CHAPTER 1049: CHAPTER 1046: THE WITCH RAISES HER DEMON WAND

[The Witch Age·Year 328]

[The witch’s heart is filled with kindness and compassion.]

[She brings happiness to people with her magic power.]

[She brings hope to people with her wisdom.]

[Under her care, Blackberry grew strong and joined the academy under the witch’s rule.]

[The sorcerers treated this child kindly, and Blackberry, who had lost his loved ones, experienced warmth and love.]

[Love and magic forged a harbor. Hope and belonging built a home.]

[Until that day, when iron hooves stepped into the sacred white paradise—]

...

On the vast plain, the sorcerer immediately spotted the teenager.

The teenager was sitting among the filthy corpses. Surrounding him were discarded knives, guns, swords, knights’ blood-stained helmets; each corpse’s last expression was one of terror and pain.

The sorcerer approached step by step, and the teenager lifted his head inch by inch. The teenager’s eyes had a kind of heart-stirring calmness, but when he looked at the sorcerer, he revealed sadness.

[Blackberry: Angel, you’re back. But I wasn’t able to protect your students.]

The sorcerer knew that this was not the teenager’s fault.

The Church attacked this pure land under the banner of "exterminating witches." The sacred white buildings collapsed, records were burned, and sorcerers became corpses. But in this massive attack, there wasn’t a single victor; neither the sorcerers nor the Church Knights survived, none were left.

The wind blew the banners planted in the soil, the tassels on people’s swords, and the cross necklace on the teenager’s neck. The teenager gazed at the sorcerer from a distance.

"The knights killed the sorcerers. I wanted the knights to die, so the knights are all dead." Blackberry’s eyes contained a distant calmness: "I’m just like... a monster."

"You are not a monster."

"But did I do the right thing? I killed the knights, but in reality, they were just brainwashed citizens." Blackberry said.

The sorcerer looked at him from afar and said:

"—Then make the source of the brainwashing end."

"—Make ’citizens’ no longer become ’knights’."

...

Su Ming’an knew that Blackberry was not simple. Blackberry was extraordinarily talented, learned things quickly, and was a genius among geniuses. Most importantly, Blackberry could exacerbate the Black Mist Disease in people, causing them to die instantly. If this ability wasn’t curbed, Blackberry would become a calamity of this era.

Thus, Su Ming’an sent Blackberry to the Royal Family. Blackberry had strength, intelligence, and emotional intelligence. With proper education and guidance, Blackberry could completely utilize this ability to overturn obstacles from the ground up and reform the entire era, ending witch hunts.

"Supreme Mage, is this the child you’ve adopted?" The elderly King came tremblingly to greet him, respectfully treating Su Ming’an as an honored guest. Although the Church despised sorcerers, the Royal Family revered them.

"His name is Blackberry, and he’s my..." Su Ming’an pondered for a moment: "...ally."

Blackberry gazed at him intently.

"I am your follower." Blackberry seemed to regard Su Ming’an as a deity-like existence.

Su Ming’an didn’t correct him. He instructed the Royal Family to let Blackberry try to engage in political affairs.

"Bottom-up changes require a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice, and countless people will die in war. Top-down reforms need the upper class to be strong enough; perhaps it can succeed. I will try to change this situation, end witch hunts, and rejuvenate the world." Blackberry said.

"This is not an easy task." Su Ming’an said.

Blackberry’s eyes were bright and sharp, like a blade edge newly unsheathed. He placed one hand on his chest and bowed to Su Ming’an, "Angel, this is the trial you’ve given me... I won’t back down."

...

[The Witch Age·Year 329]

[Blackberry was thirteen years old.]

[The witch seemed very busy and rarely appeared beside Blackberry.]

[Blackberry trusted her very much; every time she appeared, Blackberry regarded her as a deity-like existence. After all, the Supreme Mage had wisdom, knowledge, strength, and was a life-saving benefactor, the light of his life.]

[With the Royal Family’s favor, Blackberry quickly became a City Lord.]

[He had the support of the Supreme Mage and the ability to exacerbate Black Mist Disease; even the Church temporarily dared not act against him.]

