Becoming a god by raising witches

The reason for choosing noble girls as test subjects was simply because their bloodlines were closer to hers, which would greatly reduce the rejection when she devoured the witch's heart.

"Katerina Tumen, you will die a horrible death!"

"Katerina, please, let me go, I don't want to die, I don't want to die."

“Katerina Tumen, I curse you! I curse you to never get what you want.”

As Katerina passed by the cell, the disheveled noblewomen either hurled vicious insults and curses or knelt down to beg for mercy, but she remained unmoved until a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

"Sister, please let me go. I am your only sister."

Dressed in a gorgeous gown, and bearing a striking resemblance to Katerina, Princess Frida, with her long silver hair, looked at Katerina pleadingly.

She thought she had been careful enough, but Katerina still discovered her.

“Frida, if you hadn’t colluded with the old nobles and tried to use the out-of-control witch to assassinate me, I would never have attacked you. After all, you are my only sister.”

Katerina looked at Frida with disappointment.

"Sister, you've gone completely mad! You've kidnapped so many nobles and created a large number of witches. Do you want the entire Tumen to be doomed forever?"

"Eternal destruction? You must be mistaken. How could the power of the witch be destroyed when it is in my hands and used as a weapon of the nation? Tumen will become an empire under my rule and will unify the entire Southern Continent."

A glint of excitement flashed in Katerina's eyes. It was her ambition; she wanted to etch her name into the history of Tumen, to become the greatest queen, and she also wanted to live forever and rule the empire forever.

Apart from that, everything else can be ignored.

"So you're using public opinion, creating all sorts of traps, and inciting war? Tumen already experienced a major war 10 years ago. Even the once prosperous capital was split in two, leaving so many impoverished people. If they were to experience another major war, the people simply couldn't bear it."

Frida gripped the iron gate tightly with both hands, her delicate brows furrowed slightly.

"War will redistribute resources, and those who cannot bear it will eventually become the cornerstones of Tumen's greater prosperity. I will remember their contributions to Tumen."

Katerina said with a firm gaze.

"Have you forgotten your ideal? To make everyone in Tumen feel happiness, to be bathed in the holy light of the Goddess of Life, to have no more beggars and vagrants, and for everyone to have bread and milk."

Frida questioned.

"I have not forgotten that any ideal must be achieved at a price."

"No, that's just your personal ambition. You betrayed the Goddess of Life, and you supported the Alchemy Church to rise to power. Those alchemy sects and knowledge sects are all insane. They have bewitched you, influenced you, and driven you mad. Please, stop being so deluded, wake up, my sister, Katerina Tumen!"

Frida cried as she spoke. She was a devout follower of the Church of Life, and in her eyes, Katerina had become a heretic, betraying the Church of Life's strict prohibition against the creation of life.

If the church knew, it would definitely break with Queen Katerina.

However, what she didn't know was that the higher-ups of the Church of Life had long known about what Katerina was doing in secret.

They turn a blind eye because they, too, crave war.

“Naive Frida, do you really think His Holiness the Pope wouldn’t know? Do you really think I could hide all these things from the elders of the Life Cult, who are demigods? They already knew, and they’ve even been secretly helping me.”

Katerina looked at the clueless Frida with amusement. Frida had been trying to keep up with her since she was a child, but always lost out in terms of intelligence.

"How is that possible? How could the Cult of Life allow you to secretly create witches? Absolutely impossible!"

Frida couldn't understand it at all, and even felt that her values ​​had been shaken.

Katerina watched quietly as Frida struggled with her thoughts, until finally she looked up at herself again, filled with despair.

"Why? Why did the church betray Goddess?"

"Because they also yearn for this war."

"War? But war takes away countless lives. War is a disaster, something the goddess least wants to see."

Frida still couldn't understand.

"That's because you don't understand what the goddess of life truly represents."

Katerina didn't mind explaining a bit more to her foolish sister, because she was already destined never to leave the dungeon and see the blue sky and white clouds of Kosork.

"Pena, the goddess of the earth, the mother of all beings, the most illustrious and respected of all the gods, was born from a fissure and was the first primordial deity. Her appearance marked the beginning of order from chaos and the creation of all things."

The Book of Life describes her thus: "Conflict and chaos originate from Pena, the mother of all gods, who gave birth to all the celestial beings of the luminous universe. In her, we see both creation and destruction, both order and chaos; in short, darkness and chaos are her essence."

War is synonymous with darkness and chaos. The goddess of life craves war, not only because it brings chaos and darkness, but also because life can be sacrificed during war and order can be rebuilt afterward, both of which are nourishment for the goddess.

