Er Mu - Release that Witch

But he also knew, if he wanted to completely eradicate all of the hidden dangers he was going to have to depend on their powers.

The Archbishop went down the hill and stopped in front of a tent outside the camp. But when he opened the curtain, the bedstraws were unsurprisingly empty.

“Zero and Isabella?” He asked the judge standing at the entrance.

“The two Ladies are currently interrogating the captives, they should be at the east side of the camp now,” the judge said. “There is a flat open space there, you can see it immediately when you get there. Or do you want me to go and call them back?”

If it would be enough to send you to call them, I wouldn’t have needed to come here to begin with. But they are playing with the captives again… aren’t they tired of playing? “No, it’s alright, I will look for them myself.”

…

He soon found the place the guard had told him of.

Only to see two women stand in the center of a level ground. One of them was leaning forward, her head next to the ears of three prisoners whose hands were tied together, and whispering something to them. The expression on her face was gentle but focused, her white long hair and her robe was dancing in the wind, just like a flawless spirit. The other woman possessed an impressive figure and had a head full of golden curly hair, and from time to time she would release a sweet-sounding and clear laugh.

“Have the surrounding Judges immediately vacate the area.” Mayne instructed his personal guard to send instruction to the Presiding Judge, “The same is true for the people responsible for looking after the captives, tell them that there is no more need for them to look after them.”

“As you bid.”

At this moment, the blond witch also noted their arrival, she informed her partner and quickly walked over.

“Your Excellency,” the blond witch said while giving a slight bow, “Why did you drive the audience away? The trial was just about to begin.”

“Ms. Isabella,” he nodded back, “The all-out attack on Wolfsheart City is about to begin, so interrogating the prisoners has become meaningless now. Furthermore, these people can’t tell us more than the other spies we’ve caught along the way, and that was only a pathetic amount of news. If possible, I hope you and Zero can immediately rush over to the front line.”

“Don’t worry, since we are already here, we couldn’t let such an important enemy just walk away,” Isabella said while spreading out her hands. “As for the trial… there is nothing I can do to stop her. How about, you can just act as the audience, it won’t take them that long anyway.”

“The same as before?”

“Well, the rules will be basically the same,” she laughed, “Zero really likes this kind of game.”

“If it’s like that then quickly get started.” Damn it! Even though Mayne’s face became expressionless, inwardly he was burning with anger. Speaking of this judgement game, it would be more appropriate to look at it as a cat playing with a mouse. The captives had to escape a predefined range or defeat the witch, only by doing this could they obtain a slim chance of survival — and this chance to live was extremely slim, but the bait was still good enough to lure out the mouse. It already seemed difficult to achieve, but in fact, it was something they would never be able to reach.

The reason for scattering the Judges who were responsible for safeguarding and monitoring the Purifieds was that the upcoming process couldn’t be considered as entirely fair or just. The other’s action wasn’t in accordance with the behavior of Purified, so seeing this, he was afraid that it might waver their faith in the Church.

Just wait until I take over the position of the Pope, at that time I will have to teach them the importance of obediently following orders.

At this moment, Zero had already freed the prisoners from the ropes and spread out her hands to show that she wasn’t wearing any weapon on her body. While in front of the prisoners there laid a sword, a machete, and a light crossbow.

“Come on, fight or run, just follow your hearts,” Zero said with a gentle tone. “Only God can issue a ruling.”

One of them clenched his teeth then suddenly picked up the crossbow from the ground and directly shot an arrow at the Purified. Not even looking whether he had hit, his other hand had already taken hold of the sword as he tried to seize the opportunity to rush forward and chop out horizontally. This whole set of actions were executed in one smooth movement, clearly a skill that was impossible for militia.

However, the captive cut through nothing but empty air. The Purified had simply taken two steps back and easily avoided the surprise attack. When the captive came to a stop and raised his head, he couldn’t suppress a short flicker of surprise when he saw that the other was holding the arrow with her teeth, as if she was chewing on a harmless branch.

Zero spit out the arrow, waved at the captive, and with a smile, she said, “Please, carry on.”

The captive stared blankly at her, his hands trembling slightly. Mayne could see that all the courage he’d gathered with such difficulty had already left him again, even if the fight were to continue, it would only for last for one more exchange.

Sure enough, after hesitating for a moment, the captive raised his head and roared like a wild boar. Then raised his sword and darted toward the unarmed woman.

But this attempt was too stiff, even with closed eyes, Mayne could guess at the result — just within his half a lunar cycle long contact with Zero, Mayne had already become aware that her powers were almost limitless. Even though she wasn’t an extraordinary, she still possessed innate battle skills not inferior to them. These skills weren’t in her supernatural strength or resistance, but rather in her extremely skillful technique.

Even if she couldn’t use any magic, she was still a dreadful enough soldier.

The witch moved her body slightly to the side, easily avoiding the opponent’s hack. Then her pair of seemingly fragile hands clamped the prisoner’s head, and using his forward momentum, she softly moved it. This slight flick only released a light cracking sound, but as if the other side had suddenly lost all the bones in his body, he immediately became limp and fell to the ground.

