Spore Witch (2)

Though Mar was burning with rage, her mind remained cool as she assessed the current situation.

Purple flowers and mushrooms blooming around them. The spores drifting from them created a purple mist.

‘Spore Witch.’

The murderer who killed her mother.

Though Shade had tried to keep everything about her hidden until the end, Mar wasn’t the type to just sit quietly.

She had secretly sifted through the information Shade had gathered.

That’s why, even if not to the same extent as Shade, she could get somewhat close to the truth of the incident.

‘A big shot with a bounty on her head.’

Though her abilities weren’t well known, she was believed to have completely destroyed several small to medium-sized cities.

Only Shade and the Pantheon Temple that Lost belonged to, who had provided the information, likely knew about her abilities.

So it was certain.

‘She’s trying to lure me.’

Considering the Spore Witch’s true abilities, the purple flowers were bait.

The important thing was the mushrooms.

More precisely, the spores spreading from those mushrooms. A setup that allowed only those who knew about her to track her.

Mar didn’t know how impressive the Spore Witch’s abilities were. Still, it was hard to believe Shade would have lost to her.

But it was certain that Shade had been injured.

That alone was enough to confirm the current situation wasn’t heading in a good direction.

‘Well, she must be stronger than me at least.’

The opponent was a half-demon criminal who had blown away city-scale areas.

Though Mar had talent, she hadn’t accumulated enough experience to fully utilize it yet. She was no match for such an opponent.

Then why was she walking into such danger despite knowing this?

That was already a conclusion based on emotion rather than reason.

How could she stay still when the only family she had left was in danger?

There might be hope if she struggled until the end.

Mar had no choice but to bet her life on that slim hope.

“Haah…”

Traversing between buildings was her specialty. She climbed walls and leaped across roofs, breaking through an almost straight path while tracking the mushrooms blooming in shadowy places.

“…”

Following the traces through the buildings led her to the outer city wall.

Seeing the purple mushrooms blooming in the middle of it, Mar quickly climbed up and jumped over the wall.

“How very bold.”

What she saw upon climbing the wall was the sight of murdered wall patrol guards.

Seeing not just one or two but many meant the opponent had completely taken over this area and assassinated them before they could even notice.

Of course, she couldn’t hold out for long.

When the next patrol arrived, her criminal acts would be immediately exposed and the imperial knights would mobilize.

No matter how much of a half-demon she was who had destroyed several cities, she wouldn’t want to turn the imperial knights into enemies, so she’d have to flee by then.

In other words, this was the only chance to track her down.

“This is…”

Too obvious a trap.

It felt absurd that she was heading forward despite clearly knowing it was a trap.

Mar traversed the wide fields beyond the wall and reached the forest.

It was already night.

A place only open to hunters. Thus, even if a few people died here, no one would care.

Seeing that space with such clear intent, Mar felt death approaching.

“Why don’t you come out now? You’ve led me far enough.”

Mar pretended to be relaxed while tossing and catching her dagger in the air. If the opponent had really led her here, it was about time for her to appear anyway.

There was no point going deeper after being led to a place away from people’s eyes.

“Humans are quite troublesome, aren’t they? To walk into danger of their own accord, led by petty emotions… Hehehe.”

“Is that half-demon self-awareness? Quite extraordinary from your first words.”

Mar mocked her opponent.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the opponent who acted as if she stood at the pinnacle of species when she was just someone’s puppet.

A woman with red wavy hair and purple irises with one eye covered.

Mar quickly confirmed that the opponent’s appearance matched the information she had stolen from within Shade, then took the initiative.

Slash!

Can’t give time for unnecessary talk. Fortunately the opponent had appeared before her. Before she could be swayed by words, taking down the opponent would be best.

The moment she tried to start a conversation. The most vulnerable timing. Mar, who had received assassin training before becoming part of an information guild, didn’t miss that opening.