The goddess has not responded to her followers for far too long, and the pope and elders are getting impatient. They desperately need a war to please the goddess.

They feared that the goddess was no longer there, and just as prophesied, with the gods gone, the world would face its end.

Frida's doubts were all answered, leaving her in shock for a long time. She stood there, stunned. It was the collapse of her faith and the despair of helplessness.

"Now do you know why the Cult of Life didn't stop me?"

Katerina said calmly, and then left Frida's cell with the four witches who followed her.

She entered the laboratory, which contained rows of giant test tubes, each containing the body of a young girl. Their bodies were covered in tubes, and their eyes were lifeless, like soulless shells.

"The experiment has progressed to the second phase, Your Majesty. The second batch of witches will be produced soon."

An elderly man dressed in an alchemical white robe stepped forward. He was Igor West, a scholar of the alchemical sect and the main person in charge of the experiment.

Beneath the white robe and hood, a pair of incredibly cloudy eyes shone with fanatical passion. His deeply lined face and brown age spots indicated that he was no longer young; he had lived to be 146 years old, yet he was still full of enthusiasm for alchemy.

His status in the alchemy cult was second only to the Pope, and he was hailed as the greatest scholar of darkness because the subjects he studied always required the sacrifice of one's life.

Katerina nodded slightly to the old man and inquired,

What is the probability of it getting out of control?

"The probability of it getting out of control has increased to 60%."

"Can we go to war?"

"Of course, they are your sharpest weapons. Once they die on the battlefield, you can retrieve the witch's heart from their bodies."

Igor West said with a smile that was like that of a grim reaper from hell, a smile that sent chills down one's spine.

Katerina didn't like that smile, but she loved his research. She would build an invincible witch team to clear all obstacles for the Tumen Empire.

"Has the power of the Forest Witch been successfully replicated?"

Katerina asked.

"I'm sorry, this may take some time, after all, you didn't bring back her Witch Stone, which is her only power."

Igor West said, bowing his head.

Katerina turned to look at the three female knights, who were all kneeling on the ground.

"It was our mistake. The Witch's Heart should no longer be in Kosork, but wherever it has been taken, we will find it."

"No need. It's not an indispensable force. Instead of spending time searching the world, we should focus on dealing with what's happening right now."

Katerina did not punish them, but instead chose to abandon the Witch's Heart of the Forest Witch. After all, even the healing power of the forest could not grant immortality, and this power was dispensable to her. The most important thing right now was to launch the war smoothly and to start the war from the moral and righteous high ground.

Katerina wanted to leave a significant mark on history, but it had to be for her wisdom and greatness, not for deliberately provoking war.

She also needs her people to fight willingly.

"What's the Dork royal family up to?"

Katerina asked.

The head handmaid, Mora Macmillan, who was in charge of intelligence, replied, "Our informants reported that they were very angry, believing that Tumen was making baseless accusations, and wanted to hold an international conference to prove their innocence."

"What about Lydia Griffiths?"

"She has successfully infiltrated Edenburg and climbed into Sean Dalk's bed. I believe it won't be long before the eldest prince falls into our trap."

“Very good, I can’t wait to set foot on the solid ground of Aidenburg.”

Katerina's lips curled up slightly.

Moira Macmillan, Julie Townsend, Bronya Peters, and Sharon Bergman all looked up to her with admiration, seeing her as an incomparably dazzling presence, and were willing to die for such a queen.

Igor West also smiled, hoping the Queen would send him more test subjects.

“Igor West, how much do you know about the Knowledge Cult?”

Katerina suddenly asked.

Igor West lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I know nothing about the Knowledge Cult, but my teacher is a follower of the Knowledge Cult. He is in a state of madness 80% of the time, which is why I have not joined the Knowledge Cult.”

"I hope those lunatics don't cause me any trouble at a time like this."

Katerina frowned slightly as she stopped in front of an empty, giant test tube, remembering another thing that worried her.

The witch Irene Mostia is a clone of Katerina created during the first phase of the experiment.

Because of her congenital defects, she was ultimately disposed of as scrap and recycled into the laboratory.

The recyclable body contained neither the Witch's Stone nor a soul.

Katerina has a part of her soul in the witch Irene Mostia, and because it was not completely retrieved, her soul is incomplete.

For this reason, Katerina ordered the destruction of all her clones, but still could not complete her soul.

She has absolutely no interest in food now, and has even lost her sense of taste. Of course, this doesn't affect her daily life at all.

But where did that part of the soul go?

Will this affect my ascension ceremony?

No, we must ensure everything goes perfectly. We must find Irene Mostia before the ceremony.