#119 Episode: The Tin Knight and the West Witch’s World (2)
The West Witch’s residence was a castle.
Not just any castle, but one with a structure reminiscent of a demon lord’s fortress.
It was huge, with complicated paths that felt like a maze, and soldiers lurking on every level. It was definitely not a form of everyday livability, even in jest.
However, from the perspective of an intruder, it was a castle that would make you curse.
Every time you ascended a level, stronger foes would come pouring out, so it was quite understandable.
So.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is rampaging!]
[We can’t possibly stop the ‘Tin Knight’!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ is dominating the battlefield!]
In short, it was a situation the Tin Knight absolutely adored.
Swish!
With a strike from the Tin Knight, the head of a ferocious Werewolf was severed cleanly from its body.
Whether he swung left or diagonally, for every flash of the Tin Knight’s sword, a Werewolf’s head fell.
The party made their way out of the basement and down a long corridor.
Next, they were greeted by a wide garden.
It was befitting of a cruel witch’s castle, the stair’s pathway was indeed filthy.
Awaiting them in the garden were crow-like beings equipped with long single-edged swords, staves, and monastic robes.
They dove down from the sky, rapidly swinging their swords and staves.
Their attack style, a mix of bird-hunting tactics and human combat skills, would normally be quite tricky to deal with.
“Tin Can! Number 4!”
Dorothea tossed a glass vial from her waist pouch.
When the Tin Knight caught it with his shield, a gooey silver liquid splashed across the shield’s surface.
It was a liquid made from the powdered bones of various rare monsters acquired from the ‘Garden.’
As the Tin Knight infused the shield with magical power, the silver liquid began to swell, transforming into another shield.
The size of the shield was unbelievable for something that came out of a vial no bigger than a perfume bottle.
A massive and wide shield, far bigger than the Tin Knight himself, began to hover a certain distance above the shield he was holding.
Then, the Tin Knight swung the shield against the charging crows, puffing up the gigantic shield alongside.
Realizing the danger at last, the enemies attempted to change direction or slow down, but that was no easy feat while diving.
Crash!
The first crow to collide with the gigantic shield had its neck twisted grotesquely.
The ones following suit met the same fate immediately.
As the swollen shield, which had puffed up to its limit, fulfilled its purpose and crumbled into dust, the twisted and broken bodies of the crows crashed to the ground.
The party promptly advanced to the next level.
What appeared now was a gigantic iron door.
The Tin Knight gazed at the door blankly, then suddenly stopped and asked Dorothea for magical power.
Dorothea placed her hands on the Tin Knight’s body and poured in magical power. The Tin Knight told the party to wait, then entered the room alone.
Click.
Just after the Tin Knight entered, the door locked.
Then, loud sounds of battle echoed from inside. The buzzing of giant bees’ wings and sharp spear points scraping against metal.
About ten seconds later, the Tin Knight signaled to the party.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ reports that all the enemies have been defeated!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ warns of poisonous fog inside, so be cautious when entering!]
Dorothea distributed antidotes to the party, while Sophia wrapped the party members in Divine Power.
As the party opened the door and stepped in, they squinted.
Even with solid preparations against poison, they could still feel the strong, dense toxic air filling the room.
No matter how skilled a practitioner, executing proper techniques in such a situation was nearly impossible.
Even if someone withstood the poison dispersed in mist form, just one hit from a rogue poison dart or a spear tip coated with poison would likely result in a fatal injury.
However, for the Tin Knight, whose entire body was made of metal, it was of no concern.
The bodies of the fallen foes scattered throughout the room proved that point.
Franka wore a horrified expression.
‘This is completely a monster.’
After her unpleasant encounter in Rowefelt, Franka had secretly harbored uncomfortable feelings towards the Tin Knight.
Though half of it was her own doing, one of the three monkeys she cherished had lost its life because of the Tin Knight, so it was understandable that she wouldn’t look upon him kindly.
However, the more she watched the Tin Knight, the more she felt an increasing sense of awe and fear rather than anger or resentment.
When they first fought, Franka and one of her three minions could put up a decent fight, but she now wondered if they would even have a chance against him with all their might.
No, it was just that she didn’t want to admit it out of pride; the result was painfully obvious.
The only weakness she could think of was that due to the high consumption of magical power, he needed to return to Dorothea for a refill periodically, but this wasn’t really a significant flaw.
“You scoundrels!! You shall never approach where the witch resides—”
Swish!
The doorkeeper, who had been shouting valiantly, suddenly fell silent.
It was because Adel had cleanly sliced through the sword and shield they were holding with her twin swords.
“Um, would you consider surrendering?”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ teaches that threats should be more intense!]
“…Next, am I to get my head chopped off?”
The doorkeeper fainted, frothing at the mouth, and Adel smiled bashfully with a ‘hehe’ as the Tin Knight praised her.
Indeed, that little lion was the best support to fill the Tin Knight’s gaps.
Well, that’s considering her as a comparison to the Tin Knight; Adelheid was already strong enough on her own.
While there were still areas in swordsmanship and magical power control she needed to improve, the benefits of the ‘Amaryllis’s Belt,’ which enhanced physical abilities, were enormous.
