Page 265

→ Waterway Tunnel (1) ←

1.

The vertical shaft to the waterway tunnel was closer than Siwoo had expected.

There was one at a construction site, less than 5 km away from the Gwanghwamun Branch’s Witch Point.

The construction site was abandoned for some reason, so it was practically only an empty lot surrounded by rusty metals. In the middle of them was the aforementioned vertical tunnel.

There was an elevator installed there, but it was blocked with cement.

This was probably how the Cowardly Witch hid it, combining physical means with her magic so that she could use the tunnel as her workshop.

Maybe because it was still midday, the bottom of the tunnel was still visible even though it was quite deep down there.

The distance from the entrance to the bottom was probably around 40-50 m.

Whenever there was a rain, they’d open this tunnel, letting the water flow to the tunnel underground.

The rainwater would then traverse through the 5 km long tunnel and be released to the Han River.

“…It looks deep.”

Siwoo, wearing his armor already, looked down the tunnel.

He muttered those words in a really low voice, but the echo still reverberated through the deep tunnel.

“It does.”

Eloa replied curtly.

Even after she decided to let Siwoo go with her, a prickly sensation still remained in her heart.

She fully respected his will and courage, that was certain.

But, if a strong mind could solve every problem in the world, people wouldn’t end up dying in the first place.

While waiting for the signal from Miss Sua, Eloa renewed her conviction to protect Siwoo no matter what happened.

-Shoooo!

Before long, the expected signal came.

The plan wasn’t complicated.

Branch Manager Sua would spread her barrier to deter the White Knight’s counterattack, all while protecting the center of the barrier.

Tiphereth and Siwoo would act as the main force to defeat the Cowardly Witch and the Red Knight hiding in her workshop.

Meanwhile, the Witch of Harvest and the Witch of Glass would lure out some of the White Knights to take some pressure off the other two.

That was it.

It was so simple that it felt wrong to even call it a plan.

“Siwoo, remember that if things are getting dangerous, don’t even think twice. Retreat immediately.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Instead of telling him to ‘escape’, she used a more vague word of ‘retreat’ instead. After saying that, she looked up at the sky.

There, the huge barrier that would cover all Seoul was slowly formed.

The moment the barrier was completed, that was the moment when they’d enter the tunnel.

Siwoo also tilted his head upwards to look at the barrier.

The moment the dome-shaped barrier, that glittered like the blue East Sea, was completed, the pair immediately jumped into the tunnel at the same time.

2.

Siwoo’s body had long surpassed human’s limits.

As long as he put his mind into it, he could concentrate his strength into one point or attain supersonic speed. With a weapon in his hand, he could easily swing it and surpass the speed of sound if he wanted to.

Without much exaggeration, he could do that even if he were wearing all his armor and weapons, which weigh almost as heavy as a two-wheeled vehicle.

But, even with all that, there were still times when he was reminded that ‘in the end, he was still a human at the core’.

For example, when he had to free-fall from the height that would kill a normal human, or get them paralyzed for life if they were lucky.

-Thud!

But, contrary to his expectations, his knees easily absorbed the shock from the jump as she landed successfully.

Though, because the ground he fell into was dusty, when it met the lump of metal he was wearing, it cracked and made the dust on its surface rise up.

Next to her, Eloa, gracefully stepped down the ground with her hair fluttering, as if her body was without weight.

“Stay close to me.”

“…”

From east to the west, in that widely stretched tunnel, there were no enemies in sight.

But, it didn’t take long before Siwoo noticed something.

There was something ‘different’ about this place.

The distance from this place to the place he jumped from was probably only around thirteen stories tall, but the air clung to his skin tighter than back on the surface.

Perhaps, this was what it would feel if one were to step into the entrance of hell.

He could even smell the scent of blood and the dry musty smell.

“We need lights.”

Originally, there were mercury lights installed in the walls, but twenty years had passed since the place was closed, so those lights had stopped working for a while now.

Eloa snapped her fingers, several decorative lights were fired into the tunnel like flares.

Thanks to that, the pair was able to see further inside the tunnel.

“This place is wider than I thought.”

The diameter of the place was 10 m wide.

Wide and tall enough for two dump trucks to pass by,

As expected of a tunnel, the place had a shape of a cylinder.

Unlike normal tunnels, which usually had a half of a cylinder, this one in particular had the circle part almost complete.

This was probably why its height and width were almost identical.

“No, it’s too narrow.”

With a sharp pair of eyes, completely ready for a fight, Eloa scoured the place with her gaze.

To Siwoo, the place might seem wide, but to Eloa, who could easily move as fast as a jet, this place was too narrow for her to move around in.

There was a big chance that the White Knights would capitalize on this fact and prevent her from moving around as much as she liked.

“Which way should we go?”

“This way.”

Eloa turned to the east.

She was already familiar with the surrounding terrains after hearing Miss Sua’s briefing.

Cylinder-shaped passage with a diameter of 5-10 m that extended all over Seoul’s underground like an ant’s nest.

There were vertical shafts just like the one they came in from every 800 m, and their goal was the engine room 2 km away from where they were.

-Ooo—ooo—ooooo—

Not long after the pair started walking, a strange sound could be heard from the distance.

