Chapter 592: An Unexpected Change
The Sigil of Listening crackled and cut through.
“The drawbridge — beep — of Silver City has been lowered — beep — we’re going in—”
“Understood,” Nightingale said. “Be careful.”
Roland spread the map across his desk and drew a circle around Silver City’s position. “We’ll need a relay station here. Otherwise we can’t maintain direct contact with the Eastern and Northern Regions.”
The sensation of control was something he had not allowed himself since his first life — sitting in what felt like a command hall, information moving across the face of a war in real time, the gap between decision and knowledge collapsed to seconds. The Sigil of Listening gave him something close to that, and he was not entirely immune to its pull.
But the technology had limits, the same as Tracking Sigils. Beyond a certain radius, the signal degraded. To blanket the whole kingdom, he needed at minimum one relay station.
“You’ve only made four pairs,” Nightingale said, placing a piece of dried fish between her lips. “The Tooth Extraction Campaign alone needed two. Catching a senior demon twice isn’t a reliable strategy.”
Roland had noted this already. Each witch required two sigils — one sending, one receiving — to achieve anything like a two-way exchange. Against carrier pigeons and mounted couriers the system was remarkable. Against the scope of what he needed, it was a beginning.
According to Agatha, the sigils were improvable. Their quality tracked with the magic power in the blood used during fabrication — Anna’s blood produced notably superior results. The theoretical ceiling: blend Anna’s blood with a senior demon’s during the crafting process, and a single pair might cover the entire Kingdom of Graycastle.
“Beep — something’s wrong — beep — wait—”
Sylvie’s voice, fragmentary and urgent. Nightingale swallowed the dried fish in one motion and looked at Roland.
“Pure witches?” she asked. “Or God’s Punishment Warriors?”
The former they could engage directly. The latter — believers in God’s Stones, or the God’s Punishment Army who naturally resisted magic — presented a different problem entirely.
“Beep — no — I don’t see God’s Stone reactions — beep—”
“No God’s Stones?” Roland frowned.
“Beep — nothing — the church basement — beep — we’re going in — it’s empty—”
Roland and Nightingale looked at each other across the desk.
“They fled,” Roland said. He picked up his pen. He set it down. “I was too cautious.”
The First Army was the most powerful force in the kingdom. No noble would be stupid enough to sit in its direct path, but some would certainly have sent word ahead. For the church, Redwater City’s fall was sufficient warning: Prince Roland hunts God’s Stones. By the time the message reached the eastern cities via carrier pigeon, a rational withdrawal with all remaining supplies was the obvious choice. Unlike Longsong Stronghold or Fallen Dragon Ridge, the local nobles had likely chosen the role of spectators.
“If we’d split the army into three columns and hit all three cities simultaneously, we’d have caught them,” Roland said.
Nightingale lifted a piece of dried fish and held it toward his mouth. “Difficult to say. Sylvie can only be in one place at a time. If one column had encountered skilled Pure Witches, the casualties might have been severe.” A tilt of her head. “Your decision wasn’t wrong.”
Roland bit the fish. “You’re getting better at the comforting.”
A sly smile. “Is it working? If not, Wendy taught me a shoulder massage.”
“Wendy taught you a massage technique.”
“She’s very versatile. Don’t look surprised.” Nightingale leaned back. “You don’t understand what she did for us in those years of traveling. Cara’s temper would have driven everyone away eventually. Wendy held the group together — took care of the sisters, steadied moods nobody else could steady. We wouldn’t have made it without her.”
Roland rubbed his chin. No government affairs immediately pressing; the First Army was inside Silver City. For once, nothing was actively requiring him.
He was about to accept Nightingale’s offer when the Sigil fired again — different pitch, nearer, sharp as a shout directly in the ear:
“It’s Lightning! Repeat: it’s Lightning. Do you copy?”
Lightning had encountered the story of early pilots in one of Roland’s natural-science lectures and adopted the communications protocol as personal aesthetic. He still found the mode slightly awkward. He cleared his throat, activated the second pair of Sigils.
