Cornflower Witch

Chapter 265 The Dream of Illusion
Crimson rays shattered the armor, and silver lances pierced through flesh and blood.

Men and horses fell, bones shattered and bodies torn apart.

The monster howled, blood gushed and flesh tore apart.

During the fierce battle that night, Antioch's elite forces suffered their greatest losses since the fall of Regas. Many elites perished under the rays of the evil eye monsters, and a large number of soldiers also died from the strange and evil eye magic. Even after a night of fierce fighting, they failed to conquer the Three-Forked Forest, and the battle had to end after leaving behind a large number of corpses on both sides.

Antiy's army temporarily withdrew from the Three-Forked Forest to regroup and rest, while the Hundred-Eyed Cult members, along with Prince Jabbers, moved away from the forest.

Over the next two months, towns and cities throughout Regas learned of the outcome of the battle: Antioch's elite forces suffered heavy losses, while Prince Jobs survived.

This outcome caused a change of heart among the people of Regas, and Prince Jabbers began to send out a large number of envoys to communicate with members of hidden forces in various places, and to once again gather forces to resist the Kingdom of Antioch.

Thanks to the victory in the Three-Forked Forest, many people began to believe that Steve Jobs might actually restore his kingdom, so more people began to gather around him. But this time was different from the last time. Prince Jobs no longer had many loyal guards around him. The entire group was controlled by the Hundred-Eyed Cult. Whenever someone came to join him, they were quickly bewitched and absorbed by the Hundred-Eyed Cult.

Thus, with the help of Prince Steve Jobs and the name of restoring the kingdom, the power of the Hundred-Eyed Cult began to snowball, and it began to establish hidden branches in various cities, secretly gathering intelligence and recruiting members.

Meanwhile, in the Three-Forked Forest, Kachis finally took to the field himself and fought the sect leader. Unfortunately, he did not win, only gaining a slight advantage. He also suffered minor injuries, which delayed the subsequent pursuit.

For the next two months, despite relentlessly pursuing Prince Jabbers and searching for his whereabouts, under the cover of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, Prince Jabbers's whereabouts remained elusive, repeatedly causing Kachis to miss him. His prestige further declined, causing other Antian nobles in Regas to lose their respect, and some of his orders were disobeyed in return.

In response, Kachis used royal authorization to publicly hang several disobedient Antioch nobles, finally halting the downward trend.

After recovering from his injuries, the 'Baron of the Prison Dogs' finally calmed down, and through his meticulous planning and intelligence gathering, Prince Jobs' true whereabouts began to be revealed.

"This time, we must be fully prepared to take down Steve Jobs." This time, he was no longer as careless and lenient as he had been last time.

The reason he had previously ordered the nobles of Valley City to take action was to stain them with Gabriel's blood, making them unable to turn back. He then had these people spread the word and persuade the remaining hidden resistance forces to surrender, constantly dividing and winning them over, until finally all the resistance forces within Regas could no longer trust each other and joined forces.

Unfortunately, Prince Gabriel no longer relies on the former nobles and loyal followers of Regas. The Hundred-Eyed Cult around him has a stronger ability to win people over, and its members are easier to command, even to the point of sending them on missions that are sure to end in death—something that ordinary armies simply cannot do.

As the situation changed, the events in Valley City were gradually forgotten, and the elite troops under Kachis's command had long been transferred away from the city to the front lines to pursue and search for Prince Jobs.

"So, can we leave now?" Hiltiya asked, standing in front of the officer who was left to guard Valley City.

Hilti has been here for two months, and even with her good temper, she's starting to get restless.

“I’m sorry, Miss Hiltiya, without Lord Khaki’s written order, I cannot let you leave.” The acting lord of Valley City, who was also a knight and officer in the Antian army, shook her head and refused.

“I see…” Hilti pondered for a moment before continuing.

"It seems you won't budge no matter what, right?" she asked again to confirm.

“Yes… unless Lord Kachis gives the order.” He looked at the incomparably beautiful girl in front of him, his mind resolute, and continued to refuse.

“I understand.” Hilti stopped arguing and turned to leave with her people.

The officer was quite surprised to see her walk away so decisively, but he didn't have a good reason to go up and ask her any questions.

After leaving, Hiltiya summoned the key members of the accompanying caravan.

“Kachis won’t remember Valley City anytime soon, so we can’t wait any longer,” she told the group, outlining her plan.

“I also questioned that officer who was acting as the city lord. According to him, he will not budge unless Kachis gives the order personally.”

“I understand. He’s afraid that if he agrees, Kachis will blame him, so he doesn’t dare to agree and take on the responsibility.”

“So, we don’t need to beg or make things difficult for him anymore. We can just find an opportunity to leave,” she told everyone, sharing her analysis.

"You can start packing your things."

"Yes." The people present were getting a little impatient, and they were especially excited to see that Hilti had made a decision.

Soon everyone left, except for one person who stayed behind. He looked at the girl, then lowered his head, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"Speak, what is it?" Hiltiya noticed his hesitation.

"Thank you, Lady Tiya. Here's what happened..." he slowly began to speak.

