Chapter 633
Chapter 633
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 633
Chapter Title: Labyrinth (4)
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1.
"Sssup...."
Breathing sounds.
It resembled the hiss of steam one moment and the leak of escaping air the next.
Alice pieced together a rough guess that fit the situation.
It was just like the noises made by martial artists, high on too much kung fu pong, babbling nonsense about inner energy buildup and meridian purging during their demonstrations.
Exactly like that.
No matter how you looked at it, the scene was laughable enough to brush off.
Even Manya and Malisha, who had dismissed it as the tantrum of a flashy kid, were on the verge of bursting into laughter.
But Alice's instincts were screaming a warning.
The brief moment those distinctive breathing sounds hit her ears, the fine hairs on her skin stood on end.
A crushing pressure bore down on her heart.
A chill raced up her spine, threatening to freeze her marrow solid.
A tingling numbness prickled her fingertips and toes.
"Manya! Malisha! Fall back!"
-Craaack! Boom!
The tension, building like a time bomb on the verge of detonation, erupted in a thunderous blast.
Manya spun through the air like the world's greatest figure skater, while Malisha plummeted with a shriek of "Deyaaaaah!"
Her battle senses awakened by the scent of combat, Alice's sharpened vision captured the scene unfolding in slow motion.
The instant he drew in his breath, golden mana ignited and spread like wildfire.
His foot slammed down firmly on the stone floor, propelling him forward as his hand whipped around like a ray of light, smashing into Manya's abdomen.
On the rebound, his elbow crashed into Malisha's chest with the resounding clang of striking iron plating.
The entire sequence unfolded between the moment Alice finished uttering "mul" and began the "reo" syllable.
In other words, in the blink of an eye it took to voice half a syllable.
"Huu.... Rise."
Exhaling as if steadying his breath, the man chanted his incantation.
The inky shadows coiling around his body morphed into armor.
In his left eye, raised toward Alice, sparks of reflected golden mana dripped like embers.
What in the world was happening?
Even as she swallowed her screams and cries, Alice's mind raced with calculations.
Her hand had already delved into her bosom, hurling the vial containing the "Seed of Mercury" to the ground, while she put as much distance as possible between them and replayed the scene in her head.
Manya and Malisha had been taken down in a single blow, without a chance to react.
Manya was 17th Hierarchy; Malisha, 18th.
They were witches specialized in concealment and sealing—not optimized for direct combat.
Yet they were at a level where autonomous defenses should activate, and indeed, they had triggered flawlessly the moment his attacks landed.
But he had crushed those defenses barehanded and subdued them both in an instant.
She didn't dwell on stray thoughts.
Right before her eyes stood the man, swinging his spear with terrifying momentum.
"Infinite transformations!"
Alice swiftly regained her composure and assessed what she needed to do.
Her verdict was clear: avoid close quarters at all costs.
How a mere first-generation witch could display such prowess was a question for later.
Even the shocking possibility that the rumors—holding his own against Bianca, having reached the realm of a Great Witch—might be true could wait.
Her instincts were howling.
First priority: keep him from closing in.
-Gloop!
True to her title as the Witch of Mercury, Alice wielded mercury as her weapon.
The alchemical reagent she had scattered across the floor beforehand transformed into thousands of liters of mercury, writhing to life.
The mercury pool surged in response to her mana, swelling into a massive barrier that stretched between them.
In the heat of the moment, it hadn't formed a proper shield.
It was little more than a piled-up lump.
But mercury was a metal that flowed at room temperature.
Combined with its immense density and Alice's mastery of fluid manipulation through her self-magic, it became the ultimate wall, capable of neutralizing all but the most extraordinary assaults.
-Kwaaang!
A savage blow rained down atop it, rebuking Alice's overconfidence.
The barrier, struck by the spear thrust, tore apart at a slant.
Beyond the characteristic shimmer of mercury, the man's unstoppable figure loomed.
"This can't be real?!"
She backpedaled frantically, the words slipping out unbidden.
Unbelievable.
To achieve this with raw physical strength alone?
Mercury's density was 13.6 times that of water.
This barrier alone weighed nearly 100 tons.
Crashing full-force into such a fluid mass should have blunted his momentum at least somewhat, but he bulldozed through like a juggernaut.
Still, blocking that initial, most dangerous assault was a morale boost.
Alice smashed vials at her sides in rapid succession, spawning more mercury.
The formless lumps began to take shape, orbiting her protectively.
Some as orbs.
Others as shields.
Some as lances.
Still more as rings.
Like satellites circling a planet, this harmonious array enveloping Alice was her "Mercury Alchemy."
By manipulating mercury at ultra-high frequencies to hold fixed forms, it was the alpha and omega of her fighting style.
-Bang! Bang! Bang!
A barrage of explosive impacts echoed as his fists, feet, and sharply swung spear clashed against the various mercury constructs.
Each strike sent a chill down her spine.
Yet Alice's true strength shone in defense.
The mercury shifted freely, sealing off every angle of physical attack in a 360-degree blockade, then countering with its sheer mass.