“I’ve got you. Go ahead.”
“The Red Mist behind the snow mountain — it’s disappearing! It’s disappeared!”
Roland sat upright. “Are you certain?”
“Yes! Maggie is here too — ask her!”
“The Red Mist has faded away! Coo.” A pause. “The Red Mist has truly faded. Coo.”
“You’re supposed to say ‘this is Maggie’ first, then report.” Lightning’s voice was pained.
“Coo coo?”
“Where exactly are you?” Roland cut through. “Do not approach Devil’s Town. Return immediately.”
“Understood!”
Roland looked at Nightingale. “Get Agatha.”
He had maintained a watch on the demon encampment since the Magic Slayer’s death — Animal Messengers with each rotation of coal-carrier ships at the Redwater headwaters, Lightning and Maggie drilling their routes between the snow mountain and the Mist Forest. He had anticipated a counterattack, or at minimum a shift in presence.
He had not anticipated silence. He had not anticipated retreat.
Agatha arrived quickly and listened to Lightning’s report without interrupting. When it was finished, she was quiet.
“The Union rarely got close enough to observe Devil’s Town directly,” she said. “And I’ve never heard of demons withdrawing during active conflict — not even in wars that ran for decades.”
“Monitor and hold.” Roland’s decision came quickly. “The Mist may return. We don’t commit to anything until we understand what we’re looking at.”
He would not risk a witch’s life on a theory.
Five days later, Lightning reported that the Red Mist had vanished completely.
Chapter 592: An Unexpected Change
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Roland sat in his office while listening to the news from the frontline.
“The drawbridge… beep… of Silver City had been put down… beep… We’re going… beep… to break into the church… beep…”
“Got it, be careful,” Nightingale replied.
“It seems that this is the maximum range of communication.” Roland spread the map, drawing a circle on the position of Silver City. “We should set up a relay station here in order to directly contact the Eastern and Northern Regions.”
He had been obsessed with the feeling of being in complete control of the situation from far away since he had Sigils of Listening. The quick exchange of information seemed to bring him back to modern times. At this moment, he felt like sitting in a command hall, controlling every phase of the war situation.
Just like Tracking Sigil, however, which could not guide accurately beyond its valid range, Sigil of Listening was also limited by distance. The voice would not keep clear and steady if one sigil was too far away from another. To deliver his commands to the whole country, he needed at least one transfer station.
“But the number of sigils isn’t enough. You’ve only made four pairs, and an action like the Tooth Extraction Campaign would need two pairs. It’s not easy to catch a demon twice,” Nightingale said and placed a piece of dried fish between her lips.
Roland noticed this problem, too. As the sigils permitted only one-way information transmission, the witches had to hold two sigils; one for sending the information and the other one for receiving, in order to achieve the effect of an instant message system.
It could be considered extremely efficient compared to a carrier pigeon or human messenger.
According to Agatha, the sigils could be further improved,
Its quality depended on the magic power of the blood mixed during the making process. For example, the effect of Sigil of Listening produced by Anna was better. Given that, mixing her blood with a senior demon’s blood during the process, created a pair of Sigil of Listening that was powerful enough to cover the entire Kingdom of Graycastle.
“Beep… There’s something wrong… Beep… Just wait a minute…”
Sylvie said intermittently. Hearing that by the table, Nightingale and Roland brightened into alert attention.
“Pure witches? Or the moving black holes of magic power?” Nightingale swallowed the piece of dried fish and asked.
They could directly fire at the former, but the latter, which could be believers of the church who wore God’s stones or the God’s Punishment Army who could naturally resist the magic power, were hard to deal with.
“No… Beep… I didn’t see the reaction of… Beep… God’s stones…”
“No God’s stones?” Roland asked, frowning.
“No… There’s nothing… beep… in the church…” The sound paused for a moment. “We… are going in… Beep… The basement is empty…”
Nightingale and Roland looked at each other, speechless, wondering whether the church had escaped or not?
