The First Pope - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was deep in the night when Cynthia left the woods. She summoned a few small flames to light the way. Although the Elves and the Wolf Race had long since cleared the Vampires out of Nobi City, and only one of the castles inside had been burned down, with the rest remaining perfectly intact, the rescued humans seemed afraid of being imprisoned again. Despite the greater comfort offered by the castles, they preferred to camp in the open. The closer they were to the woods, the safer they felt.

As Cynthia made her way around the people sleeping outside the forest, she scanned her surroundings for any sign of Chelsea, Betty, and the others. They had set out during the day to escort those humans to a safe place and, by her calculations, should have returned by now.

But the area where the witches were resting was now empty.

Cynthia frowned. She walked over to Sarah, who was dozing against a rock, and gently tapped her on the shoulder to wake her. "Sarah, have Chelsea and the others not returned?"

Sarah rubbed her eyes and said groggily, "No, why are they so..."

A sharp scream snapped Sarah, who was still half-asleep, to full alertness. She quickly dropped her hands, her golden eyes wide with alarm. "What was that? What happened?"

Cynthia turned toward the source of the scream. It came from near the woods, and the darkness made it impossible to see what was happening. But the gush of crimson blood was still jarring in the night. The humans resting nearby were all startled awake, and upon seeing the blood, they began to flee in a panic. Cynthia's view was blocked several times, which made her frown.

She looked around, then walked up to a higher slope. She softly chanted a spell, and white flames descended from the sky, illuminating the darkness and finally revealing to everyone what kind of man-eating monster was in the woods.

Standing at the bottom of the slope, Sarah stammered, "A sp-spider."

A very large spider.

It was impossible to tell how long the spider had been there. Its white webs had entangled nearly several hundred nearby trees. The webs glinted coldly in the dark, and several mangled, lifeless bodies hung from them.

Sarah even recognized a few faces among them. Unable to bear the sight, she looked away, filled with a mixture of anger and fear. "These monsters are just as disgusting as the Vampires."

Only after she spoke did she realize Cynthia had been silent the whole time. She quickly looked up and saw Cynthia staring calmly in the spider's direction. For some reason, the fear in her heart subsided a little.

She quietly placed a hand on her chest, mustering her courage. "I'll lead these people to a safer place."

There were still two or three thousand humans left here. Their panicked flight after seeing the spider had made the scene even more chaotic. Sarah had just been bumped in the shoulder by several people.

"That can wait." Cynthia stopped Sarah, who was about to evacuate the crowd. After a moment's thought, she walked down the slope and gestured for Sarah to follow. "Let's go take a look."

She had a feeling something was strange about this spider.

Cynthia moved against the flow of people to the edge of the woods. She cautiously approached the spider, which was still spinning its web. Upon spotting Cynthia, it spat a glob of white mucus at her. A flame intercepted the mucus mid-air, causing it to fall to the ground.

The hard earth was corroded by the mucus, leaving a deep pit.

"...We have to go inside." Cynthia observed the spider carefully, her eyes narrowing. She said in a low voice, "Chelsea and the others are trapped."

Sarah was taken aback. "Go inside?"

It was all webs. How were they supposed to get in?

Cynthia had often read the books Betty gave her, so she had some understanding of the witches' witchcraft and arrays. Thus, she could tell at a glance that there were traces of a witchcraft array on the spider.

This spider didn't want to stay in the woods; it was trapped by witchcraft, which was why it could only frantically spin webs at the edge.

"Do you remember the spell I taught you? Use fire to burn these webs." Cynthia rummaged through her Space Gem and pulled out two silver longswords. She handed one to Sarah. "This is for you, for self-defense."

Seeing how easily Cynthia handled both longswords, Sarah assumed they weren't very heavy. But as soon as she took it, her expression changed, and her body involuntarily lurched forward.

Cynthia looked at her, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"Noth..." Sarah gripped the sword with both hands and forced a smile. "Nothing, it's just a little heavy."

Although the sword was heavy, its substantial weight unexpectedly gave Sarah a sense of security.

The spider watched its prey flee but was unable to leave the woods. This enraged it. It waved its forelimbs, spitting one glob of mucus after another at Cynthia and Sarah. Yet it didn't dare approach them, terrified of the white flames illuminating the area from above.

A few dark shadows could be faintly seen moving in the woods. And though the spider feared the white flames, it showed no sign of leaving, attacking them with brazen confidence instead.

