I Am The Only Witch Hunter-Chapter 369: Council Meeting

In the once bloody hall of the Dark Ice Castle, now cleaned of its previous bloodshed, Ruben Arist arrived.

Alongside him were representatives of many other human noble families of the North.

Ruben observed the empty hall that was once occupied by the witches. Or as Eldoria called them, High Lords and Ladies.

If someone were to tell Ruben that the unknown warrior that saved his daughter shall be the one that rose against the thousands of years empire that was Eldoria. Ruben would have mocked them.

But it happened. Everything felt unreal to Ruben.

"Lord Arist. How are you?" Another noble greeted Ruben.

"I'm well, Lord Asmon. How are your families lately?"

"Eh. My family wasn't doing that well because of all that oppressive from the high noble clans. But they were a thing of the past now."

With the attack into the Hallow Land, all noble clans had been seized. Some were held prisoners and many were slain.

The human nobles tried to live with the high noble for many generations, treating them like a great version of humanity. But each noble family knew that they were a different species.

They just didn't have the guts and strength to rise up.

Now they did.

The other lords arrived swiftly. Roland was there to welcome them and led them to the Council Room. This room was once the meeting place for all the high-ranking witches of the Coven. They were all dead now.

Siderius didn't keep any prisoners. He slain all the witches in cold-blood. His executioners were the Knights, those that had sworn loyalty to him and had their will solidified by the Knight Code.

The Knights would do anything he wanted without question. Slaughtering the witches didn't bring them any regret.

The Lords and Ladies sat down at the council table.

"Master will be with you shortly. In the meantime, please try some of our unique beverages."

Roland flicked his hands as the servants brought up colorful tonics inside well-made glasses.

Lord Asmon grabbed a glass and didn't hesitate to chug it down.

"Hah! Snowfell always has the best kinds of boozes out there!"

The other followed and tried them. Snowfell had all types of unique drinks and potions. It had become quite a common knowledge in the North.

They enjoyed the wine and talked with each other for a little bit before the door to the Council Room was opened.

A ridiculously tall and muscular walked in. He wore a large bear cloak. His hair was as white as the snow. And he had an iron mask on his face.

Siderius went to the master chair and removed his mask.

"Welcome, allies!" His voice echoed throughout the room.

The Lords and Lady raised their glasses, "Lord Satterblade!"

"I called all of you here for two reasons.

One, obviously, is to update all of us with the status of the Hallow Land.

Two, to decide what we're going to do next."

Siderius went first and informed the nobles about the destruction of the Coven and the attack on the Hallowed Castle. The Hallow Land technically belonged to them until Eldoria reacted, which they wouldn't be able to do for now because of the war with Everia.

"Impressive... You were able to take control of the Coven within a night and kill the black dragon."

"I've never heard of such a powerful army."

Compliments and shocks echoed. They were sitting right at the heart of the coven and yet, they still couldn't believe it. The indestructible witches didn't seem that powerful anymore.

"Please. I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't for the help of you, the noble families of the North." Siderius smiled.

"Now we need to decide what we're doing next."

"We have already taken the Hallow Land. It is reasonable for our forces to rest until we can have enough strength to take the Grey Plain."

"I second that motion."

"We can't wait! We must strike Arlow before he can figure out what is going on!"

"Arlow's territory remains one of our weaknesses. It is one of the two main ways that the South can access us. We must fight!"

"I'll vote for war!"

The noble families argued amongst themselves. Lord Arist didn't say anything, only observing the expressions and tones of the other representatives. He's trying to determine the truthfulness of each lord and lady.

Ruben then glanced over to Siderius where the white-haired Baron gave him a knowing nod.

"House Arist shall go to war." Ruben's voice was low but enough to pierce through the chattering.

"I will proceed with attacking the Grey Plain. We must unite the North." Siderius said.

The room fell silent. Of all the people here, Siderius had the most influence. Not just because he was an actual Baron, but because he was also the most dangerous.

The nobles dropped the facade and glanced at each other. Some agreed and some disagreed but they knew they had only one choice. You could never back down once a war had started.

"Everyone in favor of war please raise their hand." Ruben said and raised his.

Slowly, every other representative raised their hand. The vote was ten to none.

"Ready your forces. We shall attack the Grey Plain next week." Siderius said.

Arlow had sensed that something was wrong. His communication with the Hallow Land was completely cut off and any spies had disappeared without a trace. This indicated that the place had been taken over.

Arlow sat in his chamber. He tapped his feet repeatedly on the floor.

"Who can take over the Hallow Land this quickly?"

There was only one answer that sounded plausible in Arlow's mind. It was Everia.

"Are we losing the war? If Everia already reached the North, Eldoria is doomed.

I need to make a choice."

Arlow had already sent someone to the South for help. But the journey was far. He wouldn't receive any reply for at least a few weeks. In these few weeks, he would be entirely alone to deal with whatever was out there.

Even if the Royal Court got a hint of this, it'd take even more time for them to send reinforcement. Arlow was looking at a minimum two months of war.

"I need to ask the Groves for help."

The Groves. The small unit of the Royal Court scattered around the kingdom to manage the lands. That was its second purpose. Its core purpose was to raise the Mother Tree and provide tears to witches.

In the Grey Plain, one important Mother Tree stood for thousands of years. Its name was the Tree of Woe, the tree that Eldoria engraved onto their silver coins.