusters that assist with insufficient computational power, they also gain resistance against magic that alters the world’s settings.

It’s impossible to unilaterally massacre them using large-scale magic, and each one has to be painstakingly killed.

Therefore, most witches who rely on magic are forced to expend more energy than necessary and eventually lose to the sheer number of enemies.

This is the flow of battle that the Angels aim for.

In this situation, Siwoo felt a sense of déjà vu.

He had experienced an opponent using such a strategy before.

It was the White Knights he encountered during the subjugation of the Red Knight.

The Red Knight, considered the worst homunculus ever.
His knights were powerful.

They wielded replicas of the Red Branch’s spear, making them resistant to magic that wasn’t physical, and they forced close-quarters and attrition warfare.

Even Eloa, who was said to have no equal in subjugation ability, had to admit defeat in the face of their mighty force.

So, is the situation the same now as it was then?

No, it’s not.
Just looking at Siwoo, he possesses a level of power that is embarrassing to compare to back then.

-Whoosh!

“Huuph…!”

Siwoo’s body spins as he takes a breath.
A black whirlwind, stepping and twirling as if dancing.

Through it, a menacing red spear strike pierced the Angels surrounding him.
There were attempts to deflect the ominous spear flying towards their hearts, but none succeeded.

-Crack! Crack! Crack!

One strike was enough to neutralize them.
The Angels pierced by the spear immediately collapsed like waterlogged electronics.

“Warning. Unpredictable damage detected in the core and artificial mana circuits.”
“Providence Generator neutralized.”

The new technique ‘Red Bloom,’ which injects a concentrated distortion field into the body with a single strike, was also effective against Angels, most of whose bodies were mechanical.
As long as mana circuits and cores that store mana existed, they could not escape the influence of the distortion field.

Siwoo, standing at the forefront, constantly moving his body and breaking the enemy’s front line.

And Rinne, a dark shadow, weaving through Siwoo’s surroundings.

There was no inertia in the shadow’s movements, making it unpredictable.
The photon cannon fire launched from a distance to check her could not even touch Rinne’s clothes.

It was as if a black storm had been unleashed among the mechanical angels.
Sometimes crawling on the floor, sometimes running along the walls like a beast, opening a field of carnage.

Every time Rinne’s two blades, which had charged into the Angels trying to form a siege, drew a graceful spiral, beautiful heads fell like flower petals.

Rinne, with her dark eyes gleaming, continued her relentless massacre, proving why she was called the ‘Sword Demon.’

Finally, Eloa, scattering cherry blossom-colored mana, covered the gaps between the two.

Eloa was clearly weak in large-scale and long-term battles.

Her magic itself was specialized for one-on-one duels, and the optimization was broken as she modified her entire magic for combat.

However, such weaknesses lose their meaning when the difference in power becomes too great.

-Thwack! Thwack!

The contract sword was not needed to defeat the 14th-tier Angels, who were only around the 15th-tier even with resonance.
Eloa shattered the Angels with only her bare hands and explosive force.

That’s right.

Angels are the perfect androids for slaughtering ‘ordinary witches.’

Here, an ordinary witch is a witch who relies on magic in combat and is weak in close-quarters combat.

So, what about Siwoo, Eloa, and Rinne gathered here?

Witches who are stronger than anyone in close-quarters combat.
Witches who possess sufficient killing power even without relying on magic.
Witches who can show overwhelming strength with minimal mana consumption.

In other words, they are irregulars against whom the Angels’ anti-witch tactics do not work.

If they were to go back in time with their current power and face the Red Knight, they would be able to easily deal with him.

As the Angels are steadily being consumed like water poured into a bottomless pit.
Four Angels, who had been standing back from the battlefield, had a monotonous conversation.

Although the individual entities resonate with each other to form a cluster and share thoughts, there is a need for higher-level units to prevent bottlenecks in data processing.
The four Angels who had been observing from a distance were command-level units with higher command authority.

