Chapter 67: Fighting the Witch

Alfrea was in charge of the wyvern. While they weren't quite as strong as dragons, they still had scales as tough as iron, and they could fly and breathe fire. The terrifying creature didn't faze Alfrea one bit, though. She wore a relaxed smile as she faced it. Wyverns were powerful monsters, sure, but she'd gone through such fights hundreds—if not thousands—of times before she'd been sealed.

For all of her childish behavior, Alfrea was the first saint. She'd risen to the occasion and had battled hordes of monsters to reach the witch at a time when saints hadn't been recognized by society. While she'd been sealed because of her carelessness, she was no pushover.

The main difference between Alfrea and most of her successors—excluding Ellize, who had no need for anyone—was that she'd never had an elite guard, hundreds of professional knights, and an army of soldiers scrambling to protect her. Saints had long since stopped fighting on the front line. They usually stood toward the back of the formation and cast long-range magic while soldiers and knights acted as meat shields, laying down their lives. In Alfrea's day, there was no one to retreat behind. And so, while she undoubtedly was a saint, her fighting style was the furthest thing from one.

"Are you ready to taste my blade, Mister Lizard?" Alfrea taunted, before commenting to herself, "Hang on, speaking of tasting things...wyvern meat's supposed to be yummy, right? I'll bring this bad boy home and ask Ellize to cook it for me."

Alfrea licked her lips without a care in the world.

Her forte was the use of darkness attribute spells—a type of magic that only the saints and witches could use. Such power was all about controlling darkness—a space which not even light could enter. In other words, having control over darkness meant having the ability to affect space itself. It was no wonder why only the proxies of the world could use such overwhelming magic.

Having activated her magic, Alfrea unsheathed two of the short swords she'd brought and threw them into the air. Instead of falling back down, they floated midair, as though held by invisible hands. Then, Alfrea unhooked another pair of short swords from her belt and flung them in the same fashion. She repeated the process another three times before grabbing the turtle shell she'd been carrying on her back and holding it up like a shield. Ellize had been the one to provide her with weapons and a brand new shield, but one could easily guess which unlucky turtle used to be Alfrea's shield in the past.

"Here I come!" she exclaimed.

At the very same time, the ten short swords that had been floating in the air flew toward the wyvern, slashing it violently. Alfrea remained behind her large shield while she attacked the monster from every direction at once. She'd encircled the wyvern with her swords, enabling her to masterfully attack its most vulnerable side at all times.

This was how Alfrea had survived so many fights against numerous opponents alone. Her logic was simple: if there were many enemies, she simply needed just as many weapons. Still, no matter how well-armed she was, she'd risk her life if she fought head-on. She'd concluded that it was better for her to fight while hiding. While it sounded quite contradictory, Alfrea had managed to pull it off. After some trial and error, she'd developed her ideal fighting style—fighting behind a shield prevented her from getting hurt and allowed her to beat up her enemies one-sidedly. Since Alfrea's swords weren't actually being held by anyone, they could move in ways that were impossible for a human. It also meant that Alfrea herself could simply pick up her shield and retreat if things took a turn for the worse. She was practically impossible to defeat. Such strategy was a tad villainous, but she'd still managed to create a strong and effective fighting style for herself.

She was applying the same logic today. She let her swords handle the fighting while she stayed right at the border of her range, a good distance away from the wyvern. She used barriers on top of her shield to block the blasts of fire it sometimes sent her way.

There was no way Alfrea could lose this battle; it was simply a matter of time before the wyvern fell.

Eterna had been feeling conflicted this entire time.

At first, she'd thought Ellize had been joking when she'd asked her to take on a monster by herself. Asking that of Alfrea, a saint, made sense, but she was just a normal girl who happened to have similar powers. She couldn't accomplish what Alfrea could.

According to the plan, the two of them had to deal with their respective targets quickly so that they could help John and the others with the other two monsters. When Ellize had announced that, Eterna hadn't been able to stop herself from feeling like the saint had picked the wrong person for the task. She'd even considered the idea that Ellize wanted her dead.

