Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

Hal said, holding the silver coins in his hand.

The woman continued to sit calmly on the deer's back, her eyes fixed on the small river in front of her - the river was not wide, with both banks only about twenty steps apart. There was no sign of human activity nearby, and the path under her feet was already covered with green marks. It was obvious that not many people came here often.

The stream was connected by a wooden bridge, but the bridge was broken in the middle, and it looked like no one had come to repair it for a long time, and the bridge had already become shaky.

"Because there's a witch's lair ahead, few people come here, so the bridge has been demolished. If you want to cross, you'll have to find a way on your own."

Hal said this casually, as if explaining, but also as if showing off.

— Is it going to be demolished because so few people come? Even the slightest explanation like that sounds lame.

"It has nothing to do with you here."

The woman simply stared at the broken bridge with a stern tone. Hal didn't plan to stay here for long, as he couldn't leave his post for too long, and he didn't want to have anything to do with the witch. If it weren't for those few silver coins, he wouldn't have come to such a place.

Hal walked away quickly, and the woman looked at him, then slowly lowered her raised hand - the magical light in her palm went out.

Let this man go, she thought, because she didn't want to embarrass Sophia who lived here.

Shaking her head, she rode the gray deer to the broken bridge.

"Wait for me here."

The woman stroked the deer's horns and said, then her body floated up into the air and landed on the other side of the bridge.

She walked straight towards the cabin behind the woods.

The woman walked through the shady trees and came to a small wooden house surrounded by flower beds. The area around the house was covered with shallow grass and planted flowers. The sight was full of colorful colors. Butterflies with beautiful wings were flying around. Several sparrows landed at her feet, chirping as if no one was around. They didn't seem to be afraid of people at all. The owner of the wooden house seemed to have known of her arrival for a long time and was standing among the flower beds looking at her - no, he was just looking in the direction where she was.

The woman, wearing a deep blue dress and long hair the color of water, stood there quietly. She was as beautiful as the color of the sky, and as clean and translucent as a gem that had submerged in the bottom of the lake.

"Sophia!"

She couldn't help but call out, her hoarse voice drowned out by her boiling emotions.

The woman called Sophia just smiled faintly, but her dim eyes did not follow her figure - Sophia's eyes were gray and unfocused.

"Grace, long time no see."

Sophia said, her soft voice a stark contrast to Grace's raspy voice.

……

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192. Ash Witch

Grace took a few steps forward, took off her gray hood, and hugged Sophia tightly.

It took her a while to let go.

"I'm sorry, Sophia, I missed you so much."

"Me too, Grace, my dear friend," Sophia said with a gentle and nostalgic smile. "It's been fourteen years since we last met, right? You haven't heard from me in a while. You don't know how happy I was when I received your letter. Honestly, Grace, tell me, are you doing well?"

"I'm fine, it's just... so much time has passed without me noticing." Grace lowered her gaze slightly and sighed, "I'm sorry, Sophia, I should have come back to see you sooner..."

"What are you talking about?" Sophia smiled. "I don't need your apology, Grace. If you still regard me as your best friend—well, let's go inside first. I can't wait to hear your adventure stories."

Sophia reached for Grace's hand, but Grace simply stared at her best friend with a complicated expression. Fourteen years had passed, and Sophia was still as beautiful as ever. However, the only flaw was her gray eyes—they were devoid of light.

She really wanted to reminisce with her best friend, but now she had something she had to do - her eyes swept over the cottage and the nearby flower garden, but she didn't see a second figure.

There is no trace of another person living here.

"Sophia, is our daughter okay?"

Grace asked eagerly.

"I want to meet her."

Sophia just pursed her lips with a puzzled look.

"Let's go inside first."

……

Vivian Trawins is the daughter of Grace and Sophia. This is a secret between Sophia and Grace - not only the townspeople of Mallaig, but even Vivian herself does not know this. Everyone thinks Vivian's father should be a man, but in fact it is a woman.

And she's a witch.

There was no love between Sophia and Grace, only friendship. The birth of Vivian was no ordinary outcome. Over a decade ago, Sophia and Grace vowed to create a future for witches, a future free from oppression and fear, where they could integrate into normal life. They frantically tried every possible means, including magically transforming a seed stolen from the elves and implanting it into Sophia, creating Vivian. At that time, Grace would never acknowledge Vivian as her daughter, believing she was a failed magical creation, possessing only a human soul and appearance.

