The First Pope - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After night had completely fallen, it was no longer suitable to travel through the forest. Besides being wary of Vampires, they also had to be careful of magical beasts that might be sleeping somewhere hidden.

After the gods left the Sitatul Continent, no one was left to clear out the magical beasts. They occupied territories that originally belonged to humans and were merciless toward intruders.

Fortunately, before the gods departed, the God of Darkness had already thrown the most powerful magical beasts into the Dark World. Those that remained were still a threat to the various races, but they no longer had the power to destroy the Sitatul Continent.

The witches stopped to rest. After a simple meal, Betty suggested they sit down together and discuss where to go after escorting the humans to Snochi Valley.

Betty didn't want to return to their territory just yet.

The arrival of the Eunice sisters had made the originally harmonious atmosphere tense and subtle. The witches gathered together, looking at one another, but no one spoke first. Since the witches themselves wouldn't break the silence, Cynthia, as an outsider, certainly wasn't going to open her mouth.

She rolled up her somewhat cumbersome sleeves and continued to fiddle with the Space Gem she had scavenged from Stone Town.

Eunice lay with her head on Betty's lap, playing with a lock of Betty's hair that hung down. Seeing that no one was talking, she let out a sneer and broke the silence herself. "Since no one's talking, let's take a trip to the Blood Domain. It's close by, anyway."

The Blood Domain was the territory of the Vampires. All the clans that had retreated from the Sitatul Continent lived there.

The witches were very familiar with Eunice's personality and knew she meant what she said. Their eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you crazy, Eunice?"

They hadn't spoken because they didn't want to go anywhere else. They wanted to return to their territory, not get captured by Vampires again.

"When you all came out, didn't you swear to save..." Eunice's sarcastic remark stopped abruptly when she caught sight of Betty's somewhat downcast expression. She pursed her lips and said no more.

A cold wind swept fallen leaves against them. A bolt of lightning split the sky, and large raindrops began to fall with a patter. Eunice raised her hand and waved it slightly, and a gray barrier appeared above her and Betty's heads.

Even Camille was not included under it.

Betty pressed Eunice's hand down, shaking her head in disapproval. Then, she drew her staff and actively expanded the barrier, not only covering all of them but also the humans resting on the other side.

Casting such a wide-range barrier all at once made Betty's face turn a little pale.

The barrier could only block the downpour, not the sudden drop in temperature. Cynthia looked up from the Space Gem at the gray barrier above, her interest piqued by its formation. "Is this also created by chanting a spell?"

Cynthia stared curiously at the staff in Betty's hand.

Seeing her interest, Betty handed her the staff. "The staff makes it easier for us to mobilize the witch power within our bodies. The spells allow us to control the form of that power."

"Do barriers of different ranges have different spells?"

"Yes." Betty reached out and grabbed a handful of air, then slowly opened her hand for Cynthia to see, smiling as she said, "Actually, I've always felt spells are useless. See, I caught them without chanting a spell."

A ball of gray mist lay in her palm.

Cynthia looked at the mist in Betty's palm, pondered for a moment, and then mimicked her action, grabbing at the air. She slowly opened her hand, and a faint white light appeared in her palm, but it quickly vanished.

Betty had been watching Cynthia closely, so she didn't miss the white light. She asked curiously, "What was that?"

Cynthia glanced at her, her red lips curving slightly. Her tone was gentle. "I'm not sure either. I just caught it by copying what you did."

She caught another ball of it to show Betty. "What do you think this is?"

"Ah, I don't really understand these things either..." Betty scratched her head shyly. It was the first time someone had listened so seriously to her strange ideas. "What I just said was all just my own random thoughts."

"I can only catch them, but I can't command them without a spell."

The soft-spoken conversation between the two of them made the atmosphere relaxed again. Only Eunice's expression slowly darkened. She looked at the smiling Betty, a flash of anger crossing her face. She sat up and interrupted them coldly, "Weren't we supposed to be discussing where to go next?"

