The smoke dissipated and the forest returned to its tranquility.
The witch's long braids scattered like white flowers under her body.
Hot blood flowed freely from her back and soon formed a circle of dark red puddles. The blood slowly seeped into the ground and melted the hard and cold soil. The air was filled with the smell of iron.
Nightingale squatted down and untied the witch's blindfold. She found that the witch's face looked unexpectedly young and should be about the same age as herself. However, the scars around her eyes destroyed the overall beauty. Her eyes looked like they had been repeatedly burned by a red-hot iron. Her skin was curled up and reddish-brown, and the outline of her eye sockets had disappeared.
This was undoubtedly caused by acquired wounds. Nightingale gently touched the wrinkled scars. As for whether she had suffered these before becoming a witch or after serving the Church, she did not know. But these were no longer important. From this moment on, she could no longer hurt any more witches, nor did she have to endure other tortures.
She searched the Saint's body and found a letter, a seal, and an emblem from the inside pocket of her robe. The emblem was a circle divided into a cross with a clenched fist in the center.
Apart from this, she did not carry any other items, whether it was the Golden Dragon or jewelry.
Perhaps she had never enjoyed anything in her life, Nightingale could not help but think.
"Hey, look what I caught," Lightning's voice came from mid-air. She looked up and saw the little girl flying over with a struggling man in her hand and then throwing him to the ground.
The man uttered a painful groan and rolled twice. He seemed to want to get up, but his hands and feet were tied, so he could only helplessly twist back and forth on the ground.
Judging by the man's attire, he should be the priest sitting in the other carriage.
"Where's Maggie?"
"She guided Ashes to chase the fleeing Judgement Army." Lightning walked to the side of the Saint. "Is this the witch trained by the Church?"
"Yes," Nightingale whispered. "She won't hunt us anymore."
"Looking at her, it's hard to believe that she sees us as enemies that must be killed …" The little girl sighed.
"If it wasn't for the Church, none of this would have happened," Nightingale looked coldly at the captured man. When the latter saw the witch lying in a pool of blood, his eyes immediately widened and he tried to say something, but he couldn't because of the cloth in his mouth.
She pulled out the cloth. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Ahem... You, you killed Bishop Tayfun's Pure Witch. You audacious devils, sooner or later you'll be hung at the city gate by the church and fed to the crows!"
"Even if we didn't kill her, being caught by the Church won't be any better," Nightingale said. "And compared to that, you should worry about your own situation first."
"Even if I die, I will be redeemed by the gods, but you will only sink into hell and suffer eternal torment!" he shouted.
"That's why I gagged him." Lightning spread out her hands.
Nightingale stuffed the cloth back and said, "Let His Highness deal with him. I heard from him that Iron Axe is very good at interrogating people like this."
…
It was already afternoon when Maggie arrived with the two Sleeping Island witches. Ashes jumped down from the back of the giant beast and landed beside Nightingale. "Are you hurt?"
"Not bad." She shook her head. "What about you?"
"Of course, none of them escaped," Ashes said with a proud smile.
"She's dead?" After landing, Andrea looked at the Saint and said, "I thought you would spare her life."
"The enemy is a witch. Any hesitation and carelessness are extremely dangerous." Ashes curled her lips. "If it were me, I wouldn't have let her live."
"Tsk, tsk. You don't have the slightest mercy for your own kind."
"She's not our own kind. She's a puppet controlled by the church." The Extraordinary said carelessly. "Besides, sometimes our own kind is much crueler than the otherworldlings. At least I've never seen demonic beasts or demons imprison people and repeatedly torture them for years."
After saying that, she took off her bloodstained gloves and put her hand in front of Nightingale. "Your actions and performance are admirable. You did the right thing."
"…" The latter stared at her for a moment and then took the hand. "Thank you."
"Even a person like her can comfort me," Nightingale thought. "She probably doesn't want me to feel that killing a witch is too much of a burden."
Lightning also put her hand in front of Andrea's. "I think this victory is worth celebrating."
Then Maggie said, "Coo!"
Andrea rolled her eyes and put her hand in front of everyone's. "I have to say, if it's just your hand, I don't want to touch it at all. This is for Nightingale's sake."
"Okay, I know." Ashes raised her eyebrows.
Then, the five of them raised their hands to the sky at the same time, like a sturdy tower standing in the cold wind.
…
In addition to collecting the information carried by the emissary delegation, they also needed to bury the traces left by the battle. The group of people busied themselves in the forest for two days to deal with these trivial matters. By the time they returned to Border Town, it was already three days later.
When they landed in the castle's back garden, Nightingale was immediately surrounded by her sisters.
"I heard you were injured? Where's the wound? "Nana shouted.
"She's been waiting for you for a long time. Why did she come back so late?" Lily complained.
"Do you … feel pain now?" Lucia asked eagerly.
"This batch of herbs was specially made by me. It can stop bleeding and reduce swelling. The effect should be good, right?" Leaf laughed.
"You were too careless. You dared to run into the church alone. I'm afraid you won't be so lucky next time!" This was Vendy's voice.
"Forget it. It's good that you came back safely." This was Scroll's voice.
Looking at their concern, Nightingale sincerely felt a surge of warmth from the bottom of her heart. She didn't know what kind of life the Church's witches lived, but she knew what kind of scene the Witch Union was. There was no doubt that this was a place that was worth sacrificing everything for.
Then she saw His Highness Roland.
Lightning had already thrown herself into his arms, sticking to him like a gecko.
Maggie also flew over and lay on Roland's shoulder, rubbing his cheek.
Although Nightingale also wanted to do the same, she knew that she was no longer a child. She resisted the urge to hug him, walked in front of His Highness, and said with a smile, "I'm back."
"Well, I've been waiting for you for a long time." The Prince's smile was still as familiar as ever. "Take a hot bath first and have a good rest. I put several bags of honey grilled fish in the office drawer."
"Well, I won't be polite."
Nightingale raised the corner of her mouth.
She was once again convinced that what she was doing was right.
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