City of Witches

༺ God of Combat (3) ༻

1.

After subduing Sharon, Eloa stepped on her wrist, causing her wand to fall from her grasp.

She then kicked the fallen wand away, sending it flying into the distance.

Witches who relied on elemental magic usually couldn’t cast their spells properly without their wands.

This knowledge came from Eloa’s experiences after defeating various opponents.

“From my perspective…this guy is somehow linked to Ea, and you are a shady Exile showing up to help him. So, what’s your story?”

Eloa’s sword, threatening to cut off Siwoo’s throat at any moment, entered Sharon’s vision.

Fear gripped her whole being, draining the color from her face.

One move from the sword could end Siwoo’s life.

Sharon didn’t even have the leisure to ponder, ‘Would the Duchess really go as far as to kill an innocent man without proof?’

She was too occupied with stopping Eloa and saving Siwoo.

“No, no, please! Stop! Siwoo would never do anything bad— Cough! Sob…”

She screamed. Her cries turned into a wail as Eloa tightened the grip around her neck.

No matter how much she struggled, she still couldn’t break free from the Duchess’ powerful hold.

There was a clear difference in their power, she was way weaker than Eloa.

She used both her hands, trying to pry away one of her fingers, but it was still useless.

“Ugh— Cough! S-Stop— I told you! S-Siwoo…almost died because of that Witch of Aquarius bitch—! How could he be an accomplice…?”

Sharon struggled to get her words out, as her neck was being tightly held by Eloa.

But the latter’s expression stayed blank.

There was no way that those words were enough to convince her.

“Almost died? Someone who was about to be killed by her can now use hers and my apprentice’s magic?”

“I-I swear, he is not—”

“Did you see it happen? Or can you at least explain what exactly happened during that time? Hm?”

When she said that, she pushed her sword down a little further.

This move triggered a response from Sharon. As if she was in a heated fight, she desperately tried to stop Eloa by any means.

“D-Don’t—! Cough! P-Please don’t! I-It really isn’t what you think! P-Please…don’t kill him…please…”

Tears streamed down her face, not only because of her painful breathing, but also from the fear that she might lose Siwoo right there.

Seeing Sharon’s tears pour down like a waterfall, Eloa’s grip on Siwoo seemed to loosen a little.

She recognized her tears as real ones, shed without any trickery, for the sake of others…

Transparent tears that were impossible to come from a villain, it shook her heart that had been corroded by the venom of vengeance.

“Please…you really misunderstood…I-I’ll…give you this…! I-Inside there’s a 5.4 billion…a-all my money…p-please spare him—! Or please hear me out—!”

Sharon let go of the hand that was holding her throat and fumbled through her cleavage to pull out a card.

Eloa took a look at it and recognized what it was.

The Witch Bank card, the same one the witches would usually use to claim big bounties.

It had her account’s details on it.

Her vision blurred from her tears, but Sharon kept on muttering incoherent words.

“I-It isn’t much—! I-I don’t really have much…b–but I’ll give it all to you! S-Siwoo really isn’t someone who’d do something so heinous…a-and I know you’re a good person, Duchess…y-you’re just not in the right mind now…p-please don’t do something that you’ll come to regret later…”

At that moment, Sharon wasn’t thinking straight.

The looming threat of Siwoo’s potential death messed with her head.

She tossed aside any attempts at trying to reason with her and just spoke out everything on impulse.

In her desperate attempt, she thought of offering the most valuable thing in her life, her money, thinking that it might save Siwoo. It was an odd conclusion for sure, but she was doing her best.

Certainly, it was a pretty foolish move.

Because a centuries-old grudge could never be settled with just a few bucks.

It wouldn’t be strange if this would only make Eloa angrier.

‘She’s still desperately pleading for someone else’s life even in such a dire moment, not thinking about her own personal gain…is she really a wicked person?’

‘What kind of wicked person would willingly sacrifice their everything to save a life…?’

‘Who’s the real villain here, I wonder?’

