Witch's Time (6)
Boom!!! Seonghun raised his foot high. Then he stomped repeatedly on the head of the man sprawled on the ground after taking a beating from him. After that many kicks, the man's skull should have burst like tofu, spilling thick blood as he lay there stupidly. The thought made Seonghun's lips curl upward.
"Kik, kik, kikik."
In truth, Seonghun had been feeling an unpleasant tingling in his head every time he looked at the man. So he moved his body more violently than usual, smashing everything in front of him. Now that the annoying presence was cleanly dealt with, his mood lifted naturally. All that remained was to return to his master, crush her enemies, savor her body to his heart's content, and finally toss her into the shadows. That would be enough.
Twitch. His groin stiffened on its own. Though he had only glimpsed her, she was beautiful. Her breasts were large. She looked like she would taste good. Chuckling, Seonghun turned to help his master when he sensed something was wrong.
"?"
He lowered his gaze. There should have been red blood and fragments of skull and brain scattered everywhere, yet the floor was clean except for the broken traces. For Seonghun, whose mind was consumed by desire and capable only of simple thoughts, the situation was incomprehensible. If he had smashed something, traces should remain. But there were none.
While he was groaning in confusion, he felt a presence. Swish. Seonghun raised his eyes toward the sensation. There, beneath the purple moonlight, stood the one who had been clouding his mind, arms hanging limply at her sides. At some point, she had gripped a silver-gleaming sword hilt.
My senses were hazy. My body was here, but my consciousness still felt trapped in the vision of Whitechapel. There was no strength in my arms. After rolling around and getting injured, the most I could manage was holding the silver sword with my arms dangling. In my current state, I thought even a light breeze would send me collapsing helplessly. But I couldn't fall. In front of me was Seonghun...
"Graaah!!"
No, a monster.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The prey he thought he had finished off was still alive, battered and broken, and that seemed to displease him. The monster stomped several times as if in anger, then leaped high. Whoosh!!! At the same time, he swung his hand. The old rope in the monster's grip shot toward me in an instant, just like before.
"..."
I hadn't thought of anything in particular. Standing alone was already my limit. Yet my body moved on its own, like a puppet on strings. My hand gripping the silver sword tightened slightly. My arm swung and cleanly severed the rope trying to bind me.
"?!"
The monster seemed startled as the blood-soaked rope, which had tormented me endlessly and seemed unbreakable, was sliced apart so easily. For a moment, its body flinched. My body, moving on its own, didn't miss the opening. Thud. I stepped forward lightly. My pace was faster than walking but slower than running. Naturally, as if it were an everyday scene, I approached the monster. Like someone passing by without paying much attention in daily life, I slipped past it with my faded presence.
"Krrk?"
It didn't understand what had happened. The monster tilted its head for a moment. And then...
Slash. Splurt!!
"!! Graaaah!!!"
Its chest split open and blood gushed out. Though its torso wasn't completely severed, the skin tore, bones were exposed, and its internal organs flashed into view. Only then realizing it had been cut, the monster screamed.
"Graaaaaah!!!"
My body wasn't satisfied with that. I spun around and swung my arm. Every time the silver blade moved, new wounds opened on the monster's skin and fresh blood sprayed. Unaccustomed to such pain, the monster flailed its arms in agony, trying to counterattack. But it was nothing more than a child's wild swings. There was no way such clumsy attacks could land. The monster's strikes missed, while its wounds multiplied. Like a butcher carving an animal or a surgeon operating on a patient, the cuts piled up one by one, tearing it apart.
Boom!!!
"!!"
"Graah!?"
At that moment, the ground split and something resembling a massive tree erupted nearby. The area within range was also overtaken as thick thorny vines surged up, reshaping the terrain. Thud!! The monster didn't miss that fleeting opening. Though only instinct remained with no trace of reason, its primal senses to exploit an opponent's weakness were intact. It charged with all its might and swung its regenerated rope. As my strength drained, the puppet-string-like instinct wrapping my body grew sharper, refusing to allow the monster's ambush.
Ping ping ping ping!!
Silver flashes erupted. Blood sprayed amid the frenzied blade. In the end, what remained was the monster, hacked to pieces and drenched in blood, and me, covered in the monster's gore.
"...Do... yun... ah..."
"..."
"S... save... me..."
Amid the monster's fading groans, my name reached my ears. Had it regained a shred of sanity at the brink of death? Looking down, the grotesquely swollen muscles deflated like a punctured balloon, returning to their original state... no, shriveling far thinner than an ordinary man's.
"Save... save me..."
"..."
"Save... me..."
It was a familiar voice. But unlike the one I remembered, it was hoarse and wavering like a candle in the wind. Thud.
"Kuhk... kuhk..."
"..."
