episode_0270

“I was thinking of doing that anyway.”

I lowered my posture as if I was going to rush in at any moment. Tension and excitement were coursing through my blood vessels, making me feel high.

Now the end was truly in sight. I was determined to pour out every ounce of strength I had saved. And of course, my opponent had to do the same.

We’re not the only ones in a tight spot right now. The witches are also desperately in need of the power I’ve taken. They’re even bringing it into their own nest.

“Hmm… You’re really gaining momentum.”

But I was immediately struck by a strange sense of discomfort. Because the corner of Regulus’ mouth was still engraved with a leisurely smile.

“That alone is better than your teacher. Well, to begin with, you were just leftover firewood… ”

I thought that at least if we created a one-on-one situation, we would have a chance of winning. Regulus, who had been confusing us the whole time with his unique evil, did not have powers that directly helped in battle, unlike other witches.

He would know his weaknesses better than anyone else. But why is he showing such composure? Bluffing? No. It’s more than that…

“You know what? You cheeky little thief.”

And the witch continued speaking kindly, as if she had seen into my mind and was offering to personally resolve my curiosity.

Regulus spun around as if dancing. The light seeping through the collapsed ground softly illuminated the fluttering hem of his one-piece dress.

“This underground is practically a cemetery. Countless people have buried their fleeting lives here. Ancient residents, expeditions to reclaim the land, bounty hunters targeting the devil, miners, criminals… ”

It was a voice that sang a melody. I tried not to listen to what he said. No matter how I looked at it, it was clearly a ploy to buy time.

But the feeling of discomfort still did not go away. My instincts were constantly sending me danger signals. My unconscious intuition was feeling something beyond the realm of perception.

Soon, the nerves that had been sensitively on edge catch something.

-Slurp, slurp.

A noise was felt from all sides of the apparently quiet underground cave.

The dirt floor beyond the darkness began to ripple and sway. Soon, arms and legs with their bones exposed began to sprout like plants.

“Ugh, uh… ”

“Ugh… Ah… ”

And then a legion of corpses, numbering in the thousands, appears.

In the underground cavern where the temperature was perfectly constant, they were almost exactly as they were when they were alive. However, there was no gun in their eyes and there was not a single bit of reason in the groans they let out.

-Less noise, less noise.

I opened my eyes wide when I found something. I saw corpses here and there that felt unusually vivid compared to the others. The identification code of this expedition team was engraved on their torn and dented uniforms.

When I saw them, I could tell that the situation outside wasn’t so good. Even though there were only some corpses, they had already reached here.

“I have to go home, I have to go home… ”

“My wife is waiting… My daughter… ”

“If you listen to my major… you will definitely be happy… ”

The vocal cords that had not yet decayed were spitting out the voices of those who had been alive. Of course, now they were just the echoes of an empty corpse.

It was a well-known fact. Their palms were engraved with rough particle-like shapes from their past memories, and the target was clearly me.

Human corpses, corpses of beasts big and small. Thousands of corpses, heaps of corpses, filled the space, swaying. Even the giant beast I had just killed was standing up and glaring at me again.

Before I knew it, I was alone in the middle of enemy territory.

“You… !”

“Phuh, puhahaha… !”

A cheerful laugh drowns out my voice. The witch, who had been laughing while holding her stomach, pretended to wipe away tears.

“Why? Were you expecting a fair fight? Huh? How stupid… That can’t be… !”

Amidst the chorus of swaying corpses, a full-blown mockery ensues.

“Blockade is the greatest power. However, what you can exert is a mere ten-thousandth of that power. As long as you don’t get in that distance, you won’t be affected.”

The witch stroked the giant demon next to her as if it were a beloved dog.

“And the time you can hold magic in your body is only a few minutes at most. You’re already dying, aren’t you? As a price for coveting power that doesn’t match your ability.”

A wicked smile soon appeared on his face, which had been silent for a moment.

“Can you really get through these corpses to me in those few minutes?”

I clenched my teeth until they bled. The witch had no intention of dealing with me. She simply planned to watch me silently until my strength gave out, and then eat the fruit that was left.

I quickly accelerated my thinking to figure out the best way out of the situation.

Escape? Impossible. The captain and his sisters are within one step of each other.

Should we waste time waiting for support? It’s impossible. Rather, as time passes, we will be at a disadvantage. My power has a limited time, and the individual power of the witches far exceeds that of those who are fighting them.

In the end, there was no way out from the beginning. Thinking that way makes me feel a little better.

It was something you had in mind anyway. Nothing will change.

There is no choice but to do it.

I raised my blade, grinning. The witch, with a smirk on her face, clenched her hands as if signaling.

“Let’s go see that fleeting dance?”

“Ugh, ugh… !”

“Kyaaak… !”

A roar that sounded like a ferocious beast rang loudly in my ears. Corpses crawling on all fours came out fiercely, closing the distance.

“… Phew.”

I stretched my other arm, the one holding the blade, into the air. A complex, multi-layered magic formula was instantly engraved on my palm.

The most powerful force I can exert right now. The 7th level of prediction.

The particles dissolved in the atmosphere entered my body through my palm. Soon, an uncontrollable force that could be mistaken for a sense of liberation swept through my muscle cells.

“Ugh… !”

And what follows is an excruciating pain that borders on torture. I clenched my teeth at the sensation of my skin being peeled off while I was still alive. My body, which had reached its limit, was stubbornly refusing to accept the grace of magic.

