After bidding farewell to His Majesty, Zoe led the God's Punishment Witches, who were about to embark on an expedition, back to the Third Border City.
After settling the high-level devil who was barely clinging to life, she was taken by Er'er to a secret chamber deep underground, where Pasha and Celine were already waiting.
Clearly, they were more concerned about the captured devil than they were about other matters.
"What do you think?" Er'er asked impatiently as the heavy stone door closed, rushing in front of her. "Can we win?"
"Haven't we already won?" Zoe spread her hands.
Er'er tapped her forehead with a tentacle, annoyed. "You know what I'm asking. Stop teasing me."
As the only remaining extraordinary person from Taquila, her relationship with the High Witch was undoubtedly closer than that of others.
Although the surviving Ancient Witches had begun to follow the principle that "every witch is equally important" after the collapse of the Union, the hierarchy of the past still had more or less of an influence.
"Since she's so relaxed, I think it should be a good answer," Pasha said with a light smile.
"The truth is... I can't be certain," Zoe said seriously when Pasha spoke. "The devils of today are probably vastly different from the enemies of four hundred years ago, not only in their use of magic, but also in the emergence of new types." Then she recounted the entire battle process in detail. "It can be said... that Akalies' idea was correct, but according to her plan, humanity is bound to fail."
Practical experience proved that the God's Punishment Witches were indeed a sharp weapon to restrain high-level devils, but it was a pity that relying on this alone, it was difficult to contend with the enemy on the frontal battlefield. A powerful magic-resistant body did not mean that they could not be injured. In the face of new war machines, the greatest advantage of the God's Punishment Witches would no longer exist. Once the frontal battlefield could not be broken through, the Starfall Queen's plan would also be meaningless.
After confirming this, Pasha seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, as if she had put down a heavy burden. "So we didn't choose the wrong follower. Nataya's decision was correct. That's wonderful..."
"Yes, that's wonderful..." Celine whispered, her voice even slightly choked. For someone who had lived for more than four hundred years, this was truly an incredible thing.
But at this moment, Zoe felt the same way.
In a situation where most of the dignitaries of the Union supported Akalies, they resolutely stood by the side of the Sun Chasing Queen because of their different ideals, and at the critical moment when the Witches' Empire was swaying in the wind, they completely tore apart the foundation of the Union with a raid that was not entirely fair.
Zoe remembered until her death that a Holy Guard comrade who was seriously injured by her was leaning in her arms, and said in a faint voice, "You destroyed all of this."
Since then, a huge stone had been pressed down on their hearts.
Death was not scary.
What was scary was bearing the incomprehension and contempt of their comrades, and searching for faint hope in the darkness.
If they failed, it would also mean stifling the only possibility for the continuation of the witches, and such a sin could not be offset by death at all.
It was with such conviction that everyone endured the insensible empty shell and persisted.
Now that Akalies' plan had been proven to be a wrong direction, they naturally felt a long-lost sense of relief. Even if the final outcome was still the total annihilation of humanity, the fate of the survivors would at least not seem so tragic.
"Even so, Nataya is only on par with the Starfall Queen," Er'er rubbed her non-existent nose. "We have not yet won the final victory. It's too early to be happy now—"
"Don't worry, no one can see you even if you cry in this state."
"Pasha!"
Zoe smiled and shook her head. "I haven't finished yet... Although it is still impossible to determine who will win the Battle of Divine Will, I have at least seen hope."
With this sentence, the three High Witches fell silent.
Four hundred years of dark exploration, hope was the most desired but unattainable thing. No one knew whether the Chosen One really existed, but they had to find her. This aimless bewilderment was constantly lingering in their minds. The longer the life, the stronger the torment. At first, everyone would often discuss the Chosen One's abilities, as well as her possible age and appearance, but when they really started searching for the Chosen One through the hands of the "Black Money," no one dared to talk about this topic easily.
Because they were afraid of creating a fictional image and treating it as the goal of their search. If they found someone who fit the description, but found that she was not the Chosen One, no one could bear such disappointment.
Because of this, hope had become a luxury.
But now, they could easily say the word again.
Realizing this, the Ancient Witches couldn't help but fall into a moment of wordless emotion.
After a long while, Pasha broke the silence and said, "Then... can we fulfill Nataya's entrustment?"
"Entrustment?" Er'er was stunned. "Wait—we haven't found the real Chosen One yet!"
"I have no objection," Zoe shrugged. "The ancient books in the underground civilization didn't stipulate that the holder of the key must be male or female, did they? After all, it's unknown whether they even have the concept of gender."
Nataya had left behind a will that if they could find the Chosen One, then everyone should take her as their leader, and eliminate the devils and revive Taquila. Although the Chosen One displayed by the Five-Colored Magic Stone was somewhat different from what they imagined, and could not activate the Condemnation Instrument, the effect on dealing with devils was the same.
"I... also think there's no problem," Celine was the last to speak. "The ancient books also didn't stipulate that there was only one Chosen One. We can always change it later when we find a new Chosen Witch."
"Since you all agree... then okay," Er'er sighed helplessly.
"Whether there will be new Chosen Ones is another matter. I think changing can be saved," Zoe looked at Pasha and said, "What you were worried about has now shown signs of appearing."
"Did those witches reject you during the battle?"
"It wasn't that obvious," she told the story of Camilla. "After hearing that I was going to be the interrogator, she agreed to connect to the devil's mind. This also shows that her concern about witches being hurt does not include undead monsters like me."
"..." The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became a little heavy. As early as a hundred years ago, Pasha had mentioned this possibility. Although they considered themselves witches, the new generation of witches might not think so. Whether from appearance, characteristics or abilities, the two were not similar in any way, not to mention witches, it was difficult to count them as humans. Roland Wimbledon, who could accept them so quickly, was more like an anomaly.
As the history of the Union gradually faded from people's memories, the new awakeners might no longer regard them as members of the witches. To be more extreme, in order to explore the mysteries of magic and the technology of the underground civilization, witches might treat them as experimental products.
This idea was a bit pessimistic, but it was not impossible when scaled up to hundreds or even thousands of years.
Hearing Zoe's self-deprecation, Pasha sighed deeply. "I see, but I will not regret it."
None of the three answered, because this was also the path they had chosen.
"Our mission will be completed only if we can fulfill the wishes of the Three Seats," she paused. "What the world will be like in the future is not something we can control... but at least now we can prepare for a rainy day and find a way out for ourselves."
"Retreat into the deep mountains, disappear, or find a place to bury ourselves?" Er'er said unhappily.
"Of course not," Pasha shook her main tentacle and replied, "We can become an indispensable force in the human kingdom."