Release That Witch

Chapter 417: Strike back

n the Fallen Dragon Ridge, Lightning expertly set up a tent big enough for four beyond the wind’s reach.

Nightingale sat by the fire to warm herself. She rolled up the cuffs of her pants and found her calves stained with blood. The places hit by the Saint were swollen. She had not felt it at the time with adrenaline coursing through her, but now, as she relaxed, she struggled to lift her legs. If Maggie had not come to her rescue, she probably would not have been able to run any further with carrying the Marquess.

It was extremely dangerous to move in the Mist in her current condition. The changing lines inside of it were staircases lined with sharp blades waiting to cut her to pieces if given the opportunity.

“Let me help you, coo.”

Maggie took first aid supplies from a big backpack. Besides cotton and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, she found an herbal remedy prepared by Leaf, the medicinal mainstay of the Witch Cooperation Association.

Try as she might, Nightingale could not stifle her gasp with accompanying grimace when the pungent alcohol was poured over her wounds. If His Highness hadn’t mentioned that it could kill the bacteria that caused the demonic plague, she would think this was some type of torture.

To Nightingale’s great relief, the scorching burn was relieved quickly by the herbal preparation. As soon as her wounds were bandaged, she felt much more comfortable.

“Your back… ” the Marquess said in a low voice, “Is it alright?”

“What’s about her back?” Lightning crawled into the tent with a bundle of firewood.

“To save me… she was shot by their bolts,” Spear said forlornly.

“No big deal. It’s like taking a couple of punches.” Nightingale twitched her mouth. “It’s not a problem as long as I don’t sleep on my back tonight.”

“It’s better to apply some herbal medicine on it,” Lightning said while fiddling the branches in the fire pit with the sparks flying. “Leaf’s medicine, not only can stop the bleeding, but also is very effective for bruises.”

“Lay down on me, coo.” Maggie sat down and patted her lap. “Let me apply the medicine to your back, coo.”

Seeing the serious look in the white-haired girl’s eyes, Nightingale could not disobey and acquiesced without argument. “Alright.”

She took off her clothes with her hands covering her chest and reclined in Maggie’s lap. The Marquess let out a muffled gasp.

She knew without looking that her smooth back was now mottled with darkening red bruises. “But it just looks scary. Since witches have strong self-healing capacity, these wounds will heal after two or three days,” she thought, shrugging it off the best she could.

During this tender evaluation and treatment, Nightingale coughed twice and said, “Marquess, do you have any plans for the future? Your brother Redwyne, deluded by the church, has betrayed you. Actually, before that military coup, neither he nor the church knew you’re a witch.” Then she briefly repeated what she had heard in the tower to the Marquess. “They worked in collusion to deprive you of your title. Even if you aren’t a witch, you’ll be put to death as a devil’s minion. It’ll be easy work for the church.”

“If they dare to murder a marquess,” Spear said, gnashing her teeth, “I’ll make Redwyne and the church pay the price!”

“The church’s deeds are far beyond your imagination.” Nightingale shook her head. “They kill even kings without blinking. Think of the Kingdom of Everwinter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart.”

Spear was stunned for a moment and then opened her mouth to ask, “Does the church really dare to swallow all four kingdoms? I’ve only heard about it from merchants of neighboring countries, but most of the nobility in the King’s City thought it ridiculous.”

“The nobility in King’s City also said Roland Wimbledon was a rebel king.” Nightingale shrugged. “If His Highness guesses right, conquering the four kingdoms is only the first step in the church’s plan, but unless you join the Witch Union, I can’t tell you the conspiracy behind it. Besides, the church must spend some time plotting this military coup and most of your men should have already swung to Redwyne who has promised them more profits. If you want to take back Fallen Dragon Ridge, you can turn to His Highness for help.”

“Will he really help me?”

“Of course, it’s our solemn duty to wipe out the church,” Nightingale said with a trace of a smile touching her lips.

Marquess was silent, and she looked like she was hesitating to say something.

“Believe me,” Nightingale said, recognizing the Marquess’ hesitation. “You’re free to leave the Western Region anytime you want. His Highness never compels anyone to stay.”

“Is he really establishing a place where witches and ordinary human beings live together?”

This was the second time she had asked Nightingale this question, and again Nightingale answered proudly, “Yes, His Highness’ territory is a place like that. It’s the witches’ Holy Mountain.”

In the firelight, the expression seemed uncertain on Spear Passi’s face. After quite a long while, she nodded slightly and asked, “Are we going to set off tomorrow?”

“Not yet,” Nightingale and Lightning spoke with one voice. Then they gazed into each other’s eyes and burst into laughter.

“The local church will try to report to Holy City what happened here, so in the following two days, we must catch all the pigeons sent out by our enemy,” Nightingale explained to the Marquess. “After that, Maggie will carry you to Border Town. I have some other pressing demands here.”

She remembered what the Saint had said in that room atop the tower: she would leave for Redwater City soon after the military coup.

Apparently, wherever the Saint went, an undercurrent of tension soon followed. Troubles big or small were sure to find His Highness. If she could impede the Saint, she would not only sabotage church’s plan but also collect a bounty of information from the Saint.

Nightingale took a deep breath and made a plan to kill every member of that church platoon, but she was not sure whether Prince Roland would agree to her plan. If he insisted on her giving up the plan and going back, she would do as he wished.

…

Three days later Maggie, who had already sent the Marquess on to Border Town, returned to Fallen Dragon Ridge bearing two witches from the Sleeping Island on her back.

“Why are you here?” Nightingale asked, the surprise evident on her face.

“Prince Roland sent us to help you,” Andrea said, gracefully hopping off the big bird’s back, doffing her hood and giving her blonde hair a nice shake. “We’ll get two pieces of ice cream bread in return.”

“Wiping out a church platoon, you can never do that without me!” Ashes said with a smile.

“His Highness said you can do what you’ve planned, but take safety into account first, coo.” Maggie changed back to a girl and continued, “He said he was waiting for you to return to the castle.”

“Really… ” Nightingale mused, suddenly aware of warmth in her heart. “I get it.”

