Seeing that they had already lost five members, the remaining Judges changed their strategy. They used the tents and the terrain to start a catching game, trying to win as much time as the possibly could. But Alicia knew that the strength and speed of the witch were much better than that of her companions, so it was only a matter of time before they all died.
Biting the bullet, she rushed into the tent, immediately grasping the Priestess who was still trying to get into her shoes and began to pull her in the direction of the horses.
“What happened?” Mira asked in confusion.
“The camp was attacked by an extraordinary! I must bring you away!” She shouted back, “Please hurry!”
However, with no possibility of seeing the road clearly enough during the night, it became quite a difficult task. If they ran too fast, they could easily trip into a roadside bump, injuring their legs in the process, but if they were too slow, it would be way too easy for the witch to catch up with them.
Alicia decided to let the horses run down the road, while the Priestess and herself would enter into the woods, which grew along the road. Making it quite hard for the enemy to find them without the help of fire.
Leaving the sound of the colliding weapons behind her, she pulled the Priestess by hand, only relying on the dim moonlight to identify the surrounding environment. Always moving away from the road, and further in the direction of the center of the woods. Increasing the possibility for them to meet with wild animals like vipers, but this would still be better than confronting the witch directly.
When the two stumbled across the foot of the Impassable Mountain Range, Alicia finally felt a little relieved, it seemed the witch had given up on her pursuit. With the exception of some bird cries, the surroundings were now completely silent.
“What are we going to do now?” Mira asked.
Even knowing what could happen it seemed that she wasn’t very scared. Seeing how calm the priestess was, Alicia’s heart was full of admiration, “Priestess, we should look for a place to rest, and stay there to rest for the night. At dawn, we will then return back to Longsong Stronghold and seek support from there.”
“Shouldn’t we go into the direction of Border Town? From here, we will at most need a day and a night to reach the stronghold.”
“No,” said Alicia, shaking her head. “Meeting an extraordinary here is too coincidental. I suspect that the Lord has already associated himself with the witches, and with this, it is too dangerous for us to go to the town.”
“What you say makes sense” But then the Priestess’ eyes became large and she looked straight behind Alicia.
Seeing her reaction, Alicia’s heart sank. And indeed, when she turned around, she saw the witch dressed in her black robe slowly stepping out of the dark shadows, her eyes were sparkling like stars, and an owl was hovering over her shoulders.
“Demon!” Alicia drew her two-hand-sword and stepped protectively in front of Mira.
“… Demon?” Her voice was cold, didn’t bare any emotion, “That’s the way, you call those orphans and abandoned babies who are sent to the monastery to get raised, from whom you chose your own witches?”
“What are you talking about?!” The warrioress snapped back, “The church shelters them because of God’s kindness. Without the Church’s mercy, how many of them would be able to survive until their day of adulthood? But the pervasive Devil will always corrupt the weakest of them, leading a very small number of girls astray. But as soon as it is discovered that one of them degenerated into a witch, the Church will immediately treat the fallen ones. You are totally turning the cause and effect upside down!”
Hearing the word “treat”, the golden pupil of the witch dimmed by a lot, raising her large sword with one hand she declared. “I’m not too interested in persuading a dead person anyway. So be it.”
Even before her voice had faded away, the owl spread her wings and flew into the sky, and the witches figure rushed forward. Alicia could still clearly remember how her comrades had tragically tried to defend themselves and had instead been split in two, so she decided,
