Volume 3, Chapter 51 – A True Witch

The battle on the city wall continued.

“[Forest of Rock Spears]!”

Countless stone spears shot up from the ground. Several lava sea urchins and Fire-striped Frogs that had just climbed onto the wall were sent tumbling down one after another like bowling pins.

At the same time, a two-headed Lava Earth Dragon on the other side was controlled by Friede’s mental magic. As if possessed, it voluntarily jumped off the wall. Not satisfied with crushing a swath of the Flame King’s attendants, it began to desperately spew rocks wrapped in raging flames from the exhaust ports on its back. Its meteor-hammer-like tail also took out swaths of monsters with a clean sweep, quickly creating an empty space devoid of them.

Taking this opportunity, Lianne, on the city wall, used [Fourth Crystallization], turning a twenty-meter section of the wall to her left and right into a material as hard and smooth as crystal. All the lava sea urchins climbing up the wall immediately lost their footing and were pulled mercilessly to the ground by gravity.

“Hah… hah…”

With the two-headed Lava Earth Dragon blocking the way below, the attacking monster army was cut in two. Lianne and Friede on the wall finally got a chance to breathe. The two regrouped, taking deep breaths of the acrid air.

With her back to Lianne, Friede asked in a slightly tired voice.

“How much mana do you have left?”

“Thirty percent. You?”

“A little more than you. Fifty percent.”

Friede’s answer put Lianne’s anxious heart at ease. As Sixth Rank witches, their mana would not be depleted so easily. Lianne couldn’t help but laugh.

“It seems we can hold out for a long time.”

Although she said this with a laugh, anyone could hear the bitterness in her voice.

There were too many monsters attacking the city. At first, Lianne and Friede could still remember how many they had killed, but after a minute, they stopped counting because in that short time, they had killed a three-digit number of them. The speed at which they killed was even shorter than the time it took to count. Now they had lost track of how much time had passed. From the halfway point, they had just been mechanically using low-rank magic, and when a large number of monsters had climbed onto the wall, they would wipe them out all at once.

However, even so, a continuous stream of monsters was still rushing over from the distance, a dense army that stretched as far as the eye could see. Lianne was certain that even if she and Friede were to throw all their remaining mana into it, they could never kill so many.

Subconsciously, Lianne looked to both sides of the city wall. The apprentice witches had long since retreated due to mana depletion, and the warlocks with unfamiliar faces were also gradually being injured due to exhaustion, retreating with hurried steps. On the entire section of the wall, only a few official witches were still holding on.

As for the wall further away, she could already see a large number of monsters climbing over the battlements and onto the inner side. Only a very small number of soldiers were struggling to hold on near the city gate, preventing the monsters from opening it from the inside.

It didn’t really matter if the gate was opened; there were still two barbicans ¹ the outer defense of a castle or walled city, especially a double tower above a gate or drawbridge. behind it to block them. Lianne’s heart sank. The real problem was the monsters that bypassed the gate and jumped directly into the city from the walls. She could already see rolling lava sea urchins setting houses on fire and Fire-striped Frogs holding torches, attacking ordinary people in the streets.

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However, she could not leave the wall to deal with the monsters that had entered the city. That would only let more of them pour in.

Lianne asked in a deep voice.

“Do you have any magic potions?”

“Only the ones for apprentices.”

“You’ve been wandering outside for so long, haven’t you saved up some high-grade potions?”

“I haven’t had time to go to the Mage Association to buy any yet.”

“Tsk.” Lianne clicked her tongue heavily. If she still had a physical body, she would surely have a look of unwillingness on her face right now. “Listen up, Friede. The other places have already fallen. Even if we stay here, it won’t make much of a difference. We can only hold on for a little longer. When all the other places have fallen, we must retreat even if we still have mana left. Do you understand what I’m thinking?”

Friede remained silent and did not answer. She took advantage of the breathing space to look up at the distant desert. As if to complement her gentle nature, the surrounding flames dyed her black hair and eyes a golden red. Her night-colored long dress flew in the wind, outlining the almost perfect, delicate body underneath, giving her the feeling of a witch standing aloof from the world. Even Lianne couldn’t help but take another look.

However, the shrill cry of the two-headed Lava Earth Dragon below quickly brought her back to her senses. The dragon’s reckless fighting had borne its bitter fruit. Both its mana and stamina had reached their end. Under the successive attacks of a large number of Fire Bats and lava sea urchins, it was covered in blood and fell, swaying.

“They’re coming again.”

“Lianne, how do you think Miss Fia will deal with so many monsters?”

