Chapter 159

“……Elf woman.”
“Pardon?”
Suddenly, the regional representative reacted to my words. His face was glistening with tears.
“I’m looking for an elf woman whose hand is half blown off. The Witch of Resentment. If you promise not to get involved with this prideful fool, I’ll allow you to launch the missile.”
At my words, the representative’s face lit up immediately.
“Let me reiterate, we must capture that witch alive.”
“Understood! I’ll keep that in mind!”
The representative jumped to his feet and dashed out of the room before I could say anything more.
“……”
Did he think I might retract my statement?
With the other party suddenly bolting for the door, I was momentarily at a loss for what to do and turned my gaze away. Roni was still kneeling there.
“Thank you! Saintess!”
“Ah, yes……”
“Then I’ll double-check one last time!”
And Roni sprang up and hurried out before I could say anything.
“……”
Now, in the command room, it was just me, Aurora, Linea, and Rina—four of us left.
“Uh……”
The awkward silence felt peculiar, making me think I needed to say something.
“Did I do well?”
“……”
But it seemed the other three were unsure whether it was the right thing to do or not.
It wasn’t long before flames soared beyond the wall.
*
“Let’s be more thorough with the leveling work than usual.”
The representative’s first stop after leaving the command room was the second command room behind the wall. It was where the commanders were gathering, planning to deploy and launch missiles.
“Did the Saintess grant permission to fire?”
The oldest-looking one among them, perhaps even older than the regional representative, asked. His greying hair spoke of time spent under the sun, resulting in extensive skin aging, yet his posture remained upright, and his shoulders were broad and solid. His face was smeared with black grime, as if he had just come from working.
“To be precise, it’s a limited permission. The Saintess does not intend to capture all witches. Specifically, she’s looking to capture only the ‘Witch of Resentment.’”
“A specific witch… So, is that why the previous witch was captured? To gather information?”
“That seems to be the case.”
The representative nodded seriously.
“She mentioned an elf woman with a hand half blown off. I don’t know her exact appearance, but with that description, we should be able to identify her. Don’t you think?”
Sending a subtle look full of hope towards the older commander, he nodded in agreement.
“We will utilize all our resources. …But what if that witch isn’t found here?”
“Regarding that……”
The representative paused for a moment, deep in thought.
“Even if we conclude that she’s ‘not present,’ there will be no way to prove whether she truly isn’t here or if we simply couldn’t find her. In that case, what kind of judgment the Saintess will make will remain to be seen.”
“……We must find her by any means necessary.”
“Indeed, that would be the best course of action.”
The regional representative nodded.
“Even disregarding the fact that the new missile warhead has a completely different method of detonation compared to existing explosives, it’s something that absolutely cannot be lost from the perspective of any race in Human Society. The Saintess must be adequately convinced through this demonstration. Therefore, no matter what happens, we must not go against the Saintess’s requests.”
The fundamental materials required cannot be created without the church, or rather, without the current Saintess. Moreover, it would not hold if that girl, who might become the head of a new denomination, were absent. No one knew how long it would take to produce, but getting the utmost collaboration during the production period was imperative.
“Yes, we’ll deploy every means at our disposal to ensure we can closely monitor the target.”
The older commander nodded with a stern expression.
*
Thus, a large-scale reconnaissance operation was launched, mobilizing all military capabilities of the Gnome District.
Of course, it might be misleading to simply call this a ‘reconnaissance operation.’ Typically, a reconnaissance mission involves infiltrating a scouting party to observe the situation and having the returning team report their detailed observations.
However, the Gnomes, who were overwhelmed by the largest military force ever gathered, had no time for that.
To be precise, there was no time to give authorization for the use of what might be the most potent explosives created in the Gnome District to the Saintess. The Saintess’s official stay was for two days. Before the next day arrived, she would board a plane back to the 21st District.
Of course, even if that happened, it wouldn’t mean the new warheads would never see use. The Saintess could always visit again, and experiments with explosives could be conducted in other regions.
However, doing that would forfeit the opportunity to confirm the effectiveness of the explosives at a Magic Point. While proving its efficacy later would be possible, it wouldn’t hold the same meaning!
Most Gnomes lived in the Gnome District. Unless they had to live in the Human District for work-related reasons, the majority resided in the Gnome District.
And the ones who initially developed those bombs were Gnomes, who alone understood the true power of these explosives. They might have borrowed technology from humans to develop and improve many bombs, but very few of those humans, who received the knowledge, would truly appreciate the beauty of the explosion and empathize deeply with it.
