Chapter 268 – #60_배수터널(4)
#266
1.
“What is this?”
Siwoo stood blankly in the middle of the tunnel.
That is, in the middle of a tunnel that had become strangely wide.
This was unexpected.
The two witches he had beaten down like bugs, the Red Knight who had appeared with a terrifying aura, and even his master who had single-handedly defeated hundreds of White Knights had all vanished as if it were a lie.
He was left completely alone.
“This is…”
Dangerous.
He didn’t know exactly what had caused the separation, but being thrown alone into the heart of the enemy’s lair was enough to trigger a sense of crisis.
Escape was possible.
Through training with Elroa, Siwoo had strengthened his body and steadily maintained and improved his coordinate teleportation formula.
To simplify the existing coordinate teleportation formula, it went something like this:
‘Establish current location,’ then ‘Establish destination location,’ then ‘Calculate distance and warp’…
Many steps were omitted, but that was the general idea.
The coordinate teleportation formula was such a complex and precise magic formula that it required a high degree of concentration and mana control.
Therefore, if he wasn’t given time to fully concentrate, the casting time itself became very long.
In reality, he hadn’t been able to use it for escape during actual combat most of the time.
To improve this shortcoming, Siwoo had optimized the process by shortening the three previous steps.
That is, he always pre-input the coordinates of his current location roughly while moving.
The destination was random, but he shortened the calculation time and ensured a safe escape by applying the condition ‘limited to the ground.’
Unless there was a barrier that completely blocked movement like Aea’s water bottle, he had secured the conditions to escape outside in a fairly short time.
The calamity caused by the Cowardly Witch.
Siwoo had decided not to stand idly by in this situation.
He would add even the smallest bit of strength, and at the very least, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch.
In that sense, now was the perfect time to escape.
A powerful enemy that Siwoo couldn’t handle had already appeared, and he had plenty of time to run away.
Moreover, due to an unknown effect, he was completely separated from Elroa.
“Bloom.”
Siwoo didn’t hesitate and began calculating the coordinate teleportation formula.
Since the tunnel had suddenly widened, the mana around him had changed.
Strictly speaking, it was trying to suppress the flow of mana like a powerful jamming signal, but it wasn’t something to worry about too much.
By substituting that interference factor into the variable part and adjusting it appropriately, a passage to escape this ant tunnel was completed in an instant.
At that moment.
-Kwagwagwagwang!
A sound echoed.
Like the one he had heard before the Red Knight appeared, a vibration so enormous that it seemed to travel across a space hundreds of meters wide.
It was a terrifying sound that made it clear where the source was.
Elroa and the Red Knight were probably engaged in a fierce battle over there.
He guessed that the effect in this area was caused by the Red Knight.
If so, then he was probably treated as a ‘nuisance’ or ‘something in the way’ and moved to another location.
“Is this the right thing to do?”
He had heard about the Red Knight from Elroa.
Since she was the Cowardly Witch’s greatest asset, it was natural to share information beforehand.
According to her explanation, the Red Knight was a powerful foe who had escaped from Elroa seven times in the past.
One might ask, how can someone who has fought seven times and lost seven times be considered powerful?
Siwoo had actually thought so too.
But now, having watched Elroa fight seriously up close, his feelings had changed.
Just seeing one attack made him think, ‘It’s a relief he’s not my enemy.’ This was a guy who had survived seven times against that overwhelming power and force.
Siwoo wouldn’t have lasted even a second against it.
And that Red Knight was even stronger now.
He couldn’t even begin to guess the extent of his power, but there was something that bothered him.
Siwoo released the gauntlet on his left hand.
On the back of his hand was engraved Elroa’s contract, a sandglass-shaped mark.
It was the magic that Elroa had given him after he was attacked by the Drowned Witch.
According to her, it was supposed to activate a defensive magic when he was in danger.
One of twelve contracts.
It was clear that the 23rd-tier Elroa had given Siwoo one-twelfth of her power.
It was impossible to calculate the cost of that relationship between magic and tier with a simple arithmetic formula, but…
-Kwaaaang!
The roar echoed repeatedly in the distance.
This meant that the battle was still ongoing.
In other words, Elroa was still fighting fiercely without subduing the Red Knight.
Was it okay to just stand by and run away?
Was it right to abandon Elroa, who wasn’t at her best because of him, to struggle against a vicious-looking Red Knight?
Strictly speaking, it was Elroa who had held Siwoo back from leaving.
Because Periwingkle’s divination had predicted a very ominous misfortune.
But Siwoo also didn’t want to just stand by and do nothing.
In the end, it was the result of everyone’s choices.
The responsibility lay with both sides.
At least, that’s what Siwoo thought.
“If it’s this…”
Siwoo looked at the four-leaf clover that Periwingkle had given him.
According to Periwingkle’s explanation, it was a kind of charm that would definitely help him avoid a fate of death once.
Additionally, Siwoo had the music box.
If he infiltrated after turning it up to the highest volume, he might at least be able to observe the situation.
It was hard for Siwoo to imagine, but if his master was struggling, wouldn’t there be a way to cancel the contract and return it?
Even in a crisis, there were things to do.
Siwoo made up his mind and took a step toward the battlefield where the sound was coming from.
2.
The Red Knight, who had appeared with a fully awakened Red Branch and as many as twelve hundred White Knights.
As Siwoo had expected, Elroa was struggling greatly.
The white spears held by the White Knights resonated with the Red Branch, heavily suppressing the surroundings.
Could it be described as a wide-area debuff?