“The loss of friendly forces per minute exceeds the standard by 6.7 times.”
“It is possible that they are elite combat personnel from the detention center.”
“Calculating the resources required for complete suppression. It is estimated that 36-38% of the Angels will be completely destroyed.”

The Angels, faced with an unexpected situation, did not panic.
This is because androids are programmed with their emotions removed from the start.

“In this case, there will be a disruption in the minimum defensive military power to protect Daejeon City. Furthermore, it will take 76,232 days to recover.”
“A revision of the existing strategy is required.”

After finishing their conversation, the three Angels stared blankly at one entity that had been standing silently.

The first unit to awaken alone in the suddenly emptied Daejeon and form the current legion, the highest administrator of the Angel Legion.
It was AA-000.

“Administrator. We request a prompt decision.”
“……”

AA-000 remained silent, looking at the other units waiting for a decision.
After a long calculation, AA-000 spoke.

“Propose negotiations to the hostile individuals.”

“AA-000. According to the AWPCC agreement, negotiations with witches are, in principle, impossible. Violating the agreement may lead to future criticism.”
“It is unavoidable. Daejeon is currently isolated from the international community after being swept up in Project ‘Ark.’ This unit prioritizes the safety of the city above all else.”

Mechanical devices with only the nervous system and brain transplanted from a witch’s clone.
That is an android.

However, even without a mission, a calling, or emotion-driven motives, there was one thing that was prioritized above all else for the Angels.

That is to protect this city.

2.
Siwoo, who had just smashed three Angels that had rushed at him, gasped for breath.

He was exhausted.

Thirty minutes since the start of the battle.
The surroundings were already piled high with the wreckage of shattered Angels.

As they looked no different from beautiful witches on the outside, a strange, inexplicable unpleasantness lingered.
Even knowing they were emotionless machines, he couldn’t completely wash away the unease of having committed a massacre.

However, there was too much to bear to get lost in sentimentality.
Above all, the current war situation was not relaxed.

The three of them had smashed countless Angels, but the number of the ever-increasing legion was well over 10,000 by sight alone.

As he pulled out the spear that had been deeply embedded in his abdomen and prepared for the next attack.

“Hmm?”

The enemy’s attack suddenly stopped.
The Angels, who had been relentlessly attacking, had retreated far away.

“What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure either.”

Eloa and Rinne, looking puzzled, became wary of their surroundings and stood close to Siwoo.
One of the Angels landed softly in an empty space.

“This is ‘Angel-AA000’ of the Anti-Witch Subjugation Force. On behalf of the city, I propose to the terrorists: surrender.”

Who would have thought that dialogue would be possible?
Eloa, who had made eye contact with Siwoo, nodded and stepped forward.

“We can’t do that.”
“You are stronger than ordinary witches. However, Daejeon City still has sufficient reserve forces. A total of 322,392 Angels are on standby for deployment in hidden hangars throughout the city.

Unnecessary consumption in a battle with a predetermined outcome is irrational. Therefore, surrender. We promise humane treatment of prisoners.”

The Angel conveyed the chilling fact in a calm voice that could not be perceived as a lie.

320,000.
That was impossible.

No matter how efficiently the three irregulars fought, they could not face that number.

“We only want one thing. If you meet our demands, we are willing to leave the city peacefully.”
“The mascot Angel of Daejeon City does not negotiate with terrorists.”
“Then, we have no choice but to fight until we find a solution.”
“……”

Eloa took a strong stance.

Although it seemed one-sided, it was actually Siwoo’s group that was cornered.
Even the most ferocious ant lion would eventually be hunted by an ant army.
If the number was really 320,000, they would eventually be pushed back and swept away.

Nevertheless, the fact that the Angel side had proposed surrender first meant that they were also feeling a considerable burden in this battle.

“However, we want to receive information before that.”
“Why didn’t you try talking first instead of talking about purging us? We also have a few things we want to ask.”

Eloa was unusually sarcastic, and the Angel didn’t mind.

“We will accept an exchange of three questions and answers.”
“Agreed.”

A golden opportunity to learn about this space, the city, and the floodgate had arrived.