The essence of the explosion—remarkable for its astonishing power without the use of any magic—
Creating heat balls like the sun, vaporizing the surrounding area with flame exceeding 180 million degrees Celsius, blasting away the clouds in the sky, and sending magnificent mushroom clouds rising—
Would these humans, who left such capabilities rotting in a weapons depot, ever resonate with the grand beauty of this new weapon?
Thus, this weapon had to be launched first from the place of its origin. It had to be evaluated in front of the artisans who engineered it.
So the Gnomes pushed themselves to their limits to test this new warhead.
First, they bombarded every location where a Demon army might exist with shells, missiles, and aerial bombs.
They fired missiles first, then unleashed shells. Cruise missiles ascended into the sky, circling overhead, then dropped immediately after the shells fell on the target, obliterating everything left on the ground.
Ballistic missiles, soaring high, fell almost vertically and detonated, baking any targets that might be underground with heat pressure bombs while shaking the earth above. If the ground was unstable, that area would collapse into a pit, swallowing everything above.
Squadrons of bombers flew overhead, dropping aerial bombs to once again clean the ground. Any remaining beasts or demons that attempted to escape would be annihilated by thousands of high-velocity shell guns installed on top of the wall firing thousands of high-explosives.
The spectacle would surely send shivers down the spine of anyone present, even if they weren’t a Gnome.
Yes, this was the unique aesthetic they had honed over hundreds of years.
Gnomes had always poured their hearts into explosions, regardless of the type of explosive used.
*
“Hmm……”
Watching the scene outside the window, I couldn’t help but let out a small moan. The sheer overwhelming firepower of the Gnomes felt almost tangible, as if the heat itself reached out from outside. It was like they weren’t considering the aftermath at all. After unleashing all this, what would they do when the next invasion came?
Until now, no witch had died due to conventional weapons. Witches could hide anywhere within a Magic Point if they so desired. If they could be defeated by common weapons, it wouldn’t make sense that no witch had ever been killed in the last few hundred years.
Knowing this, I couldn’t help but worry. What if the Witch of Resentment got caught up in that and swept away? The explosions were truly terrifying.
At the same time, I was also anxious about what was to come.
Just how powerful was this new weapon utilizing Holy Power that the Gnomes were so excited about? Lacking the mathematical and physical knowledge, I barely understood when Roni presented the details last time, but I did catch that increasing its size would drastically enhance its power.
Just what kind of weapon was the warhead attached to that missile?
“Well, I suppose I don’t need to worry about the witch being harmed. As long as there’s a Magic Point, she’s not likely to die from something like that.”
Rina, who had been looking out of the window from a little distance away, said that. Since she wasn’t even looking at me, it seemed she had heard my groans.
“I think so too, but……”
What I think and what I see with my own eyes are different things.
“Well, it’s actually a good thing this time, isn’t it? I mean, I see places where the ground has caved in. This way, I won’t have to go out and be dragged underground again like last time.”
Relieved……?
I wasn’t sure. If something was hidden underground, there could be casualties. Having experienced that once, there was no guarantee there wouldn’t be a second or third time.
But I was already too far into this dilemma to alter my course of action. The area beyond the wall was almost being turned to ashes.
“Are you thinking of going out again this time?”
Aurora, who was watching the spectacle alongside me, asked with a face full of worry. Last time I went out and returned with armor riddled with holes. Not just holes, but also splattered with blood.
If it were an ordinary person instead of me, they probably wouldn’t have been able to treat themselves properly and would have died. If I hadn’t had Baal’s blessing, I couldn’t have endured the initial pain and would have lost focus. I might not have even been able to rationally deduce that I needed to heal myself.
Actually, I might not have even been able to move due to the pain right after waking up.
Even with all that power, I was unable to find a way to escape until Jian, Rina, Andrea, and Uncle Paul came to rescue me. Had there been any delay in the judgment of those above, I might have experienced a worse fate.
“I have to go.”
But still, I had things to do. I had to resolve the matters concerning the Elven District, and even if I captured all the witches, there were still demons left. I might have to be stuck at the church for a long time even after capturing all the demons.
And regrettably, none of those tasks could be handed off to someone else simply because I didn’t want to do them.
Aurora remained silent, simply pressing her lips together tightly.
Thud, thud, the sounds I heard through the thick reinforced glass gradually faded. It seemed the leveling work was nearing completion.
The dust that had obscured my vision slowly began to clear.
Thud-thud-thud, the sounds of helicopter propellers spinning were heard, and many helicopters could be seen flying in the sky. The propellers churned, forcing air downward, causing the rising dust to swirl chaotically.
It was unclear whether it was due to the soil being inherently moist from being a forest or the fallen trees still occupying the area, but surprisingly, the dust beneath the helicopters quickly dissipated.
Once the dust settled, the scene revealed was terrifying in various ways.
