Becoming a god by raising witches

Locke looked at her. "Is it because you had a second child that you want to please me? You really don't need to thank me. If you want, I can help you get pregnant with a third or fourth child. By the way, have you named the children yet?"

Upon hearing Locke's words, Rebecca's blood pressure spiked instantly, and black smoke began to billow from her head.

Overwhelmed by her emotions, she hid in her pipe again and declared that she would never come out again.

"Locke! You just wait, I'll never listen to you again! You've lost your most loyal partner!"

"hehe."

Locke chuckled coldly, finally finding some peace and quiet.

He can sleep peacefully now.

In the latter half of the night, it started to drizzle in Kosalk.

Queens District.

The raindrops, like fine needles, inexplicably wove a hazy picture.

Katerina Castle stood tall in the rain, its gray stone walls appearing even more somber under the downpour.

Raindrops fell on the ancient tiled eaves, making a dull pattering sound, like the sands of time flowing slowly in the silence.

The castle's spires appeared and disappeared in the rain, like arrow towers guarding the dark clouds.

The Kosol River, bordering the castle, shimmered in the rain, with waterbirds occasionally skimming across its surface, creating ripples.

This 500-year-old castle was renamed Katerina Castle by the previous king 15 years ago because the king was very fond of his eldest daughter Katerina and believed that she would be the next queen.

In the garden, a light rain caressed the flowers, leaving them shrouded in a misty haze. On the paths among the flowers, the stone slabs became slippery from the rain, and moss grew freely in the cracks, like the marks of time.

Deep within the ancient castle, lights shone brightly.

The sheer curtains hanging on the window appeared even softer and more mysterious under the reflection of the rain.

Her Majesty's head maid, Maura Macmillan, carrying a lantern, walked through the long corridor into the depths of the castle, into Katerina's bedroom.

The bedroom is luxurious and vintage, with white marble from floor to ceiling, which makes the whole space appear exceptionally bright and opulent.

In the very center of the room was a huge emerald green bed, above which hung an agate-colored curtain embroidered with the Queen’s family crest.

Two ornate cabinets, carved with delicate patterns, stood beside the bed, containing many pieces of jewelry and beautiful long dresses.

Near the bed was a large, exquisite wall with a magnificent mirror framed in gold and adorned with jewels. Beside the mirror stood a refined dressing table, upon which rested a set of silver makeup tools, beautiful jewelry, and numerous useful jars.

In the corner of the room hung a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen. In the painting, the Queen wore magnificent jewels and an elegant gown, her gaze radiating confidence and determination. On the opposite wall hung a large map, marking domestic and international territories, serving as a reminder to the Queen of the importance of land planning and occupation.

The only window in the entire room was hanging beside the bed, with rose-red curtains. Looking out the window, one could see a vast grassland and a shimmering river.

Several potted green plants were placed on the windowsill, adding a touch of vitality and freshness.

Katerina stood by the window, quietly watching the rain through the greenery.

The light drizzle gradually turned into a torrential downpour, and her beautiful face remained expressionless until the maid, Mora Macmillan, entered the room.

"Your Majesty, Lady Renis wishes to speak with you privately about the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations' latest discoveries."

"Mora McMillan said."

"Tell her that I can write it down and give it to you; I don't have time to see her right now."

Katerina said.

"She said it was about intellectual sects."

Mora McMillan continued.

Katerina turned around and glanced at Mora McMillan. "The Knowledge Cult? What are those lunatics up to now? Tell her to come see me tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll obey your will."

"That's what Mora McMillan replied."

Subsequently, the three knights, Julie Townsend, Bronya Peters, and Sharon Bergman, also appeared in Katerina's bedroom.

Katerina turned around, and Mora McMillan draped a mink cloak over her shoulders. She then left the bedroom with the others.

The four of them walked through the castle's long corridors and followed the spiral staircase all the way down to the hidden floor at the very bottom of the castle.

The light grew dimmer and dimmer until they reached the depths of the earth where it was pitch black.

Mora McMillan turned on the wall lamp.

A row of wall lamps engraved with alchemical runes illuminated the underground world as if it were daytime.

This place was originally the castle's dungeon, but after being renovated, it became the queen's secret laboratory.

The laboratory has countless rooms, imprisoning many girls of noble blood, but Kosork rarely reports cases of noble girls going missing, because someone has already taken their place and is living their lives in their place.

Instead, the children who lived in their place were orphans raised by Katerina.

Simply by changing their appearance, they can live the life of noble ladies.

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.