City ​​of Witches 416

Chapter 416 – #89_Happy Days (3)

#415
1.
After witnessing Sharon and the twins’ absurd and erotic escapade.

Siwoo sought out the highlands on the outskirts of Border Town.
He had a prior engagement with Elroa today.
A sparring match.
Siwoo and Elroa stood facing each other in the middle of a snowfield covered in pure white snow.

However, it was a bit different from the sparring they had done so far.
Elroa had drawn her contract sword and decided to use six contracts, and Siwoo, while not using the Red Branch, had also taken out his black armor and ribbons, fully prepared.

Furthermore, they were instructed to use all available magic, not just swordsmanship or spear techniques.
The reason for using an empty plain as a training ground must be for that reason.

“Are you ready?”
“Yes, Master.”

If you gain new power, it is essential to refine it.
Especially if it is a power so strong that it is difficult to compare to the past.
In that sense, Siwoo’s heart was beating fiercely.

It was the first time he was sparring since looking into his subconscious.
Even just wearing armor, he could feel it.

Siwoo had become stronger.
To what extent that strength would work against Elroa.
Any man would be curious.

“You may use your full power.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am not yet at the point where I need to worry about you.”

Elroa smiled and adjusted her stance.

“I contract.”

At the same time, with a fierce wind, the snow around her swirled as if caught in a pink vortex.
Just by releasing some of her magic power, she was exerting that much physical force.

Elroa’s body disappeared.
High-speed movement performed solely by physical force.
The snow piled up to her ankles could not keep up with her speed and only split like the Red Sea after a long delay.

“Bloom!”

Siwoo lowered his stance in preparation for the impact.
The contracts she had allocated were six, half of her total contract count.
However, since Elroa originally allocated six contracts to physical enhancement, it was no exaggeration to say that she was exerting her full power in terms of physical aspects alone.

“Cough!”

From left to right, then from right to left.
Elroa’s body, feinting with unpredictable footwork, instantly closed the distance and swung her sword from close range.
That attack, which he wouldn’t have even seen properly before, would have dented the side of his armor and sent him flying…

-Clang!

Siwoo deflected it by angling his spear.
The calmness that had arisen from going back and forth between life and death had moved his body first, even before he could properly identify the attack.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

At the same time, he deflected, deflected, and deflected the continuous slashes from all directions.
The epitome of using softness to overcome strength.
He thought he had glimpsed a proud smile on Elroa’s lips as she passed by his field of vision.

But just blocking like this was not the answer.
Siwoo usually preferred infighting because he had the advantage in close combat, but that was impossible against his master.
He had to create distance and use the ribbons as well.

-Whir! Whir!

Dozens of black ribbons, twisted and twirled, flew towards Elroa.
All those tentacles, as if they were hands, created a wall between Siwoo and Elroa with freely adjustable angles and speeds.

However, even though each ribbon had the output of heavy equipment, they were torn like willow leaves in the face of Elroa’s sword strikes.
Elroa moved forward steadily, even amidst the chaotic defense that blurred the eyes.

This alone cannot stop me!
Her movements, each heavy step, seemed to shout amidst the chaos.

When Elroa cut through dozens of ribbons with a single flash.

The snow beneath their feet rose up all at once.
Ribbons that had been placed under the ground the moment the ribbons were extended.
They had popped out with a time difference to grab Elroa’s unguarded rear.

At the same time, the black armor dashed forward.
The spear he held was aimed at the abdomen, where evasion was difficult.
A clean straight line in front, and a winding, unpredictable curve in the back.

All of this happened within three seconds of the start of the sparring.
That was why it was a duel between those who had transcended human limits.

“Huu…”

Elroa’s response to that was simple.
After a short breath, she swung her sword.
But very quickly and very powerfully.

-Whoosh

The continuous sword strikes that had transcended the limits of speed were no longer a single line.
They occupied space beyond a plane and sharply cut everything around them.

