Chapter 21: Witch of Evil (4K)

The first pale light of dawn had just appeared on the horizon.

Green Gorge’s city gates were still tightly shut when a mighty troop of knights arrived before them.

But these knights all looked somewhat exhausted in spirit, as if they had been fighting continuously for a long time.

At their head rode the Holy Church knight Lombard on a tall white horse.

He clearly had dark circles under his eyes, yet his energy was high, riding far ahead of the rest of the knights.

“Welcome back in triumph, Bishop Lombard!”

“We’ll go report to the city lord at once and arrange a feast in your honor!”

The gate guards, seeing Lombard return with the knight corps, hastily straightened up and opened the city gates wide.

“No need to report. Maintain your vigilance as usual. Our Lord will grant you His radiance.”

“Yes, honored Bishop Lombard!”

Aside from the Holy Capital Gubabile, the Holy Church did not directly govern any country or city.

On the surface, it didn’t interfere in politics.

But in reality, the bishops and archbishops in each city often held even more authority than the city lords.

For example, in a mid-sized kingdom, the Church’s administrator might be a Metropolitan Archbishop.

If the king and the archbishop left the capital together, the people and soldiers would praise the archbishop first, and only then the king.

And the king himself would consider this perfectly natural.

Across the vast Western Continent, even if you were the greatest empire, if the Holy Church declared you a nation of heretics rejected by the Lord, only destruction awaited you, and no one would help.

The Holy Church controlled the strongest military force among the human empires of the West.

You could even say that if you added up all the high-ranking generals of every empire, they still wouldn’t equal half the strength of the Church’s high-ranking knights and bishops.

Lombard had rushed back to Green City this time and had no intention of going to drink with that nouveau riche marquis.

He had traveled through the night in dust and fatigue for one reason only.

His beloved maid lady.

Ever since parting with the maid, Lombard had lost interest in hunting down the high-rank magic beasts that had escaped from the Sealed Demon Mountains.

That very night, the knights and priests feasted and drank in a nearby town, but everything tasted like wax to him.

He couldn’t swallow a single bite.

He just wanted to rest early in the luxurious mansion a local noble had donated.

He didn’t even bring back his usual two priestess girls.

He had no interest.

Yet, for so many years, outside of cultivation and the brief upheaval when he broke through to fifth rank, his sleep had always been steady.

Now he lay awake the entire night because of the maid lady.

He thought over everything again and again.

In the end, he concluded that he had fallen in love with her.

What a beautiful encounter it had been.

He had slain a pseudo-fifth-rank magic beast in an instant with his dazzling “Feather of Stigmata”, then, under a rainy sky, met the maid lady who was his destined one—so beautiful and pure.

Oh, it had to be the guidance of the Lord.

Lombard believed he had to make this beautiful maid his wife.

Even the official wife he would one day marry because of his status in the Church—Lance, the younger daughter of his master, the Radiant Knight Aransa—would not be able to stop him.

She was just a foolish woman infatuated with his looks, spending lavishly every day and hosting tasteless parties with other noble ladies.

How could she compare, even one in ten thousand, to the elegance, purity, and beauty of the maid lady?

As long as he became an archbishop and a Radiant Knight, his master would surely understand.

Lombard persuaded himself of this in his sleeplessness.

He would obtain his master’s understanding.

No—even if Master objected, he would still marry the maid lady.

Even if he had to do it in secret.

Once he settled on this idea, new anxieties arose.

It would take months to travel back and forth.

What if she ran into vicious bandits on the road?

What if she got lost?

What if some other noble or bishop snatched her away?

Damn it!

She looked so pure, so loyal.

She had insisted on returning to her young mistress’s estate to report before joining the Church.

A maid like that would definitely…

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he felt, as if she was drifting farther and farther away from him.

He cursed his own stupidity.

Even if he couldn’t leave at the time, shouldn’t he at least have made up some excuse and sent a few trusted knights to escort her safely back to Green City, where, under the Lord’s witness, they would marry?

So, before dawn, Lombard woke his knights and rushed back toward Green City through the night.

To make up for his earlier failing.

To send knights to guard the maid’s journey.

And perhaps, in Green City, he might even enjoy a wonderful date with her.

Thus, with dark circles under his eyes but high spirits, Bishop Lombard of the Holy Church returned to Green City on the second day after Yiluo’s arrival.

He hurried straight to the bishop’s palace.

He intended to wash up first, then order someone to find the maid lady’s lodging.