“It’s possible,” said Roland, and chagrined for a while. “I was too cautious.”
As of now, the First Army was the most unstoppable in the country, and no noble was stupid enough to go right into the king’s line of fire, but some might still send secret messages to the church. For the church, it was a natural choice to retreat with all the supplies of the city, thinking there was no chance of winning. Different from the battles which captured Longsong Stronghold and Fallen Dragon Ridge, the nobles probably chose to be onlookers during this war. After he seized Redwater City, the churches in the other cities may have already received messages delivered via pigeons, which noted: “Prince Roland is searching for God’s Stones of Retaliation”.
“If we’d divided the army into three groups to attack the three cities at the same time, we would’ve conquered them all,” said Roland.
“It’s hard to say. After all, only Sylvie can see through the ambushes of the enemies. If one group had encountered powerful pure witches, the troops would have suffered a heavy loss. Your decision wasn’t bad,” Nightingale said lifting a piece of dried fish to his mouth.
Roland was taken by surprise. He bit the dried fish and said, “You become comforting now.”
She gave him a sly grin and said, “Do you feel better now? If not, I can massage your shoulders. Wendy taught me a massage technique that’ll make you relaxed.”
“Wendy?”
Nightingale raised her eyebrows and said, “She’s very versatile. You know, the Witch Cooperation Association trekked a long distance and suffered a lot. It was Wendy who took care of our sisters and stabilized our team. No one could do better than her. If it was not for her, Cara’s bad temper would have driven everyone away.”
Roland rubbed his chin for a while. There were not any government affairs to deal with for now, and the First Army had successfully entered Silver City. Given that, he thought it was just the time to have a break.
He was about to accept Nightingale’s massage when the magic stones in her arms alerted again.
This time the voice was very clear, like a shout in the ear.
“It’s Lightning, repeat, it’s Lightning, do you copy?”
As the witches were lacking in entertainments, Roland chose some wonderful stories for them in nature courses to improve their interests in studies and enrich their knowledge. Since Lightning heard the story that sky could be conquered by pilots, she had been addicted to their advanced conversation mode.
Roland, however, still felt a little awkward communicating this way. After Nightingale activated another group of magic stones, Roland cleared his throat and said, “I’ve got you, speak please.”
“The Red Mist behind the snow mountain disappeared… No, it’s disappearing!”
“What? Are you sure?” Roland and Nightingale asked simultaneously.
“Yes, Maggie is here, too. You can ask her!”
“The Red Mist has indeed faded away! Coo.”
“It’s not right. You should say ‘this is Maggie’, and then report.”
“Coo coo?”
“Where are you now? Don’t get close to Devil’s Town, and hurry back now,” Roland said, trying to control their impulses to explore. If they chose to fly directly into Devil’s Town to investigate and encountered a senior demon there, they would be in real trouble.
“Got it!” Lightning replied quickly.
“Get Agatha for me. Maybe only she knows what’s going on,” Roland said to Nightingale.
Since the witches killed the Magic Slayer, he had been monitoring the demons behind the snow-capped mountains. There was one Animal Messenger in each troop who guarded the coal carrier ships that went to the source of the Redwater River in batches of four or five. Besides, he ordered Lightning and Maggie to practice between the snow mountain and the Mist Forest in case of a surprise attack of demons.
The demons, however, did not take their revenge, and now even the Red Mist began to fade away.
Agatha soon came to the office, but after listening carefully to the report from Lightning, she was also puzzled. “The Union could rarely get close to Devil’s Town, and I’d never heard of their retreat during battles, even in the wars that lasted for several decades.”
“Keep monitoring them for now.” Roland made the decision at last. “Perhaps the Red Mist will come back, we should be cautious.”
He did not want to put any witch’s life at risk for now.
Five days later, Lightning reported that the Red Mist behind the snow mountains had completely disappeared.