Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Witch (3)

When Spanichi drove his spear into the ground, the mud clutching at their ankles crumbled away, and the mist cleared.

Thanks to that, they could see the surrounding landscape—the shattered buildings, the half-sunken stone pillars.

The traces of a ruined city.

Amid those traces, the only thing still standing in its original form was the Tower, standing there all alone.

'Is that where the Witch lives? It was this close… Was I going in circles?'

Anagin gazed at the not-so-distant Tower and reconsidered his thoughts on magic.

Back when the Witch's disciple first pulled her strange tricks, he'd figured it was just an amusing little sleight of hand. But after wandering through the mist, his opinion had shifted a bit.

Not amusing—depending on the situation, it could be a real pain in the ass.

After all, they'd worn themselves out wandering in circles when the Tower was right there.

That naturally turned his attention to Spanichi.

He was curious about the spear he'd just driven down—what exactly it was, to have dispelled the magic in one blow.

"Hahk…!"

Spanichi, who had planted his spear in the ground, held that pose for a moment before suddenly letting out a breath and tilting sideways.

Tap.

Anagin caught the arm of the collapsing Spanichi.

"What was that just now?"

"…A divine weapon."

"A divine weapon?"

"A weapon of God. It was bestowed upon our Dolos family by God."

Oh… Anagin looked at the white spear with interest.

He'd thought it was an unusual thing, white as bone, but to think it was actually something God had given. That was a bit intriguing.

Seeing Anagin's admiration, Spanichi—perhaps pleased—explained the spear despite his exhaustion.

"All divine weapons possess unique powers. Our Dolos spear has the ability to amplify Gi. Would you like to touch it?"

No reason to refuse, so Anagin touched the divine weapon.

And what do you know?

The moment it touched his hand, he felt a discomfort that was hard to put into words.

"Uh… So instead of nullifying magic?"

Anagin asked as he immediately handed the divine weapon back.

Spanichi found it odd but answered anyway.

"? Yes, there's no need for a function like that. If you can properly wield Gi, you can shatter magic with it, can't you?"

Apparently, if you struck with Gi of a certain level, you could nullify magic as well.

Anagin cursed his Master, far away. No, seriously, what kind of person was he, not even teaching something like that? No, wait—had he taught it?

'There's a chance I just wasn't listening properly. Or maybe I forgot… Even so, he should have made sure I understood!'

Rather than reflecting on his own past attitude, Anagin decided to just resent his Master. It was easier that way, and the man deserved it anyway.

Anagin looked at Spanichi and asked.

"But why are you so wobbly?"

"Because I used too much Gi at once. I didn't think half-measures would work, so I poured everything into it."

Spanichi explained why he was wobbling.

He had expended all his Gi to dispel the magic. It seemed the efficiency wasn't very good.

"Hmm… Want me to sit you down somewhere?"

Since he'd received help, Anagin showed some consideration.

Spanichi refused.

"No, I don't intend to collapse over something like this. Right now—"

Despite his valiant words, Spanichi let out an "Urgh" and staggered. His stamina seemed weaker than expected.

Anagin seated Spanichi somewhere suitable, then examined the Tower.

The Witch's dwelling, standing there all alone…

The Tower was stained with rust from the ravages of time, and it leaned slightly, looking terribly precarious.

Yet strangely, it didn't look like an easy target.

It felt like a trap set by a seasoned hunter.

"Do you think the inside of the Tower has magic like this too?"

Anagin asked Robe Girl.

If they'd prepared mist and moving mud around the Tower, surely they wouldn't have done nothing inside.

His guess was right.

"Probably? The Tower looks tiny, but it's huge inside. The Witch can even change the shape of the space if she wants. So if she wanted to, she could prepare traps. Even more dangerous ones than before."

"You can do that kind of thing?"

Anagin was more surprised by the fact that the Tower was bigger inside than it looked than by the traps.

At the same time, he thought of his old home. The house he'd burned before leaving.

Back then, Anagin had found living in a cramped house uncomfortable and suggested to his father that they have the villagers expand it.

