Did she sense something was off? The witch’s eyes, now narrowed to thin slits, fixed downward. Fifteen figures clustered in a circle below. Around four of them, magical energy surged like crashing waves. The moment the witch felt the ominous flow of power, she immediately stretched out her hand toward them.
“Devour them! Flora!”
Being plants, there was no verbal reply. Yet the army of plants rising from the ground responded fully to her command.
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of leaves brushing against each other filled the air as tendrils writhed and began closing the distance from all sides.
As soon as they breached the rocky perimeter, the lead plants reared up with all their might and crashed down. After tearing the world apart herself, the witch’s perpetually scowling face finally blossomed into a smile. She was utterly confident that the plant legion she had summoned would soon crush and swallow those humans whole.
“Aegis System!”
At that moment, Baek Han-gyeol spread both hands wide. Brilliant rays of light burst forth from his outstretched palms, causing the witch’s gaze to flicker with unease.
“Spell designated: Glance Back. Gem used: Azurite White. Jewel Amplification!”
Kim Han-byul, having finished her incantation, scattered gems into the air while chanting. The sparkling dust seeped into the glowing light, which instantly formed layered hexagonal fields, enveloping their comrades.
“That pathetic shield…!”
The witch was about to sneer, but abruptly swallowed her words. The plants attacking from all sides suddenly exploded with loud pops, shattering all at once. Though new plants rushed in to fill the gaps, every vine that struck the shield burst and collapsed helplessly. This scene repeated relentlessly, like watching paper shredded in a grinder.
“Reflective ability…?”
The witch bit her lip, gripped by an inexplicable anxiety. Around her downward-pointing hand, several spear-like bolts of yellow lightning crackled into existence. Then—
“Gust Field!”
Ha Seung-woo slammed both hands into the ground again, and a fierce wind began to blow from the shield’s center. The gusts quickly spread far and wide, covering the entire battlefield. Clutching her fluttering robe, the witch’s eyes betrayed her confusion. If it had been a Wind Cutter spell, she might have understood—but just plain wind?
The answer came next.
“Prominence!”
Following Sara’s voice, a towering blaze shot skyward. The flames gathered into a round, sun-like orb, glowing with deep crimson fire. Sara’s specialty was fire magic combined with her unique skill, Reinforced Memorize, allowing her to exponentially amplify explosive power through chained spells.
In other words—
“Explosion!”
Boom!
A deafening blast echoed through the air. The witch instinctively squinted, then looked down—and her face instantly hardened. Hundreds of burning fragments torn apart by the explosion rained down like a fiery storm, scattering across the wind-swept ground.
Whoosh!
The gale sucked in the falling embers with force, triggering another massive roar that shook the surroundings. From within the wind, new flames erupted, stretching outward in all directions until the ground was engulfed in a sea of fire. The blaze danced among the plants, igniting them here and there like a wild performance. The plants writhed and screamed in madness before crumbling into ash. The witch’s eyes widened.
“Such trivial tricks…! You really want to go through with this?”
Gritting her teeth, she stared down at the burning earth. Her violet eyes, tinged with reddish flames, darkened further. This time, her hand swept outward in all directions.
“Douse them! Flora!”
The plant legion obeyed instantly. Vines thrashed violently, spraying water from every stem. Though the fiery gusts remained fierce, the sheer volume of water sprayed at once caused the flames to gradually subside.
After a while, the fire was completely extinguished. All that remained were the charred remains of plants and scorched earth.
Though the chain attack had inflicted significant damage, many plants still survived. The survivors resumed their writhing advance, sliding over the damp, soaked ground.
But did the witch truly realize? The chain was far from over.
After the storm passed, a heavy silence settled.
“Moon phase: New Moon of December.”
Suddenly, Jeong Ha-yeon’s clear voice rang out. A bluish light shimmered as her wooden staff lightly tapped the ground.
“Frozen Field!”
Crack, crackle!
Shatter, shatter, shatter!
The ground hardened into solid ice. Centered on the sturdy shield, the ice spread outward in broad, disc-like layers. The soaked earth quickly clumped and solidified into a hard mass. The plants, drenched in water, faced the same fate. Their advance was halted completely, frozen solid by the ice creeping up their stems.
As the witch confirmed the world now encased in ice, her body floating in midair wobbled violently.
“Ha… ha ha… How dare you…”
She let out a hollow laugh, staring blankly around her. Every time she dispelled a spell, a new countermeasure appeared as if they already knew her moves—it was maddening.
Part of her couldn’t believe the situation. These weren’t mere plants with simple tendril attacks. Depending on how they were cultivated, some could paralyze with venom, others induce hallucinations with powder—each a weapon of mass destruction. She had nurtured them with painstaking care for months. And yet, the plant legion she had prepared so meticulously was being undone so easily…
“I won’t accept this!”
The witch shouted in desperation.
There are two main types of magic users.
Mages (魔法師), who wield magic following the world’s natural laws.
And sorcerers (魔度師), who pursue powerful magic even if it defies those laws.
