Chapter 1194 – #282_The Trump Card
#1188
1.
One of the trump cards that Gehenna pulled out in this war was the left-wing mobile unit.
Composed of the branch managers of the location points, centered around Eloah Tiphereth, the ‘Eyes,’ and the ‘Raven,’ made up of veterans with a wealth of achievements in subjugating the Gongs and Homunculi, were putting on a powerful breakthrough against the Hexennacht’s Western Army.
“Slash.”
Linne, wielding a small katana and a large katana in each hand, stirred up the enemy lines with her dark new form.
The path she passed left behind a mysterious trail, like an oriental painting composed only of ink splatters and the white space of hanji paper.
The only color added to it was the enemy’s blood.
Linne’s movements, which were nothing short of the embodiment of combat instinct, possessed something that could not be measured simply by the hierarchy of high and low.
-Swish!
She fluttered the hem of her clothes, which had turned into an extension of the blurry ink lines, as if connected to the background.
Linne’s sword cleanly pierced the throat of a Gong.
“Gurgle…!”
The witch, who had been predicting Linne’s movements and deploying defensive techniques, widened her eyes in disbelief and spat out a mouthful of blood.
She had been caught off guard because Linne moved like a phantom, defying inertia.
It was just one mistake, but the victory or defeat in a life-or-death struggle was decided in an instant.
-Crack!
Linne roughly twisted and pulled out her sword, leaving behind a fatal wound that could not be healed.
Before the blood that gushed out like a fountain could even land on her white cheek, she rushed towards her next target like a spider.
“Damn it… I’ve heard the rumors, but she’s terrifying.”
“How many people is she killing on her own?”
The Gongs who had survived until now were formidable individuals who could not be ignored by evil or sheer guts.
Moreover, those belonging to the Western Army were selected to stop the Tiphereth Duke.
No matter how confident one was in their skills, deeply penetrating this center was nothing short of a precarious tightrope walk.
The moment one misjudged, the moment one’s judgment clouded and hesitated, the moment one was even briefly held and surrounded, it was a dance on a knife’s edge where one would lose their life.
However, Linne was scattering a ghostly spirit amidst the gaps of the demons, performing a precarious sword dance.
“Those who aren’t confident, get out! If you hold her down for even a moment, we can catch her!”
“Why is she coming all the way here! She’s alone!”
Linne wasn’t aiming for a fair fight.
She was only fixated on targets that she could cut off their breath in one breath and escape before the next.
“Shit! Where did she go again! She was supposed to be here!”
“She already ran away! You idiot! Did she crawl here?”
Even when the same 22nd-level witches tried to catch Linne, she moved to the next point before they could even face her.
“Now! Now is the time!”
“Get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way! Get out of the line of fire! You’re in the way, I can’t shoot properly!”
“Just shoot! Just shoot!”
“Aaaah! Which orphan is that!”
“Cease fire! It’s friendly fire! Cease fire! You idiots!”
When it seemed like she would be exposed to the enemy’s encirclement fire, she skillfully moved, using the enemy in the line of fire as a shield, and slipped away.
It was a tactic that only Linne, who had devoted her entire life to life-or-death struggles, could use, causing those on the receiving end to feel frustrated.
It wasn’t just Linne, the embodiment of combat instinct, who was disrupting the front lines.
Eloah, who was breaking through while spreading the remnants of cherry blossom-colored magic, was also boasting martial prowess befitting the title of a god of war.
Eloah had a deformed balance, having modified all magic into combat forms.
Most of her abilities were focused on speed, strength, and one-on-one combat. To compare it to a car, it was like an F1 racing car that had poured everything into speed, ignoring all other elements.
Her magic efficiency was terrible, and she was not suited for chaotic battles.
Especially when her physical condition was not perfect.
“Duke, leave it to me and go straight ahead.”
“Understood.”
Jin-gak kicked the ground heavily.
A ground tremor comparable to an explosion occurred, and Eloah moved forward in a straight line.
“O-o-oh, she’s coming…!”
“Here, here, here! Defensive formation!”
“Just buy time! Never stand in front of her for long!”
Confusion arose among the Gongs who were confronting her.
There was no one among the Gongs who had not heard of the horrors of the Pink Duke.
Just preparing to respond without fleeing in disarray was worthy of being considered among the best of the best.
-Swish!
While preparing for Eloah’s charge from the front, attacks from all directions surged in.
Eloah’s outstanding senses and combat instincts accurately captured all attacks coming from difficult angles to respond to.
Originally, she would have had to repeat rapid accelerations and decelerations, expending a considerable amount of magic to evade or overpower them with force.
But the current Eloah did not need such waste.
“Do not fear.”
A transparent barrier appeared around Eloah’s shoulder, blocking the enemy’s attacks with a deafening roar.
Dorothy’s absolute power-infused defense perfectly compensated for Eloah’s weak defense, a result of her extreme selection and focus.
It was like a high-performance racing car charging at high speed with the defensive power of a heavy tank.
This was a disaster for the Gongs, who had surrounded the mobile unit that was recklessly charging with insufficient forces, and were expecting to kill the Tiphereth Duke by taking advantage of their numbers.
“Support! Requesting immediate support! We cannot stop Tiphereth with our forces!”
“B-2 point! We are retreating!”
As a result, the Gehenna left-wing unit was displaying a feat of pushing through the pre-deployed front lines with relatively insufficient forces.
“What is the damage to our forces?”
However, Eloah’s expression, who was in contact with Branch Manager Sua, was not very bright.
[According to the girl’s confirmation, 28 have died, 40 have sustained injuries that make it impossible to continue fighting, and 11 have temporarily retreated due to magic exhaustion.]
