463 Henrietta’s Secret
Henrietta had heard enough to know what Sybil truly wanted, and upon thinking about it, she realized it would be weird if Sybil and the other Transcendent Witches didn’t suspect she was hiding something.
After all, they won the holy war three hundred years ago because she was forced to rely on her master’s power.
During that era, when witches had only just started to emerge, their magic was hardly developed enough to fend off the demon invasion from Gehenna. Although they did make a great effort in the holy war with the Transcendent Witches, her master was ultimately the one who decisively won the battle for them.
However…
“What a simpleton and utter fool,” Henrietta’s master spat.
‘Not just any mortal can host my divine soul without having their body and soul collapsing from within. They would at least need a unique soul constitution like your Seven-Petal Void Soul.”
According to Henrietta’s master, Henrietta’s Seven-Petal Void Soul was shaped like a swirling galaxy with seven points and a central super black hole with seemingly infinite space within.
And because of that seemingly infinite space, she could accommodate her master’s divine soul, which was much bigger than a regular mortal soul — just like how stars came in different sizes.
In other words, a big bubble would not fit inside a smaller one; forcing it would only cause the smaller bubble to pop. And when one’s soul disperses, they supposedly experience true death and fail to enter the cycle of reincarnation.
That said, possessing the Seven-Petal Void Soul had clear advantages and disadvantages.
The Seven-Petal Void Soul allowed Henrietta to fuse up to seven different elemental magic to produce more potent spells, but not without their own difficulties.
At present, Henrietta was only able to perfectly fuse two elemental magic, mainly fire and space, to produce the black flames. But even with just that, she was considered a Peak-stage Transcendent Witch despite still being an Early-stage Transcendent Witch like the other Six.
Unfortunately, Henrietta’s heavenly blessing also came with its envy.
Although the Seven-Petal Void Soul granted her access to more powerful magic and made her stronger than her peers of the same rank, it also made her the perfect vessel for mighty divine beings who had lost their bodies.
As such, for her own safety, she couldn’t let her secret spread.
Therefore, everyone that tried to uncover the secret of her master’s divine soul and her Seven-Petal Void Soul had to die.
“Let me send you on your way, Sybil. You have no one but yourself to blame for seeking your own destruction,” Henrietta coolly stated as her eyes flashed with a decisive glint. “It’s generally too difficult to use this on a large scale… But for you, I’ll make an exception.”
Shortly after Henrietta spoke, she placed her palms together, with one resting on top of the other. Soon, mana gathered in between them; the darkness of the fractured void and the fiery heat of scorching flames clashed, refusing to intermingle.
But under the will of her Seven-Petal Void Soul, the two elements were forced together, producing a new element that didn’t and shouldn’t normally exist in the natural world of Pangea, but did at that moment.
With her current mastery, Henrietta could conjure the black flames almost instantaneously under normal circumstances. But due to the sheer amount of mana she had gathered and compressed in the space of her palms, the process took much longer.
Petals of heavily concentrated and compressed black flames were produced one by one before coming together to form the preliminary shape of a budding rose.
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Nevertheless, the holy tree-fused Sybil could sense the danger emanating from the unbloomed flower and began striking Henrietta more fiercely with extensive roots, leaves, and branches.
“Damn you, Henrietta! Why won’t you just die and disappear!!!”
Sybil roared furiously.
No matter how much she wanted to destroy Henrietta, none of her attacks could breach the black flame barrier Henrietta had set up.
Everything that bashed into the black flame barrier got burned to ashes, regenerated, then burned to ashes again in an endlessly repeating cycle.
Ping… Ping…
Eventually, Henrietta completed her preparation as the budding black rose in between her palm started pulsating like a heartbeat.
“Today, the black rose shall blossom again,” Henrietta uttered expressionlessly.
Following her statement, she created an opening in Sybil’s endless barrage of attacks with her black flame barrier, exposing her own body to danger.
However, she immediately followed up by sending the budding black rose swirling toward the holy tree-fused Sybil with a shoving motion of her two hands like a tiger palm thrust.
The instant the budding black rose left Henrietta’s control, its petals began peeling apart one by one. With each petal peeled, the threat it emanated surged with significant momentum.
“Nooo—! What are you doing?!”
By then, the holy tree-fused Sybil had completely given up on attacking Henrietta. Whether she wanted to or not, the holy tree’s instinct to preserve its own life overruled her will to defend itself.
