Chapter 1066 – #253_Hide-And-Seek (3)
#1060
1.
In magical combat, the difference in rank is as important as the difference in numbers.
It’s not necessary to think too hard about it.
Dealing with two or more attacks simultaneously instead of just one.
Having to pay attention to other directions instead of solely focusing on the person in front of you.
Not following a ‘turn-based’ concept of alternating offense and defense, but potentially reaching a situation where you have to defend unilaterally.
Lacking the absolute combined amount of magical power.
Many factors like these force disadvantages on the minority side.
Therefore, before the hunt, Siwoo had been attacking the Lehar Group’s ‘team’ by reducing their numbers through surprise attacks.
In such a situation, this time the enemies are one 20th-rank Archwitch and seventeen witches of the 17th, 18th, and 19th ranks.
Moreover, this time it’s not a surprise attack, but rather they seem to have fallen into a trap.
Even if they miraculously survive, the fact that the attacker is Shin Siwoo will be known to Hexennacht by some of the witches.
If that happens, Lydia will no longer have a reason to chase Siwoo alone.
Because ‘monopoly’ will lose its meaning.
The Lehar Group, wandering aimlessly, will also turn their bows to kill Siwoo again.
However, Siwoo always kept in mind.
The opponents are not NPCs.
He prepared because he didn’t know when or how they would move.
A helper who had been supporting Siwoo ‘literally’ hidden beneath the surface.
Dorothy’s niece.
The right person with the qualifications for Vendetta.
Lurue Nukelavi, who specializes in wide-area magic for dealing with multiple opponents.
“Sink deep.”
A low voice that everyone can clearly hear.
The tone was the declaration of a stern queen, and the wrath of a sea mother who had sharpened her fangs in anger after losing her friend and shedding bitter tears.
-Thump
“What, what is it?”
“What’s going on?”
A dark blue wave of magical power spread out with a deep sound.
At the same time, confusion spread among the enemies.
-Thump!
The unique wave generated when using magic was so heavy that it was closer to a giant homunculus than a mere witch.
“W-what is that?”
The seawater recedes.
The black sea surface, which was barely visible with only flares, was sucked away, revealing the wet sandy bottom.
-Whoosh!
A tremendous storm arose.
The wind, blowing so strongly that it could easily blow away an average adult male, was not actually magic itself.
-Crackle!
It was just a giant tidal wave, wide enough to cover the entire beach and rising hundreds of meters high, pushing away the atmosphere.
Witches below the rank of Archwitch might seem insignificant at first glance, but the witches gathered here could deflect any natural disaster with their bare bodies.
However, an overwhelming natural disaster that made even such witches tremble in fear was surging, crushing the entire space.
“Run away!”
“Run away from what! Block it! Come here!”
The leader of the hastily organized enemy group, the Radiant Witch, gritted her teeth and pulled up her magical power.
She stretched her hands out to the sides and gathered a cluster of light.
The radiance, drawn in with both hands as if winding thread, was manipulated to take shape.
A translucent barrier of light enveloped the Radiant Witch and the surrounding witches.
“Gather around me!”
It’s not because of camaraderie.
They were just strangers who occasionally worked together.
However, they understood.
What was gathered here was an enemy group.
They knew that in a moment of defeat, they would scatter and run away like spiderlings, so they had to do something to prevent a chaotic rout.
“Oh, light!”
The moment the barrier was swallowed by the gaping tidal wave, the Radiant Witch felt a shock as if her whole body had been hit.
Would this be how it feels to hold an umbrella under a waterfall and try to block the water?
It wasn’t just simple seawater.
Nor was it just a simple tidal wave.
A strange wave within it was penetrating the barrier and shocking the spirit body.
Even with three layers of light shields, it was this bad, so if they were hit by this with their bare bodies, they would surely be shattered to pieces.
It was only a dozen seconds until the tidal wave passed.
However, during the time that felt like an eternity, the Radiant Witch, who had been struggling, barely lifted her back, which felt like it was about to break.
It was over.
They had endured.
“There are only two enemies! It’s just that the loot has increased!”
“B-but, that magic just now…”
“Do you think they can use that kind of crude magic many times? We endured, so we have the advantage!”
The Radiant Witch loudly urged the surrounding witches.
With that one word, all the witches came to their senses.
Although their military discipline was at the level of a disorganized army, each one was an experienced and aggressive enemy.
They quickly grasped the situation and devised the same plan without a word.
There was a gap.
They would subdue the armored male witch with their numerical advantage and then subdue the collaborator.
“Huh?”
“But where did he go?”
But his figure was nowhere to be seen.
Could he have been swept away by the wave earlier?
“The wicked ones who harmed my friend.”
Instead, what they found was the night sky, where the rain clouds had cleared due to the great movement of the atmosphere.
It was a witch standing aloof, arms crossed, with the moon behind her.
