Chapter 151 – #32_The Debt-Ridden Witch (6)
#149
1.
“Balance!”
As soon as she pinpointed the homunculus’s location, Sharon clutched her wand tightly and chanted.
The large green emerald adorning the tip of the wand glowed, emitting a ripple that spread outwards.
The barrier’s wave, which seemed to melt and copy the surrounding scenery, soon engulfed the area.
It was a little fascinating to see a witch using an otherworld barrier for the first time.
Sharon glanced at her compass and immediately set her course.
Without a word, she leaped and kicked off the walls and building exteriors, nimbly ascending to the rooftops like a swift cat.
“What are you doing? We need to hurry!”
It was…
Watching her bounce around with such light movements made me wonder, ‘Could I do that too?’
But I couldn’t keep her waiting any longer.
Siwoo, clad in full armor, gathered magic power at his feet and leaped powerfully, landing next to Sharon.
Sharon, looking at her compass, said,
“It seems to be near that parking tower.”
“But do you really need to change clothes?”
Siwoo asked.
In his case, his shadow armor helped with defense and enhanced his physical abilities, but Sharon didn’t seem to have changed anything besides her wand.
“Evergreen’s magnetic magic is an elemental magic that manifests through ritual. The ceremonial robes are so important that they’re practically part of the magic.”
This was the coolness of an expert.
Under the wide brim of her witch’s hat, Sharon’s face shone with a dignified aura, showing no trace of the debt-ridden person who would cry over a single penny.
She exuded the seasoned experience of a mature witch who had navigated the harsh realities of the world.
She was reliable.
“I’ll lead the way, so follow carefully.”
“Okay.”
Sharon stomped her foot and used a water lizard walk (probably), skipping across rooftops and utility poles towards the parking tower.
Using magic to enhance her body was one thing, but her sense of balance was truly remarkable.
Meanwhile, a subtle tension filled the air.
Siwoo was not yet accustomed to combat or hunting.
He had only been caught up in a few incidents, so it was natural.
Not knowing how dangerous the homunculus they were about to encounter was, he couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive.
“…I’m the one who said I’d do it.”
But no one had forced him.
He had decided to do what he could to prevent civilian casualties.
There was no going back now.
-Whoosh!
Large shadow wings sprouted from Siwoo’s back.
He glided swiftly through the night, following Sharon.
The wind rushing past his ears, the freedom of soaring through the night air like a bird, defying gravity, made his heart flutter.
But there wasn’t much time to enjoy the flight.
The compass could detect spatial distortions within a 150-meter radius, and they soon faced the homunculus.
A lift-type parking tower, built to maximize the use of narrow land in a busy area where parking was scarce.
As Sharon had said, the homunculus was hanging from the parking tower, which looked like a complex steel structure, using it as a jungle gym.
Sharon, who I thought would start the hunt right away, stood still, assessing the situation.
There was clearly something strange.
“What is it?”
“Why?”
“Look at that.”
Siwoo turned his gaze to where Sharon was pointing.
There, a homunculus was growling, looking down at them.
It was exactly the same creature they had encountered in the park and on the rooftop of the history building.
The memory of it devouring a man’s corpse in the park made him involuntarily frown.
“Huh?”
Siwoo, narrowing his eyes and examining the parking tower, confirmed the anomaly that Sharon had noticed first.
There wasn’t just one homunculus.
A total of three homunculi were slowly approaching Sharon from different parts of the parking tower.
“Three?”
“Now’s not the time to think about this and that.”
“Can you handle them all alone?”
“Just watch.”
Sharon flicked her cloak aside and grasped something in her hand.
It was a 500mL plastic bottle of water.
Of course, she hadn’t taken it out because she was thirsty.
It was a ‘sacrifice’ to use elemental magic.
Since she didn’t have the resources to prepare expensive sacrifices like before, she had no choice but to lower the quality of the sacrifice as a temporary measure.
“Aphas.”
As Sharon poured the water from the bottle onto the ground, a magic circle appeared at that spot.
The water that fell to the ground disappeared instantly, without even wetting the surface.
It was a mysterious sight that science could not explain.
Soon, a faint, water-colored magical reflection began to ripple in the tense air.
At the same time, a huge puddle formed as if much more water than Sharon had poured was seeping out of the dry asphalt.
It was as if a small pond had formed beneath Sharon’s feet.
-Grrr…
-Screech!
Was it the magic filled with fighting spirit that provoked them?
The homunculi charged at Sharon like beasts pouncing on their prey.
“Those guys aren’t the type to use complex magic. Homunculi that just push with superior physical abilities aren’t hard to deal with.”
As Sharon raised her wand, a barrier as high as a three-story building instantly rose from the puddle at her feet.
It was a massive wall, like a tsunami, made of compressed water and magic.
“It’s enough to hunt them with greater physical force.”
The homunculi, which had been charging like angry dogs, crashed into the suddenly risen barrier, tumbling with a loud thud, but the water wall only rippled gently and didn’t budge.
Even Siwoo had lost his balance and tumbled to the ground when he first took a hit.
Yet, Sharon didn’t even flinch while taking on the attacks of three homunculi simultaneously.
“And remember. No matter how easy a homunculus may seem…”
Then Sharon’s wand drew a small circle in the air.
As if responding to a conductor’s baton, the water wall also changed its shape.
