Chapter 539: The Witch Trials

In-game.

The next day, as the first rays of sunlight hit the holy statue of the goddess in the highest tower of the island floating in mid-air, the nuns sleeping in the papal palace and the witches in the polluted area opened their eyes at the same time.

They jumped lightly from the mattress where they had been sleeping, put on their clothes and brushed their hair sideways while walking unhurriedly towards the door of the room they were knocking on.

The Cardinal pushed open Phoebe's door and said lovingly, "It's time for you to go out to the witch trials, my child."

"The witch trials are starting today." You Zhen, standing outside the door, took Liu Jiayi's hairband and tied it for her, her tone heavy, "but today we're going to prepare for a sneak attack on the Pope's palace, try to break out of the staircase once to see if we can get up there, and not be able to spare the men to rescue the people at the tribunal."

Liu Jiayi tilted her head slightly, and she smiled sweetly: "At times like this, aren't the men who are put in the city useful?"

"If they don't want the witch to win the war and then judge them in reverse, isn't this the time to show their loyalty and offer to go to the rescue?"

You Zhen tied her hair with a flourish.

Phoebe put on her nun's hat and she turned her head, her hands joined in a gesture of prayer, her expression innocent and holy: "I'm ready to pray for those who deserve to go to hell, Bishop."

The Cardinal, thinking Phoebe was talking about the witch, nodded compassionately, "Good child. You are doing the right thing."

Phoebe, as she walked past the Bishop with her eyes downcast, said briskly, "May the Lord bless you to hell, my Lord Bishop."

The bishop did not catch it, and asked back in confusion, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing." Phoebe smiled sweetly as she put her hands behind her back and winked, "I'm praying for your future."

Meanwhile, the Western Safety Zone warehouse.

Bai Liu's communicator vibrated and he took it out and saw the message Liu Jiayi had just sent.

[Break out in two units.]

[Bai Liu open Mu Sicheng panel and Muke go to the Pope's Palace, your skills are obscure and suitable for sneaking, search for the sky ladder inside the Pope's Palace, the sky ladder is said to have a mechanism, only the Pope can open it, look for the key to open the sky ladder on the Pope, cooperate with the witch to open the sky ladder and wait for the Sky City].

[Mu Sicheng and Tang Erda lead the rest of the group to attack the Court of Judgment, save and capture only, do not fight, avoid confrontation with the King's Guild who may be on the side of the Holy See, come to the Papal Palace and break out with the witches after saving them].

[Let Tang Erda be aware of the two-sided high-damage match between the nuns and Liu Ji].

" Phoebe ." Qi Yifang followed the nun with anxiety, "Are we really going to split up? The opponent is that Bai Liu, he is very extreme, he may sacrifice the players in his hand to swap with us, if Bai Liu plays a swap tactic, our side of the queen is on the island, one less player, it is very disadvantageous, it is better not to ......"

Phoebe gave him a bemused glance: "Since when can a regular player question a tactician's choice?"

Qi Yifang shuts his mouth in embarrassment.

"Their tactician for this one won't be Bai Liu's." Phoebe shifted her eyes back and dropped the bombshell in an unusual tone, "As you said, Bai Liu is a guy with extreme tactics, but so far what we know, both the breakout of the Inquisitorial Court and the witch matchups on the sideline are solid tactics, not aggressive, with the main focus on preserving their own team and reducing casualties."

"This tactic is not the style of the crazy Bai Liu."

"It's more like the handiwork of a little witch."

Qi Yifang was stunned: "You mean ......"

"I suspect the other team made the same tactician change as we did, because on this map, which is clearly the Little Witch's home turf, and that profit-minded Bai Liu is a man, there's no advantage to be had on this map." Phoebe's tone is muted, "He's probably going to do the same as Hearts and transfer his tactician privileges."

"And if it's a little witch as a tactician ......"

Phoebe's eyes lit up and she spoke in a pleasant tone, "I've watched and watched her grow and no one knows the tactics she'll use better than I do."

"Her tactics have always been based on protection and stability, then in this case, in order to minimise player damage and maintain player cooperation, she would most likely split up the more seasoned players and take the novice players separately, such as Bai Liu with Muke and Rose Hunter with Mu Sicheng, and then press the main task on Bai Liu, such as attacking the Pope's Palace to find the key to the Ladder, and press the main task on Bai Liu. For example, attacking the Pope's Palace to find the key to the stairway to heaven, and pressing the offensive tasks on the hunters, such as saving the witches awaiting trial today from the Inquisition."

