Release that Witch

The earth shook under the two’s violent clash.

Swords met, as they sent off flashes of light to the surrounding forest. The black light covered the surface of the Magic Slayer and shielded the strikes of the golden thunderbolts. The turbulent magic power brought about a sudden downpour, and the two battling individuals became the eye of this unexpected hurricane.

Both Ashes and Ursrook had exceeded their limits. Their movements became a blurry swirl of light and shadow that slashed through the thick veil of rain, leaving a long mark in the air. Raindrops spluttered and flew off under the impact of the shockwaves. The battle was so intense it was as if two giants were wrestling with each other.

Ashes knew that she had completely lost control over her magic power. It was dissolving her flesh bit by bit, and now she was numb with pain all over that gnawed her skin as a result of the power rebound.

This was definitely not a good sign. Numbness were usually followed by a mental breakdown as well as a decrease in her ability to control her body.

In fact, she was now unable to direct the thunders to a specific spot. The avalanche of her raging magic power was breaking her body and gradually led her to the brink of collapse.

”I see. So this is the consequence of a direct merge with the Origin of Magic.” The Magic Slayer looked weary. He wiped the blood off his face after fending Ashes off and said, ”You’ve attained extraordinary power, but such power also consumes you. I’m very curious about what you will become if things go on like that. Will you be reduced to ashes? Or will you lose your humanity and become a mindless monster?”

”Whatever I will become, I’ll first kill you.” Ashes said darkly as she shook the water off the blade.

”With what? Faith and persistence?” Ursrook sneered. ”That does sound like something humans would say. Unfortunately, the past hundreds of years have taught me that they are worthless as petals in the wind.”

Ashes did not answer but charged at the Magic Slayer with the giant sword in her hand.

After a short but fierce battle, Ashes had a better understanding of the Magic Slayer’s power. The chance of her beating the demon was slim. As the Magic Slayer slowly adapted to his new body, his movements became swifter while his strikes became more powerful and skillful. It appeared that he had regained the control of the pace of the battle, for Ashes felt it increasingly hard to hit her target. Such a consistent yet terrifying change made her truly realize how far a true genius could possibly go.

The only way to kill him was to generate divine power. Ashes did not know how she could have received divine revelation even without a Sigil of God’s Will. She only knew her magic power had responded to her and transformed into a golden thunderbolt at her command.

Nonetheless, one thunderbolt was not powerful enough to cause fatal injuries to the Magic Slayer. It could only blast away half of his black light and add a few new cuts on him. She would have to repeat the thunder strikes to kill the demon, but she did not have enough time.

More importantly, the key to generating divine power was time, and the Magic Slayer would definitely not sit around waiting for her attack to charge.

Therefore, Ashes must create an opportunity to focus and summon enough power.

She knew what she should do next.

Ashes dashed to Ursrook in an instant. After a few more slashes with her sword, she missed once on purpose, thus enticing the Magic Slayer to draw close. Seeing the Magic Slayer stretch out his clawed hands, she charged and ran right into him while blocking the vital parts of her body.

The claws passed through her right chest and came out from her elbow.

At that moment, Ursrook’s expression changed.

Ashes spluttered blood, but at the same time, both of her hands locked the Magic Slayer in an embrace, and she said in a low voice, ”I got you.”

Just at that moment, the dark clouds above them started to spin and soon formed a giant storm!

...

”What did you say? Ashes... became a Transcendent?” Agatha exclaimed over the Sigil of Listening.

After flying west for a few miles, Lightning had finally gotten hold of the headquarters and made an urgent request for reinforcements to the Ice Witch. She felt a little better after Agatha confirmed that the First Army would soon come, then she recounted the incident concerning the Magic Slayer.

”I couldn’t think of anyone else other than a Transcendent who has such phenomenal power,” Lightning said as she slowly rose into the air and gazed upon the jungles behind her. Golden lightning and thunderbolts continued to roar about. Even the Sigil of God’s Will could not sustain such a phenomenon that long.

”Extraordinaires typically evolve through battles. If she did become a Transcendent, she should be able to cope with the Magic Slayer. She made the right decision asking you to leave. Anyway... I’m glad that everyone is safe.”

Lightning fell silent dolefully. Not everyone in the ambush team was fine, but she decided not to disclose the truth at this moment. She then steered the subject to the demons and asked, ”What about the demons? Do they also evolve through battles?”

For some reason, the fear she had felt when she confronted the Magic Slayer lingered on. The wriggling black light around Ursrook’s wounds and his terrifying back gave her an ominous feeling.

”There’s no record of that in the Union, but according to His Majesty’s memory fragments, the demons require high-quality Magic Stones to upgrade their powers,” Agatha replied. ”Of course, battles are also crucial to them. If my deduction is correct, merging with a Magic Stone is quite similar to the witches entering their adulthood. It is a test – a trial concerning magic power. If the attempt is unsuccessful, the demons would suffer a power rebound. Why do you ask?”

”No, nothing...” Lighting said, biting her lip. ”I’m just a bit worried...”

There was a possibility that the Magic Slayer carried a few high-quality Magic Stones with him. However, could he really evolve through battles? When a witch had reached adulthood, she usually spent her entire day in bed, staying focused while awaiting that critical moment.

”Don’t worry. Transcendents don’t particularly rely on their abilities to fight. If the Magic Slayer has no way to subdue Ashes, I believe we’ll soon know who wins the battle,” Agatha comforted.

”Yea, I guess....”

Lightning nodded and was about to return to Maggie when suddenly, a muffled roar of thunder in the distance startled her.

A tidal wave of dark clouds converged, and they formed a spinning gray tower that connected the heaven and earth. She had only seen such a scene in the sea, which typically only appeared when a great storm was about to hit the ocean. By that time, there would be a huge swirl in midair, and any ships that failed to avoid the whirlpool would be torn to pieces by furious waves.

But they were on land.

”What happened?” Agatha asked over the Sigil of Listening, who apparently also heard the noise. ”What’s that sound?”

Lightning said apprehensively with her nails sank into her flesh, ”I wonder when Princess Tilly would send us reinforcements.”

”The God’s Punishment Witches are loading the ’Seagull’. It’ll probably take them 10 to 15 minutes to get there.”

”Fifteen minutes... I see.” Lightning hung up after a short silence.

After she flew back to Maggie, Lightning started to attend to the wounded.

”That thunderbolt scared me, awh. Will Ashes be okay?” Maggie asked.

”She should be fine. She’s now a Transcendent. You just need to take everyone to somewhere safe. You know where you should go, right?”

”Of course, awh. I just need to go around the Taquila ruin and turn to the southwest — Hang on, why me? Are you not coming, awh?”

But as Maggie waited for a reply, all she could hear was silence.