Chapter 260 – #58_All Darkness Comes From The East (6)
#258
1.
Siwoo’s training schedule became a bit more intense than before.
It wasn’t due to any particular reason, but rather a feeling of necessity to do something in a situation where any danger could arise.
He increased his rigorous training, which used to be around noon for two hours, to once in the morning and once in the evening.
Naturally, it was incredibly tough.
The strict and rigid teacher, Eloa, wouldn’t go easy on him just because the schedule became tighter. As a result, he would get bruised in the morning and then get beaten up again in the evening.
-Vroooom
The luxurious engine sound of a sports car.
“So, I was given about half a day off per week. With the help of my friend Takasho, whom I mentioned before, I bought some necessities in Taro Town. Well, they were more like magical supplies than necessities.”
“……”
While Siwoo was telling Eloa about his experiences in Gehenna, as she had requested,
Eloa was comfortably leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed.
Siwoo, glancing at her, asked.
“Are you very tired?”
Eloa’s eyelids, which had been tightly closed, fluttered, and she opened her eyes.
“No, I’m listening. I’m sorry, I was the one who asked you to tell me the story…”
In fact, this training, which was forced at Siwoo’s request, was also a burden for Eloa.
Her chronic weakness was her stamina.
In the process of recklessly modifying her magnetic magic and pursuing strength, the optimization she had achieved was broken.
She could unleash tremendous power in an instant, but conversely, her energy depletion was also rapid.
To put it simply, it would be good to think of her as a racing sports car that doesn’t consider fuel efficiency.
Moreover, to deal with Siwoo, who was infinitely weaker than Eloa, she needed more ‘power to control her strength’ so that Siwoo wouldn’t get seriously injured, rather than ‘the power to swing her fist.’
To make an analogy, it was similar to holding tofu without crushing it.
Additionally, having a higher rank doesn’t necessarily mean one can handle more magic power.
Depending on the form of the mark or the system of magic, each witch has different amounts of usable and storable magic power.
If that weren’t the case, Siwoo, who could create enormous magic power through repeated amplification, would have already been around the 25th rank.
Eloa’s magic power storage wasn’t that great.
Therefore, after the second training session, she often closed her eyes and rested quietly like this.
“I wonder if I asked too much of you.”
“Isn’t the effect very good? You must be feeling it too.”
“Your teachings are, of course, beyond words.”
“You’re being mischievous again.”
When Siwoo spoke playfully, Eloa chuckled.
“It seems you don’t have only bad memories.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. But I do think about it sometimes. I also miss my friends.”
“You were under the exclusive service of Baron Marigold, weren’t you? Did she treat you well?”
Siwoo hesitated before answering.
“…Yes, she did take care of me in many ways after I became her exclusive servant.”
It was only a slight delay, but Eloa quickly noticed that Siwoo’s mood had changed ambiguously.
Before, he would talk quite cheerfully about his days as a slave, but he would always clam up when it came to Marigold’s story.
He never brought up her story first either.
“If we meet again later, I should at least thank her.”
“Have you ever met Amelia?”
“When I first heard the news of Eya Sadalmelik’s death. I met her through Deneb’s arrangement. That wicked woman met her end at the hands of the baron.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, there was another point of contact.
He glanced at the passenger seat to see if she was depressed, but it was the usual Eloa.
Although she had sleepy eyes that looked like she would doze off at any moment.
“How was she?”
“How was she?”
“Amelia, I mean, her condition…”
“Well, I was also in a daze at the time… I didn’t observe her closely, but she was a very beautiful witch, as the rumors said.”
After a brief awkward silence.
Siwoo was the first to shake off the slightly heavy atmosphere.
“You are beautiful too, teacher.”
“Enough with the flattery. I told you not to do that, yet you’re joking again.”
“I’m serious.”
“Stop it!”
Tiferet always tries to maintain her dignity, but when Siwoo compliments her, the dignified teacher gets embarrassed.
However, she subtly shows that she likes it, so he often does it as a service.
“So, today…”
“Siwoo! In front!”
As they exited the quiet road and entered a national highway adjacent to an alleyway.
Eloa urgently called out Siwoo’s name.
At her call, full of caution, he looked ahead and saw a figure casting a shadow in the headlights.
Siwoo immediately stepped on the brakes.
-Screeeech!
With the sound of tires grinding against the asphalt as he slammed on the brakes, his body lurched forward.
However, no matter how quickly he reacted, the distance was too short.
The opponent had been hiding in a perfect blind spot and suddenly rushed out.
-Thud!
And the car shuddered with an impact that was hard to believe was caused by hitting just one person.
Along with the crashing impact, he heard the sound of an object rolling over the car’s roof after going over the windshield.
“Oh no…!”
Siwoo was about to open the door and get out when Eloa grabbed his wrist.
“I’ll get out first.”
“Teacher, this is not the time…”
“Siwoo, stay calm. It’s not a human.”
Eloa, who had already summoned her contract sword, pointed it diagonally at the car bumper.
Siwoo gasped.
It wasn’t a very fast speed.
It was only about 60 km/h.
Considering that he had slammed on the brakes before the collision and the excellent braking performance of the supercar, the speed was probably much lower.
Yet, the car was almost half-destroyed.
It wouldn’t have been like this if it had just hit a person’s body.
