Release that Witch

Lightning and Maggie slowly descended from the sky and landed on the roof of the Witch Building.

A cold wind was howling, but after they entered the building and closed the door, they could only hear a slight whistling noise caused by the wind blowing through the crack between the door and its frame.

”Whew, my hair is all wet.” The pigeon shook off the snowflakes and began to transform back into a little girl. Her plumage swelled and then changed into ankle-length white hair. Her hair looked and felt very soft, but it would never get messed up in the wind. Now, it wrapped around the little girl, making her look like a cotton ball.

But since her hair was damp with the water from the snow, it looked bleak and was not as fluffy as usual.

”You’d better go to take a shower first, otherwise, you’ll get a cold.” Lightning took off her goggles and looked outside. The weather during the Months of Demons was extremely unpredictable. Not long ago, it had been just a light snow, but now, it had turned into a snowstorm. She had to suspend her recovery training in such a heavy snow.

”Aren’t you coming with me?” asked Maggie, surprised

”His Majesty told me that I should try my best to keep the wound dry and avoid unboiled water. Do you remember?” Lightning shrugged. ”So I’ll just wipe myself with warm water. Besides, this coat is waterproof.”

”I see.” Maggie smoothed away the hair from her face and grinned. ”After my shower, I can scrub your back. Ashes enjoyed it very much. And I don’t even need a towel!”

”Uh... how did you scrub her back without a towel?”

”Like this.” Maggie used her hands to grab some of her hair and made circular motions.

”No, thanks.” Lightning rolled her eyes. ”If you use a towel, I’ll think about it. Go to take a shower now, Maggie.”

”Oh!”

Maggie walked towards the castle with a basin balanced on her head. Lightning turned around and walked into her bedroom alone.

She locked the door and leaned against it.

She stretched out her right hand and found that she could not stop her fingers from trembling.

She smiled mirthlessly.

Every time she closed her eyes, she would see the demon charging towards her. Even after these last few days of training, this fear still followed her and it even seemed to take root in her heart. Lightning had never faced this kind of situation before.

When she was in front of Roland and her Exploration Group, she pretended that she was not affected by the small wound. Even Nightingale did not perceive anything wrong with her when she was discussing her injury with others. However, she could not lie to herself. She knew how miserable her current situation was.

As an ambitious explorer, she was afraid to let anyone see her being so weak. She was afraid that Maggie might notice something wrong with her, so she sent her to take a shower alone.

In the next moment, she gradually slid to the ground and buried her head in her knees.

Phyllis had told her that the Senior Demon might have just evoked a sense of fear in her by making eye contact with her like a Fearsome Demon would do to its opponent, but she did want to fool herself with such an excuse. It had happened long ago and a witch should be good at resisting this kind of emotional influence. Back then, Maggie had been there too, but she had not been affected by the Senior Demon at all.

Lightning could accept the fact that she was terrified.

After all, this was not the first time for her to fear something.

People were naturally afraid of the unknown. No person was omniscient, so no one could avoid fear.

What counted was how a person responded to the fear.

Most of the time, such a feeling would never bother her too much. On the contrary, it would ignite her interest in challenging herself, since she wanted to prove that nothing in this world could really scare her.

But this time, however, she felt empty in her heart.

She was afraid to think about her encounter with the Senior Demon, not to mention overcoming the fear she felt.

In today’s recovery training, she kept flying on the east side of Neverwinter and never dared to fly over the city wall. It was not because of health reasons but because of her fear of the vast snow field. For her, the white land below looked like bottomless cliffs and the horizon looked like a cleft which would swallow everything. Every time she looked into the distance, she would feel her heart trembling.

Before she got a chance to fight against the demon, she was already shocked by its strong evil spirit. It was like prey being terrified by a predator. This fear caused great harm to her and even affected her flying ability.

Lightning held her knees tightly.

I am such a coward! I’m not qualified to lead the Exploration Group.

She could not help wondering what her father would do to get rid of such a fear. She believed that Thunder, who had explored many dangerous waters, must have been able to tackle this problem.

”Father…”

She whispered.

”What should I do now?”

*******************

A weapon test was about to begin in the Misty Forest.

The test location was Forest Station No.1, the starting point of the railway in the Barbarian Land

In the next year, when the steam locomotive was put into use, Neverwinter would better utilize the forest’s resources, such as food and lumber, and would be able to exploit the coal mines near the snow mountain. At that time, this vast, trackless forest would become a real treasure trove.

But, for now, the railway only served one purpose.

It was dedicated to the war effort.

The First Army had already sealed off the station for the weapons test.

Iron Axe also attended this event.

He could not help thinking of the mind-blowing black powder trial blasting that occured four years ago. Back then, when he had been a humble hunter, he had been deeply shocked by the explosion and had taken it as the Fire of God’s Punishment. That trial was a revelation to him and had completely changed his fate.

Now, as the commander of the First Army, he actively participated in the weapons test. He had already known what His Majesty was going to test today before he even came here. Actually, it was more a creative combination than a brand new invention. It consisted of two parts: cannons and a train, both of which had been displayed before. Given that, he believed he would be able to witness the whole test process peacefully this time.

He should remain calm the whole time.

As a high-ranking military official, he needed to look comfortable and in command even in front of thunder and fire, just like His Majesty.

However, Iron Axe was still stunned when the armored vehicle slowly pulled out of the garage.

Its appearance could hardly evoke the image of the train he had seen previously since it was completly covered by black steel plates, except for certain parts of its wheels. If it was looked at from the front, it was square and angular, with a cold, commanding force.

It looked fierce.

Anyone who saw it would immediately reach this conclusion.

In the past, Iron Axe had not quite understood why His Majesty often described a machine as an enchanting thing, but now, watching this armored train proceeding on the railway in the snow, he suddenly understood. White smoke kept billowing out from the funnel of the engine and then gently blew over the train, which had many orderly-arranged rivets on its surface.

The giant steel ship was already impressive enough, but even it could not compete with this armored train.

This was because it was more than just a vehicle.

It was a deadly weapon at the same time!