Witch trials

Game.

Qi Yifang cautiously, blearily followed behind Phoebe: "Are we really not going to save the Queen? She even gave you her permission, so her situation should be critical, right? Why don't we go up to Sky City to see ......"

"He gave me access because he knew I had an advantage over him." Phoebe interrupted Qi Yifang's broken speech as she swept an afterimage of Qi Yifang, "He should have done that a long time ago."

"His soft, defensive style of play, which never wins, only wears itself out."

"Relying on [Shield] can't be called weakness ......" Qi Yifang's voice of defense faded under Phoebe's emotionless gaze, "We also got second in the ......"

"If this is the right tactic, why did Heart put me on the team?" Phoebe asked lightly, "Why did you give me the status of Chairman's heir and tactician's authority?"

"The fact that Heart is doing this can only mean that - knowing himself that he can't win that way - he's using me to help him seek victory, and doesn't that just prove that what I'm doing is more right than what he's doing?"

Qi Yifang was anxious and uncomfortable: "I still don't understand, the Empress is obviously still capable of fighting, she is so young, why is she in such a hurry to give you the Guild to inherit?"

"Is she leaving the guild for something?"

"He's not leaving the guild, he's trying to get out of the game, he wants to get away from it all now." Phoebe replied in a light tone, "So he's been looking for an heir to take over the guild, first the witches and then me."

"Leave the game?" Qi Yifang asked incredulously in return, "There's a way to leave the game?"

Phoebe replied in a flat tone, "Of course we do, don't we have a lot of people leaving the game around us every day?"

Qi Yifang was confused: "I'm around? How did they leave? How come I don't know?!"

"What's the best way to get out of the game other than winning the league and making a wish at the end to get out of the game?"

"Die." Phoebe yawned lazily, she looked at the frozen Qi Yifang with that gentle smile on her face that comes with prayer, "You can leave when you're dead, have you forgotten?"

Qi Yifang stopped dead in his tracks, his expression blank for a few seconds before he realized what Phoebe meant by that.

"Are you saying ......" Qi Yifang questioned Phoebe incredulously, "that the Empress wants to die?!"

"What else?" Phoebe shrugged, "What reason other than death would motivate a ruler at the peak of his power to seek an heir?"

"Why ah?!" Qi Yifang was going crazy, his heart and mind were shaken and his pupils were lax, "Why is the Empress seeking death?!"

Phoebe, with that pitying and careless smile on her face, replied, "Because he's weak."

"No matter how many [shields] he finds to protect himself, he's still too weak to face here, to face himself anymore, in the game or out of the game."

"Sister Phoebe!"

Far away, across the hall of nuns, a man in a bishop's habit is calling out to Phoebe, who is waving his hand, his voice tinged with urgency, "Please come quickly!"

"The Pope has been attacked on Sky Island! The witches are attacking all the Inquisitions, we need your help!"

Phoebe's eyebrows flicked up, "The Pope was attacked?"

If her sources are correct, this Pope is the same priest who was promoted to the rank of priest who prosecuted All Baola, the leader of a generation of holy women.

Because this person innovatively put forward the concept of [Witch's Heart], can be said to be multiplied to expand the scale of the witch trials, increased the speed of the Holy See through the trial of witches and the families of witches enrichment, but also succeeded in the year with the prestige of the whole Baola as witches suppressed away, further laid the status of the Holy See, can be said to be the Holy See's great merit, so the promotion speed is like sitting on a rocket, and was quickly Promoted to Pope.

Although this Pope was hated, he was very life-thirsty, and it was said that he had quite a few secret weapons against witches, and quite a few witches and their families went to sneak attack him, and no matter how well prepared they were, and no matter how horrible the sorcery they used against him, they all did nothing to him, and instead, they died a horrible death, while he was unharmed - it sounds like a big boss with stacked [Immunity] and [Bounce] buffs. [Immunity] and [Rebound] buffs, it was already very rare for anyone to attack this Pope who seemed to have armor around him.

