Chapter 441: Storm Clouds
The secret room of the Tower of Babel sat beneath Hermes Cathedral like a held breath.
Tayfun studied the witch across the table and sighed despite himself.
“Is His Holiness Mayne really so occupied he couldn’t come himself?”
“Of course he is.” She stroked a curl of gold hair off her shoulder. “Otherwise he’d have come rather than sending me. Allow me to introduce myself: Isabella, Pure Witch of the Supreme Pontiff.”
The two newly appointed Bishops — Soli Daal of the Judgement Army and El of the Tribunal — traded a glance. They knew the church kept witches in secret. They had not known those witches attended meetings like this.
“She holds a Bishop’s rank in direct subordination to the Pope, though without official church title,” Tayfun said, and heard the weariness in his own voice. “When the Months of the Demons are over, both of you may choose a few witches to raise. It is a privilege of the office.”
“I — I see.” Soli’s eyes went wide. “What sort of abilities do they have?”
“That is known only to the Supreme Pontiff.”
“Why would we want to raise witches?” El’s tone sharpened. “If the faithful find out, the church’s reputation will be destroyed.”
“They can manage the work you’d rather not have witnessed.” Isabella arched an eyebrow. “They can also share your bed, absorb your anger, perform any number of services — you should understand that witches are not like ordinary women.”
“Absurd!”
“Ahem.” Tayfun coughed. “Your Excellency El — I have already explained that the Pope’s Pure Witches rank as bishops and must be treated as his representatives. As for Lady Isabella: please moderate the jokes. These two are not as old and nearly-dead as I am. They may actually take offense.”
“As you wish, Your Excellency,” Isabella said, still smiling.
El produced a dismissive sound and looked elsewhere.
“Then let us attend to business.” Tayfun drew his fingers along his beard. “What is there to report?”
El spoke first, her tone still edged. “I don’t understand why His Holiness Mayne is ordering all the regional churches to send captured witches to the Holy City. Even for building the God’s Punishment Army, the price is steep. Since the order went out we’ve caught three witches. One broke her cage during transport and killed the escort — we still haven’t found her.”
“Wasn’t she restrained by a metal leash?” Soli asked.
“Not every church has access to the God’s Locket of Retribution.” El’s voice went flat. “We lost sixteen believers to that witch, including four being trained as Judgement Warriors. If this continues, our people will be afraid to capture them at all.”
“Combat witches are a minority,” Isabella said, without particular concern. “Most of the Fallen can’t fight. Incidents like yours are rare. And every wild witch brought in yields two God’s Punishment Warriors — I shouldn’t need to explain the arithmetic.”
“I agree with Lady Isabella.” Soli nodded. “With pressure on Hermes’ defenses increasing daily, we desperately need more God’s Punishment Warriors. One is worth three or four Judgement Warriors in battle — more against raw recruits.”
“Since the Supreme Pontiff has decided, we execute the order as best we can.” Tayfun turned to Soli Daal. “What is the situation at the line of defense?”
“Difficult. Regular demonic hybrids are manageable, but every time a Fearful Beast of Hell appears, a God’s Punishment Warrior is killed or crippled.” He shook his head. “Burying snow powder and triggering it is sound in theory, but we can’t guarantee the beasts walk over the detonation points.”
“His Holiness has considered this,” Isabella said. “He plans to deploy the Siege Beast ahead of schedule.”
“What is that?”
“A weapon controlled by Pure Witches. Range, accuracy, and power far exceed any mangonel. It was built to fight demons and the largest demonic beasts — which means the early appearance of the Fearful Beasts of Hell is reason enough to stop holding it in reserve.”
“Why wasn’t it used from the start?” Soli asked.
“Because it can’t be replaced if destroyed. Only partial repairs are possible.” Isabella spread her hands. “We have one.”
“Where does it come from?”
“Clearance you don’t have.”
“You—”
The silence that followed had an ugly weight. Tayfun broke it by pressing his palms flat on the table.
