City ​​of Witches 236

Chapter 236 – #53_Night Of The Homunculus (3)

#234

1.
-Creak

The sound coming from the door of the hotel, which had recently advertised its remodeling, was a ‘creak.’
It was a ridiculous story.
And Siwoo and Sharon realized why that sound was coming from the door.

The appearance of the homunculus had changed more than just the unidentified water that was subtly spread beneath the floor.
Everything in the room was decaying.

The stand that had just been shining, the newly wallpapered walls, and each piece of furniture that hadn’t been touched much by human hands.
They were all decaying and crumbling as if a very long time had passed.
The thick, fishy smell that stung the tip of the nose carried the scent of the deep sea.

“…..Huh?”

But the door opened.
Even though the hallway, which had somehow become eerie like the scenery of the room, was visible,
the enemy did not appear.
There was only a single, distastefully chosen painting hanging on the opposite wall.

“Don’t let your guard down! Balance!”

Sharon, who had scolded Siwoo for loosely lowering the sword in his hand, immediately swung her wand.
In her hand, she held a topaz the size of a stone.
Sharon, who had elevated her body into an ‘altar’ and the topaz into a ‘sacrifice’ to the fire element, swung her wand, and the area was engulfed in flames as if a flamethrower had been fired.

-Whoosh!

It would be a mistake to think of the flames, which sucked in the surrounding oxygen and spewed out, as just ordinary hot fire.
If a high-quality sacrifice of this level was used, the heat emitted would be so high that it would make the blast furnace of an average steel mill look like a joke.
Since they didn’t know where the enemy was, they attacked everything around them to eliminate any blind spots.

The flames, licking and spewing, turned everything visible into ash.
It was not the kind of scene that would normally come to mind when thinking of the word ‘combustion.’
The bed, which had just been the site of a hot night, seemed to catch fire as soon as it touched the flames and then disappeared as if it had evaporated.

Sharon was already panting, even though the enemy hadn’t even appeared.
It wasn’t because of the magic.
Her body was frozen by excessive tension and fear.

“Siwoo, I don’t have time to explain in detail, so I’ll tell you quickly.”
“Is it that dangerous of an opponent?”
“It’s a drowned witch. She’s the most dangerous enemy we’ve encountered so far. She’s notorious among the homunculi raised by the Cowardly Witch.”

The Cowardly Witch.
Generally, the strength of a witch is determined by her rank.
The higher the rank, the more diverse and numerous the spells they can use, and if there is a difference of two or more ranks, the outcome is already decided, regardless of combat experience.

However, there are always exceptions in the world.
The Cowardly Witch, Sochitl’s rank was only 19th.
Nevertheless, since becoming a public enemy, Sochitl had killed one 21st-rank witch, one 20th-rank witch, and two 19th-rank witches.

How was this possible?
It was because Sochitl’s nature magic was ‘controlling homunculi.’
Enhancing and controlling all sorts of powerful homunculi and deploying them on the battlefield meant that the range of strategic choices was greatly widened.

She could force a one-versus-many battle.
Based on homunculi with various characteristics, she could create a battle structure with advantageous matchups.
She could even force a unilateral war of attrition without even showing her face.
The Cowardly Witch was a witch specialized in ‘anti-witch battles’ in a different sense than Siwoo.

-Oooooo

A ghostly sound spread throughout the room.
At the same time, the flames that had been scattered around and crackling went out as if a candle had been blown out.
The water that had risen on the floor had already reached their ankles, and something similar to rust was dripping from the walls and ceiling.
It felt like being trapped in the Titanic’s cabin, which had sunk deep into the sea.
Along with the fate of being submerged and dying soon.

Siwoo looked around.
All of this was, in any case, a product of magic.
Then his left eye could see through it… that blind faith was immediately shattered.

“This can’t be happening…”
“What is it?”
“I can’t see the flow of magic. I’m definitely looking properly, but…”

He couldn’t see it.
Like being obscured by a thick fog, no matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find the flow of magic or the enemy’s appearance.
For Siwoo, who had always gained an advantage in battle with the power of his left eye, it was like suddenly going blind, causing him great bewilderment.
It really felt like being trapped in a dark room now.

