Chapter 640: Dream Speculation

Isabella lowered her head slightly, awaiting judgment.

"You should thank your ability—not because it's unique enough, but because it can't directly kill others. No matter how great the crime you've committed, even assisting Zero in attacking me, you're just an accomplice." Roland's voice was clear and calm. "I can spare your life, but you must atone for everything you've done, just like others who violate the law."

For some reason, after hearing these words, she felt something in her heart settle down—she wasn't afraid of death, but she couldn't say she liked it either.

"As long as you can defeat the devils, I'm willing to offer you everything."

"Devils are the enemy of all mankind, of course I will fight them to the end—but not in the same way as the Church. I won't win the Battle of Divine Will at the cost of destroying human potential, and you must also change your habits from when you were in the Church." Roland said slowly, "There will be no more Purified Ones. From today on, you are a Witch of Atonement."

Zero was completely wrong. Not only did he already know about the devils and the Association, but he was also prepared to welcome the Battle of Divine Will. He was indeed a mortal, and might pass away in a few decades, and his beliefs would collapse with age, but now, you have given him endless life, and the final hurdle has been overcome. The darling of the gods is born here.

Thinking of this, Isabella dragged her chained feet and knelt down, her long hair covering the ground, "As you command, Master."

When she stood up again, Roland spoke, "This is not Hermes Holy City, so you are not my exclusive servant, but a person of atonement. Of course, I won't send you to the mines to dig for twenty years. What you need to do is cooperate with Agatha in magic research."

She was stunned. Was that all he wanted her to do for him?

"During this time, I will have Wendy arrange a new place for you to live. The atonement period is five years. You can be without shackles, but only have 'limited freedom'—in other words, apart from your residence and Agatha's mage tower, if you want to go to other places, you must act under the surveillance of the Witch Union."

"Yes, I understand."

"By the way, are you sure there are no other witches left in the Holy City?" Roland asked.

This question had been answered several times since she was captured. Isabella thought for a while, and finally shook her head, "For this final battle, Zero transformed all the useless new witches into God's Punishment Warriors, and the useful ones were basically sent to the battlefield. There are still a large number of women in the monastery, but before the Evil Moon, their chances of transforming into witches are not high. Vanilla, Maggie, and I should be the only three remaining from the Church."

He said nothing more, turned and walked out of the house, while the blonde witch came forward to unlock her shackles.

Isabella looked at her freed hands in disbelief. Was this the final judgment? No imprisonment, no playing around, or worse treatment? Were those words he said serious?

"Your Majesty," she suddenly called out to him, "I wonder about Vanilla and Maggie, how are they now..."

"Better than your situation," Roland turned his head and said, "They are only affected by the distorted education of the monastery, and are far from madness. If they can be corrected, the two of them may have a chance to join the Witch Union one day."

As the three left, the door creaked shut.

Is that so... Isabella completely relaxed. She lay down on the wooden bed, feeling the sunlight shining through the window. Ignoring the glaring light, she squinted her eyes and stared at the blue sky outside the iron bars.

What a nice day, she thought.

*******************

"Your punishment is too light," Nightingale said dissatisfied as she returned to the office, "She almost killed you."

"It was Zero, not her." Roland handed her a piece of dried fish.

The latter took it with her mouth, and mumbled, "That's what she caused, otherwise the Soul Battlefield wouldn't have been able to invade your body."

"But she did want to fight the devils from the bottom of her heart, right?" He didn't take it seriously. "Since she didn't commit an unforgivable crime, and I didn't suffer any substantial harm, let's deal with it like this. It can also serve as an example, showing the future generations the way."

"A thousand gold royals... what?"

"Uh... it means publicity," Roland coughed twice, "With her as an example, more people can understand that as long as they don't cross the bottom line, there is still a chance to redeem themselves if they atone properly. After all, the devils are our ultimate enemy. In order to add a bargaining chip in the Battle of Divine Will, letting her atone for her sins is the best choice."

"Okay," Nightingale pouted, "I'll keep an eye on her for you."

Roland walked to the French window, still thinking about what Isabella had said.

"Zero's memories are divided into two types. One type is chaotic and contains residual consciousness, which will affect her. The other type is complete and placed there for her to browse freely—the former is more difficult to recall and easier to forget..."

Could this be the reason why Zero repeatedly tried to persuade him to surrender during the Soul War?

The loser who decides to submit will offer all their memories without any side effects—this is the only way to explain her stopping at a crucial moment.

Zero hoped that he would give up resistance in order to obtain complete memory details.

This speculation was somewhat similar to his experience of occupying the body of the Fourth Prince.

To be precise, the Fourth Prince's memories were like this. You could check them at any time when you wanted to trace them, like a well-organized filing cabinet—he didn't need to spend time recording them, and he could throw them to the back of his mind without looking at them, without any impact. Even if he went back to check them more than a year later, this part of the memory would still be as complete as before.

The Fourth Prince was harmed by Garcia's hidden chess piece. If the dead had no will, then it seemed reasonable to regard him as a defeated person who surrendered.

What about a resistant person with a firm will?

According to Isabella's description, this part of the memory is attached with a residual will, which will change Zero herself—her thoughts, personality, and even her ideas. After devouring thousands of people, she had already become a complex collection, far from her original self, or rather, she could not be considered the same person at all.

So her way of revenge was likely to inject all these wills into her own thoughts.

She would certainly be torn apart because of this, but Roland would no longer be Roland.

In the chaotic memory storm, the various wills would compete for dominance again, and she might still have a chance to make a comeback.

However, what Zero didn't expect was that he was not from this era.

In terms of the depth and breadth of information reception, the amount of information that modern people absorb in almost a day is equivalent to that of ancient people in several months or even years. In the age of information explosion, he is reading and remembering almost every moment, and the content is diverse and all-encompassing. Leaving the useful and eliminating the meaningless has become an instinct of consciousness.

The result is that all memory fragments are swallowed and reorganized by "dreams", forming a seemingly bizarre new world.

But he has no way to verify these guesses with her.

Zero lost everything she had swallowed, and also lost her original memory. She became a pure and flawless newborn, reappearing in the dream.

...