The First Pope - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The giant spider was one of the most common magical beasts on the Sitatul Continent. It fed on flesh and blood, often lying in ambush deep within forests or caves. Even a sixth-generation vampire who carelessly stepped into its web trap would have their chances of escape drastically reduced, left to be devoured bit by bit.

Its silk, mucus, and incredibly sharp chelicerae could all easily spell death for its prey. But it also had a fatal weakness: its massive size made its movements very slow, and its eyesight was extremely poor.

The formation confused the giant spider's senses. Unable to pinpoint Chelsea and the others' exact location, it began to spray silk frantically. White webs wrapped around tree trunks and the ground, as if a thick layer of snow had fallen.

The witches watched the snow-white scene before them and retreated with caution. The silk looked fine and soft, but it was actually incredibly sharp. One unlucky witch among them had already been ensnared by the silk and lost her life.

"We have to lure it toward the elves to have a chance of escaping." Betty ran to Chelsea's side, staff in hand. She looked up at the giant spider, her face tense. "We can't let it out of the forest."

Otherwise, those humans would die.

"I have been luring it toward the elves." Chelsea, who was looking down at her staff, paused and frowned. "Did I go the wrong way?"

Betty froze for a moment, then said vaguely, "The direction is a little bit off." In truth, it was more than just a little bit off.

Seeing that Chelsea didn't look pleased, she quickly added, "But it's fine. I'll lure it away."

As she spoke, she raised her staff and began to chant. A gray mist coalesced behind her, slowly forming a fox over ten meters tall. The fox slowly opened its eyes; its reddish-brown pupils were clear for a moment before turning fierce.

Although the fox's body seemed small in comparison to the giant spider, this had its advantages-it was far more agile.

Because it was formed from witchcraft power, the fox had no physical body, and the silk was useless against it. It charged toward the giant spider, attempting to lead it in another direction.

This spell was clearly an overload. Betty's face was as pale as paper, and when she lowered her staff, she could barely support her own swaying body.

Chelsea reached out to steady her, saying disapprovingly, "You're pushing yourself too hard."

"I have no choice." Betty's vision went dark. She shook her head and whispered, "If I don't, we might die here."

She wanted to protect others, too, not just be protected all the time… Betty subconsciously glanced behind her. Eunice, whom she had told to stay and rest, was nowhere to be seen. Only Cynthia was there, her back to them, doing something unknown.

Betty was startled and worriedly raised her head, searching for Eunice.

The loss of function in one arm seemed to mean nothing to Eunice. She held her staff with her other hand, scanned her surroundings, then avoided Betty's line of sight and strode toward Camille. The blood-soaked red robe made her small face look even paler.

Camille had slipped away from the other witches and moved behind the giant spider. She was short, and by carefully avoiding the webs, she was only two or three meters away from the spider, which hadn't noticed her presence.

At her feet were several corpses wrapped in silk. Judging by the blood that stained the webs red, they had all died recently. This was prey the giant spider had yet to enjoy.

Camille looked down at the corpses for a moment, tilted her head, and took out a dagger. Before she could make her next move, she was struck hard on the head.

She instinctively covered the painful spot, her gray eyes instantly welling with tears.

"I told you, don't let Betty see this." Eunice's face was dark as she glared coldly at Camille. "I still haven't settled the score with you for that last monster."

After that incident, Betty had been angry with her for a long time, even though she wasn't the one raising the monster. Eunice rolled her eyes at Camille. "Didn't I tell you not to research this kind of garbage?"

She glanced down at the skeleton rat standing between her and Camille as if protecting its master, sneered disdainfully, and crushed it under her foot. "Pathetic."

Camille trembled and said pitifully, "I want to protect Sister Betty."

"Betty doesn't need your protection." Eunice shoved Camille away and said fiercely, "Get lost."

Camille was pushed so hard she nearly fell into the webs. A flash of anger crossed her face. She shrank back with a sullen expression, her eyes fixed coldly on Eunice, like a venomous snake flicking its bright red tongue.

The commotion they were making had already attracted the giant spider's attention. The spider shook off the gray fox and turned, trying to find Eunice and Camille within its web. Eunice stared at the giant spider's exposed abdomen, her eyes narrowing slightly. The tip of her tongue darted out to lick her lips, a wicked smile playing on her face.

The staff she held suddenly emitted a faint black aura. The chilling energy caused the surrounding temperature to plummet. Camille hugged her arms, her gaze on Eunice slowly growing complicated.

This person was the… genius of their Anderson Family.

The dark aura, so different from its own, made the giant spider wary. It turned and stabbed its sharp forelimbs in the direction the dark energy was coming from.

The giant spider's own dark aura masked the Power of Darkness Eunice had released, so Chelsea and Betty had no idea what was happening. When they saw the giant spider turn, they thought the fox's distraction had worked.

The elves standing in the treetops looked on in surprise as the giant spider suddenly went berserk. Elves were extremely sensitive to auras, especially this repulsive dark one.

