This, what does this mean? Roland stroked the line of handwriting. Had the former master of the ancient fought against those monsters from the Barbarian Land? He moved his gaze downward—

"The devils are increasing, while we are decreasing."

"Even the God's Stone of Retaliation is powerless to stop their offensive. With their unmatched brute strength alone, even without magic, they are ferocious and terrifying enemies."

"The Holy City of Taqila has fallen, and we are fleeing in all directions."

"Cross the mountains, cross the rivers, escape as far as possible from the Gates of Hell."

"But next time, where can we escape to?"

"However, this is no longer something I need to consider. I am dying, Nataya."

"The power of the devils is corrupting me, and no medicine works."

"I write these things only because there is something I want to ask of you."

"Akalais's God's Punishment Army experiment is nearing its end. The experiment is successful, and extraordinary warriors can hold their own even against devils. But she forgot that even if the God's Punishment Army wins in the end, this victory will not belong to us."

"That's right, the God's Punishment Army will only bring us destruction."

"Go stop her. Only you can do it."

The passage wasn't long. After Roland scanned it from beginning to end, he closed his eyes and pondered, trying to put himself in Hakala's perspective.

Assuming she didn't know about the existence of devils and replaced "devils" with "witches," this description could easily be imagined as the Church's army suffering repeated defeats under the witches' attacks. Then, combined with the widely spread rumors—that witches are the devils' claws and that their magic comes from the Gates of Hell—Hakala would likely believe that the Church was trying to hide the truth: that the so-called Gates of Hell were actually the entrance to Holy Mountain. For hundreds of years, witches had been going to Holy Mountain one after another, and gaining immortality there. That's why witches are increasing, while the Church's warriors are decreasing.

Of course, this guess also has many loopholes. For example, the notes mention that the opponents possess strength far exceeding that of ordinary people, which is clearly not a characteristic possessed by witches. Also, it seems too bizarre that witches can defeat the Church's army despite the influence of the God's Stone of Retaliation. So, he doesn't yet know what exactly made Hakala decide to go to the Barbarian Land. Was it her overly eager mood that affected her judgment, or was there something in the parts of the ancient she didn't see that was the real cause?

Roland leaned more towards the latter.

He now at least knows that the devils described in the last page of the scribbled notes are not witches, but a truly existing alien race.

But this does not diminish his doubts in the slightest; on the contrary, it makes the unknown questions even more numerous.

When exactly did the Church fight against devils?

Roland searched through the Fourth Prince's pitiful knowledge of mysticism, but couldn't find any relevant information. Since the end of the War of Faith, the Church has established its base in the north, resisting the evil beasts that invade the interior from the Great Rift. Later, they simply built magnificent fortress cities on the Hermes Plateau and called them New Holy City. These two cities, connected together and one high and one low, are both used to fight against evil beasts, not devils. Moreover, the place name Taqila has never been heard of.

If these things are true, the Church has no reason to hide them. In the books recording the history of the Church, every successful resistance against evil beasts and major victory in the battle with witches will be described in detail, as if they are afraid that others will not know their achievements. But fighting against devils seems to be more worthy of great special than evil beasts and witches.

The final question is the God's Punishment Army.

Obviously, this member of the Church does not want to see the God's Punishment Army appear, and entrusts others to stop the person in charge of the experiment. It seems that they succeeded? Roland only knows that the Church has the Judgment Army, but has not heard of the God's Punishment Army—of course, it cannot be ruled out that the Fourth Prince is ignorant.

But if they can really cultivate powerful warriors who can confront devils head-on, it will only greatly increase the Church's strength. Why does the note's owner think that the God's Punishment Army will bring destruction?

The incredible points that Juan considers should refer to these last two points.

"The ancient that misled Hakala, do you know where it came from?" Roland raised his head and looked at Nightingale.

"When I joined the Mutual Aid Society, the sisters were already on the path of searching for Holy Mountain." Nightingale chewed on dried fish, and said vaguely, "However, Wendy mentioned that when the Mutual Aid Society was first formed, it wasn't called the Mutual Aid Society. It was just a few witches who occasionally gathered together in Seawind County, including Hakala, Wendy, and Juan. Later, they found a hidden place in the Eastern Border Forest not far from Seawind County as a secret meeting place. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be the entrance to an underground ruin." She swallowed the snack in her mouth and licked her lips, "But except for Hakala, no one has explored it."

"The ancient was discovered in the ruins?"

"Anyway, that's what Hakala claimed," Nightingale curled her lips, "Later, more and more witches gathered. Maybe someone accidentally leaked their whereabouts during a meeting, and the Church sent a large number of Judgment Army to surround the forest. Less than half of the twenty or so witches escaped. It was from that time that Hakala decided to go to the Impassable Mountain Range to find Holy Mountain. So they called themselves the Mutual Aid Society and made finding Holy Mountain the highest goal of the members."

After listening, Roland fell into deep thought. It's so troublesome to have too few mysticism points. Anything involving history and legends is basically a blank in his mind. The ancient doesn't involve specific years, and he doesn't know if other histories have records of this war. The first party involved has already died. It would be great if he could go to the ruins to investigate, he thought.

But Roland also knows that this is basically impossible. The Eastern Border Forest is too far away from him. Compared to a trip that can be said to be taken at any time, crossing the entire Graycastle, developing the territory is his primary task.

Walking to the window, Roland looked at the garden below through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The witches were doing ability training according to his instructions. Now he has twelve witches under his command, and it's time to establish an organization.

In his vision, this organization does not need any program or guiding principles. It is set up to facilitate the management of witches and the rational use of their abilities. Its function is similar to that of a trade association in later generations.

The organization's rules are as simple as possible, with only two: Abilities must not be used to violate the laws of the territory. Abilities must not be used to evade legal responsibility.

Roland initially wanted to imitate the Three Laws of Robotics and restrict the witches from using their abilities to harm or attack ordinary people, but later he thought it was really superfluous. Abilities are like guns in the hands of ordinary people. When encountering harm, there is no essential difference between using a gun to fight back and using an ability to fight back. And deliberately emphasizing the difference between witches and ordinary people will only make the gap between the two groups wider and wider.

Therefore, not violating the law and not evading responsibility is also the most concise expression a science and engineering dog can think of.

As for the organization's name, Roland had already considered it.

This brand new collective will be called the "Witches Union". (。 )