A Witch That Is Good at Hunting

Chapter 9: They Saw the Devil (4)

Witch.

That short word was an object of terror to humans of this age.

Just encountering one shattered the mind, with a gesture they raised fire, and they brought calamity.

Where a witch stayed, not even weeds could grow.

‘Damn…’

The appearance of a being beyond human filled the air with tension. Even twitching a finger felt dangerous.

The being who made two veteran hunters tense spoke with a hazy voice.

“…Hmm. Was it you… who killed my dog?”

Skin pale as a corpse. Hair long and shining like glass.

Even her brows, lashes, and eyes looked as if they had been set with glass, a beauty so unreal it could not be human.

She glided gracefully down the half-broken staircase, each step seeming to bloom death beneath her feet.

Vigo smelled the scent of death from her, and Nike felt the stench of death from her.

Their hair bristled. Rowen, too, braced against the killing intent stabbing into her like needles.

Vigo reached into his coat and gave orders. The playfulness he had earlier was gone.

“Rowen, support from the rear. And Nike, this time fight under my- ”

Ssshhhk!

A sharp sound. Light flashed in the air.

“Kek?”

Without warning, a sharp glass shard pierced Nike’s forehead.

His head snapped back.

His wide eyes seemed not to understand he was dead. Blood flowed from his eyes and nose.

His body trembled, then went still.

“Huh, this is troublesome.”

“N… Noo!”

Nike had died standing.

Even Vigo, whose expression rarely changed, was taken aback.

“The Glass Witch…”

The magic of a witch who had lived a hundred years was horrifyingly dangerous. Her movement had no preparation, no gesture.

She had created something from nothing and killed him. There was no injustice greater.

“The noisy dog is dead… Now only an old hound and a fledgling remain?”

Her chilling eyes swept over the two hunters. Her gaze alone pressed down on them.

It had been long since her watchdog had been slain. She had only stepped out in mild surprise, but found amusing pests in her yard.

‘That old man looks dangerous…’

The leader of stray dogs who had trespassed. He wasn’t an easy prey.

She recalled a hunter from long ago.

Back then she had been weaker, so she had lured him carefully and killed him slowly.

Now it was different. Killing two hunters was nothing to her now.

At her gesture, another shard of glass formed in the air with a chilling sound, like the one that had pierced Nike.

“Let’s not be troublesome, I’d prefer if you just die.”

“Rowen, as trained.”

“Yes!”

Rowen was drawing a throwing knife when the witch’s glasslike eyes suddenly wavered.

“Well well, what is this?”

“…Huh.”

Vigo and Rowen both froze.

Craaack.

In the cold darkness, the ashen figure whose head had been snapped back was rising like a zombie.

“Nike…?”

The boy pierced through by the witch’s shard was standing again.

Vigo, Rowen, even the witch herself, were caught off guard.

Kwooooom!

The tight tension burst, and the wind howled.

With a flash of steel, dust exploded.

Vigo and Rowen turned their heads quickly, struggling to grasp what had happened. It had been too fast.

Rowen could not believe her eyes. The knife she had just drawn was gone.

Her gaze darted to find it. But when she spotted it, it was high up the staircase.

“…Ug, ghk?”

The witch was clutching at her neck, a knife buried deep.

In a blink, a blade had struck her slender throat.

She touched it, as if to see if it was real. Her fingertip was cut. It was a real blade.

“What…?”

Her pupils shifted forward.

She saw a boyish face grinning back at her.

The boy she had killed had leapt like lightning and driven a blade into her neck.

“Witch… slaughter!”

The triumphant cry was watched in shock by the witch, Vigo, and Rowen alike.

Inside the settling dust, only Nike’s roar and the witch’s groan remained.

“Ugh— kgh, kegh.”

The witch staggered back, blood pouring down her white throat.

This shouldn’t have been happening. Blood streamed down her pale white neck.

She stared with fading glass eyes at the ashen boy.

“You…”

Her eyes widened. One of the boy’s pupils glowed red.

That crimson light carried power. What she felt from it, was the blessing of the stars, exclusively reserved for witches.

Just like the glass eye she had, this boy had the demonic eye.

“A witch…? No- ”

Crack!

She wasn’t able to finish. Nike seized her head and twisted her neck.

Then, savoring victory, Nike turned to Vigo. With his face drenched in blood, he asked brightly,

“Order?”

Scratching the back of his head, Vigo stammered.

“Uh, well… n-nothing. Good job. Yeah, good job.”

* * *

…The witch had fallen.

Neither Vigo nor Rowen had even acted. It had all happened before they could move.

Before they realized it, Nike had driven a blade into her throat. She collapsed, bleeding from her mouth, streaming down to her neck.

“Witch. Slaughter—!”

Nike raised his arms in triumph. Rowen couldn’t see his expression as he was turned around, but she thought his face must be glowing with pride.

It was incredible, and Vigo still did not relax.

Instead, he quietly drew a silver pocket watch from his coat.

“M-Master?”

“Rowen, stand behind me. The witch is not dead yet.”

And indeed, the veteran was right.

The witch who had collapsed, blood pooling from her neck, soon opened her eyes again as if nothing had happened. Slowly, she rose.

Her body creaked unnaturally.

Nike instinctively stepped back. Even he had never seen such a thing.

“…Monster!”

As he cried, waves of magic spread from her.

Clang, clang.

She tore the knife from her throat and threw it, and the sound echoed on the steps.

Her eerie voice flowed like music.

“Boy. What… are you?”

The witch raised her head. The wound was gone.

