Chapter 61: Battle
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61: Battle
“Yohan?”
Entering the back alley, Evangeline found a witch stomping on Yohan’s chest. She looked like a young girl, but the menacing aura emanating from her body suggested she was a witch.
The moment she realized Yohan was under attack, Evangeline cast her magic with lightning speed. The magic projectile she fired shot forward and struck its target, sending Hekaterina flying into the distance with a giggle.
“What’s this, what’s this? Another new bitch?”
Thud. Hekaterina flipped in mid-air and landed lightly on her feet, a smirk playing on her lips as she looked at Evangeline. This wasn't the same unidentified witch who had teleported her before.
Considering how rare it was to see even one witch, the fact that there were two entirely different ones around Yohan was astonishing.
From her perspective, thinking Yohan was a Holy Knight, she even suspected that the Church had finally started using witches.
“Who—are you?”
“Haha, can’t you tell by looking?”
“A Holy Knight uniform? You must have stolen it from somewhere. Are you a beggar? Picking up other people’s clothes to wear.”
“...How amusing.”
Taking the bait, Hekaterina immediately transformed her legs into something monstrous. The mere sight of them, the legs of a monster, was enough to inspire fear.
With leg strength that far surpassed a human’s by dozens of times, Hekaterina leaped, her body shooting forward like a bullet.
Faced with a living cannonball weighing dozens of kilograms, Evangeline did nothing but grin.
“—!?”
The moment she finally made contact with Evangeline’s body, Hekaterina felt her own body undergo atomic disintegration. The sensation of being naturally dismantled, starting from the point of contact.
It was a feeling that couldn't be called pleasant even as a joke. But she had no magic that could alter the trajectory of her already flying body, and in the end, every atom of Hekaterina’s body disintegrated, returning to stardust.
Without even glancing at the vanished Hekaterina, Evangeline rushed to Yohan’s side.
“Yohan! Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine… but what about you, Teacher? Are you alright?”
“I don’t have a single scratch! Never mind that, let me see where you were stomped!”
Evangeline pulled away Yohan’s clothes to check his bruised chest. Despite a woman of several dozen kilograms leaping from the sky to kick him, there were no signs of broken or fractured bones.
This was partly because Yohan had reflexively enhanced his body when he saw her falling, but more importantly, it was because Hekaterina hadn't been trying to kill him, but rather to subdue him.
“It doesn’t look like you’re hurt anywhere. What a relief…”
“I told you I’m fine.”
“By the way, who was that girl just now? She seemed to know you.”
At Evangeline’s question, Yohan told her about Hekaterina. He said she was the witch he had met while wandering the city with Margaret.
He explained that they had met several times since, and that she was the witch who had killed Ludwig and even his descendants.
Hearing this, Evangeline breathed a sigh of relief.
“Whew, that’s a relief. I’m glad she’s not some friend of yours.”
“...Friends don’t usually stomp on each other like that.”
“But those kinds of friendships exist, don’t they? You were imprisoned by Beatrice, yet you still called her a friend and tried to protect her.”
Called out, Yohan gave an awkward laugh and looked at her. As she said, he had been locked up by Beatrice, yet he had protected her from his teacher, calling her a friend.
Of course, it wasn't simply because she was a friend; there were many complex issues involved—.
Swoooosh…
“...The rain is getting heavier.”
“It is. It’s making things feel eerie. Ritz won’t be here for a while yet.”
The rain began to pour.
Combined with the chilly weather and the dark atmosphere of the back alley, Evangeline felt as if something might leap out at any moment.
Thoughts encroach upon emotions. Sensing the grim atmosphere, Evangeline’s mind conjured an existence that fit the mood.
‘That girl, she looked frail, but the longer I looked at her, the more terrifying her aura became, enough to make my body tremble… just like me…’
Evangeline recalled Hekaterina, whom she had just defeated, and in doing so, she reawakened the fear the witch had exuded.
If someone feels fear, the monster does not die.
“...Teacher, behind you.”
“Behind me?”
Hearing Yohan, Evangeline cautiously turned her head. There, standing naked, was Hekaterina, the witch she had just defeated.
Large breasts that didn't suit her small frame and sturdy hips that seemed to support them…
“D-don’t look—!”
Startled, Evangeline quickly covered Yohan’s eyes. But regardless of her efforts, Yohan had already seen all of Hekaterina’s naked body.
Hekaterina, now exposed, clicked her tongue in annoyance and immediately used her magic to create clothes.