-Splash

And it appeared, tearing through the surface of the water on the floor.
Both Siwoo and Sharon were frozen by the gruesome sight.
Basically, it was a woman… or so they thought.
Because she had long, seaweed-like wet hair and was wearing a dress.

However, her appearance was no longer human.
Her body, swollen from being soaked in water and ignoring human proportions, was like a pufferfish.
The arms and legs that extended from it also swelled to a ridiculous extent and wriggled unnaturally.
Only the pale face, with its eyes bulging out as if they were about to pop out, or rather, already half-protruding from their sockets, shone with a blue light as it stared at Siwoo and Sharon.

“Shit….”
“Ugh….”

Siwoo cursed at the sight of the drowned witch, true to her name, and Sharon gagged.
But now was not the time to frown at the disgusting sight.
Siwoo immediately grabbed the spear he had created and lunged forward.

Although he was flustered by the sudden appearance of the homunculus, he felt a sense of confidence when he actually saw it.
Because that drowned corpse-like homunculus only had two eyes.

He had survived quite a few battlefields so far.
Moreover, unlike when he was moving haphazardly, Siwoo now possessed systematic combat skills.
He no longer relied on the armor of shadows, but directly strengthened his body through magic and maximized his power using the principles of explosive force.

Even the highly renowned Duke Tiferet had praised Siwoo’s achievements.
He thought that he could easily defeat a ‘homunculus’ with only two eyes.

Tiferet had said that weapons were ultimately an extension of the limbs.
Even if the action of holding a spear and thrusting was the same, Siwoo’s thrust, which had been honed and trained, more delicately copied the mental image within the instinct drawn by the ‘Contract of the King of All Diseases.’

Stronger, faster, more accurate.
Even Siwoo, who had wielded a spear quite a bit, thought it was the cleanest strike he had ever made.

-Whoosh!
Just before the deadly thrust that cut through the air was about to pierce the homunculus’s plump body,
it was cut off powerlessly.

“….What…”

Siwoo looked at the shadow spear he had thrust out with force.
The shaft of the spear was cut off like a reed that had been cut by a very sharp scythe.
What was even more perplexing was that he couldn’t understand why.
He felt something touch the tip of the spear, and he thought he saw something white flash before his eyes, and then the spear was cut off.

Siwoo raised his gaze to look at the monster.
A chill that froze his spine exploded.
Its expression was distorted.
Its lips were turned upwards, its already large eyeballs were rolling around, and black seawater-like liquid was flowing from its slightly open mouth.

It was hard to believe, but that expression was a smile.
It was laughing silently.
While they were frozen in a scene filled with disgust and fear.

-KWA-A-A-ANG!

A sudden explosion was heard right in front of them.

“What are you doing suddenly jumping out like that! I told you we had to run away!”

Sharon clutched her wand.
In front of her, a magic circle with a rotating rhombus was floating.
And with a deafening sound, the homunculus’s weapon, which had collided with the magic circle, stopped right in front of the two of them.

The identity of the weapon was a large anchor attached to a chain.
However, it was clear that it was not only used to stop ships.
Unlike the heavy weight that could be felt at a glance, the head of the anchor was pointed like the tip of a harpoon, and the anchor arms shone sharply like well-honed knives.

-Kugugugung!

Belatedly, what was in the path of the anchor’s swing collapsed.
Because it happened so quickly, the aftermath of the destruction came half a beat later.
At least three of the room’s walls collapsed at the same time, and the iron doors and furniture that were caught in between were shattered like glass art.

-Charrrr!

With the sound of the chain winding, the anchor disappeared into the water that was spread beneath their feet.
Siwoo, who was flustered by the unexpected turn of events, didn’t even have time to talk to Sharon.
Because the second attack came.

After pushing his concentration to the limit, he barely managed to catch two scythes that had sprung up from the surface of the water like dolphins without any prior movement.
A speed much faster than Siwoo could swing his sword with all his might, and probably much stronger force.

“Kuh!”

Sharon, who had used two corals to create two defensive barriers, used them as shields to block the anchor’s attack.
Her entire body’s magic circuits were overloaded.
If she had deployed the same magic with just water in a plastic bottle, as she usually did, her body would have been torn to shreds.
The drowned witch was as powerful as her reputation suggested, and she would only get stronger.

