Chapter 577: The Silent Massacre
The guards moved.
Then stopped.
Otto pressed harder against the gap and could not process what he saw: the guards reversed their blades in unison, smooth as a drill exercise, and drew the edges across their own throats. Seven men fell without a sound. Blood spread across the carpet in a dark, fast stain. The smell reached the fireplace gap within seconds — iron and copper, immediate and absolute.
Appen made a sound that was not a word. His legs folded. Urine traced a line down his trousers. He sat on the floor shaking, all the accumulated rage gone at once, nothing left underneath it but animal terror.
“Let him be,” the blonde witch said. Her voice had not changed. “He’s still useful.”
The veiled witch snapped her fingers. Appen looked up, blinking — present, alive, the nightmare still running behind his eyes.
“You’re breathing,” she told him. “But I can’t guarantee that remains true if you try this again.” She stepped over one of the fallen guards without looking down at him. “And don’t forget to clean this up before your father wakes. Presumably you don’t want him to open his eyes to this.”
They left.
Otto lay against the cold stone of the passage, back rigid, breath controlled by pure discipline. Beside him, Oro had gone absolutely still in the way of a man who has stopped thinking and is only watching.
Pure Witches. Immune to God’s Stones. Capable of turning armed men against themselves without touching them.
Roland Wimbledon had described this possibility. Otto had heard the words and believed them in the way you believe a reported fact about a distant country — intellectually, without body knowledge. He understood now the difference between those two kinds of knowing.
Through the gap, Appen remained on the floor for a long time, rocking slightly. The king slept through all of it, his chest rising and falling in its shallow rhythm. When the prince finally rose, he moved like a man navigating a room that was not quite solid, pulling a cloth across the blood-soaked carpet, his face empty of expression in the way of someone who has set everything aside in order to function.
Then his father woke.
Appen sat at the bedside and fed him oatmeal, spoon by patient spoon. The king spoke in the distracted way of someone returned from a long sleep — government, family affairs, small observations about the day. Nothing in his voice acknowledged the covered carpet or his son’s pallor. Nothing in Appen’s voice admitted the guards who were no longer in the room.
Otto dared not catch his breath.
They did not leave the hidden passage until dusk fell and the king had returned to sleep.
Outside the palace, the evening air was cooler than Otto expected. He stood for a moment in it, just breathing.
“What do we do?” Oro’s voice was not quite steady — the most shaken Otto had ever heard him, and Oro was not a man who shook.
“Tell Earl Quinn. Tell our families.” He gripped his own thoughts and held them in order. “Get everything to someone who knows how to act on it.”
“We’ve seen what the Pure Witches can do with God’s Stones present,” Oro said. “What difference does it make if Quinn and our families know? What can they do?”
“Nothing.” Otto looked at his friend. “But I know someone who can deal with them.” A pause. “We send everything to His Majesty Roland Wimbledon. We ask for his help.”
Oro considered this.
“You trust him that much? You met him once.”
“I met him once. And he told me the church was doing exactly this, months before I had any reason to believe him.” Otto turned toward the road that led back to their district. “That’s enough for me.”
Chapter 577: The Silent Massacre
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“I remember a month ago I told you to close the way to Kingdom of Wolfheart as soon as possible. Why are there still so many refugees flocking in?” the black-veiled witch said wryly, “and your knights should have arrived at the border by now.”
“You know clearly that there are a large number of refugees!” Appen clenched his fists and said, “If they were prohibited from crossing the border, most of them would die from starvation. There are no cities nearby, and no places to provide food. It’ll take at least a week to go back to Wilderness Town if they retract their original steps, and they…”
“Does that have anything to do with you?” The black-veiled witch interrupted impatiently. “If they suffer from starvation or thirst, they have only themselves to blame, after all, they’ve abandoned their kingdom. And you’d better pay attention to your father. Or do you want to breach the deal?”
“They abandoned their Kingdom? Ridiculous!” Otto thought, with a burst of anger. “It’s the person like the black-veiled witch who has waged the war, displacing these people.”
When it came to a breach of the deal, Appen showed obvious hesitation. After a while he said, “The rest of the road will be closed in a week, I hope you’re satisfied with such a result. However, if they cross the border through the wildlands or the mountain ridges instead of walking through the official road, it’s none of my business.”
“Of course. I won’t ram an impossible mission down your throat.” The black-veiled girl took the porcelain bottle and sipped. She walked up to the bed and bent down to feed the elixir to the King of Dawn with her mouth. Otto and Oro, who were hiding in the path behind the fireplace, stared at her
but saw nothing. After a while, she lifted her head and said, “The King of Dawn will recover as usual in an hour.”
“Does the elixir have to be fed from your mouth?”
“Yes, it’ll only work if fed by my mouth.” She shrugged and said, “As long as you comply with the agreement, you can feel relieved knowing that the King of Dawn will recover totally, even much healthier than before.”
