When Isabella saw the familiar city again, she could not help but feel a little emotional.
She did not expect that in just over a year, the church had changed from the only hope for mankind to defeat the demons to an obstacle in the Battle of Divine Will.
Although she had lived here for a long time, she did not have much affection for the church. His Holiness O'Brien's daily teaching made her understand that the result was always more important than the process. If the demons could not be stopped, all the gains and losses would be meaningless.
She carried out this teaching and chose Zero, who was more promising than Archbishop Mayne. After Zero was defeated, she joined Roland Wimbledon. If there was a leader with more potential than Roland, she would still make the same choice.
Because it was righteous.
Compared to personal interests, she put the continuation of the human race first.
Having said that, Isabella still had some regrets in her heart. She just couldn't figure out what went wrong for the time being. She did not understand until she returned to the old Holy City.
She was feeling sorry for Zero.
As a Pure Witch who had lived for a long time, Zero should have been able to keep a distance from her. Many Pure Witches had secretly complained about the moodiness of the Heart-snatcher, but surprisingly, Zero felt that she was inexplicably easy to get along with. Compared to those Pure Witches who had their own selfish motives and other demands in the Battle of Divine Will, Zero's thoughts were simply undisguised, and her beliefs were far beyond those of others.
Isabella found that in fact, Zero was not much different from her. The only difference was that she was more used to standing in the position of an assistant, while Zero was more like a leader.
This probably had nothing to do with nature. It was just an inevitable choice for Zero after living for more than 200 years.
If Isabella had met Roland ten years earlier, the Holy City would not have become what it was today.
Unfortunately, it all happened a little too late.
After circling twice, Maggie landed steadily in the camp outside the city.
"We're here. Let's go down," Agatha said from behind.
Isabella nodded and jumped down from the giant beast. Soldiers immediately came to greet them. "Lady Edith is already waiting in the tent. Please follow me."
In addition to her, His Majesty had also asked Maggie to bring along the Ice Witch and bluntly told her that she was still "serving her sentence" and needed to move under the supervision of the other witches. Isabella did not mind such a "straightforward" statement at all. She was not wearing the God's Locket of Retribution, nor was she shackled. Even her clothes were brand-new, which was a privilege she had not expected.
Walking into the tent, a woman smiled and stood up from behind the table. "I'm Edith Kant, a member of the Department of Defense, and also the temporary person in charge of the battle against the Holy City."
A handsome mortal, thought Isabella. "I thought you would control the Hermes Plateau first, and then go west to recover the old Holy City."
"That was the plan, but the people of the Kingdom of Dawn came a little too soon." Edith roughly explained the situation. "His Majesty ordered us to ensure the safety of the cloisters, which is not a problem. The difficult part is how to safely and orderly transfer the orphans out. If I remember correctly, they all received education from the church, right? If we forcibly drive them out, I'm afraid it will backfire, so I thought you might have a way. After all, before the battle, His Majesty specifically assigned this task to you. "
Isabella could not help but frown. "Wait... you came here through the Cloud Ladder?"
"Why? Is there something wrong?"
"That's the main road that the church keeps a close eye on. According to reason, there should be someone guarding it."
"Is that so?" Edith also lowered her voice. "But the merchants think it's a secret passage that few people know about, and Sylvie didn't find anything strange."
"The church has been operating here for hundreds of years, and they know every grass and stone very well. How could they let go of such a small passage that is not controlled by the city wall?" Isabella shook her head. "Allowing the smugglers to pass through is just a deliberate act. It was originally prepared to deal with the allied forces of the Four Kingdoms during the Months of Demons. Its sentry points are all set in the natural karst caves among the mountains, so it's normal that it was overlooked."
"Could it be because of the collapse of the order in the Holy City?"
"The Cloud Ladder is still on the outer city wall, so it's very difficult for such a situation to happen." Isabella was quite surprised. How is this the collapse of the order? It's almost like abandoning the city and escaping. "If possible, it's better for me to go to Hermes and have a look in person."
"First, solve the problem in the cloisters," Agatha reminded. "We should be able to see the situation in the cloisters from the air, right?"
"Yes, Miss Lightning has checked all three main cloisters and found a big problem — the orphans inside seem to have been organized and are ready to defend the cloisters to death. This is one of the reasons why we haven't taken any action yet." Edith spread out her hands and said, "I don't want my soldiers to defeat the army of the Kingdom of Dawn unscathed, only to lose their lives here."
"Organized?" Isabella thought for a moment and said, "Let me go in and talk to them."
"You alone?"
She wanted to say that she alone was enough, but she swallowed the words when they were on the tip of her tongue. "No, Agatha will come with me."
…
"Lady, Lady Isabella!" Seeing Isabella, Maggie immediately stood up straight and subconsciously pressed her right hand to her chest.
"I've told you many times, don't use honorifics. Just call me by my name," she said expressionlessly. "We're no longer Pure Witches."
"Yes, Lady!" Maggie nodded hurriedly.
Isabella sighed inwardly. Although His Majesty had limited her actions, he did not restrict Maggie, Vanilla, and the others. Later, they would occasionally come to the Foreign Affairs Building to talk to her about the latest news in the Witch Union. However, they still had the habit of living in the cloisters and had not completely changed... Fortunately, Agatha did not mind these details.
"Take us in." She pointed to the city not far away.
"Won't the First Army go?" Maggie summoned the Magic Ark and looked at Edith, who was behind her to see them off.
"They won't enter the old Holy City until safety is assured."
The Magic Ark quickly sank into the ground, leaving only a transparent ceiling. Through the layer of soil above their heads, they could see Lightning, who was guiding them in the air.
Although there were four cloisters in the old Holy City, in fact, they were almost equivalent to one. They were built around the Reflection Church and were connected by underground passages. A secret passage led directly to the Privy Temple in the mountains, mainly to facilitate the transportation of new witches for the conversion ceremony. However, since the awakening of the Extraordinary led to the burning of one of the cloisters, the connecting passage had been sealed.
The Magic Ark quietly sneaked into the West Cloisters, which was the closest to the outer circle. As Lightning had said, the huge courtyard was empty. Two sallow and emaciated girls stood at the entrance of the lobby, holding long spears that were taller than them.
"Let's go up and send them here," Isabella said.
"Don't we sneak in and have a look first?" Maggie asked in surprise.
"There are too many God's Stones hidden inside. There's no need to take this risk." Large God's Stones were often placed in important places like the cloisters, which could cover more than a hundred steps, far beyond her range of elimination.
The Magic Ark quickly jumped out of the ground, causing a panic among the guards. In their eyes, the two of them almost appeared in the courtyard out of nowhere.
A sharp whistle immediately sounded, and the closed doors and windows were opened one after another. A group of orphans, led by a dozen nuns, swarmed out, holding swords, wooden shields, short bows, and crossbows, and rushed toward the two. Agatha had already condensed ice in her hands. If the orphans shot, she would be able to wrap Isabella in it at any time.
"Wait, wait! Everyone stop! "Suddenly, the leading nun shouted loudly.
"Are … are you Lady Isabella who serves His Holiness?" Another nun asked in a trembling voice.
Following this question, everyone stopped in their tracks.
"That's me." Isabella nodded calmly.
It seemed that they did not forget her. In this way, the task given by His Majesty could be completed successfully.
However, the next reaction of the crowd caught her by surprise.
"It's really Lady Isabella! Great, we're saved! "
"No … it's Her Holiness Isabella! Her Holiness, please save us! "
"Her Holiness! Please don't leave us behind! "
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