The massive water wall rose into the air and coalesced into a sphere.
The water pressure inside the sphere, which had been compressed and reduced to about half its original size, was probably higher than in any deep sea on Earth.
“…Don’t let your guard down and do your best.”
-Swish, swish, swish, swish.
As soon as she tapped the ground with the tip of her wand, a sharp sound, like a whip cracking, echoed dozens of times.
Dozens of high-pressure water streams, extending from the compressed water sphere, lashed out like whips.
It was a change that happened so quickly that Siwoo wouldn’t have seen it if he didn’t have the eyes to read magic.
The water streams, sharpened and weighted like mercury, shredded the homunculi’s bodies to pieces.
They were so sharp and clean that even though the blades cut deep into the asphalt along with the monsters’ bodies, there wasn’t even a trace of dirt or dust.
“Wow…”
Siwoo stared blankly at the homunculi’s corpses, which had been slaughtered in an instant.
She wasn’t hunting recklessly like Siwoo.
She hunted with clean, refined magic, using exactly the amount of efficiency needed.
Even after such a clean kill, there was no sign of boasting or pride on Sharon’s face.
But behind her calm demeanor, as if she had done something obvious, there was a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Sorry, I wanted to teach you more about hunting. But something feels off.”
“What is it?”
“It’s strange. No matter how much I think about it, it’s strange.”
Sharon neatly reversed the summoning of the water in the air and stroked her chin.
2.
It was fascinating to see the sight of the otherworld barrier being lifted for the first time.
What Sharon’s attack had cut was not just the asphalt surface and the homunculi.
The parking tower and streetlights that had been in that direction were also sharply cut.
They were only maintaining their shape without collapsing because of the clean cuts.
Of course, they soon collapsed like a Jenga tower with a wrong block pulled out, unable to bear the weight.
Anyway, the sight of the chaotic corner of the downtown area being restored to its original state as the barrier was lifted was awe-inspiring.
It was worthy of the magic supplied by the great Duke Keter.
Sharon and Siwoo, who had recovered the cores by rummaging through the homunculi’s corpses, changed their clothes again and headed to a nearby pub.
“………”
Siwoo ordered two cold draft beers and some chicken.
While waiting for the chicken to come out, Sharon, who had taken the first beer, was deep in thought, resting her chin on her hand with a serious expression.
“What’s the big problem?”
The Sharon who had been overjoyed like she had won the lottery when I offered to buy her a late-night snack was gone.
Seeing her troubled expression, Siwoo asked cautiously.
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just spacing out while you were sitting in front of me.”
“It’s okay.”
“You said the homunculus you saw in the mountains looked exactly the same as the ones we saw earlier, right?”
“Yeah, is that strange?”
Sharon took a big gulp of her draft beer, about half of it, and tapped the table.
“Normally, each homunculus has a different appearance. But I’ve caught six of those exact same-looking ones so far. Including the ones we hunted today and the one you caught, that means there are more than ten of the same type, right?”
“Is that a problem?”
For Siwoo, who had just started hunting homunculi, it was a question that didn’t really resonate with him.
Was it that unusual to have homunculi of the same form?
“No, I can’t say anything more than that it feels strange right now. I might be overreacting… I should go to the location point tomorrow and share information.”
Location point…
I was curious about what kind of place it was.
But I was also reluctant to go there myself.
I didn’t see the need to step foot in a place teeming with outcasts.
“Here’s your fried, seasoned, and soy garlic combo.”
The chicken they had been waiting for finally arrived.
Sharon, who had been so serious about the matter until just now, opened her eyes wide at the smell of the savory fried chicken.
She looked at the chicken with eyes that shone as if she had become a different person.
If Siwoo were Sharon’s boyfriend, he would have been jealous of the chicken because of the intense gaze.
Siwoo picked up a drumstick and placed it on Sharon’s plate.
“There’s no need to worry in advance, so let’s just enjoy this for now.”
“Okay, okay!”
It was still quite hot since it had just been fried, but she didn’t care at all and took a big bite of the drumstick.
Siwoo smiled wryly at Sharon’s behavior.
It was hard to match it with the image of her lightly slaughtering the homunculi earlier.
“Wow… wow… wow…! This is chicken… The things I ate at the convenience store weren’t chicken…!”
For Sharon, who had been picking up leftover chicken drumsticks, real Korean chicken was a fresh shock.
Honestly, the chicken sold by the piece at convenience stores wasn’t crispy and had a strong chicken smell, so she didn’t like it much.
But the chicken here was such a perfect match with beer that she understood why Koreans went crazy for “chimaek” (chicken and beer).
A revolution in taste!
The juicy drumstick was an El Dorado that brought the gold of flavor, and the beer, so cold it made her head tingle, was a gas station for her tired soul.
“Eat slowly.”
“Thank you…! Thank you for buying me such delicious food!”
Siwoo, who subtly gathered all the drumsticks and put them on her plate, and Sharon, who was munching on the chicken while exclaiming in admiration.
At this moment, the strange homunculi and the massive debt were forgotten.
Siwoo ordered two more chickens for Sharon, and the two of them talked late into the night, sharing stories.
Was it because of the happiness of the moment?
Sharon didn’t notice at all.
She didn’t know that an unimaginable tragedy was waiting for her tomorrow,
that this world was endlessly unfair and cruel to the weak.
She didn’t know.
Tengo miedo