episode_0266

“Hey, it’s nice to see you like this… Let’s put that aside for now… Don’t you want to say it out loud… ?”

The witch who introduced herself as Alderamin was trying to persuade me for some reason. She was twisting her fingers and not making eye contact properly. Considering her true identity, all of her actions were awkward and out of place.

That’s why I didn’t trust it even more.

“Just let me speak for a moment… Eek.”

A vein bulged out in my hand that was holding the blade. Even that attitude of pretending innocence must have been a ploy to keep me captive.

“T, don’t do that… Yeah? I don’t want to fight… ”

The witch, who noticed my intentions, bit her tongue with a pale face.

“How about calming down by looking at the scenery around you…? Isn’t it pretty…? There are lots of flowers… and trees… ”

“If you don’t want to fight, are you saying you’ll just step aside?”

“That’s not it… ”

The witch, with her eyes tightly shut, spoke as if doing something of great charity.

“Can you kill me without hurting me? ”

“… ”

It was a word that wasn’t worth listening to.

“Sigh, I guess words can’t explain it… ”

After a moment of silence, the witch, who had noticed my stubborn attitude, slowly opened her eyes. Then she let out a deep sigh of resignation.

“I didn’t want to hurt the kids… ”

‘children?’

It was at that moment that I felt a strange sense of discomfort at that word. Without any warning, a huge shadow appeared over my head from the square behind me.

-Koosh!

Soon, two trunks of an old tree hit the ground hard, intertwining. I managed to roll over and escape. The spot where I had just been standing was deeply dug out by the weight of the tree trunk.

“Oh no… !”

I swallowed my curses inwardly. It was as if I had realized with my own body the identity of the ‘children’ the witch had just spoken of.

I looked around. The branches and vines of the plants were reaching out to me as if they were alive. The quiet forest that had taken root in the ruins of the city had become a slaughterhouse for only one person.

Behind the witch standing at a distance, two long vines, shaped like snakes, hung down. And without a moment’s hesitation, they rushed straight toward me.

-Wedge!!

As I turn around to dodge, a vine passes over the spot where my head was just a moment ago. If I had reacted even a little later, I would have been skewered with my brain impaled on the ground.

Then the other one rushed towards me, wrapping its arms around my legs as I stood on the ground. I swung my blade and knocked that one away as well.

-Kaang!

Instead of the vines being cut, the metallic sound of the blades was loud enough to ring in my ears. Where the blades had touched, only a few scratches remained. Can this be called a plant?

“Can’t you just die quietly? I don’t want to see our children get hurt… ”

And then the witch’s voice is heard from behind. That crazy woman. Of all the witches I’ve met so far, she’s the one with the strangest mental state.

I quickly got up and went to a corner where there was no blind spot and took a stance. Then several thin vines, woven like a net, flew towards me as if they were going to tie me up.

-Kaang!!

I rolled to the side to dodge, striking it with my blade. Then I immediately unleashed the power near my heart.

However, contrary to my wishes, the plant did not sag or break into particles. The stems that had been crawling on the ground continued to rush toward me without losing their momentum. Now that I look at them, each and every leaf seemed so sharp that it seemed like it would cut through my skin.

‘Not affected by power.’

I looked at the witch again. The hideous, frightened eyes behind the glasses made me feel even more angry.

Hundreds of thin, glowing threads from the witch’s body were firmly attached to the roots of the moving plants. It seemed that the only way to stop the movement of the plants was to cut them off.

Or kill the witch.

“… Phew.”

Either way, it’s not an easy method. My power is limited, and that witch won’t just quietly allow me to approach.

I feel like I’m gradually sinking into a swamp. It’s not a coincidence that I’ve encountered difficult enemies one after another. I was running through a well-planned trap, even though I knew it.

“Just give up and die… Yeah? I’ll really stab you in the heart without it hurting… !”

The sound of dogs barking continues to ring in my ears. I am deeply troubled as to whether I should release all my saved strength this time.

“If you’re scared, should I put a blindfold on you…? Or…huh?”

The witch who had been desperately pleading for mercy turned her head as if she had found something. The halo of light flying in from afar was also captured in my eyes.

I could tell that the rapidly approaching halo was a gigantic blazing fireball, the heat growing hotter and hotter, filling the surrounding air.

Within moments, a fireball racing through the middle of the ruins in the city center explodes, scattering embers in all directions. Hundreds of embers light up the air like firecrackers.

And then they started to cling to the moving plants around them and eat them like top predators.

-Whoooosh!

“Gyah, ah, no!! My kids…!!”

The witch screamed in horror. The pungent smell of charcoal and acrid smoke gradually filled the ruins.

