Chapter 313 (1/2)

Chapter 313 The Battle of the Soul

She hadn’t felt such a warm sunshine in a long time.

Garcia stood in the garden and took in a deep breath, inhaling the smell of rosemary coming along the breeze.

This was no longer the Kingdom of Eternal Winter; besides the forever frozen soil and the non-aromatic Winterflower, that country in the extreme north really had nothing to offer. Within that castle’s backyard, lumps of meat and pig guts would always be hung out to dry in the open air, making it impossible to get rid of the awful smell. This place was also not the Port of Clear Water, with its familiar taste of salt and its moist air, where if she closed her eyes, she could hear waves breaking over the beach.

This is the palace of Graycastle, she thought.

But… its appearance was somewhat different from what she remembered.

Garcia sat down at the central flowered pond, gently caressing the slightly rough rocks – back in her childhood, while playing hide-and-seek, she had fallen to the ground and fiercely hit her head against the stones on the side of the flower pond. Since then her father had ordered for all the stones to be broken into small pebbles. As a result, it was then impossible to hurt oneself when stumbling, but it had also become impossible to hide oneself behind them.

At that time, she remembered, that besides herself, Gerald and Timothy had also been present. Seeing their younger sister fall down both of them had become very frightened. To coax her to stop her sobbing, one by one they’d made themselves fall and deliberately knocked their head against the stones at the side of the pond. Of course, afterward, they were ruthlessly beaten up by their father.

It was a period in her life that Garcia thought she would never recall again. It was like a secret hidden beneath a tree, deeply buried in the earth. But now that she’s returned to this familiar place, she discovered that the scenery hasn’t faded in the slightest. After digging it out of the earth, it still appeared just as vivid and lifelike as in the past.

It seemed as if everything has returned back to the time in her childhood.

“As it turns out, this is your world,” an unknown voice sounded from behind her, “As a resting place, it’s a pretty good choice.”

Garcia turned around, and saw a woman dressed in white coming from the direction of the flowered pond. She had a pair of light red eyes and long, snow white hair, her facial features were so delicate that they seemed to have been carved, and her voice was ethereal and melodious, all in all she was like a god who had fallen into the mortal world.

The face of the Queen of Clear Water completely darkened as she stated, “You are the Church’s witch.”

“My name is Zero, the word ‘witch’ doesn’t suit me,” she laughed. “I’m called a ‘Purified’. My blood, and that of those fallen, is entirely different.”

“A Purified? That’s just the term the Church uses for the toys they’ve raised,” Garcia said coldly, “What kind of trick is this scenery? Does your ability allows you to create illusions?” She suddenly picked up a stone and squeezed it in her hand. “It’s just an illusion! None of this will fool me!”

The Queen’s cry traveled far, but the scenery remained entirely unaffected. When she opened her hand, she saw that the stone in her hand wasn’t crushed, instead, her skin was cut by its hard edges and corners. The pain bursting from the wound seemed clear and real.

“It appears that you aren’t completely unaware of witch abilities. That makes things much easier,” Zero grasped the hem of her skirt and gave a slight bow, “Welcome to the World of Consciousness, I call this place the Battlefield of Souls. It is here where we will carry out our fight. The winner gets everything, the loser loses all… Just as God proclaims in the Holy Book.”

Souls… battlefield.

Garcia stared blankly, trying to digest what she had just heard when she suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from her lung. She didn’t know from where the pike had come, but somehow Zero had had directly thrust it into her chest. Her breathing immediately turned heavy, when she tried to open her mouth and shout, not even the smallest of sounds came out. Meanwhile, Zero turned the pike around and fiercely pulled it back, blood came spraying out of the wound, soon covering half of her body. Garcia sank to her knees, trembling as she tried to cover her wounds, but due to the enormous blood loss, her consciousness had already began to blur.

The next moment she found herself standing at her former place in perfect condition. The shadows standing a few meters away from her, as she had never left her place to begin with.

What happened? Garcia opened her mouth wide, taking in a deep breath, an illusion? Her hands were still fiercely pressing against her chest, and she could still feel an aching pain at the place the wound from a moment ago had been. Lowering her head, she saw a large spray of blood scattered around her feet.

“This is the basic rule. One’s consciousness isn’t immortal,” Zero explained, spreading out her hands, “The pain of every death will feel real to you. It will slowly consume your mental and physical strength, and when this sense exceeds your limits it will be time for your eternal rest.