Chapter 890 – #194_태풍(3)
#884
1.
Witches who had pledged their assistance from all over the world began to gather, starting with the Hokkaido branch and the Seoul branch, the first predicted landing point.
The majority of them were exiles seeking to restore their citizenship, making it impossible to gather using Gehenna’s ‘gates.’
Therefore, witches who could use teleportation magic were flying, and those who could not were gathering as quickly as possible via military fighter jets.
However, time was running out.
The legion was advancing south at every moment, and it was clear that if things continued this way, the Korean Peninsula would be devastated before enough forces could be gathered to confront them head-on.
Therefore, Eloa made a decision and relayed it to Lucien, the head of the Hokkaido branch.
“Prepare for an interception until sufficient preparations are made.”
Gather what little forces they had and attack from the flanks.
Delay the march as much as possible through hit-and-run guerrilla warfare until reinforcements arrive.
It was an extremely dangerous operation, and there was a risk of being defeated piecemeal before sufficient forces could be gathered.
It was the kind of operation that any normal witch would avoid.
“Accept volunteers only from witches who are confident in their abilities.”
If they were an army that moved according to orders, they could have said, “Do it if you’re told to,” but if they forced unreasonable operations on the witches, some might desert.
While Lucien was busy running around recruiting volunteers, Rinne approached.
“Eloa, a messenger from the Numerology Faction. They brought a memorial stone with the interpretation completed.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
The memorial stone that Dorothy had obtained had not been fully decrypted, so the Numerology Faction was tasked with interpreting the remaining half of the video.
Since they had made the request, it was not particularly strange to receive the completed decryption.
However, now was the height of the calm before the storm.
The fact that they had sent a quick messenger at this time meant that the matter was of great importance.
Eloa and Rinne put their heads together and looked at the crystal ball.
They skipped the place they had seen last time.
The gorilla, the owner of this memory, who had turned his back on the monster horde, was running frantically, looking back and forth anxiously.
Eloa’s eyebrows furrowed sharply as she watched the video intently.
“Rinne, turn back the time again.”
“……”
Rinne, who turned the video back without a word, also flinched this time.
Next to the stag, who was proudly raising his head, not even paying attention to the fleeing gorilla, there was a human-shaped shadow.
It was the silhouette of a ‘witch’ with too luxurious decorations to simply call it a human-type homunculus.
“Stop here.”
The paused video was magnified.
The video, which faithfully reflected the homunculus’s vision, this time clearly revealed the identity of the witch standing next to the stag.
Coincidentally, it was a witch that both Eloa and Rinne knew.
The witch who had caused the disturbance in Seoul in the past, who had commanded the Red Knight, the witch who controlled a homunculus with a distorted face.
It was Paola Sochitl, who was called the ‘Thousand-Year Witch’ or the derogatory ‘Cowardly Witch.’
If it had been before, they would have been thrown into inexplicable confusion.
Eloa had clearly dealt with Paola with her own hands, so how was she resurrected after being cremated?
“It’s a whisper.”
“It seems so.”
But it was different now.
During their escape from Hexennacht, Siwoo and Rinne’s group had encountered the Whispering Witch.
And they had seen with their own eyes a fragment of the veiled Whispering Witch.
According to Siwoo, the Whispering Witch had taken the form of Bianca Bellili and used her artifact, ‘The Bow That Shoots the Sky.’
The conjecture that Lilith’s magnetic magic was replicating the magnetic magic of other witches had been concluded.
Based on this, they could understand this incident as well.
Why something like a king of monsters had suddenly appeared.
Why the king of monsters had come to lead the homunculus legion.
Presumably, the king of monsters was a manipulation by Lilith, who was causing chaos all over the world regardless of the era.
They could not guess the purpose or reason, but it had been proven to be an even more dangerous matter.
“What are you going to do?”
“There’s no other way. We have to do what we have to do.”
But there was no time to postpone the plan right now.
All they could do was to stop the legion from landing as much as possible.
Eloa headed to the battlefield with the volunteers.
2.
The black waves rippled and swayed.
The dark storm clouds that covered the sky poured down heavy rain along with a fierce storm.
It must be the influence of the homunculus, which brings disaster with its very existence.
It was hard to see even an inch ahead in the darkness, but the vision of a transcendent witch surpassed even the most advanced night vision goggles.
Thus, they could clearly see the legion moving leisurely, filling the wide horizon, as if it were broad daylight.
Each with different appearances and forms.
From those that took the forms of easily imaginable monsters, such as giant wolves, sea monsters, and birds with fiery wings.
To those that were difficult to see as living things, such as smooth chrome sculptures and spheres of flesh with a diameter of 1 km.
The procession of the stag and the monsters, which were located in the very center and commanded them, was reminiscent of the Hyakki Yagyō, the night parade of a hundred demons, from old legends.