So Sophia never mentioned anything about "father" to Vivian.

This became a secret that was hidden for a long time, so long that Grace herself almost forgot about it.

Until she heard the names of her best friend Sophia and an unexpected failure - Vivian from the Queen.

"Bring them to submit to me, Witch of Ashes. I know this may be difficult, but if you do it, then your long-cherished wish—believe me, I can realize it for you."

The queen summoned her secretly and said this to her - Queen Helanie Islina, she was the most honorable person in the vassal state of Helansis Butana, and her promise made Grace's heart beat.

So Grace came, to take Vivian and Sophia away, because the Queen wanted them - Grace didn't care why the Queen wanted them, Grace only knew that her long-cherished wish finally had a chance to come true.

In the cabin, Sophia and Grace sat face to face. After Grace explained her purpose, Sophia was silent for a long time, then raised her eyes slightly - her gray eyes could not see anything, but Grace seemed to have the illusion that she was being watched.

After not seeing each other for fourteen years, Sophia was delighted with the arrival of her best friend, but she vaguely felt that Grace came with a certain purpose - and this purpose was the reason why Grace appeared here.

She knew Grace too well.

"Grace...you...are you going to take Vivian away? To a subhuman country?"

Sophia's voice dropped.

Helansis Butana was once an autonomous territory in the northern border of the empire. After the Demon King War, it was given by the previous empress of the empire to the demi-humans who made outstanding contributions in the war, and they were allowed to establish a vassal state. Since then, Helansis Butana has become the only country in the eastern continent ruled by demi-humans, or rather, there are almost only demi-humans there, because humans are not welcome there.

"No, Sophia, I will take Vivian and you with me. The three of us will leave here together. This is a damn place full of filth. I can see that those filthy people in this town don't welcome you, do they?"

Grace looked excited and seemed very confident in her persuasion.

"'Dirty human'?" Sophia looked surprised. Grace's words made her feel a little unfamiliar. "Please don't say that, Grace."

"We are witches, Sophia. There's nothing wrong with admitting that," Grace smiled nonchalantly. "Those humans...those people are different from us. They don't even treat us witches as human beings."

"Because we broke the taboo, we tasted the consequences and received retribution - we are all the same, Grace."

"alright."

Grace was a little unhappy, but she didn't insist and continued, "So let me meet her, please, Sophia. Don't worry, I'll convince her. Vivian must not like it here, right?"

"I'm sorry... I've already sent Vivian to the church," Sophia said. As if she remembered something, a warm smile appeared in her dull eyes. "She's probably trying to become a Saint Sister now. Of course, I don't think the church will let her pass the selection, but that's okay, isn't it?"

"I thought you would always keep her by your side and be a good mother."

Grace teased.

Back then, when Grace and Sophia planned to create Vivian, their original intention was to use the magic of the elves to create a witch who would not be disturbed by the Mark of the Abyss. The Mark of the Abyss is a unique magical mark that every witch carries since birth, which may appear anywhere on the body. The witch will feel the characteristics of the abyss breath and is inseparable from the influence of the Abyss Mark. If the Abyss Mark fails, it can greatly alleviate the symptoms of the witch being affected by the abyss.

To eradicate the Abyss Mark from its source, they resorted to the most primitive and insane experiment, using magic to interfere with the fetus's growth from the moment of conception, hoping to erase the Mark from the witch's bloodline. But they failed. Vivian was no different from any other witch; she, too, bore the Abyss Mark.

……

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193. Witch's Mark

Grace doesn't like keeping a failed experiment, so she plans to erase Vivian.

But Sophia stopped her.

It was then that Grace unexpectedly discovered that Sophia had developed feelings for a magical creature and treated Vivian as her "daughter" - fortunately, she did not really take action at that time, otherwise there would be no unexpected gain now.

"I can't let you take her, Grace. I'm sorry."

Sophia looked at Grace deeply, even though her eyes were dark.

"It's ridiculous, but the Church knows how to take care of her much better than I do, instead of confining her to a deserted forest with only books for company. I hope she doesn't have to endure the same pain we did. The Church can help isolate her from the influence of the Mark of the Abyss."

The Holy Light Seal can suppress the Mark of the Abyss, so the supervision of witches has always been the responsibility of the church.

Sophia smiled.

