City ​​of Witches 271

Chapter 271 – #61_Priest

#269

1.
Eloa, retreating step by step towards the wall, watched Siwoo engaged in a bloody battle.
Shadows filled the room.
Eloa, in her current state, couldn’t see through the battlefield within.

“Siwoo….”

She could only clench her fists and cheer him on.
The occasional sounds of weapons clashing proved that a fierce battle was still raging.

“Hoo….”

Within the thick shadows, Siwoo calmly caught his breath.
In truth, the shadows created in this manner were nothing more than a smokescreen.
Even if the enemy knight didn’t push them away with the distortion field, they wouldn’t cause much damage.

However, the enemy knight didn’t know that yet.
As if cautiously responding to the unfamiliar self-generating magic, he was maintaining a 5-meter distortion field, pushing back the shadows.
Thanks to that, Siwoo was able to freely use a hit-and-run tactic, engaging in close combat and then retreating back into the shadows.

-Krrrrrrr

The enemy knight rumbled in his throat, as if displeased by the shadows surrounding him.
If the Red Branch’s power had been complete, if he had stored enough mana, he could have blown away all these annoying shadows.
No, in fact, even now, if he had a little more time, he could make them all disappear.

“Hap!”
-Kwaaaang!

However, every time he showed signs of expanding the distortion field, the black armor would rush in like a ghost, disrupting it.
By forcing a clash of swords and spears, he made it impossible to adjust the distortion field, and if he tried to counterattack, he would quickly dive into the shadows.
And if he tried to pursue, four ribbons would fly out to stop him.

He could follow if he really wanted to, but he felt that those swaying ribbons were quite threatening in his current state.
They had a firm physical presence, making it difficult to perfectly counter with the Red Branch, or in other words, they were the ‘only threatening attack’ from the enemy knight’s perspective.

-Krrrrrrr!

The witch in black armor was among the weaker ones he had faced so far.
She was annoying with her strange tricks, but she didn’t pose a sense of crisis.
The enemy knight was already imagining tearing apart the black armor and hacking the pink-haired witch to pieces.

That’s right.
That kind of thinking was the carelessness that Siwoo had induced.

The repetition of the same pattern without any change.
Forcing the opponent to learn it.
That was Siwoo’s first aim.

Siwoo was calmly calculating in his head.
The physical activity of ‘rushing in, swinging a sword, and running away.’
The mental activity of ‘calculating the magic to utilize the shadows.’
Doing these two things simultaneously was quite difficult.
In fact, Siwoo’s head was getting hot as if it were overheating.

-Whoosh!

This time as well, Siwoo, who had briefly hidden in the shadows, rushed out as soon as he sensed the enemy knight trying to expand the distortion field.
A normal witch wouldn’t be able to react so quickly, but Siwoo could.
Because he could read the flow of mana.

-Kaoooo!!!

At that moment, the enemy knight turned around as if he had been waiting and raised his spear.
He was furious after being annoyed several times.
Therefore, seeing Siwoo rushing in every time he tried to expand the distortion field, he had instead used it as bait.
The enemy knight was waiting, ready to strike the rushing enemy with his spear.

-Kwaddeudeuk!

Siwoo, while still running, planted his feet on the ground to brake and retreat.
The reverse motion against inertia put a strain on his knees, and his posture collapsed.

-Koooo!

The enemy knight wasn’t one to miss that opportunity.
As if he had finally caught the scurrying rat, he rushed towards Siwoo, who was taking a backstep.

It was the timing for the counterattack he had been waiting for.

The enemy knight, who had been carefully observing the enemy, moved first.
Siwoo, as if he had been waiting, manipulated his mana as he had calculated in advance.

The shadows swirling around them all took on a single form.
They gathered and weaved together, becoming ribbons with a definite substance, no longer just flimsy smoke.
Like the tentacles of a sea anemone swaying in the current, hundreds of ribbons simultaneously aimed at the enemy knight.

Of course, Siwoo didn’t have the ability to create that many ribbons.
The ribbons, which could only be woven with care, one strand at a time, by a maiden’s loom, required more difficult control and enormous calculations than one could imagine.
Even if it were the prime-era Ea Sadalmelik, Siwoo still didn’t have the ability to utilize hundreds of ribbons.

However, just like when he had defeated the mother dog before, it was possible to temporarily manipulate the large amount of shadows he had spread out in advance.
In other words, it was a bluff.
If he could create the illusion that it was a threatening attack, even for a brief moment, it was enough.

The enemy knight, who didn’t know this fact, had no choice but to think that Siwoo had hidden a trump card.
He had rushed in to deliver the final blow to the prey that had run out of resources, but what he faced was a spectacle of ribbons spread out like a peacock’s tail.

He already knew the power of those ribbons from several clashes.
He might be able to withstand one or two direct hits, but the current situation was too unfavorable to face hundreds at once.

Seeing the ribbons rushing forward in an instant, the enemy knight hesitated whether to expand or contract the Red Branch’s distortion field.
It was a very brief gap, but it was enough.

Siwoo rushed towards the enemy knight along with hundreds of fake ribbons.
The ‘carelessness’ created by using the smoke screen of shadows to teach the same tactic, compounded the ‘bewilderment’ caused by the sudden counterattack.

-Krrrrrr!!!

The Red Branch’s distortion field, already spread out to a diameter of 10 meters.
As soon as they hit the boundary, the ribbons made for the bluff were shattered in vain.
The enemy knight, realizing he had been tricked, raised his spear in anger, but Siwoo had already closed the distance.

As the enemy knight belatedly extended his spear, a tree root-shaped barrier extended forward like a lightning strike.
If it had been the pattern up until now, Siwoo would have run away again at this point.