[That day, the witch returned to this world, and a 35-degree wind blew by her ears.]

...

Compared to Alice, Su Ming’an let Blackberry grow freely, only checking on him during leisure moments. "Witch’s Epic" had no fixed task goals, merely required witnessing Blackberry’s end, so Su Ming’an didn’t offer much guidance, just observed the era’s context, like a God-like overseer.

The game’s time flowed quickly; after Su Ming’an glanced at military maps in the real world, a long time had passed in the game.

"Have you heard? The new City Lord is a child." The bread sellers whispered to each other.

"Oh my, I heard he doesn’t even have a family, he’s an orphan."

"But he has the backing of the Supreme Mage. The Supreme Mage said Blackberry is actually a descendant of the Kennit Family, just hidden under an alias all this time."

"The Kennit Family? The ancient family that led the Empire’s campaigns? It’s said the Empire was invincible then, and the Kennit Family was deemed the most rightful imperial successor, but then they were exterminated... So the City Lord hails from this family!"

"The City Lord is giving a speech at the square—everyone hurry to see!" The newspaper kid ran barefoot across the street, even the beggars on the roadside lifted their heads to listen.

At the square, the 13-year-old City Lord stood in the center. Surrounded by the flames of torches, which illuminated the solemn and ornate Kennit Family emblems on him, the noble gold and purple covered his slender figure. Though his height couldn’t yet match the nearby bonfire, he already had the authority of a ruler.

Civilians gathered around the square, holding bread, vegetables, and dried flowers. Their eyes focused on the young City Lord’s back—where the legendary Supreme Mage stood. Nightingale perched on her shoulder, starlight surrounded her, her eyes like cool moonlight, even her shadow in the firelight was as light as an elf.

With a slight movement of her ten fingers, bread and milk fell from the sky. Instantly, people’s doubts were dispelled, and they wholeheartedly accepted the new, young City Lord.

"This is magic; it’s amazing..."

"What if she’s a witch?"

"With the Royal’s endorsement, there won’t be issues. As long as she can feed us, I don’t care..."

Blackberry continued his speech, his words earnest, filled with magnificent rhetoric. As a viscount’s descendant, his cultural level was not low, and his speech was well-composed. But people mainly focused on the bread and milk in their hands; as long as he could paint a promising picture, they were willing to follow him.

The Kennit family is just a title, but what does it matter, no one can trace its lineage.

...

[The Witch Age·Year 330]

[Blackberry Kennit, aged fourteen at this time.]

[Blackberry often thought of that angel.]

[This time, the angel was away for a long time, and Blackberry could not see her. Perhaps there were many things in paradise that held her back.]

[More cities came under his control. Anyone who underestimated his age paid a terrible price. Enemies never expected their calculative opponent to be such a young boy. He possessed wisdom and composure far beyond his years, like a seasoned general.]

[However, as the territory expanded, Blackberry felt the pressure.]

[People’s greed is never satisfied, even a daily piece of bread is hard to satisfy them—they will wonder if their bread is missing a leaf of lettuce or a bit of salad dressing. And these missing foods might be woven into the splendid clothes adorning the City Lord.]

["Simply because he sits on the chair, different from them, they turn their gaze into a thousand blades, dissecting and scrutinizing his every move."]

["No matter how much he gives, how much pressure he bears, the people will always suspect whether the jewelry he wears on his head or neck is made from a piece of their bread."]

[Those who sit on the chair cannot look back, they can only survive in their current stance. If asked to return to the populace, the populace cannot accommodate him. If asked to be reckless and lavish, it violates his innate values from top to bottom.]

[Thus, he holds his head high, towering above the clouds.]

["He cannot say anything."]

...

The sorcerer once again arrived in this era, Blackberry had already grown taller. His gaze was ever more serene and deep, black as a pair of inviting abysses. The once slightly loose noble robes now perfectly fit his body, and even the staff rested quietly under his grasp.

The sorcerer asked if he had any problems, he pursed his lips, but shook his head with a smile, saying: [No problem, thank you for your concern. Angel.]

