City of Witches

༺ The Darkness that Cfrom the East (7) ༻

1.

Siwoo ran toward the nearest White Knight without hesitation.

Just because he covered his body with thick armor and protected his heart with a thick shield didn’t mean his fear would disappear.

The enemies he had to face were both numerous and strong.

Even if Eloa was close by, watching him, he could still lose his life if he were careless.

If anything, jumping in without the fear of death would be foolish of him.

He had been studying.

About the importance of military strategy that Eloa kept on emphasizing during their spar.

Preemption, simultaneous attack, and follow-up.

In battle one must always have the initiative.

Never give one’s opponent the chance to take that initiative and never be swayed by one’s opponent’s movements.

To achieve victory just by controlling the situation well was more than possible for anyone.

This was preemption.

But one couldn’t always keep the initiative during a battle.

Unless the enemy was a scarecrow, they’d definitely unleash a counterattack, trying to seize the initiative.

During that time, if one were to back down, they’d definitely lose the initiative completely and succumb to their opponent.

To prevent the enemy from turning over the tide by not giving them a chance to attack.

This was simultaneous attack.

But there would be times when one had to let their enemy attack them for one reason or another.

In this case, one shouldn’t stay idle and just take that attack. They had to prepare for a follow up attack as well.

This was follow-up.

From that, it was clear that those three logic and strategies had something in common.

To seize the initiative. For that, one should not falter or shrink due to fear.

That was why Siwoo rushed toward where the Knights were at and ended up being surrounded by five of them at once.

Contrary to its appearance, his armor allowed him to move swiftly. Due to its weight, more than 200 kg, just a simple leap could already cause the ground to be crushed under it.

-Woooosh!

As he was running toward them, a spear cto greet him.

In a split second, it suddenly bent in a strange way.

It was clear that the spear aimed toward the lower part of his stomach, but it suddenly changed its trajectory mid-air and went for his heart.

-Clang!

But, he easily blocked the attack.

He pinned the spear down with his sword so that the knight couldn’t do any follow-up attack with it before slapping it away with his shield.

Even though he managed to perform the subsequent movements smoothly, as smooth as flowing water, he was actually surprised by the outcome.

There were two reasons for that.

One was because he didn’t expect to produce such speed and exert such power.

The other reason was because he didn’t expect that he could neutralize the enemy’s vicious attack with only his sword.

However, that was that, this was this. Those two reasons didn’t mean that he should stay idle.

He relaxed the tension in his body.

The unnecessarily tense muscle in his body calmed down as he planted his feet firmly on the ground.

Don’t use your arms to swing your sword, use your legs and waist.

Your arms are only for just holding your sword, nothing more, nothing less.

Don’t focus on them.

“Haaap!”

Taking a small breath, strength cinto his relaxed body.

Every muscle in his body moved to bring forth all his strength.

As long as one’s sword could contain the power stored in one’s body, its blade could cleave through even the tallest mountain.

At this moment, the White Knight already recovered from Siwoo’s attack and almost immediately, it took another shot toward his head.

This was something he had experienced before.

A strike using the spearhead, a move that aimed to keep him at a distance from the Knight.

Right before the tip of the spear, rotating like a windmill, hit his head…

Siwoo’s blow connected first.

-Clang!

Drawing an arc from the Knight’s right shoulder to its left waist.

The longsword cut the White Knight’s body in two.

Its trajectory looked so clean and the way the sword bent made it look like it was melting in the air.

The sensation lingered in his fingertips.

As soon as he finished his swing, Siwoo quickly tilted his head backward.

Because the spear had slipped out of the White Knight’s hand, grazing his helmet and soon enough, flew forward and smashed the nearby parked car.

I did it!

With that, he managed to turn a five-to-one battle into a four-to-one.

Compared to back when he struggled against one of these things, this was a massive improvement as he didn’t even receive a scratch in the fight.

This situation left him dumbstruck for a moment.

“Don’t get distracted. It’s not over yet.”

“Whoops!”

At Eloa’s sharp reminder…

Siwoo leaped and spun his body in the air.

-Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Immediately after that, four spears were sharply driven into the ground where he was standing.

Following the law of physics, force was directly proportional to mass and speed.

Similar to how Siwoo applied earth elements into his shadow armor to add to its mass and increase its strength…

The spears that the White Knights held seemed to be applied with something since their weight were way too heavy to be considered an ordinary cold weapon.

