The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! - Chapter 162 - Meeting of All Northern Kingdoms 06.

[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV

Northern kingdoms.

...

...

“So that’s how the southern battle ended…”
The King of Kaedwen murmured into the silence as the image faded, and the soldier whose memories had been extracted collapsed to the ground, his mind pushed beyond its limits.

The mages, along with Tissaia, finally stopped their spellcasting, while everyone else kept their gaze fixed on the ceiling, even without the spell still active, trying to recall each scene they had witnessed—the destruction caused by the giant, and, most notably, its form.

“By the gods… what was that…”
The Queen of Lyria had a somber expression, the gleam of fear visible in her eyes.

“It’s worse than what we’d heard… how can we stop that thing?!”
The King of Aedirn stammered.

“I know it’s a terrifying sight, and it makes us question if we’re dealing with a god in mortal form. But we must not let fear shake us now. We need to think rationally about what happened and how we can deal with that thing.”
King Foltest addressed everyone as they tore their eyes from the ceiling, though they remained silent, lost in their own thoughts.

“The King of Temeria is right… what we must do now is focus on what’s happening here.”
The King of Redania spoke, and no one else interrupted.

“King of Sodden, can you tell us more about this? Is it that boy?”
The Queen of Lyria asked.

“I… I don’t know… I know as much as you do. The war was interrupted by this.”
Thorne admitted.

“Great. Even my general knows nothing of what happened. But that’s why we have all the northern mages here. We want answers.”
The King of Temeria demanded.

“Is it the boy? Does that weapon still possess such power?”
Meve questioned the mages directly. No one had seen those who fought against Madara, so the boy remained the prime suspect.

“I met Uchiha Madara personally in the mountains… I saw him, even with the appearance of a teenager, as an extremely powerful being capable of handling hundreds of mages and soldiers. But this… this is something entirely different… it’s hard to believe he could create something like that.”
Coral spoke, her gaze resting on the monarchs gathered on the highest platform.

“Yes… I was with Coral and the other surviving mages in the mountains… I also find it hard to believe that such a thing could come from a boy.”
Another mage, an elderly man, added.

“So no one truly knows what that was? We have no answers about it?”
One of the queen consorts exclaimed in frustration, a sentiment that began to spread among the crowd.

None of the mages, sorcerers, or soldiers—whether they had lived through the battle or merely witnessed the scenes through the spell—knew what to say.

“No one knows… Your Majesty.”
Tissaia broke the silence.

“That’s unacceptable! We must discover who the giant was and how it appeared!”

“Some demon has entered our world, and we must destroy it!”

“It’s that boy! The former Queen Calanthe was raising a weapon in Cintra! If he had grown up there, it wouldn’t be Nilfgaard we’d be worrying about, but Cintra destroying all of our kingdoms!”

“I don’t think it can be just the boy…”

“Who were the people fighting with him?!”

“I saw the battle. They weren’t manifesting chaos, which means they use something unknown to us.”

“Where did those people come from? How can they just appear out of nowhere?!”

“Perhaps they aren’t even from this world!”

A series of discussions and heated exchanges erupted between the kings, mages, and everyone present.

“Order!”
The King of Kaedwen exclaimed, silencing the room. He continued:

“I know this is a desperate situation. But now is not the time to quarrel among ourselves. First, we must learn more about the main suspect at the center of all this chaos—Madara Uchiha. He lived in Cintra for as long as we know. I want to hear everything about him. After all, we’ve never paid much attention to this before, but the boy was famous in the kingdom and accomplished incredible feats.”

Everyone nodded as they listened to his words.

“Dijkstra, report everything you know about the boy.”
Vizimir II ordered as his spymaster cleared his throat to share everything he had learned from his reports.

He began recounting the events of the fight against the gangs, where Madara was after kidnappers of orphaned children for experiments. However, he gave few details, as the information was highly restricted. Then he spoke about a witcher who had been killed after entering Cintra, hired by a noble who suffered a fatality in the first events involving Madara, followed by the war before Nilfgaard’s invasion.

The listeners grew thoughtful upon hearing this.

“How did we not pay attention to this before? There was a child like that under Calanthe’s wing…”
Meve murmured.

“However, if we’re thinking the boy is truly the one who created that giant… why didn’t he do anything for Cintra…?”
One of the mages asked.

“Strange…”
Others agreed.

“I can speak to that.”
Francesca spoke at that moment, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Go on, then.”
One of the kings urged.

“I’ve already spoken about my experience in the first battle we had, and I noticed one thing…”
She paused briefly, prompting some of the kings to nearly shout at her to continue immediately.
“I noticed that Madara Uchiha… has grown far more powerful than he was in the first fight…”
She said.

“...”
Everyone fell silent for a while.

“Maybe he did it on purpose. Maybe he made a deal with Calanthe and simply let the kingdom fall so that he could be free?”
One of the sorcerers suggested.

“That could be true… After all, he supposedly killed about three thousand people in that battle, from what I’ve heard. But in the battle beneath Sodden’s Hill, he did that five or six times within the first minutes.”
An elder stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“I don’t think so… We were in Cintra’s castle when the city was besieged by Nilfgaard’s army, pursuing the princess. He got her out of the country safely and even offered aid to Calanthe, but she refused, asking him to leave… according to some servants who were also in the castle.”
One of the northern sorcerers commented.

“So… you’re saying this child is evolving and getting stronger somehow!?”
One of the kings asked, clearly distressed.

“I can’t say for sure… but all indications point to that. The boy grew much stronger… and even his gaze had changed. I don’t think he was holding back in Cintra…”
Francesca remarked.

