Release that Witch

”What way?”

After a short pause, Agatha went on, ”Since it’s very dangerous to channel a demon, we’re thinking of transforming the demon into a man.”

”Are you suggesting... a soul transfer?” Roland asked as he realized the hint.

”You once said that there are demons in the Dream World. This shows that the successor of Starfall City has extracted a soul out of a demon before. At least, this tells us that demons would be affected by a soul device as well.” Zooey explained. ”We simply need to transfer the soul of the Senior Demon to a God’s Punishment Warrior. This way, it would bear all the risks that occur during the transfer, such as sensory loss and disorientation.”

”I see.” Roland nodded. In other words, the demon would be perplexed by the spinning sensations while being forced to adapt to the foreign human body. During this time, the channeling witch could easily read its mind. Furthermore, the witch would be more familiar with the sensations of a human’s body than a demon’s one. The method sounded very promising, but Roland was concerned about another problem. He asked, ”Has it occurred to you that you would lose a vacant God’s Punishment Warrior if you carry out this plan?”

After the church fell apart, they could no longer receive new God’s Punishment Warriors.

”Compared to a senseless life, we prefer to stay in your dream... So, that’s fine with us,” said Zooey.

”Ahem...” Roland almost choked on the tea. Although he knew Zooey was a woman, he felt goosebumps crawl up his bare skins when the actual words came from a man’s body.

”Just joking.” Zooey summoned up a rare smile. ”In fact, there are quite a few defective bodies in our warehouse that we can use for this project. Plus, compared to the potential gain from this experiment, losing a God’s Punishment Warrior is really nothing. We would like to make the small sacrifice.”

”Defective bodies?” asked Roland after clearing his throat.

”It isn’t actually easy to travel from Hermes to our hiding place, especially during the Months of Demons, because you have to climb over the Impassable Mountain Range. Some God’s Punishment Warriors had indeed crawled there because their feet were eaten by demonic beasts. We surely can’t use them to fight. Initially, we planned to offer them to nobles so that they could enjoy a life of immortality.”

Roland twitched his lips, doubting if such a life would be truly an enjoyment.

”But even if they’re defective, they should contain some power similar to a God’s Stone of Retaliation. If the body releases its power during the experiment, wouldn’t it cause problems?”

”That, you don’t need to worry about. It took us decades to learn how to fully control a new body,” Zooey replied, ”and it took us even longer to successfully activate our God’s Punishment Realm. A lot of people couldn’t get the hang of it until they completed their second transfer. Even if the demon has some unusual talent in adapting to a new vessel, it isn’t likely that it could do that during the interrogation.”

Agatha added,”The worst scenario is the channeling being interrupted, but we’ve confirmed from Sylvie that the pain caused by such an interruption is just temporary.”

”By the way, have you told Ms. Camilla about your plan?” asked Roland as he suddenly thought of a crucial problem.

”We have. She refused to do that at first, for this is something she’s never done before. No matter who the interrogator is, she has to take some risks, but Zooey persuaded her.”

”Really...?” Roland was suspicious. Zooey was definitely not an eloquent person.

”It was actually very simple Your Majesty,” Zooey explained. ”I just told her that I’d be the person who would channel the demon.”

Roland was a little surprised.

”I’m an Extraordinary and also the first awakened God’s Punishment Witch... So, I’m the best person to channel the demon,” she said nonchalantly. ”After all, I proposed conducting this experiment, so I should be the person who bears all the risks.”

Roland realized that this was probably the reason why he did not hate the ancient witches despite their astounding arrogance and haughtiness. They had greater courage than many people and were always the first ones to stand up to their enemies.

”I see, then do what you said.” Roland gave his approval after a moment of silence. ”Make sure that you keep an eye on the Senior Demon on the way back.”

”Ah, I’ll take ’very good care’ of it Your Majesty,” said Zooey with a smile.

Perhaps, Zooey was more interested in escorting the demon than interrogating it.

After the call, Roland sank into his thoughts.

Do men and demons really have souls?

If they don’t, how did the Taquila Witches switch bodies freely? What is the mechanism of the soul device?

If they do, why can their souls be extracted and assigned arbitrarily to any vessels, but can’t be completely independent of their bodies? Why aren’t souls immortal?

Also the Dream World... Why does such a world which is essentially a virtual space, look so real? How did it come into existence? According to the ancient book down in the ruins, the so-called light beams would lead to the Divine Domain. So, what would this Divine Domain look like?

Roland believed that he would not know the answers to these questions until he figured out the nature of both magic power and the Battle of Divine Will.

Regardless, he now had a chance to witness a soul transfer.

...

Time seemed to travel a lot faster compared to when they had left for the war.

Since City Hall was rapidly expanding and had gradually developed a mature and experienced workforce, there were fewer things that required Roland’s attention. Therefore, he allotted most of his free time to several major industrial projects.

The pilot project for the glider was still in progress. The Aircraft Operation Manual drafted by Tilly, which initially contained only a few pages, soon turned into a big book as thick as ”Intermediate Chemistry”. When Roland added the cover to it, he had chosen gold as the font color.

Thunder had slowly gotten the hang of the steel ship. Although he had experienced quite a few mechanical breakdowns at the beginning, after several upgrades, the ship was finally ready to sail.

Furthermore, the construction of the Spellcaster Tower built specifically for Agatha had been completed in the last month of fall. This five-story concrete building had instantly become the new landmark of Neverwinter due to its peculiar architectural style and its extraordinary height. It was even taller than the lord’s castle. Beyond a doubt, it would be the most conspicuous building in the city until the completion of the Miracle Building.

Apart from those mentioned above, the construction of the oil fractionator and the new power engine assembling plant was also close to completion. Normally in the past, the whole Western Region would become quieter as winter drew closer, as if all the cities and towns had entered dormancy. However, ever since the establishment of Neverwinter, this was no longer the case. The city was particularly busy this year. There were crowds and newly-erected houses everywhere, from the North Slope Mining area all the way to the harbor at Shallow Beach. The hustle and bustle of the city impressed all the merchants who visited here.

A month and a half later, the First Army finally returned after a prolonged absence.

The residents in Neverwinter all greeted them at the meadow in the suburb. The cheers of the crowd were deafening.

On that very day, flurries of snows drifted down from the sky.

A long winter... was coming.