The ultra-high frequencies pulsing between mercury masses disrupted interference on their own.
His explosive power had rattled her, but having halted that opening thrust—which posed the greatest threat—she could afford a moment's relief.
-Gloop... gloop... gloop...
Alice fully mastered even the mercury that had first surged forth to halt his advance.
As the obstructing lumps cleared from her view, she saw him standing there blankly, spear at the ready.
"I didn't expect you to be this strong. Looks like the rumors were at least partly true."
With so much attention on the male witch, rumors had proliferated.
But few witches took them seriously.
They simply weren't credible.
His personal power rivaled a Great Witch.
He had prevented Gehenna's collapse.
He had clashed evenly with the Witch of Desire.
Who could believe such tales?
It was more believable that a chimpanzee who had learned chess for a week had crushed a grandmaster.
But now, seeing it with her own eyes, she had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Even fully equipped for battle, her unease refused to fade.
The sensation of peering into an unfathomable abyss was one she hadn't felt in ages.
She had to run.
Even if it meant trouble later when he reported everything to Tiferet, she needed to escape this place first.
The question was whether she could retrieve Manya and Malisha in the process...
Feeling the sweat trickling down the back of her neck, Alice swallowed hard.
The brief stalemate ended.
Alice flicked her hand like a conductor.
The hovering lances surged toward him.
Mercury Spear.
For Alice, it was a basic spell: mercury alchemized into lance form and fired at supersonic speeds—a simple swing.
"Ssup!"
As he inhaled sharply, the black armor—which appeared so bulky—raced across the room like the wind.
-Bang! Bang! Kwagwang!
Dozens of spears swept the chamber like a bombardment.
Explosions that shook the air, shockwaves of dust rippling outward.
He dodged the lances effortlessly, circling Alice in search of an opening.
But assuming it was a one-and-done attack would be a grave error.
Mercury Spear was both her staple attack and the starter for combos.
The strength of alchemy lay in endlessly reshaping forms to relentlessly hound the enemy.
-Gulug!!!
The lances embedded in the shattered floor lost form, reverting to mercury lumps.
Spreading into pools, they naturally inscribed magic circles, flowing seamlessly into the second and third waves.
Like ripples from a single water droplet cascading across a pond.
-Whip! Whip! Whiiiip!
True to her pinnacle in fluid alchemy, the attacks emerging from the circles were endlessly varied.
Silver tentacles lashed out like whips.
Mercury orbs sprayed in all directions like shotgun blasts.
Spikes erupted from unexpected angles.
Vapors of far deadlier organomercury compounds poured toward him.
Meanwhile, dozens of defensive constructs around Alice stood ready to intercept.
This hall was now firmly under her control.
Whoever dominated the space claimed victory in battle.
The fight proceeded smoothly, per Alice's ironclad doctrine.
And yet, the unease refused to lift.
His onslaught was that astonishing.
He deflected incoming attacks with his spear and slipped through with agile footwork.
He countered strikes from unseen blind spots without flinching.
Movements mature as if the decade-or-less-old first-gen witch had weathered dozens of real battles.
That wasn't all.
That crimson spear, wielded with abandon, reeked of danger.
Even unused to its full potential, the ominous aura it exuded was a transcendent weapon whose depths Alice couldn't fathom.
If he brought that into play, her chances vanished.
Repeating this pattern would only lead to her defeat.
Time for an all-or-nothing gambit.
"Infinite transformations!!!"
The mercury scattered in all directions was sucked into Alice's hand.
Like meteors drawn to a neutron star, it condensed rapidly.
The mercury that had filled the space shrank to mere liters in her grasp.
Essential Mercury.
As a lance, it pierced all creation; as a shield, it repelled every threat—the distilled essence of mercury, defying fluid dynamics.
She had to think.
A single move to halt that monstrous charge, protect her body, and spare Manya and Malisha from the fallout.
Her instincts whispered: impossible to achieve all three.
If she had to abandon one...
It would be defense.
"Haaap!"
Essential Mercury flowed along her right arm, forming a colossal lance.
Its tip, aimed dead ahead, hurtled toward him with the ferocious momentum of a giant's swing.
If he met it head-on as before, the shattered lance would morph into root-like tendrils to bind him.
Her right arm, absorbing that cataclysmic impact, would shatter from the shockwave—but it was the only way to grab Manya and Malisha and flee.
Bracing for the agony, her jaw clenched, eyes burning with resolve—Alice's widened in shock.
-Woooong!
A black ring materialized above his head.
The instant the unidentified ring emitted its eerie acceleration hum, his figure vanished.
All that remained was an overwhelming mana afterimage beyond even Alice's full-power output.
"Space magic...?"
No.
It was simply speed.
The realization dawned just as killing intent bloomed from behind.
All her plans crumbling, she whipped around—and saw it.
-Craaaack!
Flesh reinforced beyond measure.
Now, mere movement rent space asunder.
Her rear defenses lunged to block the black knight swinging his spear shaft at her waist, but...
One spear strike rendered them powerless.
"Damn..."
-Kwaaaang!
No time even for curses—Alice's body whipped through the air like a paper doll.