Chapter 004

Not far from the place where the merchants and Merlin parted ways, a group of people where looking down from above the roofs of the establishments and houses, as though they were birds looking for something.

This group wasn't alone as there were also another two groups looking around the town, and there target was the same person. The citizens of Everborne City called the Black Witch Mistress.

However, this three groups haven't had similar goals, and weren't also on the same side.

The first group was clad in inconspicuous cloaks and was moving in the shadows. The other one had cloaks as well, but had clunky appearance. One would immediately know that they were knights and paladins of the Holy Church, while the third group was blending with the crowd and wasn't wearing cloaks to hid themselves.

Also, this three groups knew of each others existence, but they didn't know that two people were watching them from the background, their main target and Merlin.

The Black Witch Mistress was only waiting for the right time before she made her move, and while she was preparing, Merlin had already counted all her moves, and was waiting for her and the groups of anonymous people to clash, as well as enjoy the show...

Looking on the crowd beneath her feet, for a Witch such as her, this insignificant humans were just ants that she could stomped on whenever, and for whatever reason she might thought.

From 77 years ago, after the war with Twin-star Empire, the Peaceful Treaty was made. The New Duke of the Abrahar Dukedom was replaced, after the old Duke died from the war at the final confrontation between the main army of Allied Kingdoms and Twin-star Empire.

Many had sacrificed themselves for their beloved kingdom, her known father and mother were one of those individuals, which actually were her adopted parents as it seemed. She found out about it when she heard them quarrelling about her true origin.

Even after many years, she could still hear their faint voices inside her head, remember a glimpse of their faces as they quarrelled, while she watched them, peeking through the slightly opened door of their room.

"What are we going to do with Maribeth? Her family has died after the the ambush at the Border City..... and not too long and we.." clearly, the woman could not take it and cried off.

The man with an angry expression looked at the window as he noticed something. Urgently, he looked at his wife and consoled her. His eyes said everything was alright. "Honey! Listen! Go and escape with Maribeth... No, hide in the secret chamber under the door entrance. The Twin-star soldiers won't be able to find you there. I'll look for you afterwards. I promise."

"No! I'll go with you!" she insisted.

"Of course you can't! Your lives are more important than mine. You two are the only treasure I have."

Her gripped on his sleeves tightened while she sobbed. Then, they heard the rumbling of the floor. The City had been being besiege. Ball of massive iron were flying, when descended would cause explosion, which could destroy a house in an instant.

The man looked at his wife and said. "We don't have much time! Hurry! take our daughter and hide!"

The man ran towards the door. As he opened it, he saw Maribeth crying. Tears filled his eyes, as he embraced her and kissed her forehead one last time, then ran outside. However, unknown to the man, his wife chased after him, after she had hid Maribeth under the hidden chamber under their door entrance.

It was installed that way for a disastrous events like this. It had all the things she needed to stay alive for at least two weeks. There were already prepared imperishable foods and clear water, good for a few weeks, as well as a separated room to take her own personal business.

That's the last memories she had about her adopted parents. She stayed inside for at least 4 weeks, which was far from estimated time before the war ended, for the kingdom to recapture the City.

Until, after another week, the door of the hidden chamber opened and light came in, with people adorned in expensive clothes and armour, with a crest of rose with thorns coiled around an axe.

But her story didn't stopped there, it was still far before she awakened into a Witch.

She was already eighteen at that time, the 6th day of the week, coincidentally the time when the total lunar eclipse happened. Her new family, and the man she loved was murdered by the City Lord himself under the blood red moon. This caused the spark of her road to Witchery ablaze.

She was violated by the City Lord, which happened to be a Magic Artifact Holder of Darkness Category. He violated her inside the hidden chamber in the City Lord Mansion.

Then, the time of her awakening arrived. It happened when she was being violated. As She was within the Darkness Category as well, and was classified black in nature, her will to take revenge caused the city to be cursed and killed off the City Lord.

However, she wasn't satisfied with the outcome. Her hatred still hadn't diminished, and to release it, she cursed the bloodline of the city lord, all his descendants and relatives had been cursed to die in an early age.

Like any curses, it could also be lifted, but not entirely. Once every week, when the moon was bath in blood, a sacrifice was needed to stop the curse, and it must be done every 6th day of the week.

She snapped from her own reminisce, and the within her field of vision, she noticed the people covered in cloaks, as well as the group of Witch Hunters blending with the crowd. She knew they were looking for her, to eliminate her and freed the city from her curse.

The Black Witch Mistress already had a plan, and killing all of them was part of it, as well as erasing the whole city. Her preparations had already been set, and only the time was the one she awaited before executing it.

A concealed cold killing intent flashed within her eyes, as she disappeared in the air like dissipating smoke.

Meanwhile, Merlin was strolling around the town while had his Mana Sense activated. He already knew of the existence of the three groups, which he concluded were on both opposing sides.

However, he sensed another few individuals. Another group of Magicans and two witches, and Merlin noticed that they seemingly following him intentionally.