"When the little witches split up, it's only natural that we should split up too, otherwise they'd be running a double quest and we'd be running a single quest and the quest would be twice as slow as they are."

"The problem now is how to split it up."

Phoebe turned around and she looked over at Qi Yifang and Liu Ji who were following her, her eyes narrowing slightly as she made her rounds.

It was as if she knew the little witch well enough to guess the pairings the other woman had given her, and the little witch, being so intelligent, naturally knew her well enough to guess the pairings she would use.

But Phoebe is not the kind of tactician who changes his tactics just because his opponent guesses.

She believed in her choice, so what if she was guessed, she could win all the same.

"Liu Ji and I will go to the Inquisition, Qi Yifang will stay in the Papal Palace and work with Titan's skills to steal the Pope's scepter." Phoebe calmly gave the order, her gaze obscurely Buming towards the ladder next to the nuns' hall across the street, "No surprise, we're going to have a winner today."

Meanwhile, the eastern contaminated zone borderline.

Leah, stationed in position, watches the approaching white dots not far away and a sense of foreboding comes over her.

She saw the ecclesiastical troops of the Inquisitorial Court pushing a large vat of eels this way, along with many bows made of eel bones, led by the bishop, who was holding a loud speaker and shouting at the witch-contaminated area.

"Listen up, witches, we've developed a plethora of secret weapons against you! If you don't want to be killed by a hail of arrows! Step forward and surrender now!"

"Now the merciful Lord is giving you a brand new path."

The bishop pointed to the male eels being pushed over next to him, "These are the male eels that have been surrendered by the indigestible offerings of the congregation, and we have heard that you have a child with strange sorcery on your hands, a little witch whose sorcery creates a poisonous swamp that can dissolve even eel bones."

"If you will hand over the young witch and allow her to use sorcery to digest these male eels, then the Holy See will let all of you witches live."

Seeing no response from the witch quarter, the bishop narrowed his already tiny eyes into slits in displeasure and raised his volume, "Just hand over one of her witches and you will be forgiven by the Holy See and have the right to re-enter the safe zone."

"You will only help your warlike spirit by keeping her, but how can she protect each and every one of you at all times when there is only one of her? After the invention of the eel-bone arrow, your resistance will one day fail."

"Not only that, but not only will your domination of her not save you from yourselves, but the day you dominate this strange little witch, the less these male eels are dissolved, the less eels will be produced, and the more people will be harmed by these eels! More women will be corrupted into witches by swallowing eels!"

"Don't you claim to be saving all witches? But by acting so selfishly you are clearly forcing them to become witches, you are making an enemy of all mankind!"

Leah gritted her teeth and raised an arrow and shot - that was the signal that there would be no consent.

The bishop was wrapped in a dense shield of bone, and the arrow struck the top of the bone shield in front of him, a threat so close that he could not help but grimace.

"It seems, then, that you do not accept the forgiveness of the merciful Church."

"An unrepentant dirty witch indeed."

The bishop raised his hand and spoke in a sinister tone, "Release the arrows!"

Thousands of arrows were shot out, aimed at the witch zone.

Leah's eyes sank as she turned her feet into snake tails, enclosing the entire patch, and took a deep breath - the battle was coming and she was ready to die.

Witch Code #5 - If the ultimate in freedom requires sacrifice in exchange for it, then sacrifice also symbolizes a freedom.

-a freedom of the soul after death, a freedom of the future.

As the first sharp arrow pierced Leah's snake's tail, spilling blood, she looked up with an expression so painful that she grimaced at the island floating above the sky, breathing heavily, her voice hoarse as she ordered

"Attack-!!!"

Papal Palace.

Bai Liu and Muke used the map given by Liu Jiayi and Muke's shadow sneaking skills to quickly make their way around the back door of the papal palace, knocking out two priests, dragging them into the shadows, stripping them of their clothes and changing into them, and sneaking through the shadows all the way to the main hall of the papal palace.

Muke, hidden in the shadows, scanned the front of the main hall and his brow furrowed: "What's with all the guards?"

