TALES OF A WITCHER - Season 4 Episode 12

Mortals cannot defeat the Devils, Isabella thought to herself, therefore the Church created the God’s Punishment Army.

They possess considerable strength, feel no pain, and know no fear, making them the best weapon against the Devils. Although they don’t possess the ability to act on their own, that isn’t necessarily a disadvantage in battles between armies.

Against such a powerful force, a garrison of mortals naturally would never be able to resist.

Especially after losing the backing of their city wall, seeking to beat the Church’s elite force in a melee fight is nothing less than a wishful dream.

Like a powerful golden current, the Army of Judges dashed through the main gate of Wolfsheart City’s wall, entering hand to hand combat against all of the assembled defenders. The red colored God’s Punishment Army looked as if they were walking on level ground as they climbed over the collapsed city wall and started to massacre those who attempted to stop the flood of enemies.

“Do you want to go and help them?” Isabella asked after turning towards Zero.

The latter yawned and then said uninterested, “No, my magic is limited, so I have to save it for the important targets.”

“You could just use the sword, hammer, or crossbow to fight ah,” Isabella said, feeling displeased, “No matter what they wouldn’t be able to beat you.”

Zero shook her head, “If I go, they will easily win. If I don’t go, they will still easily win. There is no point in doing it, so I don’t want to.”

“Alright,” she changed the subject. “Why did you do that before?”

“Why?”

“While you were playing with the prisoners, the Bishop’s face was stiff for the whole time,” said Isabella. “It seems that he doesn’t appreciate your kind of trial, and also he is the most likely candidate to be the next Pope, when that time comes you might suffer a lot.”

“The reason why Excellency Mayne becomes angry is only because he hasn’t become the Pope yet,” Zero said carelessly. “When he goes into the library at the top of the Pivotal Secret Temple, he will come to understand that my way of handling things is exactly the way in which to please God.”

“What… way of handling?”

“Playing with, ah,” the Purified ran her hands through her hair to tidy the mess created by the wind. “God has never descended on the world, he also doesn’t protect his people. Only by having a single illusory objective can we guarantee to take over when someone else fails to reach it, in hopes of receiving his favor. Doesn’t this concept resemble the trial I just held? I at least provided him with a real objective, something that God never will. It isn’t even guaranteed that his objective is realistic or whether everything is our own crazy raving. Yet even with so much uncertainty, we still dash onward with no thought to our personal safety… Tsktsk, it is truly the most thorough play.”

What’s this woman talking about? Why can’t I understand one word? Isabella knitted her brows and asked confused, “Have you ever been to the library?”

“No,” She shrugged her shoulders, “These were words His Holiness O’Brian had said to me. He isn’t a witch, and his lifespan is already approaching its end. I heard that when mortals reach their end, they will start to reminisce on their life and will always hope to find someone to talk to about it. He even wants to let me swallow him before his death.”

“You can’t –”

“Of course I mustn’t, that would make Excellency Mayne furious,” Zero interrupted, “Rest assured, I know what I’m allowed to do and what not.” A mysterious smile played around her lips, “There is another possibility. What will happen if I lose? Can’t I then offer up my body as a present to him?”

“I don’t think so. If you lose, chances are that nothing is going to happen.” Isabella sighed, this woman is a strange one, probably because of her ability – after swallowing so many people, it’s very hard for her to find something she hadn’t experienced yet. Which leads to her seldom being interested in anything and instead is simply doing everything for the sake of pleasure, furthermore, only an unusual pleasure will suffice.

Isabella moved her line of sight back to the battlefield. A group of desperados suddenly appeared from the gaps in the city wall and started charging into the ranks of the God’s Punishment Army. Most of them came to a screaming end at the end of a spear, but there were still a few who managed to slip through the net. The sound of explosions began to rise, followed by smoke rising to cover all of the gaps within the wall.

This should be the new alchemy weapon which started to appear during the last siege, she thought. It seems quite powerful; thus it would be a good choice to use it against the demonic beasts. But using it in an attempt to deal with the God’s Punishment Army is just a quick way to commit suicide. If it weren’t for those pills, they would never even have dared to approach the soldiers of the God’s Punishment Army.