“So how many are there?” Ashes raised her eyebrows slightly. “I heard there’s a witch among them?”

“I don’t know the exact number yet, but there are at most 20 Judgement Warriors along with their servants and some believers,” she said in a measured voice. “You take care of the others and leave the witch to me.”

Chapter 418: Finish the Fighting

p>They had been on the ridge for a week when Lightning detected the platoon at the north gate of Fallen Dragon Ridge.

As Nightingale had expected, the church’s emissary delegation was composed of 25 fully armored Judgement Warriors, who were riding stallions at the head of the platoon. There was a transport corps of around 100 mercenary fighters and believers walking behind the Judgement Army.

Among them, there were two coaches. She assumed the Saint was in one of them.

The five witches secretly followed the platoon, as it headed toward Redwater City.

According to the plan, they would initiate the attack when the platoon was out of the monitoring area and thus would be unable to call for backup quickly.

Nightingale quietly watched a coach in the platoon from her mist and vaguely saw a silver light of magic power coming out through the distorted silhouette of the carriage.

If Nightingale acted alone, she could probably kill the Saint of the church, but it was not guaranteed that she could kill all of the enemies here. But now, with the help of the witches from Sleeping Island, it was highly possible that they would be able to block the news in the Southern Territory.

Once this platoon was eliminated, Hermes would not know anything, at least until next spring. And by then it would be very difficult for them to investigate what had happened to the emissary delegation.

Nightingale did not like killing, but this time it was an intentional decision.

It would lighten the burden on His Highness and help to defend the witches’ Holy Mountain.

She would not regret it.

When the emissary delegation entered the forest, Nightingale saw a dark shadow coming close.

It was Maggie. She folded her wings and swooped down, roaring. Horses suddenly neighed in fright and went off uncontrollably. All the people were shocked, dumbfounded and only stared goggle-eyed at the scene.

But the giant beast did not burst into the crowd to bite and stomp on them as they had expected. Instead, it spread its wings just over their heads and flew away close to the ground, leaving a storm behind it. The strong wind made it hard for them to open their eyes. Suddenly, a person jumped off the beast’s back and landed on the ground.

“Enemy attack!” the Judgement Warriors shouted among the emissary delegation.

Hearing this, the believers began to recover themselves, drew out their weapons and struck at the unknown enemy at the center of the platoon.

Nightingale’s vision filled with black and white lines. They were fully covered with lightless black holes which could protect them from ordinary witches, but not from Ashes the Extraordinary.

She cut all the believers within her range in two, at their waists, like reaping wheat. All the people around her fell swiftly. She used an ordinary iron sword instead of her symbolic heavy sword, in order for Maggie to carry one more witch besides herself. The iron sword quickly cracked and broke during the fight. She seized the weapons dropped by the enemy, a halberd, a stick, sometimes an iron hammer or a cutlass. Anything in her hand became a lethal weapon.

Blood splashed and bodies were torn apart. In the middle of the platoon, Ashes cut them in two all by herself.

In the rear part of the platoon, the mercenary fighters could hardly offer the middle section any help because they had their own difficulties.

Andrea kept skipping through the forest like a fairy. She used the branches and trunks of the trees to cover herself and shoot arrows every time she changed position. Every one of her arrows would hit someone between his eyebrows and every one of her shots was to kill.

In less than ten minutes, the whole platoon was a mess. Screams, cries and fighting noises resounded in the forest.

Nightingale joined the fight immediately. She dashed through her mist, closely following her target, who was her only target in this fight, the Saint of the church and the witch hunter. The coaches were drawn by the frightened horses. They ran wildly for a long way before the horses finally calmed down, but then they did not return to the platoon. Instead, they left the main road and burrowed into the forest in two different directions.

It seemed that the Saint had already noticed that among her enemies there was a tough opponent, an Extraordinary. For most witches, an Extraordinary with God’s Stone of Retaliation was unbeatable.

Unfortunately, she could not escape from Nightingale’s control.

Nightingale had already spotted her position earlier on. The one in the other coach was likely a high-ranking priestess or priest.

Nightingale left it to Lightning and Maggie.

Despite the fact that the Saint’s coach tossed heavily on the bumpy road in the forest, the coachman kept whipping the horses, looking like he was urged by someone to speed up.

Nightingale approached. In order to shoot fatally every time, she only fired when she was less than ten meters behind the target and in line with it. She aimed at the four Judgement Warriors following the coach and pressed the trigger to kill them one by one. The Judgement Army immediately split off at the sound of the gun, but the distance now was still only several steps for Nightingale in her mist. Further, their full armors were doing more harm than good in a fight against large caliber bullets. The bullets became more harmful to the human body after going through these deformed, cracked armors.

After getting rid of the four Judgement Warriors, she pointed her gun at the horses.

As the two horses fell down, the fragile wooden carriage promptly flew off from the force. It then hit a tree trunk and immediately fell apart.

Through the flying pieces, a person wrapped in silver light rolled out. Nightingale aimed and shot without hesitation, but the light formed by magic power seemed to have consciousness and blocked the bullets one by one.

She moved away to reload a new cartridge.

“Traitor!” the Saint shouted angrily, charging towards where Nightingale hid.

This time, the situation was different.

They did not fight in a small room anymore. Now every step Nightingale took would cost the Saint more than ten steps to catch up and the effective range of a revolver which was around 50 meters was much bigger than the area a witch could affect with her ability. The Saint’s “silver whip” could hardly reach Nightingale while a bullet could put the Saint to death anytime.

At this distance, merely one or two out of five shots could hit the target, but luckily Nightingale had enough time to reload new cartridges and keep aiming and firing.

After five catridges, the silver light dimmed out. One shot hit the Saint’s left shoulder and another went through her stomach. She could no longer stand. She staggered a few steps, and then fell to the ground.

Nightingale was not in a hurry to approach her. She went back to the place where the carriage had fallen apart to pick up a God’s Stone of Retaliation before she walked to the Saint. During the fight, she had kept moving around the carriage so it would be easier to search the site afterwards.