However, now that she was fighting the minotaur, she'd completely changed her mind. She didn't feel like she could lose.

The minotaur groaned as it swung its axe around. No matter what it did, though, it couldn't touch Eterna.

Ever since that day on the roof, Eterna had become able to use a peculiar power. She only needed a tiny bit of it to intercept any attack monsters threw her way.

Although she wasn't aware of it, she'd create a gap in the space around herself to isolate and block attacks. Needless to say, the minotaur, for all its brute strength, had no way to bypass this.

This little trick was the secret behind the saints' and witches' invincibility. When they warped space, no attack could reach them—unless it also had the ability to warp space. Monsters drew their powers from the witch, so they could do the same to some extent. That was how they were able to hurt saints. However, they had very little dark power—which also explained why regular people could kill them. All in all, it meant that a single monster had no hope of overpowering a saint's defense unless she was particularly out of it.

No way... Am I really going to win so easily?

The minotaur's attacks were incredibly ineffective, while Eterna's attacks were incredibly effective. It was a no-brainer.

When knights fought monsters, barely half of their offensive power actually reached the monster because of the dark powers they held. On the other hand, Eterna could also control space—and better than the monsters could, at that. As a result, her attacks were ten times more effective against them. In reality, monsters weren't any sturdier than regular animals once the protection that their dark magic gave them was bypassed.

A beam of light surged out of Eterna's fingertip as she exclaimed, "Luce!"

It went right through the minotaur's chest, and blood began to gush out freely.

"HA HA HA HA! Come on, dance!"

The three people who'd been put in charge of distracting the witch—Verner, Marie, and Supple—were currently locked in a difficult battle.

Image here:

The witch swung her staff, and a barrage of black bullets flew at them. They all managed to scatter and dodge, but a collective shiver ran down their spines when they saw the large holes the impact had left on the ground.

"Restrizione!" Supple chanted.

Supple knew he couldn't hurt the witch, but impeding her movements for a short time ought to be possible. He'd just used an earth attribute spell that made use of stones contained inside the ground to create stone chains. They erupted from the floor, attempting to ensnare his adversary.

"You pest!" the witch roared.

The next second, the chains started to grow. It was as though something invisible was swelling around the witch. Eventually, they shattered to pieces. All Alexia had had to do was expand the space around her.

"Freeze!" Marie said, concentrating her mana into an ice spell.

The witch's lower body, as well as the ground around her, froze, leaving her unable to move. Just like Supple, Marie had no intention to waste her energy trying to hurt the witch. Instead, she aimed to restrict her movements to buy them some time. That was the very reason Marie, who specialized in ice magic, had been chosen for this team.

However, her spell shattered just as easily as Supple's chains.

"How tepid!" the witch mocked. She spun her staff and added, "Take this!"

The earth under Verner's legs trembled, and he found himself pressed against the ground. The chain he always wore around his neck shattered, and the pendant Ellize had gifted him had fallen off.

Luckily for Verner, the witch had held back. She didn't want to kill any of her precious hostages. What would have been the point of asking for students to be sent to her if she mistakenly killed them? She needed to be careful and avoid hurting them too badly.

Alexia was drunk on her sense of superiority, and she'd even gone as far as to put additional restrictions on herself. Without these two weaknesses, the witch would have already gotten rid of Verner and his friends. However, limited by her own psyche as she was, the witch was merely toying with them—allowing them to buy the time they so desperately needed. Besides, Verner and his friends still had cards to play.

Verner screamed as a dark aura started seeping out of his body—the same as the witch's. His fist clenched around the pommel of his sword, and he slashed at the witch's abdomen. While he'd managed to push her back, he hadn't succeeded in injuring her stomach like he'd hoped.

They both used the same dark power, but Verner put out significantly less of it than Alexia could. As a result, not even a tenth of Verner's strength made it to the witch.

Still, Alexia noticed that her abdomen ached. She rested her hand on that spot, perplexed. She couldn't hide the look of astonishment that painted her features when she removed her hand and saw her blood. She'd been hurt. It shouldn't have been possible, and yet, the witch immediately realized what had happened.

"It's you! You're that boy! The one who inherited part of my powers!"