While she still kept her suspended in the air, Eloa loosened up her grip,

Her mind was a total mess.

“…”

“Tiphereth!”

Suddenly, a sharp voice called out to her,

A familiar voice.

Then, Deneb Gemini, together with her apprentice witches, landed on the rooftop, her black dress flowing in the wind.

“What are you doing?!”

Unlike usual, her voice was loud and sharp. She stormed towards Eloa.

Her gaze was as sharp as her voice, as if she was threatening her.

Meanwhile, Eloa remained calm and gave her a response.

“I’ve been interrogating a suspicious person. He is tied to Ea Sadalmelik, and I’m certain that he is involved in this incident.”

“What?! You…I can’t believe this!”

Deneb swiftly deflected Eloa’s sword before stepping in between them to shield Siwoo from her. She gently lifted him into her arms.

He had no obvious major injuries, but she could tell that his insides were messed up.

And she knew that Eloa was the one responsible for his injuries.

She wasted no time to cast a healing spell, all while shouting.

“He’s a guest of our household! There’s no way he’s involved in this incident! He’s not the kind of man who’d even start something like this!”

“But—”

When Eloa tried to speak out…

““Mr. Assistant!””

The twins, who had been clinging to Deneb’s back, swiftly jumped down and approached Siwoo.

“I-Is Mr. Assistant…dead…? T-This time…again…? I-Is it happening again…?”

“Mr. Assistant! Please wake up! Mr. Assistant!”

They ignored the smudge of dirt on their clothes as they tearfully rushed to him. Their faces were filled with tears.

Siwoo, lying on the ground, unconscious, had a pale face that was covered with blood.

When the twins saw this scene, they were reminded of a traumatic experience.

The time when he stood up against Ea just to protect them, and the next moment they saw him was when he had turned into half a corpse.

They trembled with anxiety, as if the sky collapsed on them. Seeing this, Deneb calmly reassured them.

“Don’t worry, my cuties, calm down, he’s not in any serious danger.”

“Are you sure he’s okay? You are not just trying to tell us a comforting lie, right, Master?”

“Yes, he’s fine, just trust me.”

Deneb prioritized treating Siwoo.

Upon examining the wound, she surmised that Eloa’s fist had struck him directly.

There wasn’t much she could say except that it was fortunate that he was still alive.

Odile, stroking Siwoo’s cheek, shot a fierce look at Eloa before asking.

“Did you do this?!”

“Odile!”

Before Deneb could intervene, Odile rushed toward Eloa.

Of course, she was more than aware of Eloa’s status as the Duchess due to her frequent interactions with her household.

But she ignored all that because to her, Siwoo’s condition was more important.

“If anything happens to Mr. Assistant, I won’t just stand by silently! I will make sure you’ll suffer the same fate!”

Seeing Odile’s tearful protest and accusatory shout, Eloa stood frozen, clearly taken aback by the raw emotions the young apprentice displayed.

The momentum and uncontrolled rage did not stem from the arrogance over the fact that Deneb was there.

She would react similarly even in her master’s absence.

It was a reaction that someone who had lost or almost lost a loved one would show, and Eloa was familiar with this.

“Mr. Assistant being involved in this incident? Yes, of course he is! He was trying to deal with the situation alone so that we wouldn’t be in danger!”

“…”

“He has a connection with the Witch of Aquarius? Yes! He fought that wicked witch to save us and almost lost his life!”

“…”

“Who do you think you are?! Tormenting Mr. Assistant like this…hic…”

Finally, Odile collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

She was blaming herself again for being unable to help him.

When she rushed back here, he was already completely battered.

Helplessness, anger, and resentment consumed her.

Watching Odile weeping, Eloa lowered her sword with a heavy heart.

2.

Siwoo slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a familiar ceiling.

“What the hell?”

From the cozy bed to the comforting feel of the blanket covering his chest, everything felt familiar to him.

He swiftly tried to recall his memories.

First, the abrupt appearance of three White Knights. Then, a witch tore them apart.