Knock, knock. The sound of someone’s footsteps approaching from beyond the chaos can be heard.

“It burns well. After all, plants are best when burned with fire.”

Beyond the dark vision, bright white hair and blood-red eyes gleamed. Yeon Min-ha, who had gone out as a reconnaissance team, had returned.

And she had company that didn’t suit her at all.

“Hyun-ah! Are you okay?”

I was fine even in the hell. In fact, I felt a little chilly and was exhaling smoky breath.

Before I knew it, a giant ice sphere had been erected around me like a wall. Then, a black-haired female student came running in a hurry to check on me.

“Yeon-ah… ”

“, stay still…! Where are you hurt… ”

Yeon-i sighed in relief only after confirming that there were no major injuries on my body. I pulled myself out of the ice sphere and asked.

“Why are only the two of you here? What about the other people who went out as a reconnaissance party? No way… ”

I wondered if everyone else had died and only the two of them had survived, but Yeon-i immediately shook her head when she heard the question.

“I met Min Ha-rang on the way. And the other members were sent to support the main force. Since we both specialize in range magic, fighting together could actually be a hindrance… ”

Fortunately, the worst has yet to happen. Suddenly, another question crosses my mind again.

“But how did you know about this place? It’s not even a gathering place… ”

Then, in an unnoticeable moment, a fierce expression passes across Yeon-i’s face.

“Hey… I heard Min-ha put a spirit on you. So I followed it.”

“… ”

“Thank goodness. Thanks to that, I was able to find you quickly… ”

The brightly smiling face was actually cold. The pursed lips seemed to be saying this.

‘You shallow bitch.’

For now, I’ll think about this later. I immediately turned my gaze and examined the battlefield.

“No… No…! My babies…!”

The burning plants writhed violently as if in pain. The witch was clutching her head and stamping her feet, not knowing what to do.

And then a white-haired girl came forward and snorted.

“This girl is really out of her mind. Are all witches like this? Looking at plants and calling them babies?”

My impressions and hers were exactly the same. The witch who heard the verbal abuse lowered her head and trembled. Unlike before, it was not a feeling of timidity, but rather anger.

Soon it raised its head and glared at me from behind its glasses.

“You, are you really a bad person? Can’t you hear the children suffering? Don’t you have a heart?”

“What is the heart of a piece of grass… ”

She snorted as if she had no intention of going along with the words of the pitying witch. Rather, there was a faint anger gleaming beneath her voice.

Yeonmin-ha recited in a voice filled with utter displeasure.

“How dare you touch my man?”

The reaction was immediate. Yeon-i, not the witch, was glaring at her as if she was going to kill her. She glanced at her with pitying eyes and smirked.

Yeon-i, whose fever had spread, was about to open her mouth to say something when a ghostly voice echoed through the middle of the ruins.

“… I can’t forgive you.”

“Huh?”

Yeonmin-ha was about to make a face that said, “That’s so funny.” The witch, who had been standing still, suddenly raised her hand.

Then, the plants that had been burning began to sprout rapidly. Soon, thousands of sharp branches and living vines that had regained their former appearance began to rush toward us. Yeonmin-ha, who was staring at them coldly, murmured.

“I guess… it’s better to keep using fire.”

Something was felt in the air around them where there was nothing. Small butterflies with wings made of embers gradually appeared translucently. Hundreds of firefly spirits seemed to gather in one place, then began to melt and merge into one.

Soon a fire giant appears from the chaos and takes shape.

A giant as large as a ruined building thrust his palm forward. Soon, the entire space in front of us was filled with a wall of fire, burning all the rushing plants.

“Ah, ahh… ahh… the kids… again… ”

And the witch was scratching at the skin on her face. The sight of pieces of flesh and bone sticking out was terribly grotesque.

The witch, who had been crying in pain, screamed in agony.

“I can’t forgive you! Absolutely not…!!”

Crackle. The new sprouts of plants merged together like a swirl. The shadow of a huge tree trunk, several times the size of the old tree from before, fell over us.

The tree stump struck us with incredible speed for its size. The formed fire giant raised both arms and caught it.

The tree stump was only slightly charred on the outside. It was so huge that it seemed impossible to burn it down quickly like the small plants just now.

-Bam! Bang!

And then a struggle begins between the giant and the giant plant. Several abandoned buildings, pushed back by their size, lose their shape and collapse in an instant.

I stood there watching the fight with pity, and then she called me, who was thinking about joining the party.

“… Hey, can you come over here for a second?”

“Senior? Why all of a sudden… Ugh.”

It was a moment of taking a step back in wonder. As the distance grew closer, what I felt was the sensation of moist and warm lips.

What I could see beyond was Yeon-i’s face, frozen as if petrified.