City ​​of Witches 577

## Chapter 577 – #118_Betrayal(6)

#577

1.
This was back when I was fully engrossed in sparring with my teacher.
It’s a story from when I primarily used a sword, not a spear.

The swordsmanship used by Eloa and Siwoo was that of a superhuman, easily breaking the sound barrier, so naturally, humans couldn’t imitate it.
However, its foundation was clearly rooted in the swordsmanship of the world, so she showed Siwoo various types of swordsmanship.

Swordsmanship that varied depending on the culture, such as East and West.
Swordsmanship that varied depending on the type of sword.
Swordsmanship that varied depending on the principles of swordsmanship.

At that point, Siwoo already possessed the contract of the King of All Diseases, so he was quickly learning and absorbing swordsmanship theories, but there was one category he couldn’t easily understand.

The dull sword.
Literally, it meant a ‘dull’ ‘sword’.

The ever-changing phantom sword, the quick sword that pursued the extreme of speed, the flowing sword that subdued the Yuro River.
They all had their merits, but not as much as the dull sword.

‘Teacher, but… what’s the point of a slow sword?’

Eloa, who had been fluently explaining and demonstrating the others, seemed to ponder quite a bit at that question.

‘Would you like to see it for yourself?’

The dull sword she showed during the sparring was truly perplexing.

At first glance, it was full of openings, but just facing it was enough to make one’s breath catch with a sense of pressure.
The difference in power one felt the moment the swords clashed.
The impatience of having every move read, and if one swung the sword in a fluster, the blade would be right below one’s neck before one knew it.

‘That’s amazing….’

Siwoo was genuinely impressed, but Eloa shook her head and gave a shy smile.

‘This can’t really be called a dull sword. It only looks that way because of the clear difference in skill.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Indeed. In fact, while the dull sword is often packaged as embodying the mysteries of delayed initiative and stillness in motion, I’ve never actually seen it myself. It’s only suitable for training. Just know that such a thing exists.’

Since it was a time when he was deeply engrossed in training, he asked in a bit more detail.

‘Then, is there no way to perfectly wield a dull sword in actual combat?’

After a moment of thought, Eloa answered.

‘…Then, I think it would probably appear in a form mixed with a heavy sword. What’s needed is power. An overwhelming power that can deflect all incoming force head-on.’

Even his teacher, who was the most knowledgeable about martial arts that Siwoo knew, dismissed the dull sword as mere fantasy.
And now, it was unfolding before Siwoo’s eyes with vivid realism.

Here it comes again.

“Haaap~”

-Thud!!!

No matter how you look at it, it was a lackluster, languid shout and a lightly swung sword.
He didn’t know about complex sword principles like delayed initiative.

It was just heavy, incredibly powerful, and just receiving it once sent a shock like an electric current through his entire body, making his arms, waist, and thighs feel like they were about to break.

His breath caught as if he had fallen from a high place onto his back, and his vision turned white.
There was no room to escape in the face of such brutal violence.

Barely managing to offset the impact, he looked ahead to see a slow follow-up attack coming.

-Kwaaaang!

A sword swung with only arm strength, without using the waist, had this much power.
Moreover, it was pressing down on his counterattack, which he barely managed to muster by squeezing out all his mental strength.

It was incredibly straightforward, but because it was incredibly powerful, he couldn’t possibly respond.

He didn’t feel like he was fighting a human at all.
With this sword strike, it felt like even the giant Kraken would be crushed by force.

-Kwaaaang!

The Red Branch screamed in agony and shook the distortion field, but it only gnawed at Siwoo’s body.
It didn’t seem to have any particular effect on Dorothy, who was wearing the nun’s habit.

Unable to endure any longer, he weaved a shield.
It wasn’t meant to be sturdy, but rather a one-time bulletproof vest that would minimize the impact by breaking once.

-Crack!

He felt his body cutting through the air, along with a shattering sound that could be mistaken for the sound of bones breaking.
He intentionally tumbled several times to reduce the impact sufficiently, then sprang up like a spring.

Dorothy walked slowly.
It looked more like she was out for a stroll than chasing a fleeing enemy.
Paradoxically, the urgency of the battle seemed to be solely on Siwoo.

“You’re~ really amazing. I didn’t think you’d do this well.”

This was the first time he had been pushed back this much in close combat since the Knight of the Enemy.

Among witches, there were absolutely many who were vulnerable in close combat.
Moreover, Siwoo had the Red Branch with its cheat-like performance, so he thought there was no way he would be pushed back in close combat.

He hadn’t sustained any real injuries yet, but since it was an area he considered his trump card, the mental shock was significant.

The distance between them was 20 meters.
It was a safe distance for humans, but for two people who had transcended humanity, it was practically right next to them. Dorothy stopped there.

