CA – Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Erin had been away from Witch City for too long and was no longer accustomed to its dark, damp environment. She lay curled up on the hard stone bed, the cloak beneath her offering no protection. She was still shivering from the cold, her blood feeling as if it had frozen solid. The only warmth she could draw was a faint trace from the gray furball resting on her chest.
She was not faring well here. The intense cold often jolted her awake from her sleep. The environment of Witch City was just like this, perhaps even colder and damper. Black Witches had no interest in soft beds or warm sunlight; these icy, cold things suited their tastes.
Erin had once lived in such an environment, but now she had learned to enjoy the warmth of the sun.
Erin rolled onto her back, her gray eyes hazy as she stared blankly at the ceiling. The cold relentlessly invaded her body and her thoughts; she felt as if even her brain had frozen.
The stone chamber holding her was spacious, but aside from the stone bed she lay on, there was only a platform about a meter high.
The platform was large, occupying nearly a third of the room.
In Witch City, all rooms were constructed this way, including the Black Witches' bedrooms.
After staring into space for a while, just as Erin was hugging the gray furball and drifting off to sleep, a sound suddenly came from the corner of the room. A grayish-white, sharp finger bone emerged from the ground, followed by an entire hand, a skull with a ghostly light flickering in its eye sockets, and a body formed of bones. The skeleton pulled itself out of the ground and stiffly turned its head, searching for something in the room.
The sharp sound of bone grinding against bone startled Erin. She shot up from the bed, her eyes wide as she stared at the sudden appearance of the skeleton. Wariness and confusion flickered in her gaze.
This was not one she had summoned.
The skeleton locked onto Erin, the ghostly light in its sockets flickering rapidly. It swayed as it walked toward the stone bed, looking as if it might fall apart at any moment. When it finally reached Erin, it detached its own arm and arranged the bones on the floor to form the word "Mark."
Erin stared blankly at the word on the ground. The first thought that flashed through her mind wasn't that she finally had news of Tang Qiu, but rather: This skeleton seems a bit too intelligent.
Skeletons of this type were mindless when summoned, only capable of carrying out simple commands.
After identifying itself, the skeleton bent down, reattached its arm, and then pulled a folded piece of parchment from its eye socket, placing it on Erin's head.
Erin: "..."
She took the parchment down and unfolded it with anticipation. A flash of delight crossed her face when she saw the familiar handwriting, but as she read the contents, the smile on her lips instantly froze.
Tang Qiu's reply consisted of only five words: "I'll consider it."
Erin flipped the parchment over and, seeing that there was indeed nothing else, silently folded it back up. When she looked up, she saw the skeleton aimlessly wandering around.
Erin asked tentatively, "Can you get me out of here?" Recalling the mysterious nature of Mark's Grocery Store, a flicker of hope ignited within her. After all, this skeleton seemed quite unusual.
The skeleton detached its arm again, but before it could spell anything out, the stone door was suddenly pulled open from the outside. A small, delicate figure walked in. Her face was youthful and cute, and the oversized white robe she wore enveloped her, leaving only her fair little face exposed.
Erin instinctively turned to look, her expression changing slightly. She pursed her lips and called out in a low voice, "Vera."
Vera turned to close the door, then looked at her expressionlessly and said flatly, "Long time no see, Erin."
The moment Vera pushed the door open, the skeleton had burrowed into the ground and vanished. Erin tucked the parchment into her sleeve and sighed silently. "So you're here."
If she had known Vera was with that person, she never would have come looking for her.
Vera walked to the platform in the center of the room and ran her hand over the cold stone surface. "Elder Glanna sent me," she said calmly.
Erin lowered her head and said nothing. After stroking the entire cold surface of the platform, Vera took a sharp knife from her Space Gem. She caressed the blade with her fingers and softly chanted an incantation. A Half-Human Monster, over three meters tall, appeared on the platform. It had grayish-green skin, was half-human and half-beast, and had a ferocious face.
The Half-Human Monster lay on the platform, panting heavily. Its chest heaved violently, and veins bulged on its arms, but it remained still, lying there obediently.
Vera summoned a skeleton to hold her up. She pressed the small knife against the Half-Human Monster's neck and sliced down with an expressionless face. Her wrist didn't tremble in the slightest. When dark red blood splattered onto her face, she simply raised a sleeve and wiped it away casually.
The Half-Human Monster's roar made Erin flinch. She looked up at Vera in a daze and suddenly said, "Can you let me go, Vera?"
Vera glanced at her. "Will you come back?"
Erin's mouth opened, but she guiltily averted her gaze.
Vera looked away and sliced open the Half-Human Monster's stomach with the sharp knife. She pulled out its internal organs and then placed prepared materials inside one by one. As she worked, she said in a low voice, "When I let you leave Witch City, you told me you would definitely come back."
The Half-Human Monster had slowly stopped breathing after its stomach was cut open. Vera finished placing all the materials inside, then released an unconscious adult male from her Space Gem. She directed the skeleton to pick up the man and stuff him into the Half-Human Monster's body. She then took out a silver needle as thick as a finger, threaded with black energy, and skillfully stitched up the monster's stomach.
The sound of the needle piercing skin was infinitely amplified in Erin's ears. Her head was bowed, and the hand stroking the gray furball trembled slightly. The furball looked up at her and nudged her palm dazedly.
Vera had clearly done this countless times. Her technique was extremely practiced, without a hint of hesitation. After sewing up the Half-Human Monster's stomach, she dipped her finger in the blood on the platform and drew a dark magic array on its skin. The skeleton lowered her to the ground, and she took out a bone staff, chanting an incantation in a low voice.