The sword domain that unfolded with thousands of lines in a fleeting moment created a momentary vacuum in the area.
Even if he was armed with armor, he had no intention of stepping into that brutal domain.
Pieces of ribbons scattered and the snowflakes that shot up due to the surrounding air being sucked in.

Elroa rushed at Siwoo, who had hesitated.
A diagonal slash that cut upwards from the lower left.
A perfect angle that Siwoo, caught in a reverse motion, could neither avoid nor block.

Even without the contract of the King of All Diseases, she was the best swordsman who could make the most optimal move based on her long experience and effort.

But.

He had predicted this far.
That his terrifying master would not fall for such a trick.
Therefore, he had prepared one more move.

-Whoosh!

Siwoo activated the coordinate movement formula he had calculated in advance.
A flash of blue light instantly enveloped Siwoo’s body.
Elroa’s sword strike cut through the air in vain.

“……!”

Elroa, who was about to turn around at the sight of Siwoo suddenly disappearing, felt a hard spear shaft touching her back.
Siwoo, who had teleported behind her, had immediately taken her rear.
Elroa’s body stiffened, and she raised her hand as if there was no other way.

“…I have lost.”

A pleased smile was beautifully etched on her lips as she turned around.

2.
The two, who had returned to their room together using Siwoo’s coordinate movement formula, lightly washed up and sat in front of the fireplace.
Of course, they washed separately, and a pretty decent whiskey was prepared for them to drink together.

When the body that had been warmed by the hot water cooled in the cold air, the liquor that warmed the stomach and the warmth of the fireplace.
Nothing was more conducive to drowsiness than this.
Elroa, covered in a blanket, looked at Siwoo with a smile.

“You’re admirable. Amazing. As expected of my disciple.”

Siwoo had won against Elroa in a sparring match for the first time today.

The coordinate movement, which had been unusable in actual combat due to its long delay, had allowed him to poke Elroa’s back with his spear through the cheating movement that freely adjusted the gap and position between the two.
And that was against his master, who had consumed six contracts.
It was a feat that Elroa could happily praise him for.

“You have overcome another wall. I truly congratulate you.”

However, even with Elroa’s storm of praise as she stroked Siwoo’s head, Siwoo only wore an awkward expression.
He could have been a little more proud.

“Why is that?”
“No, it’s nothing. Thank you. It’s all thanks to what I learned from you, Master.”

Elroa, seeing Siwoo’s subtle reaction, spoke as if there was no other way.
Because there was a fact that she had not said out loud.

“It’s a great achievement. There are probably only five witches who can take my rear.”

Siwoo had noticed.
Elroa had hesitated at the moment of delivering the final blow.
The reason was obvious.

The coordinate movement formula required a lot of calculations and variable substitutions, even if it was short-range.
Therefore, Siwoo had no choice but to stop all movements and be in a defenseless state.
It was a loophole that a witch like Bianca, who focused on simple long-range magic, would miss, but a type like his master, who pushed in close range, would never miss.

However, Elroa hesitated to strike when she saw Siwoo in a defenseless state.
Even if he was defending with armor, she had stopped her sword by force, worried that she might hurt her beloved disciple.
She had pulled back her strength.

It was because of that loophole that Siwoo was able to finish his calculations.
If Elroa had not held back and had swung her sword, he would have been hit without mercy and rolled in the snow.
Knowing the truth, he couldn’t just laugh without a care.

Elroa gently cupped Siwoo’s cheeks with both hands.

“Siwoo, will you look at me?”

Elroa with a kind smile on her lips.
Her beautiful eyes held the same affection as a mother’s.

If he thought back to their first meeting, he could not have imagined her making such an expression.
Elroa’s thumb lightly grabbed Siwoo’s lip corner and pulled it upwards.

“It’s okay to smile. The reason you feel regret is because you have that much ambition. If it were the past, would you have been able to achieve the same result even if I had held back for a moment?”
“Haa, I can’t beat you, Master.”
“I am proud of you. It’s the truth without a bit of falsehood.”