“Great. So now we have a monster that may be growing stronger as we speak, wandering out there.”
The King of Redania said with a grim expression.

“Calanthe never allowed mages from the Chapter of Sorcerers in her court… due to her distrust of us. But she did accept a druid from Skellige, along with her military alliance with the islands, when she married King Eist Tuirseach, King of Skellige, who also died fighting Nilfgaard—at sea.”
One of the mages said, pausing briefly before continuing.
“So, if anyone knows more about that strange boy and perhaps that group, the druid Mousesack might be our best lead.”

“That could be true, but wasn’t Skellige contacted for this meeting?!”
A sorceress asked, turning toward the kings.

“Of course they were… And we also tried to contact Mousesack, but we couldn’t manage it on such short notice. We even sent sorcerers, but they were not received. Skellige is still mourning the death of their last king and is displeased with the Continent for letting the Nilfgaardians invade Cintra.”
Dijkstra explained.

“If only we were dealing with just the Nilfgaardians… Now we have something out there that could destroy any northern kingdom it wants. Did you see how it cut through two giant mountains? If that thing swings its sword toward one of our capitals, will we survive?!”
One of the queens spoke again, her tone bordering on hysteria. Her words seemed to resonate with the kings, who began worrying more about their own lives than anything else.

“Let me say something about when that Madara Uchiha almost killed me! He can control people—I saw him controlling a mage, and Tissaia can confirm that! Who’s to say he isn’t controlling someone in this very meeting, preparing to kill us all?!”
The King of Brugge exclaimed as he stood up, hysterical at that moment. It was something he had been holding back for a long time, and now he scanned the room, looking for any suspicious movement among those gathered.

This quickly triggered an atmosphere of distrust among everyone. Upon hearing those words, they all began to glance around, searching for any suspicious faces, their hearts gripped with terror at the thought that the creator of the giant might be among them.

“Stop this. Let me make one thing clear—I was with the King of Brugge, and he speaks the truth. The boy can indeed control a mage.”
Tissaia exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention.

“How can that be possible?! He can even control mages, who already have strengthened minds! What if there’s a spy of his here?!”
Immediately, people began raising suspicions, while the kings scowled anxiously. But Tissaia interrupted them once more.

“I don’t think that’s possible. There was a distinct trait in the mage he controlled… his eyes were red, just like the boy’s, with the same patterns…”
She explained.

“I’m becoming more and more baffled by this child. And the only person who could give us better insight into him is either in Skellige or dead?”
Meve, the Queen of Lyria, spoke with a serious tone.

“There might be someone who can tell us more about Madara. After all, Yennefer of Vengerberg spent more time with the boy than any of us. She even sought him out personally before the war.”
The Temerian general, who had commanded forces in the final battle between the North and the South, added.

Everyone immediately turned their gaze toward Yennefer, as Tissaia approached her, leaving the spot where she had been casting her spells.

“Is that true?”
The King of Kaedwen asked.

“It’s true.”
Yennefer admitted.
“But not as much as you think. I first encountered him when I was investigating groups disappearing across Sodden, Cintra, and Temeria… That’s when I met those people who use strange powers and saw Madara Uchiha fighting one of them.”
Yennefer stated openly, as everyone stared at her with mixed expressions, many of them harboring suspicion.

“You’re saying you saw one of those people!”
One of the kings murmured.

“Then she knows something. We’re not as clueless as we thought…”
Queen Meve commented.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Queen Meve, but I know nothing about those people beyond the fact that they serve some kind of goddess… and they don’t belong to this continent.”
She revealed, leaving everyone a little stunned as they glanced at one another, seeking answers.

“But you do know about Uchiha Madara.”
The King of Redania fixed a serious gaze on the sorceress.

“A little.”
Yennefer responded, while Tissaia looked at her in surprise, silently questioning whether Yennefer knew what she was doing.

“Do you know if he’s alive after the giant? Did you meet him after what happened?”
Dijkstra asked with a suspicious tone.

“...”
Yennefer didn’t answer immediately, pressing her lips together, with even Tissaia now watching her expectantly.

“He’s alive. And I met him this past week…”
Yennefer admitted openly, causing everyone to gape at her in shock.

“Then… then she can tell us more about Madara!”
One of the mages exclaimed.

“Tell us, is this Madara Uchiha behind the giant?!”
Another asked.

“Wait!”
The King of Aedirn intervened.
“Words alone prove nothing… We must read her memories, just as we did with the soldier!”
He proposed.

“Wait, that can’t be done!”
Tissaia exclaimed, stepping in front of Yennefer and glaring at the king in protest. She knew that mages had naturally fortified minds from their use of chaos, but that didn’t mean they were immune. If someone tried to force their way into a mage’s mind, they would be met with mental defenses—but if those defenses were breached, it would cause immense pain to the mage, and possibly death.

“Tissaia, this is a matter of security for the entire continent. Even if your sorceress dies, we need to uncover more about this Madara Uchiha!”
One of the kings said calmly.

Many sorcerers and mages were taken aback by this statement. They turned to Yennefer with pity and silent protests in their eyes, deeply unsettled by the notion—for they knew that if it was Yennefer today, it could be one of them tomorrow.

Tissaia wouldn’t stand for such a thing and immediately opened her mouth to protest. But a feminine hand touched her shoulder.

“It’s alright.”
Yennefer said softly, causing Tissaia to turn around, stunned.

Yennefer then stepped past her with a determined expression, facing each of the high-ranking figures on the elevated platform, as well as her magical colleagues—and enemies—on the floor of the hall.

“I will allow you to read my mind.”
She declared, leaving everyone astonished.