chapter 118 : Escape part 6
『Amelia's Perspective』
A shudder ran through my body. As if someone were talking behind my back. That aside, Cyan was already breathing regularly, and although she hadn't yet woken up, her fingers moved, giving me hope that she would soon.
Alices stood up, shaking her hands as if the healing had cost her more than she let on.
"She's out of danger," she said, though her gaze remained distant, as if she sensed something beyond the wall.
"What happens now...?" I asked, a lump in my throat.
Veronica, who had finished dealing with the chimera, responded, this time with unusual respect in her voice:
"Now... it's our turn to get out of here."
Almost immediately after she finished her words, a bolt of lightning erupted from the sky, wrapped in a golden light. The ground trembled slightly. And we knew, without anyone saying it… that the real fight was just beginning.
***
『Erwing's Perspective』
"I'm your family, idiot. Of course I know who my grandson's friends are."
My grandfather said, giving me a quick but warm glance before moving forward. Behind him, a dozen masked figures followed him like shadows. Each one released a magical pressure so intense that the air itself seemed to buckle beneath them.
"So this little witch was the one who made all this mess at my school..." he snarled, stopping in front of the field of shadows.
"Little one?" she spat, her red eyes blazing with contempt. "When I was born, you were still crawling around covered in snot."
"Really? Then it'll hurt less to beat you up, old woman."
The arrogant smile on my grandfather's face was provocative and filled with absolute confidence in his strength, yet behind that mockery, every muscle in his body was tense. He knew what was coming and mustn't relax.
The witch needed no more. Her carefully prepared domain was suddenly activated. The entire area turned black. The walls, the floor, even the shattered ceiling… everything was a living, pulsing darkness, as if we were trapped inside a conscious nightmare.
I couldn't escape even if I wanted to…
Thousands of blades emerged from the shadows, whizzing toward my grandfather from all directions.
"Celestial Domain: Thunder Realm!"
My grandfather's shout echoed throughout the area, and instantly his domain responded. Columns of sparkling light pierced the darkness. Circles of electricity formed beneath her feet, and the spear she held rose, illuminated in gold, rising like a miniature sun, summoning a white and gold storm.
The shadow blades collided with her rays one after another, in a spectacle of light and darkness that split the air. But the witch wasn't far behind. Her body blurred, multiplying, merging with the darkness itself. Each of her responses conjured curses, chains, and daggers that flew not only toward my grandfather but also toward me.
Meanwhile, the figures accompanying my grandfather divided with surgical precision.
One of them, wearing a black cloak and goblin mask, appeared at my side and raised an energy shield that deflected one of the shadow tentacles aimed at me.
"Thank you." I said to the figure protecting me.
(...silence)
No one answered me, as if they were just a soulless puppet. The others in the squad scuttled through the shadows, using the witch's terrain as if it belonged to them too. Their movements were invisible until they attacked, leaving short flashes of crimson light each time one of their daggers slashed through the air.
Two more, more terrifying-looking, began tracing ancient runes on the ground, their fingers moving with unnatural speed. Mana gathered around them, dense and vibrant.
"They're preparing a seal..." I whispered, feeling the energy twist in the air.
The witch, for the first time, seemed restless, nervous. Sensing that something wasn't right.
Her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, noticing how the shadows were beginning to behave erratically, as if they weren't responding with the same obedience as before. As if something was preventing the flow of their energy.
"No..." she muttered through gritted teeth, taking a step back.
That's when she understood.
The person in front of her had never bothered to see her as an opponent. He'd only stalled her, slowly pushing her toward the center and allowing himself to be cornered from time to time. Like a hunter leading his prey straight into a trap, he was waiting to catch her.
"Damn it!" she roared, furious and incredulous.
Her eyes burned crimson as she scanned the battlefield. Then she looked at me. A smile twisted across her face… as if sizing me up for the last time. As if seeking to take something with her. Immediately, thousands of blades shot toward me. The person who had previously protected me was pierced from all directions. My grandfather, without a choice, lunged at me and deployed a thunder shield that protected my body.
And then the witch screamed:
"De**#** xu!" (To transport)
A word in an ancient language, almost forgotten by the winds of time.
As soon as she spoke it, her body began to contract in waves of shadow. Magic enveloped her like a reverse whirlwind, her figure distorting into cracks of darkness. Fragments of her cloak dissolved like black smoke in the wind.
"No!" my grandfather cried, realizing what was happening. You're not running away now!
He shot his spear, suspended in the sky, flashing like holy lightning as it hurtled straight toward her, shattering the air with an explosive crack of thunder.
But he was too late.
A magic circle formed beneath his feet for the first time since the fight began. An ancient rune materialized unnaturally, pulsing like a shadowy heart.
And in an instant...
He was gone.
The darkness contracted, then exploded into a sudden void. All traces of his presence were erased.
The silence that remained was deafening.
My grandfather stopped, the blade of his spear only able to leave a superficial wound that was soaked with blood and sparked against the ground.
"Damn it..." he muttered. "It's never easy messing with a witch."
Behind him, the members of his squad regrouped. The runes of the seal still glowed, incomplete.
One of them—the one who was brutally impaled—fell to the floor and vanished like dust.
"Grandpa?" I asked, puzzled.
My grandfather remained silent and stared at the spot where the witch disappeared.
He soon turned to me but didn't answer my questions.
"Forget it, brat. Let's go home," he said indifferently.