CA – Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Vandent was located west of the capital. Due to the Black Death epidemic, a high wall had once been erected between Vandent and the capital. After the city was set ablaze, the wall was torn down. Vandent's own city walls and a main street were also razed to the ground.
An iron fence now encircled Vandent. Aside from the knight squads, occasionally some bold and curious young people would secretly climb the fence to get inside, but none ever came back out.
It had become a city of death, infamous far and wide.
When Tang Qiu arrived in Vandent with the priests and Holy Knights, she was surprised to find no sign of Erin. Instead, the squad of knights investigating the black crows received them and even dispatched a team to protect and escort them in.
The moment they stepped into Vandent's territory, the air grew oppressive. A dead silence filled the surroundings, amplifying the slightest footstep and sending a cold dread creeping into their hearts.
"...Should we begin searching for traces of the Black Witches?" a priest asked, about to chant a spell. But Tang Qiu raised a hand to stop her, shaking her head slightly. "Don't use light magic."
The priest was confused. "Why?"
"It will alert the demonic creatures hiding here."
"Isn't that perfect? Isn't our purpose here to eliminate them?"
Why were there always so many priests in the Holy See who weren't afraid of death? Tang Qiu sighed silently and patiently continued to explain, "We don't know the specific situation here yet. Using light magic will reveal our position."
The priest wasn't convinced by Tang Qiu. She pursed her lips and muttered under her breath, "Coward."
"It's not cowardice, it's caution," Tang Qiu replied softly, defending herself. Then, no longer bothering with the priest, she turned to instruct the others. Fortunately, the rest of the priests were more sensible.
Erin never appeared, which, surprisingly, suited Tang Qiu's plans. She and Monica had requested people to investigate Vandent because they truly wanted to gauge the strength of the "Dark Feast."
Erin's descriptions of the Dark Feast were always somewhat vague, and Tang Qiu couldn't get a good grasp of their power.
After passing through a field of rubble and ruins, Tang Qiu and her group finally saw some relatively intact buildings. Although the walls were covered in scorch marks, their outlines hinted at the city's former prosperity. A lighthouse, dozens of meters tall, stood even more magnificently than the one in the capital.
They hadn't seen a single black crow, not even a feather, along the way. The priest who had been displeased with Tang Qiu spoke up again, her tone sarcastic. "Are we being a little too cautious?"
After she spoke, she waited for a moment. Seeing no rebuttal from Tang Qiu, she assumed she had hit a sore spot, and a smug expression appeared on her face.
The other priests exchanged glances and looked toward the blonde priest in the center. They found her staring intently at something ahead. Following her gaze, they saw only a bizarrely shaped scarecrow.
The straw on the scarecrow was sparse, its face bearing only a mouth made of pebbles. It was tattered and looked as if it had been stuck there a long time ago.
What was so interesting about a scarecrow? The priests were puzzled and couldn't help but ask, "Grace, what are you looking at?"
Tang Qiu placed a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet.
With a grave expression, she stared at the scarecrow ahead, her gaze sweeping across the surroundings. She silently counted the scarecrows in her mind. There were five in total.
Five avatars of Black Witches. Tang Qiu lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, deciding to retreat for now. This was not something the few priests she had brought could handle.
Tang Qiu ordered a retreat, but the priest who disliked her thought she was being too timid. Ignoring the command, she directly chanted a spell, and a Flame of Light landed on the scarecrow. The scarecrow ignited without any unusual reaction.
She shot Tang Qiu a contemptuous glance.
Tang Qiu, who had already turned around, froze. She looked back and her sharp eyes noticed that in the flames, a pair of eyes had abruptly appeared on the scarecrow's face-still made of crimson, shredded flesh.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly shook. A skeletal hand shot out from the earth beneath the priest's feet, grabbing her ankle and dragging her down. In an instant, she had sunk to her knees. She let out a scream.
A Holy Knight drew his sword and rushed forward, severing the skeletal hand before pulling the half-submerged priest out.
A soft white light fell upon the scarecrow, obscuring its vision. The shaking ground suddenly stilled. Tang Qiu withdrew her staff and said in a low voice, "Go."
This time, no one dared to question her. The Holy Knights escorted them as they left.
The light magic had alerted the Black Witches hiding in Vandent. A cacophony of cawing approached from a distance, and a dense, gray-black mass of crows blotted out the sky behind them. A few unlucky knights were instantly engulfed, leaving only their armor on the ground.
"What do we do..." The priests' limbs went cold. One who remained relatively calm quickly chanted a spell, and a Light Barrier enveloped them. However, the barrier was precarious and wouldn't last more than a few minutes.
Tang Qiu glanced back, frowning. They were still halfway from the exit of Vandent. If it were just the black crows, it wouldn't be impossible to deal with, but they had already alerted the Black Witches... She pondered for a moment, then spoke softly. Her voice wasn't loud, but it calmed the panicked group.
"Gather around me." Tang Qiu took out a box and quickly opened it. Inside was a two-inch-long scroll.
She unfurled the scroll and whispered an incantation. The scroll suddenly emitted a dazzling golden light that enveloped everyone. Just as the black crows swooped down, they all vanished from the spot.
Tang Qiu and the others were teleported back to the Holy See. Using a teleportation scroll pained Tang Qiu a little, but its practicality sparked an idea in her mind. She was already thinking about how to find more to keep as spares.
Everyone who returned to the Holy See was still shaken. Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps approached. Monica pushed the door open from outside. She was taken aback when she saw Tang Qiu and the others, then frowned and asked, "What happened to you all?"