“The next time we come back the border is to be completely closed.” The blonde-haired woman smiled. “Do not let His Holiness down, Your Highness.”
Just as they turned to leave, Appen suddenly asked, “You’re witches, aren’t you?”
“Ehn?” The two witches stopped abruptly.
“Is it because of the magic power of a witch that the elixir can only be fed by you?” he said slowly, “and no other reason could explain this. Although the existence of witches within the church is incredible, all you have done is nothing different from the demons.”
“Are you sure you want to say this?”
“Come out!” The prince shouted.
The prince’s words gave Otto and Oro a scare, but what they saw were several royal guards with light armor appearing from the closet and under the bed. The Pure Witches were hemmed in by a flock of guards.
“Oh,” the blonde witch gave a whistle and said, “what an admirably, reckless move.”
“And it makes no sense.” The Black-veiled witch shook her head. “It appears that the church doesn’t leave you with a great impression.”
“Do not bluff!” Appen roared. “Your God’s Punishment Warriors are indeed a miracle and are unimaginably strong. However, they’re not here! We have
God’s Stone in the Palace, as many as we want. Do you think you’ll have any chance to flee away?”
“Wait.” The blonde witch smacked her lips and asked, “Are the witches we have encountered along the way your arrangement?”
“Those aren’t real witches, they’re tricks the Rats often used.” Appen suddenly snapped as if the long-repressed rage was finally coming unleashed. “A handful of Magic Fire Stones should give us a clear picture of your strength. Are there any differences between the witches and the common people without the protection of God’s Punishment Warriors? It’s not too late to beg for mercy if you hand over the elixir. Just do as I’ve said. Otherwise, we’ll break your arms and legs, and pull out your teeth. You’ll become humanoid pots to hold elixir.”
“The others will be very angry if they hear your words.” She sighed. “Young bloke, you should neither doubt the existence of witches nor laugh at their power. You’d better not let her see you next time, or you may have a very rough time.”
“What?!” The Pure Witches’ deprecating attitude just infuriated the prince further. “Hope you can stay so stubborn in the prison! Guards, take them down.”
Otto stuck his face tightly to the flagstone in the hope of seeing more, but his body was soon stiff. He was too surprised to believe his eyes.
Before the guards could touch the Pure Witch, they changed the direction of the blades and committed suicide.
In a flash, blood bubbled and spurted out everywhere. The guards fell to the ground, silently. The smell of blood pervaded the room immediately.
However, Appen trembled ceaselessly as if he had seen something extremely horrible. The previous confidence and rage dissipated instantly. Urine trickled down his legs as he pissed his pants in fear.
“Let him go.” the blonde witch shrugged and said, “He’s still useful for us.”
“Just a little lesson,” the Black-veiled witch said and snapped her fingers. The elder prince sat down on the ground like awakening from a dream. He rocked back and forth trembling.
“Don’t worry, you’re still alive.” She satirized. “But I can’t guarantee you’ll be so lucky next time.”
“Why? How? Here, we ha-have God’s Stone of Retaliation,” Appen said stutteringly. “How could the witches…”
“Because we’re Pure Witches,” The blonde witch said with a hint of a smile on her face. “Why don’t you comply with the agreement? Your father will be safe, and the existence of Kingdom of Dawn will be extended. You can remain a member when the church defeats Kingdom of Graycastle. Even though your kingdom will be under the governing of the church, you can still live a well-to-do life, and your subjects can be free from the war. Are there any benefits to doing these silly things?”
“And, don’t forget to clean up the spot. Your father will wake up soon. Presumably, you don’t want him to face such a bloody scene when he wakes up,” she added as she left.
Otto felt his back soaked with cold sweat. He chilled at the thought of the Pure Witches who had no fear of the God’s Stone, and the church’s plan to capture Kingdom of Graycastle and to take over Kingdom of Dawn. As His Majesty Roland said, the church had taken the Four Kingdoms as a safe bet.
…
Appen was the only one left in the room when the King of Dawn woke up. The blood-soaked carpet was covered with cloth.
He fed his father oatmeal spoon by spoon. He seemed to forget his illness, chatting desultorily about government and family affairs with Appen. It appeared as if there were no changes.
Otto dared not catch his breath at the sight of this quirky scene.
Oro and Otto did not leave the hidden path until dusk fell.
“What should we do?” Oro, who had always been unflappable, questioned, panic leaking into his voice.
“Tell all these things to Earl Quinn… and our parents.” He gritted his teeth. “The problem is beyond our capability.”
“But you’ve seen the Pure Witch resist God’s Stone. What difference does it make if our families and Earl Quinn know the truth?”
“I know someone who can deal with them.” Otto looked at his friend and said slowly, “We can ask for the help. Have a messenger of Kingdom of Graycastle send the news to His Majesty Roland Wimbledon!”