Tayfun stared at the witch across him and couldn't help but sigh.

"Is His Holiness Mayne really so busy?"

"Of course he is." The witch stroked her golden curls. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent me to meet you. Let me introduce myself. My name is Isabella, and I'm a Pure Witch of the Supreme Pontiff."

"Your Excellency Tayfun, this..." The other two newly appointed Bishops, Soli Daal of the Judgement Army and El of the Tribunal stared at each other. Although they knew about the church's secret witches, they never expected them to be allowed to partic.i.p.ate in such important meetings.

"She's a direct subordinate of the Pope with the same rank as a Bishop—she just doesn't have an official position in the church," explained Tayfun with a sigh. "Bishops can also have their own Pure Witches, so when the Months of the Demons are over, you two can choose a few witches to raise."

"I... I see." Soli widened his eyes. "So... so what kind of powers do they have?"

"This is highly confidential, and only the Supreme Pontiff knows about it."

"Why would we want to raise witches?" El seemed quite annoyed. "If the believers find out, the church's reputation will be terribly damaged!"

"Of course, they can help you take care of shady business." Isabella raised her eyebrows. "Also, they can sleep with you, let you vent your anger, or do many other things... you should know that witches are completely different from regular women."

"Absurd!"

"Ahem, that's enough." Tayfun coughed. "Your Excellency El, I already said that the Pope's Pure Witches are of equal rank as bishops and should be seen as his representatives, so you should show them some respect. And Lady Isabella, please refrain from making these jokes. They aren't as old and near death as me, and might get very angry at what you said."

"As you wish, Your Excellency," Isabella said with a smile.

"Hmph." El uttered a nasal sound and ignored the witch.

"Then let's get to business," Tayfun said, stroking his beard. "Do you have anything to report?"

"I don't understand why His Holiness Mayne is suddenly asking all of the local church groups to send their captured witches to the Holy City. Even if it's to create G.o.d's Punishment Army, it's still a high price to pay." El took the lead and said. Her tone sounded harsh probably because of her anger towards the Pure Witch. "Ever since the order was pa.s.sed, we've captured three witches. While they were being sent over, one broke out of her cage and killed the accompanying guards, and we have yet to find her."

"Wasn't she restrained by a 'metal leash'?" asked Soli.

"Not all churches are equipped with the most advanced G.o.d's Locket of Retribution," said El annoyedly. "We lost 16 believers to this witch, including four who were supposed to become Judgement Warriors. If something like this happens again, people might be too afraid to capture witches."

"But we all know that combat witches are a minority, and most of the Fallen aren't capable of fighting back, so this kind of issue is very rare," said Isabella nonchalantly. "Also, every time you bring back a wild witch, the church can gain two new G.o.d's Punishment Warriors, so I shouldn't have to explain to you which is more important."

"I agree with Lady Isabella," Soli said, nodding his head. "With the stress on Hermes' line of defense increasing every day, we desperately need more G.o.d's Punishment Warriors to fight the demonic beasts. One G.o.d's Punishment Warrior has the fighting ability of three or four Judgement Warriors, and even more Warriors-in-training."

"Since the Supreme Pontiff has made his decision, we should just carry it out to the best of our ability." Tayfun turned to Soli Daal and asked, "What's the situation at our line of defense?"

"Very difficult. Regular demonic hybrids are easy to deal with, but every time a Fearful Beast of h.e.l.l appears, a G.o.d's Punishment Warrior gets injured or killed." Soli shook his head. "Burying snow powder and detonating it is a good idea, but we can't guarantee that they walk over the snow powder every time."

"His Holiness has also considered this," said Isabella frankly, "and he plans to use the 'Siege Beast' ahead of time."

"What's that?"

"A siege weapon controlled by Pure Witches with a range, accuracy, and power that far exceed those of the mangonel, and the key to conquering the Kingdom of Wolfheart," explained the Pure Witch. "The 'Siege Beast' was originally used to fight demons and giant demonic beasts, so since the Fearful Beasts of h.e.l.l showed up early, we should start using it."

"Why didn't we use it from the beginning?" Soli asked confusedly.

"Because of the potential damage." Isabella shrugged. "We can't build new ones and can only repair parts of it."

"So where did it come from?" El asked with a frown.

"This is top secret, so you don't have the clearance to know."

"You..."

As the secret room fell quiet, Tayfun broke the silence by clapping his hands and saying, "Alright, since you all brought bad news, I shall share a piece of good news. Besides a few cities in the Kingdom of Wolfheart that are still resisting, all the other n.o.bles have pledged their allegiance to us, just like the weaklings in the Kingdom of Everwinter did. There'll be more believers joining the church, and by next summer, the Holy City's resources and Judgement Army will double in size. Also, the Kingdom of Dawn caused an uprising because of its hostility against believers, and our people are secretly helping them fight the n.o.ble, which might last until the end of the Months of the Demons."

"Finally, some good news." El sighed. "I thought the church was done for."

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Soli glared at her. "Aren't we progressing exactly according to our plan?"

"Good job." Isabella nodded approvingly and glanced at the three bishops. "Since you're all done talking, I'll share the Supreme Pontiff's new order."

The three archbishops all immediately looked at the Pure Witch.

"His Holiness orders that we adjust next year's attacks by targeting the Kingdom of Graycastle first and the Kingdom of Dawn last."

"What?" Soli Daal was stunned. "But all of our strategies were made in accordance with the Kingdom of Dawn, including our resources and reinforcements, so if we change our plan now, we'll have to delay our date of the attack."

"Wasn't this plan already in place when Pope O'Brien was in power? Why are we changing it now?" El asked curiously. "Both kingdoms will fall eventually, so why does the order of attacks matter?"

Tayfun was silent. When His Holiness Mayne ordered him to send Pure Witches to the Kingdom of Graycastle to plot the Western Region, he had already predicted this change. "His Holiness wasn't interested in King's City, but in the border area of the Kingdom of Graycastle."

After the two men stopped bickering, Tayfun said quietly, "I've nothing against the order itself, but there's a lot at stake, and I want to see His Holiness Mayne before we carry it out. Can you pa.s.s the message for me?"

"No need for such trouble." Isabella smiled. "It just so happens that His Holiness wants to see you too."