The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 63: The Final Escape Route

Following the fleeing pigman, Sylutia hurried through the tangled underground passages. She could feel she was getting closer to Chive Street.

Originally she had a sliver of hope that this pigman would lead her to Anari’s hidden hideout, but now it seemed she would have to go straight to the Fire Pig’s headquarters to ask.

Ten minutes later, Sylutia’s steps stopped. A faint silver light flowed in her eyes as she used the scouting bird to inspect the situation at the end of the tunnel.

There, a concealed hatch opened. The pigman ran into a room; judging from the furnishings, it was an underground dormitory for pigmen.

Huh? He didn’t go report to his superiors first. She had overestimated these pigmen’s intelligence.

Still, that worked in her favor. It avoided alerting everyone and gave her more time to search for clues.

Sylutia entered the underground base through the hidden hatch and observed her surroundings as she slowly approached the core area.

There were quite a few pigmen guards in the passage. If she wanted to pass, fighting was inevitable.

After weighing her options, Sylutia acted. She summoned several Phantom Flying Swords and dashed through the corridor, stabbing into targets before the pigmen could react. She avoided vital points where possible, focusing on crippling their ability to run and fight.

Some injured pigmen let out angry grunts, but Sylutia couldn’t care about that. She calmed her mind and kept moving, using the scouting bird to confirm direction and the situation ahead.Inside the headquarters, Fire Pig received news from outside.

“Great King, an unknown person broke in and is getting closer,” a scarred pigman reported as he dashed in. He could speak properly and was a Third Tier in strength.

“Take people to guard the place.”

“Yes.”

After the elite pigmen left to hold the area, Fire Pig slowly stood up. He looked at the seat he’d occupied for over twenty years, snapped the stone chair back, and revealed something hidden behind it.

Inside was a thick golden chain, an immensely heavy golden axe, and several bottles of dark red Blood Wine.

He opened a bottle and gulped it down. His entire body flushed red, heat pouring off him, his breathing steaming like a boiler.

He first put on the golden chain, then lifted the heavy golden axe and strode out.

In the passage, pigmen guards were slashed by the slicing Magnetite Sand swords. A silver bird dived out and knocked aside blocking pigmen, temporarily widening the path.

Fire Pig finally saw who had broken in and prepared to finish them.

“Turns out it’s a little girl,” he sneered, whether mocking her audacity or himself for being driven to this by such a girl was unclear.

Seeing the huge, fiery figure emerge across the corridor, an invisible wave of heat spread. Sylutia felt her heartbeat slow for a moment. Although this giant pigman was only Third Tier in Bloodline, the aura he gave off rivaled some Fourth Tier beings. He must have been stuck at this level a long time; his accumulated Aspect power was far greater than a normal Third Tier.

This was a problem. The girl raised a hand, caught the floating sword beside her, gripped it with both hands, and cold light flashed along the blade as she reinforced and sharpened it.

At that moment, pigmen in the passage raised crossbows and aimed to fire, but their gazes didn’t waver; they stayed fixed on the giant with the massive axe.

The bowstrings twanged in succession, and bolts flew.

Before reaching Eighth Tier, special creatures’ bodies are hard-pressed to withstand direct volley fire. They needed to see whether this opponent was a weak-bodied warrior or something else before committing to concentrated fire to defeat them.

Facing the incoming bolts, Sylutia kicked off the wall. She cycled her breathing technique she had been preparing; the burst of power let her press against the side of the passage, avoiding the bolts. Moving at almost imperceptible speed, she retreated, inverted her body, and ran along the ceiling.

Approaching from above past the blocking pigmen, the sharp blade slowly sliced their throats in a line, dropping them one after another. Then as other pigmen wielding axes and wolf-tooth clubs closed in, she didn’t try to tank them. She flipped and avoided, then hurled out a summoned Sylutia bird that flew slowly through the air, spinning and smashing into the approaching pigmen.

Using agile movement, she took down pigman after pigman. Fire Pig shook his head and signaled his men to clear the way.

“I’ll finish you!” he charged forward in heavy steps, his massive body like a mountain crushing down.

As Sylutia prepared to back away, he opened his mouth, inhaled deeply, and unleashed an explosive roar.