The moment Nightingale appeared beside the blood-covered witch, she suddenly stretched out her right hand, the only part she could move now, only to find that her silver light could not pierce her enemy as she wanted.

“You damned demon, the gods will put you on trial!” she said, gritting her teeth, blood was spewing out of her mouth.

Nightingale pointed the gun at her chest expressionlessly and replied, “Really? I’ll wait for that day.”

Then she pressed down the trigger.

Chapter 419: Faith

fter the smoke caused by the battle dissipated, the forest returned to silence.

The witch’s long braids had unraveled, and her hair spread like white petals over her body.

Blood streamed down her back and quickly formed a dark red puddle, slowly immersing into the ground and melting the cold, hard soil. After that, the air was filled with a smell of iron.

Nightingale squatted and untied the blindfold on the witch’s face. She found the face looked unexpectedly young, probably similar to her own age. However, the scars by her eyes destroyed her overall beauty—her eyes looked like they had been repeatedly burned by red-hot iron, and her skin was red and wrinkled, so she had lost the contours of her eyes.

This was undoubtedly caused by men. Nightingale gently touched the wrinkled scars; as for whether she suffered these wounds before becoming a witch or after serving the church, no one would ever know. However, this was no longer important because from now on, she couldn’t hurt any more witches and wouldn’t suffer any more torments.

After searching the Saint’s body, Nightingale found a letter, a seal and an emblem in the pocket of her robe lining. The emblem was a circle split by a cross with a clenched fist in the center.

She carried nothing else—no gold royals or jewelry.

“Perhaps she never enjoyed anything in her life,” Nightingale couldn’t help but think.

“Hey, look at what I caught.” Lightning’s voice sounded from the air. She looked up and saw the little girl carrying a struggling man, whom she threw onto the ground.

The man groaned in pain and rolled around, trying to get up, but he was hog-tied, so all he could do was to twist around helplessly.

The man’s outfit revealed that he was probably the Priest who was sitting in the other carriage.

“Where’s Maggie?”

“She’s guiding Ashes to chase the runaway Judgement Army.” Lightning walked over to the Saint. “This is the witch trained by the church?”

“Uh-huh,” Nightingale said softly. “She won’t ever hunt us again.”

“From her appearance, it’s difficult to believe that she saw us as enemies who must be killed… ” The little girl sighed.

“If not for the church, none of this would have happened.” Nightingale turned to glare at the captive man. When he saw the witch lying in a pool of blood, his eyes immediately widened, and he tried to say something but couldn’t because of the cloth gag in his mouth.

She took out the cloth. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“Ahem… you, you’ve killed the Pure Witch of Bishop Tayfun, reckless devil! You’ll sooner or later be hung by the church at the city gate and left to the crows!”

“Even if we didn’t kill her, being caught by the church is no better,” said Nightingale, “and compared with this, you’d better worry about yourself first.”

“Even if I die, I’ll have the salvation of God, and you guys will only sink into Hell and be tortured forever!” He yelled.

“That’s why I have to block his mouth,” Lightning said.

Nightingale stuffed the cloth back into his mouth. “Let His Highness deal with him. He said that Iron Axe is very good at interrogating such kinds of people.”

…

By the time Maggie brought over the two witches from Sleeping Island, it was already afternoon. Ashes jumped down from the back of the beast and landed steadily next to Nightingale. ” You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Everything went well,” she said. “How about you?”

“Obviously, not a single man escaped.” Ashes laughed proudly.

“Is she dead?” Andrea landed and looked at the Saint. “I thought you’d keep her alive.”

“The enemy was a witch, so hesitating would have been extremely dangerous,” Ashes twitched her mouth and said. “If I were you, I wouldn’t keep her alive either.”

“Gee, you have no mercy for your own kind.”

“She isn’t our kin, but a puppet controlled by the church,” the Extraordinary said casually. “Besides, sometimes our own kind can be even crueler than others. I’ve never seen demonic beasts or demons imprison and torture people for several years.”

After saying that, she took off her blood-stained gloves and offered her hand to Nightingale. “Your actions and performance were amazing, and you did the right thing in this situation.”

“… ” The latter stared at her for a moment before holding her hand. “Thank you.”

“Who would have thought that someone like her would comfort me,” Nightingale thought. “She probably didn’t want me to feel guilty for killing a witch.”

“I think this victory is worth celebrating,” Lightning said.

Maggie agreed with a “Coo!”

Andrea rolled her eyes, reached out her hands, and placed them on top of the others’. “I have to clarify that if it were only your hand, I wouldn’t touch it, so this’s for Nightingale’s sake.”

“OK, I get it,” Ashes said, raising her eyebrow.

Then, the five witches raised their hands to the sky, looking like an unwavering tower in the cold wind.

…

Next, they needed to collect the information carried by the emissary delegation and hide the traces of their battle. After properly dealing with these issues in the forest for two days, they arrived back in Border Town three days later.

After landing in the castle backyard, Nightingale was immediately surrounded by her sisters.

“I heard you were hurt. Where is the wound?” Nana asked.

“She has been waiting for you for a long time. Why did you come back so late?” Lily asked, annoyed.

“Does it… still hurt?” Lucia asked urgently.

“This batch of herbs was made especially by me. They can’t only stop bleeding, but also calm swelling, so their effect should be pretty great,” Leaf said with a smile.

“How could you be so careless to scurry into the church alone! You might not be this lucky next time!” This was Wendy’s voice.

“It’s alright as long as she can return safely.” Scroll chimed in.

Seeing their concerned faces warmed Nightingale’s heart, and she didn’t understand how the Church’s witches lived, but she knew what it was like to belong to the Witch Union. There was no doubt that this was worth devoting everything to.

Then, she saw His Highness Roland.

Lightning jumped into his arms and stuck to him like a gecko.

Maggie also flew onto Roland’s shoulder, rubbing his cheek.

Although Nightingale wanted to do this too, she knew that she wasn’t a child, so she held back the impulse to embrace Roland, walked up to him, and said with a smile, “I’m back.”

