Chapter 740 – #158_The Escape (3)
#740
1.
Sometimes, humans feel the insignificance of their existence when faced with something too immense.
For example, a tsunami.
A natural disaster that uproots breakwaters weighing tons and sweeps away cities.
For example, nuclear weapons.
A man-made disaster predicted to regress human civilization to a primitive level someday.
However, if one’s power reaches the level of a Great Witch who defies the laws of nature, it’s not easy to have such an experience.
Because a Great Witch is a transcendent being who can survive natural disasters and nuclear explosions without difficulty.
Therefore, it had been a long time since Siwoo had felt this emotion.
Even though he had felt a vast gap and a wall, he had never felt the helplessness of being unable to do anything.
However, the colorful magic field filling the round sky, spanning several kilometers in radius, awakens a helplessness he had long forgotten.
It was safe to say that the core power of Hexennacht was gathered in that sky.
They were individuals who would likely cause a sweat or defeat even in a one-on-one fight.
Even if his teacher were by his side, there was a sense of hopelessness with no clear answer in sight.
In this situation, could Siwoo do anything alone?
Was it even a situation to talk about resistance or escape?
The hand holding the Red Branch involuntarily loses strength.
Like the last of humanity waiting for a meteorite impact, he could only look up at the approaching swarm of lights of destruction in a daze.
Then.
-Whack!
“Get a grip.”
A back smack that made his joints ache jolted him back to his senses.
Turning around, Rinne stood there, sword drawn, maintaining her usual composure.
“Are you going to give up like this?”
Her words, filled with unwavering will even in this bleak situation, helped the listener regain some of their composure.
Zlata, who had been gaping in panic, even wiped the drool from her mouth.
“Of course not.”
He regains strength in his loosened grip.
Give up? Absolutely not.
Even when he was barely able to use apprentice-level magic, and even when he had to rely on his magic count because he had no brand, he had faced the 21st-level Ea Sadalmelik.
In terms of simple danger, this situation was not much different from that time.
“I’m used to reckless acts.”
Besides, didn’t he have a lover who was anxiously waiting for him?
There were too many people who would shed tears because of his death if he gave up without trying anything.
“What’s going on, what’s going on, what’s going on!”
“As you can see, we’re screwed. We need to run.”
“…We can actually escape, right?”
“We’ll have to try.”
Alice, who had hastily thrown on some clothes and rushed out in the midst of the chaos.
“Sis! You know I love you so much, right?”
“I want to be with you in my next life too!”
“Manya! You’re a snob, but you’re actually a good friend! I’ll never forget the days we spent in bed together!”
“Malisha, you’re annoying, but I was actually jealous of your deeper double eyelids! I’m sorry I couldn’t be honest until now!”
Manya and Malisha, putting on a melodramatic show with tears and snot.
“Siwoo… I won’t resent you. But I’m glad I could see your face one last time. If I had known it would be like this, I would have rather…”
Even Yebin, her face pale, seemed resigned.
“Quiet.”
Rinne, who had silenced the commotion with a single word, spoke to Siwoo.
“The Great Witches of Hexennacht are divided into factions.”
If she was bringing up such an obvious point in this urgent situation, it meant there was a hidden meaning.
Siwoo, who was quick-witted, immediately deduced the situation from the clue Rinne had given him.
“Then, there’s still hope.”
“Yes, it’s too early to give up.”
Indeed, there was still hope.
As is known, Hexennacht is divided into the hardliners, centered around the New Qliphoth, and the moderates, centered around the Solidus Trading Company.
Also, about 20% of them are maintaining a neutral stance between the two.
That meant that the overwhelming force visible in the sky was not a tightly knit net moving in unison with the same purpose and command structure.
Siwoo and Rinne, isolated in Dignity Town in this vertical city, were literally golden mice in a trap.
The focus would inevitably be on the distribution of rewards rather than the capture process itself.
Those belonging to different factions, and those within those factions trying to enrich themselves, would be constantly calculating their gains and losses.
Another fact that should not be forgotten.
Like Lydia and Rinne, the public enemies were beings with mutual distrust as a passive trait.
The unwritten rule of prohibiting violence within Hexennacht had been broken.
Once a rule is broken, it would spread the already rampant distrust among the public enemies.
They were secretly aware that if they rushed out, blinded by the treasure in front of them, they could accidentally get caught in a wide-area magic attack from behind and have an ‘accident’.
As evidence, the enemies’ approach to Siwoo and Rinne was slower than expected.
Rather, those approaching quickly were the witches residing in Dignity Town.
They were trying to make a ‘killing’ or at least get a piece of the pie, using passive magic to check them.
-Phew! Thump thump!
A spark that rose with a sharp sound exploded in the air like a white phosphorus bomb, engulfing a pharmacy.
The flames, burning with white smoke, were actually alchemical magic created by burning white phosphorus.
“Look at that bitch Carla? I gave her a discount on medicine because she’s my neighbor!”
While Zlata shouted in a voice full of resentment.
The awkward use of magic by Zlata’s neighbor, called Carla, was excellent trolling.
The sparks, at best 16th level, could be easily shaken off by Alice alone, and the remaining smoke spread through the alleys, providing excellent cover.
Of course, it was impossible to shake off such high-level witches with mere deception.
However, Siwoo’s side had a witch specializing in concealment and Rinne’s combined magic.