"It's not just the guards, look over there." Bai Liu nudged Muke's shoulder and pointed to the side of the main hall, "There are lots of cardinals chanting and a choir."

"It must be that something has happened to the Pope in the main hall and he's in shock, which is why so many people have come to watch."

Bai Liu rubbed his chin in thought, "But we weren't even in the papal palace yesterday, and we didn't do anything to the Pope, it must have been the Hearts who did it."

"This greatly increases the difficulty of our stalking." Muke looked grave, "We're not sure what level of monsters these guards are, whether they can be killed, what buffs they have on them, and on top of that, even if we could kill them, so many guards would take us a lot of time, and finally, we're here to steal the key, and such a big noise of the key would scare the Pope inside, and let him run away with the key, we would have made a trip for nothing up."

"It's not just that." Bai Liu added, "The worst that could happen is that the Pope runs straight onto the island with the key and unlocks the ladder so that we can't climb up, while the attacking witches will be surrounded by heavy guards."

"From Jiayi's description, the witches couldn't have withstood such heavy casualties."

Muke nodded, worried, "So our operation must not go awry."

"So heavily guarded and the Pope is clearly a glutton for punishment, the kind of man who is always cautious ...... What would it take to not spook the snake and be seen and still manage to blend into the main hall?"

The same question plagued Qi Yifang, who was wandering anxiously around the side entrance of the main hall.

He was clearly given the status of a priest of the Holy See, but was likewise turned away by the Pope when he asked for an audience - news of the witch attack had reached the papal palace, leaving the Pope as if he were a bird of prey and would not receive anyone.

It also made Qi Yifang, who had been given the task of stealing with care, understand why Phoebe had unbelievably left him with the big guy, Titan.

It's a Titan to break through if he can't negotiate!

...... is really a tactic used by Phoebe, a guy who likes to come on strong.

Qi Yifang could not help but smile bitterly at the thought, but not only would there be more variables if he forced his way in, but the Queen, who was imprisoned by the Holy See, would surely be affected, and he did not want to force his way in until the final step.

But what would he do to meet the frightened Pope if he didn't come strong?

Qi Yifang has a headache.

Seriously, he didn't think the Pope would receive anyone in this situation.

Muke echoed the same sentiment, his brow furrowed: "There's no gap in the main hall to sneak into, we'll have to force our way in."

"...... looks as if it is." Bai Liu looked at the door to the main hall, his eyes narrowing slightly, "but the cost effectiveness of the strong attack is just a little on the low side."

"How about a different kind of bet."

Muke was stunned: "A bet?"

"It's true that the Pope doesn't open the door to receive anyone." Bai Liu analysed in a calm tone, "But there is one exception, according to the information Jiayi gave us, this Pope has a great deal of respect for the man who sold the island to him in the first place, and although I'm not sure who this man is, Bai six is behind all the games I've come across so far."

"How about the bold assumption that if the man selling the city of skies to the Pope was Bai six, in this offensive situation, this Pope, who made his fortune on the island in the first place and who is terrified beyond belief, is is bound to receive Bai six, the god who has helped him grant his wishes."

"And I look exactly the same as Bai six."

Bai Liu said in a light tone, "If my suspicions are correct, the Pope would have opened the front door to greet me if I had come forward to see him."

"But what if the person selling the island to the Pope is not Bai six?" Muke's brow furrowed, "Just like the previous game, Bai six found a medium to reach the other side, which is possible."

"Then it's not too late to make a strong attack then." Bai Liu said, straightening his gloves and adjusting his expression as he walked straight out with his hands held high.

"?! Who!"

The guards turned their bows on Bai Liu, who was in a surrender position, and demanded in a fierce tone, "Who are you?"

Bai Liu explained without skipping a beat, "I am a guest of the Pope."

"A guest of His Holiness?" The guard's tone was suspicious as he aimed his crossbow at the aorta next to Bai Liu's neck and approached to pick up Bai Liu's chin, "His Holiness has no appointments today."

"Perhaps if you tell His Holiness whether the key to the Island in the Sky in his possession needs repair, he'll remember." Bai Liu raised his eyes in a wave.

-- If Bai six is the one selling the island, then the key in the Pope's hand that can jam a witch to death is more than likely something the bored god did with his own power at his own whim.