Eunice took out a map and threw it on the ground. "Hurry up," she said coldly. "I want to rest."

The smile on Betty's lips faded a little. She gave Cynthia an apologetic smile, then silently pushed Eunice away and lowered her head to study the map.

Pushed back two steps, Eunice's face grew even darker.

Chelsea walked over and glanced at the map. "You want to go to the Tallas Mountains?" she said flatly.

Betty's finger had been lingering near that area.

"I heard from the elders in my clan that it's the territory of fourth-generation Vampires." Betty tapped the map unconsciously, her voice uncertain. "But many of our people are imprisoned there."

The reproduction of witches was much easier than that of elves and werewolves, yet their population never seemed to increase. This was because Vampires came to their territory every year to capture young witches.

To ensure the continuation of the witch race, the elders would take young witches to be raised in other places, but even so, they could not escape the Vampires' grasp.

Her Garcia Family hadn't given birth to a young witch in many years. If this continued, the witch race would grow weaker and weaker, making it even harder to resist the Vampires.

Cynthia leaned over to look. "Are there any God Race members imprisoned there?" she asked.

Betty thought for a moment and nodded. "There should be. I heard fourth-generation Vampires don't like to drink human blood, so there should be many people from other races imprisoned there."

Cynthia rested her chin on her hand and studied the map carefully. She found that the Tallas Mountains Betty mentioned were very far from their current location. "We can tentatively set this as our destination," she said thoughtfully.

She also needed to find her own people.

"But..." Cynthia bent down and pointed to a spot on the map, frowning. "To get to the Tallas Mountains, it seems we have to pass through Nobi City?"

She had heard the name of this city from Chelsea more than once, so she had specifically learned about it. Nobi City was a castle built for the Vampires by their minions, a place dedicated to their entertainment. It was filled with a large number of sixth-generation Vampires, and perhaps even fifth-generation ones.

If they wanted to go to the Tallas Mountains, they had to pass through Nobi City. With their current strength, if they went in, they might never come out.

Having been ignored the whole time, Eunice couldn't resist interjecting, trying to pull Betty's attention back to herself. "Giving up without even trying... you're all too cowardly."

She had wanted to say something more vicious, but considering Betty was angry, she forced herself to change her words. She looked unhappy but still feigned weakness. "If you want to go, I'll go with you, Betty."

Betty ignored her, instead looking questioningly at Chelsea and Cynthia, wanting to know their thoughts.

Chelsea was silent for a moment before saying softly, "I'm fine with whatever."

Everyone's gaze began to gather on Cynthia's face. The orange firelight could only illuminate a small area, and Cynthia happened to be standing at the very edge of its reach. The warm glow softened her delicate features, lending her an air of reality.

The button fastened all the way to her neck felt a bit restrictive to the thinking Cynthia. She casually undid two buttons, revealing a small patch of fair skin and adding a touch of languor to her appearance.

The witches had merely been waiting quietly to hear Cynthia's opinion, but without realizing it, they found themselves staring at her, mesmerized.

"I also agree with Witch Eunice's idea." After weighing the pros and cons in her mind, Cynthia finally spoke slowly. "If we give up without even trying, we might as well follow these humans to Snochi Valley."

That place was relatively safe, but of course, this safety was only in comparison to other places.

There was no truly safe place on this continent.

Besides, for some reason, Cynthia had a premonition that if they went to Nobi City, they might run into those elves.

Betty, Chelsea, and the others had decided to go to Nobi City. Although the other witches wanted to object, they knew these few were the strongest among them. Without them, the rest certainly couldn't return to their territory safely, so they could only choose to follow them reluctantly.

Eunice's participation greatly sped up their travel, and Cynthia finally understood what Chelsea meant by "madwoman."

Eunice didn't like to travel with them. She always set off alone ahead of them and only came back to find them at night. Every time she returned, her red robe would be soaked through, and bloodstains would leave a winding trail where she walked.

