Release That Witch

Ashes explained to Wendy, "God's Punishment Warriors are the strongest fighters of the church and confidential weapons to destroy Extraordinaries. They could absolutely compete with me in terms of strength and speed. What's more..." She hesitated and then continued, "They appeared to be unconscious. Once in a fight, I cut off the right hand of a God's Punishment Warrior, but he immediately lifted his left hand trying to gouge my eyes without any hesitation. As I turned around to escape, he didn't overbalance at all. It's nothing to do with willpower. Losing an arm, a tough warrior can continue to fight but he won't be adjusted to the unbalance in such a short time."     

"I only heard of Judgement Army of the church. Given that the church people had such powerful warriors, why didn't they use them when rounding up witches in the previous times?" murmured Wendy.     

"I don't know," Ashes said slowly, "and until I came back to the old Holy City, I heard the name "God's Punishment Army" from some people."     

"You... came back?" Wendy was surprised.     

"Uhm, how could I let go of those craps easily." Ashes stood up and walked to the window. "I attacked some chapels and a station of Judgement Army where there was even a chief justice. I had thought that they weren't afraid of death at all." In fact, the chief justice had acted no better than a common person facing death and painful torture. He had been frightened and begged Ashes for mercy. "From him, I know the name of God's Punishment Army and the fact that they're converted from the Judgement Army by a rite. According to him, only the best warriors are blessed with such an honor and they should be voluntary to accept the conversion. It seemed that a successful conversion has a lot to do with their determination. In other words, unlike witches, God's Punishment Warriors aren't gifted. They're altered artificially."     

"…" Wendy was dumbfounded by the news.     

"I guess that the reason why they couldn't put God's Punishment Army into battles like what they did with Judgement Army is that the conversion has side effects. Unconscious warriors, in some degree, aren't different from monsters." Ashes sighed and continued, "During that period of time, I hid in water channels or deep wells in the daytime and attacked believers of the church at night. I wasn't forced to evacuate from the old Holy City until the church launched a citywide search. The day I left, my clothes were so sticky with blood. Ferocious as I was, in others' eyes, I also looked like an unconscious beast."     

With these words, Ashes felt Wendy put a hand on her shoulder. "It was all gone. Here, you can live like a commoner and Prince Roland is very nice to us. Having undergone attacks from the Months of Demons and Duke of Stronghold together, we're accepted by most local people. Hence, this small town is Holy Mountain we've pursued before."     

Ashes stared at Wendy who now was standing beside the window together with her. In her memories, children in the cloister were all thin and weak with dull eyes, but now Wendy looked completely different in terms of figure and appearance. It was hard to imagine her childhood look based on her present appearance. Furthermore, Ashes felt peaceful and calm in her naturally gentle tone.     

However, there were some words she had to tell Wendy. "I won't settle down in the town. It isn't the reason why I came here." She paused. "I come to take all of you to a really safe place, as Border Town isn't a permanent settlement."     

"You won't stay here..." Wendy was startled and remained speechless for a moment. "Why?"     

"As long as we live on this continent, we'll be threatened by the church. Tilly's gathered most witches of the Kingdom of Graycastle to the Fjords where a country of witches would be constructed."     

"But Fjords is also under the influence of the church, isn't it? "     

"Due to a special landscape of archipelago, islands are divided from each other so the church only exerts influence on a certain island. Besides..." Ashes curled her lips. "There's no God's Punishment Army on the Fjords."     

It was the high time for the church to try witches' rage. They planned to uproot local churches in the Fjords one by one in much the same way as the church eradicated witches.     

Ashes continued to persuade Wendy. "You and your sisters must leave. It's a mistake to spread the rumor to summon companions since the church may also hear that. They never let a witch organization expand. After a while, the army of the church will come across Kingdom of Graycastle to destroy you. Confronted with the invincible God's Punishment Army, do you think Prince Roland will still protect you? No secular lords want to coexist with witches. He's nice to you now, but he'll abandon you without any hesitations upon the dangerous moment."     

After a while's silence, Wendy said, "I don't know about the other sisters' thoughts, but I won't leave Border Town."     

Ashes frowned. "Here's already the edge of the cliff. The longer you stay here, the more dangerous your situation will be."     

"It's cruel to leave Prince Roland behind just to avoid the upcoming danger and to prevent us from being abandoned by him. I don't want to be such a person. Besides..." Wendy paused to take a deep breath. "I don't think that Prince Roland would be subdued to the church. Nightingale's asked him the same question and he answered that even if it meant fighting against the church, he would still ensure that each witch in his domain would live like a common person."     

"..." Ashes remained speechless this time, as she did not know what to say at the moment. She had seen many promises broken up by its promise. In addition, what was the point of Prince Roland protecting witches down the way? It only resulted in sacrifices in front of overwhelming power.     

By now, she had basically known the situation of the Witch Cooperation Association. After "The Snake Witch" Cara died, the rest members of the association were accepted by the Lord of Border Town. She guessed that Theo who spread the news in Silver City was not a commoner saving witches coincidently but a guard of the lord. Though she did not know what cunning measures the lord had adopted to make witches trust him, she believed that his meticulous camouflage would be fallen apart in front of her great sword.     

"I want to talk to your lord, Roland Wimbledon," Ashes said in a deep voice at last.     

…     

The next morning, she met Prince Roland.     

Led by Nightingale to an office, Ashes met this disgusting man once again.     

She was clear that he had the same blood as Tilly, but she was indisposed to admit that. His long gray hair was simply banded behind and shinning silver lights in the morning sunshine, the hair color was a shared feature of royal family members of Graycastle. His forehead and nose were similar to Tilly's, but the more similar they looked, the more unhappy Ashes felt. Different from his usual appearance in the palace, he dressed uniquely neat without any ornaments—no earrings, necklaces, rings, or bracelets. He simply sat on a chair and looked at Ashes who now felt that he was looking down at her.     

The temperament of a superior.     

The term immediately struck her.     

[Well, you've improved a lot in appearance, but how long can you stay that way?] Ashes mocked coldly in her heart.     

"Welcome. You're Ashes, the envoy dispatched by my younger sister, right?" Roland took the initiative to talk.     

"No, it's my personal decision to come here."     

"Even so, you're still an envoy, aren't you?"     

"..." Ashes frowned and wondered what was the point of stressing the envoy? She did not want to play character game with him and said, "Kind of."     

"Very well, Envoy Ashes." He put on a strange smile. "I've heard that you want to take my witches away?"