The Apostle didn't feel a sense of crisis, but he acknowledged that these beings were not to be ignored, simply from seeing them demolish the wall.
He raised his hand, and two women with sparkling eyes stepped out from behind him.
"This is only the second time it's been breached since it was built," one of them said. She was on the left of where Enkrid was looking, and her eyes were blue.
To be precise, her eyes were like blue stones embedded in her sockets.
There was no boundary to the pupil, just bright blue pebbles embedded instead of eyeballs. Eyes with no pupils, only a faint, flickering blue light.
If described in words, it might sound somewhat cool, but seeing it directly in front of you, it simply looked monstrous.
If they put those in for style, wouldn't that be the real madness? Enkrid read the aura exuded by the two newly appeared women.
'Witches.'
He was correct.
They were also the owners of the strange rumors about the Crystal Prison.
Not only their eyes, but parts of their bodies also resembled sparkling stones. The earlier rumor in the village about being trapped in a Crystal Prison meant becoming a plaything for these two witches.
The wall of vengeful spirits, had collapsed, but the master of the black lightning, the wardens of the Crystal Prison, and the one responsible for all of this still remained.
"I shall make you one of my collections."
The red-eyed woman, who had been silent, stared intently at Enkrid before suddenly speaking. It was a sign that she liked his appearance.
For a brief moment, no one from either side spoke.
By this time, Shinar should have heard the witch's words and interjected, but she was only glaring at the corrupted fairy, her hand on her Leaf Sword.
Ropord felt the emptiness was very awkward and added a remark.
"A demonic charm that even seduces witches."
At that remark, everyone looked at him.
What's wrong with him now?
That kind of look.
"...Is it because there's no savage, you're taking his place?" Fel rebuked.
Roford thought he had spoken unnecessarily and fell silent. If he added more words here, he'd only expose weaknesses.
There was no need to deliberately leave them something to tease him about. Enkrid blinked once. What did he mean by "seduces" anyway, not just "charms"? And he had never seen either of these two witches before.
He then returned his gaze, which had briefly turned to Ropord, forward and replied politely. "...I decline."
"Alright. See you later."
The red-eyed witch was full of confidence.
"Who was the first?"
Luagarne suddenly asked.
The witch's earlier comment about this being the second collapse had provoked her.
There was someone else besides them who had the idea of breaking down the wall? Curiosity made the Frog's mouth move.
The lord looked at the Frog who had spoken, vowing to roast her alive, and waved his hand.
At that gesture, from behind the corrupted fairy, a chilling shrrrrriing sound, like sharpening a knife on a whetstone, announced the rising of a golem-like creature clad in crystal armor and wielding a crystal sword.
The crystal's color was murky and pitch-black.
It was the same type of creature that had blocked Enkrid's thrown spear, but up close, he could see it wasn't black armor but crystal.
It was smaller than Audin, but looked just as nimble.
"You are fools, intoxicated by omnipotence, who have come looking for your own graves."
The lord spoke, and Enkrid, instead of replying, raised Duskforged and swung it through the air.
To an outsider, it would have seemed an inexplicable act. Why suddenly swing a sword in the air?
It might appear so to an ordinary person, but there were no ordinary people present here. Everyone felt that Enkrid had just severed something invisible with that sword swing. Ping.
While no actual sound like that occurred, the blue-eyed witch seemed to hear such a sound within herself.
"You?"
She had secretly chanted and used a curse spell a moment ago, but it was cut off midway. And with just one sword swing.
According to her understanding, this was impossible.
That sword swing had merely cut through empty air, and her spell must have been interrupted by another mage.
That had to be it.
Or perhaps there was an artifact or magical tool that blocked spells. So that sword swing had to be a coincidence.
"Mine too."
Her companion, who had red stones embedded in her eye sockets, also spoke.
At that moment, the man in front of her had just swung his sword upward after bringing it down. Simultaneously, the flow of magic was severed.
The spell wasn't broken by an impurity interrupting its manifestation, nor was it shattered. The spell was cut.