“Ah ah, this is…”

Though Mar had precisely cut her neck, she immediately pulled back at the voice that followed.

She doesn’t die even with her neck cut. Though expected since the opponent was a half-demon, the regeneration was ridiculous.

“Parent and child are just the same.”

“…”

“That human attacked me the same way too. Hehe.”

“Oh really? But you still got hit? Seems you’re dumber than I thought?”

Mar snorted at Margaret’s words trying to provoke her and drew her hidden second dagger.

A dagger for thrusting forward and one for reverse grip. Each specialized for stabbing and slashing respectively.

“Now I get it. There’s no way dad would lose to someone like you.”

“Is that so?”

Crack!

The Spore Witch, Margaret, grabbed her half-severed, dangling neck and returned it to its original position. Thread-like hyphae connected her body and neck.

“Ugh!”

Mar stuck out her tongue in disgust as if mocking her. Psychological warfare using her usual personality.

If the opponent was going to try to shake her, she would respond in kind.

“Hideous, isn’t it? I think so too. But if you look closely, there are some cute aspects?”

But Margaret, despite such blatant attitude, showed no displeasure and just kept saying what she wanted.

No matter what Mar did, the opponent was confident in victory. So rather than being wary of Mar, she was spouting useless talk about how mushrooms were what.

The conversation wasn’t working. Having belatedly confirmed this fact, Mar immediately began coating her daggers with poison.

“Hm.”

It’s good if the opponent looks down on her. That increases her chances. At the same time, it was certain that Shade hadn’t lost to the witch before her.

“No way dad would give even an arm to an idiot like you.”

Mar immediately rushed in and aimed for her opponent’s neck like before.

Of course, Margaret showed she had no intention of just taking it this time, slightly pulling her neck back to dodge the reverse-grip dagger.

Despite her still overflowing leisurely attitude, Mar didn’t falter and kept pressuring her opponent by alternating attacks with both hands.

Margaret seemed busy just blocking those attacks while staying rooted in place, looking down on Mar.

“I’ll kill you and draw out that bastard behind you.”

Slash!

Perhaps due to maintaining that attitude?

Wounds gradually began appearing on Margaret’s body.

Of course, since she dodged or blocked most attacks, the wounds were mere scratches at best.

But what if they accumulated?

Mar went all out against Margaret to the point of tasting sweetness in her mouth. The opponent didn’t even counterattack.

She just received Mar’s attacks.

‘No matter how stupid and arrogant, there’s no way she wouldn’t know it’s dangerous when poison stacks up multiple times.’

The situation was good. The opponent was an arrogant idiot with only strength.

Meanwhile, Mar was an avenger from an information organization who had been carrying items lethal to the opponent in anticipation of encountering the Spore Witch.

Holy water lethal to half-demons. And poison with herbicide components that could be expected from the alias Spore Witch.

The reason Mar carried poison at Shade after it transformed into an information organization was solely for this moment.

Indeed, the opponent’s regeneration ability had visibly deteriorated significantly since applying the poison.

However…

‘Why does she keep maintaining such a passive attitude?’

It’s not that the poison isn’t working.

It’s also not that the opponent is completely overwhelming Mar.

From the start she wasn’t a physical type half-demon, and the poison mixed with holy water was ruining her regeneration ability moment by moment.

Yet she stays still despite surely being able to predict such an obvious future?

“No…”

Mar immediately distanced herself as that thought occurred.

The premise might have been wrong.

Maybe she wasn’t stupid and arrogant.

What if all of it was preparation?

What if there was a reason she had to stay rooted in place, like a magician casting large-scale annihilation magic?

“Tch!”

Mar immediately threw the dagger in her hand at Margaret.

Not vital points like the heart or head. What she aimed for was literally the ankle that was rooted in place.

“Ah, found out.”

Thud!

Margaret didn’t move even seeing the dagger stabbing into her ankle.

She didn’t even bend down.