'Hey, Father. Mother. Let's make our house bigger.'

'What nonsense are you spouting, you brat.'

'The house is too small. Tell the villagers to make it bigger.'

'This is enough. That's not something you just do.'

'I'm protecting the village, so you should at least do that much.'

'I said stop talking!'

He'd eventually given up after his father's roar…

What a shame. If only he'd known magic like this.

Robe Girl, who had been lost in thought, explained to Anagin.

"It's not easy magic, big brother. Tampering with space is difficult. The skill is one thing, but it also requires a lot of Yeom. It's only possible here because there's so much Yeom… Where are you going while I'm explaining?"

Robe Girl, who had been explaining magic like a fish in water, asked Anagin, who was walking toward a massive stone pillar.

Anagin took the Stretching Rope from the subspace bag at his waist, grabbed both ends, and pulled.

Wooooood—

The Stretching Rope, with its strong tension, stretched with an ominous sound. Once it had stretched somewhat, Anagin began pulling the rope short again.

Wooooood—

Several times over.

The short, forearm-length rope grew long enough to tie around the massive stone pillar.

Yeah, the stone pillar.

Whoosh…! Whoosh…! Tap—!! Whoosh…! Whoosh…! Tap—!!

Anagin skillfully manipulated the elongated rope and bound the stone pillar tight.

"Come on… No way…"

Robe Girl, seeing this, denied it despite anticipating it, and Spanichi also watched with disbelieving eyes.

Thinking, 'Come on… No way… Surely not…'

However, their expectations were not wrong.

Anagin gripped both ends of the multiply-wrapped rope tightly, put his strength into it, and hurled the stone pillar straight at the Tower.

"Heave-ho!"

---

"Heh heh heh…"

The Witch, observing the intruders through her crystal ball, let out a laugh.

She'd sent zombies to harass them appropriately, and the fools thought they were doing well, entering this place without any hesitation. And before long, they'd fallen into the trap she'd laid.

Their eyes blinded by the dense mist, their stamina slowly drained by the clinging ground.

When the Witch moved the mist, they gradually lost their sense of direction and began circling in place. Just like the other invaders who had entered this place over the years.

Soon after, they realized something was wrong.

That was when the Witch decided to drive in the final nail.

She activated magic through the totem beneath the swamp. She moved the mud to drag them directly underground and finish them off.

Casting magic over the entire vast expanse of land wasn't easy, even for the Witch, but it was a different story when she used the nature of this land, steeped in the Yeom of countless people.

When she activated the magic using the lingering thoughts of those who had died here, the clinging ground soon took on human form and seized the intruders.

The whelp from the Dolos family, the one who'd defeated the Monster Merchant, and the crazy bitch who wanted to explore the world in a monster's body—all of them had their ankles caught.

They struggled to break free, but it was useless.

The Yeom settled in this land was old, and therefore tenacious.

No matter how much they resisted, it would only pause for a moment before recovering immediately.

Look at that!

The one who'd defeated the Monster Merchant was pounding away at the mud, and then he gave up, didn't he?

He must have realized it was useless and fallen into despair.

The Witch smiled, fluttering her wing-arms.

She was pleased that things were going far better than expected. If they were captured just like this, she couldn't ask for more.

No matter how much of a Giant he was, he was still human in the end. If he sank into the swamp and couldn't breathe, he would die eventually.

Then she just needed to pull him out quickly, wash him off, and stew him thoroughly.

Not just those two Ascetics, but that harpy too.

'This turned out for the best!'

The phrase "a blessing in disguise" came to the Witch's mind.

It meant good fortune that appeared as misfortune. When that harpy had first run away, she'd thought it was a misfortune.

A powerful monster, but one who couldn't even fight because of the magic she'd cast on herself—the Witch had kept her around just in case, only watching her, and then she'd fled. After reading only the books the Witch had painstakingly collected.

Missing an opportunity, getting stabbed in the back. For a greedy Harpy, it was an unbearable humiliation.