The incantation was very long. For Erin, listening to Vera chant felt as if time had stood still.
Black energy billowed from the bone staff, slowly enveloping the Half-Human Monster on the platform. The creature, long since dead, suddenly began to struggle. Its hideous face shifted within the black mist, sometimes appearing as the Half-Human Monster, other times as the man stuffed inside its stomach. As Vera finished her chant, the struggling abruptly ceased. The black energy circled the monster's body, unable to find a place to settle, and then seeped back into Vera's bone staff.
Vera put away her staff and said flatly, "Another failure."
Erin kept her head down, silent.
"Only you can succeed with this witchcraft," Vera said softly, staring at Erin. "Elder Glanna needs you."
Vera's words struck a nerve. Erin looked up, her gray eyes filled with coldness. "I will never help her with this kind of thing again."
"You are a Black Witch of the Anderson Family. You should help her," Vera said expressionlessly. "Do you still think you're a priest?"
"Vera," Erin warned, glaring at her, her eyes slightly red.
Vera shifted her gaze and took out a black crystal from her Space Gem. She placed it on the ground and watched it slowly melt into the floor. "Elder Glanna said the outside world is too comfortable," she said softly. "It's made you forget some things."
Complex black patterns slowly emerged on the ground beneath her feet. The walls of the stone chamber wavered, and the surrounding scenery began to change rapidly. Vera walked to the door and, before leaving, added, "I hope you'll be able to return to Witch City with me."
After Vera left, the Dark Formation on the ground fully materialized. It was a Dark Illusion Array, a dark formation that only a red-robed witch could complete. Vera didn't have that ability; it was clearly prepared for her by Elder Glanna. The main purpose of the Dark Illusion Array was to stir up a person's deepest fears, causing them to become lost within their own memories. Erin leaned her head back against the wall, her face turning from pale to ashen as she watched the shifting environment with cold eyes.
Her hand, hidden in her sleeve, clutched the parchment tightly, her nails digging into her palm, sending waves of sharp pain.
Seven days had passed since they left the Bill Empire's church, yet Tang Qiu and the others had still not left the Bill Empire. Reese's order to escort the Light Believers back to the Central Church had been issued and executed with great haste, but once they were actually on their way, she no longer seemed to be in a hurry.
She insisted on stopping to rest at night, and during the day, they only traveled in the morning. In the afternoon, she would find a scenic spot for afternoon tea.
Occasionally, she would even stop to attend a banquet.
Regardless of Tang Qiu's mood, Monica's face had been stormy ever since they left the church and had not cleared up since.
However, an enraged Monica had no effect on Reese, who continued to do as she pleased, even deliberately extending her afternoon tea time.
Thanks to Reese, Tang Qiu did not have to spend the full moon night in the wild. Instead, she passed it "peacefully" in a comfortable room.
The room was unlit. The bright moonlight outside shone through a gap in the curtains, and the faint light made the two figures embracing on the bed even clearer in the darkness.
On the night of the full moon, the blonde priest would turn into a little furnace. Lucille was already used to her tightly hugging her waist and burying her head in the crook of her neck. The fiery heat transferred through their thin clothes to her body. Although it still felt a little strange, she liked the feeling of her own palm warming from its usual coldness.
She held Tang Qiu's shoulder with one arm, staring at a point in the darkness, lost in thought.
Tang Qiu, still awake, took a deep breath at Lucille's neck. Her sky-blue eyes were somewhat dark as she spoke in a hoarse voice, "Do you know about the Holy See's Inquisition?"
Lucille looked down at the top of Tang Qiu's head. "No."
"The Inquisition is where priests who have broken the rules are punished." Although her body and mind were in torment, Tang Qiu could still maintain a sliver of clarity to speak with Lucille. "No one knows what kind of punishment the priests who enter The Inquisition receive, but very few are ever released."
After learning she was a werewolf, she had looked into The Inquisition, the most unique place in the Holy See. As an institution that supervised and punished Church personnel, it had even arrested bishops who had erred. The Head Inquisitor's status and power were comparable to that of a Red-robed Archbishop, though they could not be a candidate for the next Pope.
Tang Qiu didn't know if she had to climb to the position of Red-robed Archbishop before she could feel at ease.
"If you are taken away, I will come and save you," Lucille said flatly. "We can stay in Edry."
Lucille's tone was calm and even, as unconvincing as ever, but Tang Qiu couldn't help but laugh. She said teasingly, "You're a vampire. Aren't you afraid of dying under light magic before you even save me if you charge into the Holy See?"
Lucille keenly sensed that the blonde priest's mood had improved. Her hand unconsciously caressed Tang Qiu's shoulder as she replied softly, "Not afraid." Her tone was filled with an indifference to life.
Tang Qiu looked up at her, a hint of helplessness in her sky-blue eyes. She sighed. "Didn't I tell you to read fewer poetry collections that glorify death?"
For a long time, she had vaguely sensed a pessimistic and world-weary attitude in Lucille. She seemed to care for nothing. Despite being a vampire of the sixth generation or higher, she didn't live in the Blood Domain, and she detested both fresh blood and other vampires.
Other than herself, she didn't seem to have seen Lucille show interest in any other person or thing...
Oh, no, that wasn't right. There was also Lola. The smile on Tang Qiu's lips faded slightly. She rested her head against Lucille's body again and fell silent.
The person in her arms suddenly grew quiet. Lucille looked down in confusion and tentatively called out, "Grace?"
Tang Qiu's eyes were closed, and she didn't respond. Lucille waited patiently for a while, and assuming she had fallen asleep, she adjusted to a more comfortable position, wrapped her arms around Tang Qiu, and closed her eyes to rest.
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