## Chapter 1174 – #279_Declaration Of War (4)
#1168
1.
Erelim Blanche.
These six words, in the past, were a name that instilled more fear in the enemies than even Duke Tiferet.
Though the century has changed and the times have shifted, Barbara, who had flourished in the same era as her, prides herself on understanding Erelim’s strength.
Erelim’s self-nature magic is the ‘Celestial Void Record’.
This irrational magic, which allows access to a hyperdimensional forbidden library that records all magic existing in the universe, is the reason why Erelim is called the ‘Great Sage of Gehenna’.
Of course, accessing the records and understanding them are separate issues.
Just like being able to go to a library doesn’t mean you can understand and utilize every book in it.
However, Erelim was a peerless genius who had never faced her limits for over a thousand years without sacrificing humans or witches, and she was the president of the Truth and True Name Academic Society, revered by witches who used various kinds of magic.
As with all results of conflict, the advantages and disadvantages of magical combat are not determined by simple firepower.
In addition to hierarchy, practical experience, the nature of magic, and the compatibility between magics are all complexly applied.
Therefore, ordinary witches are reluctant to expose their battles frequently.
The more they are analyzed, the more their weaknesses are revealed.
But Erelim didn’t care at all.
She used different magic in every battle.
She basically handled the four elements of water, fire, earth, and wind freely, and sometimes used alchemy, sometimes concepts, and sometimes incantations.
Unlike witches who adopt one or two symbols each, she was a witch who could always pull out a hand that was superior in compatibility with countless magics like constellations.
That is the constellation witch, Blanche Erelim.
“You know that your fancy skills are meaningless in front of so many witches, right?”
Barbara and the witches of the Gagiel Brigade slowly extracted their magic power.
A vast other-dimensional barrier covered the castle, as well as the surrounding forest and sky.
A chilling and ominous magic, solely intended to exclude enemies, made the calm air tremble.
“Is that so?”
Even so, Erelim only looked around with her clear eyes, showing no particular agitation.
“What are you so confident about? You waltzed into the heart of the enemy camp, thinking we’re like the Gehenna sissies…”
“Go back.”
A monotonous, dry voice cut off Barbara’s provocation.
“If you go back now, I won’t make an issue of it.”
There was no laughter or sarcasm.
It was because no one here could take those words as mere bluff.
“You doubted my intentions and came all the way to my residence. But after talking and understanding, we concluded without any major conflict. This conclusion is enough to save face. I will testify to that as well.”
“Huh…”
Barbara, who scoffed, felt a stinging chill, as if the cold winter wind was seeping into her clothes.
At the same time, she also felt an unfamiliar fear that she couldn’t acknowledge.
It was an emotion she had never felt in her life, a warning from her instincts.
She had hoped that she might have become a little rusty in the peaceful haven of Gehenna.
But it seems that such a hope is meaningless for Keter’s sharpest spear and shield.
“Duke Erelim has sided with Hexennacht. But she was still a member of Gehenna, and her defection was a self-proclaimed Trojan horse. Therefore, the Gagiel Brigade, having noticed her scheme, has eliminated the enemy’s greatest force that had infiltrated the interior. I think this conclusion is more to my liking.”
“Then… you will pay the price for your wrong choice.”
An inevitable current of conflict.
In the chilling, tense silence, gazes crossed.
As if by agreement, everyone moved.
They each drew out their magic power and prepared their specialty magic.
-Kugwagwagwang!
It was just a preparatory action, but the preparation for engagement by these witches alone easily crumbled a castle built of igneous rock.
The concentrated magic power became visible, painting the sky with a kaleidoscope of shimmering colors, and they prepared to demonstrate their power within a range that did not interfere with each other.
“Everyone to your positions!”
Today’s tactic was simple yet textbook.
Barbara, the 23rd rank, would hold Erelim in the front as much as possible with the support of the sleeping witch and the bewitching witch, with whom she had worked together.
Meanwhile, other personnel would watch for variables and occasionally apply checks.
It may sound simple, but a textbook is a refined theory derived from countless experiences.
If perfected, it is not easy for the opponent to break through.
“Fall asleep.”
First, the self-nature magic of ‘Sleeping Witch’ Olga Somnus, ‘Lullaby’, began.
A magical field spread around like a hazy mist.
“Believe in what you cannot see.”
The magic ‘Dazzle’ of ‘Bewitching Witch’ Oksana Clavis, who naturally took over the flow, mixed in.
Neither of the two’s magic had any offensive power on its own.
It was a curse-type barrier technique that softened the boundary between reality and illusion, and at the same time, inflicted auditory and visual hallucinations on the enemy.
Today, their role was not to stand on the front line and confront Erelim head-on, but to set the stage for the ‘Nightmare Witch’ to run wild.
If a 22nd-rank witch deliberately sets the ‘stage’ and focuses on maintaining it, even Erelim cannot easily scatter it.
Because Barbara and the Gagiel Brigade would not be watching idly during that time.
Barbara recalled the time when the hunting strategy for today was established.
‘First, I’ll take the first move.’
In any case, Erelim is forced into a one-versus-many battle.
The Gagiel Brigade, preparing to spread out and unleash crossfire, and Barbara, who steadfastly withstands the attacks head-on.
If pressure is applied from all sides, she will inevitably have to move first.
