The Witch of the Eternal Forest (3)
It was all well and good that I’d used a long wire to bind the upper and lower jaws of Zymphis, preventing the beast from unleashing a breath filled with poison or swarms of insects. The drawback, however, was that the wire extended from within my own palm, meaning I couldn't simply let go. Hanging beneath the massive lizard’s chin—a spot the creature couldn't easily attack and one hidden from its master, Caroline, who was perched atop its head—I had been busy hammering away with punches imbued with fierce strength. But the problem remained: I couldn't detach myself from this hanging position.
Kwooooooong!
After lifting its neck high and slamming it back down—a motion like an ant-eater crushing its prey—Zymphis pressed its chin against the ground, grinding it into the dirt. Meanwhile, Hansel and Gretel, who had been sent flying in another direction, were seized by hands made of earth rising from the constantly shifting ground. Building a model out of mere soil is the height of fragility—like a house of straw that crumbles with a single kick or blows away in the wind—but these hands, perhaps inheriting the hardness of the rocks before they were transformed into soil, possessed a moist, clinging texture that left dirt wherever they touched, yet showed no signs of breaking.
"Let us gooooooo!!!!" Hansel screamed, but the earthen hands didn't budge. The hand gripping him maintained its solidity, like hardened red clay, even as it left a bit of residue on his skin.
Realizing that constantly moving the earth of the land yielded little entertainment compared to the mana it consumed, Caroline stopped manipulating the entire terrain and switched to controlling only specific parts at the right moments. She briefly gave up on the two who had vanished into Invisibility and focused solely on Pinochia, the only one still visible. The result was a success.
"You damn bitch!"
Gretel’s situation was no different. As if to prove they were twins, they had both been caught by the same magic in the same pathetic state, doing nothing but shrieking at the top of their lungs.
"I thought you’d used me as bait to run away, but that wasn't the case."
It was fine that I had bound the giant tree-lizard Zymphis’s mouth with wire to stop it from doing anything, but because I couldn't detach the wire from my hand, I was left dangling helplessly as Zymphis slammed its chin into the ground. Caroline had been watching, unsure of how best to attack because she couldn't confirm if they had truly abandoned me or if they were just hiding in plain sight. But now, that was no longer necessary.
'Under normal circumstances, I would have cycled my visual sensors through vibration, heat, and infrared detection to confirm if they had really left or just concealed themselves, and acted immediately. Is this also a result of realizing my own heart?'
If my heart had slowed my actions, it could also make me stronger because of it. Determined to climb the second step—drawing out even greater power through the strength of my heart, following the first step of realizing it today—I took action. I extended the wire, which I hadn't fully reeled in yet, even further.
Zzzzzzt.
The wire, which had been stuck to the lizard’s chin like a grain of rice, shot out from my hand, making me look like a spider spinning silk from its rear while descending from a tree branch.
"Haaah!"
I applied force in the direction opposite to the one that had bound Zymphis’s maw, creating a massive recoil that caused me to rotate and unwind the coiled wire rope. As I spun, the lizard’s mouth gradually widened. With every turn of the wire that unspooled, the gap grew larger, and when the final coil finally released, Zymphis opened its massive maw and roared.
"KUOOOOOO!!!!"
A roar filled with fury. The frustration of being unable to breathe because it couldn't open its mouth shook the entire forest. Giant trees swayed, leaves scattered, and branches snapped helplessly. It was an expression of rage, a desire to crush the small creature that had been hanging from its chin without a trace. Zymphis’s two eyes darted around, finally spotting the enemy who had been attacking from a blind spot just moments ago.
Using the final recoil of the wire, I launched myself into the air. As the last coil unspooled and the hook embedded in Zymphis’s forehead pulled free, I performed an aerial stunt and landed precisely on top of the lizard’s head.
"Grrrrrr!!!"
If any creature felt a tiny pest standing on its head, it wouldn't just hit its own skull; it would shake its body to throw the enemy off. The giant lizard, despite its lack of intellect, was no different. It shook its head like a dog trying to dislodge a flea, sending me flying. I jumped at the exact moment of the shake, adding acceleration to increase my distance. While airborne, I extended my right foot, bracing for impact.
Zymphis raised its front paw toward me, but realizing that slamming it down would also strike its master, it hesitated, switching its means of attack. Thanks to that, I was able to head off to help my allies without any interference.
A flying kick at a speed impossible by my own strength alone. A strike aimed at Caroline, who was lifting her green sword while holding Hansel with an earthen hand rising from the ground. But no matter how I looked at it, the speed of Caroline’s sword slicing Hansel in two seemed faster.