Cynthia had always thought she was very adaptable, but the first time she saw Eunice appear like this, she was still taken aback.

If she hadn't confirmed with Chelsea that Eunice was indeed a witch, she would have thought this person was a vampire.

"What on earth has she been doing?" Cynthia crossed her arms, her golden eyes fixed on Eunice, who was boredly wiping her dagger. She asked with a frown.

Chelsea was organizing her Space Gem. Hearing Cynthia's question, she replied flatly, "She went to deal with the Vampires and patrolling Silver Knights around us."

Eunice set off early to find potential enemies. The reason they hadn't encountered any danger on their journey was that Eunice had already dealt with it beforehand.

"The people of the Anderson Family are very strange." Chelsea's organizing paused, and she frowned. "And Eunice is the strangest one in her family."

Eunice noticed Cynthia's gaze and looked up to meet it. The dagger spun nimbly between her fingertips. The corner of her mouth quirked up, and a somewhat wicked smile ruined her cute face.

Cynthia withdrew her gaze and nodded in agreement. "Indeed, very strange."

Despite the witches' protection, by the time they reached Snochi Valley, only a third of the thousand-plus humans remained. A small portion had distrusted them and chosen to flee midway, while a large portion had died from the harsh weather along the way because their bodies were too weak.

That only a third of over a thousand people remained cast a shadow over the heart of Betty, who had wanted to save the humans. After sending the people into the valley, she walked over to the cliff wall and sat down, staring blankly at the ruby in her palm.

She had gotten the ruby necklace from Cynthia. She just didn't like wearing it around her neck, so she had separated the ruby from the chain, keeping only the gem.

Footsteps approached her. Betty subconsciously looked up and saw it was Cynthia, which made her expression relax slightly.

"The harsh weather is not suitable for human survival. Their deaths have nothing to do with you." Cynthia saw the reason for Betty's low spirits at a glance. She had a good impression of this witch, so she didn't mind comforting her a bit. "You should think of it differently. You've already saved over three hundred people, haven't you?"

Betty clutched the ruby, thought for a moment, and then asked worriedly, "What if we really drive the Vampires away in the future, but the Sitatul Continent is still unsuitable for human survival?"

Cynthia's expression was a bit strange. She wanted to laugh but felt it would be impolite. She cleared her throat, reached out to rub Betty's hair, and finally couldn't help but laugh. "Let's worry about that after the Vampires are driven away."

"Shouldn't we be worrying about how to get through Nobi City right now?"

Betty straightened her messy hair, a little embarrassed. "Yes, you're right. I was overthinking."

"It's fine," Cynthia smiled. "I sometimes let my mind wander too."

Betty lowered her hand and looked at her curiously. "Like what?" In her eyes, Cynthia was always a steady and calm person. She had times when her mind wandered too?

Cynthia lowered her eyes and thought seriously for a moment. A white, graceful figure suddenly appeared in her mind. She raised a hand to touch her nose, her deliberately slowed tone making her voice sound a bit gentle. "For example... seeing the Elf Queen again."

"Queen Olivia?"

"Mhm." Cynthia tucked the silver hair on the side of her face behind her ear, her golden eyes filled with a faint smile. She said softly, "I hear she's the number one beauty on the Sitatul Continent. I didn't get a clear look last time."

Betty nodded, seeming to half-understand. "Maybe there will be a chance."

Cynthia's lips curved into a smile, but she didn't say anything. The ground beneath her feet suddenly moved. She froze and subconsciously took a step back.

A skeletal rat burrowed out from where she had just been standing, its claws hooked around a brightly colored long snake. After emerging, it failed to find its target and burrowed back down.

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping around, and quickly found the perpetrator of the prank—Camille.

Camille was lying on a rock, her gray eyes staring straight at Cynthia with a very innocent expression.

Cynthia: "..."

No wonder Chelsea's expression soured whenever Eunice and Camille were mentioned. Although the two had different personalities, some of their "preferences" were identical.

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