"…Are there Vampires here?" a younger elf asked in confusion.

Polly shook her head. "The Vampires' dark aura isn't like this."

Olivia, whose attention had been fixed on Cynthia, glanced over at the giant spider and said coolly, "It's a witch."

"A witch?"

The young elves looked at each other. Didn't witches use witchcraft?

Only the slightly older Polly nodded with a hint of understanding. "A witch… After all, they are a branch of the Tremere line."

With Tremere blood in them, it didn't seem strange that some would choose to touch the Power of Darkness.

After all, the things their ancestors had done were even more bizarre.

Olivia glanced at Cynthia again, then turned and said faintly, "Let's go."

Polly asked in surprise, "Aren't we going to watch anymore?"

"No need." Olivia lowered her gaze and said softly, "It's already over."

Just as her words fell, before Polly could reply, a dazzling white light exploded in the forest. The darkness was consumed, and a white flame laced with golden light appeared out of thin air above the giant spider. It then descended, and the ten-meter-high flame instantly engulfed the spider.

The flame appeared so suddenly that its scorching heat gave Chelsea, Betty, and the others no time to think about what it was. They scrambled to turn and run out of the fire's range.

"…It's Cynthia." Betty ran clear of the flames, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "She must have cast that flame."

She tried to find where Cynthia was, but the white light was too dazzling. After a moment, her eyes began to ache, and she had to give up.

The Power of Light was the natural enemy of the Power of Darkness. Eunice and the giant spider were very close and were caught within the flames' range. Fortunately for her, Cynthia had cast the spell from nearby, so she was able to retreat to a safe place quickly.

Eunice put away her staff, clutched her chest, and spat out a large mouthful of blood. The dark aura entwined around her wrist had weakened considerably.

Camille ran out with Eunice. All the skeleton rats she had summoned were caught in the sea of fire and burned to ash. This made her indignant. Staring at the silver-haired God Race member shrouded in white light, she complained, "I hate this person."

Eunice shot her a sideways glance and retorted, "You think she likes you?"

She scoffed. "Stay away from her. Don't provoke her."

Eunice wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and gazed at Cynthia's back. For the first time, her appraisal of her was serious. She said thoughtfully, "This God Race member is quite strong."

But, the Power of Light… Eunice looked down at her burned hand, her eyes deep and dark.

The Light Fire spell Cynthia used was developed based on the principles of the Elf Race's great fire spell. The memories she had probed from Olivia gave Cynthia a great deal of inspiration. She had originally planned to take her time sorting through them, but the situation was urgent, and her own small, unformed flame was no match for the giant spider.

Although it was rushed, she was thankfully satisfied with the new spell's power.

Cynthia looked up at the giant spider struggling within the Light Fire, the corners of her lips curling up slightly. Her golden eyes reflected the flames, making them seem exceptionally bright.

After the flames slowly died down, Chelsea and Betty finally found Cynthia. Betty put away her staff, ran over, and grabbed Cynthia's sleeve, asking excitedly, "That spell was so powerful, Cynthia."

"Did you develop it yourself?"

Cynthia noticed a scratch on Betty's face and raised a hand to heal it for her. She smiled and said, "I have Queen Olivia to thank for that. She gave me the inspiration."

Although, strictly speaking, she had "stolen" that inspiration. Cynthia touched her nose.

Betty knew Cynthia was on good terms with the elves, but she didn't know she had actually met Queen Olivia alone. She said in surprise, "Did your dream come true, Cynthia?"

Cynthia looked at her, puzzled.

"Didn't you say you wanted to be friends with Queen Olivia?" Betty remembered Cynthia saying she wanted to see Olivia again. She asked with an expectant look, "So are you friends now?"

Are they friends? Cynthia blinked and said brazenly, "We are friends."

When Olivia wasn't angry, their interactions were quite harmonious and pleasant.

While the two of them were talking, the giant spider could no longer withstand the power of the flames and collapsed with a crash. Nearly half of its body had been burned away, and only two-thirds of its hard carapace remained.

Cynthia looked up at the corpse of the giant spider, which was still massive even after being half-burned. She rested her fingers on her chin, looking thoughtful. Her long silver hair floated in a graceful arc in the gentle breeze.

"What are you thinking about?" Betty asked curiously, seeing Cynthia staring intently at the spider's corpse.

Cynthia said pensively, "I'm wondering if any part of this spider's body is useful."

For example, its forelimbs, its carapace, its silk… couldn't these things be used as materials for witchcraft? When Cynthia had been reading books on witchcraft, she had seen that many materials were taken from the bodies of various animals.

With this thought, she turned to look at Chelsea.

Chelsea met Cynthia's gaze and frowned slightly. "I've never seen materials taken from this kind of spider."

"Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's useless." Cynthia thought for a moment and held out her hand to Chelsea. "Give me a dagger."

Chelsea took out a dagger and gave it to her. Seeing her walk toward the giant spider's corpse, she froze for a second before running after her.