It was such that even the corpses Dorothea had brought were merely watching from behind as they had no chance to shine.
‘If this is how it is…’
Franka trembled slightly unknowingly.
In fact, the fight she had pictured against the West Witch was not like this at all.
Infiltration, theatrics, ambush, hit-and-run, thievery, and escape.
Whether hiding or acting, the goal was to swiftly achieve it and escape before the West Witch could take serious action.
Of course, they would have to face the West Witch’s wrath once it was all over, but with the backing of the Aglaia family, she had calculated that even in the worst-case scenario, it would only end with a simple expulsion.
She knew Dorothea’s party was prepared to seriously fight the West Witch, but she hadn’t taken it too seriously.
To Franka, the West Witch was more akin to a transcendent being wearing a human skin than an actual person.
But now, witnessing this, her thoughts had changed.
‘If it’s like this, if it’s like this, could we really win?’
Since the Tin Knight was rampaging single-handedly, the others hardly spent much energy.
Dorothea still appeared to have plenty of magical power and catalysts, and the army of corpses was growing; Adelheid appeared just slightly flushed; and Sophia… well, she never really had a strong presence in battle anyway.
Above all, Franka herself and her two companions were still in good shape.
Bang!
With a kick from the Tin Knight, a door leading to the castle roof swung open with force.
There stood an old woman waiting for the party.
The old woman looked exactly like a prototype ‘witch.’
Pointed hat. Skin covered in liver spots. A large hooked nose. Wrinkle-lined eyes, and all.
If she had any unique features, it was the dark green robe wrapped around her body and the fact that the witch had a single eye.
“Cackle, quite lively, aren’t you? It’s been a while since the castle has been so lively—”
[The ‘Tin Knight’ suggests we talk with iron!]
Before the West Witch could deliver her line, the Tin Knight charged at her.
The heavy footsteps rang out, intimidatingly enough to fill anyone who looked on with a primal dread.
The other companions seemed to expect this turn of events as they synchronized their breaths with the Tin Knight.
An undead wolf, leaping forth, was made of the bones of beast wolves collected from the ‘Garden,’ mixed with the blood and flesh of Werewolves, and Adelheid swung her twin swords with immense strength.
The Golden Monkeys, who tried to guard the West Witch, collided with the two gusts, creating a gap in the defense.
Swish!
The Tin Knight’s slash diagonally severed the West Witch’s body.
At that moment, everyone’s eyes widened.
Yet, surprisingly, the Tin Knight paused as if something displeased him.
His blue, ghostly eyes flickered as he scanned the surroundings.
Then, the Tin Knight looked up at the sky.
There, the West Witch, clearly severed, was sitting in a throne made by the Golden Monkeys, looking down at them.
The West Witch didn’t speak a word.
Instead, the swarm of monkeys intertwining in the sky spoke for her.
《Cackle, how rash you children are. And wild too. It’s unwise to confront a serpent filled with poison directly. You ought to know better.》
Multiple voices blended in the sky, creating an eerie resonance.
Each monkey that spoke wore a necklace seemingly shaped like eyes.
《Have you come seeking the treasure? Foolish children. You know not what this item is. Why the Holy Kingdom commanded its collection. You have no idea why it’s been left untouched for centuries and now ordered to be gathered. Ignorant children playing at their own whims. I intend to show you something good.》
The West Witch spread her palm.
Sapphire gloves exuded Malicious Magical Power.
The space around the witch creaked ominously.
Dorothea and Franka, the two who understood the treasure’s powers, turned pale.
‘Hyden’s Gloves’
Their ability allows one to store any object and retrieve it at will.
And the limit of the ‘thing’ that can be stored depends on the owner’s magical power and control.
Under normal circumstances, a mere wizard could only use it as a convenient handbag, but if a Great Witch were to use it—
《Enjoy your final entertainment.》
The next moment, a massive boulder, 50 meters long on each side, appeared above the party’s heads.
Someone screamed.
Someone else froze, unable to even think of dodging.
The sudden spectacle of a small mountain forming above them and then crashing down was enough to halt people’s thoughts.
Dorothea, a second too late, reached into her pouch to grab something to cast magic, but there was no time left.
So, the Tin Knight moved.
He didn’t swing his sword. There was no way he could slice something as massive as that mid-air, at least not with his current body.
Instead, he lifted his shield. Not to block the falling rock, however.
With all his might, he slammed down to the ground.
Boom!
With an enormous impact, the rooftop floor collapsed.
And those atop it began to fall down as well.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been nothing but self-destruction, but at that very moment, it proved effective.
He’d bought a few seconds to delay the future of being crushed under the rock.
That quick second was all Dorothea needed to cast her prepared spell.
The figures of the party shimmered like mirage.
Using the high-quality resources from the garden and prepared for just one use, that magic finally showed its efficacy.
The Tin Knight, Dorothea, Adelheid, Sophia, Franka, and her minions all vanished into thin air at once.
And narrowly, the massive rock crushed down where the castle used to stand.
Boom!!!
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/darkmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
