Release that Witch

”Is that all?”

Upon hearing it, Agatha felt slightly relieved.

The demons’ strength lay in their numbers. If faced only with a few Mad Demons, one or two Senior Witches would be able to defeat them.

”Have you found a way to confine them?” Agatha asked.

”The newly arrived witches are perfect for that,” Roland told her their abilities. ”After Iffy catches the demons, the cage can be easily carried by the balloon. Of course, I’ll prepare some shackles, so it’s not a big problem to tame them either. What I want to know is how long the Red Mist carried by the demons can last, and can the demons’ blood be used to produce Sigils after they die?”

”No wonder...” Until that moment, Agatha had fully understood what Roland was up to. ”In general, a can of Red Mist can last for about a day. Demons will decide the number of mist cans to carry based on different tasks. For example, to carry out a surveillance or patrol mission, a demon’s mount will carry three to four cans which is also its ability limit.”

”Why so?” Roland asked curiously.

”After leaving the strange Blackstone Pagoda, the mist will gradually lose effectiveness,” she explained. ”Otherwise, the Quest Society would have been keeping demons and Chaos Beasts and mass producing sigils. The Three Chiefs of the Union also tried that before. For example, they took the initiative to attack some of the demon’s outposts to seize the small Blackstone Pagoda, but the enemies would always destroy it before their defeat, leaving the Blessed Warriors a withered stone pagoda.”

”Withered?” Roland asked in great surprise, ”Could stones wither too?”

”Nobody knew exactly what that thing was, but judging from the stone we brought back, ”withered” was the proper word to describe it.” Its once smooth surface became rough and dark; a lot of stone chips fell off when it was rubbed. It was totally different from its original appearance when the warriors first saw it.”

”I see...” Roland pondered for a while. ”If we can bring back a demon, can you produce the Sigil of Magic Stones?”

”If you can provide me with sufficient experimental materials, an independent laboratory, and 20 common people as assistants,” Agatha said while counting on her fingers, ”I have an 80% chance to produce simple Sigils, as to advanced Sigils... Ah, anyway, you don’t have the related Magic Stones to produce them.”

”These aren’t the problem.” Roland hesitated and then asked in a low voice, ”The problem is, what if the entrapment mission draws too many demons?”

Agatha could not help but laugh. ”You looked very confident. I thought you never worried about it.”

”Ahem, I just want to be absolutely certain about everything.”

Agatha then said with a relaxing tone, ”Just take Miss Anna and me with them.”

”You and... Anna?”

”You still lack a full understanding of the witches in your territory, Your Majesty.” Agatha sighed. ”You know, the Union, whose power covered the entire Fertile Plains, had just over 100 Senior Witches. Not more than 40 of them were combat witches. They held high positions in the Union and were the backbones of the Blessed Army. On the other hand, in your Witch Union, there’re quite a few Senior Witches, and together with your strange weapons, their strength can be compared with the Wing of Holy Army. Defeating a group of demons won’t be difficult for us. Even if we run into the Lord of Hell, Miss Anna can activate the Sigil of God’s Will twice.”

”Ah... I almost forgot about it.” Roland suddenly understood, so he said, ”Thank you for the suggestion.”

”You’re welcome. Defeating demons is my lifetime aspiration. Please don’t let me down, Your Majesty.”

When Agatha was about to leave, Roland stopped her.

”Well, there is another thing I don’t understand.”

”What’s it?”

”Why did you resolutely oppose me attacking Devil’s Town?” Roland raised his eyebrows. ”Your previous attitude was very different from now... I remember at that time you not only demanded to attack the demons actively but also wanted to seize Chaos Beasts that may live in their camp at any cost, didn’t you?”

Agatha suddenly felt her cheeks burning up. She knew they must be red even without checking.

”At that time, I didn’t believe that you had the ability to defeat the demons, but you were bragging about your military forces, so I was saying that in a fit of pique.” But it would be awkward to tell Roland the truth. But now the situation in the domain was sound. Given enough time, she believed the powers of humans would be increasingly stronger, so of course, her attitude had changed. ”Did I? I don’t remember saying anything like that.”

”But you were...”

”Ahem, Your Majesty, I feel very sleepy.” She forced a yawn. ”Please excuse me now.” Then she immediately left the office.

While she walked through the corridor leading to the Witch House, Agatha could feel the cool breeze gently blowing on her face, which gradually cooled her mood.

Looking at the numerous stars in the sky, she suddenly remembered what Wendy said.

”One day, he’ll become the King of Graycastle and lead us to defeat all our enemies. This is what I believe.”

When looking at Wendy’s convinced expression, Agatha felt both envious and slightly sad. She envied that Wendy had not been overwhelmed by the brutal reality, and she was sad to the fact that Wendy’s conviction could not reverse the strength gap between humans and demons.

But now, she began to believe it too.

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

Iffy did not remember how she got back to the bedroom.

Her mind was full of the memories of guns and cannons firing and roaring—hundreds of soldiers, neatly arranged in rows, aimed at the targets in front of them and pulled the trigger. She could see nothing but thick white smoke, and even if she could feel the bullets with her magic power, she did not have enough time to trap them with her cage.

”His Majesty didn’t lie. The metal bullets are much more powerful than the special bullets Maggie used when she fought with me. The metal bullets can destroy wooden targets 100 steps away, while in that distance, all the witches can do was to wait to be beaten.

As for another weapon called cannon is even more terrible. Its attack range is several times of the guns, and one even needs a telescope to observe its shooting results. Moreover, the head of the guards said that’s only the old-fashioned field artillery, and a weapon called 152 mm Longsong Cannon is the real trump card of the artillery troop.”

Various sounds of explosion echoed in her head, which led to one thought.

”Heidi Morgan lied to us.”

Iffy murmured.

”Maybe Heidi Morgan doesn’t even know such a power is possible.” Softfeathers looked complex. Apparently, she was also shocked by the army training scenes she saw in the afternoon, ”What should we do next?”

Iffy did not answer. ”No matter what purposes Heidi had previously held, at the moment, it means nothing because the Bloodfang Association simply can’t afford what His Majesty wants—Tilly Wimbledon’s assistant witches are more useful than the combat witches of the Bloodfang Association.”

Looking back at the past few years, she found her abilities and growth experience which she was once proud of now looked more like a joke. Except for Annie, there was nothing else worthy of cherishing in her memory.

After quite a while, she raised her head. ”I don’t want to go back to the Bloodfang Association.”

”...” Softfeathers nodded with an almost unperceivable movement. ”Me neither.” And she was shocked. ”Are you crying?”

Iffy then tasted something salty flowing into her mouth. Wiping her face, something wet reached her fingertips.

”I don’t know.”

It had been a long time since she tasted tears.

Beasts never cry.

Even if they do, they don’t do it for themselves.

If only Annie and I had run into the Witch Union from the very beginning.

Closing her eyes, Iffy felt the salty rain trickling out from her heart.

Annie, forgive me.