No matter how much the firepower differed, it was difficult to indiscriminately bombard without even identifying the target in their own city, with citizens swarming around.
Especially since Siwoo’s value increased if he was captured alive.
“You two, remember the magic we used before? Please use it right now.”
He quickly gave instructions to the two and covered his whole body in armor.
He reviewed the immediate formation for the breakthrough.
Alice, capable of high-powered projection and all-around defense, was in the vanguard.
Manya, Malisha, Yebin, and Zlata, who needed protection and were supporters, were in the middle.
Rinne volunteered to be in the rear, which was probably the most dangerous position.
The dimensional transfer formula that Siwoo had devised was closer to a kernel that directly interfered with the door rather than a key.
It was a method of forcibly establishing a passage to the present world without obtaining permission from immigration control.
To be honest, it was a concept from his slave days when he knew nothing, so the efficiency compared to the investment was not high.
The ‘door’ was the essence of dimensional magic constructed by Keter, and trying to hack it head-on without bypassing its security vulnerabilities was like trying to hack a door with a hammer.
Of course, it was too urgent to find an alternative now.
He had no choice but to trust the magic he had spent five long years on.
“First, we need to buy time. I’ll complete the magic based on the formula given by the witch of the Nine Paths.”
Siwoo said, flipping through a thick document that was about the size of a phone book.
It was originally a task that was supposed to take about a week, but since things had gone wrong, he couldn’t afford to be leisurely.
He tried to memorize all the dense information contained within.
It would be nearly impossible with a novel, but not with a magic formula.
Magic was an academic discipline with a series of flows.
There was no need to go over every single detail.
He grasped the flow, understood the context, and memorized it.
“Will it really work?”
“It has to.”
“Assuming you complete it… how are we going to get to the door?”
“First, we’ll buy time here, and as soon as it’s completed, we’ll all space jump to the door. Until then, it’s better to be among as many witches as possible.”
If they jumped straight to the door, they would naturally come into contact with the sea where the innermost ships of Hexennacht traveled.
In that case, the population density would decrease significantly, and there was a high possibility of a bombardment that would accept some losses.
The seawater would act as a buffer to reduce damage to the city.
It was better to quickly move through the residential area of Dignity Town and use other witches as cover.
“And if they find out we have a means of escape, they’ll be more aggressive.”
However, even a city that was only a border town compared to Gehenna was a den of witches.
They were not just cover waiting there, and before that, they were witches.
With this many, they were not beings that could be ignored.
-Thwack!
Condensed air crushed the pharmacy in an instant.
The pharmacy was reduced to dust more cleanly than any demolition equipment could have done.
In the thick white phosphorus smoke and dust, the shadows of the group making an emergency escape followed.
Without a moment to let their guard down, countless magic attacks poured in from all directions.
No one was showing an immediate intention to engage in active combat.
Rinne alone was a figure that both the exiles and the public enemies were wary of, so they were maintaining a safe distance and throwing stones from afar.
Nevertheless, the problem was their numbers.
Countless projectiles for checking, with dozens of types, were constantly flying in.
Even if there were no immediate visible results, the consumption would accumulate like being soaked by a drizzle.
“Oh, boundless change!”
If it weren’t for Alice, who could perform all-around defense using mercury, Siwoo would not have been able to concentrate on interpreting the formula at all, and would have been busy fending off the pouring sparks.
He had to keep going.
He continued his calculations while moving busily through Dignity Town so that his location could not be pinpointed.
He entrusted the external attacks to Alice and Rinne as much as possible, and focused on completing the dimensional transfer formula.
His brain swelled up hot like a soufflé from calculations that exceeded his limits.
“Please hurry! I’m tired!”
“Don’t interrupt. I’ll help.”
Alice’s cry, complaining after only 30 seconds.
Rinne’s voice, joining in by splitting the magic with her sword.
They did not reach Siwoo now.
The extreme concentration had blurred his vision and hearing, and all Siwoo could see was a huge structure floating in the black space.
A tree that stretched high towards the sky in a fractal form.
He applied that magic to the information of the ‘door’ that Dorothy had given him.
-Click click click
The feeling of picking a lock with a safety pin.
Then, with the clear sound of metal interlocking, he held the key in his hand.
“It’s done…!”
Siwoo, who had escaped from his own world, immediately tried to use the coordinate transfer formula to approach the door.
If he could escape to the present world and get near clean water, he could escape to Gehenna through his citizen ID.
The coordinates Dorothy had given him were probably somewhere in the Pacific Islands, so he could escape immediately.
-Rumble rumble rumble!
However.
An anomaly began with a roar that shook the world.
The source of the roar was the huge door that surrounded the round sea of Hexennacht.
The edges of the golden door, which were usually half-submerged and only showed a silhouette, were dyed a deep, dark black.
At the same time, the huge ships caught in the aftermath were shattered into pieces on the violently boiling seawater.
“……”
He could tell without having to say it.
Because Siwoo could see it.
The essence of dimensional magic that created pocket dimensions and maintained the foundation of the world.
The door that had never been closed in history was closed at this moment.
The magic formula that Dorothy had painstakingly obtained became a piece of trash, and the dimensional transfer formula that Siwoo had painstakingly created also became useless, requiring a complete reversal of the premise.
To put it more simply.
It was really the end now.
damn shits going down 😳