It seemed impossible that a spell could be cut, but...
'That's how it feels.'
The blue-eyed witch thought so, and Enkrid looked at both of them, thinking something else. 'It's a bit easier now.'
The experience of cutting the walking fire that had repeated today, the experience of cutting a fireball before that, and the time spent with Esther.
All of that had condensed, and now, Enkrid could even cut invisible spells.
Jaxen, especially keen, felt what Enkrid had done more clearly than the others and asked, "Did you cut it?"
"Yeah." Enkrid's reply was simple.
"...What the." the blue-eyed witch muttered.
When a knight and a witch fight, the knight usually has the advantage.
A swordsman's sword skills are more effective when facing a single opponent rather than multiple.
However, there are cases where a witch or mage has the advantage. That's when they can manifest their spells in a prepared location.
This was such a time.
For the two witches, this place was their front yard, and they had buried tools to aid their spells throughout the surrounding land.
This was separate from the collapse of the thornbriar wall.
That wall was originally a 'gift', so it didn't belong to them, and its removal actually made it easier to cast spells. In many ways, the conditions were favorable.
"O Red Foot!"
The red-eyed witch was full of doubt.
The same thing had happened twice, but she couldn't easily believe it.
'He cut the spell?'
Listening to the conversation between the 'collection piece' she had chosen out and another 'collection piece candidate', it seemed like cutting spells was an established fact amongst them, but all of it must have been a coincidence or a trick.
She cried out the epithet of the demon she served and unleashed her magic. The artifacts buried throughout the ground reacted.
Drrdddrrrr.
The air trembled, and a large, circular disc formed in the air above the 'collection piece's' head. Red light flashed within that circle.
CRASH.
The sound echoed after it.
It was lightning.
But not ordinary lightning—it was the forbidden magic known as Hellfire Lightning. To cast it required substantial preparation and sacrifices.
For this spell, Red Eyes had expended three tools to assist her magic.
The three artifacts she had buried somewhere underground would have crumbled to dust. She did not hesitate to use the prepared sacrifice.
Even so, the outcome she wanted did not occur.
"...Ah."
An emotional gasp escaped her lips.
Her chest, which had been repeatedly modified and hardened like stone beneath the strangely adhesive black leather clothing, trembled slightly.
The red-eyed witch remembered something she had forgotten, something she hadn't needed until now.
It was an emotion called fear.
Just before the sky opened and red light fell, everyone reacted. They all knew how to deal with spellcasters.
The absolute basic rule was that if a spell manifested into a phenomenon, one should escape its range and avoid it.
However, the spell cast by the red-eyed witch was a forbidden art that even predicted such reactions.
If the 'Walking Fire' was a long-burning fire, then 'Hellfire Lightning' was something that instantly incinerated.
The sacrifice used for the spell was a shaman who could read constellations—to be precise, a sentient being with spiritual power used as a magic reservoir, its life force burned to fuel the spell—which made it a forbidden art.
It was also a spell so fast that a knight, no matter how quickly they moved, could not avoid it. For her, it was like suddenly pulling out one of her trump cards.
It was far better to regret using it than to die while saving it. The red-eyed witch was no ordinary witch.
She was experienced in combat.
That is, she knew how to fight.
That's why she immediately manifested a forbidden art, a spell that would burn a knight to the bone if hit, even if they couldn't avoid it.
Enkrid accelerated his thoughts just before the red-eyed witch opened her mouth. It wasn't intentional.
Again, Will reacted on its own.
Why?
The answer came simultaneously with the question, and the reason for its speed was that he already knew before he even asked himself why.
"Whatever preparations are made, a spell always has a premonition before it manifests. That could be a shout, or a hand gesture. Sometimes it manifests without a hand gesture or voice, but the important thing is that magic moves. If you can feel that, you can know in advance."
That's what Esther had said.
She also said that a mage's battle was a battle of how well they hid their magic manifestation, and that there were many ways to prevent it from being blocked even if known.