“Uh-huh, I’ve waited for you for a long time.” The prince smiled his familiar smile. “Take a hot bath and get some rest. I put a few bags of honey grilled dried fish in the office drawer.”

“OK, then I’ll go help myself.”

Nightingale smiled.

She reassured herself that she had done the right thing.

Chapter 420: The Lord’s Response

hat night, Roland held a magnificent banquet at the Lord’s castle.

Since they not only rescued Spear Passi but also captured a Priest from Hermes, it was technically the Witch Union’s first unprovoked attack on the church.

As the five witches who had participated in the battle walked on to the stage, the hall erupted into applause, and even Roland, who rarely drank, drained two glasses of Evelyn’s chilled white liquor.

Although it was only a small triumph, the Months of the Demons were long and stressful, and he wanted to take this opportunity to help everyone relax.

When Roland stumbled into his office the next morning with a raging headache, Nightingale was already waiting for him, sitting cross-legged on his table.

“Don’t you need more rest?” he asked with a smile.

Ever since he agreed to let her attack the emissary delegation, he had been worrying about her—even if he knew she was in a spacious area and could use the Mist to remain invincible, he still fretted about accidents. Afterall, this wasn’t daily practice, but a true battle of life and death. Now seeing her energetic and vital, he felt much better.

Nightingale swallowed her dried fish and said, “Of course I don’t. I’m in a great shape right now.”

As soon as Roland returned to his seat, she jumped off the table, walked to the back of the chair, and hugged him. “One more day of rest is one more day without seeing you.”

The prince was slightly startled.

“I actually wanted to do this yesterday in the castle garden… but now isn’t such a bad timing either,” Nightingale whispered into his ear.

…

She did not let him go and disappeared into the Mist until she heard the footsteps outside the door.

“Your Highness.” A guard shouted. “The Lord of Fallen Dragon Ridge, Marquess Passi, is here to see you.”

“Send her in.” Roland cleared his throat and adjusted his posture.

Spear Passi walked into the office, bowed, and sat in front of his desk. “I’ve thoroughly considered your proposal.”

“What do you think?” He poured a cup of tea for her.

While Nightingale, Ashes, and others were battling against the church, he had also been busy with showing the Marquess around the town and negotiating with her. Roland briefly told her the crisis that the kingdom faced, the origins of the church, and the threats of the demons, as well as his future plans.

When Spear heard about the church’s origins and their reasons for hunting witches, she was so shocked that her eyes widened to the utmost. If not for the testimonies of Tilly and Agatha, she would have never believed that witches once had ruled the entire Barbarian Land, but her attitude changed greatly afterwards.

“Repealing feudal power, universalizing laws and administration institution, prohibiting the inheritance and sale of titles… I can accept these requests, but…” She paused. “I’m just curious. Do you really plan to spread this to all the territories?”

“Yes. If we don’t do this, Kingdom of Graycastle will be nothing but loose sand,” Roland said, nodding. “Before our final enemies arrive, we must gather as much power as possible.”

“Your plan will offend all of the nobilities,” said Spear slowly, “especially the part prohibiting the inheritance of titles—if I’m not mistaken, the Lord of a territory is also a title. Doing so will confirm your reputation of the ‘rebel king’.”

“That’s why I don’t expect them to back down voluntarily,” he said, knocking on his desk. “Before the fateful Battle of Divine Will, the nobility’s discontent is not my priority. I don’t have to kill them all, either. As long as these people accept my new terms, they may even be able to keep their territories, just not their feudal power—I believe they’ll make the right decision.”

Centralization of authority was only effective when all the power was held by a few people, so if local authorities had too much power, they would threaten this centralization and even his position as a ruler. Unlike one year ago, the town now had the ability to undergo a revolution. After this step was completed, he would be the only ruler of Kingdom of Graycastle in a real sense.

“You seem to have made up your mind.” Spear sighed. “If I don’t accept them, your army will probably overturn my ruling anyways.”

“I desperately need manpower for my plan,” Roland said earnestly, “especially someone with experience in governing a city. Like I said, you won’t lose your territory, and you can proudly reveal your identity as a witch to your people without fear of the church.”

The Marquess was silent for a while. “I also have a request.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“After you take back Fallen Dragon Ridge for me, I don’t want anything to change,” she said bluntly. “I can only fully support you when Timothy is no longer the king.”

“What a clever answer…” Roland thought. “She avoided giving a strict refusal and gave herself some room for changing her mind. Basically what she meant is that in order to earn her support, I need to prove that my plan of unifying the Kingdom of Graycastle isn’t just empty talk and that I’m truly capable of doing it.”

“It’s a deal then.” He didn’t think much of the Marquess’ secret calculations. If his attack in the spring went well, it might be easier to overturn Timothy than retrieving Fallen Dragon Ridge.

“Oh, by the way, Your Highness.” Spear hesitated. “The witches are attending class tonight, and I’m wondering if I could join them…”

Roland was a bit surprised. “Those are all very basic beginner courses. You probably won’t learn anything new.”

“I’m intrigued by their calculating methods,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

“Is she talking about the Multiplication Table or algebraic equations?” He mused. “Of course, as long as you’re willing to join the Witch Union.”

…

After lunch, Iron Axe brought him some good news.

“He’s willing to talk?” Roland was slightly surprised. “That soon?”

According to Nightingale, the captive Priest was quite stubborn.

“Not everyone has a will of steel, Your Highness,” answered Iron Axe seriously. “The Sand Nation has some unique interrogation methods that barely damage the body but destroy the mind, even making some people view death as a relief. He has already lingered longer than most people.”

“That’s right,” he thought. “Professional spies not only have extraordinary willpower, but are also trained not to crack under any interrogation, but no one in this era has received this kind of training.”

“Take me to see him,” said Roland. “I have quite a few questions for him.”

.

Chapter 421: The Interrogation

he prison of the town hadn’t changed much since he arrived one year ago.

His mass infrastructure development did not extend to this place, and although the houses and roads above the ground had been renovated, the prison below still reeked of decay. Moss grew on the stone walls, and muddy water dripped down the stairs.

