"WHAT. THE. FUCK?" Bas and Quinlan both shouted at the same time.
"How did you do that, Sid?" Bas said.
"Why did she change so quickly?" Quinlan said.
"She tried to use the same spell that she used for Bas on me. I simply deflect the spell back to her."
Bas and Quinlan took a deep breath. They might not be familiar with how the witch operated, but they knew that this was no small feat. Bas used all his strength and the help of a god to free from the shackle.
Siderius did even more. He used her own spell against her.
The truth was more complicated than that. In Siderius’ mind, his Alchemical Palace still existed.
The Palace was created in his past life to conquer mutations. He had created a livid reflection of his actual castle in his own mind. It was filled with actual rules of reality and a meticulous control over any being that might intrude his mind.
Nora tried to invade his psyche and Siderius led her to his Alchemical Palace for her to try. But her young mind was in no way capable of fighting a fortified reality that was built and strengthened for nearly two hundred years.
She lost herself in the palace, similar to any beast that got into Siderius’ mind.
In there, Siderius showed her a life that was free from magic. A life that her desire was no longer her master. She had a healthy healing life with studying and learning alongside Siderius.
They fainted only for a few minutes. But it was a lifetime in the Alchemical Palace.
When they both returned to the real world. Her life in the Alchemical Palace had overwritten her life here.
She was not a witch that experienced the life of an alchemist.
She was a lifelong alchemist who woke up to her worst nightmare.
The poor girl was only twenty-five years old in the real world. But she spent decades with Siderius.
The latter provided a much more lasting impact than her short years as a witch.
This was only achievable thanks to her Dark Aether. It broke the limitation of the Alchemical Palace and actually made it into another reality. Instead of a simple dream that she had.
Siderius let Nora lie on her back. He then tore her shirt open, revealing her chest.
If Bas didn’t know Siderius, he would probably think Siderius was going to desecrate the dead. But Bas knew better than that.
"What are you doing?" Bas asked.
"Making sure she won’t be resurrected by necromancy."
Siderius threw salt on her body. Then he drew a circle of salt around her. It was the Last Rite of the Dead.
Then he drew the Malevitus Extraction Seal on Nora’s chest.
Quinlan and Bas stood beside Siderius, watching him reciting the Dead Rite and doing hand signs.
"By earth below and sky above,
I shall grant peace and rest thereof.
No shadow’s pull, no chain of night,
Can steal this soul from holy light."
The voice of Nora filled the church one last time. Pax let out a grieving bellow when he left. Nora was a sigh of relief. She had finally left this world in peace.
Bas and Quinlan had seen so many unimaginable things the last two days. Now they even saw the soul of the dead left its body and disappeared. They could only wonder where she had gone.
The salt lit up in blue and finished their job at carrying Nora away. Next was the Malevitus Extraction.
Siderius did the three signs quickly. He smacked on Nora’s chest at the third sign like before.
Her body was engulfed in the orange flame of sulfur and turned to ash. The Dark Aether inside her crystallized into three dark red crystals. They landed gently on Siderius’ palm.
A shockwave swept over the church, erasing every last trace of Nora’s magic in this monastery.
"We’re free to go. The magic circle is destroyed with her."
The pair had questions about what happened and what the three crystals were. But Quinlan and Bas didn’t know if they should ask. It was probably something sensitive similar to Bas’ spiritual power.
It was better to not voice their questions. If Siderius wanted to tell them, he would have.
"Now you’re talking. I can’t wait to get out of this cursed place." Bas laughed out loud.
"There is an inn not too far from here. We probably can reach it before sundown." Quinlan said.
"You guys can go ahead. I need to stay behind and dissect these ghouls."
"You sure you’re good, man? You were targeted by that witch’s spell." Bas voiced his concern.
"I’m alright. You can leave without me."
"Then we’ll be waiting for you at the inn. We must have a celebration after this!" Bas laughed.
"You’re paying?" Quinlan said.
"Of course not! I’m a poor bodyguard. You can pay." Bas said.
"Well. We’ll be going first. Watch yourself out there, alright, Siderius?" Quinlan said.
"I will." Siderius nodded.
"Oh? We haven’t learned your last name yet."
"It is Satterblade." Siderius said.
"Satterblade, huh?" Quinlan wrote this name down in his head. He intended to investigate Siderius’ last name to see if he could find out anything about him.
Siderius’ knowledge was more than what he could gather for how young he was. So Quinlan thought he must be taught or inherited this type of knowledge somewhere. The most plausible answer was because of a clan. Quinlan anticipated that he must come from a clan of powerful witches or something similar. For original chapters go to novel-fire.net
The pair waved goodbye to Siderius and left the church.
As for the hunter, he stayed back and dissected the dead ghouls. Their skin was valuable. And their stomach acid was a great source of the spirit of salt. A very important component for Siderius to make yellow salt.
He also took their necrosis blood and stored it inside a glass bottle in case he needed it.
Once Siderius finished, it was time for the main course.
He stayed behind not only because he needed the material from those ghouls. He also wanted to loot the monastery.
Quinlan might not need the coins because he was already rich. But Siderius was a poor witch hunter.
Siderius started his search in the church.
Behind the statue of the Outsider was a backroom with a wooden door. Siderius expected he would at least find something in it.
The hunter walked toward it. He passed by the corpse of the puppet. Because of it falling, the stone floor was cracked, revealing a particular thing below.
"What do we have here?"