Chapter 19 The Witch "Aelia"

Now that winter had arrived, the Narfburg parish, situated on a small plateau, had already entered the snowy season.

Narfburg parish, near the borderlands of the "High Witch Mountain City" by the western mountain range.

In the town of Ulu, sparse snowflakes drifted down.

At the center of Ulu town.

Several basin fires set on wooden frames blazed fiercely.

On a huge pyre, a young girl of only sixteen or seventeen, thinly clad, was suspended. As snowflakes mingled with the wind swept across her body, she could no longer even shiver; she was already somewhat frozen stiff.

Below, the densely packed townsfolk, their faces fervent, clasped their hands before them and listened piously to the "Deacon's" verdict.

The deacon, clad in white clerical robes, loudly and passionately recited the many crimes of this "witch."

"...Sinful soul from the abyss of hell, you shall endure the burning of flames; in the holy light and fire, your soul may be purified."

As the deacon of the War Church finished reciting the charges,

the residents below, stirred up, waved their fists and roared loudly.

"Burn her!"

"Burn this damned witch! She's the one who brought the dark creatures!"

"This witch brought the plague!"

"This ugly and disgusting thing, burn her quickly!"

"Only when she dies can we have peace here!"

"..."

Every person roaring below wore anger on their faces,

as if the witch they had never met was their mortal enemy.

Watching the roaring townsfolk below, the mid-rank deacon "Fabricius Hals" showed a rather satisfied smile on his face.

His gaze briefly passed over the second-rank young witch.

Fabricius Hals picked up a torch and lit the wood drenched in black-brown oil beneath the witch.

Whoosh—

The flames quickly leaped up.

Fabricius Hals's plump face, under the dancing flames, appeared increasingly twisted.

With the arrival of winter, dark creatures had begun to appear in the highland wilderness forests.

He, Fabricius Hals, a fourth-rank transcendent, a mid-rank deacon "Believer," could perform many divine spells, such as exorcism and purification.

This time he had come to this border town, originally planning only to drive away and kill a batch of dark creatures before returning.

Unexpectedly, he had encountered a second-rank witch here. Although this second-rank witch was not high in rank, her methods were quite formidable.

To capture her, there were two fourth-rank knights, six third-rank knights, fifteen second-rank knights, and over fifty first-rank knights.

With so many transcendents joining forces, the witch still managed to kill one third-rank knight, five second-rank knights, and fourteen first-rank knights.

To avoid further trouble, after capturing her yesterday and using divine arts to seal her power,

today, he would burn her alive.

This way, he could return quickly; after all, no one wanted to search for those dark creatures in the freezing wilderness.

As for the consequences of the dark creatures running rampant, that was not within his consideration.

After all, I've already killed an evil witch; what more do you want?

Moreover, if those dark creatures bit some of these ignorant people to death, reducing the population, it might not be a bad thing, because then their prayers would be more devout.

"You can't let those commoners live too comfortably, or they'll cause trouble everywhere."

This was the "earnest advice" from Fabricius Hals's father when he helped Fabricius Hals bribe his way into a clerical position.

And Fabricius Hals understood this well.

In a corner,

Gunie, who had witnessed the entire scene from start to finish, shook his head slightly.

"No wonder the northern empire wants to eliminate the rule of the southern church; this policy of keeping the people ignorant simply doesn't treat them as human."

"The achievements of the steam revolution in the north have already spread, and the empire has even begun signing more labor protection bills, such as minimum wage systems, labor protection associations, labor relief programs, and so on."

"Here, they're still practicing the dark medieval ways—not just exploiting people, but gnawing on their bones and mocking them for not being devout enough." Gunie sighed softly.

"More importantly, these people are cooperating with evil gods, intending to destroy this world. They are all birds of a feather, and indeed deserve to be eliminated."

Then Gunie's gaze fell upon the second-rank witch.

After staring for a moment, a smile curled at the corner of Gunie's mouth.