The only difference was that the cells held very few prisoners.

Due to the the expansion and development of the territory, anyone who was willing to work was able to find a job. The scoundrels who were unwilling to change were sent by Roland to the mines, where they were whipped into shape.

Since Anna had wrecked the cells at the bottom of the prison, and there was no need to repair them, the entire lower floor was sealed off and abandoned. Roland followed Iron Axe to the middle of the third floor and saw the captive Priest—the only criminal on this floor.

The man was not hanging on a torture rack nor beaten to a bloody pulp, which completely defied Roland’s idea of an interrogation. He was huddled in the icy corner of his cell, and although his clothes were all intact, he seemed completely lifeless and pale with hollow eyes without focus.

“Is he alright?” Roland asked quietly.

“It’s not an issue, Your Highness,” Iron Axe answered with a bow. “If you have any questions, you can ask him directly.”

The prince nodded. The Sand Nation’s interrogation methods were indeed unique, but he was not interested in the specifics or the humanity of Iron Axe’s process, as long as it got the job done. He cleared his throat, sat down on the long wooden bench near the cell, and asked the Priest through the bars, “What’s your name?”

“Are you the Fourth Prince of Kingdom of Graycastle… Roland Wimbledon?” The man’s expression changed. “Look… look at what you’ve done. You’ve unleashed the demons’ powers.”

“His Highness is asking your name,” said Iron Axe coldly. “If you don’t want to undergo last night’s punishment again, then cut the crap.”

The Priest’s face froze, and after a short pause, he lowered his head and said, “My… my name is Campus.”

“I heard you’re from the Holy City of Hermes?” Roland glanced at the man. “Who was the witch traveling with you? Was she also from the Holy City? What was her role in the church?”

“Her…” Campus seemed hesitant and was silent for a long time before answering, “Her name was Aurora, and she was one of Master Tayfun’s Pure Witches. She didn’t take any positions in the church.”

“Tayfun?” The prince pondered for a while upon this familiar name.

“He’s one of the three Archbishops of the Holy City, in charge of the church’s external affairs. His position is second only to the Supreme Pontiff.” The Priest explained.

Roland suddenly remembered that he had met this person before—at a ceremony in King’s City. That day, King Wimbledon III organized a big coming-of-age celebration for Tilly Wimbledon, and Tayfun was the Bishop sent by the church to the ceremony. In his memory, Tayfun seemed like a benevolent old man with a caring and forgiving smile, as if he had nothing to do with anything evil in the world.

“What’s a Pure Witch?”

Campus hesitated once more, but after Iron Axe threatened him again, he grudgingly responded. “Pure Witches are witches who are raised by the church and directly managed by Bishops and the Supreme Pontiff, so I don’t know too much about them.”

Roland scratched his ear to signal for Nightingale’s confirmation and learned that the man was not lying.

“How many people know about the church’s hidden witches?”

The Priest shook his head. “Master Tayfun only told me about this two years ago and ordered me not to tell other believers, so… I’m not sure how many people know.”

“The church is obviously very secretive about raising Pure Witches, which at least means they aren’t publicly holding a double standard,” thought Roland. “This is definitely good news.” This finally confirmed his suspicion and gave him another piece of evidence to hold against the church—if the believers found out that the sermons they received were all false and that the church was secretly raising the very enemies they were taught to fight under their noses, how would they react?

“What was your motive in sabotaging the Lord of Fallen Dragon Ridge? Why did you want to take her back to Hermes?”

“I don’t know. My only mission was to monitor Aurora, so only she knows the exact motive. There was a change of plans because Aurora discovered that the lord was actually a witch, and the new Pope thus ordered us to send all captured witches back to the Holy City to be purified.”

“Purified,” Roland snorted. “Do you actually believe that? If purified witches… no, Pure Witches are sinless, why would the church keep their existence as a secret?”

“Because… because some believers aren’t devoted enough, so this’s the only way for now…” His voice trailed off, and he eventually closed his mouth.

The prince sneered. “Where did you plan to go after leaving Fallen Dragon Ridge?”

“Redwater City.”

“After that?”

“Impassable Castle.”

“Anywhere else?”

“Just these three cities.” The Priest responded numbly, having given up resisting after disclosing the information about Pure Witches. “Master Tayfun didn’t tell us when to return, so we were going to stay at Impassable Castle awaiting new orders.”

His answer matched the letter found on the witch’s body. “Why these three cities?”

Campus shook his head.

It seemed that he didn’t know much since for the church, he was probably just a monitor for the Pure Witch. Roland stroked his chin and thought, “Fallen Dragon Ridge is in the Southern Territory, Redwater city in the center of the kingdom, and Impassable Castle between the Northern and Western Territories, so they have nothing in common, and they aren’t important passes or intersections. Even if the church wanted to overturn the Kingdom of Graycastle, they wouldn’t start with these cities.”

If he had to name a similarity between them, it would be that they all lay on the border of the Western Territory—a thought suddenly sprang into his mind: Was he actually the person the emissary delegation was targeting at?

…

The interrogation didn’t stop until evening. Roland collected his information and stood up. When he was about to leave, he noticed that the Priest was sitting motionless against the wall, as still as a corpse, neither begging for mercy nor cursing in fury. This surprised him greatly. “Aren’t you asking what I intend to do with you?”

“You tortured me into confessing all this… and God will bear witness,” Campus said with his eyes closed. “God is my final judge, not you. It doesn’t matter what you’ll do to me.”

“Your Highness, give me another night with him,” said Iron Axe. “I’ll turn his attitude around.”

“Not necessary. This is enough.” Since the Priest had already confessed everything, Roland had no interest in continuing to torture him. “He’ll be judged, not by God… but by the people.”

.

Chapter 422: Public Trial

hortly after winter began, a wooden stage was built in the center of the square. It was the first of its kind for the people of Border Town. It wasn’t for a theatrical performance but rather to conduct the first public trial.

