Chapter 992: Future Direction
“You mean as God’s Punishment Witches? A common king might not think so—”
“Power is not determined by force alone.” Pasha’s tentacle moved toward Zooey. “Real strength lies in influencing what the human kingdoms of today become. That cannot be replaced — and it’s precisely where our strength lies.”
“I see it!” Celine exclaimed, a sudden brightness in her expression. “Compared to combat ability, this really is more important.”
“Hah.” Zooey crossed her arms. “Leave me out of it. Faldi and the others are better suited.”
“Hey, what exactly are you talking about?” Ellen’s voice rose with obvious irritation. “I can’t follow any of this.”
“Pasha is talking about knowledge.” The youngest Extraordinary kept her tone easy. “Aren’t there colleges, libraries, and private scholars in His Majesty’s Dream World already? Since everything there comes from his memory, anyone who enters can learn from it. Instead of selective transcripts, we could absorb it completely — all of us, spending even a little time away from leisure pursuits. Within a few decades, His Majesty would have a group of helpers who genuinely understand what he’s working toward.”
“Common people wear down as their bodies age.” Pasha added, “We don’t have to worry about that. A century is enough to make a God’s Punishment Witch into His Majesty’s heir in everything but blood. That is our greatest advantage.” She paused. “Especially after he is gone. Only we will remember what the world looked like before.”
“If His Majesty Roland’s plans are to continue beyond him, they can only do so through us — even if we are no longer witches in the way others understand it. Any attempt to overturn his will would find the Witch Union in opposition, but if we occupy only the domain of knowledge, we become useful to every faction. Even without combat strength, there is weight in that.”
“Isn’t that just the Cloud School?” Ellen grumbled.
According to legend, when most of humanity was still ignorant, certain sages had gathered to kindle civilization — teaching ironwork, weaving, tillage, the tending of livestock, until human beings spread across the entire Land of Dawn. Centuries later those sages had reached the peak of their influence. Every ruler sought to claim them, and many scholars drifted from being communicators of knowledge into becoming private collections of the powerful.
The leader of the sages had seen it coming. He moved the organization out to the great city-states, forbade entanglement in politics, and turned their attention inward — to the mysteries of the world, the secrets of ancient ruins. Their new home sat atop a mountain buried in cloud year-round, and so they became the Cloud School.
They rarely touched ordinary life, yet their standing endured. No matter how the rulers changed, the Cloud School was treated with reverence. Every year, kings sent supplies and young students, hoping to receive even a fragment of guidance.
Then the demons came. The first Battle of Divine Will broke out — and with it, a slow poison of rumor: that the very beasts now ravaging the Land of Dawn had been brought there centuries earlier by a sage.
The Cloud School’s reputation collapsed. No leader came to their defense. They were overrun, and then they became nothing but a footnote in history books.
“At least we won’t collude with demons,” Celine said pointedly. “And ‘keepers of knowledge’ is not such a bad title. Better than anything the Quest Society ever came up with.”
“This is only a preliminary direction in any case. No plan for what comes after the war can be settled until after the war.” Pasha smiled and touched Celine’s head with a tentacle. “Let’s adjust the soul instrument. By the time the celebration outside winds down, we should have our preparations ready — I don’t think His Majesty has the patience to wait until tomorrow.”
The residents of the city were still celebrating. Roland had already entered the Third Border City at the head of the united front army.
He was impatient. There was no use pretending otherwise.
If the demon city in the memory fragment was from centuries ago, then what lay inside this Senior Demon’s mind was the most current intelligence on the enemy to be had. Given how utterly conventional intelligence channels failed when the opponent was not human, the value of this opportunity was difficult to overstate.
The moment he stepped into the core area of the hall, something stopped him.
The Taquila witches stood in a neat queue at the center. At their head: the three-original-carrier Senior Witch. The God’s Punishment Witches placed their elbows level, fingers overlapped across their chests, and bowed — the formal courtesy of the lower ranks to their superiors. Before Roland could formulate a question, all three carriers crossed their tentacles before their bodies and lowered themselves to the ground.
Pasha’s voice entered his mind. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Taquila will always be loyal to you.”
