Chapter 561 I'm Better Than The Pope
He agreed with a nod before tasting the hot drink she gave him. When the liquid touched his tongue, it exploded in various flavors, warming him up.
But that's when something washed over him, making him feel even better than usual. Archer turned to the giggling dark-skinned witch and asked. ''What is this?''
Marzena calmed down before answering. ''We call it a tonic. My daughter invented them to boost any witch who drinks it, and after last night, you need it, boy.''
When Archer heard her, he started laughing before he continued to drink the witch's tonic. Once he was done, it made him feel fresh, which pleased Marzena.
After drinking, he stood up and offered his hand to the older woman, who happily took it. He teleported to the new city he had built the night before.
They reappeared just beyond its borders, and her eyes widened as Marzena caught sight of the city. She swiftly turned to him, displaying a childlike wonder like that of a kid in a candy store. "How did you manage to replicate Celesta with such detail?"
Archer's grin widened as he began to explain, introducing her to the Tressyms, who immediately liked the woman pampering them.
As she engaged with the magical creatures, Archer observed with a smile, enchanted by the glow in her violet eyes and how her purple-black hair was elegantly tied into a bun.
Wearing a well-fitted witch's robe, the fabric couldn't conceal her alluring curves. Her smooth, velvety brown skin added to her charm.
But what confused him was how she was Ophelia's, Valencia's, and Scarlett's grandmother, as she was dark-skinned and white as snow.
Marzena turned to him and saw the confused look before asking in a curious voice. ''What's on your mind? Ask any question you wish. Nothing will offend me.''
Archer decided to ask. ''How come you're brown-skinned and not white like Ophelia?''
When the older woman heard his question, she started laughing, which confused him, but the witch stopped and looked at him with a smile. ''Are you not aware of how witches are born?''
He shook his head. ''I know a little, to be honest. I read in a book once that you don't have to have sex to recreate, but it does take a great deal of knowledge, mana, and power that most witches don't, so I assume the royal witch family does?''
Marzena nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "You're partially correct. Indeed, the royal family possesses an ancient spell, handed down through generations in the Blackfire lineage, which allows us to 'create' children. However, we exercise great caution in using it, we know all to well the strain it places on the kingdom. Following my daughter's last attempt several hundred years ago, we have stopped using it due to the last situation."
Archer grew curious and asked. ''What kind of resources? I'm guessing they are extremely rare?''
''Yes. We could gather most of them at great cost, and during this forsaken war, it would be suicide.'' Marzena answered as she pulled two chairs out of nowhere.
She motioned for Archer to sit down. He got comfortable as she continued talking. ''However, that's useless anyway, as the last of the warlocks are dying out, and I wouldn't use anyone else after my husband.''
When she said the last part, Archer noticed she wasn't sad but just remembering something. It piqued his interest, and he commented. ''Didn't you love your husband?''
Marzena shook her head. ''No. My grandmother and her cousin arranged it, but it gave me three daughters I'm thankful for.''
Archer smiled and was about to speak, but she continued her explanation. ''You see, we did the deed three times over hundreds of years of marriage and got my daughters. As time passed, I became the queen of Arcadia and allowed them to choose who they married, but they are just like my mother and inherited her stubbornness and pride.''
He thought she was done talking, but Marzena laughed as it looked like she remembered something funny.
''They stole the blood of the warlock princes and created their daughters at great cost. We use the blood of the father and mother. After that, we add the ingredients according to the spell, and once the egg is formed, a baby witch will appear, resembling both parents. They usually look like the stronger of the parents, but the last time we used it, the war started because we were too weak.''
Archer nodded as he was interested but asked anyway, wanting to know.?''Did the kingdom recover?''
She nodded. ''Yes, thanks to my eldest daughter Vespera, who managed to bring the kingdom back from the brink and made it flourish. I hated ruling, but it allowed me to protect my daughters. But when they grew into full-grown women, I realized they were powerful and could defend themselves, so I gave up the throne and did what I love and adventured all over Thrylos.''
Archer saw the older witch was now done with her explanation and laughed before she spoke. ''I haven't spoken that much in years.''
He smiled and understood how witches are created but asked one more question. ''Can witches give birth like other races?''
Marzena nodded. ''Yes, but the husband has to be stronger than the wife. For example, my first and second daughters, Vespera and Eulalia, look like my late husband, but my youngest, Pandora, took after me because I overtook him in strength.''
Now enlightened, Archer understood and changed the subject to fill her into his brilliant plan to troll the Pope to the older witch.
After finishing, she burst into laughter so uproarious that she practically folded in half, utterly flabbergasted by the absurdity of everything.
Once Marzena calmed down, she looked at him with fascination and asked in a genuinely interested voice, "Are you a dragon or hooligan? Why on earth are you tormenting that poor old man? He'll probably just summon an army of pitchfork-wielding villagers after you, you know."
Archer casually shrugged, taking some chocolate from his Item Box and offering some to Marzena, who happily accepted the sweet treat.
After eating, he decided to spill the magical beans. "You see, this stupid human keeps sending his people after me, calling me a devil. It's getting old. When I walk through Starfall, people eye me like I'm about to launch into a full-on otherworldly ritual."
His words hung in the air, prompting a sudden hush. This unexpected quietude triggered yet another round of laughter from Marzena.
Archer, resigned to the amusement, sighed, acknowledging, "Okay, fine, I do summon creatures and occasionally kill a few people. But innocent villages? Not my style, despite what the Pope insists."
The older witch giggled when she heard his answer. She looked at him and spoke. ''Let's annoy the Pope then. How will you capture all the people?''
''I'll use my shadows and Monster Army. The dragon-kin can help out relocating them.'' Archer answered as he stood up.
Once standing, he closed his eyes and created a see-through dome around the new city so no residents could wander around until they were loyal to him.
With the plan, he scanned the treehouse to see if any of the girls were awake and noticed Ella was up looking around. He smiled before summoning the half-elf wearing a winter dress with a cloak around her.
When Ella appeared, she jumped as Archer grabbed her by the waist and spun her around. Once she was facing him, he leaned down and kissed the half-elf.
She melted into his arms, causing Marzena to watch the scene with an interesting gaze. But soon, she shook her head as the two love birds were done.
Ella looked at him and wondered what he was up to, so he explained. ''I'm planning to take all the people in the Church Of Lights city and show them I'm better than the Pope and they would prefer to live in my newly built city.
Archer cast Gate back to Celesta City, which was waking up, and they could see the guards patrolling the wall. Archer and the two ladies stood about fifty meters from the gate.
He opened dozens of portals to the domain with a cheeky smile. When he did that, it caught the soldiers guarding the city's attention, who rang the alarm.
The city went into lockdown as the soldiers rushed into the gate and lifted the drawbridge that crossed the moat that protected it from sieges.
But this didn't bother Archer as Chull Warriors stepped out of the portal in the thousands alongside the Nightmare Ants and Cave Spiders.
Furthermore, beasts appeared from the portal, flying beasts that looked like large monstrous bats. Humanoid creatures that stood twice as tall as Archer.
When Marzena and Ella saw this, their eyes widened in shock as they saw thousands of beasts waiting for his order. After the beasts stopped pouring out the portals, they waited for Archer to give them their orders.
[If there are any mistakes, point them out, and I'll edit it. Thanks]
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