Even though Cangyu and Rosetta were enemies, their timing in preparing for battle was remarkably synchronized. The two exchanged a silent glance before slowly walking toward one another.
Cangyu was the first to launch an offensive. One moment she was maintaining her previous walking pace; the next, her foot slammed into the ground with enough force to shatter the floor. The violent reaction propelled her forward in a sudden burst of acceleration. In only a few seconds, the distance between her and Rosetta was cut in half.
Rosetta watched her aggressive approach without a hint of surprise or fear on her face. She lightly tapped the floor with her parasol, and the walls on both sides of Cangyu began to emit a dreamlike fluorescence. This was a “Window” created by the Witch of Windows. Initially, the glow formed only a small rectangular shape, but it expanded into an opening taller than a person in an instant. Immediately after, concrete fragments and rocks packed inside the Window surged out like a bursting dam, completely swallowing Cangyu’s figure.
However, this scene lasted for less than a second. With a deafening *boom*, the largest rock was smashed to pieces by Cangyu’s straight punch. When the other small fragments made contact with her body, not only did they fail to leave a single scratch, but they were deflected away as if they had struck an even harder object.
Next, Windows appeared sequentially to Cangyu’s right and above her, spewing out steel rebar and scrapped cars. She crushed them all easily with her fists, her speed barely dropping throughout the process. All of Rosetta’s attacks were effortlessly neutralized, yet a composed smile remained on the witch’s face. This was not the first time she had fought Cangyu, and she was well aware of her opponent’s capabilities.
Although Cangyu appeared to be charging in bare-handed, her Heart Weapon was actually equipped the entire time. It was the pair of hoop-like Bracelets on her wrists. The exclusive Magic it provided Cangyu was “Body Enhancement,” an effect that was as simple and brutal as its name suggested. Rosetta knew full well that simple frontal attacks would be ineffective against her.
‘Then, how about this?’ Rosetta thought. Cangyu had already reached a very close range. At that moment, Rosetta summoned a new Window diagonally above her opponent. Since the previous obstacles had all been hard objects, Cangyu subconsciously threw a punch at the burlap sack emerging from the opening. As the impact of the punch exploded, the dust inside the sack was scattered to every corner of the Underground Passage.
Cangyu failed to hold her breath in time. The scent hitting her nose told her immediately that it was lime powder. However, she did not stop her charge, swinging another punch toward Rosetta’s last known position by sheer intuition. Unfortunately, the strike hit only air. In that brief moment when her vision was obscured, Rosetta had vanished without a trace.
“That is why I call you a dummy~” Rosetta’s flippant voice drifted from an unknown direction, echoing repeatedly within the cramped space.
Enveloped in the thick dust, Cangyu frantically searched for Rosetta like a headless fly. Her actions were futile, for Rosetta herself had already slipped inside a Window. “It is time I showed you whose home turf this is.”
As Rosetta made her declaration, the edge of a tile on the wall behind Cangyu suddenly began to glow. A rod-like object flew out like a bullet an instant later. Sensing the danger, Cangyu turned back immediately, raising her arms to block. The object was deflected straight into the wall behind her upon impact.
“Tch!” Although she had successfully diverted the object’s trajectory, a trail of blood was left on Cangyu’s arm. By now, the dust floating in the air had settled, allowing her to see clearly. The object that had embedded itself into the wall with a sharp *clang* was a silver dinner knife.
Rosetta’s voice and a Window on a tile appeared once more. Having learned from the previous exchange, Cangyu intercepted it with a precise punch. A metal dinner fork was snapped into several sections by the massive impact. She shouted toward Rosetta, “Don’t think the same trick will work twice!”
“Is that so~?” Rosetta was dismissive of the statement. She opened a massive number of Windows across the walls all at once, and the entire Underground Passage was suddenly bathed in a dreamlike fluorescence.
First came the Windows directly in front of and behind Cangyu, which fired a total of five knives and forks with subtle differences in direction. She crushed the one flying in the lead with her fist, then used a roundhouse kick to knock down the next two, following through by ducking to evade the remaining two. However, the attack truly laced with killing intent did not come from any of the Windows opened in advance. Just as Cangyu thought she had dodged this wave of the offensive, the floor beneath her feet suddenly glowed.
Then, with a sharp *whoosh*, a dinner knife shot out rapidly. She had no time to dodge and could only lean back while extending her arm to prevent the blade from hitting her chin directly. A moment later, pain flared from her arm. Even with the protection of Body Enhancement, the deflected knife left a deeper gash than the previous one.
“Hiss…” Cangyu let out a faint intake of breath, but she was not about to stop because of such a minor injury. She gritted her teeth and stood up quickly to continue dealing with Rosetta’s attacks. In that moment, she finally understood what Rosetta meant.
‘It is time I showed you whose home turf this is.’
That was what Rosetta had said, and in reality, this place truly was her home turf. The conditions for her to open a Window were a “flat surface” and “a square surrounded by lines.” In this Underground Passage, the small tiles covering the walls naturally met all those requirements. Therefore, what she needed to do now was destroy the source of these Windows as much as possible.
Cangyu poured her full strength into a punch and slammed it against the wall while dodging. “Hah!” Accompanied by her shout and a thunderous roar, cracks spread across the wall like ripples on water. The fluorescence everywhere the cracks reached vanished instantly. This meant she had successfully disabled the Windows in that area.
Rosetta praised her for this, “Not bad, not bad. You finally figured it out?” She had intended for this to be a battle of attrition from the start. For her, if she could crush Cangyu before all the Windows were destroyed, it would be her victory. Since Cangyu’s reaction to the situation had been quite slow, Rosetta had gained quite a bit of extra time. She was now practically certain of her victory.
“Well then, it is time for phase two.” She announced this in a cheerful tone. The real trial for Cangyu was only just beginning.