“Since all of you seem to have brought difficulties, let me offer something more encouraging. The Kingdom of Wolfheart has nearly collapsed — a handful of cities still resist, but the rest of the nobility has bent the knee, as the Kingdom of Everwinter did before them. New believers will be joining the church, and by next summer our resources and the size of the Judgement Army will have doubled. As for the Kingdom of Dawn — the uprising we’ve been quietly stoking will likely run until the Months of the Demons are done.”
“Finally.” El exhaled. “I was beginning to think everything was falling apart.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Soli glared at her. “We’re proceeding exactly according to plan.”
“Well done.” Isabella nodded approvingly, glancing across all three bishops. “Now that you’ve finished — the Supreme Pontiff has a new order to convey.”
The three archbishops fell still.
“His Holiness has directed that next year’s campaign be reordered. We target the Kingdom of Graycastle first. The Kingdom of Dawn last.”
“What?” Soli sat forward. “Our entire strategy was built around the Kingdom of Dawn — resources, troop movements, reinforcement routes. If we change targets now, the campaign date shifts.”
“Wasn’t this plan set under Pope O’Brien?” El frowned. “Both kingdoms fall eventually. Why does the order matter?”
Tayfun said nothing. When Mayne had ordered him to dispatch Pure Witches to the Western Region of Graycastle to stir trouble, he had already read the shape of this change. “His Holiness was never really interested in King’s City,” he said quietly. “It was always the border territory.”
The two of them stopped arguing.
“I have no objection to the order itself,” Tayfun said at last. “But there is too much at stake to proceed without seeing His Holiness in person first. Can the message be passed?”
Isabella smiled. “No need. It just so happens that His Holiness wants to see you too.”
Chapter 441: Storm Clouds
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
It was a secret room of the Tower of Babel in the Hermes Cathedral.
Tayfun stared at the witch across him and couldn’t help but sigh.
“Is His Holiness Mayne really so busy?”
“Of course he is.” The witch stroked her golden curls. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent me to meet you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Isabella, and I’m a Pure Witch of the Supreme Pontiff.”
“Your Excellency Tayfun, this…” The other two newly appointed Bishops, Soli Daal of the Judgement Army and El of the Tribunal stared at each other. Although they knew about the church’s secret witches, they never expected them to be allowed to participate in such important meetings.
“She’s a direct subordinate of the Pope with the same rank as a Bishop—she just doesn’t have an official position in the church,” explained Tayfun with a sigh. “Bishops can also have their own Pure Witches, so when the Months of the Demons are over, you two can choose a few witches to raise.”
“I… I see.” Soli widened his eyes. “So… so what kind of powers do they have?”
“This is highly confidential, and only the Supreme Pontiff knows about it.”
“Why would we want to raise witches?” El seemed quite annoyed. “If the believers find out, the church’s reputation will be terribly damaged!”
“Of course, they can help you take care of shady business.” Isabella raised her eyebrows. “Also, they can sleep with you, let you vent your anger, or do
many other things… you should know that witches are completely different from regular women.”
“Absurd!”
“Ahem, that’s enough.” Tayfun coughed. “Your Excellency El, I already said that the Pope’s Pure Witches are of equal rank as bishops and should be seen as his representatives, so you should show them some respect. And Lady Isabella, please refrain from making these jokes. They aren’t as old and near death as me, and might get very angry at what you said.”
“As you wish, Your Excellency,” Isabella said with a smile.
“Hmph.” El uttered a nasal sound and ignored the witch.
“Then let’s get to business,” Tayfun said, stroking his beard. “Do you have anything to report?”
“I don’t understand why His Holiness Mayne is suddenly asking all of the local church groups to send their captured witches to the Holy City. Even if it’s to create God’s Punishment Army, it’s still a high price to pay.” El took the lead and said. Her tone sounded harsh probably because of her anger towards the Pure Witch. “Ever since the order was passed, we’ve captured three witches. While they were being sent over, one broke out of her cage and killed the accompanying guards, and we have yet to find her.”
“Wasn’t she restrained by a ‘metal leash’?” asked Soli.