“How about we stop here? If you come with me willingly, you won’t have to suffer anymore. I won’t do anything bad. You might be sulky for a day or two~ but if you stay with me for a while, you’ll be quite satisfied, you know?”
“Why would I trust you?”

If it had been the Dorothy from before, if it wasn’t this situation and there was really no other choice, he might have gone with her.
But after stabbing a friend in the back and trusting a public enemy who was only up to dirty tricks, the outcome would never be good.

“If you can’t bend, you’ll just break.”

With those words, Dorothy slowly closed the distance again.
Conversely, Siwoo widened the distance.
Backing away from an approaching enemy was a very rare occurrence for Siwoo.

“Bloom.”

At this point, the best attack Siwoo could unleash was a spear throw with the Red Branch, using the tension of the ribbon.
The chapel implemented within the otherworld barrier was, as expected, no ordinary place.

The fact that not a single piece of stone was scattered despite such a fierce battle was proof of that.
Conversely, it meant that there were plenty of structures that could be used as sturdy bows.

No matter how strong Dorothy was, and no matter how excellent the defense of the nun’s habit was, this attack was different.
It was the highest firepower attack, compressing the runaway distortion field and firing it in one go.

Its power was clearly demonstrated even in the preparation phase.

-Wooooooom!

The wildly thrashing distortion field was compressed and condensed within the Red Branch.
It was something the Black Knight did so casually, but it was still a slightly burdensome attack for Siwoo.

Still, he didn’t need to bring the distortion field into his body like before.
The power would be somewhat reduced, but he had completed that level of proficiency.

Even as the spearhead containing unprecedented power was aimed at her, Dorothy was walking leisurely.

“Fear not.”

After Dorothy’s incantation, a halo appeared above her head.

It was a modified version of what was drawn to represent the radiance of an angel, solidified like an angel’s trademark.
Shining pure white, it slowly rotated, containing a vast power like a small galaxy.

At the same time, the pure white wings that stretched out behind her were truly a sacred sight befitting the appearance of an angel.

The wings, which had spread out gracefully like a swan, were clearly not a magic for movement.
The moment they slowly flapped, they lost their form and turned into feathers.

However, each and every feather that made up those large wings scattered in all directions and slowly fell.

-Swoosh!

It was impossible to recover the Red Branch, which was already in a runaway state.
The spear throw, with all his might, tore through the air and rushed towards Dorothy.

—————!!!!

A roar that surpassed the realm of sound and reached the level of a shockwave echoed through the wide chapel.
Despite such an impact, not a single speck of dust was raised, and an unbelievable sight unfolded in his clear vision.

The Red Branch, which had been flying at dozens of times the speed of sound, had its trajectory altered the moment it touched the slowly falling feathers.
The distortion field of the Red Branch instantly burned the feathers it touched, so it was only a very slight alteration.

However, there were at least tens of thousands of feathers fluttering between Siwoo and Dorothy.
The feathers, so numerous that it was difficult to distinguish them, gradually shifted the trajectory of the Red Branch downwards and even killed its speed.

As a result, the ultimate move was subdued so easily that it was almost anticlimactic.

-Clang!

The Red Branch, slowed to subsonic speed, made a shrill sound as it embedded itself in the chapel floor.
It had damaged the chapel, which had been without a single scratch until now, as much as it affected various artifacts and magic, but it was difficult to see it as a meaningful result.

Absolute defense.
Siwoo unconsciously thought of that word.

If Bianca was a witch specialized in long-range bombardment, Dorothy was the opposite.
She was a witch specialized in defending against all attacks.

The sword that hadn’t budged even when they clashed with full force.
The brute force that unilaterally pushed Siwoo, as if wielding a power from another dimension.
Even the overwhelming defensive power that stopped the Red Branch.

According to her words, all the physical reactions that occurred in the battle were borne by Siwoo.
It was a cheat-like power that ignored the most basic laws of physics.

Even if only half of what she said was true, Siwoo had little chance of winning.

He realized that he was no match in the area he was most confident in.
Unlike before, losing might not mean death or an even more terrible future.
Dorothy seemed to like Siwoo quite a bit.

A heart about to break.
A weak inner voice tempted him. ‘You’ve done well enough,’ it said.

But.

He extended the ribbon and snatched the Red Branch.
Dorothy left Siwoo’s actions alone without any interference.
He firmly grasped it again, the one that had helped him overcome countless obstacles.

“Bloom.”

He recharged the magic power that had been depleted by the spear throw and regained his fighting spirit.

What kind of foolishness was that?
There was Luelie in Akula, who might be in a terrible state because of Dorothy.

His limbs were still intact, his magic power was still charged, and above all….

“I told you to give up. You’re too stubborn, aren’t you?”

Dorothy, with a disappointed but somehow pleased smile, raised her sword.

At that moment, Siwoo’s eyes scanned the floor of the chapel that the Red Branch had torn up.

That’s right.
It was too early to give up.
Siwoo hadn’t shown everything yet.