City of Witches - Chapter 1165
In terms of discussing the ‘Witch War’ in history, we can cite the past invasion of Gehenna by the Qliphoth as an example.
At that time, the Qliphoth, which was the strongest public force, crossed the gate all at once and attacked Gehenna, and Gehenna suffered a lot of damage, but it defeated the attack by uniting around Duke Qhether.
Considering the average hierarchy and the number of troops of the two groups at that time, there must have been a lot of differences from now, but it means that there is a record that can be used as a reference for war preparation.
It is difficult to fully apply the yardstick of traditional military warfare to the war between witches.
As long as you don’t eat, drink, or sleep, the supply system doesn’t really matter.
As long as both camps use the ‘gate’, long-distance means of transportation are also meaningless.
In any situation, there are few cases where communication is cut off, so there is no need to put effort into building a communication system, and since it is a fight between transcendents, a large number of personnel who only fill their heads are meaningless.
So what is important?
An analysis of the main power.
The key is how much each person’s magic has been analyzed and how appropriate customized strategies and confrontation charts are prepared.
In the strategy analysis room of the ‘Gehenna Academic Union’ located in the castle, preparations for this were being thoroughly carried out.
It is to analyze the self-magnetism of key figures through the DB of location points, old books, actual eyewitness accounts, or experiences.
Among them, the main targets that the analysis room focuses on are the three new old witches who have joined as the corps commanders of Hexennacht at the present time.
“The witch of proverbs, Orselia Limos. She is the strongest force in Hexennacht at the moment.
She is a witch of the summoning family, and her self-magnetism is ‘Erechtheus’. It is to release a hungry monster that serves in my body and make it eat everything.
Her last battle record was in 1909 in Vienna, Austria, where she clashed with the homunculus ‘Great Emperor’. This briefing was written based on eyewitness accounts from that time.”
When I lightly tapped the crystal ball that was displaying the video like a hologram, a scene that had already recorded hundreds of millions of views in the present world flowed.
It was a scene in which a Russian dictator blew up a strategic nuclear weapon within his own territory, but Orselia neutralized the most powerful weapon of mankind with purple smoke and walked out unharmed.
“Erechtheus goes through a total of three stages of ‘liberation’, and this is the first stage in which a purple haze like this spreads. This smoke not only corrodes matter, but also eats away physical threats such as shock waves, heat, energy, and vibrations, and its digestive power is faster than the blast speed of nuclear weapons, as you can see.
At the same time, this mist provides a good environment for Erechtheus to be active, just as it fills the seawater for sea fish.”
The next one was a blurry and rough black-and-white photograph.
Orcelia’s body in the photo was torn in several places, and the torn gaps had turned into the jaws of a deformed monster.
“This is the second stage of liberation. The stage where changes appear in the main body of the Witch of Proverbs. The purple mist begins to devour ‘magic power’ or ‘magic’ itself.
In addition, the integration of Ereshkigal and the Witch of Proverbs begins, and they gain powerful regeneration abilities and magic power recovery abilities.”
There are no video or photo records of the final stage.
It is only passed down through oral tradition and eyewitness accounts.
“The third stage of liberation is the complete liberation of Ereshkigal. It is known to emit tentacles that can be used for high-speed free maneuvering.
Considering that the Witch of Proverbs can fight indefinitely if facing an average witch, and that they have the upper hand against most witches when drawn into a protracted battle, it is necessary to eliminate them quickly with a small number of elites.”
Among the many witches.
Lynne, who was sitting next to Xiwei with a straight posture, glanced at Xiwei.
Xiwei seemed to be trying to maintain his dignity as the president of the Hesed Society, but his expression showed it.
It was an expression that said, ‘I’m so nervous.’
Basically, Xiwei really, really, really hates fighting for his life.
But beneath that, there is a strong determination.
If someone around Xiwei were to be in danger, he would not hesitate to step forward and face the danger.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“Nothing.”
While Lynne was beating around the bush, Librarian Gremory continued the briefing in silence.
“Next is the commander of the Western Legion, the Witch of Viridian, Berda Tiamat.”
This time, a youthful face that befitted the title of girl appeared on the hologram.
The witch with dark green hair and green eyes was carrying a bunch of shopping bags in the background of a department store, wearing a cloche hat that was popular around the 1920s and a matching outfit.
It was a disastrous fashion sense that showed where the term ‘overkill’ came from, but no one laughed.
“She is a witch who has hardly been active outside for the past few hundred years, so there was a significant lack of information, but we were able to obtain a lot of information when she recently appeared in the Western Army camp.
It is reported that the Witch of Viridian blooms ‘Viridian’, an artifact that bears fruit-shaped artifacts, and is using it to rearm the Western Army.”
In other words, she is the director of an artifact factory that mass-produces disposable artifacts.
It was said that ‘supply’ was not very important among witches, but armament was different.
If such a large number of people were to join at once, the danger of Berda, who strengthens the entire group, would skyrocket.