Using his acting skills like he had not noticed them, Merlin entered a bank which had the sign "World Network Financial Corp". A Bank owned by a group of rich merchants and different known individuals.

He withdraw a few sums of Imperial Royal Coins and head towards the nearby Inn, the Joe Steed Inn, and rented a room.

As he entered his room, he saw two females sitting on the bed which supposed to be for him. A young sixteen year old lady, and a woman which looked older than him, a beauty that could cause kingdoms to fall, and they were Witches.

The woman stood and walked towards the small dining table, which had a vase on it with bouquet of flowers. "You rented a fine room..."

"You're right, Sis. He's cute, if I didn't know he isn't a girl, I'll definitely mistaken him for a young lady." the young lady said hugging her knees as she sat on the bed. Her posture kept revealing her underwear, and it made Merlin flustered for a second.

"Oh, I didn't know this Inn also offers this kind of service." Merlin said as he ran towards the young lady and gleefully put his hand over her shoulder. "Tell me, pretty lady what's your name?"

The woman amused answered his question. "She's Angela, a Witch."

Merlin gasped as she looked at the lady on his arms. "As I thought, Witches are truly beautiful beings, I am wondering why people condemned you Evil. All of can see is angelic faces.... and sexy bodies."

Angela's face reddened as she felt something touching her breast. Angered, she pushed Merlin as strong as she could and summoned her Witch Hat and was about to throw a ball of acidic liquid on him, but the laughing woman stopped her.

"Angela, don't. You might attract the attention of the Witch Hunters and the Inquisitors from Holy Church. And he didn't harmed you anyway, it's just a grope."

"Be grateful cute lecherous pervert! If I'm a Black Witch I have already dissolved your body into piles of disgusting liquids!" she said in her anger.

"Oh then, who comes to someone's room and kept flashing her underwear in front of my face? Who's she?"

"You!"

"Hahaha, your interest young man. When I said she was a witch, I didn't even sense a faint of fear nor disgust coming from you. You even teased my little sister. Aren't you afraid that we will kill you?"

Merlin grinned at her words. "If you're here to simply kill me you could have done it already, when I entered the room, but you didn't. And besides, I know you two aren't evil witches. So what are you here for?"

"Hoh~ I'm impressed. Anyway, we're just curious about you. Are you..."

"A Magician? Yes, I am." Merlin answered proudly.

"So that's how it is. Okay, Angela we need to leave now." They walked towards the balcony and gave Merlin another look. "Were leaving. I hope we meet again...." the woman said as she winked at him, before they disappeared in the air after a flash of light.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Looking at the balcony, Merlin smiled at what happened. "My time here has been pretty eventful." he muttered as he recalled the softness of two mountains he touched.

Then, he noticed the the sky had begun to gain color of shady red. "Looks like the show is gonna happen soon. I must watch it at the highest point of view."

On the street, the woman and Angela were walking towards the City Square, the place where the massacre would happen.

The Woman named Aisha, and Angela were from the White Witch Association, the party opposing the Black Witch Organization, but even though they were all White Witches, the Holy Church still pressured them. Fortunately, there were many people who believe in their cause.

This made the Holy Church stopped from attacking the cities the White Witch Association were protecting. Because they knew that if they branded a hundred million people as heretics, the people in their territory would start doubting their doctrine, and would result to dramatic decrease of followers.

"That man is a lecher! Why did you stop me awhile ago? I really need to blast him to release this pent up anger inside me! Grrr!" Angela said, as she was too angry to speak anymore, and only let out a grunting sound, but when she remembered Merlin groping her breasts, her face suddenly reddened like a tomato. "Sister Aisha, I want to kill him!"

Aisha giggled. "No you can't. It's a waste if you do it, I want to eat him up first. He isn't bad either, and I like his attitude. Ahh I think I like him already." she said holding her face.

Angela just gave her an unbelievable-look. "Stop daydreaming, Sis. We need to travel now. Teacher Hazel is waiting for us at the Headquarter..." she said and walked faster than Aisha.

"Angela, wait! Don't be jealous. I can share him to you, if you want."

"Shut up!" Angela shouted, while Aisha teased her as they walked out of the city.

On the City Square, the Inquisitors from Holy Church rented a room near the City Lord Mansion, as well as the other group, the Bounty Hunters which were waiting for the time the Black Witch Mistress showed herself.

Back at Merlin's side, he was waiting for the food he ordered. After a few minutes, someone knocked on the door. "Sir Merlin, your orders are here."

"Okay come in" he said.

A woman, not far from his age entered with a tray of dished that Merlin ordered. She walked straight to the balcony and placed the food on the table. She looked at Merlin and her face blushed as she spoke. "Do you have any additional orders Sir?"

"No, this are enough. But before you leave, can I ask you some questions?"

Confused, the woman nodded. "Certainly, Sir"

"I will tell you the truth. I'm a Magician, and I'm here to free this city from the curse the Black Witch Mistress laid, but in order to do that I must know the story behind it. More importantly, if the citizens here wanted to return to their former lives."

