City of Witches

༺ God of War (1) ༻

1.

The flow of the fight was completely one-sided.

Using various skills and feints, the White Knight relentlessly pressured Siwoo.

Brandishing its lengthy spear that could be adjusted up to 3 m, the White Knight unleashed a barrage of one-sided attacks.

Whether it was thrusting towards his face or unexpected sweeps down his thighs, its attacks were relentless.

Unable to steal back the momentum, he could only barely parry the onslaught.

As his body moved, blood from his torn eyelids accumulated in his eyes.

-Clang, clang!

He felt as if he was losing his mind.

Each second, he had to deal with rapid, unrelenting strikes that could threaten his life.

They were both diverse and unpredictable.

To counter those unconventional assaults, he had to solely rely on his quick thinking and adaptability.

The battle was unlike any magical encounter he had experienced before. He felt his life force draining away.

“Haah!”

Siwoo shouted, blocking the incoming spearhead with his shield.

Simultaneously, the rotating shaft of the spear struck him in the abdomen.

The impact penetrated his armor, shaking his internal organs.

In that instant, the air in his lungs was forcefully dragged out, leaving him gasping for breath.

-Claang!

He exerted all his strength, forcefully pushing off the ground.

His legs felt heavy, as if they were shackled with lead, but he desperately dragged them forward.

Instead of engaging in a battle on an ever changing distance, he planned to provoke the White Knight into a close-quarter combat.

However, it didn’t respond the way he wanted it to.

Instead of countering his charge, it stepped back instead.

This created a gap between them again.

In a melee like this, the winner was usually decided on how well each fighter could manage the distance.

Throughout the fight, the distance between the two of them remained consistent.

The White Knight skillfully maintained a strategic distance where it could allow itself to continuously thrust its spear while preventing Siwoo from landing any effective hits.

Its barrage of attacks made him unable to use his ribbons.

Once again, the two knights, clad in White and Black respectively, clashed.

They stood, emitting golden and crimson auras, casting shadows that dispersed like wisps of smoke.

Time passed by, even their armors started to show signs of wear, with visible dents and scratches.

-Bang!

“Urk!”

This time, the White Knight’s underhand swing suddenly spun around.

It forcefully struck Siwoo’s chin guard.

A gurgling sound escaped his throat as he momentarily lost his consciousness.

Fortunately, the plate that connected his helmet and his body armor was strong enough to protect him from a fatal neck injury.

-Bang, bang, bang!

But that wasn’t the end of it, the White Knight proceeded to send consecutive blows at him, leaving him feeling disoriented.

The ground beneath them trembled.

His vision swayed, as if his eyes were submerged in water.

Struggling to control his breath, he panted heavily.

The White Knight’s attack only intensified, as it had gained complete control of the fight. It aimed to finish the fight.

-Bang!

After receiving three consecutive thrusts, Siwoo’s shield, once his steadfast companion, was sent flying.

With his torso wide open, he was an easy target for the White Knight.

The creature lowered its stance, putting some strength on its knees before aggressively thrusting its spear toward him.

Its target was Siwoo’s heart.

Siwoo didn’t have any time to recreate his shield.

And he wasn’t skilled enough to dodge this strike.

Now, the sensation of the reaper’s scythe hanging just inches away from his neck became hauntingly palpable.

In this dire moment, he gripped his sword tighter, following his instinct.

-Swish!

“Huh?”

‘What was that? How did that happen?’

The sharp spear, previously going on a direct path, suddenly changed its trajectory.

Its blade scraped against the side of his armor, tearing it apart, but it failed to penetrate his flesh.

Siwoo didn’t use excessive force.

What he had done was just adjusting his center of gravity slightly.

But he executed it both naturally and skillfully, leaving himself surprised.

Contrary to his initial surprise, his feet moved, but they didn’t make a single wasted movement.

When the White Knight failed to land the last strike, it was left with a huge opening.

Thus mark the first chance that Siwoo had ever get since the fight began, and he obviously wouldn’t just let it pass by

Gripping the spearhead that had grazed his waist, he held it firmly against his side.

The situation turned tense.

Without realizing it, he managed to close the seemingly unreachable gap between him and the White Knight.

-Bang!

Of course, the creature didn’t stay silent. It used its white shield, pushing it forward like an avalanche.

But a single shield bash wasn’t enough to bring Siwoo down.

To strike the creature’s neck, breaking a few bones would be an acceptable sacrifice.

He prepared himself for the impact as he aimed his tilted sword against the creature’s vulnerable spot.

The first one who gave in was the White Knight.

It desperately backed away, tilting its helmet backward, creating distance between the two.

