Time of Unity – Part 01
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Translator: Kell
Interlude: Dawn of a New World
She had lived for centuries, bearing the title of the Murky Darkness Witch.
She hunted evil witches with the Church during the Great War five hundred years ago, and after a horrific betrayal by the Church, she hid in a cave.
Together with her increasing number of disciples, she spent her time in idleness, ruminating on ideas that went around in circles, seeking for true peace.
That is, until Zero invented Magic. With Magic, the world would change. Drastically. She could change it.
She was willing to sacrifice everything for that purpose. The disciples she spent her time with. The title of Murky Darkness. Eternal indolence.
It took her ten years to refine the spell. For the Sorcery to work, she needed to gather several sacrifices. Three of them were particularly important.
First, the souls of those who had died from the power of demons. With the spread of Magic, these were easy to collect.
Second, the blood of a furious dragon, which was extremely difficult to obtain. Only with the help of the Stargazer Argentum did she lay her hands on the precious item.
Lastly, the heart of a grand sorcerer.
She originally planned to use Solena’s heart.
For the powerful spell to be perfectly executed, there was no sacrifice more ideal than the heart of Solena. She studied ways to infiltrate her lair, but the great witch ended up being burned at the stake.
She considered using Solena’s granddaughter as a substitute, but thinking back, one could say that it was fortunate that she obtained Thirteenth’s heart, rather than some fledgeling who merely inherited Solena’s title.
More important than anything else was the vessel.
Countless Beastfallen of various kinds were now gathering from all over the continent to the Kingdom of Wenias, either for war or to be turned into humans.
“Come. Embodiment of chaotic violence, reveling in the pleasure of carnage. Crawl out from the tedious depths of hell and play doll with me.”
What is needed to uniformly destroy the world and bring peace to it?
That is, pure violence that would annihilate the Church, witches, adults, babies, and everything else at random, without distinction.
The answer? The demons that she summoned.
The world changed overnight. Many people—from north to south, even citizens of Black Dragon Island—saw a witch drifting in the night sky, with the dazzling full moon behind her.
I will now destroy the world.
All kinds of Beastfallen started going on a mad rampage. With their strong bodies, they devoured, and raped, and pillaged, singing and dancing in a sea of blood and corpses.
Naturally, the Church and the Knights Templar, an organization formed to eradicate witches, fought back. But how could they possibly stand a chance? Most knights were deployed to Wenias to exterminate witches, leaving the countryside severely weak.
As if riotous mobs of Beastfallen were not alarming enough, they used Sorcery like nothing. A swing of their arms produced powerful gales, split the earth, drove people mad, and summoned lightning.
They were no longer just Beastfallen. They were demons using the beasts as vessels.
With no chance of vanquishing the demons, the world turned into hell overnight.
In the midst of all the chaos, one nation escaped the disaster.
Protected by the ward of the Mooncaller witch Albus, the Magical State of Wenias was untouched by the demons. The Beastfallen inside kept their sanity as well.
Miraculously, the majority of the eighty thousand Knights Templar who marched to Wenias to slay witches survived.
The village they built at the entrance to a tunnel in Wenias, aptly named Fulwinesca, meaning Witch’s Gallows, was also their base of operation for the battle against witches.
The village possessed the power to repel demons, the sources of witches’ power. They chanted spells to ward off the demons, burned incense that demons despised, and gathered helpless folks to endure the night.
Knights and mercenaries who fled from neighboring countries, and even witches who had been silently blending in with regular people, joined the battle, allowing them to survive yet another day.
But with so many Beastfallen gathering towards Wenias, Fulwinesca was subjected to the most ferocious demon attacks on the continent. With the mountains of Wenias behind them, falling back was difficult.
There was not enough manpower to reopen the tunnels, and even if they did, they would have to retreat to a Magical State, an enemy of the Church. The knights wanted to at least save the innocent civilians.
As they prayed to God, a hawk flew over their heads.
“Wenias has offered a ceasefire with the Church! Get away from the tunnel and get down on the ground! A witch will clear a path for you!”
Everyone knew that the hawk Beastfallen flying through the sky was the Saint of Akdios’s personal attendant. After all, the saint herself, Faelia, was also in Fulwinesca.
The Beastfallen had been gathering information in Wenias under orders from the saint. Deeming the intel he brought as trustworthy, the Knights Templar made a quick and appropriate decision.
They immediately made preparations to retreat and waited for a path to open in the mountains.
At the same time, Wenias was also busy preparing to guide the knights that would be pouring into the kingdom. The report that the hawk Beastfallen provided gave them a rough idea of what was happening outside.
The only one who could face the mountain range that pierced the sky like a solid wall was the silver-haired witch who called herself Zero. Everyone thought that it was absurd.
The few people who knew Zero—her allies—did not doubt her power, but the State Mages whispered to each other that it was impossible to make a hole in the mountains with Kudra.
The whispers did not faze Zero. The witch’s elegance and bold smile shut everyone’s mouth.
When she began chanting, everybody swallowed.
“Verdiga lum de Garg, O’ earth-shaking seedbed extending far and wide, crush the obstacle standing in my way! Chapter of Harvest, Page Eight: Kudra! Grant me power, for I am Zero!”
The earth roared as if splitting. The sky flashed as if falling. The very air seemed to rupture.
Half of the curious onlookers fainted, and even those who had been prepared to some extent crouched down on the spot, covering their ears.
Dust rained down, robbing vision and breath alike, but was quickly blown away by the wind.
Everyone gasped at the sight that unfolded before them.
Zero’s spell had not created a tunnel in the mountain range.
It had blown away an entire section of the mountain range surrounding the Kingdom of Wenias.
“Ladies and gentlemen. I, Torres Nada Gadio, governor of Ideaverna of the Republic of Cleon, am truly honored to have been chosen to lead this historic conference. Let’s keep the introduction short, and get down to business.”
Three days after Zero blasted a hole in the mountains, a conference was held by a consortium composed of varied individuals.
After the Knights Templar and travelers entered Wenias, they were provided temporary lodgings. The injured were treated, and food was distributed. Once things settled down, the King of Wenias, Sept, convened a meeting that included people from the Church.
The governor probably ended up presiding over the meeting because of his usual string-pulling. His power allowed them to communicate with the outside using Cal.
Immediately after the Murky Darkness witch announced the destruction of the world, the governor took Cal, with whom he had been secretly keeping contact with, and advised Sept to call a ceasefire.
Sept agreed without hesitation. He used Cal to inform the Knights Templar of the truce, and at the same time dispatched elite witches to all the tunnels.
Due to its location, accommodations, and supplies, Fomicaum was chosen as the venue of the meeting. The chapel that stood majestically in the Church square was selected as the conference room. It was probably the first time that witches and Beastfallen had ever set foot in this place, at least with pride.
A round table—rather fitting for the situation—was prepared, where Sept, Albus, the commander of the Knights Templar, Faelia, and Ideaverna’s governor sat.
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