But, it was too far away to make out what it was and it was too refracted due to the tunnel’s structure, so calling it ‘vibration’ rather than ‘sound’ might be a little more appropriate.

Siwoo’s brows stiffened.

When he looked to the side, he saw that Eloa was making a similar expression.

“What was that?”

-Ooo—ooo—ooooo—

They stopped walking to listen carefully to the sound.

This was probably what it would sound like if one were to scoop out the souls that had been melted in the flames of hell with a big ladle.

A chorus of screams that would give anyone goosebumps and make them feel sick just from hearing it.

As if using that sound as a cue, a different kind of sound came from the distance.

-Clank, clank, clank!

The sound of iron hitting the solid ground.

And the sound of rattling weapons.

“How considerate, they’re greeting us already. Better than having to fight all of them at once, at least.”

“I’m ready.”

From the echoes that they made with their footsteps, Eloa successfully counted their numbers.

Thirty two White Knights.

If they were trying to capitalize on their numbers, they would attack them the moment they reached a wider place rather than a tunnel like this, but they weren’t doing that for some reason.

Which meant their objective was to test out how strong the pair was.

“You step back for a bit. I’m going to see exactly how strong they are.”

Eloa stretched her arm, the space was torn open and the Sword of Covenant responded to her call, revealing its brilliant appearance.

The remaining six letters on the sword’s surface glowed as a magenta-colored light reflected in her eyes.

“Hereby, I declare a covenant.”

Using all six of her covenants, she strengthened her legs, arms, and backs, using two covenants for each one.

This was the most she could do to strengthen her body.

Anymore than this, her body wouldn’t be able to take it.

There were more than a thousand of these guys remaining.

That was why efficiency was the key here as she still needed to face the Red Knight and Xochitl herself after dealing with all the White Knights.

At that moment, the White Knights finally entered their view.

-Clank, clank, clank!

With a spear in each of their hands, the moment they saw Eloa, they immediately launched their bodies forward.

Like a well-trained army, their movements were symmetrical. Their white armor shone in the dim light.

“Watch.”

Eloa made a stance, twisting her waist downward until the tip of her sword touched the ground to her right.

She looked like she was about to swing a baseball bat in full swing rather than swinging a sword.

“Haaap!”

She took a deep breath.

The tip of the White Knights’ spear at the forefront had almost reached her.

Even while knowing that, she just closed her eyes, not making any movement to react against the attack.

She stayed still,even stopping to breathe, as if she had entered the state of meditation.

When the tip of the spear almost touched her forehead…

And when Siwoo was about to stretch his ribbon to protect her.

She forcefully opened her eyes.

Her feet burrowed into the cement floor and…

——————!!!!

A roaring sound, like hundreds of tons of dynamite exploding in a narrow tunnel reverberated through the space.

At the same time, a torrent of force that didn’t seem like it came from a sword swing came out from Eloa’s sword.

Well, that was only a guesswork that Siwoo made from Eloa’s changed posture. It seemed like she had ‘swung her sword’, but the only thing he could see was flashbang-like light that flashed up in an instant before disappearing.

After that…

-Boooom!

The thirty two White Knights, some were still in the air, some were running along the tunnel walls, some throwing their spears at her…

They were the ones who started their attacks first, but Eloa’s blow connected much faster than theirs did.

The extent of the destruction her attack caused could be compared to that of a storm, definitely didn’t look like something that would come out of a sword swing.

A shockwave began to spread around her and the White Knights’ form began to distort.

As if they were being pressed by an invisible press machine, their entire armors shattered as pieces of metal were flung out like fish scales.

About twenty White Knights were caught up in that blow and all of them were cut in half.

Their remnants tumbled around and for a while, the sound of dozens of empty cans being kicked around echoed in the tunnel.

But, even after all that, the tunnel walls were unscathed.

Only some of the fabrics that were clinging onto it were cut.

That was how masterful the control of her power was. She only aimed to cut the White Knights while being mindful of her surroundings and she did exactly that.

“…Phew…”

Eloa lowered her sword before taking a deep breath.

Standing behind her, Siwoo could only watch with his mouth half-open.

He knew that as a 23rd rank witch, Eloa was strong.

However, after witnessing her actual strength first-hand, he genuinely felt the stark difference between both of them.

It was as if she possessed an overwhelming force that was capable of crushing through everything in her way.

“That’s what cutting with all your strength looks like.”

Eloa looked at Siwoo.

Seeing the precious disciple she desperately wanted to protect, she couldn’t help but open her mouth.

Forgetting the graveness of the situation, Siwoo almost clapped his hands to applaud her.

“Amazing…”

“Don’t clap. Also, don’t let your guard down.”

“Ah, r-right.”

Before he could, she had already prevented him from doing so.

She wasn’t being overly strict or anything, though. Their enemies could tell where they were from that clapping sound. There was also a possibility that the sound could activate a trap installed in the workshop.

Though, it was clear that she was happy from hearing his praises, considering that the corners of her mouth twitched up and down repeatedly.

The only reason why she didn’t break into a smile immediately was because she didn’t want them to let their guard down and end up committing some kind of grave mistake while they were at it.

“Let’s go. We aren’t done yet.”

Looking at Eloa, who quickly turned around and started walking forward, Siwoo couldn’t help but wonder if he would even get a chance to fight tonight.