A powerful sonic wave swept through the corridor. In the narrow space its force multiplied. Even Sylutia had to take a hit; the wave sent her flying into the stone wall.

Seconds later she propped herself up, looking at her cut palm and dust-covered body, and shook her head.

She had been careless, she thought in a low voice.

Fire Pig continued to pound forward in heavy strides. He was slow, but each step felt like an earthquake and inspired dread.

Sylutia raised her hand and several sharp threads appeared, constricting the advancing Fire Pig and cutting red wounds into him.

In response, Fire Pig inhaled and his muscles bulged, becoming incredibly hard. He ripped the threads apart and charged again.

He grabbed an axe left by a fallen guard and tossed it. It grazed past Sylutia’s ear, drawing a thread of blood.

Sylutia’s eyes flashed, but she suppressed the urge to shift form. She would not recklessly transform now. She kept retreating and thought through how to defeat him.

If she unleashed everything, there were many ways to kill Fire Pig. Summoning the sealed hovering Magic Eye and focusing fire could pierce him, but this was the Mage Alliance. Even if no one saw it, attacks left traces. She didn’t know how many tracing and forensics methods the Alliance had. For the sake of her more important mission, she couldn’t expose herself lightly.

While retreating, Sylutia threw her sword and drove it into Fire Pig’s face. He bared his fangs and knocked the iron sword free, then continued forward as he readied to roar again.

Sylutia had to retreat quickly and used a corridor corner to avoid the sonic blast.

During the skirmish, other pigmen guards rushed in and blocked her retreat path.

If they had been ordinary Second Tier pigmen, she could have dealt with them without trouble, but Fire Pig was closing in and time was short.

She had to go all out, she thought. She inhaled deeply, spread her hands slightly, and two Magnetite-condensed iron swords appeared, one in each hand.

Over the past half year she had spent most of her time learning the classes required to enter the Mithril Clock school. Although she hadn’t gained any secret inheritance from that school, she discovered common traits across its teachings: more precise observation of the world, recording, analyzing, and altering.

As pale silver light spread over the swords, the brittle Phantom Flying Sword spell began to change. Complex runes traced inside the swords and their structure tightened and strengthened.

The gray-black blades turned silver-gray and shrank slightly in size but felt heavier. Cold light flashed along the edges, a faint sense of danger arising. The internal structure reformed into a honeycomb-like pattern. Finally the blades began to hum, like loaded crossbow bolts ready to fire.

Steel. Sharpness. Solidity. Charged. Speed.

Holding the two longswords, Sylutia darted through the incoming pigmen guards and cut them down. With multiple rune effects applied, the swords demonstrated rare power and easily pierced their steel armor.

After clearing the reinforcements, Sylutia paused to recover her breath and watched as the heavy footfalls drew closer.

The huge fiery figure reappeared, dragging its axe across the ground and leaving long gouges. Fat trembled on its body like waves.

Once again seeing Sylutia, Fire Pig paused and looked at the fallen guards and the two silver-glinting swords in the girl’s hands.

“You’re strong. You shouldn’t be using your talent and abilities here,” he said. Through his subordinates he had learned the girl’s identity.

In Asra District she was easy to recognize—the black-haired newcomer.

“I know. It’s just that a friend of mine disappeared, and I had no choice,” Sylutia said with feeling.

“Can you tell me where she’s being hidden, and return her and the artifact intact?” he asked.

Heh. Fire Pig didn’t answer.

If he defeated the girl and handed her to the officers, he might still have a sliver of hope. If he admitted to sending people to steal an artifact from the Bionics School, it would mean death.

“Looks like no talking,” Sylutia had known this outcome and had only asked as a last hope.

She advanced again and shot one of the swords at Fire Pig’s face.

This blade flew with extraordinary speed. Fire Pig couldn’t stop it; the sword lodged into his face with half the blade showing.

Such an injury would kill an ordinary person, but against his thick hide and fat it was a shallow wound.

No time to deal with the sword in his face; Fire Pig gripped his great axe and swung. The blade whistled through the air. At the apex of the swing he unleashed a shattering roar; a wooden rack nearby splintered, and Sylutia staggered. Missing the optimal dodge window, she twisted and narrowly avoided the axe shaving her cheek.

