TALES OF A WITCHER - Season 8 Episode 74

Roland curiously observed the Taquila Senior Witches as they moved. Their tentacles played different roles. The short ones twisted like snakes so they could stand and walk while the long ones constantly inserted themselves into the mud to correct directions. Some tentacles were amazingly long. Based on the height of dome’s ceiling, the tentacles were over 100 meters long and could shrink freely like arms.

Even the strongest muscles could not support such long tentacles. Roland guessed that the magic power in the blob enabled them to walk freely, just like the giant demonic beasts that apparently broke the limits of gravity.

After walking a couple dozen steps and passing two magic cores, Pasha stopped in front of a cube which seemed to be made of gemstone.

“That’s a God’s Stone of Retaliation. I can’t get too close…” Nightingale whispered in his ear to remind him.

Roland nodded silently and asked Pasha, “is the relic in it?”

“Yes. While keeping it locked up, we can limit its summoning range. If we did not put it in a box made of God’s Stone of Retaliation, I’m afraid the residents in your city would be unconsciously affected by the relic.” Pasha stretched out a few tentacles and placed them on the box without immediately opening it. “Before you have contact with it, I have to clarify some points lest you have an accident.”

“Is it… dangerous?” Wendy stepped forward and subconsciously stood in front of Roland.

“Don’t be too worried. As long as you don’t stay alone with the relic, it’ll be alright,” Celine interrupted.

“What do you mean by that?” Roland asked, raising his eyebrows.

Pasha became more serious and said, “as I have said before, if you open yourself up in front of the relic, you can see some incredible sights. Either a witch or a common person can be summoned. But remember, what you see isn’t completely fictional. It’s different from the phantom instrument, what you see in the painting scrolls will have an impact on reality. That’s the first thing I want to clarify. Don’t accept the summoning of deities alone at any time.”

Roland immediately felt a chill creep up his spine, thinking, “The sight in the painting can affect reality? Isn’t that the same as Sadako Yamamura climbing out from television?”

“Why is it not dangerous when there are more people?”

Pasha explained, “Because once you’re trapped in the Divine Land, you’ll have some obvious reactions, for example, glazed eyes, dull body, ravings., etc. The people around you have to drag you out of the range of the relic. In the historical records, many people had once be summoned by the relic alone and then their souls could not return to their bodies. Two or three people having contact with it that take turns effectively reduces the risk.”

Roland glanced at the Taquila witches and said, “I got it. In other words, since there are at least five people here, it’s not that dangerous at all, right?”

Celine nodded. “If this wasn’t so, we wouldn’t allow you to watch it at close range.”

Alethea coldly said, “there’s another point we need to warn you about. You should know that the huge painting scrolls in the relic display the demon civilizations. If you have a chance to see them, they may… No, they’ll definitely try to hurt you. We can help you wake up from the summoning, but we can’t help you resist the horror of it.” She paused for a moment and continued with a sneer in her tone, “if you’re too scared and make a scene at that time, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

“That’s what you wanted to clarify?” Roland remained undisturbed. “Anything else you want to say?”

“You…” Alethea probably did not expect him to be so indifferent and could not help feeling slightly stifled.

“If not, then open it.”

Roland sighed silently. As a modern man who enjoyed all kinds of monster, alien, thriller and horror movies, he had a much broader horizon than the ancient people. If he was unprepared, he might be scared. But what Alethea said was, in some sense, sort of a spoiler . As long as it would not cause him real harm, he did not think that he would give up exploring the mystery of the deities.

“I see,” Pasha shrunk her tentacles and opened the God’s stone box to reveal a spindle-shaped red crystal.

It floated up from the box by itself and then it, like the magic cores, quietly floated in the air about a meter above the ground.

“It can’t get out of the range of the God’s stone. You need to get close to it and relax, then you can enter the Divine Land.”

“Your Majesty…” said Wendy, grabbing Roland’s hand with some concern.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be dangerous since you’re here. I know what I’m going to face,” he said, gently patting the red-haired witch’s hand to comfort her.

Other than the information given by the Taquila witches, he also learned some information from Isabella’s memory and his exploration of Pivotal Secret Temple of the Church in the Dream World. They proved that something could indeed bring people into an incredible “Divine Land”.

Roland sat down cross-legged beside the relic and closing his eyes.

…

Meanwhile, Pasha stretched out her tentacles to connect with those of her companions.

Their consciousness quickly connected together and reflected what they intended to say in each other’s mind.

A furious Alethea said, “how dare he be so arrogant? I can’t wait to see him scare and tremble. Otherwise, he’ll never truly realize what terrible enemies he’ll face. When he wets himself, I wonder what he’ll say.”

Celine glared at her angrily. “What good will that do us? Any ordinary king is very concerned about dignity and prestige. If you make him disgrace himself then I’m afraid he’ll hate us. How can we explore the snow mountain and look for the Chosen One if we lose his support? Even worse, what if he becomes terrified of the demons? The whole world will lose hope!”

“He said he was not afraid of anything. Anyway, I warned him. Do you think you can stop him?”

Celine muttered, “it was a mistake to bring him here to contact the relic. I didn’t recommend doing so from the very beginning. At least we should have waited until we reach a basic level of trust.”

Pasha softly sighed. “So should we just hide it from him or prevent him from approaching the relic then? We’ll never get his trust that way. Put yourself in his shoes. Would you trust an ally who is unwilling to allow you to know about the key that determines the fate of human destiny? No matter how you explain, he won’t appreciate it. Only after he experiences it in person will he understand our sincerity.”

“But…”

“But it’s also unnecessary to be too worried. The demon and the Giant Eye don’t show up every time. Besides, even if he’s too scared and made a mistake, we can promise that we’ll keep our lips buttoned and never reveal it to other people. I think he’ll understand.” Pasha said to reassure Celine and herself,

“What about the two witches coming with him? Will they keep that secret too?” Asked Alethea with malicious intent. She, undoutedly, regarded it as a pleasure to see a common person lose face in front of witches.

“That’s not our business.”

…

When Roland opened his eyes again, he found himself in an infinitely spacious palace.