The New Civilization of Witches
Chapter 150: Stone Tower
Lightning flew over the Misty Forest.
The world seemed to shrink in his eyes. All the details became unclear in his view, with only various color blocks remaining. The brown ones are the ground, the grey of the mountains, greening the forest, and the blue of the river.
Green, however, occupies most of the landscape it sees.
Unlike the bright and bright green color of the fields in Border Town, the green color here was dark and dense, mixed with some shades of grey and black. The endless dark green scenery stretched from west to north. If Lightning stared at him for a long time, he would feel like he was about to fall to the ground. Therefore, he would have to occasionally turn his attention to the blue sky to eliminate the increasing sense of restraint.
The thick and low clouds behind him, meanwhile, covered the peaks of the Unpassable Mountains and enveloped the Border Town with a thin layer of mist and rain.
Lightning is currently searching for a 450-year-old relic in the Misty Forest. There is no doubt that this is a great exploration. Half a month ago when Roland gave him an assignment, he promised to find the relic with great confidence. Unlike Supervisor Cara, the Magic Snake, who strictly followed the clues in the ancient book with incredible rigor, Prince Roland repeatedly emphasized that the map was nothing more than a reference. He told Lightning to stay safe and that he didn't need to feel sorry for failing to keep his promise. These words made the little girl quite happy.
Lightning knows His Majesty is right. Even if it used to be a large castle, it would eventually be swallowed up by the bushes and become ashes in the 400 years that had passed. But he still wanted to find that place. By finding the Star of David, he could thus see where the Holy City of Taquila was located. After hearing the full story, Lightning instantly knew what Taquila was about.
Descending the relic, it was very possible that he could help the prince uncover the true reason behind the battle between the church and the demons, who were trying to be hidden violently by the church.
It would be much more fun than exploring a new route with his father!
Using a sea charting method, Lightning first drew several grilles on the square parchment and then filled each grid based on the distance he traveled in a given period of time. When all the grids are filled, the task is done.
He has filled half of the grid.
The rain clouds behind approached him faster than he had anticipated. The little girl could even hear the sound of thunder as layers of clouds rolled up. He lowered his altitude and flew towards the forest below with incredible speed.
Just then, he caught a glimpse of a temporary gray-white shadow from the corner of the eye.
For a moment, Lightning was not sure what he was actually seeing. So, he stopped flying, floated in the air and turned around to look at the area he had just passed by.
Nothing special was found.
Lightning wondered if it was an illusion. He decided to check the area once again.
This time, he flew even lower, low enough to see the tree trunk peeling, splitting the twigs and leaves in various shapes from all over the green forest. He went back to seeing the details of the color block.
A few minutes later, Lightning suddenly discovered a small piece of white stone tower sticking out of the layers of branches. Since the spire was cut off and the bottom was hidden within the forest, it was very difficult for him to see it from the sky. If it wasn't for the rain clouds, he would probably have missed it.
Lightning's heart was pounding fiercely on his chest. [Could it be a relic marked on the map?]
He flew around the stone tower but did not see anything unusual. Therefore, he decided to take a closer look.
After landing, the little girl realized that it was not a white stone tower.
Lightning was supposed to record the location of the relic and immediately return to Border Town.
A reasonable voice in his head told him that it was not a good idea to enter the hundred-year-old relic, because the underground poisonous gas was enough to kill him.
But Lightning was rooted to the ground and burned with curiosity. Another bold voice urged him to peek, peeking just once. He looked up at the sky. The cloudless sky now looked sullen. Apparently, heavy rain is on its way.
Lightning finally found a justification for herself to enter the tower: because she felt uncomfortable flying in the rain, she had to go inside the tower to keep herself from getting wet. If he found the basement, he would absolutely not go there alone.
After making up his mind, Lightning, driven by his great curiosity, climbed up to the entrance covered in vines. He took out a dagger from his waist and managed to drill a small hole for him to enter. The wooden door frame had long been broken, and he went to the tower without any difficulty.
The moment the top of the tower had been cut off, Lightning could clearly see everything without a torch. He searched on the first floor of the tower but found nothing. Evidently, anything exposed to sunlight had been erased by the sands of time without leaving any trace. There was nothing left on the ground floor of the tower other than the ruins of the walls. Lightning also found several holes for the stairs that started from floor to ceiling, but no steps were found.
It was easy enough for him to find the passageway to the basement. It was on the southwest side of the ground floor, just across from the entrance of the tower. Lightning guessed that he might be able to find the Holy City of Taquila mentioned in the ancient book if he advanced towards the Barbarian Land in this direction.
As he pondered, he felt something fall down his nose. It was raining. He thus slowly entered the passageway leading to the basement and turned. There, he reached the wooden door. Although the door had not eroded completely, it was quite dilapidated as if it would break into pieces with a gentle touch.
Currently, the thin drizzle turned into heavy rain. It rained heavily on the ground and blurred his eyesight. Although Lightning was standing somewhere dry, a puddle of water immediately overflowed and water began to trickle down the stone steps. To keep his shoes from getting wet, he managed to float above the ground with both of his legs dangling in the air.
Suddenly, Lightning heard a weak and indistinct cry in the rain.
The sound made her hair stand up straight. The little girl looked around in horror. The narrow passageway was filled with nothing but a few dead vines here and there. With the help of the dim light from outside, he opened his bag and took out a portable torch and flint, trying to light a torch for further examination.
At that moment, he again heard the scream. This time, he realized the sound was coming from the wooden door behind. Lightning shuddered in fear and immediately turned around. The torch fell to the ground and water splashed all over his body.
This time, his voice was clearer. Although it was still quite lonely, it was hard enough for him to know that it was a woman.
[Is someone in the basement?] His back was instantly filled with cold sweat thinking this. [How is that possible? The stone tower should be a relic of more than 400 years old. Back then in the middle of nowhere deep within the Misty Forest, who could come here other than me?]
“Please me..”.
By the time the woman shouted for the third time, her voice became quite clear. It was behind the wooden door. Someone really asked for help. Lightning swallowed hard. He placed his hand on the doorknob carefully and then gently pushed the door open. The wet, sticky wooden door fell backwards and hit the ground, accompanied by a muffled sound.
A tall and dashing figure appeared before him all of a sudden!
Lightning felt all of his blood freeze. That figure looked exactly like the demon that Soraya had drawn. In the gloomy light, Lightning sensed that the demon was also looking at her. His large stature leaned slightly forward. In his hand, which only had three fingers, there was a sparkling axe with a deep red bloodstain. In a second, he recalled the day when these demons slaughtered the witches of the Witch Cooperation Association.
“Ah..!” Lightning screeched over his shrill voice. He threw the flint in his hand at the demon and shot out as fast as he could. He flew straight into the rain and headed towards Border Town.
However, Lightning did not notice that the stone hit the demon in his chest with a sharp and clear voice. Several small cracks immediately appeared around the affected area and then began to extend all over the demon's body. The demon gradually shattered into pieces as more cracks appeared. Eventually it was reduced to white ash which eventually melted into wind.