It was the uniform of a Holy Knight—the most terrifying existence she knew, and one that would instill at least a little fear in the citizens.
“What are you?”
The resurrected Hekaterina glared at Evangeline and asked. As far as she knew, there weren't many beings who could defeat her so utterly.
While talent and experience could create a skill gap, she was a Holy Knight hunter who excelled in both.
“What kind of magic do you have to make such… such a ridiculous attack possible?”
“...I should be the one asking that. To come back to life—an immortal witch? No, the immortal witch died long ago. Besides, that magic was active until just recently.”
“I’ll answer if you tell me first.”
Hekaterina said with a smirk. Having calculated that she had little to lose whether the witch’s words were true or false, Evangeline cautiously nodded and opened her mouth.
“I’m the Witch of Love.”
“...Love?”
“Yes, the Witch of Love.”
Hearing this, Hekaterina began to stare intently at Evangeline. Her expression changed a dozen times in an instant before she let out a hollow laugh, then began to cackle as if it were the most absurd thing she had ever heard.
After laughing for a long while, Hekaterina pointed a finger at Evangeline and burst out laughing again.
“The Witch… of Love, she says, ahahahahaha!”
“...What’s so funny?”
“You mean you don’t find this funny?”
Snap. Hekaterina’s laughter ceased, and she glared at Evangeline with a blank expression as she spoke.
“You look lovely, and you’re the Witch of Love? Where’s the curse? What, is being too loved by others your curse?”
“Why should I have to explain that to you? It’s your turn now, isn’t it?”
“Ah, right. I was going to explain. I was, but… I suddenly don’t feel like telling a witch who received such a blessed magic like you.”
“A… blessing?”
At the word “blessed,” Evangeline’s face also became devoid of laughter as she stared back at Hekaterina.
The two witches’ cold gazes clashed in mid-air, and a moment later, they charged fiercely at each other.
It rained.
Hekaterina knew that charging in recklessly like before would only lead to a continuous cycle of death and resurrection. So, rather than a foolish rush, she pondered a way to break through Evangeline’s magic based on the name she had just heard.
‘She said it was the magic of love.’
She had no idea what love had to do with turning her body to dust, but Hekaterina cautiously transformed her hand into a monstrous shape.
Then, she spun her fingers at high speed and shot them forward. The fingers, flying like bullets, were completely annihilated the moment they touched Evangeline’s body.
An invincible spear and shield. Convinced that it was an impenetrable wall, Hekaterina dashed right up to Evangeline.
She stopped just short of the barrier she had identified, then kicked off the ground and the walls, beginning to maneuver in three dimensions.
People are not accustomed to things plummeting from above. Evangeline was no exception, and an opening naturally appeared.
Aiming for that opening, Hekaterina landed with a thud in front of Yohan, who was hiding behind Evangeline.
“Hello there.”
Then, a kick—.
Yohan defended himself with surprisingly agile movements, but he couldn't withstand the monstrous leg strength that far surpassed a human’s. He was sent flying deeper into the alley.
“You—!!”
Seeing her disciple get hurt, Evangeline whipped her hand out, but as a human, she couldn't catch the monstrous Hekaterina.
This was Evangeline’s weakness.
She herself might be invincible, but what about others?
“You’re weak, aren’t you.”
Hekaterina had noticed from their first encounter that Yohan was Evangeline’s Achilles’ heel.
And what kind of idiot brings their weakness to a battlefield like this? Of course he would be targeted. In front of a powerful witch, a single Holy Knight was less than a bug…
“Ugh… shit, that fucking hurts.”
Just then, Yohan, whom she had sent flying, dusted himself off and stood up.
Seeing this, Hekaterina tilted her head in confusion and stared at him. Come to think of it, when she had kicked him, he hadn't gotten a hole punched through his stomach; he had just been sent flying.
No matter how skilled a Holy Knight was, they didn't possess power that transcended human limits. This meant Yohan wasn't just a Holy Knight, but something special—.
“Hey.”
Crackle—.
Sparks began to arc from Evangeline’s body.
The Witch of Love, you say? Hekaterina’s bewilderment was brief.
An amplified electric current shot straight toward her.
“Guaaaaaaaargh!?”
No matter how fast she moved, she couldn't dodge lightning. Instantly electrocuted, Hekaterina glared at Evangeline, who was walking slowly toward her.
“Got you.”
And then—she lost consciousness.