Chapter 706: Formal Meeting, Origins of the Conflict
Roland had already learned the general situation of Number Seventy-Six from Nightingale. In fact, he was full of interest in that sealed history, not to mention that the Taquila witches claimed to have intelligence about the will of the gods. Now that the other party could take the initiative to come to him, it saved him a lot of effort.
Of course, to guard against accidents, in addition to Nightingale, Sylvie, and Scroll in the office, there were also Leaf and two special potted plants. Once the latter's ability was used, even if Number Seventy-Six deployed a God's Stone domain, she could not immediately eliminate the wildly growing vines—as long as her steps faltered slightly, Nightingale could pull out her gun and turn her into a sieve.
And potted plants looked like decorations, and were harmless if not activated with abilities. Therefore, Roland also avoided the awkward scene of sending a group of guards to surround the room—he couldn't let the other party look down on him before the negotiations even started.
When Number Seventy-Six stepped into the office door with Wendy, Roland spread his hands with a smile and said, "Welcome to Neverwinter, do you need tactical sunglasses?"
"..."
"..."
Everyone showed a silent expression, and Nightingale even rolled her eyes, pinching his shoulder hard in the mist, "Your Majesty, please don't talk nonsense at this time."
"Ahem, okay..." Roland cleared his throat and returned to his usual calm appearance, "So you are Number Seventy-Six from Taquila?"
"My name is Phyllis, Your Majesty the King," the other party placed a hand on her chest and bowed slightly, "Number Seventy-Six is just a disguised mortal code name. Now that you have discovered my identity, this name has lost its meaning."
The chest-touching salute was suitable for upper-class nobles meeting royal family members, and could also be used as a common etiquette for ambassadors visiting other countries. Obviously, Phyllis was not completely ignorant of worldly etiquette. As for the slightly inappropriate honorifics and wording, Roland didn't take it to heart. Compared to verbal reputation, he valued practical benefits more.
"Sit down and talk," he nodded. "I happen to have a lot of questions I want to ask you."
"If I can answer them," Phyllis said stiffly.
Probably because she hadn't talked to a "mortal" like him for too long, her expression seemed very rigid. She probably wanted to maintain politeness without losing the arrogance of their former rulers of the world.
Recalling Yoko's description of her, Roland couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart. When disguised as a maid, she could be very lifelike, but now that she had returned to her official identity, even if the witch empire had long been fragmented, she was determined to maintain that arrogance. It had to be said that the name Taquila was probably already a part of their belief.
"First of all, it's about your news. After all, if we want to work together to fight the demons, we have to understand each other's background clearly." Roland took a sip of tea and asked slowly, "To be honest, I have always been curious about how the Association split into two factions. Obviously, everyone is a witch, why does the Church faction have to hunt down their own kind? Especially after knowing the existence of the perfect form of the God's Punishment Army, this doubt is even stronger. Can you explain the reasons in detail?"
Phyllis probably didn't expect him to ask this question first. She was silent for a moment before replying, "Before entering the maze ruins, no one could have predicted that things would eventually turn out like this."
"What do you mean? Is all this related to the ruins?"
"Without that ruin, there would be no God's Punishment Army plan, and the surviving witches would not be able to continue... It's just a pity that we discovered it too late." Speaking of this, she sighed softly, "In addition to finding a way to transfer souls in the maze, the escapees also found some other things... Because of them, Nataya and the Starfall Queen had a disagreement, which led to the final split."
"Other... things?" Roland frowned.
"I can't tell you more for the time being. Only after finding the Chosen One can we discuss it in depth—at that time, Pasha will personally talk to you."
"Who is Pasha?"
"The candidate to succeed the three seats of the Association, and also the
trusted leader of the survivors," Phyllis explained.
If he hadn't mistaken the time, the Holy City should have already fallen. To make a group of dying escapees solve their contradictions by infighting, it could only be said that the weight of that thing was no less than the will of the gods.
"Couldn't the two sides coexist at that time? Since the perfect form of the God's Punishment Army does not cost the lives of witches, just select volunteers to participate in the transformation ceremony. Why did Akaliss want to subvert the remaining Association?"
When this sentence was asked, a rare bitterness appeared on Phyllis's face, "Does not cost the lives of witches? No... Your Majesty, things are not as simple as you think. The body I initially used came from a God's Punishment Warrior who failed to transfer. Do you know how long it took me to master that body?"
"Ten years?" Roland pondered.
This was also the time it usually took to train a knight.
"Nearly fifty years," she shook her head, "By the time I was familiar with how to control a body that didn't belong to me, the original God's Punishment Army shell had already aged."
The witches present couldn't help but gasp.
"The magic power integrated into the blood destroyed most of the senses, including touch, taste, and smell... Therefore, the God's Punishment Army will not feel pain, nor will they be afraid of injury. But for us, it is equivalent to subverting the previous action memory. Walking, opening our mouths, and clenching our fists all need to be mastered again... At first, we couldn't even stand up. We didn't know how much strength to use when holding a cup. To make our heads remember these actions again, we have to spend decades of constant training every day. If we add weapons and combat skills, it will take at least a century." Phyllis paused, "In this way, you know what should happen."
Roland frowned and was silent for a while before saying, "Akaliss needs a lot of empty shells."
"That's right. Once a witch does not die, a God's Punishment Warrior who has lived for hundreds of years will be much stronger than a newly transformed warrior in every aspect. In order to continue this accumulated strength, it is necessary to create more shells to allow the soul to continue. Even if the new shell also needs time to adapt, this time can be shortened to several years compared to mastering it from scratch."
"And the providers of the shell can only be weak witches. For this reason, Akaliss must replace the Association and become the absolute ruler of the witches, so that she can turn some witches into materials that can be sacrificed at will." Phyllis closed her eyes, "Under the threat of the war of the will of the gods, she almost succeeded. Most of the high-level Association had already acquiesced to her approach... If it weren't for the new discoveries in the ruins, the God's Punishment Army plan would be the only feasible survival plan."
Ermu said
I was busy all morning today, and encountered two power outages in the afternoon. I finally managed to code out the chapter that should have been sent at 5 o'clock. Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I'm sorry to say that, there will be another chapter tonight.