A long time ago, back when she'd still clung to her humanity and goodness, Alexia had severed a part of her soul in a last act of resistance. After turning into a full-fledged witch, she'd regretted her foolish ways. Still, she'd never forgotten that a part of her soul was out there, somewhere in this world.

Three years ago, she'd succeeded in tracking it down. Even though she'd cut it off herself, that piece of her soul was still hers. It resonated with her. After searching for it for a while, she'd found it. However, when she'd sent Oct to retrieve it, Ellize had intervened. From that point onward, she'd lost her ability to feel her missing powers altogether.

To think the thing she'd been searching for had come to her on its own! A wicked smile warped the witch's face. She was overjoyed to have found her lost treasure.

"What good luck... One of the children I lured here has my lost powers..."

"You're saying I have your powers?!"

"Indeed. I parted with them when I was but a foolish young girl. I knew it had taken shelter in your soul before you were even born, but I'd lost track of you for so long. I never thought you'd come to me yourself."

While the witch rejoiced, Verner's anger burned hot.

It's all her fault, he thought. I was treated like a monster and cast away because of her... No. None of that matters anymore. The one thing I'll never be able to forgive her for is...

"I don't have much longer to live. I have six more months...at best. It's very likely I won't be here to celebrate my next birthday."

If the witch hadn't left this cursed power inside of him, Ellize wouldn't have needed to save him on that fateful day. She wouldn't have had to shorten her life.

In less than six months, this world would lose Ellize for good. Verner knew that someone like her would never appear again. No one had ever done so much, saved so many people, and yet, she'd be dead in half a year. She wouldn't be able to move or smile ever again.

And this... All of it...

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAAAAAAULT!!!" Verner roared, a wave of darkness overflowing from him. His powers resonated with his anger. He looked like a demon; even the witch flinched.

Verner saw red; he'd forgotten all about his mission. He wasn't thinking about buying time, exhausting the witch, or even if his attacks were working anymore. He mindlessly slashed at her with his two-handed sword again and again, sparks flying around from his repeated hits.

"Urgh... Wh-What's wrong with him all of a sudden?!" the witch groaned.

Verner's vigor scared her, but she retaliated with magic attacks of her own. Still, none of it could quell Verner's fury. A large burn covered his flank, but he continued to strike at the witch as though he couldn't feel pain.

Echoes of his sword clanging against the witch's barrier rang out in the basement over and over again. Eventually, the witch brought her hands to her head to shield herself.

"YOU! IF ONLY YOU DIDN'T EXIST!" Verner screamed, tears rolling down his cheeks. He threw away his sword and jumped on the witch, straddling her.

While Verner's fury had scared her at first, the witch had managed to regain her cool.

"Don't push your luck, brat!" she cried, unleashing a blast of mana that sent him flying back.

She swung her staff and fired five bullets of fire. Marie used ice magic to stop them. Vapor rose upon the spells' impact, blocking everyone's line of sight.

Even if they couldn't see, they could still hinder the witch if their attacks covered a large range. Supple created dozens of stone bullets and sent them flying in the witch's general direction. Marie imitated him with her ice. As for Verner, he picked up his sword and rushed into the smoke, slashing blindly in front of him.

"Don't you dare look down on me, you brats! I'm the witch!" Alexia spat.

She distorted space. This time she'd used a lot more mana.

The witch's greatest advantage was her quasi-invincibility, but her sizable mana pool also gave her an edge. Since a spell was only as powerful as the amount of mana one poured into it, having a larger reserve directly translated into being stronger than one's opponent. Thus, if the witch were to attack the group seriously, there was no way for a regular person to block.

Verner, Marie, and Supple were blown away by Alexia's sheer power and violently smashed into the wall.

"You're not that bad, but at the end of the day, you're still nothing but—"

"Hey! Look! I see a careless idiot!" Alfrea said, kicking the bragging witch in her side.

Needless to say, the witch's invincibility was practically useless against the first saint. Alexia went flying.

Alfrea turned toward her allies and made a peace sign. "Yeah!"

