“Cheers!”
Agatha raised her glass.
“Cheers——!” The witches responded thunderously. Dozens of glasses were raised together, clinking crisply in the air. Among them were the Taqila people who had lost their sense of taste, and the Union's high-ranking members who had been transformed into carriers. Especially the latter—for those who had experienced the last Battle of Divine Will, enduring immense despair and helplessness, at this moment they finally unloaded the heaviest stone from their hearts, able to laugh freely with everyone, even laughing more brilliantly than others.
Not all sacrifices are rewarded, nor do all perseverance lead to dawn. That's why, when hundreds of years of sacrifice and perseverance haven't been in vain, it's even more touching.
“That…” Nana Wawa curiously sized up Pasha and the others. “Can you really taste anything when you drink like that?”
The God's Punishment Witches had only lost their sense of taste, but the way Pasha, Elra, and Celine drank was completely beyond everyone's imagination—they curled up their tendrils and poured the wine on their heads, just like taking a bath.
“Of course, although we don't have mouths, we can use our surface tendrils to identify flavors and absorb moisture, and our perception is much stronger than ordinary people.” Pasha replied with a smile. “Also, the taste range of carriers is different from that of humans, so we can also taste flavors we have never experienced before.”
“Wow… what does it taste like? I really want to know!” Lightning's eyes sparkled.
“According to the Mystic Ark Society's research, people cannot understand things they have never been exposed to, so even if she tells you, it's hard for you to imagine.” Ice Witch refilled her glass. “If you want to transcend this boundary, the only way is to transform into a carrier.”
“Agatha, do you want to…” Celine said with slight surprise.
“Yes, when all this is over, I want to perform a soul transfer and then rebuild the Mystic Ark Society.” Agatha nodded frankly. “A witch's lifespan is only a hundred years, but if I become a carrier, I can continue my research indefinitely.” She smiled at Lightning after saying that. “Someone as curious about the unknown as you is perfect for the Mystic Ark Society. How about it, are you interested in joining us?”
“But if I become a carrier, I won't be able to fly, right?” Lightning thought for a moment. “I haven't even explored this world yet. Maybe I'll consider it when I can't fly anymore.”
“Hoo… what are you thinking about? It's as if the Battle of Divine Will is over.” Rogar took a long breath after drinking a large glass of wine. “Now we've only just defeated the devils, and there are even more powerful enemies on the other side of the continent! No one can guarantee that reaching the Bottomless Land will end the war, so today we should just drink and celebrate to our heart's content!” As she spoke, she reached for the wine barrel beside her. “Eh? It seems empty… where's the new wine?”
“Everyone, please drink slowly. Evelyn has to make too much wine today,” Molly directed the magical servants to remove the empty wine barrels. “After all, everyone on the floating island is celebrating tonight, and even if she transforms with all her might, she won't be able to keep up.”
Whether it's Chaos Drink or wine, as a pleasure item, it's naturally impossible to spend precious manpower to transport it before departure. Therefore, the easiest way is to bring Evelyn—as long as there is water, she can continuously produce wine. However, when everyone is celebrating the victory, these reserves are a bit insufficient.
“Pfft.” Anna, sitting at the head of the table, suddenly chuckled.
“What's wrong?” Everyone turned their attention to her.
“No… it's nothing, I just thought of something interesting.” Anna shook her head. “Roland used to say that he didn't understand why those simulations of civilization evolution considered wine so important. Even if food and clothing were insufficient, as long as there was some wine, happiness and satisfaction would skyrocket. But if they were just fed and clothed, they would cause trouble, which was simply unreasonable. Now it seems that it's not entirely without reason.”
“Ah ah… here it comes again, Brother's weird talk.” Tilly rolled her eyes.
The crowd burst into laughter.
“By the way, has His Majesty not finished his work yet? At this time, it wouldn't hurt to put aside work for a while, right?” Wendy said.
Roland only attended the celebration at the beginning, giving a brief opening speech to the whole island before returning to his office—according to him, the devils should be coming soon, and he must first deal with the matters at hand in order to have a general grasp of the upcoming plan. Once he finishes these, he will come up to celebrate with everyone.
“I'll go urge him.” Anna stood up.
“Then I'll leave it to you.” Wendy smiled.
The witches' celebration cave was not far from Roland's location. After passing through a narrow passage, she arrived at the office area below the command post—in fact, Roland wasn't the only one busy. There were constant footsteps in the corridors of the command post and the general staff, obviously they also knew that the upcoming journey to the Bottomless Land was the most critical part of the entire plan.
Of course, she didn't come to Roland entirely to let him relax for a moment. Nightingale was guarding him, and she had also promised that after this battle would be the appointed time.
Thinking of this, Anna knocked on the door.
“Come in, the door's not locked.” It was Nightingale who answered.
Seeing that it was Anna, she seemed a little surprised, and even her expression became unnatural. “Uh, why are you here…”
“Of course, it's for the appointment.”
“R-right now? Wait… I'm not ready yet…”
Anna rarely revealed a sly smile. “I'm kidding. I'm just bringing him to drink at everyone's request.”
“I see…” Nightingale breathed a sigh of relief, but there was a sense of loss.
“But the appointment is also part of it, might as well say it together.” Anna looked at Roland, who was sleeping on the table. “Is he still in the Dream World?”
It took Nightingale a long time to realize that Anna was doing this on purpose, and she could only say helplessly, “Yeah, he said he needed to check the research progress of Graycastle Design Bureau's new project, and he also had to discuss follow-up matters with that Devil Lord. He'll be back soon. If you want to wake him up, just push him—according to him, these things can be interrupted at any time, anyway, time won't change.”
Anna nodded and gently pushed Roland.
The latter did not respond.
“That's strange, he used to wake up when I did this. Could it be that he's too tired from preparing the plan these days?” Nightingale shook Roland's shoulders back and forth, but still couldn't wake him up.
She tried to increase the strength, pushing his body up, but the latter fell backwards without any reaction, until he leaned against the back of the chair. His hands slipped down weakly, hanging at his waist, as if he had completely lost consciousness.
Their expressions suddenly changed!