The First Pope - Chapter 132
Chapter 132
The Capri Plains had first been assaulted by the Vampires, and later, the Sethite wizards had destroyed many of its buildings in their search for the Temple of Darkness. The homeland where the witches had lived for thousands of years was now completely unrecognizable, and the pervasive desolation mirrored Betty's current mood.
From the moment Betty chose to ignore Cynthia's letter, she no longer knew how to face her.
"You look unwell." Cynthia observed the dark circles under Betty's eyes, her fine brows knitting together slightly. "Did something happen to Eunice?"
As she spoke, she glanced toward the other witches. Eunice was always inseparable from Betty, but Cynthia hadn't seen her at all.
Hearing Cynthia express concern for Eunice's whereabouts rather than questioning her collusion with the Sethite wizards, Betty felt a sting in her eyes. She lowered her head, rubbing them as if to hide her emotions, and her voice choked out, "She... she's missing."
"Missing?"
"We were ambushed by the Sethite wizards in Shastaya. She stayed behind alone to fight them off and save me. When I managed to get back, all I found were the bodies of those witches." Betty took a deep breath and turned her head to gaze at a distant, withered forest, trying to compose herself. "I can't find her through divination, but I'm sure she's still alive."
"She definitely didn't collude with the Sethite wizards. She knows how I feel about the God Race; she would never do something to hurt me like that." Betty grabbed Cynthia's arm, her voice filled with anxiety. "Cynthia, please believe me. Eunice and I are together every day. She couldn't have contacted the Sethite wizards without my knowledge."
Betty's grip on Cynthia's arm was so tight it wrinkled the sleeve, but Cynthia didn't pull away. Instead, she reached out with her other hand to stroke Betty's hair, reassuring her softly, "I know. I believe you."
Betty froze, her grip on Cynthia's arm unconsciously loosening. "Really?" she murmured. "You really believe Eunice is innocent?"
The God Race had learned of Eunice's collusion with the Sethite wizards by searching their memories. With such "ironclad evidence," Betty had never imagined Cynthia would believe in Eunice's innocence.
After all, Eunice had a difficult temper and was never pleasant to anyone but her. In all the time they had known each other, she and Cynthia could hardly be called friends.
"Eunice cares about you; it would make no sense for her to do this." Cynthia turned to look toward the witches, her gaze lingering on those from the Anderson Family. "The memories of the Sethite wizards may show that the witch who contacted them was named Eunice," she said faintly, "but in the end, 'Eunice' is just a name."
In truth, Cynthia wasn't particularly concerned about Eunice herself. Regardless of who had contacted the Sethite wizards, the Anderson Family could not escape responsibility.
But she knew how much it meant to Betty, so she didn't mind elaborating.
"Eunice has never gotten along with her clan, and they are well aware of the God Race's abilities." Cynthia retracted her gaze and looked at Betty, whose brow was tightly furrowed. "Her clan might know where she is," she said softly.
Eunice wasn't popular within the Anderson Family because of her personality and her superior talent, and she disliked her kin in return. If the collusion with the Sethite wizards was indeed a trap set by her clan, then her disappearance was likely no coincidence.
Betty froze, her expression dazed. She unconsciously turned to stare at the Anderson witches, but a small figure in her peripheral vision caught her eye. It was Camille, still stubbornly trying to extinguish the Light Fire. Betty watched Camille intently for a moment, her hands at her sides suddenly clenching into tight fists.
Cynthia followed her gaze and saw that the Light Fire she had left behind was nearly extinguished by Camille. The rate at which the young witch's power was growing was somewhat surprising. A thought struck her. "You killed the Sethite wizards in the valley near the Tallas Mountains, didn't you?"
"Those blade wounds were too distinct."
Betty returned to her senses, her head bowed. "We killed them," she admitted in a low voice.
"Are the dark spells you're using now from the Temple of Darkness?" Cynthia placed a hand on Betty's wrist to sense her power. "Your Power of Darkness has increased significantly," she remarked thoughtfully.
Such a leap in power would have been plausible for Eunice, but Betty's natural talent and aptitude were inferior to hers.
"We met the God of Darkness in the Temple of Darkness." Betty didn't hide what had happened inside the temple from Cynthia, recounting the events in detail. "We helped her break a seal, and she drove the Magic Dragons from our territory and led us to get revenge on the Sethite wizards."
Betty took several yellowed pieces of parchment from her Space Gem and handed them to Cynthia. "These are the spells she gave us."
Cynthia took the parchments and examined them one by one. "She claimed to be the God of Darkness?" she asked, frowning.
Betty thought for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "It was Elder Kana who always referred to her as the God of Darkness." Since leaving the temple, Betty had spent all her time in her room trying to divine Eunice's location and had had little contact with this "God of Darkness."
Even these spell parchments were brought to her by Elder Kana.
"She's very mysterious. While I was in the temple, I only heard her voice, never saw what she looked like."
Cynthia handed the parchments back to Betty and glanced toward the area where the dark aura was most concentrated. It was hidden by dense, towering trees, revealing nothing but a wall of green. "Betty, you should come back with me to the God Race."
