Chapter 269 – #60_Water Drainage Tunnel(5)
#267
1.
Eloa abandoned the thought of ‘next time.’
The fear of death is sliced away by the clean movement of the sword.
Instead, her mind is filled only with the task of seizing victory in this carnage.
Once she empties herself of distractions and anguish, her body becomes a sword, and the sword becomes one with her body.
Eloa, dancing with her sword while freely releasing her magic, was a storm itself.
The white knights, who were undoubtedly formidable foes, were cut down and split apart as if they were mere soldiers.
Amidst the white spears shaking like a bamboo forest in a storm…
-Swishhhhh!
A crimson spear slithered through the gaps, making a sinister sound.
The red knight was cautious to the end.
He never tried to face Eloa alone.
He deployed white knights in turn, like a wheel formation, to create openings, and then occasionally attacked, aiming for the moment when Eloa showed a weakness.
-Kwagwagwagwang!
Even amidst the uproar that had transcended the realm of sound and turned into shockwaves, Eloa clearly recognized the presence of the red branch that was stabbing her from behind.
It was thanks to the contract, ‘Transcendence,’ which allowed her to sense all attacks within a 30-meter radius, even if they were in a blind spot.
“Ha!”
Eloa quickly rolled her body across the ground, which was already shattered like a cookie, and evaded the spear strike.
Directly colliding with the red branch was not a good choice.
Prioritizing evasion led her to take even such unsightly actions.
After evading even the barrier extended from the red branch, she turned her body toward the red knight and tried to leap.
It was that red branch that was reviving these white knights.
In the end, if she couldn’t kill the red knight, this fight wouldn’t end.
However,
-Clank! Clank! Clank!
The red knight quickly retreated and pulled back.
What blocked Eloa from rushing in was hundreds of white knights, feeling like a white wall.
Without emotion or will, they were not afraid to risk their lives to protect their leader.
Even if Eloa’s strong body and fearless sword strikes turned into a gale and advanced, it was impossible to break through all the white knights who were densely aiming their spears like a phalanx formation.
It was a clever way to sap her strength.
Perhaps if Eloa started to show signs of exhaustion, he would actively engage in combat and try to cut her throat.
“Huff, huff… huuff…”
Her breath was already at the tip of her throat.
Her breathing was so intense that she could taste iron on her tongue.
There was no need to drag things out any longer.
Now was the time to truly end it.
She had to bet all her magic and all her strength on a do-or-die strike.
-Drrrrrrr!
Her two feet, firmly planted on the ground like a tree with deep roots.
Her sword, angled downward.
In the distance, she could see the red knight watching her final struggle, his eyes gleaming with mockery.
-Wooooooom!
The pressure of magic that was crushing all around.
White veins popped out on Eloa’s hand, and sparks of light pink magic began to burst out spectacularly.
-Jazak—-!
Sensing a suspicious omen, the white knights rushed at Eloa all at once at the red knight’s command.
Disregarding their lives, they used themselves as shields, building a large wall between Eloa and the red knight.
They intended to block Eloa’s attack with their bodies.
She gathers all her strength to one point, to the extreme, and strikes.
If her body, mind, and sword become one,
that strike would reach the sky.
The moment she silently raised and swung her sword, all distractions disappeared.
Neither death nor life, nor their boundaries, were solely placed on the tip of her sword, thinner than a strand of hair.
Heaven and earth trembled.
The sword strike, swung in a clean line as if cutting through space, as if cutting through heaven and earth, showed a power that was on a different level than before.
The white knights, who were rushing towards Eloa, disappeared all at once as if they had been caught in a nuclear blast.
The concentrated magic exploded and flashed wildly.
The moment Eloa’s sword was drawn above her head.
————-!!!
She saw the sky.
A tunnel 45 meters underground.
As a result of cutting through the walls, bedrock, and thick foundations all the way to the surface, a gap of several hundred meters had been created.
A sword aura that seemed to throw away her life flashed right in front of the red knight’s nose.
————-!!
With a roar as if a bombing had occurred, it collided with the red branch that the red knight had extended.
At the same time, a semi-circular distortion field spread out, and barriers extended like veins.
The red knight’s body, which had been dealing with Eloa without any problems, faltered for a moment.
Even if he had dispersed the physical impact through distortion, and even if he had dispersed the energy dispersed through the barrier once more,
he had no choice but to retreat greatly because he had faced a great force head-on.
The shield made of a distortion field was not simply a physical barrier.
No matter how strong the physical impact was, it cleverly twisted and manipulated its direction, distorting the ‘force’ itself applied from the outside into something meaningless, making it an impregnable shield.
Normally, Eloa’s sword strike would never have been able to overcome that shield.
-Crack!
However.
The moment Eloa’s strike collided with the distortion field that had spread out in front of her like a shield, it began to break.
The power and physical force, concentrated to the point of defying common sense, had finally made the impossible possible.
-Crackle!
As if there was still power left, the strike that pierced through the middle of the red knight’s empty body,
had definitely hit.
The crimson armor, which had not had a single scratch, caved in and dented as if it had been hit by a hammer.
But.
That was it.
The red branch’s ability to regenerate the white knights must have had its limits.
Perhaps due to the extreme consumption to defend, the white knights that Eloa had cut down all at once did not regenerate.
The red knight, who had taken the blow, also looked wobbly, so he was not completely normal.
If she could have unleashed such a strike just one more time, the goddess of victory would have smiled upon Eloa.
-Krrrrrr
But the red knight did not die and still had power left.
He glared at Eloa with eyes burning with hostility, without falling.
“Hoo…”
Eloa’s body had no magic left.
As the price of the contract was being paid, her muscles and bones were under immense strain, making it difficult for her to even stand properly.
