Chapter 267 – #60_Drainage Tunnel(3)
#265
One.
Elroa glared at the enemy knight with her sword raised.
The red knight also confronts Elroa while holding a red branch and letting out an ominous smile.
The red knight who had thirty eyes was given forty eyes by the cowardly witch.
The number was the same as that of the homunculus, which is considered to be the most powerful in history and brought about the greatest disaster.
The monster, nicknamed ‘Jormungand’ because it took the form of a giant snake, ate three kingdoms, eight cities, countless villages, and 78 witches before being killed by Duke Keter.
It was the time when the system of Gehenna had just been established.
Considering that the average rank of witches at that time was 15, it may not have been so shocking that 78 witches were killed.
Even so, it was not a reason to underestimate the strength of Jormungand and the red knight who had the same eyes as him.
Of course, just as the height of a hierarchy is not a measure of absolute combat power, the number of eyes is not an absolute indicator of a homunculus’ strength.
However, the red knight is a warrior who has accumulated experience over a long period of time by killing many witches.
It wasn’t because of carelessness that Eloah couldn’t kill the red knight even though he fought 7 times and won 7 times.
It was because the red knight was a skilled person who could share spears and swords with Elroa, leaving enough energy to spare himself.
“…… “
“…… “
Elloa calmly confronted the enemy knight and evaluated each other’s strength.
The enemy knight first.
The power of a homunculus obviously differs depending on what it holds inside.
For example, even an insignificant homunculus can become a formidable enemy if the ‘Egg of Gnosis’ is loaded with tricky magnetism magic.
In that sense, the red knight holding the extremely difficult formality of ‘red branch’ was a formidable enemy in itself.
A spear that twists ideology and reason.
A distortion field that impairs all kinds of magic and spiritual body functions.
A red barrier that manipulates the reality of objects in contact.
It has a wider range of applications than most combat-type witches, and uses magic that is difficult to deal with.
This is a factor in not being able to completely subdue the enemy knights even though Elroa had an overwhelming power difference in the past.
Moreover, the spear of the red knight reunited after a long time had something different.
The unusual red energy flowing through the spearhead is different from the previous battle.
Should I say that it is richer, or should I say that I have a deeper sense of incongruity?
The cowardly witch not only strengthened the red knight, but also upgraded the performance of the red branch itself.
Meanwhile, Eloah.
She had already taken care of the white knight, and in the process of getting here, she consumed 30% of her magic power.
One of her 12 contracts is the ‘Guardian’s contract’ to protect Siu, and she can only deal with 11 contracts.
If it had been before, there wouldn’t have been a big problem.
But can he win against the enemy knight he faced again in the best condition?
Eloa, who had faced numerous feats and homunculus, felt a sense of crisis for the first time in a long time.
She said, “Stay back. Prepare to run away.”
He pushed Siu behind her and aimed her contract sword at an angle forward.
“Contract.”
Activated two of the three remaining contracts.
The Red Knight is probably the best move the Cowardly Witch has.
It’s not an opponent that you can afford to fight against, but if you use up all your strength here, then you really have no backing.
Contract 9, newly establish the concept of the body.
In order to minimize the effects of the distortion, the existence of Eloa is re-established over the world.
As a result, the fear of being caught up in the barrier and distorting or disturbing the existence is gone.
Consumes half of the contract heat and remaining magic power and replaces it with power.
The power of the cowardly witch isn’t limited to being a red knight.
There are still about 600 white knights left, and although their fighting power is not high, there is also a cowardly witch herself.
If he devoted more magic power than this, even if he won a battle against an enemy knight, it would be futile.
11 of the 12 letters engraved on the side of the contract sword glowed, scattering heavy waves of magical energy around.
-Clap!
The first to move was the red knight.
As he threw the corpse of the witch holding her hair to the side of her, he stepped forward with a sliding step and stabbed her with a spear.
At first glance, that movement seemed less powerful than that of the white knight.
The sound itself cutting through the air is not loud, and the power contained in it seems insignificant.
