The First Pope - Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Some time had passed since the witches left the God Race's territory. The once-familiar city now seemed strange everywhere she looked. Betty stood by the city wall, staring blankly at the God Race members coming and going on the street, when she felt a light tap on her back. She turned around in confusion, and a bouquet of small, yellow and white wildflowers appeared before her. Camille popped out from behind the flowers, her eyes bright, her smile innocent and radiant. "Sister Betty, this is for you."
Her hands were still smudged with dirt, a clear sign she had just run to the meadow to pick them.
Ever since the witches were attacked by the Sethite wizards in Shastaya, Betty had been gloomy and had treated Camille with extreme coldness. She wouldn't even speak to her, let alone take her out to play.
However, after seeing Cynthia, some of the gloom hanging over Betty had dissipated. Although she still zoned out frequently, she no longer locked herself in her room all day. She would even occasionally speak to Camille. And this time, she had even brought her along to the God Race's territory—a privilege that, in the past, had belonged only to Eunice.
Camille hated the God Race and hated Cynthia, but she would endure anything to make Betty happy. In any case, she was the one by Betty's side now.
Camille held up the wildflowers, looking at Betty with anticipation. Hidden beneath her innocent smile were dark thoughts that no one could fathom.
Familial bonds within the Anderson Family were cold. Eunice and Camille had been abandoned by their mother at a very young age. Betty and Eunice had grown up together, so Camille had practically been raised under her watch… Betty silently reached out and took the wildflowers. Their faint fragrance did not relax her; instead, it made her heart feel even heavier.
Chelsea leaned against a tree trunk with her arms crossed, her gaze sweeping over Betty and Camille before coldly looking away.
The witches of the Morgan Family had already been taken by the God Race to be settled in another city. It was only because of Camille's identity as an Anderson witch that Betty had insisted on waiting outside the city instead of going in.
The sun shone brightly, and as time passed, the gentle sunlight grew more intense. Betty glanced at Chelsea, who was waiting with her, and was about to suggest she go back and rest when she heard footsteps from behind. Betty turned and saw Cynthia's group come into view, and the tension she had been holding onto slowly eased.
"Why didn't you wait for me inside?" Cynthia looked up at the sun and, seeing that Betty's face was flushed from the heat, cast a Healing Spell on her to relieve the discomfort.
Betty hadn't been resting well lately, and her body was indeed a bit weak. Cynthia's Healing Spell refreshed her, clearing her chaotic thoughts. She tilted her head slightly, glancing at Camille, who had run off to the meadow to pick more wildflowers, and said softly to Cynthia, "I don't want to upset the God Race in the city."
Although the Sethite wizards were responsible for Chloe's coma, the Anderson Family had also been involved. Betty didn't want to disturb the God Race's peace because of Camille.
Cynthia followed Betty's gaze. Camille, having just finished picking flowers, noticed Cynthia's group and came skipping toward them.
"You think she has something to do with Eunice's disappearance?" Cynthia withdrew her gaze and raised an eyebrow at Betty.
Betty didn't speak, merely nodding in silence.
Camille, still some distance away, couldn't hear Cynthia and Betty's conversation. She ran toward Betty, holding a small rabbit she had caught while picking flowers. As she passed by Chelsea, a chain formed from the Power of Darkness suddenly wrapped around her ankle.
Caught off guard, Camille was tripped by the chain. The rabbit and wildflowers in her hands fell to the ground. The smile on her face vanished instantly, and she turned to glare at Chelsea with an exceptionally cold look in her eyes. But just as quickly, her expression returned to normal. She sat up from the ground, shook the chain on her ankle, and asked with a wronged expression, "Sister Chelsea, what are you doing?"
As she spoke, she looked toward Betty, but Betty kept her back to her, causing Camille's heart to sink.
Chelsea, her face cold, waved her bone staff without acknowledging her. More chains flew out, binding Camille tightly.
Camille looked down at the chains on her body and lightly tapped the ground with the hand resting on it. A skeletal rat emerged from the earth and bit down on the chains, producing an unpleasant creaking sound.
Camille broke free from the chains but had no intention of fighting Chelsea. She bent down to pick up the rabbit, which had curled into a ball, and tried to go to Betty as if seeking her protector. "Sister Betty, Chelsea is bullying me."
Betty kept her head down, her hands at her sides nervously clutching her robes. Cynthia glanced at her, then gave Darcy a meaningful look.
Darcy took out her staff and quickly chanted a spell. Golden flames blocked Camille's path, joining the black chains that followed to trap her.
Camille's legs were bound by the chains, rendering her immobile. She stared fixedly at Betty's back and shouted in disbelief, "Sister Betty, why are they capturing me?"
"Don't be nervous." Cynthia walked up to Camille, looking her up and down before saying with a smile, "I just have a few questions I'd like you to answer."
"Given the relationship between the Anderson Family and the God Race, you'll have to bear with this until I find my answers."
Camille glared fiercely at Cynthia and snapped, "It was you! What did you say to Sister Betty?"
Cynthia raised her hand slightly, and the golden flames trapping Camille coalesced into a cage. The domineering Power of Light instantly severed Camille's connection to the Power of Darkness.