-Clank!
The red knight moved.
His movements were clearly not normal.
His limbs moved unnaturally, as if he had just been electrocuted by a high-voltage current.
-Kra ra ra ra ra
Nevertheless, the red knight walked towards Eloa, laughing with joy.
It was such a human-like laugh for a monster, that Eloa felt uneasy.
Stepping on the remains of the white knights that would no longer revive, the red knight stood before Eloa.
-Thwack!
“Cough!”
The red branch, swung wildly, struck Eloa’s abdomen.
It was a spear strike from a 2.5-meter giant wielding a 3-meter spear.
Eloa, who was hit by the blunt end, flew through the air for about ten meters and crashed miserably behind her.
It was not a blow aimed at her life.
As proof, Eloa was still alive, clutching her stomach and wriggling to get up.
Even if she couldn’t fight, she had no intention of dying pathetically on the ground.
-Clank clank clank
The red knight moved towards Eloa again.
-Thud!
A gauntlet, roughly swung, landed on Eloa’s cheek as she barely stood up.
With the sound of dry leather being struck, Eloa was knocked down again by several meters.
The inside of her mouth was torn, blood was flowing, and the shock that felt like her skull was splitting apart was painful.
In that moment, she could fully grasp the red knight’s intentions.
The red knight was trying to inflict thorough punishment on the enemy who had tormented him for a long time.
It was an extremely human idea, but considering the human-like aspects he had shown so far, it was not surprising.
Eloa tried to stand up again and raise her sword, but realized that she could not lift it at all.
She had no strength left, not even as much as a chick’s tear.
The only path ahead was to be a target for his venting, to be violated, and to become a tattered corpse.
-Krrrrr
Eloa’s hair was a mess, covering her face.
The red knight cast a shadow over her once again.
The moment the red knight’s arm went up again, Eloa saw it.
Black, undulating particles like a cloak, wedged between the red knight and Eloa.
A black armor that nimbly covered his whole body, and a sword of the same color.
It was the back of someone very familiar.
“Enough already, you bastard.”
The owner of the voice, filled with anger, was Siwoo.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a strike, with all his might, was swung towards the red knight.
-Crack!
The shadow sword, swung exactly as Eloa had taught him, struck the red knight’s helmet.
With a cracking sound, the red knight’s body staggered greatly and flew away.
Of course, if the red knight’s condition had been perfect, he would never have allowed Siwoo to attack him.
No matter how strong Siwoo had become, the difference in their capabilities could not be overcome by luck or skill.
Nevertheless, the fact that the red knight had flown far away proved that his current condition was not perfect.
Just as Eloa had exhausted all her strength, the red knight was also experiencing a considerable level of exhaustion.
Siwoo turned around and asked.
“Master, are you okay?”
Eloa was blankly listening to Siwoo’s words when she suddenly came to her senses.
Until now, she had been in a dream-like state, as if she had resigned herself to death.
Seeing Siwoo, her reason had returned.
“W-what are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to have run away already?”
“I’m sorry for being a disobedient disciple. I couldn’t just run away by myself.”
The distortion of space seemed to have worked terribly wide.
Siwoo had to run a distance of over 10km to find Eloa.
The scene he saw was the red knight, who had just won the fight, tormenting Eloa as if he was playing with her, so how could he not have intervened with his eyes wide open?
Had her heart weakened as she faced death?
Eloa, forgetting the situation, barely suppressed the tears that were welling up.
“This is not the time for that. You have to run away!”
Eloa grabbed his wrist, but his eyes were unwavering.
It was not difficult to see that he had finished some kind of resolve.
“Master, that guy isn’t normal right now, is he?”
The red knight slowly got up after being hit by Siwoo.
A long sword wound remained on one side of the helmet where the shadow sword had pierced.
An attack that should have been blocked by the distortion field or easily evaded had hit and left a valid hit.
In a way, it was a golden opportunity.
If Eloa had had a little more power left, she could have won.
“Master, can you take back the contract you gave me? It seems like the best scenario is to end it here for sure.”
Eloa understood the meaning of his words.
She had defeated the white knights and weakened the red knight.
A 2-on-1 chance that had been barely created.
If Siwoo and Eloa escaped like this, it was uncertain whether they would be able to seize such a good opportunity again.
The Cowardly Witch would come up with a countermeasure.
Let’s attack together, that seemed to be the meaning.
However, Eloa shook her head.
“It’s impossible. I have no strength left.”
Even if she took back the contract, it wouldn’t be possible to change it right away, and in the first place, the guardian’s contract was not for combat.
Above all, Eloa’s body was already in tatters from paying the price.
“Then I’ll have to try it alone. Is it possible?”
Eloa pondered.
It was a surprise attack, but the fact that he had allowed a single blow was proof that he was weak enough.
And she was thinking that this might be the last chance that would never come again.
Eloa believed in Siwoo’s strength and talent.
Perhaps he could land the final blow on the red knight.
But was it right to push him into a death trap, relying on the possibility of ‘maybe’?
What if something happened to Siwoo…
As she was about to list her concerns, Eloa looked into Siwoo’s eyes.
They were not the eyes of a hero who had forgotten fear and possessed absolute confidence.
They were the eyes of someone who endlessly doubted, feared, and was terrified…
But who had the courage to take one step forward.
Perhaps she had thought of him too much as someone she had to protect?
If Eloa had thought of Siwoo as a ‘companion’ rather than a ‘disciple,’ what decision would she have made at this moment?
Eloa slowly mulled over her thoughts and closed and opened her eyes.
“It’s worth a try.”
As soon as he heard Eloa’s words, Siwoo drew his sword without any hesitation.
“Then, I’ll give it a try.”