"How interesting. I never expected to find, in such a desolate corner, a self-awakened star-sequence transcendent profession—the Blood Witch."

"What is your name?" Gunie asked softly.

Aelia, whose face was ashen and whose eyes had already shown despair, heard this voice clear as day in her mind. Her heart trembled slightly, and hope emerged in her despairing eyes.

"Aelia, I am Aelia." Aelia manipulated her dry throat and said weakly.

Her body was weak, but Aelia's mind was clear.

"Sir, can you save me?" Aelia pleaded.

"Of course, but I hope you can kill all these War Church clergy and knights yourself." Gunie said softly.

As he spoke, the tongues of fire grew fiercer and surged upward.

Gunie waved his hand lightly.

Immediately, Aelia felt the scorching flames completely isolated.

Even bathed in the flames, Aelia suffered not a single burn.

With the chance to live right before her, how could Aelia refuse?

"Thank you, sir, for giving me the chance to take revenge." Aelia clenched her fists and replied weakly.

Then, Aelia felt the powerful seal that had bound her source energy break.

The ropes binding her body were also burning, but without harming her; soon these ropes would snap.

At the same time, rich blood continuously emerged in Aelia's palms.

"Sixth-rank blood, and blood full of life force." Aelia's heart trembled.

The stronger the blood, the greater the help to her.

Immediately, Aelia eagerly absorbed the blood power sent by that sir.

Gurgle...

With the influx of large amounts of blood, Aelia's power rapidly recovered.

As a Blood Witch, blood was the very foundation of her strength.

With blood, she could quickly heal injuries, restore strength, and even restore her soul.

And this was the characteristic of her star sequence, "Blood Witch."

Of course, as a powerful star sequence [Blood Witch],

the most formidable aspect was that she could use powerful blood to rapidly grow and enhance her strength, even strengthening her blood curses.

At this moment, the incredibly rich blood continuously flowed in, clearly intentional on that sir's part.

Therefore, Aelia frantically devoured and absorbed this blood.

This was powerful sixth-rank blood.

Normally, she could never enjoy such a thing.

Bathed in the flames, Aelia frantically transformed this sixth-rank blood.

The flames burned continuously, completely covering Aelia, while she rapidly recovered and even grew stronger within.

When the rising flames began to wane,

Aelia's figure gradually emerged.

"This witch, she hasn't been burned to death!"

Someone exclaimed at that moment.

"Look, the witch is moving!"

"Oh, my god."

"..."

Exclamations came from the crowd.

"What?" Fabricius Hals, hearing this from afar, was startled.

Although second-rank transcendents were powerful, they could still be easily burned to death by fire.

Moreover, that witch was not a fire-type witch; it was impossible for her not to be burned.

At this moment,

within the dissipating flames,

Aelia, who had been close to the late stage of transcendent second-rank, used the rich blood power to successfully advance to the late stage of transcendent second-rank.

And many of her blood curses had also been greatly enhanced by the blood power.

It could be said that Aelia had never been stronger.

Bathed in flames, Aelia slowly raised her head; a faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks, and she smiled.

Aelia looked at the surrounding residents, whose faces were filled with horror, and at the many knights who were on guard and looking at her.

"You will all die today!" With a roar, Aelia broke free from the pyre's restraints and charged out.

Her slender fingers suddenly clenched in the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of hearts bursting exploded.

Several ordinary townsfolk at the front trembled, spat blood, and died.

Then Aelia transformed into a strange blood light and plunged into a nearby second-rank knight's body.

"Ah!"

The second-rank knight let out a piercing scream.

Then, with a "bang!" the knight's entire body exploded.

The burst blood splattered everywhere.

Several residents accidentally splashed with blood fell to the ground wailing; the wounds where the blood touched visibly rotted away.

"Kill her quickly!" Fabricius Hals, seeing this, darkened his expression and roared.

Fabricius Hals somewhat regretted not killing this damned witch directly yesterday.

"Even if you've broken free, you will still die this time." Fabricius Hals said grimly.