The attack did not continue immediately.
The hideous homunculus tilted its head without making a sound.
Siwoo could see in the half-melted mirror behind him that his judgment had been hasty.
Because of the way it was slanted, he could see the homunculus’s back in the mirror.

There, 17 red eyeballs were embedded like boils.
From the beginning, the core of the homunculus was not on its face but protruding from its back.

How many eyes did the mother dog that they had caught last time, after squeezing out all their strength and even collapsing a building, have?
Was it eight?
It seemed like a slightly unusual case, but how many eyes did the White Knight, whom they had struggled so hard to defeat, have?
It had four eyes.
But a homunculus with 17 eyes?

Siwoo had always faced enemies stronger than himself.
At that time, he always recognized and acknowledged his own weakness and the opponent’s strength.
Therefore, even if there was an overwhelming gap, he could struggle with a never-give-up attitude.
However, the self-confidence that had sprung from a clumsy sense of self-importance was instantly broken by an unexpected threat.

“Siwoo. Listen to me carefully.”

For a very brief moment, Sharon calmly murmured.
Detailed information about the drowned witch was flowing through her mind.

The drowned witch wielded powerful physical magic like Ea Sadalmelik.
If it was just that, it wouldn’t be a big threat.

What was truly dangerous was the seawater that had risen to their ankles.
This was proof that the homunculus had scattered magic and ‘eroded’ the entire space.
The erosion, which was no different from an area-of-effect debuff, reduced the efficiency of magic and the function of spirits, as well as the will and courage to fight.

Just like a human caught in a rapid current who struggles and eventually loses strength and sinks to their death.
Their mind was consumed by fear.
No matter how much they tried to resist, their magic gradually became powerless, and eventually, they fell into a state of weakness where they could not even breathe on their own, and died.
This ability to drag opponents down to the bottom of the swamp was why this homunculus was called the drowned witch.

“You run away.”
“I’ll take care of it since it’s something I started on my own.”

Siwoo barely shook off the growing fear and tried to step forward again, holding the newly created spear.
But Sharon, without even turning around, thumped Siwoo’s breastplate and said in a trembling voice.
It was an earnest, trembling tone.

“Run away. Please, I’m begging you. While I buy time, ask the Duke for help. That’s the only way we can survive.”

Sharon cast a spell even as she spoke.
She was lavishly consuming the sacrifices she had invested a fortune in, deploying a large-scale magic formula.
The element of emptiness (空), which extinguished and harmonized everything: water, fire, wind, and earth.

A round sphere, created with the maximum output that the 18th-rank Sharon could produce, was spinning in the air.
Everything in nature would be annihilated the moment it came into contact with this sphere.
Would it work?
She couldn’t be sure.

Magic that even ‘eroded’ the mind.
When she had seen it in writing, she had just thought, ‘Okay, whatever.’
But when she faced it directly, she felt a completely different level of fear.
Like trying to push her hand into a noisy, industrial-grade grinder.
She could feel her legs giving way just from standing in front of the drowned witch.

It was scary.
She was afraid.
Her heart, which felt like it would break at any moment, made a precarious sound like a tightly bent bow.

“Siwoo.”

But Sharon didn’t run away.
Don’t back down.
Siwoo is behind you.

The city, which had been thrown away with a huge failure and nothing, always seemed to be shrouded in cold rain.
Even if she pretended to be confident, even if she pretended not to give in…
She was actually lonely.
It was painful, and sometimes she wanted to give up.

That’s when I met you.
In a world where I was alone, sadly getting rained on, I liked the hand you reached out to me.
I still remember the warmth at the tips of your fingers that you offered without hesitation.

That warmth.
The most precious treasure that Sharon Evergreen possessed.

Sharon suppressed the urge to run backward and opened her mouth.
Because it might be her last words.
She had to say it.
The words she had always intended to say when she stood side by side with him someday.

“I really…”

Sharon’s words were cut short.
The harpoon, though rusted, easily pierced Sharon’s frail body.
A crimson flower bloomed on Sharon’s back.