Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

But the current situation is a little too bad, deviating too much from Grace's original plan -

She didn't know how long she had been unconscious. When she woke up, she found that her hands had been handcuffed with magical shackles. The shackles were hard and heavy, and she felt pain in her wrists - her wrists were already covered in blood.

so quiet.

The chains, handcuffs, and shackles were all made of solid black steel, with clear magical patterns engraved in mithril inside. This forced the magic power in her body to be drawn out, poured out, and then absorbed by the chains and transferred to other places to be stored in magic stones.

This left her body empty, without a trace of magic power left, and prevented her from moving freely, limiting her space to the straw mat beneath her.

It's so quiet here...no sound at all...and almost nothing to see...

Grace glanced around and realized that she was in a rather special cell. The cell was very dark and she could only see a little bit without magic. The dry grass under her feet was a little damp. There was a large area of ​​holy light prohibition engraved on the floor of the cell, emitting a faint light in the dim environment.

Grace was not unfamiliar with this scene. She knew that this cell must be the place where Danmas used to imprison witches. In fact, there were such places in many cities. Grace had seen many of them in the more than ten years of traveling, but to be honest, this was the first time she was locked up like this.

My first experience was not very good.

The shackles blocked the magic power, and the holy light array suppressed the power of the abyss. As a witch, her coming here meant that the only two means she was proud of were blocked, and she could no longer make any waves. For a witch, when the magic power was extremely scarce, she would become extremely weak, and Grace was no exception.

"Tsk..."

Grace raised her eyelids with force. She felt a burning pain on her face, especially her nose bridge, as if she had fallen face down to the ground.

No, it actually just hit the ground, right?

It really hurts.

Grace still remembers everything that happened before she fell into a coma. However, the nightmarish memory did not gradually become blurred after waking up like a nightmare. Instead, it was still very clear, which made her feel scared when she thought about it now.

But Grace had no idea what had gone wrong. She had clearly been paying close attention, observing the situation from such a distance from the fortress, but what about that terrifying nun? Could it be that she had already been discovered?

——To be honest, she felt that the nun was much scarier than the so-called hero who was said to defeat the demon general.

Generally speaking, are there really such scary guys?

In front of that nun, everything Grace was proud of seemed to be crushed, and the feeling of powerlessness and suffocation made her heart tremble.

At this time, footsteps approached the room, and then the iron door was pushed open with a teeth-grinding sound.

"Grace, are you awake?"

Grace looked warily at the person who walked into the room - and then she realized that this person was her former best friend: Sophia.

Seeing Sophia, she raised her eyebrows slightly, a little surprised.

"—Sophia? Why are you here?"

Grace's voice was still hoarse, and to be honest, she hated the sound of her own voice.

"…How long was I unconscious? Three days?"

Logically speaking, Sophia should have to wait at least two or three days before coming to Dammas, so... could it be that she was unconscious for such a long time?

Sophia sighed regretfully - in fact, from Grace's point of view, Grace didn't know that Sophia had actually come to Dammas a long time ago, and Sophia didn't show it.

"Three days, you guessed it."

"Really... Sophia, can you help me untie this thing?"

Grace asked tentatively, shaking the chain in her hand. Sophia remained silent, but came and sat down in front of Grace - in the dimly lit cell, Sophia seemed to be more adept than Grace.

"Actually, I've been thinking about some things these past few days since I came to Dammars from Mallaig. This is a rare opportunity. Can you tell me about it?"

This was not the first time that Grace and Sophia sat down and talked face to face, but unlike any previous meeting, this meeting was not what Grace wanted, and their current relationship... probably could not be called close friends, because close friends must understand and help each other, but Grace and Sophia had already come to blows.

Grace is reluctant to use force against Sophia, but she also doesn't intend to accommodate Sophia's naive ideas.

"No, I don't want to hear it, if you're trying to persuade me."

“Is that so…”

Sophia seemed to have something to say, and showed a regretful expression.

"In that case, I probably won't let you leave easily this time."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't return to Helansis Butana. You can have a good life here too—away from the disputes and disputes you're not good at, and away from the sinful abyss magic. This is what you once promised me."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"As a friend, I can't let you continue to degenerate. Similarly, I don't want the efforts of our witches and the church over the past twenty years to be wasted because of your impulsiveness."

"Are you blaming me?"

"I'm just speaking the truth," Sophia sighed. "You're different from me, who only stays in my room reading. You've traveled all over this continent and seen things I can't even imagine. Your vision and position should be much higher than mine, and you should have a longer-term perspective. You're obviously so talented and courageous, but prejudice has blinded you. Grace, do you really think the Witches' Guild will be happy with you doing this? The Witches' Guild would never hurt others, even if it meant turning a knife on themselves."

So this is what I hate - Grace really wanted to refute like this, but when the words came to her lips, she simply remained silent.

It's useless. What can it change?

Grace knew that it was useless to refute at this time because she was the prisoner and prisoners had no right to speak.

Moreover, looking at Sophia now, she is probably standing on the other side that she has never been to. They are no longer as close and unanimous as before. Even if they say anything now, it will only lead to more quarrels.

Grace lowered her eyes slowly, and her gaze fell on Sophia's white wizard robe, revealing a hint of reverie - since the "Witch of White Frost" became the "Witch of the Forest", Sophia has not worn this dress for a long time. I wonder how much of Sophia's former sharpness she still retains?

Does Sophia really like her current life and is she really no longer looking for change?