But that’s just an illusion.
Just like a deep river flowing quietly, concentrated power does not show off loudly, but in reality it moves several times faster and with stronger power.
The tip of the spear rushed through the quarantine and was aiming for the heart.
“Haap!”
Elroa’s body rotated halfway and hit the tip of her spear.
No, she was trying to strike more accurately.
However, an unexpected attraction occurs, and the tip of the spear blade and the side of the sword come into close contact.
Power was lacking.
The power of the red knight has become much stronger than before.
– Crackle! Close by!
Eloah was not taken aback by her unexpected results and immediately started sword wrestling.
She was so natural that it seemed as if she had been aiming for it from the start.
‘Binding’, which blocks an attack by facing and pulling the opponent’s weapon against each other.
‘Winding’, aiming at the opponent’s empty spot and returning the weapon to subdue it.
Broadly speaking, sword wrestling, which consists of these two concepts, is literally different from wrestling.
Sensitively notices the change in pressure and force transmitted from the weapon in contact and predicts movement and rhythm.
It was also a fierce numerical battle in which I adjusted the speed and strength to knock out the enemy’s weapon, and let my weapon inflict fatal wounds on the enemy.
– Crack! Close by! Mow!
Along with the sound of cracking hard walnuts, the red spear blade and the white blade constantly twist and intersect.
Like two dragons twisting their bodies in a fight, the sword and spear spewed violent sparks of magical energy whenever they collided.
Neither of them backed down at all.
In terms of sheer strength alone, the enemy knights outperformed Eloa, but the gap in her skill gave Eloa the upper hand.
– Crack! Close by!
The sword and spear that had been entangled in the air for several seconds fell without falling for a moment.
It was Eloah who first resolved this stalemate.
She shook off the enemy knight with a rough sword that could only be said to be forced.
The spear that was swung in an arc in succession and the sword that was cut in an arc from the other side collided.
A shock wave that is incomparable to that of simply wrestling reverberates through Elroa’s bangs.
-Quaaaaang!
“Kuk!”
Elroa let out her troubled groan.
Even if there was a difference in power, the difference in skills was still significant.
Originally, the plan was to subdue the tip of the enemy knight’s spear with a spiraling sword strike and pierce her heart.
However, it is the ‘red eggplant’ that created the variable here.
– Kwaaang!
Eloah, who once again faced the swinging spear, felt her stomach twist.
She did not allow direct aggression.
It wasn’t even that the impact was so intense that she couldn’t stand it.
Just the power of distortion concentrated in that red spear.
The shock wave of the distortion shook Elroa’s insides every time she hit her weapon.
It was for the same reason that Elroa, who was confident in close combat and sword-dressing, avoided ultra-close combat first.
Elroa swallowed her saliva and swung her sword over and over again.
Every time it happens, a shock wave spreads all over her body from the tip of her sword to the tip of her toes.
As if the cochlea were out of order, the sense of balance was broken, and the field of vision shook as if submerged in water.
Her breathing, which should have been steady, became entangled and even her heart began to beat erratically.
At first she was just nauseous, but as her engagements grew longer, she slowly shifted her senses into the realm of pain.
– Whoa!
A spear aimed at her head and swung wide horizontally.
Eloah avoided it by bending her back.
The moment the spear blade passed over her head, a red barrier formed as if drawing the trajectory of her spear and rained down on Elroa.
Elroa, with her center of gravity already collapsed, twisted her body desperately to avoid it.
Despite her efforts, her body was shattered from the inside by the barrier that passed her shoulder, and the pain pierced her brain.
“Town….!”
Eloah endured the pain that seemed to turn her head gray as she barely kicked her seat.
She examines her wounds from a distance.
“Ha… Ha….!”
Her wound itself was very shallow.
I thought her whole arm had been ripped off, but her wound itself is the level of a graze on a tree branch.
However, this short search battle was enough to urge Elroa to her alertness.
She strengthened it with several contracts, and even established her existence so that she would not be played by the distortion.