Abruptly, Friede asked softly.

Lianne furrowed her non-existent eyebrows. Her eyes were only on the monsters rushing towards the city wall again. Friede’s nonchalant attitude made her feel anxious.

“How should I know? I think she’s just young and arrogant, and has no idea what hundreds of thousands of monsters means!”

“But she is the Guided One chosen by the Lady Witch of Hope. And her expression when she left didn’t seem like she was making empty boasts. I have a feeling she’s about to succeed—is she going to take over the ownership of the Flame King’s followers in place of Thanatos, or use some other method to control the monsters?”

Friede’s hypothesis stunned the anxious Lianne. She was right. If one didn’t think about eliminating these hundreds of thousands of monsters, but instead tried to gain ownership of the Flame King’s followers, like Balor, one could still defend Byrne City. She had never thought of such a solution.

She asked back in a strained voice.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know…” Friede lowered her head, frowning and biting her lip. “But if Miss Fia can really succeed, no matter what she says herself, she must be the Guided One. I will follow her.”

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“She hasn’t brought you any benefits yet. Only when she actually brings you to the forefront can I believe that the Guided One can change the Witch Hall.”

“But isn’t what we’re doing now a chance to stand at the forefront? When have witches ever helped humans defend a city in droves? After this, even if people don’t immediately smile at us, the world’s opinion of us will change direction.”

“We are just buying time for Lady Fia. You’re thinking too much. She has no intention of helping you gain a reputation by having you defend the city. It’s that without us, the wall cannot be held. Those sea urchins are here again, stop talking nonsense!”

An enchanted blade appeared in Lianne’s hand, and she re-entered a combat state. However, Friede still stubbornly argued with her.

“The fact is that the Darkborn who attacked you and the Heart Core is dead! I asked the witches who escaped. That Darkborn and his subordinates were so difficult to deal with that they almost wiped you all out. It was the Guided One’s help that allowed you to escape. This is enough to show that Miss Fia’s strength is far above ours, and she might not even be an ordinary Seventh Rank!”

“But what does that have to do with us buying her time? Does she not need our help to defend the city, and can she clean up all the monsters here by herself, and at the same time go to the great desert and take back command of the monster army? What a joke! This is hundreds of thousands of monsters, not a few thousand or tens of thousands! Wake up, only a Miracle Witch can do all this!”

Tch—

Just as Lianne’s voice fell, the distant night sky lit up without any warning.

What was that?

Without needing to speak, this question arose in both Lianne’s and Friede’s hearts at the same time. They both looked in the direction of the flash of light. It was the heart of the desert, the place where Fia had disappeared.

The light that tore through the night sky was not just for a moment. As the ball of light on the ground expanded and spread at an extremely fast speed, a pillar of incandescent white light shot straight into the sky.

At this moment, even the moon paled in comparison. It was as if a second sun had appeared on the earth.

The intense flash of light illuminated the sand dunes along with the grass and trees on the ground. Lianne and Friede could even clearly glimpse the blood of the monsters flowing around them and the shadows of the battlements on the city wall.

Immediately after, an incomparably intense, scorching pain instantly swept over Friede’s eyeballs. She subconsciously closed her eyes, but after only a moment, she stubbornly looked at the light source again, at the desert near the explosion point. Because there, a shockwave that swept across the entire earth along the horizon was roaring towards Byrne City, carrying with it a storm and yellow sand.

Under the intense light, the tsunami of sand was so clear and shocking. Even Lianne, who was at the Sixth Rank, felt incomparably small, and even terrified, in the face of the sky-blotting shockwave. Whether it was trees or man-made objects, anything that stood in its way was bent and destroyed in the instant of contact. Even the vast hordes of monsters in the distance were swallowed up by it in the blink of an eye.

Then, the shockwave arrived before the two of them.

The sky, which had just been incomparably bright, now suddenly dimmed.

The rolling sand and dust in front of her made Lianne snap back to her senses.

“Get over here, Friede! —[Earthen Bulwark]!”

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First was one layer, then as if she were not reassured, she applied two more layers in succession. Hiding behind the house-sized earth shield, Lianne and Friede tensed their whole bodies. They could clearly hear the sound of sand and gravel hitting the shield like shrapnel. There were no more roars of monsters around, because their sounds had been covered by the violent shockwave.

Fortunately, although the shockwave was imposing, it no longer had much power. The Sixth Rank [Earthen Bulwark] was completely intact. Friede and Lianne were not affected in the slightest. And the other witches on the city wall had long since jumped off to take cover at the first sight of it.