After that, he would arrange some “hero saves the beauty” scenario.

He could already see her admiring gaze as she leaned into his arms.

“Foolish heretic! How dare you spread such rebellious rumors? Prepare to face the Lord’s punishment!”

“I didn’t! I really didn’t lie! I truly saw the sa— that sinful witch!”

“You still dare spout nonsense? Seeking death!”

Just as Lombard reached the gates of the bishop’s palace, his pleasant mood was disturbed by knights, priests, and a guard shouting.

He frowned slightly.

Two priests and two knights were holding down an old soldier in guard’s armor.

To stop him from speaking, one knight had kicked him several times, making the old man cry out in pain.

Wait.

That old soldier looked familiar.

Wasn’t he a gate guard?

Perfect.

He could ask if the man had seen his pure and beautiful maid lady.

“Enough. Stop. What’s going on here?”

The knights and priests turned to see that Bishop Lombard had returned.

They immediately stood in formation and shouted that his radiance would last forever.

“Lord Bishop, this heretic came to the bishop’s palace to spread evil rumors, attempting to profane the Lord’s radiance!”

“Oww, honored Bishop, I’m the most devout believer! I would never do that! Please believe me!”

Normally, once you were branded a heretic, there was only one fate—death.

Old soldier Nors hurriedly begged the bishop for mercy, kowtowing non-stop.

“Silence! Still trying to argue!”

The knights’ bright swords were just about to fall when Lombard stopped them with a wave.

“Our Lord does not wrong a devout believer, nor does He spare an evil heretic. Speak. What do you want to say?”

Lombard wanted to resolve this quickly.

He would ask whether the old soldier had seen his beloved maid lady, and if nothing serious was wrong, he would let him go.

He was, after all, in a good mood.

Seeing the bishop give him a chance to speak, Nors hurriedly shouted that Lombard’s light would shine forever, then nervously recounted what had happened.

“I’m Nors, captain of a gate-guard squad. Yesterday at dusk, I inspected a luxurious carriage—the kind only nobles and wealthy merchants ride.”

Lombard’s heart leapt.

By his calculations, the maid’s carriage should have arrived around that time.

Truly, the Lord’s guidance.

But why had this gate guard come to the bishop’s palace?

Did he make things difficult for her?

If so, this damned guard must be a heretic deserving the most terrible punishment!

“Continue. Was the coachman wearing a tailcoat, about thirty years old, an adventurer?”

Lombard’s tone grew sharper.

“Yes, yes! A tailcoat, around thirty. I know him—Jack!”

The information matched.

“There were two passengers in the carriage. One noble-looking young lady seemed normal enough. But the other one… the other…”

As Nors talked, the two knights beside him grew agitated, hands itching to draw their swords.

“Hurry up and say it!”

Lombard’s expression changed.

He knew the gate guard was about to speak of his beautiful maid.

“That other one looked like the former Saint… no… like that devil, Alice Victoria!”

“Exactly the same as thirty years ago!”

“Shut up, you damned heretic!”

The two knights could no longer endure it.

They drew their swords to execute Nors on the spot, but Lombard, furious, stopped them again.

“Enough. His words are disturbing the faithful. Lock him up in the bishop’s dungeon for now. Do not torture him. I will interrogate him personally.”

“Yes, Bishop!”

“I’m not lying! They were identical! I saw that person with my own eyes thirty years ago!”

Lombard didn’t stay a moment longer.

His face was full of panic and disbelief, his anger barely contained.

He dismounted and strode quickly into the palace.

The first time he saw the maid, she had felt strangely familiar to him, as if he’d seen her somewhere before.

After hearing Nors’ story, it was like a thunderbolt on a clear day.

He felt numb.

In his mind, the maid’s face overlapped again and again with the witch he had seen as a child in the Secret History of the Church.

The maid was so beautiful and pure, so loyal to her mistress, every word so sincere.

How could she be that devil?

How could she have deceived him?

Lombard needed to open the Secret History and confirm the appearance of that demon with his own eyes.

There were many people named Alice.

But among those of the imperial surname Victoria, there was only one Alice.

Few might know that now, but thirty years ago, she was known across the entire Western Continent.

The former Sword Saintess, Alice Victoria.

The most gifted saintess in a thousand years.

The only one ever chosen proactively by the Church’s second holy relic, the Sacred Ring “Heaven’s Judgement”.

