I Am The Only Witch Hunter-Chapter 365: The Coven
There were many covens throughout Eldoria. Those that were recognized by the Royal Court and those that were not.
These covens were magic schools. Where unawaken witches and witchlings could practice and learn about their magic.
Most of the time, these covens were independent guilds and were not directly under the order of Eldoria's officials.
There were no covens in Snowfell. Before Siderius got there, Snowfell was a wasteland with run-down towns that no one would stay in. Sometimes, Great Clans like Starcrow might send their witches here for some field experience or just out right for recreational purposes.
In Zare's mind, Siderius saw the location of the Dark Ice Coven. The magic school that taught most of the witches in the Hallow Land. It was a fortress on its own and stayed on a discreet mountain in the middle of the Hallow Lands.
"Around three hundred witches there... Most are unawaken and Witchlings. Around fifty are Lesser Witches, these are the teachers inside the school. Only one is a Major Witch. The headmistress of the coven."
Siderius had found what he needed. He took out his knife and cut Zare's throat.
"Bring them outside. I will exorcise them myself." Siderius said.
"Yes, my lord!" The Knights bowled and shouted in unison.
They carried the corpse of the witch away.
The four apprentices approached Siderius from behind.
"The castle is ours, Master. Nadia is rounding up the remaining soldiers." Roland said.
Siderius nodded, "Put them in the jail cells for now. If they swear to be loyal to us, they can be spared. Kill anyone that still has their heart with the witches."
"Yes, Master!"
Seizing the castle was easy. What was difficult was to keep it running. Siderius didn't bring enough men to do that so he just locked everyone up.
"Our force needs to take over Hallow Land quickly. The castle is the hub of information in this territory. With it, the coven should not know that we're coming. We need to strike them fast."
Siderius discussed the battle plan with Nadia and the four apprentices in a secured room of the castle.
"How far are we from the coven?" Nadia said.
"Not far. Two days of journey." Siderius said.
"We should strike right away." Henry said.
Roland shook his head, "Our force has been on the road for the last few days. They need rest."
"Roland is right. The soldiers and the knights need their rest. We will stay in the castle for two days, gathering as much rations and spoils of war as we can.
We'll ride at dawn on the third day." Siderius said.
"Yes, Master!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The 300 soldiers and knights had a well-deserved rest. They didn't have any casualties. The attack was sudden with all the factors leaning on their side. It would be surprising if they didn't win. However a few unlucky bastards did have some minor injuries.
The soldiers sat around according to their platoons. Some of them looked over to the inner circle, where the platoon of the knights was stationed.
"Aren't that the Knights?" A soldier whispered to his friend.
"Yes." The friend nodded.
"I heard that you must be very strong to become a Knight." Another said.
"Not just strong. But hard-working as well. Each of those guy could fuck us up if they want to." Some said.
"I also heard that they followed a very strict Code of Honor. They called it a Knight Code or something."
"You're right. It's their belief and faith. And you know what the best thing is?"
"What?"
"The Code gave them power!"
Contrary to the soldiers who had become relaxed, the knights still had their guard up. They ate in silence and order, preparing to react if anything happened.
For them, they were always on the battlefield. Until they removed their armor and returned to their homeland, they could never waver.
Two days quickly went past. Siderius led his legions toward the Coven.
In the past two days, he had already communicated with Kraus and commanded him to scout the coven first.
Kraus had given back very good information that Zare didn't have in his mind.
The Dark Ice Coven had a small town of humans living right beneath them as slaves. The witches still needed their servants and they didn't allow humans to live in the castle of the coven.
These humans had been bred specifically to be their slaves and fulfill anything the witches wanted. They had lived in the slave town for all their lives and didn't know what true freedom was like.
Siderius knew that those slaves were an opportunity to infiltrate the coven.
Under Siderius' order, Kraus had prepared some spies to blend into the slave town and infiltrate the castle. This was similar to how the spies had infiltrated the Baron castle of the Hallow Lands.
Siderius wasted four days to reach the Coven. The journey was more difficult than he thought because the area was filled with dense lush woods and spiky hills. There weren't any roads leading directly to the Coven.
If it was only Siderius, it wouldn't be a problem. However, because he was leading an army, this doubled the travelling time.
On the night of the fourth day.
Siderius raised his fist. The legion behind stopped at his command.
He whistled high. Suddenly, a spy in a dark cloak jumped down from the branch.
"My lord!" He knelt down in front of Siderius.
"Was Kraus able to infiltrate the Coven?"
"Yes, my lord! However, we encounter some difficulties along the way. We were only able to slip five members inside."
"Including Kraus?"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Can you contact him?"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Then everything will be easy..." Siderius grinned from ear to ear.
Siderius commanded the legion to split up and approach the Coven in smaller groups. The entire 300 soldiers would cause quite a ruckus that would be very hard to hide. But smaller platoons shouldn't have this problem.
The 300 legion scattered around the Coven castle and settled down.
"Tonight. We rest. Tomorrow. We feast on their inhuman blood!" Siderius said.
All the soldiers raised their hands in response. They didn't shout to avoid exposing their location.
The night went by quietly. The witches in the Coven didn't even know death was imminent.