Betty watched the two of them go, hesitated for a moment, but didn't follow. Instead, she turned to find the injured Eunice.

The giant spider's carapace was extremely hard. Cynthia had to infuse the dagger with the Power of Light to cut through it. She sliced off a piece of the carapace and observed it for a moment, saying in surprise, "This shell is empty."

Chelsea looked baffled. "What's empty?"

Cynthia thought for a moment and rephrased, "There are no elements inside this shell."

Chelsea took the carapace and asked blankly, "How do you know?"

In her eyes, it was just an ordinary shell.

"I saw it." It was because she had felt a sense of dissonance when looking at the spider's corpse that she had come over to check.

All things in this world contained different elements within them. This spider, aside from this shell, was filled with dark elements.

Chelsea: "…"

She looked Cynthia up and down as if she were meeting her for the first time. She said slowly, "What exactly are you?"

As a fellow member of the God Race, Sarah was much more normal.

Sarah fit the rumored image of the God Race: constantly hunted by vampires, mysterious, yet obscure and without much of a presence.

As for someone like Cynthia… Chelsea no longer knew what words to use to describe her.

Chelsea's question startled Cynthia for a moment, then she said with amusement, "I'm of the God Race."

She grabbed a lock of her silver hair to show Chelsea.

Chelsea stared at her for a while, then silently averted her gaze. She turned to look at Sarah, who was with Betty, bandaging the witches' wounds. Sarah's silver hair was also very eye-catching in the darkness.

Never mind. Perhaps Sarah was the "abnormal" one.

She might be too ordinary.

The battle with the giant spider had once again left the small group of witches badly battered. Fortunately, Cynthia was there, and her Power of Light quickly stabilized their injuries.

Sarah had always struggled to get the hang of Light Fire, but surprisingly, she quickly mastered using the Power of Light for healing, and her results were becoming more and more impressive.

Finally being able to help did much to calm Sarah's anxious heart. Despite being sleepless and having suffered quite a fright, she was full of energy and took on the task of caring for the witches all by herself.

Seeing her enthusiasm, Cynthia decided to leave everything to her. She found an empty spot to sit down and rest, while also studying the carapace she had cut from the giant spider.

The sky was already brightening. After the giant spider's death, the smaller spiders had also perished in the sea of fire. The forest was a mess, and the trees in the path of the flames had all been burned to ash.

The morning sun slowly rose into the sky, its warm light chasing away the mist in the forest. A gentle breeze swept through. The scorched earth became soft again, and small saplings sprouted from the ground, slowly growing into towering trees. Dead wood and withered branches were revitalized. The spider's corpse was buried by yellow earth, and green vines wrapped around the tree branches, blooming with clusters of brightly colored flowers.

A refreshing fragrance drifted to Cynthia's nose. She put down the carapace in her hand and turned her head slightly. All she could see was a sea of new green. Before she could even be surprised, a gust of wind swept by, scattering the flowers on the vines. Petals fluttered down, covering the ground in a thick, beautiful carpet of flowers.

This was possibly the most beautiful scenery Cynthia had seen since coming to this world.

A vine emerged from the forest and wrapped around Cynthia's arm. Cynthia glanced down at it, then raised her eyes slightly. The familiar bridge appeared before her.

She rose with the pull of the vine, and several more emerged from the ground, wrapping around her waist and lifting her in a single leap to the top of the bridge.

A white mist began to spread, mercilessly obscuring the bridge and the forest scenery, not revealing a single bit.

Cynthia had only ever experienced being thrown down by Olivia. Being brought up by vines without having to climb the long flight of stairs was a novel experience for her. She watched as the vines released her, then looked up and met Olivia's gaze.

Those pale green eyes were stunning. She couldn't tell which was more beautiful-the eyes, or the scenery she had just witnessed.

Cynthia took a small step back, her palm resting on a vine behind her. Her usually smiling golden eyes were now unconsciously tinged with a degree of focus, her gaze fixed on Olivia, lingering for a long time.

Olivia waited for a moment, but Cynthia didn't speak. Her beautiful brows furrowed as she asked, "What is it? Is this reception not to your liking either?"

She picked up the cup of nectar that had already been poured on the table and raised it towards Cynthia, a faint smile on her lips. "Congratulations, your Light Fire spell is very powerful."

When Olivia's face was stern, she appeared exceedingly cold and proud. But when angered, her features would be tinged with a certain vividness. Cynthia had thought that version of Olivia was already enough to be called the number one beauty of the Sitatul Continent.

But she never expected that with just this faint smile, the entire morning sky behind her would lose its color.

Olivia held the cup up for a while longer without a response, and the smile on her lips faded slightly. "Cynthia?"

Cynthia pulled her wandering thoughts back, a lovely curve forming on her lips. She reached out, took the nectar, and said playfully, "It can't compare to the power of Her Majesty the Queen's smile."

Olivia: "…"

Her revised opinion of this person never seemed to last very long.

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