Wordlessly, I drove the coldly gleaming silver flame into the monster's throat. The emaciated body twitched. Then, finally, it stopped moving.
"..."
Still in the posture of having thrust the sword into the monster's neck, I collapsed sideways without a word.
Colorful spells flew toward each other's throats.
"Construct!"
Ceres's magic overflowed.
"Twisted earth, starving thorns, the merciless green serpent that pierces limbs. 【Thorn Vine Trap of Devouring】"
Ceres's overflowing magic transformed into thorny vines and lunged at Gretchen. Gretchen calmly regarded the vines trying to bind her and chanted.
"Construct, burning gaze, the light that cleaves the dawn, the fangs that rend the night 【Arrows of Twilight】"
The magic drawn from Gretchen manifested as red-flamed arrows that shot down the approaching thorn vines. Not only did they knock them away, they burned the vines as well. But the vines regenerated and approached Gretchen faster than they could be burned.
"Did you really think you could deflect my attacks with such basic magic?"
Ceres's sharp voice rang out. In response, Gretchen poured out even more magic instead of replying. She increased the number of arrows fired at once. Eventually, the thorn vines vanished before reaching Gretchen.
"Construct. Grasping roots, thorns piercing the sky, the model garden that imprisons screams 【Execution Platform of the Thorn Tree】"
"Construct. Arrival of purity, formless condensation, the will that cleaves the atmosphere 【Projection of White Light】"
Boom!!!
Ceres frowned deeply as she thought. This wasn't right. This wasn't her plan. She should have easily killed a failing witch like her. But what was the situation now? She couldn't even overpower the one called a failing witch, and only a stalemate remained.
"You... were you hiding your power?"
"Who knows. Perhaps."
The overly composed reply made anger surge within Ceres. As the hunting dog of the Sirius family, chosen for this festival with a guaranteed smooth path ahead, she could not accept being blocked by a failing witch.
"Construct 【Crown of Hundreds of Thorns】"
A wide-area attack with omitted chant. A high-speed spell that ignored power, binding Gretchen's ankles. Even without focusing on power, it remained a threatening attack. If Gretchen neglected her defense, it would lead to a fatal wound. What Ceres needed was time. Time to bind Gretchen's legs and unleash a massive attack that a mere failing witch could never stop.
"Construct"
She was caught. Or rather, held. As Gretchen's magic dealt with the binding thorn vines, her vigilance toward Ceres weakened.
"Eternal hunger, the withered flower blooming in the wasteland, the iron cradle that grows massive drinking blood, the wall of the end that permits not a single ray of light"
"!"
Noticing the ominous change in Ceres's magic, Gretchen's gaze immediately turned to her. She stopped intercepting the thorn vines and entrusted her own protection to defensive magic while reaching out toward Ceres. But it was already too late. Ceres was certain of her victory. Her spell's chant was complete, leaving only a single word.
"【Forest of Ten Thousand Demons: Thorn Tree Funeral】"
Boom boom boom boom!!!
Thick, blood-sucking thorn vines erupted in the middle of the city. They clustered and soared high into the sky, forming a single tree shape that swallowed the surroundings. A massive, skeletal tree with no flowers. Panting, Ceres looked upon the aftermath of her magic with satisfaction.
"Hah... hah... At this level... she's definitely gone, right?"
Ceres turned her attention away from Gretchen, who should already be dead. Anyone caught in that attack would end up as a dried-out corpse with not a drop of moisture left. Now she had to find her contractor. If her contractor had been caught in her own magic, that would be a problem. She would have to find a new one. With that thought, she turned her head.
Fwoosh!
"...Huh?"
It was burning. White flames were spreading across the tree woven from skeletal thorn vines. The spreading flames soon covered the entire tree, emitting dazzling light and heat. As if a "sun" had appeared in this place.
"W-what... is this?..."
White flames did not exist. Flames created from magic varied in color depending on each witch's personal traits, but she had never heard of white flames. And from within the white flames, Gretchen walked out. Unaffected by the flames, she looked at Ceres as if nothing had happened.
"You're making quite a spectacle, Ceres."
"You... what is that magic?! Magic that handles white flames like that...!"
Instead of answering, Gretchen extended her hand. It was pointed at Ceres. Hurriedly, Ceres gathered her magic.
"Huh?"
At that moment, her magic was severed. The gathered magic scattered. She didn't need to think deeply to know the cause.
"No way?..."
Her contractor was dead. The rule of Walpurgis Night, the rule of witches. Here in Solaris, a witch could not use magic without a contractor.
"W-wait!!..."
She cried out desperately, despairingly, frantically. But the pure white flaming arrow shot in an instant pierced Ceres's shoulder.
"Agh!... Aaaah!!..."
The flames gradually consumed Ceres's body. And burned her away without leaving a trace.