It had been a long time since she felt such warm sunlight.
Garcia stood in the garden and took a deep breath, the scent of rosemary wafting into her nostrils on the breeze.
This was not the Kingdom of Eternal Winter. The far north had nothing but cold wind, frozen soil, and winter flowers without fragrance. The castle's backyard was always hung with meat and sausages waiting to be dried, and the strong stench lingered. Nor was this Azurewater, where she couldn't smell the familiar saltiness and dampness in the wind, nor could she hear the lapping of the waves on the beach when she closed her eyes.
This was Graycastle's palace, she thought.
But…it was slightly different from how she remembered it.
Garcia sat by the central flower pool, stroking the slightly rough stone bricks – ever since she fell down while playing hide-and-seek here as a child, hitting her forehead hard on the edge of the flower pool and covering her face with blood, her father had knocked off all the stone bricks and replaced them with smooth pebbles. This way, although no one would stumble and get hurt again, it was no longer possible to use them as cover to hide.
She remembered that besides herself, Goron and Tifieko were also present at the time. When they saw their sister fall, they were all frightened. To coax her to stop crying, they even imitated her falling one by one, deliberately hitting their heads on the edge of the flower pool. Of course, they were severely beaten by their father afterward.
That was a past that Garcia never thought she would recall, like a secret buried under a tree, deeply hidden. But when she returned to the old place, she found that the scene had not faded at all, and it was still vivid after being dug out of the soil.
Everything seemed to return to childhood.
"So this is your world," an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind her, "It's not a bad choice as a place of rest."
Garcia turned her head and saw a woman in white walking out from behind the flower pool. She had a pair of light red eyes and snow-white hair, and her features were as delicate as if they had been carved with meticulous care. Her voice was ethereal and melodious, like a divine messenger who had fallen into the world.
The Queen of Azurewater's face completely darkened, "You are a witch of the church."
"My name is Jieluo, the word witch is not suitable for me." She chuckled, "I am called the Purifier, and I am different from those fallen bloodlines."
"Purifier? Just a plaything raised by the church," Garcia said coldly, "What kind of trick is this scene again? Is your ability to create illusions?" She suddenly picked up a stone and squeezed it hard in her hand, "It's just an illusion! None of this can deceive me!"
The queen's roar spread far away, but the scene in front of her did not change in any way, and the stone did not break in response. Instead, the sharp edges scratched her skin. She opened her hand, and a burst of pain came from the abraded wound, clear and real.
"It can be seen that you are not completely ignorant of the witch's abilities, which makes it easier," Jieluo lifted the corner of her skirt and bowed slightly, "Welcome to the world of consciousness, I call it the Soul Battlefield. We will fight here, the winner takes all, and the loser loses everything…just like the oracle recorded in the Holy Canon."
Soul…Battlefield?
Garcia was stunned, and suddenly felt a heart-wrenching pain coming from her chest. Jieluo pulled out a long spear from nowhere and directly pierced her chest. Breathing suddenly became difficult, she opened her mouth to shout, but couldn't make a sound. The other party twisted the spear shaft and pulled it back violently, and blood spurted out with the tip of the spear, quickly soaking half of her body. Garcia knelt on the ground, trembling as she tried to cover the wound, but a large amount of blood loss made her consciousness gradually blur.
The next moment, she found herself still standing in place, unharmed. And the shadow was standing a few meters away from her, as if the other party had never left there.
What's going on? Garcia gasped for breath, hallucination? She covered her violently heaving chest, and the place where she had been pierced still throbbed faintly. She lowered her head, and there was a large pool of blood scattered in a spray shape at her feet.
"This is the basic rule. Consciousness is not immortal," Jieluo spread her hands, "Every pain brought by death is real for you. It will consume your spirit and physical strength, and when this feeling exceeds the range you can bear, true eternal sleep will come."
"Each time you die, the body will return to its original state. An average person can withstand three or four times at most. Of course, I have also seen many people with strong will who can survive seven times, or even more." She explained gently, "Although I am looking forward to your performance, I can understand if you give up resisting. After all, continuous death is also an unbearable torment for me. Choosing to escape at this time is not a cowardly act, especially when the ending is already doomed."
After speaking, she dropped the spear in her hand and pulled out a large sword from behind again, leaping straight up and slashing at Garcia.
The latter's eyes widened. The Purifier was wearing a white robe, and it was impossible to hide such a huge weapon. Those weapons were…conjured out of thin air? Her mind suddenly flashed with the other party's words—
So this is your world…
I call it the Soul Battlefield.
Consciousness is not immortal…it is real for you.
The great sword fell, but instead of cutting the Queen of Azurewater in two, it struck a large iron shield. The huge rebounding force made Jieluo unable to grip the hilt, and the great sword flew up in response, and her body followed with several steps back. Garcia also fell to the ground due to the heavy slash.
"The ending is doomed?" She sneered twice, gritting her teeth, "You said before that this is my world, right?" As she spoke, she rolled over and climbed up, and a hand crossbow suddenly appeared in her hand, raising it and shooting at the other party. At the same time, a cross rose behind Jieluo, firmly trapping her body.
The crossbow bolt instantly sank into the Purifier's abdomen, and she immediately showed a painful expression, panting twice before slowly opening her mouth, "I'm…I'm surprised…cough, if it were an ordinary person…it would be difficult to accept all this, let alone mobilize consciousness to fight back. No wonder…the Queen of Azurewater makes Mei En Daren feel a headache."
"Thank you for the compliment," Garcia picked up the long spear that had fallen to the ground, "If you hadn't talked too much nonsense, I wouldn't have been able to comprehend the wonders of the conscious world so quickly. Next, should I stab a few holes in you?"
She smiled with difficulty, "Do as you please."
…
When Garcia thrust out the tenth spear, the Purifier finally died – she deliberately avoided the fatal positions, starting from the limbs and abdomen. At first, Jieluo would let out painful screams, but later the voice gradually subsided.
Next, this guy should return to normal, right? But this is Graycastle Palace, my home field. Since I can freely change the environment and objects, I can't possibly lose.
Sure enough, a white light flashed on the Purifier's body, and the wounds disappeared in the blink of an eye. Jieluo opened her light red eyes again.
Garcia raised her long spear, preparing to send her to her death, when a sudden change occurred – she saw her hands, which were bound by the cross, easily break free from the ropes, kicked away the spear shaft, and instantly approached her, raising her hand and slashing diagonally. Before Garcia could react, she had already lost the feeling of her body.
The headless corpse fell to the ground with a bang, while the other party's hands were empty.
This—how is this possible?
After a few breaths, the Queen of Azurewater covered her neck and took two steps back in shock and doubt…just now, she cut off her own neck with her arm? Looking at the broken hemp rope on the cross and the blood on her hands, obviously, the previous scene was not an illusion.
"If you can't understand the essence of consciousness, how can I usher in a real battle?" Jieluo smiled, "Also, you seem to be very confused, why can I break free from ropes as thick as fingers? In fact, it's not difficult to understand. The winner takes all, and the loser loses everything…Among the people I have devoured, there is a type of witch who is exceptionally powerful. They are infinitely strong, agile, and not afraid of the effects of God's Punishment Stone. You may not be clear, but the church has a special name for them – Transcendent."
She opened her hands, "It's impossible to defeat me with conventional methods. If you want to survive, you have to work harder…Now, it's my turn."