But this time, he didn’t stop and accelerated.

He poured all the mana he had been using to control the shadows into strengthening his body.
Due to the unreasonable mana operation, his mana circuits, which felt three times swollen, pulsed as if they were about to burst with every step he took.

Rushing into the dense barrier that was opening its mouth like a Venus flytrap felt like jumping into a fire after pouring oil on his body.

But Siwoo had a four-leaf clover.
According to Periwinkle, a charm that would definitely allow him to avoid death once.
Believing that its effect would be outstanding, he pushed off the ground with his knees, which felt like they would break at any moment from fear.

One step.

The barrier silently collided with his body.
At that moment, the ‘Guardian’s Contract’ was activated.
The semi-transparent shield that had risen up twisted and turned, then was nullified with a grand explosion of mana.
It was truly fortunate that the barrier, caught in the explosion, was somewhat weakened.

Another step.

While enduring the blurring of his consciousness, Siwoo lifted his foot into the air.
Fortunately, the barrier itself had no physical resistance, so he was able to maintain a rush speed close to the speed of sound.
However, a pain that felt like his whole body was twisted, as if he had curled up inside a washing machine and spun for hours, lacerated his entire body.
Armor that could easily block even an anti-material sniper rifle was distorted like clay.

-Kwaaaang!!

Perhaps because he hadn’t expected a suicide attack of throwing himself into the middle of the barrier, the enemy knight’s reaction was noticeably slow.
Siwoo’s body collided with the enemy knight’s armor, creating a deafening sound.

Siwoo, who had briefly lost consciousness due to the pain from the barrier and the impact of the collision.
Siwoo, who regained his senses with a feeling that tore apart his groggy mind, realized that his body and the enemy knight’s body were overlapping.
He also slowly became aware that the shadow armor had been completely torn off by the barrier, leaving him bare.

-Krr

When he looked down.

The shadow sword, which he had been firmly holding even while losing consciousness, was embedded in the breastplate of the armor up to the handle.
Through the sensation felt at the tip of the sword, he could feel the enemy knight’s life rapidly fading.

He had won.
Siwoo slowly retreated with his battered body.
The enemy knight stood there in a daze, looking at the shadow sword that had accurately pierced his ‘core.’
Siwoo’s blade had become a fatal blow, ending the enemy knight’s life.

-Squeak!

The enemy knight knelt on one knee.
The action was so much like watching a person die that it gave him a bizarre feeling.

-Krrrrr

Seeing the light in the helmet, which was fading one by one, shining like a last gleam of hope, Siwoo felt a chill.

The enemy knight had accepted his defeat.
The long mission to protect the ‘Red Branch’ that he carried in his body was also over.

At that moment, what came into his sight was the pink-haired witch who had been watching the fight from afar.
The archenemy who had tormented him over and over again.
Even in the face of death, the condensed anger gave him the will to squeeze out his last strength.

-Clank!

The enemy knight barely supported his collapsing body.
The 3-meter spear spun in his large hand.
The enemy knight was ready to throw it in an instant.

Siwoo realized what the source of the chill was.
The enemy knight was planning to take Eloa with him as a companion in his final moments.

“Master!”

Siwoo reached out his arm.
It was an instinctive action, even though he knew it wouldn’t work.
He grabbed the shaft of the Red Branch’s spear, which was preparing to fly towards Eloa.
It was an attempt to prevent the throw.

And at that moment.

“————-!!!!”

The pain of grabbing a red-hot iron bar.
The terrible pain of every piece of muscle, bone, and cell being separated.

Siwoo screamed like a dying beast.
Even the scream was split into several layers, as if several people were screaming at the same time.

The Red Branch was by no means something that could be touched with bare hands.
Although its power had been significantly weakened because the owner, the enemy knight, was almost on the verge of death, it was a dangerous object wrapped in a distortion field.
For a spirit, it was like a nuclear control rod full of radiation.

It was only natural that he felt this kind of pain, since he had grabbed such a dangerous object tightly with almost no mana left.
It was literally the pain of his body and soul being separated.

However, even while screaming, Siwoo did not let go of the Red Branch until the very end.
Even as his consciousness blurred with pain, the sense of crisis that Eloa would be harmed if he let go moved him.
As he collapsed behind the kneeling enemy knight, the spear naturally slipped out of Siwoo’s hand.
And he immediately collapsed to the floor.

“Si, Siwoo!!!”

Eloa, who had been watching the scene, staggered towards Siwoo.
The sight of Siwoo collapsing backward helplessly had caused Eloa an unimaginable amount of fear.

Along with regret and guilt.
Why he had chosen to grab the Red Branch with his hand even after winning the fight.
Eloa knew it too.

“Get a hold of yourself! Siwoo! Siwoo!”

It was all because of her.
Siwoo had forced such an absurd move to protect Eloa.

Was she going to lose her disciple like this again?
Was she going to send away even Siwoo, who had healed Eloa’s wounds, due to a wrong decision?

“Don’t do this… please open your eyes….”

Tears poured out.
The pain that felt like her heart was being torn apart made it difficult to even breathe.
At that moment, a hand touched Eloa’s cheek.
Siwoo, in her arms, was wiping away Eloa’s tears with a faint smile.

“Master… I’m okay. I think I just lost consciousness for a moment.”

Eloa didn’t feel ashamed that she had shown herself crying in front of her disciple.
Nor was she ashamed that she had held onto him as if begging.
She was just so grateful and thankful that he had gotten up without any problems that she couldn’t help but hug Siwoo tightly.

“Thank you… thank you… thank you so much…”

The smile etched on Eloa’s face was brighter and more dazzling than the sunlight that was shining through the gap in the ceiling.