Release that Witch

”It has been nearly ten minutes, it seems that he hasn’t met anything,” said Celine in relief,

”It’s a pity that he has really good luck.” Alethea responded much less excitedly.

Celine complained, ”I don’t want to count on chance. Please choose a safer method next time.”

”Let’s not talk about what has already happened. Let’s guess how long the king can stay in there. Isn’t the longest record for a common person less than 15 minutes even taking into account the those who tried in the Land of Dawn?” said Alethea, changing the topic.

”Witches do not fair any better. How long you can stay in the Divine Land has nothing to do with your magic power. Even in the Union, the relic was constantly monitored by a group of common people in turns. However, considering the king’s age and experience, he should come out soon.”

According to all the records that Celine had read through, the warriors who had been to the battlefield and fought the demons generally persisted longer, whether a witch or a common person. The highest record was held by Lady Alice, who had stayed there for almost two hours. As a king who had never been to the battlefield, Roland had to be very skilled to last so long.

”Maybe he’ll want to stay longer. After all, it’s his first time to witness such a marvelous scene.”

”Then he’ll feel dizzy and even fall unconscious.” Celine suddenly realized something and looked at Pasha. ”Did you forget to tell him that?”

”A coma isn’t too bad and won’t cause him any real damage.” Pasha shook her tentacles and said, ”on the contrary, when he runs out energy, this kind of unpleasant thing can reduce his interest in getting in contact with the relic again. It’s better for everyone this way.”

”So... you didn’t forget to tell him?”

Pasha did not directly answer. ”Sometimes it’s better to not explain. None of us would like to have so many restraints when we explore the Divine Land.”

”I now understand why Lady Natalia chose you as one of the candidates for the Three Chiefs,” said Alethea, smacking her lips.

Celine agreed with Alethea. Compared to the disgrace of being scared, a coma due to energy exhaustion could be regarded as a result without side effects. It could reduce the curiosity of the common people while not destroying their relationship with them. Pasha obviously had more foresight than them.

After a while, she began to frown slightly and asked, ”It’s been more than a quarter of an hour. Is he okay?”

”It seems... nothing is wrong. This king seems to be full of surprises.” Pasha replied after glancing at the sitting Roland Wimbledon.

”It’s a new record for common people. Should I say congratulations?” said Alethea, shrugging her main tentacle.

Celine gave no response. She felt a little uneasy like something was wrong.

The waiting that followed seemed to validate her guess.

Another 15 minutes later, Roland still remained motionless and she was getting more and more anxious.

Having lived for over a hundred years, she should feel disconnected from time; however, the almost constant heart pulse of her shell could accurately tell her the change of every second. A 45 minutes exploration was too long for someone who was not a warrior or an Extraordinary. He should have run out of energy by now.

Celine wondered, ”was... there some unobserved accident in the Divine Land?”

Wendy could not help step forward and try to wake up the king, but was immediately stopped by Pasha.

”If you get too close to the relic, you’ll be affected by it too.”

”Then let me enter the Divine Land and bring His Majesty back!” She insisted.

”Even if you go there, you can’t bring back your king. No matter how many people are simultaneously summoned by it, they’ll see a different Divine Land.”

Celine noticed that the other witch that had been hidden had begun to move. From the vague magic reaction, Celine knew that she had taken something out of her pocket. Based on the information collected by Phyllis, it should be a unique weapon of Neverwinter.

She passed her concerns along to the other two and then Pasha nodded and took immediate action. She stretched out her tentacles to wrap around the king and pulled him back to Wendy. Though it was not the ideal way to end the exploration, the safety of Roland was top priority. If both sides conflicted with each other, the consequences would be disastrous.

...

As the relic was put back into the God’s Stone box, Roland suddenly opened his eyes.

”Your Majesty... Are you okay?” Wendy asked eagerly, helping him to stand up.

”There is nothing wrong... I’m fine,” he answered, rubbing his sore legs. ”I met alien monsters who were guarding the other two relics and talked to them. Unfortunately, they did not understand my words.”

Celine was shocked. ”Wait, what are you talking about? Did... you meet the demon and...”

”And a huge eyeball. It seemed to stay in a boat that can move underwater... but I’m not sure if it’s a boat or something else,” Roland answered.

Even though she could not see her companions’ expressions, she could feel their shock through their shared connection, especially Alethea’s. Among all the survivors, she had stayed in the Divine Land for the longest time. Her experience in Blessed Army enabled her to persist for about an hour but only when nothing appeared in the painting scrolls.

If she met the demon or an unknown enemy, the speed of energy consumption would be doubled!

”What happened then?” Pasha continued to ask.

”I’m not really sure. Anyway, some black tentacles suddenly popped up in the painting scrolls and attacked them. Those tentacles were so powerful that the monsters had to retreat from the paintings. It happened in only a few minutes.”

Did he mean that he had met the guardians of the other two civilizations at the same time and defeated them while not being injured at all?

Celine felt as if she was listening to a fairy tale.

She was not surprised by the presence of black tentacles. As the energy of the user declined, the relic would have an greater impact on them. He might hear imaginary sounds, see imagery scenes, tentacles or something else one by one. They were not merely mental disturbances but they could do real harm to the body. That was why Pasha emphasized that they were more than illusions. If they interrupted the summoning before any real harm was caused, the user would not have a serious problem.

Of course, it was impossible for ordinary people to defend themselves against the spiritual erosion. Even a witch who had experienced thousands of battles would quickly feel tired and eventually lose control of her body.

But what Roland faced was a completely reversed situation and the black tentacles had rushed toward the enemy. She had never heard of such an instance.

Looking at the king, who seemed not to care about what had happened, Celine suddenly had an incredible guess.

Was this ordinary person comparable to Lady Alice, Queen of Starfall City and Head of the Three Chairs, in terms of mental power?

However, he did not seem to be aware of it. After stretching his arms and legs, he laughed and said, ”Anyway, thank you for pulling me out. I intended to see if there was any border to the Divne Land, but it was too large and I did not want to walk all the way back.”

The three witches remained speechless for a long while and then Pasha finally broke the silence. ”Ahem... that’s all right. Do you still want to continue exploring the relic?”

Roland shook his head and said, ”not right now. There are just four painting scrolls and it won’t make much difference to have another look at them. Take me to the central carrier.”