"We talked about a lot, like Eunice's disappearance." As Cynthia spoke, she reached a hand through the flames and grabbed Camille's wrist. Camille struggled frantically, but without the Power of Darkness, she couldn't break free from Cynthia's grip.
Cynthia looked up, her eyes sweeping over Camille's panicked expression as she chuckled nonchalantly, "Your guilty conscience is showing."
"I have nothing to feel guilty about." Tears welled up in Camille's eyes, making her look particularly pitiful. "Sister Eunice's disappearance has nothing to do with me. Please let me go."
Cynthia just smiled, unmoved by Camille's pleas. This witch might be young, but she was deeply cunning and exceptionally good at pretending.
Camille was young and inexperienced, so searching her memories was much easier than searching the Magic Dragon's. Moreover, her memories of Eunice were quite vivid in her mind, so Cynthia quickly found the answers she was looking for.
Betty had turned around the moment Camille was trapped. She stared at Cynthia nervously, not daring to blink. When she saw Cynthia release Camille's hand, she immediately asked, "Is there any news of Eunice?" Her voice was a bit hoarse from the tension.
Chelsea, standing to the side, was also watching Cynthia. Though her face was expressionless, her gaze never wavered.
Cynthia let go of Camille's wrist. The smile on her face had vanished, and her brow was tightly furrowed. She said in a heavy tone, "…Eunice is in a cave within Zakariya."
Zakariya bordered the Capri Plains. Its harsh climate and dense dark aura made it a favorite haunt for magical beasts, earning it the name "no-man's-land." Because humans rarely set foot in Zakariya, not even the Vampires had established any cities there.
Camille had hidden Eunice in a cave and had deliberately set up several concealment arrays to evade Betty's divination.
Hearing of Eunice's whereabouts, Betty's eyes lit up with ecstatic joy. "Zakariya… Zakariya…" she muttered twice, then turned to leave. "I'm going to find her."
In her excitement, Betty overlooked the grave expression on Cynthia's face. Chelsea glanced at Camille, who had fallen silent ever since Cynthia revealed Eunice's location, and a bad feeling rose in her heart. She pursed her lips and asked in a low voice, "Is Eunice… still alive?"
Cynthia met her gaze. Before she could speak, she seemed to sense something. Her brow furrowed, and she turned to her right. Betty, who had been so anxious to find Eunice just a moment ago, had suddenly frozen in place.
Olivia, who had been standing in the back, uninterested in the witches' affairs, was also staring at Betty's back. It was clear she had noticed something as well.
A slender, soft vine wrapped around Betty's arm, stopping her from raising her bone staff. Olivia chanted a low spell, and a whirlwind spun Betty around to face them. Betty's eyes were tightly shut, the joy on her face completely replaced by a wooden expression. Her bloodless lips kept repeating the words "God of Darkness."
"…What's wrong with her?" Chelsea was taken aback by Betty's state and asked with a frown.
"The dark aura on her just went out of control." In that instant of losing control, it had generated a hostility that not only she but also Olivia had detected. Cynthia walked over to Betty and carefully observed her condition. She then raised a hand and took hold of Betty's palm, releasing it after a few seconds.
Chelsea came over and asked worriedly, "What's wrong with her?"
"Her thoughts are filled with the God of Darkness." This was the first time Cynthia had encountered such a situation. She couldn't see any of Betty's memories; all she could perceive was the God of Darkness.
"The God of Darkness?" Chelsea's expression turned grim as she recalled something. "Is it related to that thing in the Temple of Darkness?"
During the time she spent in their territory persuading Elder Kana, she had also entered the Temple of Darkness, but she hadn't encountered anything. No "God of Darkness" had appeared to give her spells and arrays, so her knowledge of this "God of Darkness" was limited to her conversations with the Garcia witches.
"Ever since they entered the Temple of Darkness, all the Garcia witches have undergone a complete change in temperament. I heard them constantly refer to whatever that thing in the temple is as the God of Darkness."
"What's wrong with Sister Betty?" Camille, who had been sitting quietly on the ground, jumped up when she saw Betty's strange expression. Heedless of the flames that might burn her, she craned her neck to look over, her face filled with urgency. But no matter how much she yelled, no one paid her any attention, leaving her to stomp her feet in anger.
Betty's arm, bound by the vine, kept trying to break free, and the dark aura around her grew stronger. Seeing her eyes shut tight with no sign of waking, and fearing she might lose control and hurt herself, Cynthia simply cast a sleeping spell on her.
Chelsea stepped forward to catch the collapsing Betty, reaching out to brush the hair from her face. Her brow, which had been furrowed from the start, had not relaxed.
"Darcy, take some people to Zakariya and bring Eunice back." Cynthia described the location of the cave in detail, then paused before adding a warning, "Be careful. She's not in good condition."
Darcy nodded and turned to make the arrangements.
Hearing Cynthia's words, Chelsea looked up at her. Cynthia understood the question in her eyes, sighed inwardly, and said in a low voice, "She's being transformed into a magical beast."
However, from Camille's memories, it seemed the process wasn't yet complete. But Eunice was already in a bad state to begin with, and whether this transformation could be stopped couldn't be determined until they saw her in person.
Comments
Post a Comment