The smoke cleared, and the woods returned to tranquility.

The witch's long braids were scattered around her, like white flowers laid beneath her.

Steaming blood flowed freely from her back, quickly forming a dark red puddle. The blood slowly seeped into the ground, dissolving the hard, cold soil, and the air filled with a metallic scent.

Nightingale crouched down and untied the blindfold from the witch's face, discovering that it looked surprisingly young, probably around her own age, only the scars around her eyes marred the overall beauty—her eyes looked as if they had been repeatedly branded with red-hot irons, the skin shrunken and brownish-red, having lost the contours of the eye sockets.

This was undoubtedly acquired. Nightingale gently touched the wrinkled scars, not knowing whether she had suffered these before becoming a witch, or after serving the church. But none of that mattered anymore. From this moment on, she could no longer harm more witches, nor would she have to endure other torments.

After searching the Holy Messenger's body, she found a letter, a yinzhang, and a badge in the lining of her robe. The badge depicted a circle divided into a cross, with a fist clenched in the center.

Other than that, she carried nothing more—neither gold dragons nor jewelry.

Perhaps she had never enjoyed anything in her life, Nightingale couldn't help but think.

"Hey, look what I caught," Lightning's voice came from mid-air. She looked up and saw the little girl flying over with a struggling man in tow, before dropping him on the ground.

The man groaned, rolled around a couple of times, and seemed to want to get up, but his hands and feet were tied, and he could only twist helplessly on the ground.

Judging from his attire, he should be the priest or cleric sitting in the other carriage.

"Maggie?"

"She guided Ashes to chase after the fleeing Judgment Army," Lightning walked to the Holy Messenger's side. "This is the witch the church cultivated?"

"Yes," Nightingale said softly, "She won't hunt us anymore."

"Looking at her, it's hard to believe she saw us as enemies to be killed..." the little girl sighed.

"If there was no church, none of this would have happened," Nightingale glared at the captured man, whose eyes widened immediately when he saw the witch lying in the pool of blood, desperately trying to say something, but unable to because of the gag in his mouth.

She pulled out the gag. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Cough, cough... You, you actually killed Bishop Teflen's Purifier, audacious devils! You will all be hung at the city gate by the church sooner or later, to be devoured by crows!"

"Even if we didn't kill her, the church wouldn't treat her any better," Nightingale said. "And more than that, you better worry about your own situation first."

"Even if I die, I will receive God's redemption, but you will only sink into hell and suffer eternal torment!" he shouted.

"That's why I had to gag him," Lightning said, spreading her hands.

Nightingale stuffed the gag back in his mouth. "Let His Highness deal with him. According to him, Iron Axe is very good at interrogating this kind of person."

...

By the time Maggie arrived with the two witches from Sleeping Island, it was already afternoon. Ashes jumped down from the back of the giant beast and landed steadily beside Nightingale. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"It went smoothly," she shook her head. "What about you?"

"Naturally, none of them got away," Ashes said with a smug smile.

"She's dead?" Andrea peered at the Holy Messenger after landing. "I thought you would spare her life."

"The enemy is a witch. Any hesitation or carelessness is extremely dangerous," Ashes said, pouting. "If it were me, I wouldn't have let her live either."

"Tsk, tsk, you don't have any sympathy for your own kind."

"She's not our kind, but a puppet controlled by the church," the Transcendent One said indifferently. "Besides, sometimes our own kind are much crueler than outsiders. At least I haven't seen demonic beasts or devils imprison people and torture them for years."

After she finished speaking, she took off her blood-stained gloves and held out her hand to Nightingale. "Your actions and performance are admirable. On this point, you did exactly the right thing."

"..." The latter stared at her for a moment before grasping the outstretched hand. "Thank you."

So, even someone like her would comfort herself, Nightingale thought, probably not wanting her to feel too burdened by killing a witch.

Lightning also pressed her hand down. "I think this victory deserves to be celebrated."

Then Maggie, "Goo!"

Andrea rolled her eyes and was the last to put her hand on everyone's hands. "I have to say, if it was just your hand, I wouldn't want to touch it at all. I'm only doing this for Nightingale's sake."

"Okay, I know," Ashes said, raising her eyebrows.

Then the five of them raised their hands to the sky together, like a firm tower standing in the biting cold wind.

...

Next, in addition to collecting the intelligence carried by the messenger group, they also needed to cover up the traces left by the battle. The group worked in the woods for two days before finally dealing with these trivial matters, returning to Border Town three days later.

After landing in the castle garden, Nightingale was immediately surrounded by her sisters.

"I heard you were injured? Where's the wound?" Nana Wah cried.

"She's been waiting for you for a long time. Why are you only back now?" Lily complained.

"Do you... are you in pain now?" Lucia asked anxiously.

"This batch of herbs is specially made by me. It can stop bleeding and also reduce swelling. The effect should be pretty good, right?" Leaf said with a smile.

"You're too careless. You dared to run into the church alone. You might not be so lucky next time!" This was Wendy's voice.

"Well, it's good that you came back safe." This was Scroll's.

Looking at their concern, Nightingale sincerely felt the warmth welling up in her heart. She didn't know what kind of lives the witches raised by the church lived, but she knew what the Witch Union was like. There was no doubt that this was where she was willing to give everything for.

Then she saw His Highness Roland.

Lightning had already pounced into his arms, clinging to him like a gecko.

Maggie also flew over and lay on Roland's shoulder, rubbing his cheek.

Although Nightingale also wanted to do the same, she knew that she was no longer a child. Holding back the urge to hug him, she walked up to His Highness and smiled. "I'm back."

"Yes, I've been waiting for you for a long time," the prince's smile was still as familiar as ever. "Take a hot bath first, and get some rest. I put a few packs of honey-glazed grilled fish jerky in the drawer of the office."

"Well, I won't be polite."

Nightingale raised the corners of her mouth.

She was once again certain that what she was doing was right.
.(。)