Slash!
"HANSEEEEEEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hansel’s body was severed, and Gretel’s mournful scream echoed through the air.
"Hm?"
But the sensation of cutting through bone and severing muscle did not reach Caroline’s hand. Though the body had been sliced diagonally from waist to ribcage, not a single drop of blood spilled, nor was there the sensation of organs being cut. Gretel’s scream stopped abruptly.
The two clones shimmered like heat haze and vanished into illusions. Immediately after, the siblings, who had been rushing toward Caroline’s immediate vicinity, dropped the concealment that had hidden them from all detection methods.
The presence and aura of the real bodies had been completely erased from the world, replaced by the clones; anyone would have mistaken the decoys for the real thing. It was the ultimate pinnacle of concealment and stealth. They had been completely erased from reality, only to be painted back onto the canvas of the world.
Even though Caroline couldn't see Hansel and Gretel with her eyes, she could feel their movements through the earth beneath her feet. She had looked down on them, thinking hiding was useless, but she had already fallen into their trap from the very beginning.
Thud!
A level of acrobatics that could only be achieved after countless hours of practice and coordination. Without a single error, the two emerged from Caroline’s side, their strikes landing simultaneously and with pinpoint accuracy.
The power of Starlight, which the siblings had obtained from Tinkerbell—or rather, awakened much earlier—was channeled into their daggers, erupting as they pierced Caroline’s body. The clone of Hansel that Caroline had just slashed hadn't bled, but from Caroline’s body, jet-black mana flowed in place of blood.
Moving not just their hands, but their entire shoulders and arms, they dragged Caroline in the same direction, leaving her unable to even let out a scream.
"Gaaah! You little bastards!!!!!"
Even though light-blades had pierced through her body, she resisted with all her might. Whether it was because she was caught on a bone or because she had become a guardian cursed never to leave the forest, Caroline’s body refused to break. Yet, she was dragged forward helplessly, her feet pulled by the force Hansel and Gretel exerted through their daggers.
"Aaaaaah! My body is burning! I will not forgive you!!!!!"
They were merely dragging her body while she was impaled on their blades, so what did that have to do with the searing pain of burning? Perhaps the starlight the siblings were newly wielding—the starlight they coated onto their weapons or fashioned into arrows and blades—possessed a purifying effect on those who had been twisted by the Seven Devils to the point of no return. That might be why she was screaming in agony far beyond the pain of being stabbed.
With her eyes rolled back, Caroline attempted to split and overturn the earth once more, regardless of whether she would be caught in it herself.
Crack!
A massive mass and impact were transmitted from behind. My flying kick had struck Caroline’s head with precision. The direction Caroline had been dragged while impaled on the blades was exactly where I, having jumped from atop Zymphis’s head, was extending my foot.
A collision between two moving objects meeting at the same point is far more impactful than something flying into a stationary object. It was a strike where speed, height, and direction all multiplied the power, never diminishing it. A heavy impact sound, like a massive hammer striking a giant boulder, echoed through the cursed Eternal Forest, rather than the sound of a human head being kicked.
I rolled across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop. The shock was so great that Hansel and Gretel, who had been dragging Caroline toward me, dropped their daggers and collapsed.
The three gazes—the mechanical doll who had rolled on the ground and the fallen siblings—turned to a single point to assess the result of the coordinated attack. Was it a success, or a failure? The answer was a grand success that surpassed all expectations.
From Caroline’s head, the impact point of the kick, down to the space between her left and right ribs where the siblings had stabbed her, including both arms, Caroline’s upper body had been shattered like porcelain. Only her lower body and the torn green dress remained, fluttering in the wind.
"Grrrrrrrrr!!!!"
Zymphis, which had hesitated to attack for fear of harming its master, let out a mournful howl and opened its mouth. Perhaps it was out of rage that its master had died due to that hesitation. A murky, green energy, bubbling and boiling, gathered in the lizard’s maw. The condensed power was more than enough to sweep away the three who were still trying to recover.
"Damn it!"
I tried to get up in a hurry, but it was already too late. If I stood up to dodge, I would take the blast head-on. So, Hansel chose to give up on evasion, curling up on the ground, covering his head, and closing his eyes, hoping to endure as much as possible.
The power, compressed into a single point, was released, sweeping over the three intruders who had committed the capital crime of harming the master of the forest like a tidal wave.
"Stop. That is enough. Everyone, stand down."
No, it hadn't swept them away.