Chapter 3: The Church

A gentle, slender hand took Elara's and helped her out of the carriage. The girl, who hadn't been out of bed for a long time, felt her legs go weak, and she carefully held onto the Priest's hand to keep her balance. A gust of wind blew, and the gauze over her eyes was whisked away. The long-awaited sunlight stung Elara's eyes painfully, and it took her a while to slowly open them.

The tall Priest with silver hair stood in front of her, his white, well-tailored shirt outlining his fit figure, and he wore a long coat with gold trimmings. A holy sash with the Church of Light's swallow-tailed cross emblem was draped over his shoulder, prominently displayed. His silver eyes, expressionless, exuded a cool handsomeness, and his sharply defined features were exceptionally attractive. To Elara, who had just regained her sight, he seemed to radiate a divine glow.

"Can you see now?" the Priest asked.

Elara nodded, awkwardly lowering her eyes and noticing that her hand was still in the Priest's. She nervously pulled her hand back.

"Let's go," the Priest said briefly, turning to continue leading Elara. The girl followed closely behind, and then in the next moment, she was stunned by the magnificent architecture before her.

The enormous white church stood before them like a marble mountain, its exterior walls adorned with exquisitely carved stained glass windows. The church's towering spires reached into the clouds, each decorated with gilded divine statues, an epitome of splendor.

Elara followed the tall Priest in a daze, the overly luxurious scenes along the way already shocking the inexperienced girl enough to make her doubt her own existence. Passing through the ornately decorated church, they entered the area where the clergy lived. The buildings here were still primarily made of white marble but were much simpler, and the spacious courtyard exuded an air of dignity.

"It's so big here..." Elara couldn't help but marvel.

"Besides handling the daily affairs of the Church, the Xis Holy Court is also responsible for teaching and training newcomers, cultivating new Priests and Enforcers. The Xis Academy is located here, so naturally, it's quite large," the Priest explained.

Noyce held a high position here, and the younger Priests, dressed more simply, greeted him with bows as they passed, to which he would nod in return. Many Priests cast curious glances at Elara as they went by. Elara kept her head down and followed closely behind Noyce, and soon the two arrived at the inner courtyard.

The girl was once again astonished by the beauty before her eyes.

It was like a paradise from myths and legends, with lush trees shading clear streams, and white statues of goddesses and fountains standing among a variety of colorful flowers. Even more eye-catching were the beautiful girls living here, playing or resting, like fairies from murals.

A woman dressed in a nun's habit approached them with a smile: "Noyce, you're back."

Noyce nodded in greeting and presented Elara: "Theresa, this is the new Witch, Elara, I mentioned in my letter."

Elara mimicked Noyce's gesture and greeted the nun, who had gentle light green hair and was examining the somewhat timid girl: "You don't seem to need any treatment."

"Her injuries are healing faster than expected; her regenerative ability is exceptional even among Witches. However, for safety's sake, a full examination is still necessary," Noyce said.

"Understood, I'll take care of the rest," she replied with a smile, introducing herself to Elara: "My name is Theresa, I'm the matron in charge of taking care of newcomers. I'll be responsible for your life at the Academy from now on. If you have any problems, you can come to me."

After handing Elara over to the nun, Noyce turned to leave. "Are you leaving?" the girl, who had been relying on him, became visibly flustered.

"I have other matters to attend to. Theresa will arrange everything for you. We're all part of the same Church, and we'll see each other again when you become an Enforcer Witch," Noyce said.

"Rest easy with me around," Theresa said, taking Elara's hand and addressing Noyce, "I'm better at taking care of newcomers than you are. But you, haven't you found a suitable Familiar yet?"

The Priest's silver eyes dimmed slightly: "Such things can't be forced." The nun sighed, "It's been a year, some things need to be let go." Noyce said nothing more, patted Elara on the head, and turned to walk back the way he came.

Theresa watched the Priest leave with a slightly worried look, but when she turned to face Elara, she had put on her professional, warm smile again: "Come, let's go back to the dormitory."

People parasitized by Inner Demons here are called Witches. The place where Witches live is located right in the center of the Church, surrounded by the areas where Priests live, so that in case of an accident and someone falls into demonic possession, the Priests on guard around can kill the demon before it escapes the Church grounds.

Elara followed Theresa to an elegant small building, and her room had already been arranged. The decoration was simple but cozy, with furnishings all of high-quality materials that Elara had never used before.

The nun asked Elara to take off her clothes and lie down on the bed on her back, placing one hand on the girl's abdomen, and a warm glow emanated from her palm, enveloping her entire body. After a moment, the nun withdrew the holy light: "Your body is recovering well, there are no major issues, you're just a bit too thin," she smiled at Elara, "You should eat more in the future."

Elara sat up and looked at her body; the places that had been burned left large, shocking scars.

"Don't worry, a Witch's healing ability far exceeds that of ordinary people, these scars will disappear over time," she helped the girl tidy up her burnt chestnut short hair.

"Why are they Witches? Can't Inner Demons possess men?" Elara remembered that since entering the inner court, she had only seen girls, not a single man.

"It's not that there are none at all, but men find it hard to resist the temptation of power. Once possessed by an Inner Demon, they fall into demonic possession in a very short time and can't be brought back to the Church, so there are very few here."

"What about... Familiars?" The term had been lingering in Elara's mind after hearing the conversation between the nun and Noyce just now.

As if reading the girl's thoughts, the nun smiled slightly: "After entering the Church, a Witch will form a magical seal with a Priest, thus becoming this Priest's Familiar. The seal has two functions: one is the Punishment Seal, which can suppress the magical energy within the Familiar when it gets out of control to prevent her from falling into demonic possession; the other is the Destruction Seal, used to kill a Witch who has fallen into demonic possession. Normally, the Priest is responsible for purifying the magical energy within the Familiar to prevent it from getting out of control. Once the seal is cast, it cannot be removed until the Familiar dies."

Elara felt a chill in her heart. She had thought that joining the Church meant working for it like a Priest, not realizing that it meant handing over one's life and freedom to be controlled by someone else.

"This is the only way to prevent those who have been possessed by Inner Demons from degenerating into demons," the nun comforted the pale-faced girl, "It's not necessarily bad. When two people form a bond, their destinies are linked and they rely on each other for life and death. Sometimes, it can be a beautiful thing."

"Is Noyce the same?" Elara recalled their earlier mention that Noyce did not have a Familiar.

"His Familiar sacrificed herself in a mission a year ago," Theresa's eyes flickered with a hint of sorrow, "The strength of the seal depends on the Priest's power. A stronger Witch requires a stronger Priest to control her. If the Priest's power is insufficient and cannot suppress the magical energy within the Familiar, leading to demonic possession, she will have to be killed. If the Priest dies, the Familiar without a master will also be killed by the seal. Therefore, the Church assesses everyone's strength for matching. Noyce is a high-ranking Priest, and his Familiar, Delia, was also one of the top Enforcer Witches in the Xis Holy Court. Since Delia's death, the Church has been trying to find a new strong Witch for Noyce to form a bond, but he has refused until now."

Elara felt a void in her heart. Clearly, she was far from being powerful and was destined to look up to the great Priest who stood in the clouds.