Using the information he had gained, Osian ran quickly to the witch's location.
The streets were too crowded for him to run, so he stepped on the roofs of buildings.
His steps were fast and light at the same time, so they didn't notice him running on the rooftops.
As he kept running, the regular rows of buildings gave way to shanty towns.
‘This must be the slums of Sadnafal.’
Stopping at a street, Osian looked around.
Intelligence had told him that the witch lurked here, and under the circumstances, they wouldn't have lied.
‘Certainly, it's a good place to hide, given the dirty streets and unorganized structure.’
One by one, the beggars approached Osian, their eyes shining.
To all outward appearances, Osian was a nobleman with more money than anyone else.To the slum dwellers, there could be no more attractive prey.
"Get lost."
Osian glared at the slum beggars and spoke a short word.
The strange power in his voice made the slum dwellers pause.
But no one backed down.
If they'd listened to him in the first place, they wouldn't have started this.
They've become a nuisance but time was of the essence now, as the witch could be captured by the Order of Petra at any moment.
-Pow!
Just then, a loud boom erupted in the distance.
The beggars in the slums flinched and scattered in a huff.
A fascination flickered in Osian's eyes.
"There it is."
The explosions continued, and through them, he could see a holy, golden waft of energy.
It was the holy power of the clergy.
The witch and the Church of Petra's pursuers must have run into each other.
Osian raced like the wind toward the center of the explosion as the landscape around him flashed by.
There was no collision as he cut through the gaps in the terrified fleeing slum dwellers.
"What, what was that?"
"What was that?"
The slum dwellers were dumbfounded as Osian ghosted past them.
Osian then rolled heavily on the ground.
With a loud thud, the ground shook violently, leaving footprints in the hard earth.
Osian's body soared high in the air after the huge recoil.
Floating in midair, he scanned his surroundings with his expanded vision and then he spotted a woman in a red cloak fleeing, and a group of pure white robes chasing after her.
Stars flashed in his eyes.
Osian's body dropped like a hawk swooping down on its prey.
The witch was caught in a dead end, unable to escape but Osian landed exactly between her and the Cult of Petra's pursuers.
-Boom!
A cloud of dust rose as if a bomb had gone off, and the ramshackle shacks in the neighborhood shuddered.
Eventually, the dust cloud settled and Osian’s figure appeared.
The fleeing witch's eyes widened and so did the pursuers.
"Who are you?"
The paladin at the head of the pursuit mustered up the courage to ask.
He was a man in his mid-forties with a thick neck and jaw, and his steely gaze turned toward Osian with hostility.
At those words, Osian's eyes snapped to the paladin.
"......!"
The paladin stumbled backwards at the sight of the pure white fire in Osian's eyes and so did the other priests and knights.
There was an intimidating feeling that made even their infinite faith in God shake, even though it was only for a moment but the pursuers shook off their fears and sought to surround Osian.
Osian looked at them and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.
‘Should I draw it here?’
Out of the corner of his eye, Osian glanced at the witch behind him.
Wrapped in a red cloak, she cowered in her seat, terrified.
'If we fight, we'll get caught. Besides, it wouldn't do me any good to enter a conflict with the Order.’
Osian took his hand off the hilt again.
The blade was freshly forged, but it wasn't time to use it yet.
"Excuse me."
"What?!"
Osian immediately walked over to the witch, apologized, and hugged her.
Just as the paladins were about to shout out what he was doing, Osian's body soared into the air.
“Did he fly? Was he a wizard?”
But the snowy-eyed paladin quickly realized it wasn't that.
‘No. That's just pure angular momentum.’
He can soar like that after picking up a person and running in place?
Is he a mutant? Or an enhanced human? Either way, it was clear that the man was from Tirna.
‘City of Sinners.’
The Order of Petra called Tirna the City of Sinners.
Tirna favored ability and money, so witches, warlocks, and criminals of the century were welcome in Tirna.
Moreover, through their enormous funds and power, they boasted an influence that went beyond complete independence from surrounding kingdoms.
It is a well-known anecdote that the mayor of Tirna responded to repeated warnings from the Church of Petra with a snort.
"What the hell, get after him, we can't let the heretic escape!"
The pursuit party raced after Osian.
*
Osian kept running.
The complex geography of the shanty town didn't bother him.
Like the wind, he could just run across the rooftops.
If he wanted to, he could collapse the shanty houses he stepped on. But Osian concentrated as hard as he could on his steps.
Then, as if a feather were falling, he began to run upwards without a sound.
The witch, who had twisted in embarrassment at first, now stood still and watched the spectacle.
As they rose and fell through the air, she found herself unconsciously clutching the hem of Osian's coat.
But her eyes, hidden beneath the crimson hood, remained fixed on Osian.
Baffled, horrified, and relieved at the same time.
Once out of the slums, Osian pulled into a deserted alleyway and set the witch down.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes, yes."