Her face paled and clearly frantic as she thought how to escape, but when she heard Merlin's last sentence, she hesitated. They were told not to divulged anything about the ritual or the fact that their city was cursed. Spreading it means death to them.

"I'm sorry, Sir Merlin, but this isn't my job. Although, I want to say something. I couldn't, because my family might be endangered. I'm sorry Sir, I need to leave. Enjoy your food Sir." She said and bowed as she hurriedly fled.

As Merlin heard the closing of the door, he looked at the food and found curses all over them. He waved his hand and a blinding light shrouded the dishes as the black aura it have had disappeared completely, only the salivating scent was left.

Merlin sighed as he started devouring the food. "Looks like I need to visit the City Lord Mansion, personally. Oh the Black Witch Mistress is there too. What a luck. It's like killing two birds with one stone.

Not far from his location, the group of Witch Hunters, from Witch Hunters Association were also renting a room. It was three blocks away from the establishment where Merlin was.

As they entered the room, one of them headed to the balcony and saw Merlin from afar having his meal. When they saw him down the road, they suspected him as a witch because of his appearance, but when he molested a lady, they doubted that Merlin was a Witch. How could that happen, if Merlin was actually a male? That's very unlikely.

However, they were still curious about him, specially the girls in their group.

The Witch Hunters dispatched by the Witch Hunters Association were all D Rank and their group was considered C Rank. The Witch they were pursuing this time was considered C Rank and this group volunteered for this mission. Their team was called, Wind Ashes Team.

"Hey, guys! Look who I found! I found the cute guy!"

The girls rushed at her location, and immediately looked at the direction where she was pointing her finger. They saw a young man with a fooling appearance of a girl. One would definitely doubt if he was straight from just a glance.

"Heh~ he sure knows etteiquete. Look at how he used a spoon and fork. He must be from an aristocratic family, but like others I knew, he also ran away as he could not take the hypocrisy inside his family." the woman leaning backwards at the balcony said.

"I think this guy is just like us. A Magician, but he is a rouge one with no affiliated Associations or Organizations." the guy on the back said.

"Then, why don't we invite him? We're finding another member anyway. If he passed as D-Rank, we'll recruit him in our group."

"Stop this nonsense. Prepare yourselves, the night has come. At any moment, that Black Witch Mistress might appeared. Recover and save your Mana for the upcoming fight." the leader said, annoyed at their topic.

"Yes, leader!"

"Just like what we planned. Once the City Gate closed, destroy it and evacuate the people outside the city. Let me, Jeromy, and Findvere do the hard work. To capture the witch. But if things aren't on our side, you can help. Understood?!"

"Yes, leader!" they said in unison.

"Alright, let's eat first. I'm starving."

"You're always hungry, leader."

"Shut up, Genere."

And the group laughed. Unknown to them, a pair of dark eyes were watching them with fierce killing intent, starving for bloodbath. This pair of eyes were owned by the Familiar of Black Witch Mistress, a Shadow Demon. And what it could see, would also be seen by its master.

As of now, she already knew of their plans to capture her, while the Inquisitors were there as well, but to kill her.

"Just you all wait. When the time comes, I'll sacrifice you all to summon an Arch-devil to destroy this Kingdom! Hahahah!" the witch laughed maniacally at the shadows as she moved towards Merlin's location, intending to collect his debt.

Meditating in his room, Merlin smiled as he sense the incoming person, the Black Witch Mistress. After what happened at the entrance of the city before, Merlin knew that she would come and pay him a visit to teach him a lesson.

Thinking in his mind, Merlin was amused by this. "After bathing in blood, she still has some woman pride. And her buttom are soft too, although I know that she is already a granny. Wait.... I'm an old man in soul right? So we're quits."

Grinning to himself, he looked at the shadow appearing at the corner of his room. "Oh there she is. Looks like I don't need to make a trip at City Lord Mansion. Let see if you can find me.... Let the light bend, and darkness comes to life; Invisibility...." and he disappeared like a blob of bubble.

When Merlin became invisible, a woman in full black dress and hat with lunar eclipse design emerged from the shadows converging at the corner. She swept the whole room with her eyes burning with fury and intent to murder Merlin. One could notice the murderous intent she had, that she would torture Merlin before killing him.

Her face darkened as seconds gone by. Merlin's scent was still lingering inside the room after he bathed, yet he wasn't inside.

"Young cute pervert! You're lucky today. After killing those hunters, I'll enjoy torturing you myself! Arghh!" the witch roared as she blasted the whole room, and disappeared in the shadows.

The explosion caught the attention of those hunting her, and hurriedly ran towards the building where the explosion took place, near the City Lord Mansion, at the City Square.

The night signal rang and the City Gate closed with a sound of metal cogs rolling. Many merchants urgently left the city and camped outside. This marked the start of Witch hunt, and massacre.

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Ahoi! Battle starts at the next chapter, but it isn't grandeur as an all out one. So stay tuned! Well it's up to you!

I'm not really good at description. *sigh* I need to expand my word bank...

See y'all!