Chapter 1076 – #256_A Small War (3)
#1070
1.
Herya, the one who led her group and beheaded my beloved Dorothy.
Shin Siwoo, who not only killed my cherished subordinate Talia but also cornered the Lehar Group through discord.
The two had ample reason to hate each other.
If there was enough reason to hate, there was enough reason to fight.
Herya didn’t try to call for backup.
Shin Siwoo also didn’t try to retreat and choose a safer battlefield.
Sometimes, hatred makes people pure like this.
Because it makes both of them think that only they have the right to twist the other’s neck.
“Goddess, sing of wrath.”
With a solemn incantation, magic imbued Herya’s entire body as she held her axe.
-Fzzzzzzzzzz
It wasn’t just a simple axe, but a halberd with an axe blade, a spear tip, and a beak that could simultaneously strike and pull the enemy.
The magic condensed within the entire weapon emitted a bright blue glow, scattering spiderweb-like lightning.
The Witch of War, Herya Valhiriye.
The magic of ‘Thunder,’ notorious for its destructive power, began to roar in the empty sky.
“Bloom.”
Red lines like blood vessels appeared on the sleek black armor that covered her body.
Siwoo activated the Distortion Field to its maximum, holding the Red Branch.
-Wooooooom
The cursed spear, which would devour its master if not properly controlled, emitted a low, long infrasound like the wails of the dead.
Two clusters of blue and red light rushed straight toward each other without hesitation.
A straightforward charge that only the brave who do not fear conflict can choose.
-Kwaaaang!
The two forces collided at lightning speed, scattering the remnants of magic that split into countless fragments across the night sky.
At the same time, the recoil of the collision was transferred to both of them.
“Kuh!”
The moment the spear tip and axe met, Siwoo felt an intense shock that made his arm muscles contract.
Knowing that Herya’s magnetic magic was thunder magic, he had transformed the properties of his armor, making it insulated.
He was even emitting the Distortion Field outward, pushing away the current scattered by the halberd.
Nevertheless, the current seeping through the colliding weapons surged into his muscles as if he had grabbed an exposed wire with his bare hands.
The excruciating pain, like a knife tearing through flesh, stiffened his forearm all the way to the back of his neck.
Magic that forced damage just by the impact of colliding weapons.
This was likely the source of Herya’s confidence in adopting close-quarters tactics, which were unusual for a witch.
But it was the same for Siwoo.
“……!”
At the moment of impact, Herya felt an intense pain as if her whole body was being hammered.
An unreal shock as if her spirit was shattering into dust.
Her breath caught for a moment, and her arm trembled.
The distortion field emitted by the cursed red spear was rampaging through her body, trying to devour her.
-Kwajijijijik!
Neither Siwoo nor Herya had any intention of backing down first.
Usually, in such a game of chicken, the person who backs out first shows an opening.
Siwoo extended his ribbon and embedded it into the ground, creating a ‘grounding surface’ to discharge as much of the lightning as possible, while Herya’s back gradually bent backward.
Even in a situation where the advantage shifted the moment one side gave way, like an arm wrestling match,
Herya neither avoided nor retreated.
“Uuuuuuuu…!!!”
Instead, she let out a roar.
Her eyes, with burst blood vessels, glared fiercely.
Like a powerlifter, she gradually lifted her upper body with the power of her magic-enhanced core and lower body.
A crude method of compensating for deficiencies with sheer brute force.
But there was no such thing as impossible in the face of extremely trained muscles.
“…Uryaaaaa!!!!”
Herya, who had straightened her crushed back, delivered a headbutt with explosive force.
-Kwaang!
In response, Siwoo’s foot, which shot out like lightning, kicked Herya’s abdomen, but it was Siwoo who was pushed back.
This was because the impact of her bare forehead hitting his helmet was so strong that it dented it.
“Tch! Damn it. My head’s spinning.”
Herya, holding her bleeding forehead, wore a belligerent smile, contrary to her dissatisfied tone.
It was so shocking that it made him laugh in disbelief.
Until now, Siwoo had never been second to anyone in terms of strength.
The magic enhancement of a spirit was ultimately based on the spirit, and a man’s body was inherently stronger than a woman’s.
Therefore, in terms of pure strength, even his two masters, who were masters of close combat, could not match Siwoo.
But Herya was different.
She was over 190cm tall, and her weight was close to her height.
It wasn’t just obesity, but all that weight was bulked-up muscle.
Herya might actually be capable of doing the ridiculous thing of making diamonds by crushing coal with her grip.
“I roughly understand now. Your strength.”
Herya cracked her neck and firmly grasped the halberd’s shaft with both hands.
The sharp blue lightning now flowed not only through the halberd but also throughout her body.
-Fzzzzzzzzzz!!!
Herya’s silhouette, flickering with lightning like branches, resembled the image of a thunder god from all ages and cultures, rather than a human.
“I’m coming.”
-Bang!