“Atone with death. That is my last mercy.”
“What the hell are you talking about! Take that bitch down first!”
If the male witch wasn’t visible, it was obvious that the witch was his collaborator.
With that in mind, the witches, who were preparing their magic, all gasped.
They realized.
That the horizon was somehow crooked.
That the reason was the dozens or hundreds of overlapping tidal waves that were coming.
That the witch who was using such great magic like a normal attack still had overflowing magical power.
That the witch standing there arrogantly was the ‘Witch of the Deep Sea’.
“…Crazy, crazy…. That’s…”
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
Everyone was speechless.
The magical power they had been gathering for magic scattered helplessly.
Like humans facing an irresistible disaster, they blankly watched the group of tidal waves that were quickly becoming the ‘background’.
And.
Without anyone saying a word, they began to run away.
2.
All the formulas mentioned earlier.
That is, Lurue overturned the difference in ‘numbers’ so easily.
Wide-area magic that can attack multiple targets at once with a single spell.
As a witch who handles such wide-area magic, she possesses a massive amount of magical power closer to a large homunculus than a witch.
Geographical advantages that allow her to use devastating range attacks like normal attacks.
Although she has a bit of a goofy side due to her lack of experience, Lurue’s strength is real.
Therefore, the next scene that unfolded was closer to a scene from a disaster movie than a battle scene.
“Kyaaaaaa!”
One of the enemies, who had been maneuvering to evade, was eventually swallowed by the waves of the sea of magic.
That wasn’t something to be described as just a ‘wave’.
It was closer to an iron mace swung using the principles of wave motion.
Moreover, the enormous power contained within it completely interfered with the activation of magic even before it made contact with the wave.
In the face of such power, autonomous defense was as good as nothing.
That witch, like an ordinary human crushed under millions of tons of mass, would have been unable to leave a trace and would have only added a little blood to the sea.
“Now’s the time! Run!”
The Radiant Witch had quickly picked out the most useful witches and was running towards Lurue.
Perhaps realizing that they couldn’t survive by just running away, she occasionally tried to attack by firing a fierce beam of light.
-Swoosh!
However, the true horror of the ‘Waves of the Sea of Magic’ was that all magic was both offense and defense.
Just by Lurue turning her gaze, a wave that rose like a giant wall swallowed a ray of light that pierced through the darkness.
In fact, Lurue hadn’t moved even a little in the air since the fight began.
The enemies, including the Radiant Witch, who had formed a team on the spot, had no choice but to avoid the continuous waves and widen the distance they had barely narrowed.
“Damn it! This is such a cheat…!”
It was understandable that such words would come out.
A boss who uses an infinite, all-in-one, instant-death wide-area attack every three seconds.
“S-save me… Ugh…!”
While Lurue was declaring disaster on her enemies, Siwoo’s role was simple.
He pierced a witch who was running away with her back turned with his red spear.
He was a pursuer who chased down and executed fleeing soldiers.
Seven were swept away by the waves.
Five were pierced by Siwoo’s spear.
Now, only the Radiant Witch and five enemies remained.
“Ah.”
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
The Radiant Witch squeezed her body in and broke through the wall of waves, standing in front of Lurue.
“I-if it’s this distance, you can’t do that kind of crude thing, right?”
The Waves of the Sea of Magic were a wide-area attack.
She had spotted the gap that Lurue avoided her own surroundings when casting it.
Siwoo felt a cold chill run down his spine at the unexpected situation and immediately kicked off the space.
“Siwoo. Do not come. This is my fight.”
Lurue, who had stopped Siwoo with a gesture, stood in front of the Radiant Witch.
The self-proclaimed queen of the sea who bickered with her twin was not there.
The grief of losing her family had changed Lurue a little.
“I have granted you death. Yet, the vermin chooses to suffer.”
Despite her arrogant tone, the Radiant Witch did not give in.
If she could land just one good hit here, it wasn’t a dream to escape through the gap.
The Radiant Witch screamed as she desperately pulled up all her remaining magical power.
It was a desperate act, like saying, ‘I didn’t survive in this world so easily!’
“…………!!!!”
As soon as she made a sound, she inadvertently realized.
Her voice was not being heard properly.
To be precise, only a stuffy sound, like mumbling underwater, was lingering in her ears.
The Radiant Witch looked around.
Like a prisoner thrown with weights on their ankles.
She was slowly sinking into the middle of the dark sea.
The chilling temperature and water pressure of the cold seawater that seemed to freeze her bones.
And the light that was gradually disappearing.
Only the darkness beneath her was gaping open, ready to devour her.
“…Ugh!!! …Ugh…!”
The Radiant Witch struggled to rise to the surface.
But all that was allowed to her was to sink endlessly.
All the Radiant Witch could see was the distant, shimmering surface of the water and the Witch of the Deep Sea, who was indifferently looking down at her.
“I command you. Sink deep.”
