City of Witches
chapter-271

1.

Eloa cautiously stepped back toward the wall as she was watching Siwoo fighting a fierce battle.

But, the problem here was that the space was filled with shadows.

And those shadows obscured the ongoing battle from Eloa’s view.

“Siwoo…”

So, she could only tightly clench her fist and cheer him on.

The intermittent clashes of weapons indicated that the intense battle was still going.

“Phew…”

Meanwhile, Siwoo was staying hidden within the dense shadow, calmly controlling his breathing.

In truth, the shadows he conjured were just a smokescreen at best.

Even if the Red Knight did not push them out with its distortion field, it wouldn’t do much damage to it.

But, the monster remained oblivious to this fact.

It cautiously maintained a distortion field at a radius of 5 m, pushing back the shadows as if it was trying to prepare itself to deal with Siwoo’s new self-essence magic.

This gave him a strategic advantage, allowing him to use hit-and-run tactics, periodically engaging in close quarter combat and skillfully going back into the shadows afterward.

-Grrrrr

At the sight of the surrounding shadows, the monster growled in annoyance.

If only the Red Branch was in a perfect condition—no, had it possessed ample mana reserves, it could have effortlessly dispelled these bothersome shadows.

Actually, if it had a bit more time, it could make them all disappear right here and then.

“Haaa!”

-Baaang!

However, every time it tried to expand its distortion field, the black-armored figure would dash in like a ghost and spoil its effort.

In the heat of combat, the figure forced the monster into a melee, making it impossible for it to adjust the distortion field and launch its counterattacks. If it were to try and give chase, the figure would swiftly vanish into the shadows.

Adding to the monster’s frustration, whenever it tried to jump into the shadows and give pursuit, four ribbons would get in its way.

It knew for sure that if it were to actually pursue the figure into the shadows, it could catch him without problems, but it also knew that dealing with those fluttering ribbons in its current state would be dangerous.

Their solid form made it difficult for it to give out an effective counterattack, making those ribbons the ‘only attack that would pose a threat’ from the monster’s perspective.

-Grrrrrrr!

This witch wearing the black armor had been one of the weaker opponents it had faced in its life.

While the witch used some strange tricks to trap it, in the grand scheme of things, the witch didn’t pose a threat to the monster.

All this while, the monster had been imagining the sight of it tearing off the black-armored witch apart and taking down the pink-haired witch afterwards.

And…

That was exactly what Siwoo wanted the Red Knight to think about him.

He engaged in a repeating pattern, not bothering to add any kind of variation into it.

Deliberately trapping the monster to think in a certain direction.

This was the first step.

He calmly calculated in his mind, his mental processor working tirelessly.

Doing two things at once: Physically, running in, swinging his sword, and then retreating.

And mentally, he was trying to figure out ‘how to use his magic in the shadows’.

Doing both things at once while keeping a steady balance between the two wasn’t an easy feat.

In fact, he could feel his brain heating up, overwhelmed by all the calculations.

-Wooooong!

This time too, Siwoo, who had been hiding in the shadows, dashed forward as soon as he sensed the Red Knight’s intention to expand its distortion field.

A regular witch might have struggled to pull this off, but not for Siwoo.

Because of his uncanny ability to read the flow of mana.

“Kaoooo!!!”

Anticipating his moves, the monster turned around and thrusted its spear.

Siwoo’s persistent harassment had clearly gotten under its skin.

And so, it used its attempts to expand the distortion field to its advantage, luring Siwoo into rushing at it.

Standing in a stance, ready to strike with its spear, it waited for Siwoo, who was charging towards it.

-Thwack!

Siwoo dug his heels into the ground, halting abruptly while maintaining his stance from the charge.

This sudden stop strained his knees, causing him to lose his balance.

“Koooo!”

Seeing this, the Red Knight immediately seized the moment.

Charging at Siwoo, who was retreating, as if it was assured of its victory over its elusive prey.

This was the moment it had been waiting for, a chance for it to strike back.