The sorcerer said: [If there are any problems, feel free to raise them, they can all be resolved with magic. If there is a lack of bread, it can turn into bread, if there is a lack of a sharp sword, it can turn into a sharp sword. If there is a lack of faith, build a new idol.]

The young City Lord laughed and said: [Nothing is lacking. It must not be easy for you to descend from paradise to see me, I should host a feast for you.]

The sorcerer joined the City Lord’s feast, full of various delicacies of fish and meat.

During the feast, however, an attendant suddenly drew his sword and attempted to assassinate the City Lord.

[Attendant:—You’ve betrayed your original intention! Damn Kennit!]

The attendant’s swordsmanship was exquisite, and on any other day, he might have succeeded in the assassination. Unfortunately, the Supreme Mage was by his side, and with a single spell, the attendant was immobilized.

[City Lord: Why assassinate me?]

[Attendant: Your excessive taxation destroyed my family! Your belligerent actions killed my friends! The promises you made in your youth were just castles in the air! How many died for your lands, how many couldn’t eat the fish and meat at this table, while you live in luxury, currying favor with the Supreme Mage. You are clearly colluding to exploit the people!]

Blackberry felt confused.

Excessive taxation was to lay the foundation for infrastructure, so people could have clean water to drink, and there would no longer be corpses floating in the sewers.

Belligerence was to establish defenses, to prevent the tragedy of knights slaughtering civilians, ensuring there would be no other Fokunus-like family destruction.

Youthful promises were to stabilize people’s hearts, assuring farmers could plant their fields in peace, making sure everyone had bread.

Lavish feasts were to win satisfactory evaluations from foreign envoys, acknowledging the city’s production levels and helping forge alliances swiftly.

He worked day and night, tireless in his studies, striving to learn the art of governance, yet he could not satisfy everyone.

The people didn’t care about that, they only saw the City Lord feasting while they were hungry, they only saw the Supreme Mage conjure hundreds of pieces of bread in an instant, yet only willingly giving each a single one. Surely, with more spells, they could have received a second, a third piece of bread, couldn’t they?

Blackberry realized perhaps he was too close to the people, which caused him to lose the dignity of a City Lord. Constantly fulfilling their wishes cultivated their insatiable greed.

Thus, Blackberry began to take thunderous measures.

...

[The Witch Age·Year 333]

[First Month, Blackberry Kennit was crowned King.]

[The angel was not by his side.]

...

Seventeen-year-old King Kennit stood atop the city walls, overlooking the already immensely vast city—not merely a city, a kingdom.

He had been crowned king and began guiding the people. Telling them not to blindly follow the Church’s authority.

He never forgot his original intention—to end the Church’s brutal reign, to end the witch hunts.

This land was home to millions—merchants, farmers, workers, artists, nobles. In times past, he could hear their cries, meet their diverse needs. If people wanted bread, he provided bread, if they wanted carriages, he built horse farms. But now, the land was vast, he climbed higher and higher, no longer able to clearly see.

The kind old lady he met at twelve, the children by the roadside, the common folk carrying apples—he could no longer see them. They lived by winding rivers, and there were thousands of such rivers across the territory, how could he ever detect them again?

"Angel..." he whispered to himself.

There was no one beside him anymore. Former companions and subordinates vanished due to his suspicion. He employed years of thunderous measures, perhaps it was his nature, used to solving problems with direct methods, and his ability to exacerbate the Black Mist Disease became his most crucial weapon.

In this way, the kingdom stabilized.

No one would ever again question him because of a lavish feast. This is the dignity a king must maintain.

In the midst of stable territorial expansion, Kennit suddenly sensed loneliness.

In his spare time, he began to learn various skills, painting, carving, and music, hoping to earn the angel’s praise next time they met.

He built a massive airship, perhaps as it ascended higher and higher, he could travel to the sky, find the angel. Perhaps, he could venture to the Divine Kingdom with her.

...

[The Witch Age·Year 334]

[Blackberry Kennit came of age, the airship construction complete.]

[The angel still had not come.]

...