But now she saw it wasn't. That harpy had brought delicious prey and fallen into the trap herself.

She'd said she'd placed a constraint on herself—unable to fight because she maintained a human form. It seemed that was true.

Judging by how she couldn't even resist a trap of that level.

Now all she had to do was stew and eat them.

A pure monster born from 'her' would surely be able to reverse her aging!

"I can't help it… I was going to save you for later! Just wait a moment!!"

Spanichi's voice rang out loudly from the crystal ball.

At the same time, he whipped the spear off his back and imbued it with Gi.

"A divine weapon?!"

The Witch cried out, sensing the ominous energy.

And her expectations were not wrong.

When Spanichi imbued the spear with Gi, it explosively amplified and shattered the magic with brute force.

"You crude—!"

The Witch, having lost the fish she'd already caught, spat curses.

But she quickly calmed herself.

Though the magic she'd cast outside the Tower had been destroyed, the magic on the Tower itself was still intact.

So it was still fine. The real trap began once they entered the Tower.

Magic that couldn't even be compared to the outside was tangled like a spider's web, waiting for the intruders.

Thinking that, she felt much better.

Look at that—Spanichi, having overexerted himself using the divine weapon, was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. He wouldn't be able to use the divine weapon anymore, so it was actually a relief.

'No, wait. That one's a Giant too, so he might be able to use it… Well, even so, once or twice would be his limit… Yeah, I can hold out.'

The Witch, having finished her calculations, was certain.

The magic she'd cast on the Tower over the years could withstand something like what had just happened.

Yes, there was no problem at all.

She just needed to lure them inside the Tower and capture them with countless trap magics and illusion magics, then eat them.

"Huh…?"

The Witch made a sound as she watched Anagin heading somewhere instead of entering the Tower.

Was he actually going to run away after coming all this way?

Fortunately, he wasn't running.

He stood before a massive shattered stone pillar and took a rope from his subspace bag.

Seeing the rope stretch, it seemed to be a magic tool. But that wasn't the important part.

For some reason, he kept stretching the rope in silence, and then he began tying it around the stone pillar.

[Whoosh…! Whoosh…! Tap—!! Whoosh…! Whoosh…! Tap—!!]

Once the rope was tied, he gripped both ends tightly and turned his body.

"No way…"

The Witch muttered unconsciously.

Ironically, the one who'd set the trap and the one who'd fallen into it showed the same reaction at the same time.

Drrrrrr…… Bang!!

The stone pillar, which had been making an ominous sound, was ripped from the ground and flew through the air with a great noise.

Anagin had actually pulled out the stone pillar and thrown it.

"Master!!"

Below the Tower, one of the disciples who'd been watching the situation threw the door open and ran in.

He'd come to ask what they should do.

But instead of an answer, he was met with his Master trying to escape through the window alone.

…This fucking bitch was trying to escape through the window by herself!

"You son of a—!"

Kururururung!!

Before the Witch's disciple could even finish his sentence, the stone pillar collided with the Tower and it collapsed. Just like that, it buried the disciple's last words.

---

"Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!"

The Witch, who had barely escaped just before the Tower was destroyed by the stone pillar, flew high into the sky, spitting curses.

Fluttering her wing-arms, she could fly high into the sky.

She was a Harpy, able to fly through the skies from the start.

But perhaps because she'd aged, she was already out of breath.

The bracelets around her wing-arms also clattered annoyingly.

But that wasn't the important thing right now.

The important thing was that the domain she'd cultivated over a long time had crumbled in an instant. And by a crude brute who threw rocks, no less.

How could a human…

The Witch scanned for the culprit while looking at the collapsing Tower.

Swiish—!

As she turned her head this way and that, a club came flying at her head. Very fast.

With astonishing reflexes, the Witch twisted her head and barely dodged the direct hit, but it grazed her and blood trickled from her forehead.

As the staggering Witch regained her balance, she locked eyes with Anagin in the distance.

He said, sounding disappointed.

"So close…"