Chapter 110: The House of Flesh (4)

The frenzied witch rampaged even more violently, recklessly tearing through the grand hall with her force.

"You naughty children!"

But Varos and Serati managed to counter her with relative ease, largely thanks to the sloppiness of her attacks. Her punches and kicks were so obvious that avoiding them and retaliating was almost laughably simple. Moreover, Karnak's well-timed spells added to their advantage.

"Force Rope!"

A magical rope flew out and coiled around the witch's limbs. Although she broke free almost instantly, her movements slowed for a brief moment. Karnak took advantage of the pause and summoned a net of electricity to block her retreat.

"Lightning Stun!"

The ground morphed and surged upwards into a massive hand that grabbed the witch, immobilizing her.

"Fist of the Ground!"

In this setting, the hand wasn't made of earth but instead resembled a giant confectionery creation. Karnak was using his magic to disrupt her movements, rather than aiming to damage the witch directly. He was creating opportunities for Varos and Serati to exploit. The group steadily pressured the witch while navigating the hall of sweets. They clearly had the upper hand.

Still, the witch wasn't easy prey. Despite being repeatedly slashed and struck by spells, she refused to fall.

"Show me your hands! Let me see how plump they are!"

"I know it's nonsense, but hearing it over and over is seriously grating."

Grumbling, Serati dodged a downward kick from the witch before slicing upward with her aura blade. As before, she used the witch's own momentum to land a counterstrike. Again, she managed to inflict a clean wound on the witch. Yet the witch healed as quickly as she was injured.

"Show me your forearms! Let me see!"

Varos retreated a few paces while clicking his tongue. "I don't think that line was from any fairy tale."

The fight dragged on in the same pattern. They were clearly cornering the witch, but they couldn't land a decisive blow. While her attacks were a mess, her movements were another story. Not only was she unnervingly fast, but her next actions were impossible to predict.

Varos furrowed his brow in confusion.

Why are her attacks so obvious, but her movements impossible to read?

Even with her speed, such blatant movements should have been easy to anticipate—especially for someone with Varos's experience.

Could it be...?

He narrowed his focus, studying only the witch's hands and feet. The witch pushed off the ground with both feet, leaping into the air.

What? Her movements don't align with the actual flow of force.

She was merely mimicking the act of jumping, but actually gliding through the air instead of propelling herself. It was almost as if she was a ghost.

So that's why the others fell so easily.

Once he understood the trick, finding a countermeasure wasn't difficult. Varos slipped behind the witch as she pivoted and jumped toward him. Or rather, pretending to jump.

Sorry, but I've fought plenty of opponents who move like this.

He had faced countless opponents who moved like ghosts.

He calmly tracked her movements and swung his aura blade.

Having faced similar foes countless times, Varos had no trouble matching her movements. Calmly, he swung his aura blade.

Boom!

This time, his strike landed squarely on her side, sending her reeling. She hadn't had the chance to evade. A grotesque laugh escaped her lips as dark ichor sprayed from her wound. The witch retaliated, clawing wildly at the air.

"Ke-he-he-he!"

Varos, unshaken, smoothly redirected his blade. While Serati had to carefully gauge openings and take precise movements to use the witch's force against her, Varos required no such movement.

"Ha!"

In an instant, Varos's aura blade shifted to a cool blue hue. The witch's relentless assault skidded off as if repelled by an invisible shield. His blade glowed red once more, and he launched into a flurry of strikes.

The red aura symbolized strength yielding to flexibility, while the blue represented flexibility yielding to strength. Though he had not yet reached the heights of a purple knight, capable of seamlessly harmonizing both energies, Varos could momentarily switch between them to achieve a similar effect.

This technique also allowed him to conserve aura by intentionally fluctuating its levels. It was a practice common among seasoned knights.

"Take this!"

His strikes rained down like a storm, slicing through the witch's robe. Black smoke gushed from the wounds, spilling into the air like fountains of darkness. Just as the enraged witch prepared to unleash another wild attack, Varos's eyes gleamed sharply.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Now!

He stepped forward, pivoted his body, and unleashed a long horizontal slash. In that moment, his aura blade flickered between red and blue, delivering a devastating blow.

Boom!

With an explosive sound, the witch's entire right arm shattered into pieces.

Satisfied, Varos murmured to himself, "Guess I haven't gotten rusty after all."

***

The witch, now armless, raised her head expressionlessly. Darkness swirled and gathered around her shoulder, and in no time, the arm regrew. Varos wasn't fazed.

"Monsters empowered by necromancy regrowing limbs? That's as common as dirt."

The

monster who regained her arms

glanced at him with a suspicious expression.

—You're not saying that for

my

benefit, are you?

—What can I say? I used to be in the same boat.

Chuckling softly, Varos turned to Serati and shared his insight about the witch.

—Think of it like fighting a ghost. Once you adjust to that mindset, her movements will start to make sense.

—I'm not sure I can pull that off.

He spoke as if it were the easiest thing in the world, leaving Serati uncertain whether it was a sign of trust or just his inability to recall how difficult it was for beginners.

Well, I might as well try now that he's told me.

Focusing intently, Serati fixed her gaze on the witch. The witch, oddly enough, stood perfectly still with a detached expression.

Why isn't she moving?

The usual nonsensical muttering and eerie laughter were gone. She looked more like a lifeless doll. Then, without warning, the witch opened her mouth. From the pitch-black void inside, a bizarre sound erupted, "Grrrrr!"