Eloa opened the door and pointed her sword at something that had flown to the back of the car.
“……”
Siwoo also got out, checked the mangled bumper, and approached Eloa.
A woman was lying on the asphalt.
Her clothes were torn in places, and her body was covered in terrible wounds and burn marks.
They didn’t look like they were caused by the car crash.
Amidst all that, her fox-like features and red hair were familiar.
“It’s a witch.”
“She’s a witch I know. It’s Della Redcliffe.”
Siwoo realized why the car, which Periwinkle had given him, was wrecked by such a small impact.
The autonomous defense must have activated at the moment of impact.
It was heartbreaking that the car he had been growing fond of was totaled beyond repair, but he was relieved that it was a hundred times better than hitting a person.
“Redcliffe? This one?”
“Yes, I’m sure of it.”
Redcliffe was a close friend of Sochitl.
She was a classmate at Trinity Academy, and there was testimony that she had been close to the Cowardly Witch for a long time when she was still the Thousand-Year Witch.
That’s why Professor Sua didn’t point out Redcliffe, who had gone missing after the Dagon’s Flute incident, as an accomplice, right?
“Stay back.”
Della seemed to have fainted from the impact of the accident.
If she had been in perfect condition, the autonomous defense wouldn’t have ended with this level of power.
It would have absorbed all the impact and then burned the car in reverse, and she wouldn’t have been lying here so miserably.
However, the wounds that Della seemed to have suffered before were not ordinary.
Even for a witch, leaving her like this for much longer would be life-threatening.
But Siwoo couldn’t be allowed to get close to a witch who was suspected of being an accomplice.
Just as he was trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
A faint dome-shaped barrier began to form over the street.
“This is….”
-Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
At the same time as the otherworldy barrier enveloped the night street, five White Knights appeared.
The White Knights, with their perfectly identical appearances as if they were stamped out of a mold, held long, white spears.
They were the ones who had been tracking the escaped Della.
They each glared at Siwoo, Tiferet, and the fallen Della with their four eyes gleaming.
They didn’t talk to each other, nor did they seem to communicate.
They acted as if they were made with crude artificial intelligence, yet they were able to secure a position that could reliably surround them.
It was a formation for hunting.
They lacked individuality, and only a sense of unity as a group was felt.
“Siwoo.”
Eloa looked at them and spoke to Siwoo.
There was always something she had been disappointed about while helping Siwoo train.
That was Siwoo’s lack of practical experience.
No matter how close to real combat a sparring match was, there was always a difference from actually fighting for one’s life.
Della didn’t seem to be on the verge of death, and right now, even if Siwoo were in danger, she could immediately help him.
“Try it. I’ll watch over Redcliffe.”
“Understood.”
Siwoo nodded and silently raised his shadow.
In fact, since the appearance of the White Knights, tension and trembling, and behind them, fighting spirit and curiosity had arisen.
It was clear that he had grown by being beaten up by Eloa.
He had perfectly mastered how to strengthen his body with magic power, learned the art of explosive force, and had done countless repetitions to skillfully embody the contract of the King of All Diseases.
However, if the sparring partner was Eloa, there was no way he could feel it.
Eloa was always suppressing her power and watching him to his limits, and that hadn’t changed even after Siwoo had grown.
How much would it show if you learned boxing from a world champion who had won about 8 weight classes and sparred with him?
You’d only think, ‘Oh, I’ve gotten a bit stronger’ while beating up street thugs.
The last time he faced the White Knights on the rooftop of the shopping mall, he could barely manage to defeat one with all his might.
Even that was only possible after crossing the line of death several times in a one-on-one situation.
So, what about now?
After the special training he received from Eloa, who prided herself on being the strongest in close combat, would things have changed much?
“Bloom.”
The shadows that had been rising like clouds now enveloped Siwoo’s body like black smoke.
A sleek and sharp design.
They say that the clothes of a celestial maiden are seamless, without a single stitch.
In that sense, Siwoo’s armor was also a perfect armor that could not exist in reality.
There were no vulnerable joints or gaps.
It fit perfectly on every part of his body, absorbing shocks and allowing him to move as freely as if he were naked.
A dark-colored armor that did not reflect even a bit of light.
When the helmet that had formed from his neck bone covered Siwoo’s face, only the brilliant gold light flowed from his magic-emitting left eye.
When Siwoo reached out, a heater shield that covered his entire upper body appeared in his left hand, and a longsword that he had handled countless times appeared in his right hand.
His heart was pounding harder and harder, but his hands and feet were cold.
The fear that arose from assuming the worst filled his heart, and a chilling tension settled on his skin like frost.
Indeed, fighting was not enjoyable.
If he could avoid it, it would be best to avoid it.
However, on the day Sharon was pierced by the drowned witch.
On the day he could only watch that terrible tragedy without doing anything.
Siwoo realized.
Those who cower in fear will only be robbed.
During the past few months of continuous training, Eloa always said.
Fear fighting.
Never think of it as something enjoyable.
But if the time to fight comes, don’t back down.
Now was the time to learn how not to cower and not to back down.
Siwoo held his sword forward and took the defensive stance he had learned from being beaten countless times.
“Let’s do this.”
With a low murmur to himself.
The five White Knights simultaneously kicked off the ground.
