Chapter 27
Chapter 027. The Witch (4)
“What are you doing?!”
Spanich shouted loudly toward Anagin, who had just thrown a massive stone pillar.
"I threw a rock. To make the tower collapse. We don't necessarily need to enter the trap, right?"
Spanich opened and closed his mouth without being able to argue against that absurd answer.
Still, even so—how could someone even think of collapsing the tower…?
But only for a moment. When he thought about it carefully, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
The fact that traps and magic were set inside the tower was already certain.
Going in there was a foolish act that not even a beast would do.
Seen from that angle, collapsing the tower was excessive, yes, but also a clever way to nullify all the traps at once.
But then what about the treasures inside the tower? If it collapses, they might disappear! And more importantly—the Witch! I need proof that I cut off her head and defeated her!!
Tasked with completing his family’s mission, Spanich’s head spun.
At that moment, Anagin’s voice reached him.
“Oh, something came out.”
Spanich jerked his head up toward the tower. Just as Anagin said, something burst out from the top and soared into the sky.
It resembled a gigantic bird…
“It’s the witch. My former master. Though she’s not really my master.”
The robed woman stepped out of the tower and revealed the identity of the giant bird.
Indeed, looking closely, she appeared to be a harpy. The upper body of a woman, the lower body of a raptor, huge wing-arms—every characteristic of a harpy was there.
Spanich was about to say that they needed to capture her, but Anagin moved a step faster.
He pulled out a club from his Interspatial Bag and hurled it at the Witch.
Swiish—!
The club sliced through the air, flying straight toward the Witch’s head.
She twisted her head quickly and dodged.
“Damn, that was close….”
Anagin, who had thrown the club, muttered in disappointment.
“I used to land those in one try…”
It must have annoyed him quite a bit, because Anagin muttered again.
And it made sense—though he acted nonchalant, Anagin actually took great pride in his throwing ability.
Stones, kitchen knives, axes, clubs, spears, shields, boulders, people, etc. There was nothing he couldn’t throw, and he usually hit his target in one shot—rabbit, deer, boar, wolf, bird, human, didn’t matter.
So failing to hit a huge bird, even if it was flying, was downright embarrassing. Had his skills dulled…?
“But I got the feel for it!”
Anagin’s sadness lasted only a moment before he took out an axe and threw it.
Whoosh—!
The axe drew a beautiful arc and flew at the Witch even faster than before.
He had even thrown it with a spin, anticipating a dodge, so it would surely strike her head...
-Whirr!
The axe was flying perfectly… then suddenly veered sharply off-course and missed entirely.
‘What was that? Did my skills really rust?’
Anagin was shaken by the unbelievable result.
The first miss he could accept, but a second? His master would have cackled at him for this.
“It’s magic! She blocked the projectile with wind!”
The robed woman explained the reason as Anagin stared in confusion.
Flap... Swoosh-!!
At that moment, the Witch floating in the sky swung her dark-feathered wing-arms wide and fired a volley of feathers.
A rainstorm of feathers poured down. Even at a glance, they were clearly dangerous.
“Everyone behind me!”
Spanich, who had been sitting weakly, grabbed his shield and shouted. Anagin and the robed woman hid behind him as instructed.
The shield was a bit too small to fully cover three people, which was worrying, but…
[Shield! Protect us!!]
At Spanich’s shout, the magic embedded in the shield reacted and unfolded a huge, semi-transparent barrier.
Large enough to comfortably cover the entire group.
Chrajajajajang!!
The feather rain slammed against the barrier, creating sharp, piercing noises.
It sounded like steel blades striking rock.
‘They aren't heavy, but they are quite hard and sharp. They look like ordinary feathers...’
Anagin examined a feather on the ground. The robed woman explained.
“She fired them imbued with Yeom. The moment she throws them with magic, they become harder than steel.”
So the scholar knew a lot—and even knew exactly what others were curious about.
“I thought you said earlier you didn’t know what kind of magic the Witch uses?”
“I can still guess. Harpies are naturally suited for wind magic and curse magic, and the Witch fits that perfectly. So I can roughly tell what she’ll use. Be careful of feathers and claw attacks.”
Anagin wanted to scold her for not saying this earlier, but decided against it. There was no point now.
Instead, he looked up at the Witch, unleashing feathers from the sky.
Swaaash!
She flapped her wings again, firing another feather storm. The sharp projectiles hammered Spanich’s barrier.
Spanich’s shield was slowly getting shaved down by the light but razor-sharp feathers. At this rate, the shield would break.
“Would shrinking the shield let it hold a bit longer?”
“…Pardon?”
“I mean, if you narrow the deployed shield, can it hold out longer?”
Thinking that thinner meant weaker and thicker meant stronger, Anagin asked.
His guess was correct.
“Ah, yes, that would help it last longer.”
“Good.”
After saying that, Anagin picked up his sling from his waist and gathered some broken bricks scattered around.
Then, timing it with the moment the Witch prepared to fire another wave of feathers, he dashed out from behind the shield and launched a brick.
PAAK!
The sling snapped with a thunderous whip-crack, and the brick flew at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
It looked like it would pierce straight through the wind barrier.
And Anagin had even thrown it in perfect sync with the Witch’s feather volley, just in case.
This time, it absolutely shouldn’t miss.
“…Ah, darn it. Why’d it veer off?”
Anagin groaned as the brick—flying beautifully—suddenly bent off-course before even reaching the Witch.
The funny part was that the Witch’s feathers flew just fine without any interference.
Swaaash!!
The feather volley came slicing through the air.