Grounds that were dug up and collapsed became nearly unrecognizable as the forest, with some areas devoid of trees altogether.
Even if wild animals had lived there, they probably couldn’t have survived.
Of course, demons and beasts had probably been swept away in the onslaught, but—
Once the rising dust cleared, revealing what lay beneath, there were an astonishing number of Magic Points densely covering the ground beyond what I had seen at the wall last time.
I wasn’t sure if it precisely doubled as I had only heard reports.
However, just judging by what I could see, I felt it might be even more than that.
“……”
Hmm……
Normally, I would have contemplated going out myself, but with numbers like these, I was somewhat hesitant.
It was said that in the Gnome District, the number of human soldiers was relatively low. No, not just low, most of the deployed soldiers were Gnomes. Even within the walls, there were many small areas accessible only to Gnomes.
Furthermore, the non-human races in this world were far fewer than humans.
Of course, the Gnomes compensated for their small numbers with their firepower, but……
It seemed that given the current situation, using this new bomb was unavoidable.
I could only hope that all those helicopters would manage to locate the Witch of Resentment properly.
*
“……”
“……”
“……”
“She’s not showing up.”
The one to break the continued silence was the Witch of Desire. In a thick voice, she spoke as she scratched her neck, while the Witch of Resentment glared at her.
“Maybe she slipped out? If she only needed herself, she could somehow defend her territory and might’ve fled the area.”
The Witch of Hatred, lounging without a chair with her legs crossed, spoke in a bored tone.
“I already told you that wouldn’t happen, didn’t I?”
“Oh, it seems you’ve developed some faith all of a sudden. Remembering the events from 500 years ago, are we? Planning to return to being a Saintess?”
With a grind, the Witch of Resentment gritted her teeth.
“I am the woman who first devoted my life to them. I’ve served them longer than you idiots, and I know far more.”
“So that’s why you trust the Saintess so much? That she’ll definitely take action? Hilarious.”
Of course, the expression of ‘Hatred’ wasn’t one of amusement. In fact, if this being were to smile at anything, it would truly be a cause for surprise among the other witches.
“And let’s not forget, you were the one who checked the information beforehand. It wasn’t because you wanted to come to a stronghold or anything. You came here because you don’t trust me. Look at this. Honestly, do you think we could launch a proper attack against such firepower?”
“Then, are you suggesting we go to a wall that’s completely defenseless? Even if we win, it’s a place with no gain? It takes much longer to create new Magic Points without utilizing existing ones. Do you really want to spend that much time with me? Should I get emotional?”
“……”
The Witch of Resentment ultimately decided to cease speaking to the ‘Hatred’. Continuing to talk here would only cause her to be further tainted by that ‘Hatred’. For a witch, being influenced by another witch’s aura was a source of shame.
To mention it directly, merely cooperating like this was already an embarrassing matter.
“No.”
Listening to their conversation, the ‘Desire’ spoke up.
“The resistance is much greater than usual. This is proof that the Saintess is genuinely inside. The cases at other walls corroborated this.”
Grinning, he then turned his back and laughed.
“So, we just need to draw out the Saintess? If that’s the case, we ought to take action ourselves. If we came to capture witches, the Saintess should certainly come out as well.”
“……”
“Hmm, there’s some merit in that.”
The ‘Resentment’ fell silent in response to the ‘Desire’s’ words, while ‘Hatred’ for once agreed with someone else’s stance since coming here today. And she fixed her gaze on the Witches of Resentment.
“So, what do you plan to do? Now that we’ve come this far, no, since we’re reluctantly working together, I need to take something back. Otherwise, it would leave a very bad taste in my mouth.”
“You sound just like me.”
“Say that again, and I’ll kill you before the Saintess.”
While ‘Hatred’s’ words were deadly serious in content, her tone oddly resembled casual chit-chat about a neighbor’s puppy giving birth. ‘Desire’ merely shrugged in response.
“But the Saintess is always followed by her entourage, isn’t she?”
“In that case, it’s simple. Just keep a sufficient distance and spread out. There are plenty of Magic Points. This battlefield is advantageous for us. No matter how much the Gnomes try, they don’t have any weapons capable of destroying Magic Points.”
“……”
The silent Witch of Resentment was stared at intently by both the Witches of Desire and Hatred.
“……Fine. There’s no point in pondering further since no solution will arise. But,”
The Witch of Resentment raised her gaze, glaring at the two witches while speaking.
“If you need assistance, you must cooperate. Should you fail to do so, it’ll render my time spent with the likes of you utterly meaningless.”
“You sound just like me.”
“Say that again, and I’ll ensure you die first.”
The Witch of Resentment spoke through gritted teeth, while glaring at ‘Hatred’.