All the roots, leaves, and branches, everything the holy tree could control, were immediately retracted, coming together to form the strongest defense it could imagine.
The blooming black rose continued on its trajectory, seemingly neither fast nor slow, as if time had been slowed down, but in fact, it was traveling and blooming quickly.
Boom…!
At the moment of contact, a sea of black flames erupted from the black rose explosively, threatening to devour everything. It briefly formed the faint image of a much large blossoming black rose before the furious roar and shockwave from it rushed in all directions.
“Ahhh—!”
The holy tree-fused Sybil’s howling cry of pain resounded far and wide as the black flames engulfed her crown, burning everything atop her to ashes.
However, her incredible regenerative capability allowed her to keep up with the destruction caused by the black flames, albeit barely.
Nevertheless, it did not last long.
As the black flames spread to the rest of her body and completely engulfed the entire body of the holy tree-fused Sybil, her regenerative ability failed to keep up any longer.
“Nooo—! I don’t want to die! Not like this…!”
Sybil’s last cry of desperation slowly died as the survivors from the devastated Emerald City watched the giant holy tree crumble apart, disintegrating into ashes.
Burning soot and charcoal descended upon the devastated land below and charred it, turning it into a desolate wasteland. Life was seemingly completely erased from the region.
Sometime later, after the black flames died, Henrietta narrowed her eyes in on a tiny tree sprout growing from the charred stump of the former holy tree.
“You sure are tenacious like a cockroach, Sybil.”
‘Wait, Henrietta. She’s already gone.’
Henrietta was prepared to deliver the finishing blow when her master suddenly stopped her, letting her know that Sybil’s soul had already been wiped away from existence along with the main body of the holy tree.
The tree sprouting before them was a new holy tree, an offspring of the last one.
Nevertheless, with Queen Sybil gone, the Kingdom of Verdant Woods was left without a ruler at the Transcendent rank. As such, the survivors of Emerald City nervously and fearfully came forward and swore their allegiance to Henrietta, wanting to make her their new ruler.
However, whether Henrietta would agree had yet to be decided.
“What will you do with them, Your Imperial Majesty?”
“I’m not sure yet. However, we need to stabilize this country, then rush back to check on our own kingdom’s situation. Supposedly, a man is leading my witches to battle with the empire. Do you have any idea who that person might be, Ember?”
Faced with Henrietta’s question, Ember could only shake her head.
She had not been in the Kingdom of Black Rose for almost a month; she wasn’t aware of the changes there since she left.
As such, her guess was as good as Henrietta’s.
Holy Knight Empire’s border region
Inside the central camp’s command center, Emperor Renardier and Marquis Salazar looked at the battle map with heavy expressions, especially the former. The constant report of heavy losses on all fronts weighed down on him.
However, he knew that sacrifices were necessary to achieve victory over the Kingdom of Black Rose. As such, he pinned his hopes on the success of the lords leading the holy knights through the secret passages.
The Kingdom of Black Rose’s defenses were too strong. But as long as their elite army of holy knights launched their surprise attack from the rear, they would surely take down the forts.
Alas, nothing ever went according to plan.
“Your Imperial Majesty, Count Eldridge is back with urgent news to report!” Count Eldridge announced outside the big tent.
Count Eldridge was so heavily injured that he required two other soldiers to carry him. But despite his heavy injuries, he prioritized his report over his treatment. He couldn’t live with his failure. Thus, he was prepared to die after finishing his report.
Although Emperor Renardier wished Count Eldridge would receive immediate treatment, he acceded after the latter’s desperate pleading.
Sometime later, Emperor Renardier and Marquis Salazar learned the entire situation and the fate that awaited everyone at the end of the secret passage.
In that instant, they had an ominous feeling regarding the situation in the other secret passages taken by the other lords and holy knights.
“Allow me to call off the assault, Your Imperial Majesty. The enemy is well-prepared—too prepared, in fact, that I find it abnormal. I hate to admit it, but we cannot break past their defensive lines.”
“Do it.”
At Marquis Salazar’s suggestion, Emperor Renardier permitted with a sigh, feeling drained of energy.
It was shameful and humiliating for the Holy Knight Empire to retreat without even breaking past the Kingdom of Black Rose’s first defensive line.
However, the lives of the remaining soldiers were more important than their honor.
“There’s nothing dishonorable in a strategic retreat, Your Imperial Majesty. We haven’t lost yet. We can still win this war!” Ulrich reassured with a firm look.
“Or so you say, Marquis Salazar…”