The next second, a thunderous roar sounded, but the sound was not fleeting like thunder, but a continuous, unending roar. The earth trembled ceaselessly, as if it would crack open in the next second. The vibration of the air even made their skin tingle, and their hearts pounded with fear, as if the apocalypse had come. It was dark everywhere, impossible to see one’s hand in front of one’s face, full of the howling of the wind and the roar of thunder.

Gulp.

It was not the roar of a monster, but the sound of Friede swallowing.

She was certain that they were at least dozens of kilometers away from that majestic, incandescent pillar of light. Yet, even at such a great distance, they were still affected. It was hard to imagine how tragic the center of the explosion would be.

What in the world was that?

Not just Friede, but everyone in this sandstorm had only this one thought in their minds. Some had even hidden in a corner, praying that the wrath of the gods would pass quickly.

However, Friede was different from ordinary people—and not just her, but Lianne as well. They faintly sensed the origin of this “divine punishment.” And when they thought of that possibility, their hearts could not help but tremble.

Friede turned to look at Lianne. She had completely lost the composure of a mature woman. Her mouth was wide open, her expression full of disbelief. She tried to say something but had temporarily lost the ability to speak. After a long while, she finally asked in a doubtful tone.

“Was that… magic?”

“What else could it be besides magic?”

Lianne had no physical body and could not swallow like Friede, but she was equally shocked beyond words. Her emotions told her that this was the work of the Guided One, but her reason kept emphasizing that this was simply not something a person—not just a person, but elves, vampires, Stellacrysts, and even dragons—could create. No, this could hardly be called magic, but a thorough disaster. No matter where it happened, it was enough to change the environment of the entire region.

This was no Guided One, but the Guide herself! Such a grand destruction was something that even the Witch of Hope had never achieved!

Lianne really wanted to say to Friede, “You’ve found the wrong person, this is not the Guided One at all!”, but she did not know how to say it, nor did she have the courage to. After witnessing such terrifying magic, who would dare to oppose this elf? She couldn’t even imagine why Balor had dared to. Where had this group of Darkborn gotten the guts!

In an instant, a thought arose in Lianne’s mind.

The future direction of the Witch Hall was already clear.

She had been greatly mistaken, and Friede was completely on the right path. Whether the elf princess was the Guided One or not, as long as she had her approval, it was absolutely right to follow her.

With great difficulty, Lianne slowly spoke.

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“If this is truly the masterpiece of the Guided One… Please forgive me, Friede. I take back my previous underestimation of her. She really does have the ability to deal with the monsters here and then go to the great desert. She was indeed considering your reputation. My vision was short, and I was ignorant of the times… Compared to us, the Guided One is the true witch…”

“No, Lianne, this is the first time I’ve seen this magic too…” For some reason, there was no joy on Friede’s face as she looked at Lianne, but a very complex, bewildered expression about the future. “I’m beginning to wonder in what way the Lady Witch of Hope intended to bring us hope… She had no selfishness. You know what I’m trying to say, right?”

Perhaps the Witch of Hope wanted to change the entire world.

Simultaneously, this thought appeared in both Friede’s and Lianne’s minds.

And just as this thought appeared, a crisp voice that the two of them both wanted to hear and didn’t want to hear entered their ears.

“Friede, Lianne, what are you talking about? Where are the others?”

Suspended in the air with her six-petaled wings of light, her black hair tied into twin tails over her shoulders, fluttering in the wind. Although the edges of her elegant and complex black formal dress had scorch marks, it could still highlight her slender, graspable waist and her budding, delicately curved chest.

A look of confusion hung on the elf princess’s devastatingly beautiful face.

“Are you two alright?”

She’s completely unharmed, not even panting?!

Friede and Lianne exchanged a look, then, as if afraid that a slow reply would incur the wrath of heaven, they quickly lowered their eyes and answered.

“W-we’re fine. There might still be some monsters below the city wall. Lianne and I will go and deal with them right away.”

“You don’t have much mana left. I’ll go. I didn’t expect the shockwave to spread so far. I had controlled the power. It’s a good thing there weren’t many people on the wall, so it didn’t take much effort.”

Didn’t take much effort… does that mean she also saved people on her way here?

Friede swallowed again.

“Miss Fia… are you alright? Was that you just now?!”

“I’m fine, just the edge of my skirt got a little burnt. We can talk about the details when we get back. It’s safe here now. That’s all.”

There was no sign of fatigue in her expression. Under the shocked gazes of Friede and Lianne, Fia waved her hand lightly and flew straight down towards the bottom of the city wall.