Movement is accompanied by a gap.
The plan was to start the battle by relentlessly latching onto the gap the moment Duke Erelim demonstrates her magic.
‘And that first move will definitely be a wide-area magic.’
In this situation, Erelim’s options are inevitably narrowed.
It was to limit the diverse magical characteristics of the Celestial Void Record with the situation.
A magical reflective light, as if tears were scattering from Erelim’s eyes, flowed, and as expected, the flow of magic scattered in all directions and concentrated in the sky.
“That’s right.”
“As expected of Barbara, she lives up to her name?”
“Prepare the designated personnel for defense.”
The disadvantage of wide-area magic that targets multiple people at the same time is that its power is ultimately limited if dealt with properly.
Also, Erelim would be reluctant to use a lot of magic power from the first move.
The low-ranking witches within the Gagiel Brigade would defend against the wide-area magic as efficiently as possible, and Barbara would move in the meantime, but…
There was something they had not anticipated.
Erelim had gone through far more diverse battles than they thought, and she had grasped their intentions as soon as she saw them.
-Geugeugeugeugeung!
The witches, who should have been watching Erelim closely, inadvertently looked up at the sky.
The desolate night sky, where only withered starlight was sparsely embedded, was split lengthwise.
A gap opened as if a giant eye was looking down at the earth from the heavens.
What was visible through the opened gap, instead of an eye, was the vast universe where countless entities were born and died, which would have been visible if there had been no atmosphere.
“Revere.”
As Erelim chanted, something began to fall against the backdrop of a majestic celestial world that inspired reverence.
Small red dots falling like streaks, with long crimson flames trailing like tails.
Their true nature was meteors with a mass of over 10,000 tons each.
The meteorites, closing the distance to the ground at a speed of tens of kilometers per second, cast shadows on the ground, declaring only thorough destruction instead of romance.
————Kwaang!!!!!
One of the hundreds, no, thousands of meteors that reached the ground first erased the night.
A light that seemed to burn the eyes set the sky ablaze as if it were daytime, and the ground shook with the tremendous shockwave.
The huge trees surrounding the castle were all tilted outward from the epicenter by the explosive pressure alone.
Barbara coldly assessed the situation.
It was a power that would inflict devastating damage on ordinary witches, but unlike its appearance, the speed and mass of the meteors were not that great.
However, there were too many, and it was impossible to respond to each one, making it inefficient.
“Don’t think about blocking them. You can’t block them anyway. Maintain the encirclement and preserve your strength as much as possible. Just monitor her position so the Duke doesn’t escape. She’ll probably use the meteors themselves as sacrifices to use fire elemental magic.”
Erelim effectively created a crack in the formation.
She had anticipated that they would exploit the gap in her first move, and considering that she would be caught in the opponent’s scheme if she used a mediocre wide-area magic, she completely overturned the situation into chaos.
She knew that she had a lot of practical experience, but she had thought that she was only elegant. Who would have thought that she would scatter high-powered magic over their heads and draw such a picture?
————!!!!
Amidst the meteor shower that arrived late, creating a temporary white night while causing destruction, Barbara discovered Erelim, who was drawing out white flames amidst the dance of destruction.
“Look at this bitch?”
The direction Erelim was looking at was not the great witches within the Gagiel Brigade, but the witches.
She was preparing to hunt down the witches who were confused and struggling with the meteor fall first.
She was surprised that she was trying to fight instead of running away, surprised again that she was making a ruthless and cold decision, and finally surprised once more by her indifferent expression as if she was approving documents.
Perhaps Erelim was a much more enemy-like figure than expected.
Putting aside her shock, she couldn’t let her intentions come to fruition.
Even if they were called the Gagiel Brigade, they were ultimately an enemy group.
The desire for self-preservation was much greater than their sense of belonging and unity.
If only five people died, they would quickly collapse and lose their will to fight.
The wide-area attack that led the battlefield into chaos with this unexpected power must have been taken into account as well.
“Oksana, Olga. We’re going faster than planned.”
“I’m ready.”
As expected, a calm answer was heard, and Barbara stood on the stage prepared by the two.
“Open your eyes.”
With the end of the activation phrase, black magic power instantly eroded the surroundings of Barbara.
The erosion, which erased the background and was drawn on all sides without three-dimensionality, looked like a deep and dark sea of unconsciousness.
-Shuuuuuung!!!
The meteor that fell on Barbara’s head disappeared with a dreamy flutter of wings as soon as it passed through the eroded boundary, turning into tens of thousands of butterflies.
The shockwave of the meteor that attacked from the side was replaced by a cheerful fanfare of scattering pollen, and the flames that were burning the defenseless rear became well-whipped cream, remaining in their original shape.
All the elements that threatened Barbara were scattered as a piece of a dream.
“The sensitivity is good.”
This was the power that made Barbara known as the Nightmare Witch.
The reality manipulation magic ‘Lucid Dream’ that materializes imagination into reality.
Because Olga and Oksana had prepared in advance, the depth of erosion was deeper and denser than ever.
“Shall we dance a song? Princess.”
“That’s a frivolous last word.”
Barbara, who had lightly scooped up some whipped cream with her fingertip and put it in her mouth, looked at Erelim.
Erelim, who also felt an unusual surge of magic power, also looked at Barbara.
They had only finished their warm-up.