Elroa’s lips twitched as she stared at Siwoo’s face like that.
She hadn’t intended to, but because of the position, she naturally wanted to kiss him.
Elroa improvised.

“I want to give you a little gift for that… Is there anything you want from me?”

Elroa, averting her eyes and pursing her lips.
This was also something that would have been unimaginable in the past.

“I think this would be good.”

Only then did Siwoo smile naturally and give Elroa a light kiss on the lips.

-Mwah, mwah

Just that was enough to make Elroa smile happily as if she had the whole world.
She covered her mouth with both hands to hide her smile and curled up like a shrimp.

A little later.
When Elroa, who had tried to calm her laughter, took a sip of whiskey and straightened her posture, Siwoo asked.

“By the way, why the sudden sparring?”
“I wanted to see how strong you had become.”
“And the answer?”
“It was astonishing.”

Siwoo’s fighting style was the worst possible match for Elroa.
He gained a tactical advantage by inducing close combat, which was the weakness of ordinary witches.
Therefore, he was a bad match for Elroa, a master of swordsmanship.
Using the exact same tactics meant that there were almost no variables to reverse the gap.

Therefore, it was natural for Siwoo to lose to Elroa, and what Elroa had always been looking at was the process, not the result.
But to take her rear and win, even if there was a brief hesitation.

“You didn’t even have the Red Branch, did you? If you had, the result would have been different.”

Siwoo was being humble, but he had also achieved great success in controlling the Red Branch.
If he had a spear with the cheating performance that could be summarized in one word, ‘irrational,’ what kind of outcome would have occurred?

“If I have the Red Branch, the short-range coordinate movement will have more delay, so I can’t say for sure. But it’s definitely different from before.”

He had told her everything when he had returned not long ago.
The fact that Keter had interfered with his body.
The reason why he was able to become abnormally strong so quickly.

“Again, you’re only saying it like you’re not confident. Didn’t you defeat the Witch of Desire?”
“I think I’ve told you before, but it wasn’t me who did that…”
“Are you saying that your subconscious did it?”
“That’s the truth.”

Elroa got up from her seat and crouched down next to Siwoo.
She put her ear to his chest and listened to his pounding heartbeat.
A precious person who was a source of strength just by being there.

“Siwoo is strong. It’s not just your subconscious that Keter left behind that’s strong.”

Elroa didn’t think that Siwoo had gone so far as to defeat the Witch of Desire was just luck.

“It’s your heart and courage to protect the people you care about that make you strong.”

There were many things to say and many things to think about, but one thing was certain.
Siwoo was no longer the weak Siwoo of the past.
He had the strength to overcome it even if Elroa was away for a while.
She mulled over it quietly.

“You’re… very affectionate today.”

Siwoo, who had hesitated for a moment, gently placed his hand on Elroa’s head.

“Embarrassingly, I want to act spoiled when I’m by your side.”
“I am always grateful for your excessive love.”
“Anyway… if it’s you… even if it’s a great witch-level power… it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”

Elroa’s words were slow and drawn out.
It seemed that she was getting drowsy late, as she had strengthened her body using contracts and had even been held in Siwoo’s arms.

“Now… even if I’m… not there… you can do well…”
“I’ll move you to the bed… You’ve fallen asleep.”

Her last words were mixed with a yawn and were not clearly heard.
Siwoo poked Elroa’s cheek, who was fast asleep, for no reason.

Elroa didn’t react even after being poked several times.
The autonomous defense was naturally not activated.
She had completely entrusted herself to Siwoo, as if she trusted him without a doubt, and a smile appeared on his face for no reason.
In this state, she would probably be sleeping soundly even if he touched her chest or played a lewd prank.

“Oh my.”

He suppressed the lust that had risen without warning.
It was entirely because of his master, who had fallen asleep with an innocent expression.
A master who was seductive even while sleeping, what a terrifying charm.
Siwoo lifted Elroa and moved her to the bed, then headed to his workshop to continue his magic research.