There were no orderly movements like a well-trained army, but as Eloa had been informed, she could see that the monster legion was moving under fairly intelligent command.
The homunculus groups were marching in one direction, keeping a sufficient distance.
This was a countermeasure against high-powered magic.
It was to prevent being wiped out by unexpected high-powered magic by sticking together in a cluster.
Several words flowed among the witches who were directly facing the legion.
“Ha, is this right…”
“So what? We can run away anytime we want.”
“Tiferet is here too… There won’t be any problems, right?”
There were witches who had a connection to the area where the legion was predicted to pass, or, very rarely, witches who had stepped forward to prevent human sacrifice, but most of them were those who had been tempted by rash resolutions and rewards rather than a burning fighting spirit.
And the sight that the volunteers, who had stepped forward with half-hearted determination, faced was indeed bizarre enough to break their fighting spirit.
-Oooooooo!
-Kuoohhhhh!
A cry rang out among the homunculus who had discovered the witch group.
Even though the distance between the two sides was at least several kilometers, the huge roar broke the waves, cut through the storm, and shook the black sea.
“……”
Eloa looked around at the faces, tidying the side hair that had stuck to her cheek due to the heavy rain.
Their morale had already been broken.
This was also an understandable reaction.
As the average rank of witches rose, the number of witches who lost their lives to homunculus had greatly decreased.
But the opponents were as many as dozens of named ones.
They were not small fry that had been relegated to the witches’ allowance and pushed out of their interest, but rather individuals who had been given ‘names’ because they had not been subjugated for a long time and had built up a bad reputation by preying on witches.
If they started to scatter, even Eloa would not be able to control them.
So, she had to show them.
“I contract.”
Who they were with right now.
Eloa’s sword shone.
Eloa’s role was to seize the opportunity and subjugate the ‘king.’
She could not and should not use all her power now, as it was only a matter of buying time.
The number of letters shining on the side of the sword was three.
The momentarily swollen magic power was converted into Eloa’s power.
A pink straight line crossed the uneven, rough surface of the water.
The side that had protruded in an instant and the distance that was narrowing.
“Kee-rook?”
The first to notice Eloa’s charge was a pigeon the size of a person wearing a suit and a monocle.
It was a ridiculous name, ‘Gentleman Pigeon,’ but the terrifying monster that had caused countless casualties for 200 years…
-Boom!
It scattered white feathers with a red explosion, still in the posture of trying to use magic while flapping its wings.
The moment it collided with Eloa’s strengthened body, it burst like a pigeon hit by a baseball.
“What?”
“When did the Duchess get over there?”
“Did she just kill it? In one shot?”
The chaotic attention of the witches was immediately directed to Duchess Tiferet.
Hunting homunculus was truly similar to ‘hunting.’
It could be a reckless act to face homunculus head-on, as they were mostly larger in size and had more magic power than witches.
Therefore, it was common to take enough time or use ingenuity to exploit the weaknesses of their lack of intelligence.
But the bravery of blowing up the Gentleman Pigeon, which was on the weaker side of the legion, with one blow, and even with a physical breakthrough.
-Kuooh!
-Khaaaaaa!
Duchess Tiferet, who was leisurely dodging the pursuit of the homunculus, who were rampaging and pouring out all sorts of magic at the same time as being attacked, was running on the sea.
She did not accept the fight head-on, but when she saw an opening, she would rush in with fierce speed and repeat hit-and-run tactics.
“How many are you dragging around…?”
“Is that even possible?”
The witches, who had been overwhelmed by the majesty of the legion they were seeing for the first time, finally remembered.
The one who was facing the monsters at the front line was the most outstanding hunter who had hunted dozens of enemies and hundreds of homunculus.
“Look over there!”
And while Eloa was circling the flanks and drawing attention, there was a witch who was digging into the opposite side.
The Sword Witch, who was holding two swords and wearing a kimono.
Understanding Eloa’s intention, she was rushing towards a giant bull, taking advantage of the gap in the front line.
The appearance of the bull, which was 5 meters tall, was the Minotaur itself from mythology.
The threatening homunculus, whose muscles were bulging with the unique characteristics of a beast, made Rinne’s charge look like a reckless act of bravado.
But the strangely curved sword wrapped around the Minotaur’s arm, instantly making the muscular arm holding the axe tattered.
“Kueeeeeeek!!!”
She instantly leaped up to the face of the Minotaur, who was screaming in pain, shoved her sword deep into its throat, and landed on the surface of the water like a butterfly.
“This… might be doable?”
“It’s the Sword Witch and Duchess Tiferet, so anything is possible, right?”
“Where to?”
“To support. This is a good opportunity, isn’t it?”
“If it’s just buying time and not a full-scale war, then…”
Although it was only a small-scale skirmish, the overwhelming majesty shown by the two people was suppressing their anxiety.
From the witches who were hesitating to join the battle to the witches who were considering fleeing, they all flew towards the battlefield at once.