Though the creature managed to widen the distance again, the tingling sensation from before lingered at Siwoo’s fingertips.

The strange feeling he felt when he deflected the White Knight’s decisive attack with such a minimal movement lingered through the sword in his hands.

‘Can I pull that move off again?’

“Haah…haah…”

He panted heavily.

The dance of the blade he entangled himself in made every hair on his body stand on their ends.

He felt an overwhelming urge to run away.

After all, he was merely an ordinary person. There was no reason for him to be drawn into such a life-or-death struggle.

“Ha…hahaha…”

Yet, laughter escaped his lips.

A laughter that consumed his breath in an inexplicable way.

‘Another shot…’

‘One more shot…it will work…’

An indomitable and dangerous impulse seized control of his being.

This time, he chose to not recreate his shield.

Instead, he gripped his longsword with both hands.

The effective counterattack he had launched earlier heightened the White Knight’s vigilance.

It refrained from doing any more impulsive charges and instead adopting a defensive stance, keeping its spear extended to its utmost length while observing Siwoo warily.

-Wooosh!

In the midst of this, a peculiar sound echoed as two strands of ribbons twisted in the air.

Finally, Siwoo found the chance to utilize these ribbons.

The White Knight’s failure to seal away the ribbons was a clear mistake.

-Bang!

The two strands of ribbon, propelling themselves forward, swiftly grazed past the creature’s flanks.

At a glance, it seemed like they missed their mark, but the truth couldn’t be any further than that.

“Haah!”

What Siwoo was aiming for was to embed the ribbons’ ends into the rooftop.

Then, using the ribbons, he propelled himself forward, giving him the speed that surpassed even that of his shadow wings.

As he dashed forward, the White Knight prepared itself for a counterattack, as if the increase in speed didn’t even faze it.

It aimed for his chest, as the gap between them started to close.

By using an overhead stance, it aimed to deliver a strike that Siwoo couldn’t avoid.

Meanwhile, Siwoo was aiming for a piercing strike towards the White Knight’s shoulder.

A powerful strike that was faster than the creature’s incoming counterattack.

-Wooosh!

Their shadows crossed and Siwoo tumbled on the rooftop.

Unable to withstand the force of the powerful strike, he ended up rolling through the air.

He swiftly did a somersault before landing on the ground, then he turned to look behind.

What came into his view was the crumbling figure of the White Knight.

-Thud!

The spear that was aimed at his heart was cleaved in two along with its thick armor.

That sturdy looking armor was split into two, even now he still felt a tingling vibration in his hand, the aftereffect of his feat.

“…I did it!”

Siwoo exclaimed.

Once again, he escaped the jaws of death.

A rush of adrenaline, powerful enough to temporarily numb his brain, continued to flow through his veins, keeping his mind alert even though the fight had ended.

He sat down on the ground, trying to catch his breath for a moment.

In his mind, the scene of the final blow he gave to the White Knight was being replied in his mind. But, due to the event happening so quickly, he was barely able to digest it as the memory itself was blurry.

The whole thing left him with a strange feeling.

His sword and fingertips felt as if they were becoming one.

If there was a huge rock nearby, he was certain that he could cleave it into two by using that powerful strike.

He still didn’t know how he even managed to pull off such an incredible move, though.

“I’ve never even peeled fruits properly before…”

Then again, considering that he had been dealing with witches, magic, and man-eating monsters, this weird state still felt rather normal.

After finishing his quick rest, he proceeded to do what he came here for. He stood up from where he was sitting.

At the moment, he was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Steadying his wobbly knees, he swiftly sliced through the flute on the altar with his sword.

-Shrieeek!

A haunting scream filled the ear, as the ritual concluded.

That shriek sounded like the last breath of a deep-sea monster.

The suffocating atmosphere that was surrounding the building like a swirling whirlpool dissipated.

When he felt oppressive mana disappeared, Siwoo finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew…”

Now that the intense battle had concluded, the realization of what had just happened finally hit him again.

How innocent lives were cruelly taken by those merciless monsters.

In all honesty, he didn’t see himself as some noble hero.

So naturally, he didn’t go on a full monologue like some manga protagonist, going ‘If only I was stronger!’ while lamenting the deaths of the strangers whose names he didn’t even know.

But a bitter taste still lingered in his dry mouth, accompanied by resentment towards the witch who caused all this tragedy.

The horrifying images he had witnessed played back in his mind.

He vigorously shook his head, trying to dispel all the unsettling thoughts.

“Anyway, I need to get outta here.”

Since he had already done what he needed to do, it was time to go back.

