Release that Witch

Farrina, surprisingly, found that her last straw had not fallen upon her yet.

It was hanging by a thin thread only a few feet above her.

The story portrayed by the magic movie was very similar to the ”truth” disclosed by the ancient witch, only that it did not repudiate the church totally. When Farrina saw the main characters make all their efforts to save the church and shoulder the responsibilities of fighting against the enemies from hell, she felt a warmth long since forgotten wash over her.

Her hand balled into a fist when she saw more than half of the executives conspire against the pope, and had a sudden urge to beat them into the ground.

These people forgot the initial purpose of establishing the church and turned the church into a hideous monster.

What she loathed the most was that these executives kept the existence of demons from the public and people who were dedicated to saving the world like Tucker Thor. These faithful warriors did not die for a noble cause as they had believed. Instead, their death merely became a tool that those obnoxious leaders used to keep a firm grip on power.

Farrina should not have put her faith in a church like that.

She did not understand why the King of Graycastle did not reveal the dark side of the church. Wasn’t it a perfect opportunity to further criticize the church and wipe it off people’s memories?

Or was it because he had never taken the church seriously?

While Farrina was dealing with a multitude of thoughts in her mind, the soldiers from Hermes caught her attention.

For a person who had completely lost hopes, nothing could really perturb her mind. However, now, Farrina was touched, and her power slowly came back to her.

As one of the best soldiers in the Judgement Army, Farrina could sense even the slightest change in the surroundings.

She felt the ground underneath began to quaver.

The ground shook as the Judgement Army drew near.

Farrina had lived in Hermes for five to six years, so she was familiar with the pattering of horse hooves against the ground. She could instantly tell the number of the soldiers and how far they were without even looking at them.

There were 16 horses, two units of troops.

But she knew her feeling was not real. The magic movie was just an illusional image. Even though it felt so real, it was still not reality. As she was totally merged into the surroundings, all her senses had sharpened.

Farrina realized something had changed!

Then she could again feel her body.

”What happened?”

But something more incredible occurred.

She saw other people who were watching the magic movie rise in front of her.

Including Joe.

”Farrina, what the...” Joe asked blankly as he turned around.

Suddenly, a sense of evil foreboding possessed her. Farrina made an abrupt snatch in the air but caught nothing. The chair underneath her had disappeared.

”Please, help us! Please!” the guardian and the witch pleaded hysterically. They had now noticed the audience and started to run toward them.

”The traitors are here! Get them!”

”Anyone who resists us will be viewed as their accomplices. We’re going to kill all of you!”

A few more arrows cracked through the air, and people at the front fell.

Most viewers were board members of Chambers of Commerce or members of a prominent family who had never experienced a war. For a second, they were all framed to the spot.

”Damn it!” Farrina swore. What were those witches doing? Was she hallucinating? Farrina would have shouted ”This is a nasty snare set up by the witches. Everyone, follow me” in the past to calm down the audience. However, she fought down the urge, pushed Joe aside and rushed up to the front before all the audience. She yelled, ”Stop! I’m the commander of the Vanguard Battalion of the Judgement Army, Farrina! Who are you?”

The soldiers reined their horses and asked, ”The Vanguard Battalion? How come I’ve never heard of it?”

”Oi, what’s your commander’s name?”

”The Great Priest of the Prival Council, Sir Tayfun,” Farrina lied. In the meantime, she put her hand at her back and gestured the couple to hand her a weapon.

”What?” Hearing Farrina’s answer, the leader of the unit hesitated.

The guard wavered as he heard the name ”Prival Council”. Apparently, this secretive organization had quite a deep influence on church members. Yet Farrina knew it would not completely stop them. The Priest was obviously not as influential as the new throned pope.

She must fight before the other party did!

Unfortunately, the guardian did not really understand her gesture. He simply shuffled toward her with a sword in his hand.

”Why aren’t you wearing the armor of the Judgement Army?” the soldier asked as he got off his horse and motioned his men to come with him.

”Because we’re on a special mission,” Farrina said placidly.

”I’m sorry. I must bring the traitors back to Hermes. This is the pope’s order. Also, I must take you as well. I’m sure Sir Tayfun would understand it.”