It had been a nuisance when they had faced the White Knight group before, but now that so many had gathered at once, the effect was much more palpable.
It was like swinging a sword in water, hindering her movements.
However, it wasn’t as if Elroa was being unilaterally cornered.
“Haaap!”
With a clear shout, the contract sword swung with all its might, cutting down dozens of White Knights at once.
After seeing the destroyed White Knights rise again, Elroa, who had opened her eleventh contract, was cutting down dozens of White Knights with each swing of her sword.
It felt like she had already cut down 1,000, but the distance to the Red Knight, who was watching the fierce battle from afar, didn’t seem to be closing.
That was because, while Elroa was advancing by cutting down the White Knights, those who had already fallen and become debris were rising again and aiming their spears.
“Kuh!”
Elroa simultaneously deflected the spears that were stabbing from a total of 16 directions.
When she struck the surroundings with the back of her hand that wasn’t holding the sword, the White Knight group was smashed and sent flying as if a claymore had exploded.
However, the White Knights, who were stubbornly clinging like white ants, were not something that even Elroa could completely ignore.
Even if the Red Knight was using a tricky tactic of accumulating pressure just by clashing weapons, Elroa was capable of dealing with it.
Her combat experience, honed through hunting, was not for nothing.
She had dozens of strategies that she could try right away.
She was confident that at least one of them would definitely be effective.
However, just as Elroa knew the Red Knight well, the Red Knight also knew Elroa well.
After a brief probing battle, when he couldn’t guarantee a perfect victory, he exploited Elroa’s weaknesses.
There were two weaknesses.
One.
Basically, Elroa’s contracts could only be cast on one person.
Therefore, while Elroa showed overwhelming strength in one-on-one battles, she had somewhat lacking self-magic for fighting against multiple opponents.
Two.
Elroa was weak in prolonged battles.
The total amount of mana she could store in her stigma was less than that of a typical witch.
Also, in the process of modifying all her magic to be close to combat-type, the optimization was broken, and the consumption value was high.
Now that she had opened all her contracts, the consumption value was at its maximum, and she could feel the mana draining away every time she swung her sword.
Of course, even if Elroa showed a somewhat weak side against multiple opponents, it was only ‘somewhat’ weak.
If she had tried to stop Elroa by gathering a bunch of nobodies, she would only be lining up scarecrows to be destroyed by her single strike.
However, the White Knights, who were cloned from the Red Knight, were powerful enough.
The spears that those White Knights were thrusting without regard for their lives made it impossible for even Elroa to ignore and move forward.
Even if she cut them down, they would quickly rise again and rejoin the battle.
In that sense, using the White Knights as a shield and pushing forward was the best move.
To move ten steps forward, she had to cut down ten times the number of enemies.
As a result, Elroa’s once pristine clothes were torn in places, and her luscious pinkish-blonde hair was soaked with sweat, as if she had been splashed with water.
Everything wasn’t going as planned, but there was something to be thankful for.
Siwoo would be safe.
Even though some time had passed, there was no reaction from the Guardian’s Contract.
If he had been in danger, it would have activated like an autonomous defense and alerted Elroa.
He had probably taken refuge in a safe place as soon as they were separated.
That much was a great relief.
“Hoo…”
In the blink of an eye, Elroa once again swung her sword, repelling the surrounding attacks from about ten White Knights.
Now was the time to make a choice.
Should she run away as she was?
Or should she fight to the death?
The Red Knight and the White Knights gathered here were probably all the forces that the Cowardly Witch could mobilize.
In other words, if she could deal with them, the forces threatening Seoul would disappear.
Her remaining mana was also almost depleted.
Even so, she still had enough power to shake off pursuit and escape.
However, if she did that, it would take Elroa at least a week of recuperation and mana recovery to regain her full strength.
In other words, she could save her life, but she wouldn’t be able to prevent the coming disaster.
But if she continued this fierce battle any longer, if the Red Knight, who was just watching, joined the fight in earnest, there would be no room to escape.
It would be either kill or be killed.
-Gavakkkkk——!
The Red Knight’s roar echoed.
At the same time as the White Knights, who had raised their spears, rushed at Elroa, the Red Knight flew through the white wave.
Even if the distance was far, in a duel that transcended human limitations, it was no different from being right next to each other.
Elroa wouldn’t have had even five seconds to fall into thought.
But in that short moment, many thoughts came to mind.
Elroa thought of her own death.
Her own figure, defeated miserably after failing to defeat the Red Knight despite giving her all.
She was afraid.
She wanted to run away.
When she had been dancing on the edge of a knife, risking her life, there had never been a time when she hadn’t been afraid.
“Lafi…”
Lafi’s words about wanting to protect innocent people.
The unwavering belief of her beloved disciple, which Elroa had never once affirmed in her life.
The foolish master belatedly embraced her last words like a sword.
“Siwoo…”
If she had known that this might be her last moment, she would have praised his growth to the fullest.
She would have shown him more honestly how much she cared for him.
Elroa was deeply regretful of that.
The sound of footsteps trampling all around, as if time had started flowing again, pierced Elroa’s ears.
Elroa gripped the hilt of her sword as if it would break.
“Come slowly.”
All the mana remaining in her stigma was converted into power and imbued in her limbs.
Elroa, who had poured out even the power she would have used for escape, glared at her enemy with a flash of cherry blossom-colored light in her eyes.
Today, Elroa Tiphereth would either die here.
Or she would survive and achieve victory.
“I will not run away.”
