Chapter 52 Heart Fire

Roland knocked on the door, and after hearing Nightingale's answer, he opened the door and walked into the room.

Thick curtains are hung in the room, and the windows are only opened in the early morning and evening for ventilation, and are closed for warmth and shading at other times.

The only light source came from the two candlesticks at the end of the bed. The candles were burning quietly, casting two interlaced shadows on the furnishings in the room.

He walked to the bed, looked at the woman who was buried in the soft velvet pillow and quilt, her eyes were still closed, and sighed softly.

"Is the border defense all right?" Nightingale stepped forward and handed him a glass of warm water.

"Everything is going well," Roland took a sip casually, and handed the cup back to her. "Since that day, I haven't encountered a large group of evil beasts. After the injured militia members returned to the team intact, everyone's fighting enthusiasm It became... a little high."

"What about the damaged part of the city wall?"

"Karl used rolling logs to move the carapace of the hybrid demonic beast to the break, and also used a winch and a wooden frame to hang it up, making it a part of the city wall." Roland knew that Nightingale asked this to distract himself. to avoid worrying too much. But as soon as he stepped into this room, all his consciousness could not help but gather on the sleeping woman on the bed.

If it was said that they were able to achieve a proud victory against the large-scale invasion of evil beasts last time, the biggest contributor was undoubtedly Anna. Without her sealing the gap in the city wall with flames, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

However, after she fainted in her arms, she never woke up again.

"It's been a week," Roland whispered.

Theoretically speaking, if a person is in a coma, does not eat or drink for a week, and does not have direct supply of nutrients from the outside world (such as injections), the body functions will fall into failure, and the brain will gradually die in shock. But Anna showed no signs of weakness or dying—at least, much better than when she first collapsed. Her cheeks were rosy, her breathing was steady, and she could feel the warmth of ordinary people even when she put her hand on her forehead. All phenomena indicated that Anna was in a healthy state, but... couldn't wake up.

"This is also the first time I have encountered such a situation." Nightingale who was standing by shook her head, "The magic power in her body was exhausted in that battle, but now it has become saturated, even stronger than before. If If I'm not mistaken, midnight today is her coming-of-age day."

"You mean she's going to grow up in a coma?"

"No, she will die in a coma," Nightingale said bluntly. "The pain she suffered during her adulthood must be overcome with willpower. Once she gives up resistance, the magical power of backlash will irreversibly destroy the witch's body."

Roland moved a chair and sat down beside the bed. "But I remember you said that when the demon devours the body, no matter how painful it is, the consciousness will always remain awake. You can either pass this level or choose to end your life."

"That's true. There were people in the mutual aid association who wanted to use coma to survive the devouring of demons. That's not the day of adulthood... It's just the torture that must be endured once a year." Nightingale hesitated and continued, "She relies on alchemy The medicine made her fall asleep, but that was meaningless... When the magic backfired, she woke up instantly, and lost the ability to resist."

"Isn't this pain increasing gradually?"

"No, when that time comes, the pain will come like thunder, but how long it lasts varies from person to person. My sister is not not strong enough, it's just..." Her voice dropped.

Roland understood what she meant. This kind of judgment with an unknown time limit was a kind of torture in itself. Man gives up the desire to survive.

In silence, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"During the years of wandering, I have seen too many deaths. Witches were treated like livestock, hanged, burned, or tortured to death by nobles as props for fun. Witches who escaped by chance can only Far away from the crowd, living a life isolated from the world. Not knowing where the holy mountain is located is just a distant luxury in their hearts," Nightingale's voice was softer than ever, "but Anna is different, except for the sisters of the Mutual Aid Society Also, it's the first time I've seen someone care so much about a witch. She's needed, valued, and treated like a normal person...Your Highness, even if Anna doesn't make it past adulthood, she has found herself holy mountain."

But this was not the ending he hoped for. Roland closed his eyes and recalled the scene when he first met her.

She was barefoot, her clothes were ragged, and she was in a cage, but she didn't have the slightest fear on her face. Her eyes were like the surface of a lake that had never been polluted, clear and calm.

She is a flame, but she does not escape like a flame.

The screens rotate one by one, like a revolving lantern.

"I have satisfied your curiosity, my lord, can you kill me now?"

"I've never used it to hurt anyone."

"I just want to stay by His Highness's side, that's all."

"Evil body devouring can't kill me, I will defeat it."

"Are you dreaming? I'm not going anywhere."

...

Roland suppressed the turbulent thoughts and whispered, "I will accompany her to the last moment."

"Me too, and... thank you."

After dinner, Nana also came, and when she heard that Anna was about to pass her adulthood, she also insisted on staying. Roland had to arrange an extra room on the second floor for Tiggy Pine who accompanied him to stay overnight.

In this way, Roland and the two witches sat around the bed, quietly waiting for midnight to fall.

For Nightingale and Nanahua, they also have to suffer from the evil spirits this winter. Fortunately, the day of awakening is different for each of them. Otherwise, the three witches will all suffer from the unknown test of life and death at the same time. Roland estimated I can no longer pretend to stay calm in the room.

There is no clock tower in the town, and the passage of time becomes blurred in the dimly lit rooms. The cold wind was blowing against the windows, and from time to time one could hear the screeching sound of the air passing through the cracks of the windows. Just when Roland felt a little tired, Nightingale suddenly said, "It's started."

Only she could see that the magic power in Anna's body began to become uneasy, the green flame became more and more intense, the center part turned from incandescent to dark, and the manic magic power gathered towards the center, as if being pulled by something, it Struggling and rolling, but to no avail.

Roland couldn't see these changes, but he also noticed something was wrong.

The flame at the top of the candle flickered, and there was no wind in the room. The light from the flames dimmed, as if being swallowed by the shadows around them, and then the color of the flame tip changed—the orange-red flame became a ghostly green flame.

He looked at the woman in the bed, Anna was still sleeping, her face didn't change at all, as if all this had nothing to do with her.

At this moment, the candle flame was almost completely lost—it wasn't that the flame was extinguished, but that the green flame was swallowing up the orange-red part bit by bit, until the light disappeared completely, and everyone was plunged into darkness.

But soon, the flames came back on. Only this time, the flame on the candlestick turned pure emerald green. The three of them were reflected in a green light, staring at each other, a little hard to understand what was going on.

At this time, Anna's groan brought the eyes of the three of them back to her.

She slowly opened her eyes.

"Anna..." Roland froze, did she wake up?

The woman blinked, smiled at him, then stretched out her right hand, spread her palm, and handed it to the prince.

A ball of green fire jumped out from the palm of his hand, burning quietly.

For some reason, Roland felt that he understood the meaning of the other party. He hesitated for a moment, and slowly inserted his fingers into the flames. The expected burning sensation did not come, but there was only the softness and warmth as if being wrapped in warm water.

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