He was genuinely surprised. The last time she had thanked him was because they finally had a real chance to fight the demons — revenge for the long catastrophe. But what she had just said meant something different. The united front required all coalition leaders to serve the overall commander, but this gesture of deference was not political courtesy.
They’re treating me as one of the Three Chiefs.
He wasn’t certain why their attitude had shifted so profoundly, and some part of him recognized this was not the moment to investigate.
Roland cleared his throat and accepted the greeting as though it were ordinary. “There’s no need to thank me. This victory belongs to everyone here. Now — how are the preparations for the Soul Transfer?”
“We can begin at any time.” Pasha turned toward a purple magic core behind her. “Please come with me.”
He followed her down into the core chamber. Two stone beds had been set up beside the apparatus. On the left lay a male God’s Punishment Army soldier — grey-haired, footless, clearly transformed long ago. On the right was something that the word human no longer described: limbs missing, the black armor covering its body riddled with depressions, its survival under these circumstances an argument against plausibility.
“It normally would not have lasted this long,” Zooey said, as though reading the question off his face. “Without Miss Nana’s treatment, it would have died the same day. Lady Agatha helped considerably as well — we needed her to preserve the Red Mist during transit. But to prevent the Senior Demon from recovering on the road, a series of adjustments were necessary. The result is what you see.”
“Adjustments?” Wendy said. “What kind?”
“Very simple. Whenever it began to come around, I gave it a stab. That forced most of its magic into self-healing. This was my first time doing such work.” Zooey paused, appearing vaguely sheepish. “I nearly caused it to stop breathing.”
The atmosphere in the chamber had shifted — a tension with nowhere to go.
Roland cleared his throat again. “In that case, let’s not waste time. We should start the transfer now.”
“As you wish.” Celine reached out and inserted her main tentacle into the core.
Chapter 992: Future Direction
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“You mean as God’s Punishment Witches? The king who’s a common person might not think so…”
“Power is not determined just by force,” Pasha pointed toward Zooey and said, “Real strength lies in what influences the human kingdoms of today to change. This cannot be replaced and it’s exactly where our strength lies.”
“I see what you mean!” Celine exclaimed. “Compared to combat ability, this really is more important,” she added as she came to the sudden realization.
“Hah…” said Zooey. “You can leave me out of it. This task would suit Faldi and the rest.”
“Hey, what the h*ll are you talking about?” exclaimed Ellen in dissatisfaction. “Why couldn’t I understand at all?”
“Pasha was talking about knowledge,” said the youngest Extraordinary, “aren’t there colleges, libraries and private scholars in His Majesty’s Dream World already? Since everything in the Dream World comes from his memory, everyone should be able to learn… Compared to selective transcripts, it would obviously be better to fully absorb all that knowledge. As long as we allocate some time away from our leisure time, we could start learning the most basic information. It wouldn’t take more than dozens of years and His Majesty would be able to have an additional group of helpers that can understand what he wants.”
“The energy of common people will fade as their body ages, but we don’t have to worry about this. A century’s time would be enough to make a God’s Punishment Witch His Majesty’s heir. This is our greatest advantage.” Pasha
added, “Especially after he passes away. Only we know what the world will look like.”
“If His Majesty Roland wants to continue his plans, then it can only succeed through us—even if we weren’t witches, we wouldn’t be affected too much. In a certain way, it would be disadvantageous to us if there were any attempt to overthrow the will of His Majesty, but the Witch Union would certainly respond to that. On the other hand, if we’re only in charge of knowledge, this would be good for any faction. Even if we don’t possess combat strength, we’ll still have force even if its very light-weight.”
“Isn’t this the Cloud School?” El grumbled.
According to legends, when most human beings were still ignorant, some sages came together to fan the flames of civilization. They taught people how to make ironwork, weave clothes, and tillage livestock until human beings populated the entire Land of Dawn. Hundreds of years later, they reached the summit of their power. All those in power sought to win them over by any means, and many members then turned from becoming knowledgeable communicators to being the private collection of those in power.
The leader of the sages discovered this point and moved the organization out to major city-states. He also stipulated that they should not be easily involved in politics, urging them to only focus on the mysteries of the world and uncovering the secrets of the ancient ruins. Since they were relocated to the top of a mountain covered by clouds all year round, everyone called it the Cloud School.