Speaking of which, the person who first suggested that Vivian participate in the selection of the Holy Sister was the priest of Mallaig Monastery. At that time, Sophia was very worried about whether the priest's advice would really be useful, but a few days ago, she was relieved because she received a letter from the priest. It was sent by Vivian from the fortress. In the letter, Vivian talked about her life and things that happened in the fortress. She said that she made very powerful and kind friends, saw many interesting things, and her daily life and experiences.

Sophia was genuinely happy for Vivian.

Because of this, Sophia was actually reluctant to leave here with Grace, because she was afraid of disrupting Vivian's current life.

"That's right..."

Grace had no interest in knowing this, but she could see that Sophia liked talking about Vivian, so she was willing to chime in.

"Does Vivian know her situation?"

"I know. Apart from things related to Abyssal Magic and the Abyssal Mark, I don't intend to tell her anything else—because that would be completely useless and would only make her aware of the 'mark'."

Sophia said.

The best way to prevent the Mark of the Abyss is to keep the witch herself ignorant of it, so the church deliberately prevents the spread of stories about witches and keeps an eye on every witch. It must be said that the church's approach is more sophisticated than that of the original "Witches' Association".

Witches have been appearing since the Demon King War, and forty years have passed since then. Countless witches have appeared and perished in these forty years. No one knows the origins of witches, no one knows why they appear, and no one knows what to do about them. It wasn't until a decade ago that the Church intervened to improve the situation. Since then, the Church has prevented countless witches from running wild.

Honestly, Sophia is very grateful for everything the church has done.

"But seriously, Sophia, you shouldn't have let Vivian go to church. You know, those believers have never truly trusted us. They won't truly let go of their prejudices against us."

Grace spread her hands helplessly and said.

Sophia shook her head.

"Grace, isn't your idea also prejudiced? I just want Vivian to live a more stable life, that's all."

"Why do you believe the church and not me?" Grace interrupted. "The church is a bunch of liars. Did we get the 'normal life' they promised us over a decade ago? Don't fall for their trick. They just don't want us to form a 'Witch Society' again—they don't want to cause any trouble."

"The Witch Association was a mistake, Grace. Even the Church needs time to accept witches. We need to trust each other—everything will be fine. Now witches are no longer dangerous bombs, and the Church is changing all this."

Grace sighed.

"You're getting stubborn, Sophia."

"It's not that I'm stubborn, Grace, really."

Sophia stared at Grace with unfocused eyes.

"But honestly, are you willing to come with me?" Grace continued, "To Helansis Butana. Honestly, Sophia, you'll definitely be satisfied there. We'll have a happy family, and more witches will live in my territory."

"Your territory?"

Sophia was slightly surprised, while Grace smiled smugly.

"Yes, my territory. The Queen promised me that in the future she would give me a territory that would belong only to me. She would establish it as an autonomous territory—she would not prevent any witch from becoming my subject. Imagine a city where witches can walk openly on the streets, a place of justice that gives every witch a normal life, justly and equally. What a beautiful place that would be!"

"How is this possible... Witch... No, the more concentrated the Abyss Marks are, the more likely it is to trigger an invasion from the Abyss. Even the Queen of Hellensis Butana would never ignore the Church's ban..."

"So, as long as there's no 'mark', isn't that enough?"

Grace's words stunned Sophia.

She thought of a possibility, but she didn't say it out loud.

Grace smiled.

"Sophia, just let them perform the 'extraction' surgery..."

"no!"

Sophia stood up suddenly, and her violent movement easily knocked over the cups and plates on the wooden table.

Sophia asked in a disbelieving tone.

"How could you... Grace, how could you say such a cruel thing? Why do we have to go through the pain, sorrow, and separation we've endured all over again? Have you forgotten everyone in the Witch's Association?! - If the Church is willing to help us, we won't have to resort to such barbaric methods!"

The so-called removal surgery is to remove the Abyss Mark from the body in the simplest and most direct way. For example, Sophia's Abyss Mark was in her eyes, so she had her eyes cut open and became blind. Another example is Grace's mark in her throat, so Grace almost lost the ability to speak at one point.

As long as the witches who have removed the mark use appropriate methods to suppress the witch blood in their bodies, they will not be disturbed by the abyss again. Therefore, many witches of the same era as Sophia chose this path. They longed to become normal people again, even if it meant disability.

But in fact, enduring pain does not simply pave the way for realizing wishes. Sometimes it will make people fall further into the abyss. Sophia and Grace are already very lucky witches. They both survived after stripping off the mark of the abyss. However, the fact is that a large number of witches died during this period.

He died hoping to return to normal life.

……

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