Right now, Elroa’s body had durability close to that of a walking fortress both magically and physically.
She was injured in the barrier, which was treated as a by-product of her spiritual body.
Come to think of it, she was strange from being overly affected by the distortion field.
Even after the previous collision, she clearly felt the distortion field, but at that time she was only dizzy from seasickness.
It means that she was not at the level where she could no longer touch swords and had to be shaken off like she is now.
“Whoa….”
The reunited red knight was far more difficult than expected.
All of Eloa’s magic and attacks are specialized in close combat.
That’s why the red branch, which shouldered a huge burden just by sharing her days, was not compatible.
Eloa caught her heart trying to shake with her deep breath.
Her mind, which caused ripples with her agitation, suddenly becomes clear like the index of Myungkyung.
Nothing will change just because she is agitated anyway.
She’s just assessing the situation and using her best judgment.
Inevitably, she has to use more of her feet to minimize arm contact with each other.
Let’s not insist on holding her place, push when she pushes, and dig in when she tries to pull.
Should I spend another contract?
Would it be the right decision to pour all her remaining magical energy into dealing with the enemy knight?
Even though the red knight had a clear initiative, he did not push Elroa and retreated.
Instead, he stands in her place, raises his spear, and starts screaming at her.
“D—-D——Drivat—-!”
Eloa couldn’t help but be astonished in another way.
It was because a sound similar to human language came from within the dark space under the scarlet helmet.
A homunculus that has lived for a long time gradually has a clearer self.
However, it is unheard of to use language with meaning and system rather than simple cries.
“Drivat—- Lajak—-!!”
An incomprehensible language with muffled sounds.
No, is it more like a song?
A bright red barrier stretched from the red branches with a loud sound like scraping steel.
At first, I thought it was an attack and tried to respond, but the barriers were embedded in various places as if they were rooting over Elroa’s shoulder.
“This… !”
Eloa looked around her.
Space is distorted.
Reality is being eroded.
No matter how many tunnels are gathered, the area is limited as it is an underground space.
However, now it has changed to an enormous extent, as if looking at an image refracted through a lens.
What’s even more bizarre is that we can’t observe the process of change at all.
As if it had been this place from the beginning, it had changed when I came to my senses.
Elroa looked around at the rainwater tunnel, which had become wider and taller than a domed soccer field.
“——-Yatholot!”
The moment the red knight hits the ground with the tip of his spear.
The barriers that stretched to every corner disappeared all at once.
Silence arose.
“Siw… “
Sudden silence always accompanies an ominous future.
Elroa looked back at Siu, who was preparing for her escape with a mobile coordinate system.
It was to get him to run away first.
But Siwoo was not there.
Considering that there was no sign of magic being used, he probably didn’t run away first.
Another abnormality was caught in the eyes of Eloah, who was flustered.
Her white knights, whom she had so far taken down.
Things that had already become rubble and rolled on the ground began to be assembled as if regenerating in reverse.
– ぅ… Kkeuk…ぅ ぅ… !
The red knight laughed again with an unpleasant sound.
The ability of the red branch is ‘Distortion’.
The courtesy of reverse heaven, twisting even the established past and going against the mandate of Heaven and the laws of Heaven.
The red branch, which the cowardly witch sacrificed thousands of humans and five witches to reach its full potential, reached the point of reviving the cloned homunculus.
The phenomena transcending causality and providence restored all the homunculus that had already been destroyed.
Hundreds of white knights poured out of the aisle with almost no time difference.
Clack clap clap clap clap clap clap.
Clack clap clap clap clap clap clap.
Clack clap clap clap clap clap clap.
Clack clap clap clap clap clap clap.
Clack clap clap clap clap clap clap.
The sound of boots and weapons clashing filled the wide space at a steady beat.
With a deafening noise, almost all of Xochitl’s white knights gathered together.
Only to hunt Eloa Tiphareth.
======
Fan art provided by Quemong… !
It is Duke Tiphareth who is saddened by calling Raffi!
You can also check it out at Quemong Painting Studio!