Putting aside the matter of the God of Darkness, Cynthia felt something was fundamentally wrong with the witches as a whole.
Betty was taken aback for a moment, then fell silent. After a long pause, she politely declined Cynthia's offer. "I... I have to stay here with my clan."
"We killed so many Sethite elders; they'll surely come after us. And then there are the Vampires... I have to stay and face these threats with my people." Betty managed a smile for Cynthia. Though she still looked haggard, her expression was more resolute than before. "I'm very powerful now," she said, affecting a casual tone. "You don't need to worry about me, Cynthia."
"Eunice was always the one protecting me. Now that she's not here, I can't have you protecting me instead." Betty took out her bone staff and gave it a small wave toward Cynthia, her eyes still clear and bright. "I'm going to work hard to become stronger. One day, I want to be the one protecting you."
They had been allies, after all. When Cynthia first arrived in this world, Betty had generously shared her clan's witchcraft spells, which had helped Cynthia slowly comprehend Light Magic. Back when the God Race was still weak, the Garcia and Morgan families had not held back, sharing magical formations that the witches had researched for millennia.
Although the God Race had sheltered the witches during their most desperate hour, they were later betrayed by the Anderson Family. It was difficult to weigh the debts against the grievances. Using the return of their people as a pretext, Cynthia's visit served not only to investigate the witches' situation but also to send a clear signal: the alliance between the God Race and the witches was now definitively broken.
As she watched Betty's retreating figure, Cynthia sighed to herself. A slender vine snaked out from a nearby tree, coiled around her waist, and then crept up to her shoulder to gently touch her cheek, as if offering comfort.
A faint smile touched Cynthia's lips at the sight of the vine. She turned in a specific direction just as Olivia leaped down from the elevated walkway where she had been resting and started walking toward her.
"I assume Your Majesty the Queen heard all of that." Seeing that Darcy was already leading the God Race in retreat, Cynthia went to meet Olivia. "A God of Darkness hiding in the Temple of Darkness... how interesting."
"The God of Darkness is said to be domineering; acting so furtively isn't her style." Olivia's fingers twitched at her side, dismissing the vine still coiled around Cynthia's waist. "If the God of Darkness were still on the Sitatul Continent," she stated flatly, "the Vampires would never have grown so audacious."
"Someone who dares to act in the name of the God of Darkness and possesses a large number of dark spells..." Cynthia mused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "Could it be a new race the God of Darkness created before departing for the Divine Realm?"
Olivia walked alongside Cynthia, the occasional brush of their shoulders a constant, slight distraction. Hearing Cynthia's question, she frowned in thought before slowly shaking her head. "Creating a new race consumes a vast amount of divine power. Before she left for the Divine Realm, the God of Darkness established the Dark World to imprison the monsters of the Sitatul Continent. If she had created a new race, she likely wouldn't have had enough power remaining to create the Dark World."
Cynthia turned to look at Olivia's profile. "Then who could it be?"
"Helen knows more about matters concerning the gods. I'll send word to her when we return to see if she has any insight."
Cynthia nodded. She was about to speak when she abruptly stopped. She turned her head toward a particular spot, her golden eyes narrowing.
Olivia followed her gaze. "What is it?" she asked.
Cynthia was staring at an empty patch of ground. Aside from weeds and rubble, there was nothing suspicious.
Darcy and Doris had also stopped, and they stared at the empty space in confusion.
"It's nothing." Cynthia scanned the area one more time before slowly pulling her gaze back. She shook her head at Olivia. "For a moment, I felt like someone was watching me."
Olivia frowned, took the longbow from her back, and fired an arrow at the empty space. The arrow shot forward like lightning, but with no target to strike, it slowly dissipated in the air.
Olivia's fingers twitched, ready to conjure a second arrow, but Cynthia stopped her. Noticing that the witches had been put on alert by the arrow, Cynthia said softly, "Let's leave."
Olivia lowered her bow and shot the witches a cold glance. "I'll have them watched."
The God of Darkness... If it truly was a god, she was rather keen to meet her.
Cynthia and Olivia led the God Race away. Shortly after their departure, Blood Demon and Wolf Fang materialized in the spot where they had been standing.
"That arrow from the Elf Queen packed quite a punch." Wolf Fang raised a hand and made a grasping motion in the air. A ball of Nature Power materialized in her palm. She glanced down at it before crushing it.
"To think a servant who used to water flowers and prune leaves for the Goddess of the Forest is putting on such airs now," Blood Demon sneered, her voice dripping with contempt.
"And aren't we just enforcers for the God of Darkness?" Wolf Fang shot Blood Demon a look, her tone flat and cold.
Blood Demon snorted. She wanted to argue, but since Wolf Fang had spoken the truth, she could only change the subject stiffly. "That Cynthia... what kind of stray soul managed to possess the body of a God's Descendant?"
"She's not as simple as she looks." Wolf Fang hadn't expected Cynthia to have vaguely sensed their presence.
For a foreign soul to merge so perfectly with the body of a God's Descendant was truly astonishing.
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