Unlike other units that focused on minimizing power loss, the mobile unit had designed its strategy and organization on the premise of engaging in head-on battles on the most dangerous front lines.
As a result, the desperate struggle of the notorious Gagiel Brigade left unavoidable scars on their own side.
Even if the damage was foreseen, it was an unavoidable fact that it was bitter.
“Reorganize the remaining personnel, regroup, and continue the pursuit. Even to not make the sacrifices of others in vain.”
[Understood…]
“Sua, teacher?”
[……]
“Sua, teacher?”
The connection was lost.
No matter how many times she tried, a strange noise repeated.
Eloah was on guard.
Although she had not closed her eyes even once since the strange phenomenon had manifested, a bizarre, illusion-like scene unfolded before her eyes.
“……”
In the blink of an eye, a vast forest appeared instead of the barren sand dunes.
A forest full of ancient trees of unrealistic and surreal sizes and circumferences.
A deep green that covered even the vast sky with a dark blue curtain.
Inside the shadows cast by the leaves, various fruits shining in all colors were beautifully glowing.
The scent of moss holding dew, the refreshing vitality of the forest that gently brushed against the skin.
At first glance, it looked so mysterious that it could be mistaken for a fairy forest.
But to Eloah’s eyes, which could see through falsehood, it looked completely different.
Death.
The ancient trees that showed sacred divinity were a collection of corpses so distorted that their original forms could not be recognized.
The soft moss that was stepped on was a tangle of blood vessels and nerve networks, and the twigs were bare bones.
The tranquil stream was a stream of blood with a sticky, metallic smell.
“Scary little one. Hello?”
Not only was she short, but she also had a youthful appearance that could be mistaken for a novice witch.
The witch, who was adorned in an outfit so flamboyant that it was almost exaggerated, had been sitting on a tree branch at a dizzying height before falling down with a thud.
“The Witch of Verdant.”
Eloah bared her teeth.
To create this forest, an immeasurable amount of death had to be used as fertilizer.
How many witches, how many humans had been sacrificed?
The former would be in the hundreds, and the latter would be in the hundreds of thousands or more.
“Eloah Tiphereth. I’ve heard a lot about your reputation. They say you’re incredibly strong?”
No sense of hostility was felt from Verda, who had appeared nonchalantly in front of Eloah, who was fiercely raising her power.
It was not important.
Eloah, who had found her answer after a long wandering, did not hesitate in the face of evil that had to be judged.
“I contract.”
“Wait, wait!”
Righteous punishment.
Eloah’s ‘contract,’ which permanently cut and annihilated the existence of evil, was activated.
Verda, who had approached defenselessly, was already within Eloah’s range.
The time it took from the moment Eloah thought to cut to the moment she swung her approaching slash was faster than the speed of thought.
“Wait! Don’t you want to make it a draw? There’s only us in this forest anyway, and no one’s watching. We could just pretend to fight, or how about we open our hearts and have tea together? Huh?”
Eloah couldn’t help but doubt her eyes.
Verda’s small, bare hand stopped the contract sword that had been drawn with full force.
She avoided the edge of the swung sword and grabbed the flat of the blade.
The most surprising thing was that there was no sign that Verda had used any magic in the series of actions she had taken.
“Calm down! We really have no reason to fight! I’m your sympathizer! Just listen to my story for a moment!”
Eloah hesitated and pulled her blade back at the pure desperation that could be seen in Verda.
Verda willingly let go so that Eloah could retrieve her sword and quickly continued speaking.
“You established Location Points to protect humans, right? Me too! I also really like humans. The culture and art they create… like literature, music, art, fashion, food culture, movies. They’re amazing! Every time I see them, I feel a thrill and tears well up!”
“Isn’t that right? Humans, who are merely mortals, have accumulated an eternal idea! I don’t think these are inferior to self-magic at all. Humans and witches just lack communication! Because Keter established an absurd order that witches should not interfere deeply in human affairs!”
“But looking at humanity today, there’s something you can realize. Unfortunately, foolishness is humanity’s eternal incurable disease. They are limited groups trapped by narrow perspectives, limited understanding, and ignorant and foolish selfish instincts. What do they lack? What will lead them to true progress and prosperity?”
“Not just existing, but a leader who transcends human understanding and is ‘alive.’ A superman who can ignore shallow morals and weaknesses and walk towards a true purpose. Yes, it’s us witches. We witches are the only Übermensch who can save humanity. So we don’t need to fight! Instead of the intentional separation and isolation like now, we can create a brilliant culture and civilization by harmonizing in a new order!”
“Yes! That’s right! I love humans like you!”
Verda spread her arms wide like a speaker intoxicated by her own speech.
She was enforcing her twisted love for humanity without a shred of doubt.
“I know. I know my words sound contradictory. Because there aren’t many people in Hexennacht who think like me. But the reason I joined Hexennacht is because I thought that at least one person should be for humans! If things continue like this, it might be difficult for me to build good relationships with humans on my own. It’s a terrible tragedy for humans who hide countless possibilities. You can understand me, right, Tiphereth? If I have a reliable partner like you, I can do it. Together, for humanity…”
-Whoosh!
Verda pulled back her arm, which had been reaching forward as if to offer a handshake.
A moment later, Eloah’s sword cut through the void.
“……”
At the resolute sign of rejection, Verda’s expression, which had been full of goodwill and desire until just a moment ago, was covered with a miserable sadness like that of an abandoned child.
“That’s strange. I thought you would be my sympathizer.”
Verda, with tears welling up in her eyes, slumped her shoulders dejectedly.
Soon after, a murderous aura that was so suffocating that it was like a heat haze rose from her shoulders.
“Ah… Tiphereth, today will be the second saddest day of my life.”
A strange, mournful echo, like a ghostly cry, spread sadly throughout the forest she had created.
