Chapter 611 611 Chaos at Home
611 611 Chaos at Home
While Wolfe was working on spells for the Demon King to work off his sentence, things at home had gone from tense, to worrisome, to downright strange.
The United World Army hadn't retreated from the Frozen Wastes, but they also hadn't advanced into the Grand Dutchies, despite holding the advantage at the moment. Instead, what the Witches of Forest Grove were intercepting on the radio amounted to mostly infighting and power struggles.
From what Cassie could tell, the Mana Beast had broken loose and was rampaging on another continent, while its offspring here celebrated. That had led to rumours among the soldiers that the Saints were in ill health, which had been amplified by the fact that nobody had heard from them.
The residents of the Fae Forest suspected that something much more drastic had happened, as they had all felt Wolfe's desperation as he pulled a massive amount of mana from everyone before he disappeared.
They could all still feel that he was alive, but there was no sense of pain or overwhelming emotions through the bond, so they hoped that he was alright, wherever he was. Cassie had tried to track him the first day, but it led her to the site of a recent magical battle, and the bond said that he should still be right there.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe had searched the ground and sky with her magic, in case he was unconscious and invisible, but there was no sign of him, other than the bond insisting that she was standing right next to him. For the entire day, she had searched, until she gave up on finding him and went home to research new spells that might help.
It was only after they had learned that the two Saints were either unwell or missing that she had put the pieces together and realized that they must have attacked Wolfe, and something happened that had led to them all going missing or being gravely injured.
It should have been good news, but with the Saints missing the United World Army had been thrown into chaos, and there were rumours of rebel factions from the other continents approaching the other nations on this continent, according to the Witches from Myrrh Coven when they had come to trade.
Cassie sighed as she looked down at the spell book in front of her. Nothing that she researched was going to help if she didn't even know where he had gone, and things only seemed to be getting worse outside.
[Forest Grove, this is North Wind Village. We have reports from the Gondian Empire and Hiziros that foreign forces have offered to take down the curses on the ocean in exchange for trade deals.
The Covens of Corgosia and Grand are both reporting that they have signed peace treaties with their human neighbours, which makes most of the northern shore tentative allies for the first time.
The Covens are sending a delegation south through the mountains now, to meet with the leadership of Forest Grove, but they wouldn't reveal their exact intentions. Our scouts report that they have no Rank Two witches among their delegation, nor did they bring heavy military vehicles.]
A deal with the Covens from the far side of the mountains might be a good thing for them, if they were able to work something out. The stronger the alliances they had, the more likely that the continent would be able to weather this war relatively intact.
But with the United World Army no longer advancing, the question became whether they were going to need it at all. Likely when the Saints recovered or returned, the war would be back in full swing, but nobody knew how long that could be, and the defectors reported that the Saints were already Crones, ancient and eternally in ill health.
That was a blasphemous sentiment to speak out loud in the rest of the world, but those who had seen them at their awakenings recognized that the Saints didn't have long left.
For all Cassie knew, they could both be dead after the battle with Wolfe. One Rank Five Magi was no match for two Rank Seven Witches, no matter how you looked at it, but with the mana he had pulled from hundreds of Rank Two and Three Witches, he might have been able to overcome at least one ailing old Saint.
She just wished that she could make some sort of contact with him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Mary coming in with pup trailing behind her and her Nekomata familiar sitting on her shoulder, a small black ball of fluff to rub her face against.
"You should come up top. Ella is back, and she's brought guests. Lots of guests." The small witch informed her.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThat was good enough news that Cassie marked her place in the spell book and rose to her feet.
"Are they the Magi candidates? The Guardians have been looking forward to seeing what sort of state they're in." Cassie asked.
Mary giggled. "I hope they're the ones. If she just brought a random bunch of tattooed gangsters back with her, I'm going to have some serious questions."
The gangsters in question were staring around the village in awe, watching the animal people go about their daily business and soaking in the increased mana levels to work on their mana cores, as the Noxus Elders had been teaching them on the way over.
They didn't know much, but Wolfe had taught them that much, along with a bit about how to cure the damage from Nerve Gas this past spring when they had seen him last.
"Where is cousin Wolfe?" A burly young Magi asked, looking around for any men who didn't have animal ears.
Cassie smiled at him. "He's a bit indisposed at the moment, and he's not going to be back for a while. Might I ask what your name is?"
"I am Antonio Scorpio, the newest Elder of the Scorpio Family. I went to school with Wolfe until he moved up to his Uncle's place, and our Families work together on a number of businesses back in the Fortress City, so we've been friends for a long time." The muscular and tattooed young man replied.
Then he looked around the village, and his smile got even larger.
"I must say, he has impeccable taste, this village is spectacular. Tell me, are the ladies friendly?" He asked, eyeing a muscular werewolf woman who was leading combat drills on the training field.
Ella laughed at his wandering eye. "Some of them. But then, you don't really mind if they are playing hard to get, do you?"