Although these people rarely interacted with the common people, their status was still elevated. No matter how the kings in power kept changing, they were still respectful to the Cloud School. Every year, they would send a large number of supplies and young students, just to get guidance from these sages.
But this period did not last long as the demon soon infiltrated mankind. The first Battle of Divine Will broke out… It was at this time that a disturbing rumor gradually spread. It stated that these brutal and terrifying beasts were introduced into the Land of Dawn by a sage hundreds of years ago.
The reputation of the Cloud School plummeted, and it was taken over by the demons as no leader willing to lend a helping hand. Finally, it became a dusty memory of history books.
“At least we won’t collude with the demon,” said Celine defensively. “And the title of ‘manager of knowledge’ is not so bad. It’s better than the titles that were set by the Quest Society.”
“Anyway, this is only a preliminary direction. Any plans for the future can only be decided after the victory against the demons.” Pasha said as she smiled and patted Celine’s head with her tentacle. “Well, let’s adjust the soul instrument. After the completion of the celebrations outside, we should also have finished our preparations here—I don’t think His Majesty has the patience to wait until tomorrow.”
…
When the residents of the city were still celebrating the victory, Roland had already entered Third Border City while leading the united front army.
He was certainly impatient.
If the demon city in the memory fragment was from hundreds of years ago, then the information stored in this Senior Demon’s brain would be the latest intelligence about the enemy. Given the ineffectiveness of conventional intelligence channels for aliens, the significance of this opportunity was particularly important.
As soon as he stepped into the core area of the hall, he noticed something strange.
He saw that the Taquila witches lined up in a neat queue in the center of the hall with their leader the threefold original carrier Senior Witch.
The God’s Punishment Witch placed her elbows at a level position and overlapped her fingers onto her chest, before bowing to him.
It wasn’t the first time that he had seen this strange manner of saluting as it was usually the special courtesy of the lower level witches to their superiors. However, before he even had the chance to ask questions, the three carriers also overlapped their tentacles in front of their bodies and fell to the ground. The voice of Pasha also rang in his head, “Thank you, Your Majesty. Taquila will always be loyal to you.”
This made Roland somewhat surprised. The previous time she thanked him was probably due to the fact that there was a chance to defeat the demons and get revenge, but the meaning of the latter sentence was obviously different. Although the united front required all the coalition leaders to work for the leader, the other party’s respectful behavior told him that these two were not the same thing.
He suddenly remembered that Senior Witches themselves were the upper class of the Union, and that they would only need to salute the three Transcendents in that manner.
Did this mean they considered him as one of the Three Chiefs in the Union?
Although he was not clear why their attitude had changed so much, after being in power for so long, he was still sensitive enough to know that now was not the right time to investigate.
Roland coughed twice and treated it like a normal greeting. “It’s not necessary to thank me. This victory belongs to all the people present. By the way, how’s the preparation for the Soul Transfer?”
“We can start at any time,” Pasha pointed to a purple magic core behind her, “please come with me.”
As he followed her down to the core, Roland noticed that there were two stone beds set up next to her. On the left bed, there was a male God’s Punishment Army soldier with no feet. His hair was gray and it was obvious that he had been transformed for a long time. The right bed had a figure that could not be described as human at all. Not only were the limbs missing, but even the black armor on its body was full of depressions. It was difficult to imagine it still being alive under such circumstances.
“Generally speaking, it would not be able to survive until now,” explained Zooey, as if she had seen his doubts. “If Miss Nana’s treatment was not available, it should have died the same day. In addition, Lady Agatha also helped a great deal, otherwise, we’d not have been able to conserve the Red Mist for so long. However, in order to prevent the Senior Demon from recovering on the road, a series of adjustments were needed. The result is what you can see right now.”
“Adjustment?” Wendy said confusedly, “How?”
“It’s very simple. As soon as it starts to come around, I would give it a stab. Thus, most of its magic would be consumed for self-healing. This was the first time that I had done such a job, so I’d almost caused it to stop breathing,” said Zooey whilst stupefied.
In fact, it seemed that she was looking forward to this the most.
Sensing that the atmosphere was a little tense, Roland cleared his throat and said,” In that case, let’s not waste time… We should start the transfer now.”
“As you wish,” Celine reached out with her main tentacle and inserted it into the core.