Herya’s movement, which closed the distance in an instant with a short declaration, was closer to an ‘explosion’ than ‘movement.’
A speed that could avoid damage even if explosives went off right next to her.
In addition, a tremendous brute force that could penetrate and traverse any obstacle.
The halberd, scattering eye-straining afterimages, aimed for Siwoo’s neck with a horizontal slash.
Even at this point, she had chosen a frontal attack.
No matter how much the Red Branch was there, receiving this head-on was foolish.
Siwoo tried to dodge Herya’s charge like a matador, moving out of the line of attack.
There was no need to engage in another foolish strength contest.
It would be enough if he could pierce her side with his spear while dodging.
“Don’t——run——away!!!”
He thought that, but it was because he didn’t have enough information about Herya.
He had clearly dodged the line of attack, but the blue lightning drawn by Herya pierced Siwoo with a strange zigzag.
Moreover, its speed did not decrease at all.
The reason he was able to react without being surprised was that
Siwoo had become accustomed to movements that ignored inertia while fighting Rinne.
-Skung!
The halberd, swung menacingly like an executioner’s axe, narrowly grazed the breastplate of his armor as he leaned his upper body back.
He had clearly dodged, but Herya’s aim was not singular.
While swinging, she spun the halberd and hooked the beak, originally used to pull down enemies on horseback, behind Siwoo’s neck.
A spine-chilling situation where the enemy’s weapon was hooked behind his cervical vertebrae.
Siwoo did not try to avoid or shake off the halberd pulling him.
-Tukwang!
Rather, he used the pulling force to dive into Herya’s arms.
He stepped forward with his left leg and punched Herya’s angular jaw with his firmly clenched fist.
At the same time, he tripped Herya’s leg with his right foot, disrupting her center of gravity.
The natural movements, like flowing water, were so nimble and perfect that they were hard to believe as the reaction of a human who had been caught off guard.
But Herya’s reaction was even more inhuman.
“Is——that——all——you——got!!!”
With both legs floating in the air and her center of gravity completely disrupted, she received an iron fist to her jaw.
It was an impact that could have shattered her jaw or turned her brain into mush.
-Bbak!
But Herya only staggered for a moment and slapped Siwoo’s face with the back of her hand while their bodies were entangled.
It was an excruciating pain that made the root of his tongue tingle.
-Bwoom!
At the same time as he was hit on the cheekbone, Siwoo swung his spear shaft.
Using the force of his falling body, he delivered a sharp blow to Herya’s temple.
But just as Herya seemed to buckle at one knee, she quickly regained her balance and delivered another headbutt.
In the end, Siwoo kicked her chest as if pushing her away and created distance again.
“Kuh…!”
Siwoo’s attacks were always precise strikes aimed at vital points, while Herya’s were closer to wild, swinging punches with misaligned points.
Nevertheless, the exchange ratio was terrible.
There was no answer if it turned into a brawl.
Herya possessed tremendous brute force, as well as resilience and fighting spirit.
“Are you already running away? I had high expectations since you killed Urshla, but you’re not showing any strength?”
If a typical witch saw this, they would scream, ‘This isn’t magic!’
But Herya was clearly a ‘witch’ of considerable skill.
-Urrrrrrung!
Siwoo could see it.
While Herya was seemingly leading him into a brawl, dark clouds had filled the sky.
The uninhabited island that the two had chosen as their battlefield was now densely covered with ion tubes created by magic, like the roots of weeds.
Herya had pulled off this feat during the fierce brawl.
Ion tubes were paths for lightning to travel.
Soon after.
-Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaaaang!
A barrage of lightning strikes began to fall diagonally from the sky.
Beyond a simple disaster, like the lightning that burned the world when this blue planet was still a primitive star.
Lightning with the energy to vaporize even pieces of metal in an instant struck the entire island along the ion tubes.
There were no blind spots.
There was no way to avoid it.
The barrage of lightning, leaving behind a dense trail of white flashes like a downpour, seemed to pronounce the end of the world.
“Oh, you endured that?”
The time of the bombardment, which felt like an eternity, was over.
The terrain had changed as if a carpet bombing had occurred, and the island was ablaze.
In the middle was Shin Siwoo, standing with his spear planted, his body crouched.
The hemispherical Distortion Field originating from the Red Branch seemed to have protected his body like a shield.
Above his head, an angel’s halo slowly rotated, gently scattering golden light.
Siwoo looked up at Herya, who was looking down at him arrogantly.
An all-rounder who covered all distances from close to mid-range.
Indeed, she was strong enough to be worthy of the 22nd rank.
A complete strength honed through countless experiences like Bianca, Rinne, Dorothy, and Urshla.
He was aware of the presence of the four-leaf clover he had placed inside his pocket.
A trump card and insurance he had prepared for this plan, which would allow him to avoid even death with extreme luck.
But he quickly erased it from his mind.
His opponent was certainly strong.
But if it was ‘this much,’ he could win.
Siwoo had that conviction.