A notice had been issued two days prior. On the day of the trial the stage was surrounded by a large crowd. The square area was much larger after the extension but it still wasn’t large enough to accommodate the entire community. There were scattered snowflakes falling from the sky, but everyone was too excited and completely ignored the wind and snow.

The atmosphere suddenly reached extremity as Roland appeared on the stage.

Watching the audience at the bottom waving their arms at him, he was emotionally touched. Once he had been almost a laughing stock in the eyes of the nobility and he’d had little influence on his subjects. Now, after just one year, the situation was reversed.

With shouts from the crowd, the Priest Campus was pushed onto the stage. His facial expressions changed a little while facing the crowd. Perhaps this parade was common for the top management from the church. They were accustomed to worship from the believers, and could easily influence the lives of these people with a single word or action, Roland thought. Except that this time, he probably wouldn’t go through the brilliance of the past.

With excitement in their eyes, the witches from the union walked up to the wooden stage. They had always been slandered, hunted, unjustly treated and tried. But this time the roles were reversed. Witches were the victims, accusers, and jurors, and the trial object was the church. They had always imagined such a scene, but never expected that such a day would come so quickly.

Roland waved his hands and the people quieted immediately.

“Greetings, my people.”

“The purpose of today’s gathering is to reveal a shameful crime. The church has hidden the truth from the very beginning. I wouldn’t have discovered this shocking news if the Priest of the Holy City had not been captured in a rebellion case.”

Roland had been thinking about how to reveal the church’s crime effectively for the past two days. The rebellion case of Fallen Dragon Ridge shouldn’t be the key point, because the story from a small town far away from them wouldn’t gain their attention; the Battle of Divine Will and the Kingdom of Witches shouldn’t be mentioned, for the story of a few hundred years ago was irrelevant for them and it might cause panic if it revealed the existence of demons. He needed to share something that they cared about in order to arouse the indignation of the masses.

In other words, it had to touch their hearts.

With no doubt, the witches who lived here shared the same daily lives with the people.

“The church has claimed that witches are the devil’s minions, persons that are neither clean nor fortunate, but in fact, both the Pope and the Archbishop have been sheltering witches in a surprisingly large scale! This was said by the Priest himself.” Roland faced the Priest and said, “Am I correct?”

After a long silence, Campus replied, “Yes.”

Discussions broke out in the crowd.

“Your Highness, is he really a priest from the Holy City?” someone asked.

“Of course,” said Roland, showing an expression of praise in the direction of Echo. “He was sent to the Kingdom of Graycastle in the name of the church as a Saint, and all the documents he’s brought reveal his identity!” Roland pointed to a small table beside the wooden stage. “Priest’s robe, badge, circular letter, all can be used as evidence.”

The crowd was liable to doubts about these, so he would let Echo ask first and then answer them accordingly. Furthermore, these items were real, he didn’t need to fake it.

“My people, come back to what I said before,” continued the prince. “Take note of the term I used—sheltering! Yes, they gather female infants and orphans from all over the country to the monastery of the Holy City and these women are treated as animals. Only a few turn into witches, and proceed to further their training. The rest simply become trinkets for Church believers.”

“No, these …” Campus raised his head and opened his mouth, but he could hardly make a sound.

“In order to get more witches, they shelter female wanderers in the name of relief, and even collude with Black Street Rats to steal infants! Please think, my people, if there were a church in this town, you wouldn’t only lose Miss Nana, but also a family member of yours could be missing too. They claim that the witches are evil spirits, seduced by demons, and drive believers to persecute these innocent women. Could you tolerate if Miss Nana was framed by them?”

“Never, Your Highness, never!”

The atmosphere of the square was hot, and people shook their fists, expressing their anger at the Priest.

“Miss Nana can’t be evil, and she is the one who cured my injury!”

“I’ve know her since she was little. She was my daughter’s classmate in Karl’s college.”

“I would have been killed by demonic beasts if not for her healing. She is an angel to the First Army.”

Roland paused for a moment so the crowd could voice their dissatisfaction, then he continued. “So, why did they do that?”

The question caused a commotion among the subjects.

“Because the church needed witches to maintain their rule!” Before they could make more speculation, the prince said, “As you know, the witches’ abilities are varied and incredible! Besides Miss Nana’s healing and Miss Lily’s elimination of demonic plague, they have many other abilities that can improve our lives. The water supply equipment in our town was made by Miss Anna and Miss Soraya. The flintlocks used by the First Army and the steam engine that pulls the miner’s truck, all these are gifts given by the witches. Our town wouldn’t have achieved any of this without their contributions.”

“But everything has two sides. Like a sword, it can be used to fight the demonic beasts or used to kill the innocent. The church is using the witches’ abilities to hurt good people. And those who don’t obey them are regarded as God’s outcast. In fact, the top management of the church is committing a heinous crime which is recorded in the doctrine, and they completely disregard that their God is watching them.”

“My dear people, if your children were to be kidnapped by the church and used to hurt you after being trained. If they became the church’s whip and blade, how sad that would be!”

Roland turned around, walked to the front of Campus, expanded the long roll of paper, and asked loudly, “Do you have anything else to say about the accusations recorded on this paper?”

“These… are all true.” Popping his eyes, the Priest looked as if he couldn’t believe he had uttered these words. “I… admit guilt.”

The masses became very angry.

“I hand over the right of judgment to you all!” Roland said loudly while the crowd was agitated, “For this evil, your choice is…”

“Kill him!”

“Kill him!”

“Kill him!”

Everybody was shouting the same words, soon there was only one voice left in the square.

In Border Town, with scattered snowflakes floating above, the people made their choice.

Chapter 423: The Connection

..

Spear Passi solemnly signed her name at the bottom, after she had read both contracts several times.

One was the Memorandum of Unification and the other was the Memorandum of the Witch Union.

The first contract agreed that Spear would lead the people of Fallen Dragon Ridge in promising allegiance to Roland Wimbledon after Timothy Wimbledon’s rule had been overthrown, and in response to the request of the new king, she would surrender her power. In return Roland would guarantee her position as the Lord of Fallen Dragon Ridge and other rights. The memorandum divided them into three categories which were, human affairs, administrative affairs, and finance. Although such a categorization was new, it was easy for her to understand what her daily routine was to include.

