Chapter 1168 – #278_Skirmish (2)
#1162
1.
Alice Even Highyan, the Mercury Witch.
An exile who was chased out for violating city laws by illegally discharging experimental wastewater and not having the money to compensate.
Alice, who continued her dissolute life with her two lovers, Manya Malysha, and lived as a debtor, was kidnapped to Hexennacht after many twists and turns.
She suffered the humiliation of having non-removable piercings attached to her in a terrible place after meeting the crazy psycho lesbian sadist Rosie, but after a grand adventure, she made a great escape (and was satisfied with her significantly improved sensitivity).
Recognized for her contribution to helping Siwoo, she had her citizenship restored and was living a life of comfort and plenty.
Experience changes people.
Alice reflected on her past life of living without a care and even opened a savings account.
She deeply felt the need for a change in her attitude towards life.
However, humans don’t change easily, and Alice’s motto remained the same: “Let’s live by sucking up all the honey.”
This trip to Alaska was also a move armed with a thorough honey-sucking mindset.
In Alice’s view, the war was far from over.
At the Anchorage temporary branch, which seemed full of crisis and adventure, she smelled a sweet fragrance like lilacs in full bloom in their season.
Therefore, while everyone hesitated, she boldly volunteered for the role of a watchman, which seemed successful at first glance.
Until the missiles started flying through the window.
“What the hell!!! Why me!!!!! I want to suck some honey too!!!”
In fact, strictly speaking, the hundreds of light spots pouring down through the night sky were not missiles, but 300mm rockets fired from the Russian-made multiple rocket launcher ‘Smerch.’
However, such distinctions were only possible for the military maniac witch L’Riel or the former arms dealer Dorothy. For Alice, any modern weapon that flew through the sky spewing smoke and brought destruction to the ground was a missile.
-Bang!!! Boom! Kwaaaang!!!
A barrage of high-explosive and thermobaric bombs devastated the city where the temporary branch was located, centered around the hotel, where a barrier was deployed.
Buildings collapsed, and acrid smoke and flames rose everywhere.
The destruction itself clearly showed the horrors of war, but it was also a scene that made one tilt their head.
Modern weapons cannot be a great threat to witches.
This is not because all witches can evade at speeds faster than the speed of sound, nor because their bodies are as hard as adamantite.
It’s because the lethality of modern weapons is designed to kill humans and destroy structures.
Rockets, which are an insurmountable disaster for humans, are only as powerful as ‘a rather weak magic’ for witches who are aware of the attack, set up positions, and build defensive spells.
When Alice first witnessed the rocket barrage, the reason she thought, ‘Ah, this sucks,’ was not because she was wary of the modern weapons themselves, but because she judged that this attack was the starting point of Hexennacht’s advance.
“Report the damage!”
“One dead and one injured!”
However, at this point, when no Hexennacht witches were even visible, there were already two casualties.
The hotel, which had been fortified to the level of an impregnable fortress with magic circles, was half-destroyed.
The rockets that stained the clear Anchorage sky with black flames were not just ‘modern weapons.’
-Phewuuu!!!
Another rocket flew towards the already half-collapsed hotel.
It didn’t explode immediately but scattered a flammable mixture in the air like a spray.
The spray cloud, finely mixed with air, ignited immediately, and a high-pressure shockwave occurred instantly.
It was a thermobaric bomb, also known as a fuel-air explosive, that impartially delivered death within a radius of hundreds of meters, regardless of whether one was sheltered indoors.
“Gather behind me! Oh, boundless change!”
As soon as Alice identified the thermobaric bomb, she deployed magic over a certain range.
She was, after all, a great witch of the 20th rank.
True to her title, a shield in the shape of a sphere instantly enveloped everyone.
-Kwaaaang!!!
The shock of the pressure wave and the black flames that arose overloaded Alice’s magic circuits.
“Shit!”
“Sister!”
“Are you okay?”
Alice, who could normally block this level of bombing while leisurely having tea, staggered.
This was the problem.
Modern weapons could be dealt with using magic.
However, every time a bomb exploded, the black flames interfered with the use of magic.
The unrealistically black flames emitted a wave that interfered with magic itself, like a torch.
There were cases of witches who died because they were complacent in their defense and failed to cope with the wave.
“Did you contact Gehenna?”
“The communication is not working properly!”
“Manya! Until the scheduled time for the regular report?”
A communication network was established between Gehenna and the Anchorage temporary branch, but in case of emergency, there was a protocol that would switch to an emergency situation if a certain amount of time passed after the regular report was cut off.
“There are 1 hour and 12 minutes left.”
“We have to hold out until then?”
She asked with the last hope, but she could only confirm the bleak war situation that they had to hold out for more than an hour with only about 10 people against the enemy’s major offensive.
Moreover, Alice was the only great witch at the temporary branch.
At this point, when they were clearly surrounded, escaping through the sea was also a life-threatening situation.
Alice didn’t ponder why the black flames were suddenly erupting from the human weapons.
She just came to the most reasonable conclusion.
“Manya, Malysha. Let’s ditch this place and run.”
“Okay, I’ve packed our bags.”
“What about the other witches?”
“Is this the time to worry about other witches? They’ll find their own way to survive.”
The honey pot had been overturned, and a swarm of hornets was coming, so Alice boldly spoke of betrayal.
“Anyway, from a grand perspective, it’s not important to defend this place right now. I’ve kept my loyalty enough.”
At first glance, it might seem that geographical bases are meaningless since both Hexennacht and Gehenna possess ‘gates.’
‘Why would it matter to temporarily give up just one base when there is an innovative means of transportation that can gather troops anywhere in the world in 10 minutes?’
But it was important.