Tang Qiu briefly recounted the situation in Vandent.
Monica was somewhat surprised, then seemed to remember something, and her expression turned ugly. "The royal palace was attacked again."
With monsters attacking the palace in front and Black Witches hiding in Vandent behind, a wave of frustration washed over Monica. Ever since Reese had arrived, nothing had gone right for the Holy See.
Her anger was rekindled. Signaling Tang Qiu to wait, she strode briskly towards the Holy See's rear garden, where Reese enjoyed her afternoon tea.
The rear garden of the Holy See was scenic, with gentle sunlight. Reese seemed very pleased with the place, wasting a great deal of time there every day.
She had planted many flowers around the Mirror Lake. Even though Monica would mercilessly order them cleared away each time she left, Reese never tired of it.
Monica arrived at the Mirror Lake, fuming. Seeing Reese diligently sowing seeds in a patch of empty ground, she said through gritted teeth, "The people of the Bill Empire, the Light Believers of the Holy See, are in dire straits right now. How can you sit here so peacefully instead of going to save them?"
A Red-robed Archbishop could use high-level light magic. If Reese were willing to act, the monsters outside wouldn't last a minute.
Reese gave her an amused look. "I am a Red-robed Archbishop of the Holy See, not a Red-robed Archbishop of the Bill Empire."
"Those suffering outside are all our believers."
Reese shrugged, her smiling eyes filled with indifference. "I need to receive an order from the Pope before I can act."
Utterly shameless. Monica's furious gaze at Reese was almost tangible.
Reese continued to add fuel to the fire on her own. "After all, my power of light isn't meant to be wasted on these people."
After speaking, she placed her hand on the soil and softly chanted a spell. Her voice was low, but loud enough for Monica to hear.
She was using light magic to accelerate the growth of the newly planted seeds.
Monica watched her coldly, then turned and left in a rage.
Leaving the Mirror Lake, she saw Tang Qiu waiting by the gate and gestured for her to follow.
Tang Qiu glanced out through a crack in the gate, just in time to meet the eyes of Reese, who was looking their way. Reese winked at her.
Tang Qiu averted her gaze and followed behind Monica. After a few steps, she felt a slight resistance at her feet. Puzzled, she looked down to see a palm-sized skeletal mouse circling her feet.
Tang Qiu: "..."
The ring of light on the skeletal mouse, used to conceal its aura, made it obvious whose handiwork this was. However, Erin was truly a peculiar Black Witch. Not only was she unafraid of light magic, but even her summoned creatures weren't afraid of it either.
She glanced around, then bent down to take the letter from the skeletal mouse.
Monica noticed Tang Qiu had stopped and turned back to ask, "Grace?"
Tang Qiu responded with a natural expression. Seeing that the mouse had already scurried away without a trace, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly as she resumed following Monica.
In a room in a small inn in the capital, Erin, having just sent the letter to Tang Qiu, sat on the floor. In front of her was a pitch-black jar, and beside her were various strangely shaped materials.
She stared intently into the jar, occasionally selecting a material with great care and placing it inside. A wisp of green smoke drifted out of the jar, and figures flickered within the smoke. She squinted at the blurry images, frowning.
A series of loud knocks echoed from the door. Erin snapped back to reality. She frantically put away the materials and the jar, then opened the window to air out the room before cautiously opening the door a crack. Only her eyes peeked out, warily scanning the outside, worried she might see a squad of silver-armored knights.
But her worries were unnecessary. There were only two young women outside the door.
She asked, puzzled, "Who are you?"
One of the women, who, like her, had long brown hair, took out a piece of parchment and unrolled it for her to see. "Did you post this?"
The parchment was her notice for recruiting help.
Erin nodded.
"The reward is thirty bottles of Holy Water of Light?"
"...Yes."
The brown-haired young woman lowered the parchment, her tone flat. "We're here to answer the call."
Erin eyed them suspiciously. She needed helpers at the Swordsman level or above to deal with the demonic creatures. These two women didn't look very strong, and they didn't even have swords.
She cleared her throat, intending to make up an excuse to brush them off.
The brown-haired woman's companion saw through Erin's intentions. She snorted coldly and, with an impatient look, reached out and tore the door Erin was holding right off its hinges with a crack.
Then she kicked a hole in the solid wall.
Erin stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Eva, stop," the brown-haired woman stopped her companion, then said to Erin, "We have strength above that of a Swordsman. You can rest assured about that."
"Hey, is it a yes or no? Make it quick," Eva had an explosive temper and no patience. She glared at Erin as if she would tear her apart too if the answer was no.
Erin shrank back. Without the door to hide behind, she felt very insecure. She nodded silently. "...I can consider it."
Eva wasn't satisfied with her answer, but the brown-haired woman spoke first. "Alright, we're staying next door. You can come find us when you've made up your mind."
Erin watched them leave, then stared blankly at her doorway. She hugged her arms pitifully and went downstairs to ask the owner for a new room.
Back in their own room, Eva complained, "Do we have to wait? So many people want to hire us. That sickly-looking person is so clueless."
"If you don't want to, we can just go back to our territory."
Eva didn't want to go back. She huffed and threw herself onto the bed, far away from her companion, not wanting to talk to her.
They had been delayed by monsters on the road, so they were already late for their trip to Gosse. Having failed to complete their leader's orders, the two of them were preparing to return and report when they tore down Erin's notice, unable to resist the temptation of thirty bottles of Holy Water of Light.
They wanted to earn a little extra on their way back.
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