The New Civilization of Witches

Chapter 52: Heart of Fire

Roland knocked on the door, and when he heard Nightingale's reply, he entered the room. The windows in the room are closed and have thick curtains.

They are only open in the morning and evening to let fresh air in. At other times the windows are closed to keep the room warm.

The only light in the room came from two candles at the end of the bed. The candles lit up quietly and cast many shadows that crossed throughout the room.

Roland went to the bed. Seeing the woman resting on the pillow and the soft bed still closing her eyes, she sighed softly.

"Does the Border Town's defense still hold up?" nightingale asked as she came to Roland and gave him a cup of tea.

“At the moment everything is going smoothly,” Roland replied as he took a sip, taking a little,

but then he returned the cup,

“Since that day, such a large group of demonic beasts last time has not attacked us.

Also, all of our wounded militia members have now recovered and returned, ready for battle.

Their fighting spirit has become... rather high.”

"What's with the broken part of the city wall?"

“Karl rolls logs under the carapace of mixed animals to move them into holes in the wall.

There, he will use a rollers to lift it up and use a wooden frame to hold it upright, making it part of the city wall, ”

Roland knew that Nightingale was trying to distract him by questioning him, so he didn't worry too much about himself.

However, when he stepped into the room, all his attention would always be on the woman lying on the bed.

If we say that the last time we faced a large-scale invasion, we gained a victory that is worth being proud of, there is no doubt that the biggest contributor to that victory was Anna.

If he did not use his fire wall to block the gap in the wall, the consequences would be completely unthinkable.

However, he had not woken up since he fainted in his arms.

"It's been a week" whispered Roland.

Theoretically, if a person is in a coma for one week without food or water, without the possibility of providing him with nutrition through external measures, such as injections, without the possibility of feeding him or her, body functions will die and the brain will gradually experience shock and die.

However, Anna had no signs of poor health – even her appearance was now better than when she fell into Roland's embrace.

Her cheeks were red, her breathing was smooth, and when Roland placed his hand on her forehead, she could feel that she had a normal temperature.

Everything shows that Anna is in good health, but.

"It's also the first time I've faced such a situation," Nightingale stood by Roland's side, shaking her head as she explained,

"He used up all his magic within his body, but now his magic power was already at a saturation point, even richer than before.

If I don't miscalculate, today midnight will be his day of maturity.”

"Do you mean he's gonna be an adult in a coma?"

"No, he'll die in a coma" Nightingale said frankly,

"You must use your will to overcome suffering in your adult life.

If your resistance is broken, the bite of magic power of the witch will destroy her body permanently.”

Roland moved the chair next to the bed and sat down,

“I remember that you once said that when facing a magical counterattack, no matter how painful it was, you will always remain conscious and clear-minded.

Either you will be able to get past these obstacles or you will choose to end your life. ”

“Indeed, exactly like this. Within the Witch Cooperation Association we also have someone who is trusted to draw support from the unconscious while passing through the bite of an evil spirit, "

Nightingale hesitated but then continued,

" it said that he relied on an alchemy substance to sleep, but in the end it was meaningless .. when the time came he was instantly devoured by magic without any chance to resist.

"His pain isn't slowly increasing?"

"No. When your time comes, the pain will strike you like lightning, but how long you have to endure varies from person to person. My sister isn't strong enough, but ..”

he's speechless.

Roland understood what he meant, not knowing how long they had to suffer the pain itself was already some sort of torment, not knowing how long they had to fight –

it was akin to being on an abandoned ship in the middle of a huge storm. . It would be easy to let people let go of the desire to live. During the moment of silence, Roland felt a hand on his shoulder.

“During my homeless and miserable years, I have seen too many deaths.

The only way for a witch to survive is to live far from other humans, living a closed life.

I don't know where the Holy Mountain is, but in our hearts it is an unreachable paradise.” Nightingale's voice became softer than before.

“But Anna is different. Other than the help we can give her, sisters, I've never seen anyone else so worried about witches like you.

He is needed by people, he is valued and treated like a normal person…

Your Majesty, Anna has not even reached her maturity yet, but she has found her Holy Mountain.”

However, this was not the result Roland had expected.

He closed his eyes, and recalled the scene when he met her. He was barefoot, and was only wearing tattered clothes.

He had been living in a cage, but there was not the slightest bit of fear on his face. His eyes resembled the surface of an uncontaminated, clear and calm lake.

He was a flame, but he did not blink like a flame. Memories begin to appear like pictures on a movie roll.

“I've satisfied your curiosity, Sir, so can you kill me now?”

"I never used my power to hurt anyone else."

"I just want to live near you, Your Majesty, nothing more."

"The devil's teeth will never kill me, I will defeat him."

“Are you dreaming?

I'm not going anywhere."

……

Roland had to hold back his soaring thoughts and whispered,

"I'll stay here and accompany him until the last moment."

“I will also stay.. thanks.”.

After the night, when Nana hears that Anna is going through her adult day, she insists on staying.

Roland set aside a room for her and her father who would accompany her at night. Like this, Roland and the two witches sat by the bedside, quietly waiting for the approaching midnight hour.

Regarding Nightingale and Nana, they also had to face the Demon's Bite this winter, but luckily their magic was awakened on a different day.

Otherwise, the three witches would have to undergo their life and death trials at the same time.

Roland estimated that if that was the case, he would not be able to remain calm inside the room. The city did not have a clock tower, so just by candlelight, the passage of time became blurred.

A cold wind blew into the window, so that from time to time they could hear the whistling of the wind. When Roland felt a hint of fatigue strike his heart, Nightingale suddenly said,

"It's started."

Only he could see the flow of magic within Anna's body. He saw that it had become agitated, and the cluster of green flames had become unusually rich, but the white glow in the center had darkened, while all the disturbing magic fused inward.

It seemed to be pulled into the middle while struggling and rolling wildly, but it was useless. Roland was unable to see this change, but he also realized something was amiss.

The flame of the candle started to tremble, even though there was no wind blowing inside the room. The light emitted by the fire became darker, and,

it seemed like all the shadows were engulfed by the flames as it turned – orange-red light turned into a jade-like green flame.

She looked at the woman lying on the bed, but she was still sleeping, without even the slightest change in her face, as if all of this had nothing to do with her.

At this point the candle flame almost goes out – but the flame does not go out. The green flame was like a phagocytic cell that ate an orange flame, plunging everything into darkness.

But shortly after, the fire started again. However, this time the candle flame had turned pure green.

The three people sitting around the bed were immersed in a green light, staring at each other in bewilderment, but in the end no one could understand what was happening.

However, at this moment, everyone's eyes turned to the bed, they heard Anna groan. Anna slowly opened her eyes.

"Melena ..." Roland was shocked, he woke up?

Anna blinked a few times to clear her eyes, but then she smiled at him, stretched out her open right hand, grabbing the Prince.

A mass of green flames leaped from his palm, silently burning.

Roland did not know why, but he could understand what Anna wanted.

He hesitated for a moment, but then he slowly inserted a finger into the flame.

The anticipated burning sensation did not come. Instead, it was like being encased in warm water, feeling soft and warm.