They pulled out their spears that were deeply embedded into the ground, breaking the asphalt in the process, before lining up and aiming them toward Siwoo.

Now that he was about to face four of them at once, the pressure he felt was on a different level than when he only faced one.

Cold sweat ran down his back as he observed his enemy.

Can I win?

Against those four, do I even have a chance?

Self-doubt enveloped his heart.

It wasn’t like he had never experienced one-against-many situations.

There was that one twhen he had to face up against fifty black dogs charging at him at once back at the department store.

But, those dogs were mindless creatures, unlike the enemies in front of him.

Considering that, it wasn’t strange that he was having doubts.

He took out four strands of ribbons and held them up.

Through his spars with Eloa and his own magic research, the number of ribbons he could utilize freely in battle had increased.

With these ribbons, at least he wouldn’t be pushed back even when he got outnumbered like this.

Suddenly, the White Knights, clad in their eerie white armors, moved.

Two of them dashed toward him, trying to close the distance between them.

Meanwhile the other two circled around, trying to strike him from his sides.

Siwoo sent the ribbons to his sides so that the last two couldn’t completely surround him.

Then, he brandished his sword and shield, trying to deal with the two Knights coming from the front.

-Clang, clang, clang!

The force behind the White Knights’ strike was heavy.

Perhaps it was because his senses had improved due to all his training with Eloa.

He no longer saw their attacks as ‘squiggly attacks’ anymore.

After witnessing and learning various techniques from his dear Master.

He could tell how refined and excellent their spearmanship was.

From their steps that were integrated with the movements of their upper bodies, the timing when they moved to stab and withdraw, the feints that could throw him off easily if he didn’t focus and the way they rotated their wrists.

All of their movements were sophisticated and practical.

They applied the optimal amount of force to pierce the heart of their enemy, no wasted movements, no wasted energy.

-Bang, bang!

The two White Knights took turns to strike him.

When he fought against one, he could exploit the gap between the creature’s attacks with ease, but now that he was facing two, there wasn’t even any gap to exploit to begin with.

If one of them missed their attack, the other one would cin and cover for it.

Whenever they saw just a brief moment of hesitation from him, they’d immediately launch their attacks from two different angles that were hard for him to block.

It really felt like he was facing actual hardened knights who had survived countless battlefields.

How do I put it? It feels like 1+1 doesn’t equal 2 but 3?

Moreover, the two Knights in front of him weren’t the only ones he had to deal with. There were another two that were coming from his sides, trying to break through the defenses of his ribbons.

This can’t go on.

Their onslaught was too much for him to the point that he had to take a step back.

“…”

Meanwhile, Eloa was watching this scene unfold with a restless heart.

Her grip on her Sword of Covenant grew stronger and stronger by the second.

That was how hard she was trying to restrain the urge to intervene in his battle and slaughter all the Knights right away.

It was widely known that the Red Knight was a Homunculus with numerous combat experience and outstanding martial prowess.

That was why even its weaker clone, the White Knights, possessed the prowess of that of experienced fighters.

Just their individual prowess alone surpassed other Homunculi of their level and the gap wasn’t even close.

Though they only possessed four eyes, their threat level could easily reach that of a five or even six eyes Homunculi.

In group, their prowess was completely on a different level. It was clear how skillful they were from their coordinated attacks that they were using to push Siwoo back. Their breath, pace and timing matched each other so well as if they were one entity.

While Siwoo managed to dispatch one of them because he had taken the first strike, if things were to continue like this, it was only a matter of tbefore he fell.

Is it still too soon for him?

Am I being too expectant after seeing his rapid growth?

-Kwaang!

A loud roar reverberated through the air.

The source was Siwoo’s ribbons, which had been restraining the two White Knights, finally fell to the ground.

Now the two White Knights could freely rush in from both sides.

When it was a two-on-one, they could only push him back slowly, but now their numbers had doubled.

Even the most inexperienced fighter could tell that the situation would turn very badly for Siwoo very quickly.

Eloa was about to dash forward to help him, but…

“Huh….?”

Siwoo’s back reflected in her eyes.

He tossed the shield hanging in his arm as if it was a nuisance.

Then, he firmly gripped the sword he was holding with both hands.