She stood stiffly in place as if she had become a tree.

“But this should be enough.”

Rumble!

Tree roots writhe from the ground around Margaret’s feet.

The roots that emerged from the ground fly toward Mar.

“Right, of course it wouldn’t be easy.”

Despite countless tree roots bearing down on her, Mar instead smiled as if relieved.

She confirmed what the opponent had hidden. That alone had value.

The situation was hopeless from the start anyway. Being able to confirm her methods like this was a good thing.

“Hup!”

Mar was a master of escape.

She was someone who used pickpocketing skills more than assassination techniques.

Mar’s mobility that had allowed her to reach her target even against Titan was among the most special of her abilities.

“This much…”

Mar threw herself between the irregularly writhing and constricting trees while spreading poison.

Poisons prepared for today.

Several dozen times the amount that had been applied to her daggers begins melting the tree roots. These tree roots were identical to Margaret’s flesh.

So naturally it was more efficient to pour it directly like this than coating it on the outside.

“…”

Margaret’s expression, which had maintained leisure while watching Mar, distorts for the first time. As if she was feeling pain.

Mar smiled seeing that expression. At least being able to see such an expression from the opponent meant she gained something.

“How dare you… sprinkle filth on the power bestowed by him?”

Margaret raised skyward the parasol she had been holding onto all along.

Pop!

Margaret standing rigidly while holding the opened parasol that spread with a sound like uncorking a bottle looked like a giant mushroom.

And simultaneously.

Pop!

Dense purple spores pour down from under the parasol onto the tree roots Margaret was controlling and begin growing mushrooms.

Pop!

The instantly grown mushrooms spray more spores.

Pop!

Mushrooms grow new mushrooms. Like that, they continue mutating and dyeing the tree roots in various colors.

Margaret who had instantly covered the wide forest in spores looks down at Mar who was panting heavily.

“How is it? What symptoms are appearing? Headache? Itching? Nausea? Or is it burning pain?”

The reproduction and mutation of mushrooms that even Margaret herself couldn’t control.

The poison spores seep into Mar’s body through that and are reborn as poison of unknown origin.

“But don’t worry.”

Margaret grabs and pulls up the hair of Mar who had started curling up on the ground while repeatedly coughing blood.

Mar’s eyes were bloodshot and unfocused as her body trembled.

Just looking at her appearance showed various symptoms occurring simultaneously. Seeing this, Margaret grinned and said.

“You’ll enter inside me too and sprout that bud. You’ll surely become such a cute mushroom with red color and green patterns.”

“Crazy… bitch.”

Mar could finally understand the identity of these mushrooms spread so widely from Margaret’s words.

Each of these mushrooms was a human devoured by Margaret in spore form.

The number she had killed was overflowing enough to cover the forest.

“Ah, though I’d like to watch you die right now, sadly time is…”

Slash!

Margaret’s head flies through the air again. As Margaret who had risen into the air like that looked at the wide open sky while falling, she thought.

“Oh my? This happened during the day too.”

Her neck was cut off in the blink of an eye without even being able to react.

However, there was a slight difference from what happened during the day.

Unlike being unable to confirm it despite happening right in front of her then, this time it was perfectly aimed at her blind spot with unbelievable cutting power.

Thud.

Margaret’s body catches Margaret’s falling head.

Being able to move this naturally meant the opponent hadn’t used any measures like poison, holy water, or aura.

Margaret called out the name of the person who could cut off her neck, one of Belial’s Seven Blades, with pure technique and physical ability alone.

“Nice to meet you, Linea Spirin.”

Information received from the King of Darkness, Belial. The possessor of a unique ability who had literally butchered the half-demons creating a breeding ground at the Ryan barony.

“Indeed, just as he said.”

“…”

“I knew you would come.”

Margaret confirmed while reattaching her head the appearance of the white-clad girl who was taking care of Mar.

“Did you come to die?”

“Yes, probably.”