If swordsmen use every means to win when fighting with swords, why wouldn't mages? The idea that the origin is the same would apply here too.
If a mage wants to fight, even if the form is different from a swordsman's fight, the principle would be the same.
A swordsman would read lines of attack from eye movements, momentum, hand gestures, foot movements, and the tension in muscles.
Enkrid applied that to mages. He felt the flow of magic.
His five senses combined, opening the realm of a sixth sense, and the harmonized senses coalesced, visualizing something that allowed him to see.
In front of him, a black line was just about to sway and rise. That line would rise straight up and soar as if piercing the sky. That's how it appeared.
Should he call it a prediction or insight?
There was no need to distinguish between the two.
Enkrid's cognitive process, in terms of time, began even before the red-eyed witch uttered the word 'Red' and before the sentence was completed.
To him, the red-eyed witch's words sounded like 'Rrrrrrrrrrred Fooottttt', and he felt as if time had stretched, which allowed him to move in advance.
Originally, he had intended to avoid it. There was no reason to take the hit.
That mage's spell was difficult to avoid because it came from beyond perception, but since he had already perceived it, avoiding it shouldn't be difficult.
The moment one of his segmented thoughts leaned towards an evasive maneuver, Duskforged
hummed.
It was reacting to his Will.
It was as if the sword was speaking.
Avoid it? Why?
The sword asked.
Enkrid was at a loss for words.
During this brief exchange, several more thoughts flashed through his mind.
'If there's no reason to avoid it.'
Also, if he avoided it here, the lightning, clumped with fire, would have lost its target and could strike anywhere.
He had already learned the trick when cutting the 'Walking Fire'. What else was needed here?
'Nothing.'
His segmented thoughts converged into one, and his will rose, adding power to Will. Before the witch's words ended, Enkrid's left foot stepped forward one pace to the left. He extended his left foot and took a stance.
The surging Will settled in his eyes, capturing the falling lightning.
A long, red mass, falling and burning as if tearing in a zigzag, its end looked blunt, but it would reveal the violence hidden within that bluntness when it touched something.
The magnitude of the violence contained within it would instantly turn dozens of people to ash.
After pouring Will into Duskforged again, Enkrid held his sword up to the falling 'Hellfire Lightning' and cut.
The red-eyed witch, watching, could not distinguish the beginning and end of Enkrid's
movement.
In her eyes, she only saw the man who had stopped in a stance where he gripped the hilt with both hands and brought his sword down, immediately after the 'Hellfire Lightning' fell.
Kwooorrr-le-le-le-le.
The forbidden spell 'Hellfire Lightning' split into two in mid-air as it fell, then scattered. Its remnants lingered, and red light flashed in the sky for a moment.
Sparks flew everywhere, each spark larger than a fist.
It looked like someone had lit red lanterns over the Demonic Domain's night. The flickering lights cast shadows on people's faces, then made them disappear. The rumbling roar continued.
It sounded like the noise of thunder growling just before it strikes, but everyone present knew. The lightning would not strike now.
That was because some madman had cut the spell.
Through the red-eyed witch's vision, the man standing in front of her came into view. He was calm and quiet.
And looking at him, she felt afraid.
It felt as if that man's blade would cut her neck at any moment.
A sword strike that would erase her very existence would come flying.
Fear amplified anxiety, and that anxiety caused her to lose control of her magic, which had backfired due to the spell's failure.
Magic churned and twisted her insides.
"Ugh."
The red-eyed witch vomited blood. The blood was very black.
Its color was no different from a monster's blood. Steam rose from Enkrid's mouth and forearm.
He remained motionless in that state.
Once when he cut the wall, and again now, cutting the spell. He had used Will excessively twice in total.
Now it was time to regain his breath for a moment.
Jaxen moved at that instant.
Mages are threatening when fighting head-on, but targeting their backs is a different matter.
The one who realized this was the indigo-skinned fairy, the corrupted fairy, who had been shooting black lightning.
"Behind you!"
The fairy's shout and Jaxen's gesture were almost simultaneous.