He did not think that a mediocre and foolish mortal like the Pope could possess the ability to make the key to the Sky City.

The guard hesitated for a moment, but turned his head and asked the man next to him to pass on the message for him.

"I'm not accepting an audience with anyone!" As soon as the Pope saw the guards enter, the man in a state of panic shouted in a fury, "Who told you to open the door! What if you let in those witchy witches!"

The guard who entered fell to his knees in fear at the Pope's yell and reported tremblingly, "Yes, yes, Your Holiness, a man claiming to be your guest has come."

"I have no appointment with anyone today! Arrest him and put him to death! He must have been sent by the witch!" The Pope hysterically slammed the fine china cup in his hand in front of the guards, "Now get out! Leave me alone in safety!"

The splattering of the cup scared the kneeling guard, who hurriedly stepped back on his knees and nodded frantically, "Yes Lord Pope!"

"I'm going to torture and execute this witch spy who claims to have once sold you an island that could be repaired with the keys to the Sky City!"

The Pope's barking antics gave a lurch and his stormy expression instantly froze on his face as he jerked to his feet holding his seat, "Who did you say it was?!"

The guard shrank his shoulders in confusion, "One, a man who claimed to have sold the island to you once."

The Pope took two deep breaths and he stepped tremulously from his seat, but then thought of something and walked back, pacing anxiously back and forth, his chest heaving violently with emotion as he muttered to himself in a trance, "How could that One come in person?!"

"...... No, not necessarily, that one's mind ...... will get involved in anything that's interesting, and now that the witches and we're in a big battle, this might be interesting in that one's eyes too ......"

"Maybe, maybe it will really come to my aid!"

"Describe it to me." The Pope held the arm of the throne of God and asked warily, "What does that guest ...... look like."

"He looked to be a young man in his early twenties, with a white blouse and black gloves in his priest's outfit." The guard described it carefully, "looked to be from an unusual background and was calm when we aimed our bows at him."

The Pope closed his eyes and walked quickly downwards, almost rolling off the throne of God, "And invite him in!"

The guards nodded hastily, "Yes, yes! I'll invite that distinguished guest in right away!"

The doors of the Palace's otherwise closed main hall opened in layers, revealing the opulent interior to Bai Liu, and the stained paintings on the huge glazed glass refracted in his face with layers of glittering light, causing him to blink very slightly.

The guard who had just pointed his bow at Bai Liu bent ninety degrees to him respectfully and reached out to lead the way for Bai Liu: "I didn't recognise you just now and offended you, please forgive me for my crime."

"His Holiness says that whenever and wherever you wish to come, the main doors of the papal palace are always open for you to enter."

Bai Liu nodded slightly and followed the guard forward, while glancing at Muke who was waiting nearby.

Muke, who had been waiting with bated breath beside him, let out a long breath as he collected the dagger in his hand and rejoined the shadows, following closely behind Bai Liu's pace and instantly sneaking into the papal palace.

Qi Yifang's ears twitched as he heard a greeting coming from the main hall and, stopped by the guards at the side door, he was about to seize the opportunity to rush in when the guards held him back again.

"His Holiness the Pope is receiving his honoured guests." The guard's tone took on a distinctly warning tone, "I would ask His Holiness the priest not to trespass in the main hall."

Qi Yifang gritted his teeth and his face sank as his hand moved to reach inside the priest's robes and grip his weapon - a weathervane.

His code word with Titan was that if there was an unusual storm here at the papal palace, Titan would storm the sea and hammer the papal main hall.

He wanted to solve all this in a peaceful way, but it seems that the Pope can't afford to do it, so he has to use the [storm]?

...... But who exactly is the guest who, under these circumstances, can still make the Pope, who is so afraid of death that he keeps the doors of the main hall of the papal palace closed, open them and receive them with such high specifications?

Qi Yifang's eyes move to the main hall of the papal palace and he is lost in thought.

Inside the main hall of the Papal Palace.

At the sight of Bai Liu, who was welcomed inside by the guards, the Pope stepped down from his throne, trembling with excitement, and stopped two metres away from Bai Liu, and with a very submissive and humble gesture, he lowered his body and raised his right hand in a hat-raising salute.