-Clang, clang!

His sword drew a single trajectory and parried the two attacks coming from his sides.

Unlike before, there were no loud roars being produced, it was as if the force he utilized perfectly matched the force of the two attacks he parried, thus resulting in the force nullifying each other.

Instead, it produced a clear sound, like a fork hitting on a glass.

“Phew…”

The battle wasn’t over yet, but it felt like the surroundings were enveloped in silence.

He could only hear the sound of his own breath and see the movement of his sword that drew a spiral, as if dancing.

A dance that was so beautiful, without any unnecessary steps or moves.

Even those who walked in the path of sword all their lives, chasing nothing but to improve themselves, could only dream to achieve such beautiful and pure swordsmanship.

He moved leisurely between the gaps of the spearheads that stabbed him from every direction.

His steps were quick and graceful, as if he was dancing a waltz and the sword in his hand merged to the scene, becoming the part of his dance.

As if in a trance, he was engrossed in this sword dance, completely unaware of how his movements becrelaxed despite the bloody battle he was currently in.

Witnessing all this, Eloa unconsciously rubbed her eyes.

A familiar silhouette merged with Siwoo’s back.

“Ravi…”

The child who was loved by the sword.

Who could hear the voice of the sword.

If she had grown successfully to be a witch, by now she must have long surpassed Eloa already.

And her visage was now overlapping with Siwoo’s, albeit vaguely.

The dance successfully tied the four White Knights to a stalemate with him.

But before long, the scale tipped on one side.

Two of their spears, which had been flying freely in the sky, were caught in his sword’s trajectory and shattered like a broken glass.

At this moment, Eloa suddenly becmore anxious.

Because the two other White Knights that had been stalled by Siwoo’s ribbon, had now completely surrounded him.

One of them thrusted its spear at his blank spot to the left while the other threatened him from an angle where it made it impossible for him to block both attacks at once.

The spears that those White Knights held, had similarities with the ‘Red Branch’ hat the Red Knight held.

While they were unable to distort the space itself like what the Red Branch did, they were able to distort the flow of mana in their trajectories.

No matter how thick his shadow armor was, if the White Knights could get a clean hit in, their spears would skewer his body effortlessly.

But, Siwoo kicked the ground with his feet, as if he was waiting for this exact moment.

He wasn’t just leaping forward randomly.

It was a calculated move, rotating his body with all his strength all while utilizing Fa Jin by using his magic.

The asphalt below him ruptured with a loud sound.

A shockwave burst out from the tip of his sword.

He swung his sword around his waist, blocking the two attacks coming from his front and at the stime, cutting the two White Knights that were surrounding his sides into two.

A failed surprise attack would leave one open to a counterattack.

With that in mind, he had deliberately chosen the timing when they would perform a surprise attack and prepared a solid counter for them.

The two White Knights’ upper body flew in the air because of the momentum, but Siwoo didn’t stop there.

-Crack!

During his rotation, he used two ribbons to support his body.

They dug into the asphalt that had turned into a field of gravel due to the fierce battle.

With a crackling sound, he performed another spinning slash thanks to the ribbons keeping him in the air.

The second strike.

Since he was still utilizing the momentum from his previous strike, he managed to brush past one of the White Knight’s helmet lightly.

-Bang!

But, that was enough to make the helmet explode, just like an aluminum can that was being hammered by a mace.

With that, there was only one enemy left.

The White Knight only stared at him emotionlessly.

Though three of its comrades fell in an instant, it didn’t show any fear or hesitation.

Instead, it waited until it saw an opening in Siwoo’s movement and began its counterattack.

From this angle, it would be impossible for him to evade, block or even launch a counterattack against its blow.

-Srrrrt!

But, the two ribbons protruding from the ground suddenly pierced through its body, turning it into a ragdoll.

Not only was its body pierced, but the force was strong enough to lift it high up in the sky, leaving its dead body dangling weakly in the air.

Siwoo had been planning to use these two ribbons as a fatal trap for the creature all along.

After he withdrew his ribbons, the White Knight’s body fell with a thud at Eloa’s feet. She had been watching her dear student dispatching all the White Knights by himself.

It only took him a few seconds to accomplish that.

At the stime, the scene that felt like unfolding in slow motion began to regain its original speed.

Without a doubt.

This was Siwoo’s perfect victory.