Chapter 704 – #141_The Silent Witch (4)
#704
1.
The other-dimensional barrier, which had been precisely tailored to the size of the playroom, dissipates.
The playroom, now back to its hemispherical shape, shows no signs of the fierce battle that had taken place.
Only the aftermath of the tidal wave caused by the giant scatters golden magic like falling sleet.
“……”
When I finish a magical battle like this and sink into the afterglow, I sometimes understand the arrogant witch’s way of thinking.
Absolute power that a mortal could never reach on their own.
With the ability to perform miracles one after another, it’s easy to see how an ordinary human might seem insignificant.
Unlike the ignorant masses, when you’re immersed in the feeling of being in touch with the truth of the world, it’s harder not to develop a sense of entitlement.
However, this elation fades as the adrenaline in my blood and my heart rate return to normal.
“Guh… Ugh…!”
And then, my tired body and mind capture the loser of the fight.
Rosie, who had been hit by the shockwave from the giant, was in a terrible state.
She looked like a roadkill deer.
In fact, the damage Rosie sustained from the magical and physical impact was not much different from what an ordinary human would experience if they were hit by a dump truck.
The reason Rosie was able to maintain a human form instead of being a bloody mess was because she had activated defense and super regeneration with the magic stored in her workshop.
“Kuh…”
Rosie, spitting out blood foam, raised her body with broken limbs and looked at Siwoo with eyes that were mixed with an unknown color.
After a slow recovery, her crushed windpipe was secured.
Rosie’s first words, spoken in a voice that was half air and half blood, were:
“You… you fucking bastard… cheating…”
From her perspective, this wasn’t a proper duel.
It was no different from Siwoo flipping the board and punching her in the face during a position board game.
I calmly accepted the resentment that was being thrown at me and thought.
From what I’ve experienced so far, magical battles were different from simply aiming a gun and pulling the trigger.
Although it was an act no different from a gunfight in that both sides were putting their lives on the line, there were countless mind games and psychological warfare involved.
In this process, you admire the opponent’s wit, are shocked, and sometimes even send silent praise, creating a strange sense of solidarity.
Perhaps this is a reflection of Siwoo’s defense mechanism, which makes her reluctant to kill.
Although she has become a witch, it has only been a little over two years.
Siwoo still has a much stronger set of values as a modern person.
The media portrays killing very lightly, but she knows how heavy it is to take another person’s life.
Furthermore, if it were done in the form of an ‘execution’ after the battle, rather than during the battle, how many people would be able to cut off the breath of a defenseless person?
Some might laugh at this as a weak form of self-satisfaction, but Siwoo has maintained this line even after becoming a witch.
And.
Because it is a murderous intent that has broken through such weakness, it will never change.
“You, you hypocritical bastard! You fucking bastard!”
Rosie, staggering to her feet and making threats, was no different from before she was defeated.
If she were allowed to live, she would produce another tragedy without any remorse and sit on top of it, drinking blood and tears.
Siwoo took out her spear.
Right now, it was already difficult just to maintain this spear.
As a price for wielding excessive power, the magic circuits throughout my body were burning up, causing searing pain, so any further amplification or physical enhancement was impossible.
“Hic…!”
Rosie’s face changed as soon as she saw the spear.
As if realizing the reality too late, her screams stopped, and instead, she was swallowing empty air.
If Rosie had made up her mind, she could have expanded the barrier’s range to outside the mansion.
If she had, an intruder would have broken in before the battle was over.
The reason she didn’t was because Rosie simply saw Siwoo as prey.
Indeed, that perception continued even as she was rolling on the ground in defeat.
However, even an arrogant witch who trampled on the lives of others and savored despair would shrink in the face of a premonition of direct violence.
Rosie cried out urgently.
“W-wait, let’s talk…!”
-Thud thud thud
I ignored her and moved forward.
The eerie sound of the spear tip scraping the ground made Rosie’s face turn even whiter.
Rosie backed away, and Siwoo approached her.
“Do you, do you think you’ll be safe after this? After killing me in Hexennacht?”
The playroom was small.
Rosie was soon blocked by the wall.
Looking around left and right for a place to escape, Rosie threw away her fragile mask.
She had read the determination in his eyes, which did not waver despite her offering various compromises.
“What did I do so wrong?! Aren’t you just a trainee witch who’s going to die anyway, and I’m a witch?! I didn’t even kill one of them! I just played with them a little!”
Her self-justification, which she was spouting as an excuse, reeked of ugliness.
Siwoo’s reaction to it was one thing.
-Whoosh!
The trajectory of the spear drew a fan shape.
Although there was no magic enhancement, its power far exceeded human limits.
-Bang!
However, the spear strike aimed at Rosie’s neck was blocked by a translucent barrier.
Rosie, who had succeeded in making contact with the wall, created a barrier by squeezing out the last of her despair.
Rosie, who had collapsed at the spirit of the spear swing, wore a distorted smile as she saw the spear strike stop right in front of her.
“Hahaha!”
The smile soon turned into a burst of laughter.
Rosie also had a rough idea of Siwoo’s condition.
Both of them were exhausted.
She had confirmed that the spear strike, which had exhausted her energy, had no effect on the shield.