Cynthia turned her head and whispered to Sarah, "It has companions. Be careful."

Sarah swallowed nervously and cautiously suggested, "Should we go ask the Elves for help?"

Cynthia slowly shook her head. "Sarah," she said earnestly, "the Elf Race can't always be by our side."

The Elves were nearby, but the spider had been here for a while now, and they hadn't made a move. This meant the Elf Race didn't intend to help them this time.

Besides, for this spider to have gotten here, the Elves must have allowed it.

"Sooner or later, the Elf Race will part ways with us. When we face danger then, who can we turn to?"

"Besides, this is a good opportunity, Sarah. We can test just how powerful the Power of Light really is." Cynthia gently stroked the cold hilt of her sword, then turned to Sarah with a slight smile and a wink. "I'm going to check on your progress."

Cynthia's smile was infectious. The last trace of nervousness in Sarah's heart slowly faded. Gripping her sword with both hands, she nodded seriously.

At Cynthia's command, the white flames above the spider began to fall. When the flames landed on the webs, they seemed to merge with them for a moment before the webs were incinerated into ash the next second.

Cynthia took this opportunity to lead Sarah into the woods. Foul-smelling mucus flew toward them. The spider scrambled across its web, aiming its sharp chelicerae at Cynthia, intending to impale her.

A faint white shield of light appeared in front of Cynthia, blocking the attack. But the shield was very unstable; it only held for a few seconds before shattering into dust.

It was Cynthia's first time using a defensive barrier, so she wasn't surprised by the result. She retreated while quickly chanting a spell. White flames fell from the sky like meteors. They exploded upon contact with the spider, and a golden light landed on its back, searing its hard carapace.

Sarah followed behind Cynthia, doing her best to burn the webs around them with her not-so-bright flames. She actually managed to burn a path for them.

"It's working, it's working..." Sarah said excitedly. "We can get through here."

Even a sixth-generation Vampire would find this spider troublesome. Although the Power of Light was effective against it, its webs and mucus still caused Cynthia some trouble.

More dark shadows were stirring ahead. They seemed to be heading their way. Cynthia made a split-second decision and turned. Grabbing Sarah's arm, she whispered, "Go."

The woods were pitch-black, and the path underfoot was uneven. Fortunately, the webs were quite visible in the dark. Following the trail of webs, Cynthia and Sarah quickly found the trapped Chelsea and the others.

The witches had suffered greatly under the spiders' siege. When Cynthia found them, they were all injured. Only Betty, under Eunice's protection, was unharmed.

But Eunice's injuries were quite severe. Her right arm was almost soaked in blood, and a long, deep gash on her shoulder revealed a glimpse of bone.

Betty knelt beside her, biting her lip as she tried to bandage the wound, but the bleeding wouldn't stop.

"...Cynthia?" Chelsea, who was using witchcraft to fight the spiders, heard running in the darkness and tensed up. But when she saw it was Cynthia, she looked stunned. "What are you two doing here?"

Cynthia quickly assessed the situation, her heart sinking slightly. But she didn't let it show on her face. Instead, she curved her lips into a smile and said in a light tone, "Here to rescue you."

Chelsea: "..."

Chelsea lowered her staff, wiped the sweat from her brow, and said flatly, "Looks more like you're here to get yourself killed."

Although Chelsea's words sounded harsh and offensive, Cynthia secretly agreed with them. If she had known what the situation was like in here, she definitely wouldn't have come in.

She had assumed the Elves had deliberately let these spiders in because Olivia wanted to test her abilities.

That's why she had been so calm-she was perfectly capable of handling spiders of that level.

But now... Cynthia looked up at the enormous shadow in front of them. She sighed helplessly. If she had known, she wouldn't have made Olivia angry earlier.

This didn't look like a test of her strength; it looked more like an attempt on her life.

"Th-th-that..." Sarah pointed at the giant spider, which was nearly thirty meters tall and entangled by several gray shadows. Her eyes widened. "What is that?"

Compared to this one, the spiders from before were like ants.

Chelsea watched as the gray shadows were torn apart by the spider, only to reform and continue to bind it. The array restricting the spider's body was about to fail, and their spiritual energy was nearly depleted. Before seeing Cynthia, Chelsea had already been considering whether to use a Teleportation Array.

With their power, they couldn't teleport the spider away, only themselves. But Teleportation Arrays were a gamble. With bad luck, they could end up dying a worse death than this.

