Release that Witch

Agatha froze in shock. She never dreamed that Tilly would have a Stone of Flight and even figured out how to use it. After hesitating for quite some time, she finally spoke, ”We only understood the relationship between magic power and Magic Stones, but we couldn’t produce the Stones.”

”You couldn’t produce them?” Tilly asked surprisedly, ”What does that mean?”

”These Magic Stones were made by demons...” she sighed, ”If we had a reliable source of Magic Stones, we would have been able to transform assistant witches into combat witches, and God’s Punishment Army wouldn’t exist.”

”Made by demons?” The witches couldn’t help but look shocked, while Roland’s expression darkened.

”How much do you know about making Magic Stones?” he asked, ”and how were these Magic Stones made?”

The tone of these two questions sounded a little too blunt, and Agatha initially didn’t want to answer them. However, considering that demons were witches’ real enemies and that this information would eventually come to light, she stifled her remarks on his rudeness and answered slowly, ”There was a strange being among the demons, which we called the Chaos Beast. Its appearance resembled a large flower bud with the height of three or four people, and it crawled slowly on its tentacles. After it swallowed God’s Stones of Retaliation, it could produce a variety of Magic Stones, and the speed of this process depended on the type of Magic Stone being produced.”

”Have you... witnessed this?”

”We caught a live beast once.” She was extremely irritated by the Prince’s skepticism. ”The Bliss Army launched a surprise attack on a remote Devil’s Town where there was a Chaos Beast producing Stones of Light. Witches brought it back to Taquila and made it work for the Holy City - this kind of demon was extremely unintelligent, so it automatically transformed the stones it was fed. Unfortunately, we did not know how to make it produce more powerful stones, and we also didn’t know how to raise it. Six months later, it turned yellow and wilted like an uprooted plant.”

”Afterwards, the Quest Society sent a couple of witches to other Devil’s Towns to investigate. All reports led to the same conclusion - Chaos Beasts were the only way of obtaining Magic Stones, and it would take a longer time to produce more powerful stones. Most demons used Magic Stones in battle; for example, the Mad Demon embedded on its arm a Magic Stone that could instantly excite its body’s energy and give it powerful long-range attacking abilities. All the Magic Stones we had were seized from enemies’ bodies or battalions.

”So this Stone of Flight used to belong to a demon?” Tilly asked curiously.

”As far as I know, only a powerful demon leader could have such a Magic Stone.” Agatha sighed, ”So it probably belonged to the battle spoils of a Transcendent.”

”What about the types of Magic Stones?” Roland frowned, ”Did they always have all types of Magic Stones?”

”Of course not. If that were the case, humans would have been doomed long ago.” She rolled her eyes, ”In the First Battle of Divine Will, most demons did not have Magic Stones. Instead, they relied on their immense bodies and impenetrable armor and attacked human cities with metal spears. This is all recorded very thoroughly in history books. After hundreds of years of war, human territories were conquered bit by bit, until everyone was forced to retreat to the Fertile Plains.” At this, she sighed, ”That was when we were closest to victory. If we had been led by a witch and had a trained platoon of combat witches, the demons wouldn’t have even been able to set foot in the Dawn Region.”

”And then they gained access to all kinds of Magic Stones?”

”I think so. In the Second Battle of Divine Will, their attacks became much more varied.” Agatha’s voice dropped in defeat. ”This time, we were totally crushed in a matter of 35 years. Although the elite Bliss Army was a strong match for the Lords of Avernus, there were many more of the enemy than there were of us. I heard from the elders of the Union that the witches actually had the upper hand for the first ten years, and that one Transcendent could slaughter an entire demon platoon. However, after we began to lose a lot of soldiers, we were forced into the defensive within our city.”

Then, the Prince was silent for a long time and appeared to be considering something very serious.

”He has finally understood the horror of demons,” thought Agatha. ”Not only were their numbers immense, but their evolution was frightening. Who knows what kind of army will emerge in the next attack.”

”Are Mad Demon, Fearsome Demon, and Lord of Avernus categories you assigned to the demons?” Tilly asked as Roland was still lost in thought.

”Yes, these names became widespread in the Second Battle of Divine Will - before they had their Magic Stones, there was not much difference between them besides their appearance.”

”How did they reproduce?”

”Uh... that,” Agatha stuttered, ”I don’t know. It was never recorded in any books or learned from captives - they couldn’t survive for long without the Red Mist, so we didn’t have enough time to understand their language. And the demons who did not need the Red Mist to survive were all low-level beasts that couldn’t communicate.”

”Beasts?”

”Yes. Demons consisted of many different species, but there were two main categories,” she explained carefully. ”One had magic power, and the other didn’t. The latter didn’t need the Red Mist to survive, but their appearance and intelligence were no different from regular animals. Examples of these beasts were Eight-feet Reptiles that carried supplies for the demons, and winged Devilbeasts that could carry demons into the air.”

”Hold on.” the Prince suddenly frowned and asked, ”Did these Devilbeasts you mentioned look like this?” He took a painting out of a drawer and spread it out in front of Agatha.

”This is indeed a Devilbeast.” The painting of the winged demon was incredibly lifelike and was no doubt the work of a witch. ”Have you seen one before?”

”Not too far from here.” Roland sipped his tea and continued, ”I thought it was a demonic beast tamed by the demons. So you’re saying that... they aren’t the same thing?”

”Of course not. Low-level demonic beasts were nothing but food for demons, while powerful mutant demonic beasts were actual threats to demons. When the ’Months of the Demons’ arrived, their attacks usually decreased, giving us some time to recover.” Agatha paused and changed the subject to the nearby enemy, ”If there are Dinotheres around, that means a Demon’s Town can’t be far away... Where are they?”

”Just West of the Mist Forest, behind a large snow mountain.” Roland roughly told her about his investigation, ”It’s completely covered in Red Mist.”

”No, not completely!” Agatha exclaimed, ”Those short stone towers are used to maintain the Red Mist by evaporating a stored liquid, so they need to be refilled periodically. That’s why those demons always hide underground to reduce usage. We can try to capture this battalion!”

”Initiate an attack on the demons?” the witches all gasped in fear.

”There are Multi-eyed Demons on watch, which meant that there is probably a Chaos Beast in the battalion. Otherwise, there would not be high-level demons stationed in such a remote and small battalion.” She bit her lip, ”A Chaos Beast will always preserve its ability to produce its last Magic Stone. Even if it is not a powerful Magic Stone, we can still use it to further the research of the Quest Society, and even find the principle of transforming God’s Stone of Retaliation!”