An hour later, Roland finally figured out what happened when he had been in a coma for more than a month.
Undoubtedly the church had been hard hit as nearly all of the soldiers of the G.o.d"s Punishment Army were killed, and half of the soldiers of the Judgement Army died on the battlefield. Among the more than 2,000 enemies who fled, most of them had taken the Pill of Madness and would corrode due to the magic power sooner or later.
What was worse, the pope disappeared and most of the senior commanders died in battle. After this battle, Holy City of Hermes would never have the chance to invade the border of the Kingdom of Graycastle. It would even have difficulty in surviving the Months of Demons which would come soon.
But the First Army also suffered heavy losses.
That was mainly caused by the sudden a.s.sault of the witch, Blackveil. All those soldiers who saw her eyes and did not wear the G.o.d"s Stone of Retaliation had been affected to some extent. Of the more than 700 casualties, 80% were caused by her.
The fall of Roland had also greatly undermined the morale of the army.
In such circ.u.mstances, Iron Axe had to issue an order to withdraw the troop.
Fortunately, at this time, the function of City Hall had been faultless. With concerted efforts all around, it did not encounter any problems. The statement to the public was that His Majesty was wounded in battle and needed to stay in bed. The funeral of the First Army soldiers killed in battle was also held by Iron Axe and Barov.
After listening to the account of the witches, Roland"s interest in the captured pure witches was piqued.
"You just said, they don"t have much affection for the church?" He turned to Agatha. "And that witch named Isabella is willing to help us fight the demons?"
"Neither Vanilla nor Margie were cultivated by the archbishop. They were just chosen from the cloister to carry out this task. Nightingale has confirmed it." Agatha replied. "It"s strange that Isabella seems not to care about whom she serves, as long as they can defeat the demons. She said she got that idea from the last pope."
"What"s your opinion on that?"
"I suggest keeping Isabella for the time being."
"But she"s a pure witch raised by the church. She"s our enemy!" Scroll frowned and said, "If it were not for her, that witch named Zero wouldn"t have had the chance to hurt His Majesty at all."
"As far as I know, Wendy was also raised by the church."
"She"s different! She"s never used her power to hurt anyone."
"Isabella also did not directly hurt any witch. Her ability only works on the G.o.d"s Stone, while the witches rarely take the initiative to wear the stones." Agatha refuted. "Nightingale confirmed that she did not lie."
"Is that right?" Roland looked to the other side of the bed.
After quite a while, he heard a reluctant reply from there. "Yeah."
"Most important of all is her ability," Agatha continued, "Isabella mentioned any black-hole formed by the G.o.d"s Stone of Retaliation had a unique tremor, and she could create an opposite tremor so that the stone would lose its function. Perhaps this is the key to figuring out the secret of Supermagic. I even suspect that she"s a natural Supermagic. If we can figure out the relations.h.i.+p between the G.o.d"s Stone and the magic power, the other witches may also be able to do the same."
Hearing that, the crowd could not help gasping in astonishment.
For most of them, the G.o.d"s Stone of Retaliation was a shackle which they could not throw off. Due to the restraint of the G.o.d"s Stone, they were subjected to oppression and exile, and they were helpless in the face of capture by the church and the n.o.ble.
Roland thoughtfully stroked his chin. "Creating a tremor to cancel out another tremor? This is basically the same characteristics of the wave. Does it mean that magic power also spreads in accordance with the way a wave spreads?"
"In that case, leave her aside," he said after a moment of pondering, "Wait until I see her."
Obviously, the witches were not the only ones in Neverwinter who were concerned about his safety. In the afternoon, Barov, Iron Axe, Karl and other high officials received the news and came to the castle one after another. Everyone had a relieved look after seeing him, especially City Hall Director Barov, who even sobbed when hugging Roland.
As he just awoke, instead of asking too much about political affairs, he just casually chatted with them in order to placate them. His long period absence due to his coma had panicked the insiders of Neverwinter. Now the most important thing to do was to cheer them up and inform everyone that their king had recovered.
In the evening, a sumptuous feast was held in the castle. Almost all of the officials of City Hall and the First Army were present, the lines of tables full of food were even extended to the yard.
What was more, Roland also ordered that they should send carts of hot oatmeal to the square so that all of the citizens could also partic.i.p.ate in this celebration.
After having dinner together, Roland went to his bedroom.
"Nightingale," he said softly.
No one responded.
"Nightingale." He repeated. "I know you"re here."
Still no response.
Roland sighed, turned and walked out of two steps. He reached out and felt Nightingale standing there.
He held her up before she prepared to kneel down after appearing out of the Mist.
Well, he seemed to have become stronger.
But that was not important. Roland stared at her fiercely and said before she opened her mouth. "I know you feel guilty. But it"s not your fault and I"m safe now. So don"t blame yourself anymore. Do you understand?"
"Agatha had reminded me, but I still... Ah, Your, Your Majesty?"
Roland directly hugged her.
This was the first time he brought himself to hug Nightingale.
Roland had originally prepared a lot of words to comfort her, but he changed his mind when he was going to open his mouth.
He knew what she really needed.
Before he was. .h.i.t by the shadow of Zero, Nightingale pushed him away, regardless of her own safety. The scene where she stood in front of him to protect him was still vivid in his memory. She was prepared to sacrifice herself for him at that moment. So what else should he expect from such a woman?
"Wait for me." Roland whispered. "I"ll settle it."
"Settle... what?"
He did not reply, but he knew that Nightingale knew what he meant. Her slightly eager breath was the best proof.
The silence was often an invisible injury.
Since he could not ignore it, he had to take on the responsibility.
Even if it was a path through the thorns.
He felt Nightingale gradually relax in his embrace. After her anxiety was finally relieved, she became determined again.
When someone was vulnerable, a promise would be enough.
Then the expectation was not in vain.
"Ah, I"ll wait." She wept.
Her eyes were full of tears, but the sadness disappeared.
The wet and warm tears also filled Roland"s heart with determination.
After Nightingale left, he slept soundly that night.
When he opened his eyes, he saw that white ceiling again.
Well... it"s this awful dream again.
As he had already known how to get away from the dream, he was quite calm this time.
Rubbing the back of his head which was still aching, he walked out of his bedroom. He saw that white-haired girl carrying the plates out of the kitchen.
"You got up finally." She frowned. "Did you go mad yesterday, uncle?"