"It's so big. Couldn't you see it from outside?" Chelsea asked Cynthia, puzzled.

Cynthia shook her head. "It probably concealed its form intentionally." No wonder those other spiders kept fighting back even when they were about to be burned to death. Their leader was here.

Sarah used her not-so-powerful flames to help Chelsea fight the giant spider. Cynthia thought for a moment, then, instead of joining the fight, she walked over to Betty and Eunice.

Hearing footsteps approach, Betty turned her head blankly. When she saw Cynthia, her eyes reddened, and she could no longer hold back her tears. "Cynthia, Eunice's bleeding won't stop..."

Compared to the worried Betty, the injured party was remarkably calm. However, the blood loss had made Eunice's face frighteningly pale. She leaned back against a tree, her gaze following the path of a tear from the corner of Betty's eye down to her lips. The corner of her mouth twitched into a slight smile, but she quickly suppressed it. She glanced at Cynthia beside her and said irritably, "What are you doing here?"

"To see if the most powerful witch among us can still be saved." Cynthia crouched down, briefly examined Eunice's injury, and then said after a moment of thought, "I hear the Power of Light has strong healing abilities."

Eunice frowned. "So?"

"I can try to stop the bleeding for you."

Eunice looked her up and down with distrust. "You know how?"

Cynthia tried to channel the Power of Light into her palm, then gently placed it on Eunice's arm and nodded nonchalantly with a hum.

She'd know if she could do it after she tried.

Eunice clicked her tongue impatiently and was about to refuse. But feeling Betty's hand trembling slightly on her leg, she changed her mind.

As the white light covered the wound, the pain, which had become almost numb, actually began to ease. Eunice narrowed her eyes, studying Cynthia with a strange expression.

The wound on her arm was still there, but the bleeding had truly stopped. Betty's eyes widened in relief. "Thank goodness, thank goodness."

Eunice had been injured while saving her. If she lost that arm, Betty would have been consumed by guilt for the rest of her life.

Time was short, so Cynthia could only try to stop the bleeding for now. As for how to make the wound heal, she didn't have time to study that at the moment.

"There, the bleeding has stopped." Cynthia withdrew her hand. Then she glanced over at Chelsea's group and said to Eunice, "Don't just sit there. Chelsea is about to collapse."

Eunice: "..."

Betty paused for a second, then said with a worried expression, "I'll go instead. Eunice, you stay here and rest."

With that, she picked up her staff from the ground and ran over.

After Betty left, Cynthia naturally took her place. She picked up a twig and began writing something on the ground by the dim light.

Eunice glanced sideways at Cynthia, watching her write for a bit, then cross it out and start over. After this happened several times, she frowned and asked in a strange tone, "What are you doing?"

Cynthia kept her head down and replied distractedly, "Studying magic."

"...Now?" Eunice rolled her eyes and said bluntly, "Are you a lunatic?"

Seeing that Betty was struggling, she pushed herself up using the tree. She said coolly, "Stay here by yourself, then. No one cares if you live or die."

Cynthia had expected that Eunice wouldn't abandon Betty, so she wasn't surprised by her departure. The reason she had come to stop Eunice's bleeding was that only with Eunice in the fight could the witches hold on longer, which would buy Cynthia more time.

A dozen or so meters away, Olivia and a few other Elves stood atop the trees, watching the situation.

Polly watched Betty and the others, occasionally raising the longbow in her hands. She said, somewhat bored, "Shouldn't we help them? They look like they're about to be overwhelmed."

A few of the witches were using truly excellent witchcraft. But the inherent weakness of witchcraft's offensive power was a flaw that limited their capabilities, no matter how skilled they were.

Polly's gaze swept over the witches, and she realized she hadn't seen Cynthia for a while. She asked, puzzled, "Where did Cynthia go?"

Another Elf pointed her out. Polly stood on her toes and glanced in that direction. She saw Cynthia sitting on a rock, head down, writing something. "What is she doing?" she asked strangely.

She instinctively looked at Olivia and was surprised to see a hint of a smile on the Queen's face, which had been dark all evening.

Olivia gently rubbed her wrist, her eyes fixed on Cynthia below. Seeing the Light Fire beginning to gather around her, the corners of Olivia's lips curved into a slight arc. The coldness in her pale green eyes lessened, replaced by a touch of softness. "...That little thief."

This time, the silver-haired God Race was using real Light Fire.

This person was always changing her impression of her.

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