Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Knot of Fate
"What...is...going...on?" Bas tried to mutter out words but it barely escaped his throat.
Siderius turned back and aimed his arrow at Bas.
"You did have a good time with a witch after all, Bas. Unfortunately, that means you have fallen under her spell. A higher level of the charm spell.
A change of heart."
Nora covered her mouth and snickered. "You are very well-versed in witchery, I see. I can detect a faint amount of magic inside you. But it is so little.
Have you failed your awakened, little wicca?"
Siderius raised his eyebrow. The witch had mistaken the Dark Aether he absorbed as magic. The witches in his world wouldn’t make this common mistake as alchemist was a popular profession in his world.
But the witches of this world didn’t know about it at all. Every time they saw something resembling magic, they thought it was the same.
"Your friend will become my minion soon... What are you going to do now, little wicca? Are you heartless enough to kill your own friend?"
The witch arched her back and laughed like a maniac.
"These witches. None are normal at all." Siderius mumbled.
Then he shouted. "I would not hesitate. But I don’t think everything will turn out as you think. Take a look."
"Huh?" Nora recomposed and looked at Bas.
Naturally, he would have fallen into her control already and become one of her servants. But Nora couldn’t feel any grasp toward Bas.
The spell wasn’t completed yet. It should have finished already.
The writings found their way above Bas’ head with the intention to invade his mind. But when they got to his neck, Bas’ eyes suddenly lit up in white.
"Who do you think I am, you stupid bitch?!" Bas roared.
He grabbed at his neck. A faint shackle made out of pure pink energy materialized. It was the spell of the witch.
"How?! Mortals should not be able to touch my spell!" The witch widened her eyes.
"He ain’t no mortal." Quinlan smirked. "He’s a spirit swordsman."
Bas’ fingers lit up in white as well and they dug into the pink shackles. The writings trembled on his skin, looking like it could disappear at any time.
"I won’t allow it!" Nora reached out her hand, pouring out more magic to strengthen the spell.
In Siderius’ vision, black tendrils of Dark Aether emerged from under Nora’s skin and reached toward Bas.
The bodyguard fell to his knees. The shackle tightened on his neck and stopped his attempt to escape the spell.
"Help him, Siderius!" Quinlan screamed.
However, the witch hunter did not budge. Instead, he observed at a different shackle. A faint knot on the witch’s neck that was made by Light Aether.
A knot of fate driven by a force that Siderius couldn’t comprehend.
He didn’t help Bas because he knew someone else already looked after him.
"Call your god, Bas. Call the Outsider." Siderius.
"What are you even talking about right now, Siderius?!" Quinlan couldn’t believe what he was hearing and rushed over to the witch.
He threw the wooden pole at Nora only for it to be slapped away by the puppet.
Quinlan bit his lip. He looked at the witch desperately, knowing that without Siderius’ help, he could not interrupt the spell.
"Call him." Siderius said again.
Bas used all of his strength to shout out: "THE OLD LORD HEED ME! THE OUTSIDER HEED ME! SAVE ME FROM THIS HERETIC THAT DESECRATED YOUR DOMAIN!"
The knot on the witch’s neck tightened. Suddenly, the black tendrils around her trembled. The Dark Aether had gone unstable.
But only Siderius could observe all of that. Even the witch wasn’t aware of the higher power being played at the table.
Suddenly, the witch bent over and threw up black dense blood. The tattoo on her body lost its light.
With it, the hold of her toward Bas was weakened.
Crack!
Bas’ fingers dug into the surface of the shackle. He broke it into pieces. The writings on his neck disappeared completely.
He had freed himself from a change of heart.
"This damn wound!" The witch cursed. "You just have to pick this moment to disturb me!"
The witch stood back up. She levitated from the statue down to the floor, standing at the center stage of the church.
"You’re lucky, swordsman. If I hadn’t been injured, you would’ve been my slave." Nora squinted her eyes and observed the trio.
Her gaze stayed extra long at Siderius.
"There is no god, little wicca. The only gods here are us witches."
Bas coughed repeatedly and cleared his throat. His gaze was filled with rage and his expression sterned.
The bodyguard grabbed the short sword and stood beside Siderius.
Quinlan had retreated behind them.
"There is, at least, one god. And he is looking at you." Siderius pointed at the statue behind her.
Nora turned back to see the eyes of the Outsider looking down at her. It was not filled with rage nor vengeance, only contempt for a low-life being that was not worth his time.
Is the statue always like that? Or am I imagining its expression? Nora had a gentle shiver around her body.
"You’re not imagining it." Siderius said.
Nora snapped her head back at him.
"You can read minds?"
"Something like that."
Siderius guessed. But that seemed to have spooked the witch.
"You’re more powerful than I thought. No matter. You will all die here."
Nora flicked her finger. Ghouls jumped inside from the windows, shattering the beautiful colored glass of the church.
"Sixteen... Seventeen... And then that ugly head nun is eighteen." Bas said. "The remaining people of the monastery are here."
"Wait! If it’s eighteen people, does it mean that the witch was never a member of this monastery?"
The witch laughed. "You guess right, bandages."
Siderius quickly raised his bow and took a shot at Nora.
She dodged the arrow effortlessly, letting it fly past her head.
"Such conviction, little wicca."
Siderius shrugged. "Worth a shot."
"Unfortunately for all of you. You shall become my ghouls pretty soon."
Nora raised her hands and the tattoo on her body lit up again. The eyes of the ghouls turned pink and they rushed at the group.
"Can we deal with all of them, Bas?" Quinlan trembled slightly.
"We must."
Bas clenched the short sword and immediately, its blade lit up in white.
Siderius bolted forward, trying to take on the witch. If he killed her, her control over the ghouls would be gone and they would be much easier to deal with.
But the witch wouldn’t allow that. She stepped back, letting the living puppet march forward, standing between her and Siderius.
The puppet opened its mouth and let out a high-pitched shriek at Siderius. Its empty eyesockets cried black tears.
The Mother Reverend must have faced unbelievable torture when she was alive. Her eyes and ears were cut off to further push her anguish.
Only the greatest suffering made a good human puppet. It was a far more cruel ritual than the living puppet Lyara had used.
Once was made from an object, another was made from flesh.
"Hold the ghouls off for me, Bas." Siderius said.
"Leave that to me! Kill that bitch, Sid!"