But soon, Grace's eyes fell on Sophia's collar and waist. The white robe stained with blood that had turned black attracted her attention.

Grace frowned suddenly and raised her head slightly.

"Why is there blood on you? - Sofia, are you hurt? How could someone hurt you... Who did this?"

Grace's tone dropped, and she tried to stand up, the shackles in her hands making a noisy sound of iron chains rubbing against each other.

Sophia didn't rush to answer, but instead murmured, "I thought you knew—didn't you create those undead puppets? Such advanced necromancy skills! Even I didn't notice their difference, which is why they succeeded in their sneak attack."

"Undead puppet...?"

Grace was a little confused and couldn't wrap her head around it.

She couldn't figure out how the undead puppets were connected to Sofia. Could it be that the riots had lasted for two or three days? So after arriving here, Sofia was attacked by those creatures, and thus injured? But why would those undead puppets attack Sofia?

"Are you ok?"

"No, I'm not well. I hope to hear you answer my questions."

Sophia lowered her figure, and Grace swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She frowned and stared at Sophia. In the dim light, Grace couldn't see Sophia's expression clearly. Then, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she thought of a possibility.

"Wait...Sophia, could it be that those stupid humans are blaming you for that thing?"

Sophia said nothing, her eyes, covered with white cloth, facing Grace.

Without waiting for Sophia's answer, Grace suddenly laughed, gritting her teeth while laughing.

"Ha... I knew it! Damn it, I knew it would be like this! Damn it, it's like this again, always like this..."

Grace's voice cracked, and Sophia just shook her head.

"Grace, why don't you admit that your heart has long been filled with prejudice? You are so different from the gentle and responsible you I remember..."

Sophia didn't say anything more.

Abyssal magic will subtly influence people's minds, and it cannot be corrected with just a few words.

She continued, "Grace, I'm here to tell you that it's not me who's under suspicion now, but you—you're accused of manipulating undead puppets to disrupt the fortress's security and deliberately destroy the defensive formation."

"I?"

"Let me tell you what's going on now. We've re-investigated those two bodies. I found some aura of Abyssal magic on them. That was left by you, right?"

"What do you mean? Are you doubting me? That's ridiculous. Those two puppets don't obey me."

"Then how do you prove it?"

"What? Why do I need proof? Just because I'm a witch? - Please, Sophia, you know better than anyone that there's no way I could possibly be involved in something as filthy as necromancy!"

Grace screamed at the top of her lungs, and as she leaned forward, the chains tightened, making a teeth-grinding sound.

"Hold still, Grace. You can't tear this thing apart."

"Sophia, I told you I didn't do anything! Even you, even you don't believe me!?"

"Really? I believe you."

Sophia stood up and pondered for a moment before continuing, "So I will find a way to clear your name. I'm investigating the identity of the necromancer and I will catch him. You know, no argument is more powerful than directly grasping the truth."

As she spoke, Sophia covered her waist as if in pain.

"I had a chance to catch him today... but unfortunately, I couldn't beat him."

"You...you fought him?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing. I know you're innocent. I should be leaving soon. Wait for my good news."

Sophia smiled faintly and made a move to leave.

And Grace was stunned.

"Wait...Sophia!"

Grace raised her hand, and the chain tugged, making a sound. She stared solemnly at Sophia's eyes covered by the white cloth - Grace still remembered how bright and moving Sophia's beautiful water blue eyes were when she first met Sophia.

Sophia stopped.

"what happened?"

"You just said... you were investigating that necromancer? And you were... injured because of this?"

"Ah."

"why?"

"what why?"

“Why do you do this?”

"Restore your innocence."

"No, I mean—why would you do this? Why would you do something so unnecessary? You don't have to do this for me... Even if you acquit me, I won't be grateful to you. I will find Vivian and take her away. Do you really understand?"

As she spoke, Grace clearly felt Sophia's cheek move slightly.

"No one can change my decision - don't think I'll give up just because of you!"

Grace said, however, Sophia just smiled.

"I'm like you in that respect."

After saying that, Sophia turned and left.

“Sophia!!”

Grace screamed, and the chain made a crisp sound.

"Why are you so stubborn!? Normally it would be fine, but that necromancer is dangerous!"

"You know him?"

"I don't know, but you're injured, aren't you? Why try to be so stubborn when you can't do something?"

At this moment, Sophia stopped in her tracks. "I'll return this sentence to you exactly as it was—and, Grace, I'll ask you one last time, do you really have nothing to do with that necromancer?"

"What are you talking about? I haven't even been inside the fortress! So you never really believed me, did you?"

"If you didn't do anything, what were you doing outside the city?"

"Wait."

"wait?"

"I'll wait for an opportunity to go into the city—so I hypnotized a few unlucky guys, huh." Grace seemed reluctant to talk about this, but she still recounted what she had done outside the city. "...That's why I met those two puppets—Sophia, I've said everything I need to say, believe it or not."

Grace never lied to Sophia.

Grace might lie to anyone, but she never lied to Sophia. Even when she wanted to take Vivian and Sophia away, she always told the truth about what she was going to do and what she wanted to do.

Sophia was silent.

There was silence for about four or five breaths, until sweat broke out on Grace's forehead, and then Sophia finally spoke softly.

"I believe."

Grace seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief. "I have no reason to lie to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have heard the truth in the first place."

"Of course. After all, this sentence... -- you've already emphasized everything just now fourteen times."