“Not only is the legion’s power strengthened, but her own strength cannot be underestimated. The Witch of Viridian is also a survivor from the Age of Savages.”
“Strengthening the Legion’s forces is one thing, but don’t underestimate your own power either. The Green Witch is also a survivor of the savage era.”
“Oh, come on. We’re family.”
The 23rd rank, on top of that, the skills of an old witch whose mindset is different from the witches of today will be child’s play if they suddenly collapse.
“Next is about the Time Witch, Ellara Chronos. As her alias suggests, she deals with self-magnetism that manipulates time….”
Scribe Gregory’s report continued late into the night.
2.
Lynne was certain.
A war like no other in history, an unprecedented danger was approaching.
This was the case even as she watched the expansion of Hexennacht, which had gradually come to a standstill.
This was far from the result of logical thinking or rational reasoning, and was closer to Lynne’s intuition.
However, she had lived as a witch for hundreds of years.
She had fought for her life hundreds of times.
Her acute sense of smell, which was particularly sensitive to the smell of blood, told her that a great bloody path would soon unfold.
To Lynne, who had honed her life in the midst of chaos, bathed in death, this kind of intuition had reached the realm of a kind of prophecy.
“……”
Lynne silently polished her sword.
Polishing her sword was something Lynne always did to calm her wavering mind.
Her husband was at the forefront of the front lines.
Although Siu’s position was nominally a support unit, he would eventually be thrown into the most intense battleground as a firefighter.
Given his personality, he would not neglect his role.
And he would not back down.
The unprecedented clash in history could put her husband, who had overcome countless deaths with his outstanding skills and resourcefulness, in danger.
“……”
According to the composition of the Allied Forces of the Academy, Lynne was also part of the same support unit.
However, that was just according to the organization, and Lynne had already decided on her role in her mind.
Her role was to die before Siu.
To protect her husband by throwing her body at the most dangerous moment.
Because Siu was her savior who had pulled her out of a life like hell, and the reason for her life.
Because she loved him.
Because if she could protect him by throwing away this one life like a dog, she could close her eyes with a smile.
It was a very selfish reason, so Lynne did not bother to tell her husband about this pledge.
However, at this point when she had made up her mind to die, there was only one thing that bothered her.
No, rather than being bothered, should she say that she regretted not being able to fulfill her wish?
“Is there something on your mind?”
The question came from Sharon.
Lynne and Sharon might seem like a somewhat heterogeneous duo, but Sharon was someone who stuck close to her no matter what.
Sharon, who easily became close to Lynne, who exuded a different atmosphere, sighed heavily and spoke to Lynne, who was roughly polishing her sword.
“It’s nothing.”
“Hmm, if there’s anything I can do to help, I will. Don’t think too hard about it. We’re all family.”
“…Family?”
“…Family?”
Lynne was still expressionless, but she was slightly moved by the resonance of the impressive words.
To Sharon, there was a summery innocence that was neither calculated nor deliberate.
Even though they were two people from vastly different backgrounds and ages, this was one of the reasons why Lynne liked Sharon.
Unlike Dorothy, the sneaky raccoon who was too busy teasing her even when she was carefully asking for advice.
Would it be okay to confide in Sharon about this concern?
“You’re right. I have a concern.”
“Of course. In this world, it would be harder to not have any concerns. Tell me about it. I have a reputation for being a good listener, you know?”
Sharon, who had been diligently organizing her documents, put them down and bragged moderately.
Lynne carefully combined the words in her head and cautiously confided her worries.
“I want to try living like a father and daughter with my husband.”
“Father and daughter?
Sharon’s unique imagination bloomed and created a scene.
Perhaps because of the recent equation of Siwoo’s daughter = Malika, the result of her imagination was bizarre.
Lynne, expressionless, lying in a baby bed with a pacifier in her mouth.
She was holding a baby rattle in each hand, wearing baby underwear with fish drawn on it, and even a baby headband.
The description included the word ‘baby’ five times.
‘Waaah.’
Lynne, mumbling in a lisping pronunciation that would make an announcer cringe, and Siwoo, shaking a baby bottle, approached her.
‘Oh my, is our Lynne crying again? Is it time for milk?’
‘(Nod nod)’
‘Let’s eat, Lynne. Oh, you’re eating well.’
‘Chomp chomp.’
Sharon felt dizzy.
However, she barely managed to hold on to her sanity and asked carefully.
She said it with the thought, ‘Oh, no.’
“If it’s father and daughter… is it like Malika?”
Lynne opened her eyes slightly wider.
Malika had a great influence on the fact that this desire had grown stronger recently.
Sharon, who was always perceptive of others’ feelings.
Could she have predicted this far?
Lynne nodded, impressed.
“Yes.”
“…….”
A chorus of Sharons yelling, ‘Don’t ask!’ rang out alternately from the left and right.
Of course, she would have pretended not to know about something so deep and serious!
“Thank you. It was a concern that I couldn’t solve on my own.”
“Well… of course…”
But now it was too late, and Lynne and Sharon’s in-depth counseling began.