He didn’t want the witches who’d be coming over to find him, and above all, he was completely exhausted.

Under his armor, his clothes were drenched with cold sweat, and his body involuntarily shivered.

-Clank, clank, clank!

He was calculating coordinates for a Dimension Shift to his apartment, when it happened.

Three White Knights crawling up the outer wall.

All three of them looked completely identical, as if they had been mass-produced in a factory. The scene created a sense of déjà vu.

It reminded him of the black dogs that came out of the deformed Mother Dog Homunculus he had encountered before.

“Fuck, this is just too much.”

‘I barely managed to deal with one of them and now there are three?’

‘No way in hell I’m doing this.’

Just when Siwoo had decided to put in all his effort to escape.

A bright white lightning bolt struck.

-Booom!

To be more precise, it wasn’t a lightning bolt.

But a lightning-speed strike filled with power.

It was a menacing blow that seemed to test the laws of physics, accompanied by a flash and a thunderous sound.

One of the White Knights, the same being that took him all his strength to kill, was sliced into two, just like a chicken on a chopping block.

Caught off guard by the intense strike, he belatedly glimpsed the silhouette of the witch who had executed that strike.

Amidst the pure white lightning.

There was a pink hue, radiating softly.

Though he concentrated his eyes at the bright light to the point where his eyes felt like they were about to pop out, that was the only thing he could discern.

The witch’s movements were incredibly swift.

Meanwhile, the White Knights were a little too late to react to the situation, they had only just aimed their spears at the newly appeared witch.

-Boom, booom!

But…

All their resistance was futile.

The unpredictable thrusts of their spears that Siwoo struggled to parry, were neatly deflected by the witch.

After a dazzling flash, one of the White Knights’ armor crumpled like a squashed can.

The remaining knight also met a gruesome end, with its limbs severed and its head ripped off.

Only after the witch concluded her destructive spree and stayed still did Siwoo finally take a good look at her.

Amidst the flying fragments of armors, she stood.

Her pink hair and magenta-colored eyes were something that you wouldn’t normally see in real life.

There was a mysterious aura coming from her face, her straight and thin eyebrows made it as if cherry blossoms decorated her forehead.

In one of her hands, there was a sword, in her other hand, she was gripping a distorted helmet that had turned into a knuckleball.

Since she was a witch, it went without saying that she had a captivating beauty.

But, despite her appearance, the aura that was emanating from her was more warrior-like rather than witch-like.

Lingering traces of mana, resembling that of tiger stripes rippled from her shoulders.

It made Siwoo wonder how such a power could come from a person.

Her magenta eyes darted, piercing through Siwoo.

Simultaneously, a shiver ran down his spine.

Her piercing gaze was filled with anger and hatred, triggering the sense of danger within him.

She had killed the White Knights, so Siwoo thought that they were on the same side, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

He hurriedly readied himself for battle.

Whether he could survive or not, it didn’t matter at this point.

‘Fuck, I can’t just give her my life without resisting.’

He pulled out a ribbon from his Maiden’s Loom, created a shield to cover his torso, all while looking for an opportunity to counterattack with his sword.

“I came to keep my promise.”

A cute voice, completely mismatched her solemn tone, spread like a chilling breath.

‘Promise?’

But he had no time to ponder the significance of her words.

As she said that, bluish veins appeared on the back of her small hand that was gripping her sword.

‘She’s coming.’

Siwoo lowered his body, focusing all his attention so that he wouldn’t miss a single movement from the witch.

He could sense her every breath, hear her heartbeat, even feel the flow of her blood that was running through her vein.

The witch kicked the ground.

And vanished completely from his sight.

‘Fuck!’

Realizing what was about to happen, he instinctively used his shield to protect his heart, neck, and head.

He curled up like a turtle, trying to defend himself by pushing the shadow’s density to its limit.

-Baaang!

“Ugh!”

He received the impact, and he could sense that his spine had fractured into pieces.

It was as if he was being pummeled by a sledgehammer, the pain made him struggle for air.

Blood sprayed from his mouth, creating a misty spray that seeped through the gaps in his helmet.

This kind of impact didn’t come from a sword.

In fact, the witch hadn’t even swung her sword.

She simply stepped forward and thrusted her small fist into Siwoo’s stomach.

With that alone, she managed to pierce through his shield and his armor as well.

He could feel it.

The pain that resulted from his ribs that were pulverized.

Maybe his liver had exploded as well.

If she had aimed at his heart, he would definitely have died.

“You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”

As if being drawn into a dark tunnel, everything dissolved into darkness. In Siwoo’s fading vision, the witch’s face appeared. A triumphant smile decorated her face.