On the other side, the mighty current of the golden ocean slowed as raging flames suddenly emerged on the path through the city gate, isolating the soldiers who had already entered the city from the Judges still standing in front. Some people who were caught by the flames desperately started to roll over the ground to try and extinguish the flames, but it was to no avail.

“Hmm… the amount of the God’s Stone of Retaliation has increased exponentially behind the gates. There are even two high-quality stones present. It seems as if someone important has come.” Isabella opened her mouth.

“That being the case, let’s go and end it,” Zero said, and leisurely stretched her waist.

“But those two are neither the Wolf King nor the Queen of Clear Water,” Isabella informed while glancing at the city, “The most intense reaction is still inside the castle. Are you sure you want to go?”

“Isn’t the army in trouble? Winning easily and winning miserably isn’t the same. I still have to help His Holiness O’Brian reduce the losses,” Zero tilted her head and continued in an earnest tone, “Just like I said before, I serve the Church wholeheartedly.”

…

It was already afternoon when Wolfsheart City’s defensive line finally broke under the siege warfare. After the soldier of the God’s Punishment Army got control over the city gate, the Army of Judges began to chase the enemy’s soldiers through the streets to clear up all the resistance.

“The targets have started to move,” Isabella said after looking toward the direction of the castle, “It seems they intend to go to the river dock.”

Those two people who had come to organize the resistance at the wall and city gates were the Wolf King’s sons. And now, through the information she gathered after swallowing both of them, Zero further confirmed that the two moving God’s Stones of Retaliation with the highest reaction were indeed the primary targets of this mission.

In addition, they had also taken care of a fallen witch who looked and dressed as if she was of a different tribe. After the death of the witch, the militia forces who dared to go against the God’s Punishment Army suddenly reduced by a lot.

“They probably want to leave by ship,” Zero said with a blooming smile. “Let’s go and complete the mission given to us by His Holiness.”

The action of the other side made it clear that they were very cautious. On their way toward the docks they changed routes several times and when they finally arrived at the pier they didn’t board one of those huge ships with black sails, but instead chose the small sloop of a merchant.

But no matter how hard they tried to cover their whereabouts, in front of the constantly monitoring Isabella their movements were immediately exposed.

The moment the Wolf King and the Queen of Clear Water boarded the deck of the ship, two people came over from the other side of the pier. There were twenty additional soldiers on top of the ship, most of them were personal guards. When they saw the two appear, they immediately knew that something was amiss without even needing to think about it. Thus everyone drew their weapon and jumped off the vessel, throwing themselves straight at the Purifieds.

It was once more time for Zero to display her superior fighting skills. She was empty handed as she seized the sword of a personal guard and drew everyone in to start fighting against her. With every sword stroke she made an enemy collapse, her footsteps lithe and quick, with only a few people able to anticipate her next move. Whether it was a poke, strike, chop, or block, Zero always used the appropriate amount of strength and the trickiest angle to strike, and soon, more than a dozen personal guards were lying on the ground, everyone having been killed by one sword.

The Wolf King pulled out the sword at his waist, ready to throw himself into a desperate fight.

“Isabella!” Zero cried.

“I know,” the latter immediately launched her ability – forming a circle of light that was only visible to the magic eye. Within Isabella’s field of vision, the lightless domains formed by the God’s Stone of Retaliation appeared, each of them was trembling at a different frequency, like ripples on the surface of water. She controlled her field until it trembled at the same frequency, then connected it with the domain of the God’s Stone of Retaliation. Both sides of ripples immediately canceled each other out, leading to the domain becoming level and smooth.

At that moment, Zero immediately turned into a beam of light, and drilled herself into the Wolf King’s body.

The Wolf King began to twist before changing into the form of the Purified, after seeing this the Queen of Clear Water revealed an incredulous look, “How can this be possible? Why are you able to use your power around the God’s Stones of Retaliation?”

“Because the God’s Stones of Retaliation isn’t what you believe…” Isabella said while still smoothing out the ripples of her opponent’s domain, “But there isn’t really a reason for you to know this, because… your end has come.”

The moment her voice had fallen, Zero threw herself directly at Garcia.