”Is there no alternative?”

”No,” the soldier said resolutely while placing his hand on the hilt.

”Alright, I’ll come with you,” Farrina sighed. ”As for Sir Tayfun...”

”What’s the matter with him?”

”He’s dead — only 300 years later.” At these words, Farrina quickly drew out the guardian’s sword and thrust it through the unit leader’s helmet.

Blood spilled all over her.

”C-captain!”

”Kill them!”

Farrina grabbed the unit leader’s weapon and fought fiercely against the other soldiers. The guardian finally realized what was happening and also joined her.

”This woman is — so difficult to deal with!”

”Darn it! Where’s my bow? Shoot her!”

”Don’t let the witch go!”

It was total chaos. Many people fell to the ground, and the audience goggled at the screen, flabberghasted.

Farrina knew there was no chance of winning since she was not wearing an armor. They had 16 people whereas there were only two of them. It was a matter of time that she got injured.

Soon she was wounded, but the pain searing through her did not slow her down. On the contrary, she fought even more ferociously.

For the first time since she had waken up, Farrina felt contented.

”How dare you defy the church!” the soldiers bellowed.

”The church? No... you don’t deserve calling that name!” Farrina said while glaring at them. ”It shouldn’t have been like that. You destroyed it. You failed us!”

She would soon end up dying here, but somehow, Farrina was satisfied with this ending. In that split second, she had finally become the type of person she wanted to be.

However, death did not come.

A few gun shots cracked through the air over the clatter of swords. Farrina turned around and saw the men in black who had been guarding the yard suddenly appear in the magic movie. Their situation immediately changed. The enemies seemed to be frightened by those reinforcements. They got on their horses and soon disappeared in the mountain range, leaving the bodies of their fellow companions behind.

”Thank you...” said the wounded guardian and the witch as they limped to Farrina. ”I thought my father has completely controlled the church, but I didn’t expect that there were still loyal warriors like you.”

”I thought there was no hope, but God hasn’t abandoned us,” the witch said while raising her tear-glazed face and smiled at Farrina. ”You not only saved us but also the entire human race.”

”I...” Farrina opened her mouth but did not know what to say.

”We’re going to Graycastle next and tell their king about the coup that occurred on the Hermes Plateau. We hope it’s not too late,” the guardian said solemnly. ”Run! Never come back to the Holy City again. We’ll meet again once the church’s mistake is rectified. Take care, my friend!”

Light gradually faded out as the couple disappeared from her view.

When the light was on again, Farrina found herself still sitting in the hall on her chair.

Even her wounds as a result of the battle had disappeared.

Was she really hallucinating?

”Good Lord... this is amazing!” The hall exploded into a tidal wave of applause as the audience came back to the present.

”Good heavens! I feel I’m changing the history...”

”What a brilliant masterpiece. I would be willing to pay 100 gold royals to watch it one more time, let alone 50!”

”You scared the hell out of me when you rushed to the front,” Joe said while patting his chest. ”It’s so amazing to conceive such a story and make it so lifelike...”

Farrina did not answer, but she noticed the men in black looked around nervously with guns in their hands, as though something out of their expectation had happened. Two other theatre staff members dashed to the backstage, looking equally flustered.

This did not look like a great success at all.

Farrina held her breath, trying to figure out what was going on based on the few signs she had discovered. Suddenly, she heard distant explosions and people cry and execrate, but these voices were overpowered by the heated discussion in the hall.

This did not look right.

Farrina realized that something was wrong here.

She rose to her feet abruptly. Under the surprised gaze of Joe, Farrina passed the audience at the back and ran out of the room.

”Stop! You... hold on!” the men in black yelled, attempting to stop her, but it was too late.

Farrina ran across the yard and reached the street outside.

Neverwinter was in a state of chaos. Many people were running and shouting. Several residential areas had caught a fire. She heard more explosions in the industrial zone, and the whole city seemed to be out of control.

What scared her most was something above.

Darkness pressed in, and the sun had vanished into the thin air. A huge crimson moon appeared in the sky like a giant eye that snapped open.