Rosie’s workshop was still slowly converting the accumulated high-concentration despair into magic at this very moment.
“You idiot, you’re going to die.”
The game was lost due to an absurd cheating play, but in the end, she was the winner.
Just by holding out like this, he was in a state where he couldn’t do anything.
“You were brave when your pathetic sense of justice was boiling over, weren’t you? I’ll see if you can show the same power in front of our Qliphoth. You moron… Ack!”
-Bang!
Siwoo had no intention of letting her mouth, which was moving non-stop, go unchecked.
She lifted the spear high above her head and brought it down on the barrier like a woodcutter chopping firewood.
Even though Rosie didn’t feel any impact, the roar echoed throughout the playroom.
“I-it’s no use, I tell you? With your remaining magic…!”
-Bang!
Once again.
The black spear, swung with all its might, struck the barrier.
The recoil, which even an ethereal body couldn’t handle, tore at Siwoo’s grip.
Nevertheless, there was no sign of the strength leaving her hand, which was firmly gripping the spear.
-Bang!
The sound of hammering on an iron plate.
Rosie’s breath stopped amidst the shuddering roar.
-Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The illusion of a long spear being swung repeatedly from top to bottom covered the barrier.
Rosie was lying flat on the floor, watching the brutal scene.
“Hoo…!”
The power of her whole body, connected through her breath.
The monstrous power emanating from her muscles, which had been relaxed and then tensed, was all channeled into the spear shaft and struck down with a stomp.
-Crack!
A spiderweb-like crack appeared on the translucent barrier, which had been without a single scratch.
On top of it, the drops of blood that had been flowing along the spear shaft fell like dew.
Only then did Rosie realize that Siwoo had no intention of giving up.
It was an unbelievable sight for Rosie, who had only lived in the world of magic.
To think that she would try to break the barrier with brute force and actually do it.
“W-wait a minute… I take back what I said. I’ll take it all back.”
Rosie, who had swallowed her saliva, tried to change her words as easily as flipping her hand.
But the spear, which was swung again, cut off her words.
-Crack, crack…!
The cracks, which had been mere fissures, gradually began to engulf the barrier, becoming more and more opaque.
“Ah…”
Rosie looked at the spear shaft flying towards her with trembling eyes.
-Bang!
-Crack crack…
“S-stop it! It’s going to break!”
The childish way of thinking that ‘I am special,’ which had allowed her to maintain a hopeless optimism even in the worst situations.
And the ability to ignore reality, which stemmed from her sense of entitlement, was breaking down.
In a situation where she could do nothing but hope that the barrier wouldn’t break and that he would get tired and fall first, she finally faced the clear reality.
As Rosie’s mental defenses, which had been using self-righteousness and stubbornness as a shell, were chipped away, she finally felt an emotion that spread through her chest like ink.
The despair that she had loved so much.
She felt the black, sticky despair that she had always been able to admire because she had always been in the position of consuming it from afar, piercing through her whole body.
“Let’s stop now, okay? I’ll cover up what happened here.”
-Bang!
“Ah, no. It was Phina’s fault, right? I’ll never touch Phina again. I’ll let Mama go too. I’ll give Manya and Malisha to you.”
-Bang!
The despair she faced for the first time was not beautiful.
The roughness that scraped her heart like sandpaper.
The fear of being tied to a heavy anchor and sinking endlessly.
The moment she felt the tongue of death licking her cheek, Rosie began to beg desperately.
“I’ll, I’ll apologize! Forgive me! Please, I beg you…”
-Crack crack crack crack!!!!
Finally, the thin shell that had been protecting Rosie collapsed.
The shadow of the executioner fell over Rosie’s terrified face.
“Hiiiiik!”
The timing when that brutal attack should have been unleashed, following the rhythm.
However, Siwoo was only looking down at Rosie with cold eyes.
“Y-yeah… you thought well! Let’s continue our constructive relationship, okay?”
The moment Rosie, who had felt a glimmer of hope in the midst of utter despair, changed her expression.
Siwoo’s lips, which had been tightly twisted, opened.
“I have no right to forgive you.”
A cold, ruthless tone that mercilessly cut off the thin hope.
The only person who could forgive Rosie was no longer in this world.
Rosie, who had lost all hope, revealed her broken teeth.
“You fucking bastard! You think you can kill me…!”
-Crunch!
With a bloodcurdling roar, Rosie’s limbs stretched stiffly towards the sky as if they were broken.
Siwoo brought the spear down on Rosie, who was writhing on the floor, without any hesitation.
-Crunch!
Limbs that were convulsing and then went limp.
There were no more sounds.
“Hoo…”
Siwoo wiped the blood that had splattered on her face and took a breath.
The first murder.
She had left Jack, who had kidnapped Diana and tried to do terrible things to her, half-dead, but this was the first time she had directly cut off someone’s breath.
However, there was no regret or fear.
She only felt the sense of having slaughtered a mad dog that bit people, not humans.
Even if her teacher were here, she would have made the same choice.
Now it was time to think about the aftermath.
Siwoo, who had scattered the shadow spear, had no choice but to create the spear again immediately.
-Clap clap clap
“That was an excellent fight.”
The door to the playroom, which had been opened at some point.
From within, the sound of applause echoed, and someone entered.