But it is something that cannot be helped.

“Kyaaak!!”

A corpse leaped up and aimed for my head. I raised my blade and stabbed it right in the middle of the forehead. Then I stepped on the back of the corpse and jumped into the middle of the waves.

The attention of those who had been focused on the front changed direction in an instant. I swung my blade horizontally without giving them time to react.

-Bang!

Originally, a radius of several dozen times the blade was swept away as if it had been hit by a tidal wave. Originally, the prediction was that it was a circulation magic that exerted great power in one-on-one combat. It explosively strengthens the body, but it does not have the power to sweep away an area like range magic. Now, it is only an imitation using condensed power.

Suddenly, a thought crosses my mind. If only Yeonmin or Yeoni had been there, I could have cleared this number in a matter of seconds.

… Was that also part of the witch’s conspiracy?

I squinted my eyes at the sight after the dust cleared. The corpses were crawling toward me, clawing at me, their heads blown off and their limbs severed.

They are already dead. It is impossible to neutralize them by hitting their heart or brain. The conclusion is… You have to take the time to cut them down one by one.

-Suddenly…

I clenched my teeth so hard they cracked, and swung my blade ceaselessly through the wave of corpses closing in on me.

There was no need to deal with all of them. Just clear away the ones blocking the way. If you kill the witch, she will naturally return to her original form.

But that said, there were so many of them to begin with. I had to cut through countless waves of corpses just to take a few more steps.

“Kyaak!!”

I blew away the jaws that were about to bite like an animal. Those who had lost their human dignity were using their entire bodies as weapons.

-Shhh!!

A spell aimed precisely at my head flew in from a distance, accompanied by the sound of the wind cutting through it. I rolled my body to avoid it, and immediately a heavy shape appeared above my head.

“Kyaaak!!”

The corpse of the demon with its face half-melted opened its tattered mouth toward me. I didn’t dodge, but instead raised my blade and cut the huge body in two.

-Koosh!

The half-cut figure fell to the side, motionless. My body was covered in rotten blood and pieces of flesh. The stench was so strong that my sense of smell had long since been numbed.

“Haa, haa… !”

The excruciating pain that was burning my body was gradually increasing in intensity. Am I already beyond my strength? How weak. Who would save whom at this rate?

“Kyaak!!”

“Wake up!!”

I shouted as if I was making a resolution and tore the body of the corpse that was rushing towards me into dozens of pieces. I looked around with my mind slightly clearer.

Before I knew it, I had broken through a part of the corpse curtain. The witch’s face, which had been faintly visible from a distance, became more clearly visible.

Even the unlucky smile engraved on that face.

-Wedge!!

-Bang!

And then a sharp attack, incomparable to the corpses just now, rushed in from the side. I instinctively stretched out my arm to block it before turning around.

And then I muttered blankly at the face of the ill-tempered man that appeared before my eyes.

“Short… Long… ?”

“… ”

Eyes made of flesh and rotten blood stare at me emotionlessly. No. This is not a stencil. It is just something that has been crudely modeled after him for a long time.

“I tried to make it by imitating the opponent. What do you think? Is it your taste?”

And the witch’s joyful voice echoes through the underground cavern again.

“The interpretation isn’t perfect yet… but it’s perfect for this kind of entertainment.”

“… !”

The fleshy lumps that resembled the captain had grown into five and were surrounding me from all sides.

The initial commotion had long since faded. What filled my mind was a cold, frozen anger.

And then, as if the chunks of flesh were swirling, they closed the distance at once. I first blew off the head of one of them. Then, the blade made of bone shards narrowly grazed my left wrist.

“This kind of thing… This kind of thing… ”

I turned around and cut off the limbs of the second mass of flesh. Then I cut off the waists of the two men rushing from behind in one go.

“This is… not a captain!!”

-Pfft!

I stepped on the heads of those who were struggling with only their upper bodies remaining and burst them like fruits. All that was left was a lump of flesh standing in front. For a while, even though it was crude, just looking at their faces made me feel pain like a flood.

-Wedge!

I cut the rushing guy into exactly ten pieces. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

“Haa, haa… !”

I felt nauseous and a chill spread through my body. I tried to ignore the signal and turned my head away.

Now there was nothing standing between me and the witch. For the first time, a slight wavering appeared in the two eyes looking at me.

“… Amazing.”

I didn’t respond any more and just kicked the seat. My slowly flowing vision narrowed the distance in an instant.

Now there was not a single step left. If I just stretched out my arm, I could crush that skull and tear off its limbs. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t the main body, did it? Anyway.

But the strange sense of discomfort from before enveloped my body again. What filled that clearly visible face was not fear or anger.

An arrogant, twisted smile that only winners are thought to have.

The blade gradually heads towards the pure white neckline. Although it is dull from being soaked in blood and oil, it can easily cut through a neck as if cutting through air.

And finally, I was about to swing my arm and poke that arrogant face.

The witch, who had been looking at me calmly, whispered with her lips slightly moved.

“It’s time to wake up from the dream.”

-Tankrang!!

In an instant, my vision flips over. The sound of the blade rolling on the floor rings loudly in my ears.

“… Cool.”

I spat out a clot of blood from my throat. The bloody tears that had been streaming down my eyes dripped down the edge of my mask and onto the floor.

Having lost my momentum, I collapsed on the spot. I couldn’t even feel a trace of the great power that had filled my body just a moment ago.

There was only one thought that filled my head: the time given to me was running out.

So… vain.