“Not all churches are equipped with the most advanced God’s Locket of Retribution,” said El annoyedly. “We lost 16 believers to this witch, including four who were supposed to become Judgement Warriors. If something like this happens again, people might be too afraid to capture witches.”
“But we all know that combat witches are a minority, and most of the Fallen aren’t capable of fighting back, so this kind of issue is very rare,” said Isabella nonchalantly. “Also, every time you bring back a wild witch, the
church can gain two new God’s Punishment Warriors, so I shouldn’t have to explain to you which is more important.”
“I agree with Lady Isabella,” Soli said, nodding his head. “With the stress on Hermes’ line of defense increasing every day, we desperately need more God’s Punishment Warriors to fight the demonic beasts. One God’s Punishment Warrior has the fighting ability of three or four Judgement Warriors, and even more Warriors-in-training.”
“Since the Supreme Pontiff has made his decision, we should just carry it out to the best of our ability.” Tayfun turned to Soli Daal and asked, “What’s the situation at our line of defense?”
“Very difficult. Regular demonic hybrids are easy to deal with, but every time a Fearful Beast of Hell appears, a God’s Punishment Warrior gets injured or killed.” Soli shook his head. “Burying snow powder and detonating it is a good idea, but we can’t guarantee that they walk over the snow powder every time.”
“His Holiness has also considered this,” said Isabella frankly, “and he plans to use the ‘Siege Beast’ ahead of time.”
“What’s that?”
“A siege weapon controlled by Pure Witches with a range, accuracy, and power that far exceed those of the mangonel, and the key to conquering the Kingdom of Wolfheart,” explained the Pure Witch. “The ‘Siege Beast’ was originally used to fight demons and giant demonic beasts, so since the Fearful Beasts of Hell showed up early, we should start using it.”
“Why didn’t we use it from the beginning?” Soli asked confusedly.
“Because of the potential damage.” Isabella shrugged. “We can’t build new ones and can only repair parts of it.”
“So where did it come from?” El asked with a frown.
“This is top secret, so you don’t have the clearance to know.”
“You…”
As the secret room fell quiet, Tayfun broke the silence by clapping his hands and saying, “Alright, since you all brought bad news, I shall share a piece of good news. Besides a few cities in the Kingdom of Wolfheart that are still resisting, all the other nobles have pledged their allegiance to us, just like the weaklings in the Kingdom of Everwinter did. There’ll be more believers joining the church, and by next summer, the Holy City’s resources and Judgement Army will double in size. Also, the Kingdom of Dawn caused an uprising because of its hostility against believers, and our people are secretly helping them fight the noble, which might last until the end of the Months of the Demons.”
“Finally, some good news.” El sighed. “I thought the church was done for.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” Soli glared at her. “Aren’t we progressing exactly according to our plan?”
“Good job.” Isabella nodded approvingly and glanced at the three bishops. “Since you’re all done talking, I’ll share the Supreme Pontiff’s new order.”
The three archbishops all immediately looked at the Pure Witch.
“His Holiness orders that we adjust next year’s attacks by targeting the Kingdom of Graycastle first and the Kingdom of Dawn last.”
“What?” Soli Daal was stunned. “But all of our strategies were made in accordance with the Kingdom of Dawn, including our resources and reinforcements, so if we change our plan now, we’ll have to delay our date of the attack.”
“Wasn’t this plan already in place when Pope O’Brien was in power? Why are we changing it now?” El asked curiously. “Both kingdoms will fall eventually, so why does the order of attacks matter?”
Tayfun was silent. When His Holiness Mayne ordered him to send Pure Witches to the Kingdom of Graycastle to plot the Western Region, he had
already predicted this change. “His Holiness wasn’t interested in King’s City, but in the border area of the Kingdom of Graycastle.”
After the two men stopped bickering, Tayfun said quietly, “I’ve nothing against the order itself, but there’s a lot at stake, and I want to see His Holiness Mayne before we carry it out. Can you pass the message for me?”
“No need for such trouble.” Isabella smiled. “It just so happens that His Holiness wants to see you too.”