The fierce gust stung her face. She pushed off and, before he could turn, leapt onto the wall mid-air.

She clasped the hilts, the swords gleamed, and she brought them down hard.

Like a comet striking the moon, the blades sliced the great lump of fat at Fire Pig’s neck and revealed shallow pink flesh.

Sylutia retreated again under his returning axe, waiting for the next opening.

This repeated several times. Fire Pig realized something was wrong. He had enormous strength, durability, and long stamina, but against this girl those strengths offered little—only his indiscriminate sonic attacks were effective.

In each clash, the girl only needed to make a slight mistake—dodge a bit slower or miss a gap in her technique—and he could land a devastating blow. She was always only a heartbeat away from being severely injured.

Just one more moment!

Fire Pig’s inner fire swelled. In another exchange he poured everything into his muscles, the blood-red power exploding outward. The axe’s swing accelerated dramatically.

The sharp blade swept like a giant hammer. The shockwave rolled over the ground and debris. The axe slammed into the wall, and when the dust settled the girl still stood unscathed across from him.

But she was different. Her eyes shone with brilliant light, and she could observe every circulation of his Bloodline Aspect, seeing every movement and strike in advance. That was why Sylutia could always find openings so precisely in those perilous exchanges.

When observation is precise and comprehensive enough, anticipation becomes inevitable.

After several more clashes, the silver-glinting longsword in her hand finally cracked and dissolved into light.

At that moment the battered Fire Pig saw hope. He howled, then the necklace on his chest flared with red and gold light. Invisible vigor filled his body and the torn wounds slowly healed.

Sylutia blinked in surprise. It was a rare healing artifact. At first she had thought it was an amplification and defense item.

From First to Third Tier, most spell abilities can only staunch bleeding and help wounds close—they’re not true healing. They prevent deterioration and create conditions for the flesh to knit slowly. Generally, Bloodline, Beast Fang, and Dragon Eye Aspects recover much faster.

True restorative abilities usually appear at Fourth Tier and above; they reconnect muscle fibers and restore strength.

Fire Pig’s body slowly recovered, though the artifact was only Fourth Tier—just enough to heal. The regrown muscle and flesh were not as powerful as before.

He ignored Sylutia and turned to run.

Is he fleeing? Sylutia chased after him. She had assumed that after her sword shattered he would be reinvigorated to fight, but instead his first thought was to flee.

Threads shimmered beside the girl and turned into silver birds that chased after him. Without high-power attacks, Sylutia really couldn’t do much damage; the thread birds were only stalling to delay his escape.

Back in his room, Fire Pig grabbed the Blood Wine behind the chair and gulped it down. He didn’t look back as the sharp bird wings nicked minor cuts into him.

A few beastmen noticed, but though they followed Fire Pig, they feared the powerful enemy who could beat Fire Pig. They were no longer die-hard loyal guards and dared not approach, nor would they report this to the authorities. Fire Pig’s residual prestige remained; in the underground world, seeking police help is seen as cowardly and shameful and destroys face.

Sylutia felt uneasy. She had wanted a quick fight, but it turned into a long, drawn-out tug-of-war. Her main goal was to rescue someone, not duel Fire Pig.

“If you tell me where Anari is hidden and where the Dragon Eye artifact is, and clear her suspicion, I won’t bother you anymore,” she decided to try once more.

But Fire Pig was intent on escape. His mind had been steeped in the lawless, deceitful underground. He no longer trusted magnanimous promises.

They’re lies!

Since coming to Asra District to fill his belly, he had never met a selfless good person. Everything was raw competition. To grab food or make money, people did anything. Lying was the simplest, most basic betrayal.

He knew people would abandon him. Those who seemed sincere would betray him. Even slight displeasure from an official warned him of danger.

Only his own strength was real. That was why he obsessed over the Feast Ritual.

In the dark tunnel, the scarred giant pigman disregarded the noises behind him and charged toward the escape route he had planned for years. Even though he hadn’t completed the Feast Ritual to become a powerful Fourth Tier Transcendent, as long as he could survive, it would be fine.

There lay the last road to his freedom.