She reached Heaven-tier at fifteen, Saint-tier at twenty.

At twenty-five, in the sealed demon lands deep within the Sealed Demon Mountains, she fought in a campaign to exterminate the rampaging blood clan Demon King.

There, she betrayed the Holy Church and joined forces with the Demon King.

Ten thousand Holy Church knights and priests, and hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers from various empires, perished because of her.

Countless Holy Church knights died.

Fifteen Glory Knights.

Seven titled knights.

The most talented Sword Saintess in a thousand years had inflicted the single greatest loss in the Church’s history in one stroke.

It was the Church’s greatest disgrace.

Only internal members were allowed to read about it.

Among the common people, any book mentioning Alice Victoria was forbidden.

Anyone caught with such records would be executed as a heretic.

Those who knew this history called her the Witch of Evil.

The boundless Witch of Evil who deceived the Lord Kaos and the holy artifact itself, and excelled at disguise.

Lombard ran almost madly to his private library.

Among the spinning bookshelves and thousands of tomes, he searched roughly for the Secret History of the Church.

He muttered to himself over and over.

“This is a lie. It has to be a lie.”

No one knew that thirty-year-old disaster better than he did.

Though he hadn’t been born at the time, his master, Glory Knight Aransa, had been one of those who ended that catastrophe.

After Dark Night Knight Hespe Gladys led seven Holy Church knights to repel eighty thousand demi-humans trying to invade human lands, he went to the sealed demon lands and saw the devastation—ten thousand knight and priest corpses—and the severely wounded Demon King and Witch of Evil.

After a bitter battle, they slew the pair.

The Demon King’s dying outburst of power forced them to retreat in haste.

They failed to bring back the Church’s second holy relic, the Sacred Ring “Heaven’s Judgement”.

In the thirty years since, the Church had searched countless times for the lost relic, but they could no longer find the entrance to the sealed demon lands.

It was as if it had vanished.

The relic remained lost.

Lombard finally found the Secret History and flipped rapidly through the pages until he reached the passage he sought.

A beautiful girl with pale golden hair stood in a sea of flowers, holding “Heaven’s Judgement”.

Her head was tilted slightly upward, gazing at the blue sky.

A simple white dress fluttered in the breeze.

Words like pure, beautiful, and holy should have been the perfect description, but none were used.

Under the illustration, the note read:

“The Witch of Evil, master of disguise and deception. Age sixteen. Outside the Holy Capital Gubabile.”

Lombard’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.

He tossed the Secret History aside.

His body slowly slid down until he sat on the floor.

He covered his face with his hands, and through the gaps between his fingers, the whites of his eyes were streaked with blood-red from despair and fury.

I’ve been deceived…

She is… the Witch of Evil?

He suddenly recalled that as a child, reading the Secret History, he had felt a secret stirring in his heart for this so-called Witch of Evil.

He had silently warned himself never to be fooled by appearances.

And yet, he had given his pure love and unquestioning trust to a face that belonged entirely to the witch’s lies.

Damn it.

Damn it.

Damn it!

He had rushed back overnight, unable to sleep, worrying over a cruel, inhuman witch.

Lombard felt an unprecedented humiliation.

The love he had once felt transformed completely into hatred.

They had met not far from the Sealed Demon Mountains.

Exactly the same face.

A similar aura.

He didn’t want to admit that the maid he missed so painfully and the Witch of Evil were the same person.

But the facts were before his eyes.

After his extreme rage burned away his reason for a moment, his mind became ice-cold and clear.

The Witch of Evil hadn’t died.

But if she had only reappeared after all these years… did that mean her strength hadn’t recovered?

If he captured her in Green City, wouldn’t she be at his mercy?

“Slap!”

Lombard struck himself in the face, snapping out of his delusion.

Yes, if he captured the Witch of Evil, his future would be infinitely bright.

But he still couldn’t be sure how strong she was now.

The opportunity was in front of him.

He had to seize it.

Lombard took out the delicate sapphire pendant on his chest and crushed it without hesitation.

It was a high-grade magic item his master had given him for urgent communication.

His master was already on the way to Green City because of the recent magic beast troubles in the Sealed Demon Mountains.

But now he had to urge his master to hurry.

Nothing was more important than capturing—or killing—the Witch of Evil.

After sending a message to his master, Glory Knight Aransa, Lombard began to lay out a meticulous plan.

The plan to hunt down the liar who had deceived his pure love.

The Witch of Evil.