"I can't believe it's really you!" The Pope looked up, his eyes welling up with tears, and followed Bai Liu step by step as he led him up to the throne, and standing on the steps beneath the throne, the Pope bent down with immense humility and said, "Please sit on the throne; there is no place worthy of you in the whole papal palace except here."

"Isn't this your seat?" Bai Liu lowered his eyes and asked rhetorically with little emotion in his tone, "You gave it to me, so where are you sitting?"

"Before the gods, there is no place for mortals." The Pope tilted his head, clutching his hat in his hand, and looked at Bai Liu with a devout and maniacal faith in his eyes, "You taught me that, have you forgotten?"

"We believers are not worthy to be seated in your presence!"

Bai Liu sat down nonchalantly, leaning on the armrest with one elbow, propping his face up, his eyes half-closed, his tone placidly inquiring, "You've seen my face?"

"By chance, I had the pleasure of meeting you." After seeing Bai Liu's face, the Pope had no doubts about Bai Liu, recalling, "You did not deliberately hide your face when I made a wish to you."

With a dispensable nod, Bai Liu asked in a light tone, "Where is the key to your sky city?"

"Oh!" The Pope, not doubting it, respectfully offered his hands to the scepter he held as if it were his life, and inquired with some apprehension, "I have used this key for decades, is there something wrong with it that needs to be fixed?"

Bai Liu lowered his eyes to this sceptre that was placed in his hand.

The wooden cameo sceptre is crawling with the huge tentacles of the Buming creatures of the deep, uneven to the touch, which wrap around and climb to the top where a cloudy jewel of silvery blue light hovers.

The warm glow of the gemstone is reflected in Bai Liu's dark pupils like a cosmic rift torn from the midst of the night.

--The silvery-blue chasm from which Bai Liu has stepped out, as Bai Liu has seen countless times.

Seeing Bai Liu just survey the sceptre without a word, the Pope clasped his hands together nervously, swallowed and asked again, "Yes, is there something wrong that you need to fix with your own hands?"

"Something's wrong?" Bai Liu's seemingly perceptive voice sounded softly as he casually leaned back on the divine throne, which was somewhat large for him, legs folded, and swept a seemingly smiling glance at the Pope standing before him, his posture and eyes appearing so careless, the end of his tone even bringing out some laughter, "This scepter does have something to be repaired."

The Pope was extremely disturbed by the look in Bai Liu's eyes and his voice trembled as he inquired, "Yes, what is the place?"

Bai Liu turned the sceptre, held it, and smiled sideways as he replied to the Pope, "It is the owner of this sceptre who deserves to have it repaired and replaced by a better one."

" Muke, kill him."

With this laughing command, the assassin, hidden in the shadows, leapt to his feet, his eyes blazing and cold, his dagger in his hand, stabbing the Pope in the side of the neck as his pupils snapped open!

The Pope narrowly dodged it and cried out in panic, crawling forward on his hands and knees, "Come, someone, help!!!"

At the same time, Qi Yifang took hold of the weathervane and looked to the guards in front of him, asking once more solemnly, "Is it true that I can't go in?"

The guard lifted his chin haughtily, "How many times have I told you, you're just a priest."

"A priest has no business setting foot in the papal palace without permission."

"Eh, there's no way out then, although I don't like killing NPCs in the game, nor do I like [Storms]." Qi Yifang sighed helplessly, his eyes staring as he took out the violently spinning weathervane from his priest's outer robes, "But sometimes, only a storm can wash away all the filth."

"It is the order of my tactician that I must enter the papal palace, so please die for that order!"

[System Alert: Player Qi Yifang has used the skill to summon a two-hour localized mega-storm].

The wind and rain suddenly arrived, and like a player full of destruction, the huge rainstorm and the wind rushed into the papal palace with impunity and began to destroy everything, and the guard, who had just been strutting his stuff, was instantly blown up in terror, clutching the pillars of the papal palace for dear life before he could steady himself and shouting in fear: "What is this!"

In the distance came the sound of a giant running fast and roaring, and the earth shook with it - it was Titan on his way.

Qi Yifang, his entire body drenched, the weathervane spinning to the point of resembling an electric fan suspended in his hand, the ends of his hair and face covered in droplets of water, looked away, wiped a handful of rain from his own face, sighed and answered the guard NPC's question with a subtle chuckle in his voice:

"It's a storm, haven't you ever seen one?"