The Abomination of the Witch
Curse.
BOOM—!!
The ground beneath my feet buckled violently, and something massive erupted from the depths of the earth. Swept up by the sheer, overwhelming mass, the witch’s corpse, which had been lying on the floor, was tossed into the air. In that split second, with a sickening, visceral tear, the body exploded. A spray of dark red blood and gore showered the area. Hot, metallic-smelling liquid splattered across my cheek, but I had no time to wipe it away.
“Cassian-nim!” I heard Kalia’s urgent cry, but the hut was already collapsing in a rapid, chaotic descent. What had risen from beneath the floor was no mere remnant of magic. It was a living, breathing hellscape.
It was a grotesque amalgamation of barbarians and human bodies, stitched together indiscriminately. Men, women, children—they were all tangled into a massive, singular form like nothing more than a pile of meat. A child’s slender arm protruded from beside an old man’s face, twisted in agony, and between them, tree roots and bizarre mana pulsed like veins.
‘Is this the incomplete curse the witch spoke of?’
Calling it a “curse” was being generous; it looked more like a chimera, the product of some deranged biological experiment. It seemed the witch’s mindless incantation had been the key to awakening this monstrosity. As the witch’s spilled blood seeped into the massive, wood-like tentacles, the entire floor began to writhe like the intestines of a living creature.
“Ghh... ahh...”
A bizarre groan, as if dozens of voices were layered over one another, filled the ruins of the hut. Black mana spewed like smoke from the mouths of the interwoven corpses. I had spent years hunting with Kalia and had seen countless monsters, but I had never encountered such blatant, unadulterated malice that defied all human decency.
‘It’s a heap of filth that goes beyond nuclear waste.’
I gathered mana in my feet, intent on escaping this place. Using the falling debris of the hut as stepping stones, I vaulted through the air, heading swiftly toward where Kalia stood. I knew I couldn't handle this alone.
Even as I leaped across the crumbling wreckage, putting distance between myself and the chimera, my mind raced. I never dreamed the witch had prepared such a bizarre contingency.
‘In the webtoon, there was only one barbarian warrior with knight-level skills, held together by simple stitches. Is that thing, then, a failed prototype?’
The situation was vastly different from the webtoon I remembered. In the original story, the witch had used a single, refined “barbarian warrior” to pressure the protagonist. But what stood before me now was a massive, crude lump of meat, devoid of any precision—a failed experiment that had grown too large to control. That fact made it all the more terrifying. With the witch dead, the creature’s limiters were gone, and it was now consuming everything in its path with nothing but mindless, destructive instinct.
CRACK, BOOM!
Behind me, the ground where I had been standing just moments ago was pulverized by the chimera’s massive movements. Piercing through the falling wooden debris and clouds of dust, I cut through the air as smoothly as a hawk.
“Cassian-nim!”
As soon as I landed, Kalia and the junior knights rushed toward me. Kalia, having navigated the dust cloud, asked with a voice full of concern, “Are you injured?”
“I’m fine, but that is the problem.”
I pointed with my chin toward the massive lump of meat—the chimera—crawling out from the ground.
KUGUGUGU—!
Having swallowed the ruins of the hut, it had now fully revealed its body above ground. The form, a tangled mess of limbs from countless barbarians and humans, swayed bizarrely, and the wood-like parts that had absorbed the witch’s blood were emitting a disgusting black vapor.
‘What should I do?’
My mind spun rapidly. Leaving the monster alone and running away was one option. But the problem was the forest’s environment. If the polluted mana exhaled by this disgusting chimera began to encroach upon the entire forest, the ecosystem itself would inevitably be twisted. With luck, it might wander toward the barbarian settlements or the habitats of powerful magical beasts. But that was, quite literally, a gamble.
What if the monster changed course and headed down toward the villages of the March? Such a bizarre entity was a disaster for civilians just by existing.
KUGUGUGUNG!
The ground screamed every time the chimera’s massive body moved. I could see the grass and trees in its path rotting away into a sickly purple hue.
‘The risk is too high to rely on luck.’
The title of successor to the March was not merely about power. It carried the duty of ensuring the safety of the territory’s people. And now, I was that successor. I stopped agonizing and gave the order to Kalia and the junior knights.
“Everyone. We take it down here.”
At my low voice, the junior knights’ gazes locked onto me in unison. The atmosphere, which had been leaning toward retreat just moments ago, shifted instantly into cold, fighting spirit. It was the hostility toward a monster threatening their territory—the proper attitude for knights of the March.
“We cut its life short here so it can move no further.”
At my firm declaration, the junior knights drew their swords in unison and fell into formation. As the three junior knights moved with disciplined precision, Kalia approached and respectfully handed me the sword I had entrusted to her. I sheathed the blade at my waist and drew it without hesitation.