Spear thought about the second contract for a long time before she had made up her mind, as of this time the union was to serve Prince Roland without any doubt. She didn’t want to join Prince Roland so hastily, he had only just occupied the corner region of the Kingdom of Graycastle. But, the content of the contract was attractive, and she vaguely sensed that the unique method of categorization would be helpful in managing her territory.

Fortunately, the constitutions of the Memorandum of the Witch Union were very loose, more like a formal consensus, and didn’t even limit the whereabouts of its members. She consulted with the prince regarding this, and his reply was that the members could leave any time they wanted.

“I’ve signed it.”

Spear placed the two elegant parchments on the table, but Roland didn’t respond. He looked at the empty side of the room as if thinking about something.

“Your Highness?”

“Ah…” He blinked his eyes as if he had come back from somewhere. “Let me have a look at it.”

He wasn’t this absent minded before the negotiation, and it seemed that ever since the trial yesterday, His Highness has been confused. This was difficult for her to understand. The trial was an absolute success and the people were on his side and cheering him. Before that, Spear had never thought that ordinary people would support a person of nobility. She thought that she and they were in two different worlds, and that nobility needed neither the understanding nor support of the people. But, she had changed her mind a day ago. After seeing the people surrounding the square, waving their fists, shouting with a strong voice that shook the sky and land. She then realized that they might contain a power that she had never felt and it was more powerful than a noble.

Besides, the decisive judgment displayed by His Highness was another one of the reasons why she had signed both contracts.

Regardless of whether or not he’s trying to protect the witches, it’s a kind of good faith to punish rebels who are against his royal power. Considering this, she would respond accordingly.

However, His Highness doesn’t seem satisfied… Is he regretting being publicly against the church?

Spear was clear that the church was not an enemy they could easily deal with.

It’s better to figure it out agreeably since it’s related to the direction of their future co-operation. She hesitated, and then mentioned it diplomatically.

The prince was astonished for a while after he had heard this, and then he shook his head and smiled. “I have never regretted fighting against the church, after all, they’re enemies that must be defeated from all points of view.”

“So why…”

“I just have some mixed feelings.”

“Mixed feelings?”

“I feel a little embarrassed, although what I said was truthful and what I disclosed were the crimes committed by the church.” He shrugged, “It seems as if I’m not a qualified politician.”

Politician? What’s that? Like an astrologer devoting himself to studying stars, is a politician someone devoting himself to studying politics?

His Highness interrupted before she could keep asking. “I’ll keep these parchments. I heard that your ability is related to the control of magic power?”

“Yes.” Spear stopped questioning. “To be more precise, it’s to extract the magic power of one witch for other witches to use. Of course, I can also retrieve and recover my own magic power for the purpose of consumption. As this process doesn’t have a big impact on the outside world, I can repeat the process anytime in the castle.”

“How did you find out you have such an ability?” the prince asked curiously.

“After my awakening.” The Marquess answered, “I’ve no idea how other witches discovered their abilities, but I could feel it, and the feeling was like… you suddenly had an extra limb.”

“Interesting description.” He nodded thoughtfully. “You should know that the reason I sent Nightingale to Fallen Dragon Ridge is to give you an invitation.”

“You need my ability.” Spear paused a moment and bowed. “It’s my honor to serve you.”

Anyway, since there was no way for her to return to Fallen Dragon Ridge at the moment, it was better for her to see what a prince does, despite the fact that she had only been in town for a week. She had already realized that the town was different from others, it was a secluded land that was far away from the center of the Kingdom, but as energetic and lively as the capital. As a Lord, she was curious.

What made Spear more surprised was how the life of the witches here was completely different from what she had imagined. The prince didn’t control them, but rather allowed them to live freely, and this was evident from his waiting for the return of Nightingale—he obviously hoped that she could return early, but still agreed with her requisition.

His Royal Highness didn’t treat them as servants.

Some nobles sheltered witches because of their beauty. She thought he would have been more unscrupulous because His Highness openly recruited witches, but he was surprisingly self-disciplined.

Were the rumors true? Was the prince both prurient and incompetent?

She had more faith in him and she felt ridiculous for thinking it at the same time. When she thought back on it, she felt what Nightingale had told her was totally true.

…

She left the castle with the prince and they came to a yard at the back of the town, where Spear saw two other witches.

“This is Anna and this is Mystery Moon.” Roland introduced them. “The Magic Power of Mystery Moon is considered to be low level, but the consumption of her magic power is astonishing.”

“I’m obviously at a middle level!” Mystery Moon protested.

“Among the awakened witches,” the prince added.

Mystery Moon kept quiet immediately.

“Do you want me to connect their magic powers?” Spear looked at Anna. “Does she have the strongest magic power in the union? I suggest that you invite a few more witches to come over. The stock magic power is related to their age, even if there’s a difference, it wouldn’t be big.”

“This is just an experiment,” His Highness said, rubbing his chin, “and if it works, I’ll ask them to come over.”

The Marquess nodded and summoned a passage of magic power—it was a sphere shining with blue light, quietly floating in the air. Under her control, two thin tentacle-shaped threads stretched out from the sphere to Anna and Mystery Moon.

“You’ll feel weird in the beginning, so just relax and it’ll be fine,” Spear explained. “I’ll fail to transfer your magic powers if you resist it.”

Anna was shocked when the tentacle touched her chest.

What’s… happening here? It seemed that the tentacle was connected to a solid metal cube instead of the rotating magic orb. It was so big that she felt like an ant standing at the bottom of it, and she could only see over its top by raising her head.

Chapter 424: The Dawn I

ow is magic power with such a form possible?

Spear “touched” the edge of the metal in disbelief, which was her unique way of sensing magic power. As soon as the passage was connected, she could see, touch, and even smell the magic powers of witches, as if she were entering their bodies.