This attack is the first time I've heard of it.

...... And it's still an attack on Sky Island.

The ordinary NPCs of this world have already been shocked by the majesty of the Pope who has not been able to share in the attacks of the witches, and the existence of this Pope has made them even more convinced that God exists and is blessing the people of the Holy See, and the more and more they dare not disobey the Holy See, not to mention those who can only ascend to the Island in the Sky under the screening of the Holy See, and there won't be anyone who can't think of going to attack the Pope.

Unless this attacker of the Pope has the strength and confidence to kill this Pope in a single glance.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes - she suspected Heart had done this attack.

But if this attack was done by Heart, this Pope should not have been simply attacked, he should have been killed - and at the level of a broken body and a death by a thousand cuts.

So what happened? What's on Sky Island? Why isn't this Pope dead?

Sky Island.

Heart is half-kneeled by a group of men, a pile of playing cards scattered around him, a messy knife wound on his face, and a pile of used-up game props on the floor.

His shoulder-length hair slid down the side of his face to his godlike features, his eyes brimming with red and purple as he looked at them in the dim candlelight, and on his lips were dried blood stains, which he licked away before he slowly lifted his head to look across the room at the man sitting in the chair - a man dressed in all the Pope's lines, with a face that was so familiar to him, so familiar that he couldn't help but start to laugh, and so he did.

"No insolence to the Pope!" Someone angrily raised his scepter and gave him a sharp blow to the face.

So he was slapped away from his face, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, and Heart slowly pressed his tongue against his cheeks, which were sore from the handle of the scepter's head, and laughed more and more uncontrollably, almost to a kind of madness.

It was just too funny, he hadn't dreamed of this scene in how many years, and he was actually seeing it once again in this fake game.

"You ......!" The man was about to fight when he was stopped by the Pope, who was seated inside a wide sofa chair, raising his hand.

The loving, middle-aged Pope looked at Heart and said with an inexplicable sense of pity: "He is my child, after all, he doesn't have to be."

"But he attacked you! Your Holiness!" The man next to him accused with righteous indignation, "This filthy son of a witch tried to kill us all!"

"If we weren't blessed by God, we'd be dead by his hand!"

Heart flicked his eyelids open and he looked up at the panel of monster books that was spinning above the heads of the Pope and the group of cardinals:

[The Witch Trial Monster Book Refresh - Pope (Master of the Sky City) (1/4)]

[Attack Value: Attacks against members of the Order are weakened, weakening one member of the Order by fifteen percent at a time, and attacks against witches and the Inquisition are enhanced, weakening the opponent by twenty percent of their blood at a time (Combat Style has been unlocked by Battle)]

[Attacks: Sacred Scepter, Word of Judgment]

[Weakness: ? (unexplored)]

[System alert: Because of player Heart's persistent attack, unlock the first page of the Witch Trial Monster Book, The Pope]

[Note: Should the npc be elevated to Pope for leading the period of witch trials, gaining the Oracle Blessing Shield, which ignores the attacks of all males in the area ruled by the Church and all witches that have been tried, and can trigger rebound attacks under special circumstances.]

[System Alert: Player Heart, since you are both a tried witch and a male in the area ruled by the Holy See, every attack you make on the Pope will trigger the rebound mechanism and be rebounded back to you, so please be careful with your attacks].

[The Witch Trial Monster Book Refresh - Cardinal (Noble Guest of Sky City) (2/4)]

[Attack Value: cannot attack the Pope, one attack against a member of the Church can weaken a member of the Church by ten percent of their blood, and an attack against witches and the Inquisitioned is enhanced to weaken the opponent by fifteen percent of their blood at one time (Combat Style has been unlocked by combat)]]

[Attacks: gavel, recitation of doctrine]

[Weakness: ? (unexplored)]

[System alert: Due to player Heart's persistent attack, unlock the second page of the Witch Trial Monster Book, "The Cardinal"]

[Note: Because this npc has gained the Oracle Blessing Shield due to the numerous trials of witches, it can ignore the attacks of all males in the area ruled by the Church and all witches who have been tried, and can trigger rebound attacks under special circumstances.]