She turned her head and looked to the two remaining captives then said, “Now, it’s your turn.”

Seeing this scene, one of the other prisoners turned and ran away which caused Zero to look somewhat disappointed.

She turned into a ray of light and entered the fleeing captive’s body, who immediately stopped his steps. The captive’s eyes turned white, and his body began to undergo strange changes — this wasn’t Mayne’s first time seeing such a scene, but no matter how often he saw it, he couldn’t prevent a chill from arising within his heart.

A dim ray of light burst out from within the captive’s body and his body began to twist and deform until finally changed into the very appearance of the Purified who had entered him.

He knew that this wasn’t a simple act of replacing and slaughtering, but what exactly happened during this transformation process, Mayne was afraid that only the Pope or the people involved could fully understand.

Zero took a deep breath and went back to the last prisoner.

He was the youngest of three captured spies, probably only fourteen to fifteen years old. His young and inexperienced eyes were filled with shock and fear, unable to accept what had happened just now.

“Now, you’re the only one left,” she whispered, “Eyre.”

Hearing these words, the trembling boy who had originally wanted to pick up the machete froze in shock and started to stammer, “H-how…”

“God told me everything. Actually, you were merely a farmer’s child living in the outskirts, but because of the Wolf King’s order, you and the other village people were forced to move into the city, and became responsible for repairing the city walls, creating the military supplies, transporting the army’s provision and so on. In other words, forced labor. Instead of letting you go because of your young age, they rather decided to recruit you into the investigation troops. In reality they’ve planned for you to emerge and perish on your own,” she reached out and touched his cheeks, “The best evidence for this is that at the time you sent back the intelligence about the large military operation of the Church, the captain of the guards didn’t even let you enter the camp. Instead, after listening to your report he immediately sent you back to us, right?”

“I…” Eyre opened his mouth, but couldn’t find any words.

“Of course, they couldn’t let you enter, because your family had already ceased to exist. Your parents were accepted, while your brother was the same as you, merely consumables for the Wolf King. So, if you were allowed to return, wouldn’t it make all the other scouts know about it?” Zero said, “Your father fell to his death while trying to fill a gap in the wall. Your mother, trying to find the workplace overseer had to suffer punishment with a whip and is now on the verge of death. In a world where God doesn’t examine everything, evil always wantonly flows around like sewage. Are you sure you really want to fight for such a ruler?”

The young boy stared with wide eyes at her, unable to mask his sorrow, “This… is impossible, you’re lying to me!”

“God never lies,” the Purified shook her head. “And in the bottom of your heart, you know that I’m telling the truth. The root of all this evil is the nobility. They never regarded you as one of their own kind, they merely see you as livestock. What the Church is trying to do is to put an end to all this evil and injustice, they want to build a new world under the care and watchful eyes of God.”

With a plopping sound, Eyre sank to his knees, lowered his head and began to cry bitterly, “What should I do?”

“Follow your heart, only God can issue the ruling.”

He choked with sobs and said, “I was wrong. I am willing to tell you everything I know, I will do anything I can to save my mother.”

“Such a clever child,” Zero patted his head then took out a plant with slender leaves from her pocket and held it in front of him, “Eat this, and you will have a good sleep. It will also help you stabilize your mood.” She tore off half a leaf, put it into her mouth, and began to chew, before saying, “Just like me. Wait until tomorrow, after breaking through the walls of Wolfsheart City you might be able to see your mother again.”

Mayne puckered his brows, the Peacefully Sleeping Bracken was something used in the making of Dream Water. It didn’t show any effect on witches, but when taken by ordinary people it was a very severe poison, which required that they intake the Winterflower to neutralize its toxicity. Sure enough, after eating it, it didn’t take long until the prisoner’s face turned ashen. He forcefully gripped his throat, and looked with an expression of absolute disbelief at the smiling Purified, only able to release some incomprehensible ‘och och’ sounds. His own fingernails quickly tore open his skin and blood vessels before the blood that came splashing out dyed his neck bright red. His painful struggle continued for half an hour until his body gradually turned limp and he finally stopped breathing.

“It’s such a pity that God didn’t forgive your sins,” Zero said while smiling. Then she walked over toward the Archbishop and bowed in greeting, “Your Excellency, how do you feel about the trial? Did it have the same elegant manner of Excellency Heather?”

“Why must you deceive him into eating the Peacefully Sleeping Bracken?” Mayen asked with a heavy tone, “If it had been Heather, we could have added one devote believer to our ranks. Rather than making him kill himself while thinking he is moving back on the right path.”

“If the situation of the captive’s loved ones were like I had said, I would naturally have recruited him as a believer, but unfortunately I do not know what really happened to his parents. Those words of mine were nothing more than me talking nonsense.” She said in a carefree voice while shrugging, “The moment he discovers that my words were all lies, he would obviously turn against the Church. Believe me, I serve the Church wholeheartedly.”

If you served the Church wholeheartedly, you would have properly waited for my orders in the tent, Mayne thought while impatiently turning his head and stating, “The attack will begin soon. You must immediately prepare yourself and move according to the plan, the Wolf King and the Queen of Clear Water —”