The Reincarnated Eldest Witch Sister Embraces Self-Sacrifice - Chapter 2: Calamity

The body enhancement magic Istos cast specifically strengthened my body’s muscular strength, hearing, and vision.

This temporarily gave me physical abilities surpassing an adult’s.

Using my enhanced leg strength, I ran towards the sounds of battle and saw villagers fighting at the edge of the village, along with corpses scattered on the ground.

…Among the dead were my parents.

“What!? Why are you here, Marid’s girl? Their target is―”

“I know. But hiding will only lead to everyone being killed. Someone has to fight.”

I averted my eyes from my parents’ corpses and responded to one of the surviving villagers.

I suppressed my grief, leaving only a sense of duty within me.

It looked like three villagers were left alive, facing about twenty attackers, split between lightly armed archers and heavily armed infantry. They were well-equipped, clearly more than what the villagers could handle.

“I didn’t expect you to come out. I thought you’d be trembling in fear like a child. Saves us the trouble of searching. Let’s start with your death, shall we?”

The leader of the attackers, wearing a flashy helmet, sent three heavily armed infantry towards me. As expected, the archers in the back aimed their bows at me. I understood it was a disadvantageous fight.

First, I channeled my magic power into the ground at my feet, preparing to activate my magic. Soon after, I turned the soil under the approaching infantry’s feet into hard spikes. In an instant, two of the soldiers were impaled. One managed to evade.

The surviving infantryman swung his sword down at me.

I dodged his attack using my small, childlike stature and enhanced body, then slipped into his guard. Immediately, I touched his armor and channeled my magic into it, activating my spell. It was a spell to shrink armor. The armor shrank, crushing the soldier to death.

Splattered with blood, I was then targeted by several arrows. But they were useless. My enhanced dynamic vision allowed me to dodge arrows easily. They all missed, embedding into the ground instead.

“…Not bad. But now, you’re the only one left.”

The leader of the attackers spoke with a slight tremble in his voice.

Indeed, looking around, I saw that all the villagers who had survived until now were dead.

An inevitable conclusion.

I began channeling magic into the ground again, preparing to transform the soil into hard spikes. This magic could be activated from a distance if given enough time. Although the accuracy might decrease, firing in numbers would suffice. While the attackers hesitated, I unleashed the magic.

“Gaah!”

“Run―”

“Move! We’ll be prey to her magic!”

Numerous spikes of earth assaulted the unsuspecting archers in the back. Those caught off guard died instantly, and the spikes impaled others as they tried to flee.

“Foolish! Close the distance quickly! Don’t let her cast any more magic!”

At the leader’s command, the infantry, who had been fighting the villagers, charged at me. A good decision, but it’s a bit too late.

The seven infantrymen also decreased in number as they charged, falling to the earth spikes. Still, two managed to reach me. Now, I had no choice but to confront them head-on.

The two-foot soldiers split to the left and right, trying to flank me. However, I activated magic in the space to my right, making the air white. This created a white mist, obscuring the vision of the right-side infantryman. While his vision was blocked, I closed in on the left one.

“Cursed child!”

He swung his one-handed sword horizontally in an attempt to counter me. I leaped over the sword strike and touched his helmet in mid-air. The next moment, my magic activated, shrinking the helmet and crushing his head.

The remaining infantryman, breaking through the white air, lost his will to fight upon seeing his ally’s corpse and me.

“Impossible… This can’t be happening.”

He muttered, lowering his head in defeat. I ended him with a spike of earth and turned my attention to the remaining survivors.

The last one standing was the leader of the attackers.

“This monster… Just as our teachings say, you bring disaster!”

“You’re the ones who attacked first. It’s always the same with humans.”

I recalled the medieval witch hunts I had learned about in history classes in my previous life. Even in a different world, history seemed to repeat itself.

I finished the fool with a spike of earth and collapsed. As the adrenaline subsided, my body began to protest. I was at my limit, both magically and physically, and felt sick, covered in blood.

Realizing the reality of having killed people, I vomited violently. My emotions and body were in chaos. Overwhelmed with fatigue, I could barely maintain consciousness.

Overcome with an irresistible sense of weariness, I lost consciousness, with a faint sense of accomplishment.