The witch's legs didn't seem to have much strength, but she didn't fall.
Osian could finally get a good look at the witch's features.
Her hair was blond. Slightly wavy, it was short, barely reaching her shoulders.
She wore a hooded red cloak, which gave her an air of mystery.
"The witch who asked for asylum, am I right?"
"......Ena. I'm Ena Grundt. And you?"
"Osian. Fixer and knight of Tirna."
Ena's eyes narrowed at that.
Introducing himself as a knight to a witch, she thought it was some kind of joke to break the ice but his expression was so serious, she couldn't tell.
"Whatever it is, thanks for saving me. Where are your other companions?"
"None."
"What?"
Ena turned to Osian, wondering what that meant.
"Did you get separated on the way here?"
"No. I was alone from the beginning."
"What.......?"
Ena had a headache.
She was grateful that Osian had come to her rescue in her moment of crisis.
But alone? From what she'd seen of him, he was very capable, but still, he shouldn't be alone.
"Is there a problem?"
"Of course there is, don't you know who you're up against? The Church of Petra!"
"Maybe all we have to do is get out of this city without fighting."
"It's not that easy, especially since there's a......monster in the city right now."
"A monster?"
"......You don't seem to know from your reaction, but there is one. Still, you got here before anyone else, so you must have a way out of this city, right?"
He'd come this far, so she figured he'd have some sort of plan.
But that hope was crushed.
"There isn't."
"Uh, there's no train back?"
"There's no point in trying to catch a train. The express tracks leading here have been blown up. Besides, unless they’re idiots, the Church will be watching the station. We could disguise ourselves and get through."
"That won't work, they're hell-bent on tracking down heretics, and no matter how I disguise myself, they'll know if I'm nearby."
She'd already been through something similar.
Ena's voice was confident.
"Do you have a vehicle to drive?"
"No."
Osian had run all the way here in the first place.
Even if it was half the distance, it wasn't a short distance by any means.
Osian thought to himself. “Can I run all the way to Tirna carrying her like I did just now?”
I don't think so, no matter what.
If he was alone he might be able to but he wasn't sure he could do it with her.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Osian's mind.
They had come in a very strong and fast vehicle.
"Maybe there's a way."
"Really?"
"Yes. But it'll have to be a bit of a hassle."
"A hassle?"
The words sent an instinctive shiver down her spine and a moment of hesitation crossed Ena's face.
"I suppose I can't help it. If I stay in this city, death is inevitable, so I might as well take the risk."
"In that case, let's get moving again, in case they come this far soon."
"Oh. Wait."
With that, Ena gingerly pulled something out of the basket she held in one hand.
It was a small matchbox.
She pulled out a match and struck it, and then something amazing happened.
The space around the flame of the match crackled, and a vision appeared that looked exactly like Ena.
‘That's Witchcraft.’
Witchcraft is the unique magic of witches.
It's different from the magic used by wizards, and each witch is born with a different witchcraft.
What they do have in common is that their abilities are all based on fairy tales.
The same was true for the witches Osian had seen in the game.
That's why some people refer to their magic as Märchen.
Witchcraft varies in power and performance.
In other words, power is not quantifiable.
'There were actually witches in the game that were capable of destroying entire kingdoms'
In fact, the witch Rumpelstiltskin had the power to turn everything into gold, and she even turned an entire kingdom into gold.
It was terrible.
The moment you step into the kingdom, you have a gold gauge, and when it's maxed out, you're instantly killed, no matter how much health you have.
Ossian died a lot before he even got to the witch.
So most of the strategy was to find and kill the witch early in the round, before she awakens.
So much so, that many gamers would rather nip the challenge in the bud.
Ossian, of course, captured her in the Golden Castle.
‘Her ability is to create illusions through matches.’
I don't know how far it goes, but it would certainly help them escape.
It was probably one of the reasons she was able to survive the Order pursuit.
"This should buy us a little time."
"Then let's get moving."
*
~Outside the city of Sadnafal~
Ena's eyes lit up when she spotted a large jeep parked there.
"That should be enough to get us out of the city."
"Yes."
"But it's being guarded by a bunch of bad guys, are you sure it's safe?"
Ena's fears were confirmed: there were still people guarding the vehicles.
They were all on high alert and would be spotted if they approached.
"Don't worry. I have a plan."
"Really?"
Osian sprang into action.
He used his ridiculous physical abilities to approach the vehicle and beat up anyone who stood guard.
Ena stared at him in disbelief.
"It's over."
"It's .......What a great way to do it."
If you're physically strong, it's easy to do things like this.
Even as she thought that, Ena decided to get into the vehicle.
At that moment, she heard a voice behind her.
"Oh no. You can't do that. You're trying to sneak into someone else's car."
"......."
Osian slowly turned around.
“Plus, you even took the witch. No matter what, shouldn’t we maintain business ethics?”
A pure white suit, white hat and eyes that glowed viciously.