It can be understood similarly to Go.
In Go, even though you can place stones anywhere on the 361-square grid without physical restrictions, there are winners and losers.
Even in the battles of transcendents, it is very important what position you occupy in the land-grabbing battle.
Of course, Alice knew that fact as well.
It’s just that her life was more precious.
After three waves of bombing, there was a brief lull.
The Allied Forces of the Academy, facing the Eastern Corps deployed by Hexennacht in Alaska, were the cooperating academies under Hesed and the librarians of the Valentinus Secret Archives.
The other witches who were first deployed in Anchorage belonged to the Secret Archives.
It meant that they were librarians who had spent their entire lives with ink on their hands, but volunteered out of indignation that they ‘could not stand idly by the enemies.’
As expected, the Gehenna scholars were pale.
It was only natural that they were suddenly faced with the worst situation without proper mental preparation.
Moreover, the magical fields emitted by the enemy witches were also getting closer.
They were approaching to plant their flag after neutralizing the first resistance with the bombardment.
It wasn’t a large number to call it a ‘major offensive,’ but they were the scouts of the ‘corps.’
It was still impossible to deal with such a small number of people.
“Highyan-nim… W-what are the next instructions…”
“If we hold out a little longer, the Head Librarian will come.”
Nevertheless, no one tried to run away.
They looked at Alice, the head of the temporary branch, while suppressing their rising fear with pride.
“…What do you want me to do…”
After giving the order to wait, the trio was busy packing their bags in a half-collapsed guest room.
Manya and Malysha’s expressions also became complicated at Alice’s quiet complaint.
They were from Gehenna, but they didn’t have a proper sense of belonging to Gehenna.
They also didn’t have a sense of mission that they couldn’t stand idly by while Hexennacht was disrupting the world order.
But at that moment, the trio thought of one man’s face.
Shin Siwoo, who they had attacked in the past to make a score, who had become their escape companion by chance, and who was now Alice’s superior in charge of pensions and professorship.
He had managed to take care of the trio and escape even in the worst situation of being captured by Hexennacht.
Was it because of a sense of mission? Was it because of a sense of belonging? Was it because of a sense of justice?
Probably none of them.
“Damn it…”
That certainty had been bothering Alice’s mind for a while now.
“I will follow you, sister, no matter what you decide. If we run away from here, let’s play together at a quiet villa. We don’t need to get caught up in the war, do we? Of course, it will be difficult to go back to Gehenna if we do… But Manya is fine even if it’s not Gehenna. Thanks to you, sister, I’ve seen many good places and enjoyed all sorts of things.”
Manya carefully opened her mouth.
“But even if you decide to stay here and fight, Manya will follow you.”
“You fox! Why are you the only one acting cool? Malysha will be with sister forever too, okay?”
Malysha also playfully joined in and stared intently at Alice.
Both of them had eyes that knew what kind of answer would come out.
“You little rascals. You’re playing with me like I’m in your hands. How can I say I want to run away again when I’m so embarrassed?”
Alice chuckled.
Manya and Malysha also giggled and smiled.
“Let’s just hold out for an hour.”
“That’s right. If we’re lucky, they’ll notice something is wrong and reinforcements will come before then!”
Alice threw the suitcase she had packed onto the bed covered in dust and came out.
The librarians in witch uniforms were gathered together, waiting for Alice’s instructions.
“Okay, everyone, listen up! From now on, we’ll divide into three groups and do our best in our respective missions!”
It was the commander’s job to put the confused soldiers back on the battlefield.
“First, Manya here will go as a messenger to Gehenna through stealth movement. Since the enemies have blocked communication and launched a surprise attack, they will naturally be wary of the existence of a messenger and have troops deployed on the coast. It’s dangerous for Manya to go alone. Therefore, Group 1 will draw the enemy’s attention with me and hide the existence of the messenger.
Group 2 will rebuild the defensive spells inside the hotel. Prepare for the enemy’s attack. Group 3 will be in charge of securing escape routes and treating the injured.”
Alice’s mind was working busily.
The fact that they were approaching meant that there would be no more shelling unless they were planning to team kill.
The key was to buy time without Manya being discovered until she entered the ‘gate.’
As she began to give instructions in a calm tone, the eyes of the agitated librarians also became filled with fighting spirit.
“It’s true that they caught us off guard. But let’s show them the spicy taste of Gehenna.”
Alice, who was standing on the roof, fluttering the cloak that Malysha handed her, bravely glared at the enemies.
The librarians, who had secretly ignored the three exiles, stood side by side with determined expressions.
“Let’s go!!!”
As soon as Alice shouted in a solemn voice.
-Bang!
Suddenly, a red line that cut across the sky pierced through one of the Hexennacht forces and crashed into the ground.
The aftermath alone caused a large-scale destruction reminiscent of a meteorite impact, pushing over a small city in a straight line.
“Huh?”
Taking that as a signal, a black armor flew among the Hexennacht witches who were scattering in confusion.
Alice, who was blankly watching the scene, let out a sigh of relief and squatted down in place.
“Haa…”
“Sister, shall we go in now?”
“What do you mean go in? Go get some popcorn.”
But it was okay.
The identity of the black armor rampaging in front of her was Shin Siwoo.
The second greatest enemy slayer.
The strongest force of the Hesed Academy at this point.
Alice tilted her head.
“Huh?”
“Why, why? Is there a problem?”
The area was surrounded by a barrier that concealed the unique presence of the enemies.
Communication was cut off by the waves emitted by modern weapons, there was still a long time until the regular contact, and the messenger had not even left yet.
“But how did he know to come?”
Yet, Shin Siwoo arrived here in 10 minutes.
It was as if he knew about the attack in advance.