After carefully watching Siwoo’s moves, the Red Knight made its move first.

Anticipating this, Siwoo manipulated his mana as planned.

The swirling shadows around him suddenly took on a distinct form.

They clumped together, intertwining, becoming ribbons with a solid form, no longer just a wispy smoke.

Hundreds of these ribbons, like a jellyfish’s tentacle swaying in the current, surged towards the Red Knight all at once.

Of course he couldn’t conjure up that many ribbons on his own.

Real ribbons, the kinds that were woven with care by the Maiden’s Loom, were incredibly hard to control and would require tons of complex calculations.

Ea Sadalmelik in her prime might be able to utilize hundreds of ribbons, but Siwoo wasn’t quite there yet.

But, just like when he took down the mother dog, Siwoo could temporarily manipulate the large amount of shadows he had already spread out.

To put it simply, this was just a bluff.

All he needed to do was to create a quick illusion of a powerful attack.

Forcing the Red Knight, who was clueless about his tricks, to think that he had been hiding this secret move all along.

The monster rushed in to deliver the final blow to its weakened prey, only to be met with a feast of ribbons spread out like a peacock’s wings.

Having experienced how powerful the ribbons were, it clearly wasn’t keen on dealing with them again.

While it could try and tolerate a few hits from them, handling hundreds of them at once wasn’t something it wanted to do.

So, when it saw the ribbons rushing forward, the monster hesitated on whether to expand or shrink the Red Branch’s distortion field.

It only happened for a split second.

But that was all Siwoo needed.

Using the hundreds of fake ribbons, Siwoo rushed towards the Red Knight.

The hit-and-run tactics with the shadows had made the monster drop its guard, leaving it ‘flustered’ by the sudden counterattack

“Grrrrrr!!!”

The distortion field of the Red Branch expanded to about 10 m radius.

Upon hitting the barrier, the ribbons, the bluff, immediately broke apart.

Realizing that it had been fooled, the Red Knight angrily thrusted its spear, but Siwoo already closed the distance and pressed on.

As the Red Knight extended its spear belatedly, the tree roots-shaped barrier surged forward like lighting.

If he were to follow his usual pattern, he’d be retreating now.

But, he didn’t this time. Instead, he sped up.

He redirected all the mana he had been using to control the shadows into strengthening his body.

It felt like his magic circuits were being forcefully tripled in size due to him injecting too much mana in. They pulsated, sending him sharp pains whenever he took a step forward.

Rushing through the dense barrier, which parted like a fiery abyss, felt like diving into flames while being covered in oil.

However, Siwoo wasn’t worried, since he had the four-leaf clover.

Periwinkle said that it was a charm that could ensure him to escape death once.

While hoping that it would actually work, he pushed himself off the ground with his knees that felt like they would give way any moment due to fear.

First step.

The barrier silently collided with his body.

At that moment, the ‘Guardian’s Covenant’ kicked in.

The transparent barrier twisted and turned before getting nullified by a powerful burst of mana.

Luckily for him, as the barrier was caught in the explosion, it became somewhat disjointed.

Second step.

Despite his blurred consciousness, he managed to lift his feet off the ground.

Fortunately, the barrier didn’t actually have the power to block his movements, so he continued to move with a speed that almost reached the speed of sound.

But suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his body, as if he had been cramped in a dehydrator for hours.

Even his armor, tough enough to withstand an anti-tank rifle, crumpled like clay.

-Bang!

Perhaps not expecting him to directly attack its barrier, the Red Knight’s reaction was too slow.

So, Siwoo ended up crashing into the monster with a loud thud.

The pain from the barrier and the impact of the crash briefly knocked him unconscious.

But in the groggy state, a certain sensation tore through his consciousness, rousing him awake again. He then realized that his body and the Red Knight’s were intertwined.

Then he noticed that his shadow armor had been blown away, leaving him completely exposed.

“Grrr.”

At that sound, he averted his gaze downward.