Witchly regeneration was near to immortality. As long as their mana remained, ordinary wounds could not kill them. Unless the brain or heart is destroyed, they would rise again.

A witch was hard to kill, powerful, and cruel.

Few humans could keep their sanity facing such beings.

The first floor was filled with mana. The air died, and it started to reek of rot.

It was the signal of true danger. The witch was serious now.

The stronger her malice, the fouler the stench.

“Nike, run! It is dangerous!”

Vigo hurriedly shouted, gripping a black scythe of shadow.

He ordered Rowen to stay outside, then rushed into the lobby to protect Nike.

No matter how strong Nike was, it was impossible to guarantee victory against a witch of a hundred years.

She was also especially enraged. His earlier strike had only landed because she had been careless.

It was a witch whose mana could fill the mansion in seconds which was beyond ordinary.

Vigo had to step in.

Shing!

His shadow scythe wailed sharply.

But he was slightly late.

As he moved, rainbow light sparked around her eyes, a massive circle carved into the floor, and then…

Kwaaaaaah!

Rainbow flames engulfed the mansion.

It was the power of stars.

A song of calamity.

A death seed bargained from an evil god.

It was magic.

* * *

“Kghhh!”

The mansion exploded and was blown apart without resistance.

Debris flew, pillars snapped, and the roof collapsed. A glittering glass fire rose over the ruins.

It was simply a disaster.

Humans could not create such flames.

They glittered sharp, with physical presence.

Only a witch who borrowed an evil god’s power could wield such fire.

Luckily, Vigo had escaped in time. He had wrapped himself in shadow, surviving within the inferno.

“Master!”

“Rowen, are you alright!”

“Y-Yes, I am fine!”

He checked her. She was unharmed, thanks to him sending her out just in time.

“Damn it. Rowen, prepare for battle!”

“Huh? Does that mean Nike is…”

“He is dead! Not even he could live through an explosion like that. But the witch is the priority!”

The flames were infused with mana. Even Nike’s regeneration could not withstand that. And the witch wouldn’t have repeated her mistake.

The witch’s presence still burned within the ruin.

Her aura raged violently. She was clearly very furious.

Intruders had killed her familiar, stabbed her throat, and burned her home...

Now no one would leave alive.

Vigo’s hawk-like eyes scanned the fire. The next strike could come from anywhere.

“Drink your potion now!”

He pulled out a green vial and drank deeply. Rowen followed.

“Khp.”

“Haah. Hah.”

Their breathing quickened, and their hearts pounded faster.

Blood vessels swelled in their eyes. Their bodies surged with power, and their vision was sharpened enough to see mana itself.

“There!”

“…Yes, in the fire.”

The moment they saw her, the witch stepped calmly out of the flames.

Her white dress was untouched.

“A witch who shapes even flame from glass shards… Rowen, stay alert. She is more dangerous than I thought.”

“Yes!”

“Considering you’re charging at me again without fear, I wonder if you are stupid or confident... Perhaps you take me lightly?”

“It’s not that we are taking you lightly, witch. We are fighting because we are hunters, you fool.”

Vigo spat back at her, with his stance firm.

Rowen, too, readied herself into a battle stance with her sword-stick.

“Dogs of the Order. Tonight I will make wine of your blood, and for dessert, pluck out your tongues and eyes.”

Snap!

She flicked her fingers, and the glass flames whirled into her hand.

A massive rainbow fireball formed. It was like the corpse of a frozen star.

It was beautiful.

As beautiful as it was deadly.

Glass shards of the ruined mansion rose, joining into a storm.

Without long chants or gestures, she commanded fire and glass.

There was a reason why she survived a hundred years.

‘Let down my guard for an instant, and I die.’

The fight could not be prolonged.

Vigo, after becoming deadly serious, tried to cut through the shadow of the night.

But then, a black shadow appeared behind her.

-Crack!

A fist wrapped in flame burst through her chest. She wasn’t even able to groan.

Her burnt, torn skin split, and because of that, a round eye rolled from her shoulder.

“…!”

“Kehehehehe… Hunt!”

Rowen covered her mouth.

Nike was burning.

His whole body aflame, flesh melting away.

His skin dripped, exposing muscle, bone, and eyes.

Even as his eyeball slid free, he drove his fist through her heart.

Was he in pain?

No.

He grinned, white teeth showing in the fire.

“You… how…? I burned your heart, didn’t I?”

The witch turned, trembling, eyes wide with disbelief.

Flame had melted his flesh, and glass shards had shredded his heart.

No witch, no matter how strong, could live with their mana-storing heart destroyed.

Her lips trembled. She felt fear from the unknown.

“Ho… how…”

She never finished her words. With her question unanswered, she died.

A witch could regenerate from wounds, but if brain or heart was destroyed, she died. Nike had precisely destroyed her heart.

His flaming fist ended a life of more than a hundred years in an instant.

He yanked his arm free and kicked her down. She fell forward.

When she struck the floor, her glassy hair shattered across the ground.

Crash!

The fire that engulfed the mansion grew stronger, consuming the ruins.

The beautiful blaze lit the night sky. Under that fiery art, a boy stood.

The rainbow fire that had consumed him slowly died away.

His burned body started to slowly restore itself.

New flesh grew over melted skin, his eyes returned to their sockets.

His charred hair regrew, returning him to his beautiful form.

It was unreal.

Grotesque yet beautiful.

It had been an object of fear and awe.

Vigo and Rowen, who witnessed it with their own eyes today, would never forget…

They saw the devil.