The robed woman shouted,
“Feathers count as part of the Witch’s own body, so they don’t get interfered with!!”
“That’s cheating.”
Anagin pulled a cloak out of his Interspatial Bag—one of the magical cloaks he’d seized from Deodia’s crew hideout.
He unfurled it and swung it wide, blocking all the incoming feathers.
PABABABABAK…!!
The sharp feathers easily punched through the cloak—but after piercing through, they got caught and stopped.
“What…?!”
The Witch was shocked.
She never imagined someone would block her feathers with such a shabby cloak.
*Hmph! Not that it matters—it’ll only work once…!*
Looking at the tattered cloak, she felt certain. In that condition, he couldn’t block her feathers again.
“…Wait, what is that?”
The Witch muttered in shock as she watched the cloak automatically stitch itself back together whenever feathers tore through it. Was that a magic tool?
While the Witch was wondering, Anagin shook the cloak and shouted up at her:
“Quit poking from far away! How about coming down here and fighting? Honestly, you’re struggling to stay up there, aren’t you?!”
He threw a provocation at the Witch, who was panting for breath.
And just as Anagin said, she wasn’t in great condition either.
Her aged body grew exhausted quickly from flying, and she had already fired several volleys of feathers, draining her stamina even more.
If she could win outright, she would keep this standoff going, but to be honest, her stamina would probably run out first.
So the Witch decided to take the bait from this insolent brat.
“You impudent little wretch…!”
She screeched sharply and cursed, pretending to be enraged.
All to make them believe she had lost her temper—and lower their guard.
SHEEEAAK!!
The Witch moved her wings, rapidly descending.
As expected, Anagin threw another stone.
Even though she had her “Wind Barrier” activated, she dodged on purpose, emphasizing how “angry” she was.
To make it look like she was too furious to even use magic properly.
It seemed to work—Anagin kept throwing stones, and the rookie from the Dolos Family forced out what strength he had left to thrust his spear.
The Witch remained alert for just that moment.
He might have infused the spear with Energy.
But her concern proved unnecessary.
There was no Energy in the spear. He had none left to use.
[Wind, hurl him far away!]
The Witch calmly dodged the spear, then swung her winged arms wide and chanted her spell.
The bracelets on her wing-arms rattled, activating the magic. A swirling gust erupted and blasted the Dolos brat far away.
CRASH!
Caught off guard, Spanich was blown straight into the wall of a collapsed building and crumpled to the ground.
“Good!”
At that moment, Anagin pulled a spear from his Interspatial Bag and threw it at the Witch.
He struck precisely at the opening created during her spellcasting.
It was the move of a skilled hunter…
“…Useless!”
The “Wind Barrier” wrapped around the Witch deflected the thrown spear.
She immediately swung her wings again to attack Anagin.
[Wind, cut him down!]
The Witch lured out Anagin’s carelessness and launched a counterattack.
A thin, sharp blade of wind blew from her wings, slicing into Anagin’s side.
Had he failed to twist his body, his abdomen would’ve been torn apart.
The Witch soared up briefly and looked down at Anagin and the Dolos rookie.
The Dolos brat was still unable to get up due to the shock, and even Anagin—bleeding heavily—was curled up, the wound severe.
He staggered, trying to rise…
The witch immediately descended, intending to finish off Anagin first. Personally, with her huge claws!
SHEEAK!!
Claws outstretched, the Witch made a rapid dive.
The distance between her and Anagin closed instantly.
Then Anagin, who had been staggering, suddenly sprang up and flung his cloak toward the Witch.
‘What cheap trick is—!’
Relying on her still-active “Wind Barrier,” the Witch blew the cloak away.
Once the cloak was pushed aside, her vision cleared—and she saw it.
Anagin is throwing something.
“You stupid brat, stop—”
—PWOOK!
The witch, who was rushing forward without changing direction, trusting the “Wind Barrier” she had cast on herself, felt a searing pain. The painful areas were widespread, including her left eye, torso, and legs.
“?!”
The Witch fell into confusion.
‘Clearly, I'm enveloped in Wind Barrier, aren't I? How?’
The question lasted only an instant, because the answer came just as quickly.
The projectile Anagin had thrown was none other than the Witch’s own feathers.
The feathers that had fallen on the ground.
“Well, hey, this works.”
Anagin threw the feathers again—each one stuck between the joints of his fingers. He even gave the technique a name.
[Feather-Stitch]
Multiple feathers, powered by brute strength and precise technique. A distance too close to avoid. A speed too fast. And above all—the pain.
Because of all those combined reasons, even though the Witch “saw” the second volley coming, she couldn’t dodge it.
PUHBUBUBUK!!
Feathers drove into her entire body.
The second volley hit even harder than the first.
Feeling her whole body being shredded, the Witch shot past Anagin and crashed into the ground.
The pain was so intense that she couldn’t control her limbs.
Rolling across the ground, her entire body throbbed as if beaten senseless—parts torn, parts broken.
‘This is bad!’
The Witch screamed inside.
She might actually die.
Desperate to survive, she twisted her body and looked behind her.
There was Anagin—charging at her, blade drawn from his waist.
[En—Energy, feathers, become armor and protect me!!]
Sensing death, the Witch hastily cast a spell on her feathers and raised her wing-arms to shield herself.
Anagin swung his blade toward the wing-arms that had hardened like steel.
SSEOGUK!
The witch's winged arm, along with her neck, was cleanly severed.
Thud—
The Witch, looking at her own headless body, heard Anagin murmur:
“They called it the Beast Cleaver, huh? Really does chop bird heads pretty well.”
That was the last thing the Witch heard before she died.