[System Alert: Player Heart, because you are both a tried and tested witch and a male in the area ruled by the Holy See, each of your attacks on the Cardinal will trigger the rebound mechanism and be rebounded back to you, so please be careful with your attacks].

"That was ...... so much fun." Heart cocked his head and looked up, his eyes were amazingly bright and his face was not at all disheveled, instead he looked at the familiar face of the Pope with a smile, "It's been a long time, my father."

"After all these years, I can't believe I'm under your thumb again."

"So guess this time ......"

Heart rotated his wrist, a playing card flashing from two fingers on his hoisted right hand, while he ruffled his eyelids and smiled almost lethargically, "How soon will I destroy your island?"

Meanwhile, the Witch Zone.

Having repulsed the Clerics Quan Baola took Liu Jiayi back inside the Witches' Quarter, where she spread out a map and began seriously discussing the next attack with those around her.

Liu Jiayi watched from the sidelines, she looked on, suddenly furrowed her brows and tugged on the corner of Quan Baola's coat, "Can I ask a question?"

All Baola turned to her, "What's the problem?"

"This location is the core location of the Holy See, right, below is the Pope's Palace, and above it hovers the City in the Sky, generally speaking this place should be attacked first, right? As long as we hit this place, the main members of the Holy See will all be annihilated, and the remaining Inquisition will not be a climatic situation, then we can slowly clear them all." Liu Jiayi asked in puzzlement, "Why have all your attack routes bypassed this place?"

The look on Quan Baola's face stilled, the rest of the witches didn't have as much control over their emotions as Quan Baola did, and a few of their faces sank for a moment.

Liu Jiayi keenly realized that something was wrong: "This place, is there something bad to fight?"

All Baola sulked for a moment, but opened his mouth, "Everyone who has ever been on this island is immune to the witch's attacks, and even bounces off of our attacks in some cases."

"The last time I prepared a small team to go on the island once." Quan Baola's purple eyes dimmed for a moment, "Everyone gave it their best shot, but it was ......"

A witch next to her whispered through gritted teeth, "As long as a witch has been tried, all attacks against them are null and void!"

"I've tried to board the island many times over the years since I defected to the Witches' Quarter." All Baola said in a very soft voice, "After realizing that the witches couldn't make it to the island, we even put together a team from the males that were rescued, but there was still no way to attack them."

"Some say that the City in the Sky is the closest thing to heaven, and that they were blessed by God for judging us and doing the right thing, and that God gave them the Island in the Sky to protect those who go on it from us wicked witches. "

Liu Jiayi reacted almost instantly - this island should be big and small bosses with armor stacked on them.

And the gauntlet specifically targets witches.

Liu Jiayi contemplated as he looked at the floating island on the map - if witches who had been judged couldn't attack, and the males of the local residents couldn't either, then there were only two identities that could fight bosses in this map.

The first is from within the Church.

The second is a witch who hasn't been tried yet - like her.

But both identities are a bit of a pain in the ass Liu Jiayi narrowed her eyes slightly - no wonder the witches have been pressing on this area, it's an area that was formed entirely against them.

"Witches like me who have not been judged should be able to attack them." Liu Jiayi spoke calmly, "But it's rare for someone like me to join the Witch District on my own before I've been judged, and it's simply not possible to gather into a team to attack the Upper Sky Island, is it?"

All Baola is quiet for a moment, then nods, "Yes."

Girls who have not yet been judged, even if they already have the signs of a witch, that will not easily defect and join the witch district, they will try to do everything possible to cover themselves until the moment of judgment comes position.

"People within the Order are also capable of attacking the Upper Sky City." Liu Jiayi said thoughtfully, "But the people within the Order are too dangerous for you to contact, and even if you can turn one or two insiders, you won't be able to form a scale and form a battle group."