After that, the witch babbled something he couldn’t understand before suddenly thrusting her fist into his chest.

It felt like he saw a glimpse of Paul Phoenix¹The Tekken character before he blacked out. Well, the fact that he could feel that way meant that at least his memories were intact.

He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed.

‘What the fuck happened?’

“Mr. Assistant!”

“Orabeoni!”

“Ow!”

Suddenly, the twins appeared out of nowhere, catching him off guard.

They practically threw themselves at him, like a pair of affectionate puppies, pressing their cheeks against his.

Their smooth and soft cheeks, and he could smell pleasant fragrance emanating from them.

“Orabeoni?”

Meanwhile, Odile questioned Odette’s sudden change in how she addressed Siwoo. In which, the latter casually replied.

“Yeah, I figured I’d call him Orabeoni.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, I went for a night stroll with him yesterday while you were asleep. It was really fun~”

“Huh…?”

When she heard those words, Odile’s jaw dropped. Meanwhile, Odette grinned, feeling like she had just delivered a decisive blow to her sister.

Now Siwoo understood why she had been holding back from calling him Orabeoni in front of Odile. She was planning to do this all along.

With a suspicious glint in her eyes, Odile turned to Siwoo.

From behind, Odette’s voice chimed in, “What, you left me behind the last time too~”

“Is what she’s saying true, Mr. Assistant?”

“Yes, but can you two fill me in on what happened first?”

Just then, he realized that the twins had been flanking him on either side of the bed.

Before giving him any explanation, both of them grabbed one side of his cheeks.

As if trying to scold him, similar to how the Countess would scold them.

And then, they stretched his cheeks out angrily.

“Before that! Explain yourself!”

“That’s right! What were you thinking, trying to handle everything by yourself again?!”

“What if you got seriously hurt again?! Try to think about us a little!”

“You went too far!”

“It hurts, it hurts! Let go…please…”

He was actually in real pain, as tears welling up in his eyes.

For a while after that, the twins continued to scold him while gripping his cheeks. Eventually, they pulled him into a tight embrace.

Their hands stroked him gently, as if they were touching something precious.

“We’ll get stronger from now on…strong enough to protect you, Mr. Assistant…”

“Yeah…we’ll make sure that you won’t shake in fear under our watch…”

“So, please, count on us more…”

‘They worried about me this much…’

The warmth they showered him with made his chest tightened. As he felt that, there was a rush of embarrassment on his cheeks. It felt as if someone had pointed out a good deed he accidentally did, leaving him wanting to awkwardly rub his nose.

“Anyway, here’s what happened…”

They took turns explaining the situation.

The witch who attacked him was the Duchess Tiphereth herself.

She had a serious misunderstanding, as she mistook him for Ea or someone related to her.

Sharon arrived at the scene first, managed to buy them some time, then Deneb came in, convincing her that this was all a misunderstanding.

“I yelled really loudly at her, I told her that if she ever bullied you again, Mr. Assistant, I will beat her up!”

“You…yelled at her, Ms. Odile…? At Duchess Tiphereth…?”

“Yes! I know I’d probably lose if we actually fought though, but she couldn’t even say a word when I said that! Maybe she yielded to my charismatic talk~?”

“…What charismatic talk? You were crying while throwing a tantrum…”

“Shut up, Odette!”

“Why don’t you stop telling lies, Sis?!”

Unhappy with the fact that her older sister had taken all the spotlight, Odette pouted as she muttered under her breath. Meanwhile, Odile’s face contorted with frustration as she expressed her discontent.

“So, where are the two of them now?”

“Both of them went to the Witch Point. This whole incident is a huge deal, so they have to do a lot of things to sort it out.”

“What about Sharon?”

“Unnie is in her room, maybe?”

“Right! You should go check on her! It isn’t serious, but she got hurt!”

“What?”

Siwoo quickly got up from his seat and hurriedly went to check on Sharon in her room.

He entered her room, finding her crouching in the corner of her bed.

Footnotes:

• 1The Tekken character