Hard and cold, the surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting every detail of the tentacle-shaped thread. When the antenna-like cord of energy reached the cube, it swiftly bounced back.

“Relax.” Marquess comforted her. “They’re harmless.” She wasn’t sure whether her ability could affect this metallic cube since Anna’s magic power seemed unable to flow.

After trying a few times, the antenna finally stuck to the cube.

But there was no transmission of magic power.

“What’s going on?” Nightingale noticed something was wrong.

“I’ve never… transported magic power of this kind. It’s too massive and doesn’t look like the air that can be transferred.” Spear felt her throat dry. “As soon as the channel is connected, the magic power should have been absorbed by the ‘pivot’.”

“I’ll try to charge it with magic power.” Anna suddenly spoke. “The same way as using the Sigil of God’s Will.”

“Be careful not to expend too much each time.” His Highness nodded.

What was the Sigil of God’s Will? Spear found that she’d heard several new terms since she came to this little town.

As she was pondering, the magic power in Anna’s body suddenly transformed.

The perfect mirror was broken, and the surface of the metal rippled. The liquid without light rushed into the pipe and then became a floating ball as if pushed by something.

She then felt some weight.

Different from the cyclone of magic power, the liquid was very heavy. As it flew into the pivot, it was like putting in chunks of iron ingot. Spear found that she was consuming an increasing amount of magic power.

It was rather unbelievable. Prior to this, she could easily exhibit her abilities for half a day. Now at this rate, she might not be able to last a few hours.

Out of desperation, she drew out another cord from the pivot, connected it with her own body, and sustained the channel using Anna’s magic power.

When the light ball was full, the metal cube in Anna’s body was still in its original form, as if the magic power it lost was only a very insignificant portion.

Spear really wanted to take back what she had just said. She coughed twice. “Hem… now the channel can supply enough magic power for Miss Mystery Moon. What do we do next?”

“Stick to it.” His Highness Roland handed Mystery Moon a copper cylinder. “Now show us what you can do.”

“Ok.” Mystery Moon took a deep breath, held the copper object in her hands, and closed her eyes.

All of a sudden, the Magic Power began to flow furiously.

Spear saw that the metal cube in Anna’s body gleamed, the fluid in the pivot came out, and filled again; the entire channel kept on trembling. It looked as if it would be torn apart by the turbulent magic power. The Marquess had sweat on her forehead. She felt as if she was standing in front of a tsunami.

On the other side, Mystery Moon had a frowned forehead and red cheeks. Obviously, she was also under the impact of the fierce waves. But considering Spear was the one transferring the power, Mystery Moon must be under tremendous impact. Even so, she didn’t stop using her abilities, and the rapidly consumed magic power was the proof.

These girls were monsters!

Spear didn’t know how she managed to last to the end. When the magic power in Anna’s body was drained, Spear felt she could barely stand on her own feet.

“Fi… finished.” Mystery Moon opened her eyes and excitingly held up the copper cylinder. “I made it!”

“Well done.” Roland carefully clamped the copper object with a pair of wooden tongs, as if it was a red-hot iron.

“What’s this?” the Marquess asked. “It looks exactly the same as before.”

“A strong magnet with ever changing magnetic force,” the prince replied. “I don’t know whether it’ll form an access with the earth while being held in a person’s hand. If so, it would discharge. So we’d better be cautious.”

Spear blinked her eyes. “What?”

Nightingale smiled. “Don’t mind them. This is such a topic that only Anna can participate in.”

“Then… what can it be used for?”

“Let’s try it out.” Roland put the copper cylinder into a black iron machine standing in the middle of the yard. Judging from the silhouette of the machine, it looked like a giant iron tube. It had a wooden pedestal at the bottom. An iron pole as thick as an arm stuck out from the middle. The prince looked at Mystery Moon. “Turn on the switch. If it works, it’ll bring a whole new source of power to the town.”

Mystery Moon nodded. She held the wooden handle on the machine and pulled it downward with effort.

Sparks burst out from the downside of her hands, making a crackling sound. To Spear’s surprise, the iron pole in the middle began to rotate rapidly. The pole must have been as heavy as one or two people. How could it rotate so fast?

“Have we… succeeded?”

“Not yet.” The prince found a chair and sat on it. “It depends on how long it can work.”

Spear noticed there was something glittering in Roland’s eyes as he looked at the plain rough iron machine. It was as if he was looking at a piece of shining jewelry.

Three days later, Roland pushed open the door to the backyard of the North Slope Mountain. Upon hearing the sound, Anna stopped her work and rushed to greet Roland. She couldn’t conceal her excitement. “It’s still working.”

There was no need for her remark though. The prince also heard the noise made by the operating electric motor. To him, this noise was almost as euphonious as the sounds of nature. Because it meant that the variable magnetic core cylinder, being filled with Mystery Moon’s magic power, was still operating properly. As a whole new power source, it had shown its practical use.

Roland came to the center of the yard and saw that Mystery Moon was sitting beside the electric motor. With her hands on her chin, she looked at the black machine, feeling bored. “Your Highness, when you said my abilities are full of potential, did you mean this thing ? It doesn’t look any different from a steam engine.”

“This is only the first step to change the world,” Roland said beaming. “You’ll be able to see what changes it can bring to our little town soon enough.”

Every step forward in the history of the human race was related to the utilization of energy. To some extent it could be used to measure the level of a civilization’s advancement. From steam to electricity, from electricity to nuclear, the breakthrough in energy would usually boost the industrial production. The variable magnetic core cylinder filled with Mystery Moon’s magic power was such a kind of new energy. It resembled a super large battery and transformed magic power into electric energy. Its small manufacture scale limited its application, which meant it couldn’t lead to an energy reform. But as a supplement to the steam engine and internal combustion engine, it was still a perfect power source.

Besides, with the growth of Anna’s magic power, it still had the potential to be used in other areas. And when Leaf gained control of the Mist Forest and obtained the massive magic power supply, the potential was unimaginable.

“The name ‘variable magnetic core cylinder’ is too long,” Roland said, smiling. “Let’s call it Dawn I.”