It wasn't a voice but a harsh, grating noise—entirely devoid of anything human, like pure, inorganic static.

"Grrrrroooar!"

The confectionery hall began to shake violently as though an earthquake had struck. The ceiling and walls warped and bulged as piles of chocolate, sugar, cookies, and cake fused into grotesque masses. Within moments, an army of candy soldiers, sugar tigers, and confectionery dragons filled the hall. The monstrous candy creations let out thunderous roars, somewhere between endearing and grotesque.

"Kyahaha!"

"Graaaaah!"

"Kyaoooo!"

Serati scanned the room and clicked her tongue. "What is this? Did she give up on hand-to-hand combat?"

The candy creatures swarmed from all directions, threatening to overwhelm them. The candy monsters couldn't be underestimated just because they were made of sweets. Their outer appearance may have been candy, but their actual durability was comparable to steel.

Of course, an aura-user's blade could slice through steel, but there were simply too many of them. Dealing with each one individually would drain too much stamina.

"Graaaah!"

Varos frowned as he hacked away at the horde of candy monsters.

—This is really getting annoying.

The witch was manipulating the entire candy hall under her influence, transforming its components into her minions. It was much like the earlier encounter with the slime monsters in the corridor. The solution, then, would likely be the same.

—Can't you do something about this, young master?

—Not right now.

Unlike before, they now had an audience. With so many eyes watching, Karnak couldn't recklessly use necromancy. Only his chaos magic could be used safely in this situation.

Serati gestured toward the hall's entrance with her eyes.

—Should we relocate?

—No need for that.

Karnak glanced briefly at the cages, his eyes gleaming.

—This is the perfect opportunity for me to test out a new spell.

***

Karnak's chaos magic was originally devised to harness chaotic mana for conventional spellcasting. The magic itself didn't stray too far from traditional formats. However, after he had absorbed the soul of Detzras, things changed.

The Black God's cult had pioneered a method that merged necromancy and traditional magic, using it in innovative ways. Karnak stole that methodology, blending the strengths of both necromancy and magic to create a new breed of chaos magic. He raised his staff and pointed it toward the oncoming candy monsters.

—A Fireball is powerful, but it only travels in a straight line before exploding.

Thus, a Fireball required precise control and spatial awareness to maximize their impact. A straightforward trajectory would make it too easy for enemies tot dodge, and a detonation in an unintended location would just be a waste of mana.

—On the other hand, the Fox Orb from necromancy is foolproof in hitting its target, but its firepower is abysmally wea

Fox Orb guided itself toward its target with uncanny precision, requiring minimal effort from the caster. Dodging it was nearly impossible.

The issue was that it was easy to destroy mid-air due to its low energy output. But what if you could combine these two concepts?

Lifting his staff high, Karnak chanted an incantation. "O searing flames of the burning soul, heed my will and strike my foes!"

A massive flaming fox materialized, radiating intense heat as it glided through the air. As it charged forward, it split into dozens of smaller fox-shaped flames, darting across the hall. Each fox flame struck its mark unerringly, hitting every candy monster that filled the hall.

Booom!

The hall erupted into a sea of fire. Black smoke billowed from every corner as the explosions reverberated throughout the space. The cages overhead swung violently amidst the chaos.

Karnak grinned with satisfaction. "Not bad. The power's pretty solid."

Though it was originally based on a fourth circle spell, Fireball, the modified magic delivered destructive power on par with a sixth, or even seventh, circle spell.

Varos observed the smoldering remains of the shattered candy monsters and whistled in admiration.

—Wow, that's seriously impressive.

The spell delivered necromancy's pinpoint accuracy combined with traditional magic's overwhelming destructive force.

—But there are still so many of them left.

Every single fox flame had struck true—none had missed. Yet the witch had summoned hundreds of monsters, not just dozens.

—Just give it a moment.

Karnak muttered irritably, slamming the butt of his staff against the candy floor.

—It's not over yet.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

With each impact of the staff, faint ripples of light spread across the floor. These ripples seeped into the candy beneath, causing it to tremble ominously.

"Rise, spirits of the earth!"

From the candy-covered floor, mounds of cookies erupted, transforming into towering giants made of sugar. Varos and Serati stared in astonishment. This wasn't the usual golem summoning they were familiar with.

—Huh?

—Is that even possible?

As aura-users, they could sense the overall nature of the energy at play. A powerful surge of mana infused with necromantic force enveloped the piles of candy, shaping them into golems. Without employing necromancy, Karnak was using only chaos magic to disrupt the witch's control and assert his own influence over the domain.

—Of course it's only possible for me.

Karnak smirked arrogantly and continued chanting his spell.

"The laws of darkness bend to my command...."

A black aura began to radiate from the golems.

"Go forth, my servants! Strike down my enemies as I command!"

The cookie giants roared to life, thundering forward with earth-shaking steps.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

***

Stronoff stood at the edge of the hall, utterly dazed as he watched the spectacle unfold.

"How... how is that even possible?"

As a sixth circle mage and a member of the Brigade of Purification, Stronoff had faced countless necromancers in his time.

So he could be certain. This was something entirely new. The cookie golems were unmistakably emitting the dark energy of necromancy, yet the force controlling them was undeniably mana. That young mage had somehow used pure magic to seize control of the witch's necromantic constructs.

"Does magic like this really exist?"