The next moment, the witch's magic hit Alfrea—who'd stopped looking at her enemy in the middle of a fight—right in the head. She went flying.

Enter another careless idiot.

After crashing into the ground, Alfrea quickly got up, tears welling up in her eyes. "That hurts, you big dummy!"

She approached the witch and feigned a punch at her face with her right hand, only to suddenly perform a spear hand strike with her left. She followed up with a foot sweep, grabbed Alexia's head as the witch started falling, and smashed it into the ground.

"Wh-Who the hell are you?! How can you bypass my defense?!" Alexia asked, glaring up at Alfrea.

The witch felt fear well up inside of her. She needed to be cautious; for some reason, this girl could hurt her oh-so-easily. Alexia swung her staff as she jumped to her feet.

Alfrea easily parried with her bare hands before slapping Alexia across the face. The witch tried to respond with a blast of magic shot at point-blank range, as well as another physical attack with her staff, but it was no use.

"Oh my... That was close," Alfrea said. With a carefree tone, she grabbed Alexia's hand, casually twisted her wrist, and forced her to fire her magic into the wall. She also easily dodged the weapon swung at her before leaning in and pressing her fingertips to the witch's throat.

It was plain to see that Alfrea was hundreds of times better at close combat than her opponent.

"Huh? How come you're so weak?" Alfrea asked. "You don't know any martial arts, do you? Have you even fought anyone yourself? I can tell you've always hidden behind others. You know trying to use magic at this distance is a waste of time, right? It just shows you have no idea what you're doing. You gotta punch people when they're this close, got it?"

"Weak? Me...? You dare call me weak?!"

Although Alexia had also been a saint, things had been very different in her era compared to Alfrea's. Alfrea didn't have thousands of meat shields to hide behind. Sure, she'd learned how to keep herself safe by using strategies like the one she'd used against the wyvern, but she'd still had to survive battles where she was grossly outnumbered. Her body had been forced to adapt and learn to find ways to triumph over hordes of monsters, with their sharp fangs and claws.

Alexia's experience had been worlds apart. Saints weren't allowed to be close enough to monsters to risk getting hurt. She'd needed to train her magic, not her close-range fighting skills. Needless to say, the gap showed.

Alexia's troubles were far from over.

Eterna suddenly jumped in and fired a spell at her. The witch was about to flick it away with one hand, but an ominous feeling suddenly assaulted her. She decided to dodge.

Eterna's spell only barely grazed her shoulder, but a chill rippled through her body.

"N-No way... How? How could she bypass my defense too? This doesn't make any sense..."

The witch had never encountered anyone who could hurt her, let alone three people at once. While she panicked, the students gathered once more. They'd taken care of all the monsters and stone statues. Alexia finally realized that she was all alone.

They didn't give her any time to think, though.

Alfrea raised the staff Ellize had given her and released all of her mana at once. The area around Alexia warped and bent as the saint created a merciless space that destroyed everything within it.

"What?! No... Ellize isn't here, so how could that happen?! How can the saint be here?!" Alexia screamed, frightened.

A couple of seconds later, Eterna activated her magic. Once again, space distorted. Eterna started accumulating light magic inside of the space she'd just created.

"H-Her too?! Impossible... This is impossible! Why?! How?! How can there be two saints?!"

One saint per generation—that was the rule of this world. And yet, an anomaly had occurred. Besides, Ellize wasn't even there. Didn't that mean that there were three saints in total?!

"Let's go, my little Eterna! Follow my lead!"

"Yes, Lady Alfrea!"

Alfrea and Eterna cranked their output of mana up before hurling it all at Alexia.

"Super killer move! Ultimate Invincible Peerless Alfrea Baaaaaaall!!!"

"Hmm... Super, um...Amazing Ball!" Eterna exclaimed, trying to match Alfrea's peculiar naming sense.

Even though the names of their ultimate moves left much to be desired, their strength was the real deal. The best thing Alexia—who had no idea what was happening—could do was pour all of her mana into a last-minute barrier.

The next second, an eardrum-shattering explosion echoed throughout the basement.

(3.5k word count)

A/n: Man I just love alfrea she's so silly.