Despite him almost losing his consciousness, he still held onto his shadow sword tightly, burying up to its hilt in the knight’s chestplate.

Through the sword’s tip, he sensed the monster’s life that was rapidly fading away.

Which meant, he had won.

With his tattered body, Siwoo took slow steps backward.

Meanwhile, the Red Knight stood there, staring at the shadow sword that was piercing its ‘core’ in disbelief.

His blade had dealt a fatal blow, sealing the monster’s fate for good.

“Kkiik!”

The Red Knight fell to one knee.

Watching the monster acting like this, Siwoo felt as if he was witnessing the sight of a dying human.

“Grrrr.”

The lights in the monster’s helmet flickered out one by one, like dying fireflies, making Siwoo shudder.

This was a sign that it had acknowledged defeat.

Its long-held duty to protect the ‘Red Branch’ had come to an end.

At that moment, it saw the pink-haired witch who had been watching the fight from afar.

Its nemesis, who had tormented it endlessly.

Even in the face of death, its rage gave it one final burst of strength.

-Clang!

The Red Knight barely managed to support its body that was about to collapse.

It held its 3 m long spear.

In an instant, the monster was ready to throw it.

Siwoo also realized what it was trying to do.

To take Eloa with it to accompany it to the valley of death.

“Master!”

Siwoo reached out his arm.

His instincts kicked in, despite knowing it probably wouldn’t make a difference.

He grabbed the Red Branch, which was about to be hurled towards Eloa.

Hoping that it would at least disrupt the throw.

And then…

“————-!!!!”

He felt an intense burning sensation, as if he had grabbed a red-hot metal rod.

Every muscle, bone and cell in his hand felt like it was melting away, accompanied by an excruciating pain.

He let out a scream that was akin to a dying animal.

His scream echoed throughout the tunnel, sounding like it came from multiple sources at once.

The Red Branch wasn’t something one could handle barehanded.

Though the Red Knight was already in a near-death state and the power of the spear had been greatly weakened, it was still a dangerous object that emitted a distortion field.

Its effect on the spirit body was akin to that of a nuclear control rod saturated in radiation.

Add that perilous nature of the object to his mana depleted state, it wasn’t a strange thing for him to experience such agonizing pain.

He felt like the pain was ripping his soul out of his body.

Yet, even amidst the agony, he refused to release his grip on the Red Branch till the very end.

The throbbing pain threatened to make him faint but he kept holding on because he couldn’t bear the thought of Eloa getting hurt.

When the Red Knight’s back finally slumped and collapsed on the ground, the spear also slipped out of his grasp.

That was when his legs gave away and he crumpled to the floor himself.

“S-Siwoo!”

Eloa, who had been watching, ran to him with unsteady steps.

Seeing him collapse weakly left her with an unimaginable terror.

Regret, mixed with guilt, overwhelmed her.

Why did he do such a reckless thing? Grabbing the Red Branch with his hand, even though he had already won the fight?

Eloa knew the answer all too well.

“Siwoo! Wake up! Siwoo! Siwoo!”

She blamed herself for what happened.

He had forced himself to do something so reckless in order to protect her.

Am I really going to lose another disciple just like this?

Once again, my foolish mistake is taking another person who’s dear to me. Someone who had healed the wounds in my heart…

“Please, don’t do this… Open your eyes… Please, please…”

Tears streamed down her face.

The pain in her chest was so intense that it made it difficult for her to breathe.

Then, a hand touched her cheek.

Siwoo, in her arms, managed to let out a faint smile and wiped away her tears.

“Master… I’m fine… Just…I blacked out for a moment there…”

Eloa didn’t care that she was sobbing uglily in front of her disciple.

She wasn’t ashamed over the fact that she was clinging to him so desperately.

Because the feeling of gratitude overwhelmed her. She was so grateful over the fact that he had woken up and couldn’t help but hug him tightly.

“Thank you…thank you…thank you so much…”

The smile that she was wearing at the moment was brighter and even more dazzling than the sunlight that streamed through the crack in the ceiling.