Three junior knights. They were the ones I had been training with from the start. It was only right that those who were already in sync moved together. If Kalia and I moved together, we’d just get in each other’s way.
‘They’re junior knights, after all.’
When dealing with a subjugation of this level, it was better to leave it to their discretion. Besides, I didn't know how to properly utilize the combat power of a junior knight. If I tried to control them, I might cause an accident. I shifted my gaze to the massive torso.
“Philip, you and the others take the right. Kalia and I will take the left.”
Philip glanced at Kalia for a moment before nodding. “Understood.”
He seemed worried about Kalia going with me alone. But Kalia was someone who could easily do the work of two junior knights. Otherwise, why would I have risked saying we’d go as a pair?
“Let’s go.”
I called out to Kalia and sprinted forward first. I had grown quite a bit over the past few years. I still couldn't use aura, but I could now coat my entire blade in mana. The ignorant method of only coating my hand and swinging with brute force was a thing of the past.
I kicked off the ground, shooting forward, and began to coat the entire length of my blade in sharp, biting mana. A momentary leap. Holding the sword at an angle, I slashed into the chimera’s flank without hesitation.
‘It’s mushy. It feels like I’m cutting into half-hardened clay.’
The sensation of the cut itself wasn't bad. It sliced through smoothly, without hitting a single bone. But when I landed and looked back, the result of the destruction I had expected wasn't there. Only a sickening purple smoke hissed from the wound. The severed chunks of meat were being pulled back to the main body by thread-like mana before they even hit the ground.
“Its regenerative power is beyond imagination.”
“It seems so. But then, we just have to keep cutting until it can no longer regenerate.”
This time, Kalia took the lead, raising her sword. She dashed forward and began slashing wildly. ‘Phenomenal speed.’ Kalia had also made some progress as I grew. It was just surprising to see how much she had improved.
Before long, Kalia’s attack ceased, and she returned to my side. She landed with a dissatisfied look in her eyes. “It seems you were right.”
The chimera was regenerating, but it clearly had a threshold for how much it could repair at once. With the three junior knights on the other side attacking relentlessly, if we kept up the onslaught, we could overwhelm its regeneration speed.
Thinking about it coldly, aside from its massive, mindless size, abnormal healing, and the fact that it polluted the forest, it wasn't particularly impressive for the witch’s final struggle.
‘...Or maybe not. Actually, this alone is enough to be a disaster.’
I had just been overestimating it by comparing it to my knowledge of the original work; it was only natural that the witch at this point in time would be weaker than the future I had seen.
‘It was the right decision to stop by at this time.’
On top of that, I had three elite junior knights escorting me to the academy. Ordinary knights would have despaired long ago in the face of such bizarre vitality. But I had four elite junior knights by my side, including Kalia. Since those called the “spearhead of the March” were gathered here, it was only right that we should be able to handle a lump of filth like this with ease.
Thinking about it again, it made sense. The knights assigned to escort me, the successor to the March, were talented individuals worth their weight in gold.
“Kalia! Chop it into pieces small enough that its regeneration can’t keep up!”
At my command, Kalia answered shortly and firmly. “Understood.”
I kicked off the ground once more and charged. The mana condensed at the tip of my sword cut through the air, emitting a sharp, whistling sound. I shredded the chimera’s bloated limbs into dozens of pieces in an instant. Disgusting purple fluid splattered the air with every slash, but my eyes were fixed solely on the creature’s core.
‘This world wouldn't let me finish things so easily.’
The world of the webtoon had never been friendly to me. That hadn't changed from the first day until now. Instead of letting my guard down because I thought I had the upper hand, I sharpened my senses to the extreme. Every moment I swung my sword, I observed the chimera’s movements, the vibrations of its mana, and the ominous signs beneath my feet, preparing for any eventuality.
But nothing happened. As Kalia and I continued to hack away at that massive body, we eventually reached the junior knights on the other side.
“Is this it?”
Kalia answered my muttered question. “It seems to be over.”
Indeed, it was over. Philip approached me. “Good work.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good work to you all, too.”
As the situation ended so easily, I was overcome by an indescribable awkwardness. Not once since I had transmigrated had everything gone so smoothly. There was no way this world, where unexpected variables always erupted and I had to overcome near-death experiences just to take a single step forward, would suddenly become kind.
“Let’s get out of here.”
I suppressed my suspicious feelings and gave the order. The junior knights formed an escort formation around me, and we attempted to exit through the massive tunnel we had carved into the chimera’s body.
But as expected, this world wasn't going to let it end that simply.
KUGUGUGUNG—!!
“……!”
The interior of the chimera, which had been our escape route, began to collapse with a bizarre, screeching scream. We started to run as fast as we could. From the outside, the chimera was collapsing entirely.