But again, the City in the Sky is the core functioning area of the entire Order, and if they don't fight their way up, the more vetted witches there are, the more Cardinals will qualify to ascend, and the more people they can't fight against, who have armor.

There are two entry points now, the first being from within the Church.

There is a very good entry point within the Church, and that is - the resident group of nuns on Sky City.

All Baola seemed to have considered this issue long ago, as she narrated in a clear and organized manner, "We have tried contacting the girls on the Sky City, and after they went up there, they could never come down again, this is not like what the Holy See had said to them in the beginning, and it is not like what the Pope had said to them before, that they should be allowed to freely pick their partners up there, and choose the one amongst them that they preferred. and then be happy with each other forever, but to be picked by a different man every week, or even every day, and then accompany each other."

"But they can't leave Sky City, they can't contact the outside world, and naturally they can't tell the girls who are still trying to get up to Sky City under the island about the sights up there."

"And you witches know what it's like up there though." Liu Jiayi calmly finished adding the latter part of Baola's sentence, "But when you guys talk, no one believes you at all."

"And in such an extreme situation, the City of the Sky, as the only purgatory for the female inhabitants who have not yet been judged, their best retreat other than the witches, someone who denigrates the City of the Sky is equivalent to denigrating their last way of life, and they won't believe it."

All Baola did not speak, there was a stillness and mastery in her demeanor, her eyes were slightly downcast as if she was a little sad, and after a long interval she spoke softly, "Why is it that people don't want to believe what the witch says?"

"People would rather believe in a random trial by the Church than a witch risking her life in a struggle, why?"

"Because no one will listen to what the judged have to say, and will feel that the other side is all about arguing about their crimes." Liu Jiayi replied in a light tone, "No one will listen to the Church either when you hit the Sky City and wash away all the Inquisitorial Courts in the entire Kingdom."

All Baola took a deep breath, "But hitting the Sky City is a big problem, although we can contact the girls up there, they have never swallowed an eel, are not witches, and have no ability to fight back in the face of the clerical group, and are so tightly controlled by the clerical group that it's hard for us to even see them."

"But it is indeed an entry point." Liu Jiayi changed her tone, "There's another entry point for us to use."

All Baola was stunned, "What entry point?"

Liu Jiayi looked up and couldn't help the tone of her eyes begin to flutter a bit as she faced the purple eyes of the full Baola glittering and staring at her, "But I'm not sure you'll be able to accept using these people as aids to cut in."

"-is a group of men who have been used as reserve witches and transported from foreign lands."

"They're not native and not affiliated with the Church, so the attack on these people on the island should be effective."

"A male from another country?" All Baola nodded very lightly as she replied seriously, "I will give the offer some serious thought, but there is another, quicker and more direct solution on our side."

Liu Jiayi asked, "What solution?"

"[Heart of the Witch]." Quan Baola's tone was solemn, "We have a book here [Witch's Guidelines], in it, it is written that there will be a powerful witch who, quenched by extreme pain and hatred, quenched her originally insubstantial soul into a ruby heart, and as long as this heart is placed on top of the highest Tower of Babel in the Sky City, the light emitted from the heart will break through the all the protection of the Holy See, and at that time we can ......"

A nearby witch interrupted Baola's excited narration by raising her voice, looking at Baola with great concern and seriousness, "[The Witch's Heart] is just a legend, Baola, you're not allowed to read it anymore!"

"If we find out again that you secretly read this legendary story and privately use some so-called agonizing cultivation to harden your soul, then there will be consequences for you!"

Quan Baola couldn't help but argue, "But everything else in the [Witch's Code] is useful, and we've learned a lot of witchcraft from it, and if the [Witch's Heart] in the [Witch's Code] really exists, then with just one heart, we all won't have to work so hard anymore, and we'll be able to succeed in one attack on the island!"

"But the extraction requirement for [Witch's Heart] is [Soul Departure]!" The witch who was arguing with Baola couldn't help but raise her voice as well, "That means you're going to die! Baola!"

"You're going to die and your soul becomes a heart so we can get your [Witch's Heart]!"