But witches (魔女) are something else entirely. They neither follow the rules nor chase their own sorcery. They exist purely to probe and unravel the very source of magic itself. They mock mages as fools and look down on sorcerers with disdain. In fact, the witch currently overseeing the Astral Dimension surpasses even the combined might of the city’s Magvol de Ailite.
That’s why she couldn’t accept defeat.
“I won’t… accept it!”
Her eyes blazed with renewed resolve. Slowly, the witch descended to the ground. The icy chill bit through her bare feet.
“Fine… Let’s see who wins.”
Shaking, she thrust her broom forward.
“If it’s a magical battle you want, then I’ll give you one.”
Growling, she immediately began chanting.
“Defrost!”
The frozen tendrils struggled, ice melting and dripping from their stems.
“Absorb! Rise again, Flora!”
Spells followed in quick succession. The thawed ice turned to water, which the plants greedily drank like starving creatures. Growth, briefly halted, resumed with vigor. Watching the plants swell larger than before, the witch fixed her gaze ahead.
Then—
Thud.
In an instant, a sticky liquid splattered across her pale cheek. Her expression froze in shock. A second later, she slowly raised a trembling hand to touch her face. Greenish fluid stained her palm.
The witch still didn’t understand what had happened. Instinctively, she turned her eyes—and saw a massive tendril plant beside her suddenly burst and collapse.
It wasn’t the only one. Everywhere she looked, fully grown plants were suddenly exploding. This was no accident.
A sour stench stung her nose, finally snapping her back to reality. Yet her mouth hung open without her control.
“Th-This… how…?”
Moments later.
The shield dissolved, revealing all fifteen figures. The witch’s gaze naturally fixed on the woman standing calmly at the center—Je-gal Hae-sol.
The moment their eyes met, the witch’s body flinched.
“You…”
Je-gal Hae-sol smiled faintly, as if inviting an explanation.
“Ah. Everyone put in so much effort, and I thought it’d just be a hassle to leave things as they were. So, I analyzed the magic you use and copied it exactly. You could say it’s a kind of transformation of the components.”
As Jegal Haesol spoke, the witch’s eyes grew as wide as lanterns.
“N-no way! You copied it? This Dispersal Magic?”
“Hm? Dispersal Magic?”
“The very lowest form of magic…! I only managed to reach this level after gaining the undying light of wisdom, and that too, only in my later years…!”
“Eh~ Well, it wasn’t exactly easy. It was pretty tough. But anyway, thanks for teaching me such a useful spell.”
Jegal Haesol shrugged and sighed, leaning against Kim Suhyun. The witch blinked repeatedly, still unable to believe it, but reality didn’t change. The ambitious plant army, Flora, summoned earlier, was now nothing but a pile of debris.
A moment later.
The fire of determination that had burned endlessly in the witch’s eyes finally flickered out. Faced with a situation that defied all logic, her mind went completely blank. In the end, she collapsed to her knees.
Seeing this, Kim Suhyun strode forward confidently, closing the distance with a slow shake of his head.
“Honestly… this makes all that tension feel kind of ridiculous.”
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Fear crept into the witch’s empty eyes. She whimpered like a child, stamping her feet. Dragging herself backward, she grabbed her broom, but the magic she fired barely reached Kim Suhyun before vanishing.
“I admit, your intentions were good. A witch and a demon teaming up. But…”
“M-monster! Don’t come near!”
“If you two can’t even work together, it’s better not to try at all. Right, Pluton?”
“P-Pluton? Help me! Pluton! Please help! Plutoooon!”
Ignoring Pluton’s earlier advice to run, the witch called out desperately. But no response came from within.
“Well then…”
“D-don’t come any closer!”
Suddenly, Kim Suhyun stopped in his tracks. With a smirk, he calmly reached out his hand.
“First, I’ll take what’s mine.”
At that moment—
“Ah! Ah!”
The witch, who had been leaning back, was suddenly pulled forward. She nearly fell but managed to keep her balance by letting go of what she was holding. Looking up quickly, she saw her broom spinning through the air—now firmly in Kim Suhyun’s grasp. Using the principles of spatial manipulation, he had forcibly taken it.
“Th-that’s mine! Give it back!”
“Nope.”
Kim Suhyun refused lightly and reached out again. This time, the hat on the witch’s head was snatched off. She instinctively grabbed at her head, but the hat was already flying away. Still, Kim Suhyun didn’t stop. One more move, and even the robe that had been a bit tight was forcibly pulled off.
“Kyah!”
The robe shot up into the air, passing over her head, and landed in Kim Suhyun’s hand. Completely disarmed. Nothing remained. The witch, now revealed in pure white skin, desperately curled up, covering her chest and groin.
Was it shame? Her deep violet eyes lost focus, glassy with tears. Suddenly, her mind grew foggy, a dull dizziness spreading across her forehead. No, now she just felt like she didn’t care what happened next.
And so, the witch’s will to fight was utterly broken.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Hang in there! Magic (Girl)!
Witch: So, this really isn’t the end, right?
Roh Yujin: Yeah, don’t worry.
Witch: Really?
Roh Yujin: Of course. Han Soyoung’s still around, and so is Lee Yujeong.
Witch: Phew, thank goodness… What?
Roh Yujin: Teehee.