"Tell Roland Wimbledon our goal, the truth about Battles of Divine Will during this 400 years and the secret of the church... No, I mean secret of the Witch Union," Isabella said explicitly.
Since Zero became the pope, all the pure witches who belonged to the Pivotal Secret Temple had been able to come to this library and know the true facts about Battles of Divine Will.
"What if he doesn't believe us?"
"He will! Bring him to the Illusion Room in the Reflection Church. He'll believe everything we say!"
"Or, he'll consider it a trick of the witches. Are you sure he'll devote all his time to fighting demons, once he knows the truth about the Union?" Zero said slowly.
Isabella was stunned. She opened her mouth but failed to say anything.
"Both of us know those nobles very well. They're interested the most in expanding their domains, increasing their wealth and enjoying their lives. Maybe they'll lead their people to fight against demons when the Bloody Moon arrives, but how can you be sure that the dandy prince will fight till death facing an adverse forecast?"
Zero held Isabella's hand and walked with her to the roundtable at the side and continued, "Isabella, he's just a fragile, weak mortal. His life is short and his willpower will vanish as time goes on. A common cold plague can easily end his life. Even if he believes in us and chooses to fight to his death against demons with the Union, nobody can promise that his people and successors will do the same thing. Are they willing to give up all their comforts and pool all resources of the kingdom to fight such an endless, brutal war? Only the church can do this, as our believers have a strong faith in deities and in us."
"At least... We should first send a messenger to talk to him."
Zero shook her head and said, "Negotiations can't solve problems like this. Indeed, devouring Roland will cause heavy loss to Hermes, but giving in to a secular lord will also crumble the people's belief in the church and destroy Holy City. Roland won't spare us or our God's Punishment Army as a way of stabilizing his own witch organization. These two choices aren't very different in terms of the outcome. Given that, why do you rest your hope on a mortal man?"
Isabella hesitated.
She saw the point of Zero's argument. Fighting against the prince would probably lead to a lose-lose scenario, but surrendering to him could not prevent Roland from seeking revenge for his witches. If he did so, the church would pay a heavy price and things seemed to return to the beginning.
Zero continued to say, "The knowledge of weapons isn't exclusive to a mortal, but a mortal can never have a body like that of a witch. Winning each Battle of Souls, I'll get my opponents' knowledge and lifespan. I'll stay energetic and determined for all my life and I'll be able to prevent our efforts from being ruined by later generations, no matter how long Battle of Divine Will will last. In the past 200 years, I've witnessed too many talented people being consumed by the time. No matter how brave and brilliant they were when they were young, they would become dust in the end. This fact alone suggests that I'm much better than him."
"But..."
"And most importantly, I'm the deities' chosen one, Isabella. No matter who's my opponent, I've never lost a battle. Thousands of souls absorbed by me can testify!" Zero emphasized the fact that could not be controverted.
Isabella heaved a long sigh.
She was persuaded.
"Well, what's your plan? If we can't get close enough to him, I can't eliminate the effect of God's Stone of Retaliation for you."
"Don't forget about High-Level Sigils left by the Union," Zero answered with a chuckle.
"No one can use 'Divine Will'... and 'Infinite' is a one-time sigil. Are you sure that you're going to use it for this?" Isabella said, frowning.
"It'll turn the tables on Roland. It's not a waste to use it on ordinary people or demons, as long as it can ensure our victory," Zero said with finality.
"I'll exhaust all my magic power. It's not a good feeling at all," Isabella twitched her mouth and said.
Zero nodded, adding, "And, you'll faint. Yet it won't do any harm to your body. Once I can approach Roland Wimbledon, the war will end soon."
"If you lose, we're finished."
Zero disapproved Isabella's guess, saying, "I never lose. When you wake up, you should be lying in the bedroom of the cathedral."
With these words, Zero poured a cup of red tea for Isabella and comforted her. "I know you're still hesitating, but don't forget you're raised by me. I chose you as His Holiness O'Brien's pure witch after your awakening and taught you knowledge and combat skills. You know my strength and my determination to defeat demons better than anyone. Generally speaking, I'm the better one to lead human beings in the coming Battle of Divine Will."
"Well... I hope so.," Isabella took a sip of tea and said, "but according to the books, 'Infinite' is not really limitless, and the magic power can only remain effective for a short time when you're in the soul form. If you fail to catch him, you won't have another chance."
"So what we need to do first is to find him," Zero said with a smile.
"Finish reloading!"
"Angle 22, pitch 13, fire!"
Immediately after the order, the 152mm Stronghold Cannon set at the very back of the battle line gushed out bright orange flames and a strong airflow which kicked up the dirt and dust in the front into the air. Roland could still hear the deep roar of the cannon with his ears plugged.
The soldiers were tiptoeing and stretched their necks to look at the distant mountains, but they still could not see the falling point this time.
"This is Lightning speaking, the shell landed at... almost the middle part of the slope." The little girl's report came to him through the Sigil of Listening.
"Good, mark it down," Roland replied.
He was busy with directing a long-range shooting amending of two new fatal weapons, he started after all the residents of Coldwind Ridge left. As it cost a lot to make these ultra-long-range cannons, he won't let his artillerymen shoot them after spotting the enemy, thus creating the first beyond visual range strike in this era.
Roland was clear that he could not rely on the soldiers to correct the angle of the cannon according to the position of the target, so he used this basic shooting amending method. He recorded the point of fall and angles of the cannon for each shooting after the shell landed on the slope. With these recordings, Lightning would report the file number to the artillerymen once she found enemy stepping into the shooting range of the cannon in a battle, and then the artillerymen would adjust the cannon accordingly and fire directly.
These two Stronghold Cannons were enough to give a crushing blow to the enemy when they were moving down the mountain.