"I would like to humbly request that, sir, you take one of the city's prisoners with you when you leave," he mustered his courage and uttered this somewhat unreasonable request.

“The prisoner wasn’t a bad person. He’s my uncle. He used to travel to many places, but a few months ago, he participated in Prince Jobs’ rebellion. He was captured by the Antirians during the fighting and imprisoned in the dungeon of Valley City, where he suffered a lot of torture.” “Fortunately, the situation has changed now. The Antirians don’t care much about the prisoners in the dungeon anymore. They’ve been forgotten. That’s why I was able to barely bribe the guards to go in and visit him.”

"His name is Hines. My mother is his sister. My maternal grandfather's ancestors were knights who followed 'Knight King' Regard to conquer the world. So when Prince Jobs rose to power some time ago, he joined him according to his ancestors' oath."

"Unfortunately, my uncle entrusted the wrong person. Jobs was not as wise and brave as his ancestors. During the defense of Valley City, he abandoned the city and fled. As a result, the morale of my uncle and other descendants of knights plummeted, and they were defeated in the chaos of battle by the Antirians."

“He was injured and there was no doctor in the dungeon. Even if he could tough it out on his own, his condition was deteriorating due to the harsh environment and lack of nutrition. If he couldn’t get out, he would probably die in the dungeon soon.”

“I have no skills and don’t know how to get him out of the dungeon. This is all the money I have saved up. I know it is insignificant and it would be impolite to ask you for money.”

"But I really can't find any other way, so... this is the only way." His words were somewhat incoherent, and he didn't know how to express himself; only tears slowly streamed down his face.

Seeing this, Hiltiya shook her head slightly.

"Alright, stop crying now. Let's continue and tell each other the details." She wanted to know more about the other person.

“My uncle loved to go on adventure trips when he was a child. Every time he came back, he would bring back all sorts of new and interesting things for my mother and me. When I was little, I often listened to all sorts of stories from him…”

"He never married, saying that someone like him was destined to drift like the wind, unable to make a lasting promise to anyone."

"Unexpectedly, he still joined Prince Steve Jobs's ranks, trying to find the glory and legend passed down from his ancestors."

"I know his personality; he can't stand living an ordinary life, so it was inevitable that he would join Steve Jobs's army."

“I am very grateful to my uncle. My maternal grandfather’s family was not well-off. After my mother married into Jiaoshicheng, she also had to do a lot of work to supplement the family income. When I was a child, I always looked forward to my uncle coming to visit me. He would bring some good wine, sit in the house with my father and drink together, and then tell our family about his experiences and observations during this period.”

"I have always admired that kind of animated look, so as I grew up, I joined a caravan, hoping to make a living while traveling around."

"When I heard that Valley City had fallen again, my family was very worried about his safety. So when Lady Tia said she was going to Valley City, I rushed to sign up and joined the caravan in order to find his whereabouts."

“Last month, after making various inquiries, I learned that he was being held in a dungeon. When I went to visit him, he was already somewhat unconscious. Fortunately, his cellmate was also a former comrade-in-arms, which prevented him from dying too soon.”

“But his condition is very bad right now. If he can’t get out soon, I’m afraid…” he said, his voice becoming sad again.

"Okay, I understand." Hilti nodded, telling him not to rush.

Is his name Hines? Hiltiya silently memorized the name.

Although she felt nothing for Prince Steve Jobs, she still held a deep respect for the knights who had loyally followed Regard in conquering the forest kingdom.

The scenes she had seen in the film world, the sacrificed Knight Holin, the Knight Morrick who sent her to the woodlands, and the Knight Commander Cassius in the film world all left a very good impression on her.

If he were also a knight, or someone with the ancient chivalrous spirit, Hilti would be very willing to lend a helping hand and pull such a person out of his predicament.

That night, Hilti made some disguises, wearing a black dress and a black veil, and stepped into the night.

In the past two months, she has had the time to focus on improving her various abilities and has expanded the number of plants she can control in the Autumn Garden to a fifth. This time, she has chosen the 'Illusion Mushroom', a type of mushroom with illusionary abilities.

In the darkness of night, the young girl walked along the deserted streets with a lantern in her hand. Inside the lantern, instead of a candle, were beautiful, glowing mushrooms of various colors, like a kaleidoscope. As Hilti passed by, tiny mushroom spores drifted out of the lantern, lulling the soldiers and residents along the way into a deep sleep.

Not long after she left the settlement, the caravan members, also wearing masks and leading their horses, came out. Their masks contained white mountain tea leaves that Hilti had given them in advance, to counteract the poison and reduce the effects of the illusion.

However, prolonged exposure to these mushroom spores would still cause them to be infected, so in order to save time, they moved as quickly as possible, following the girl toward the city gate.

"Who are you?" On the city wall, the patrol captain asked in confusion as he saw the group preparing to leave the city.

Before he could even call for his teammates to be on guard, a series of thuds came from behind him.

When he turned around again, he found that his companions, who had been chatting and laughing just moments before, were now lying sprawled on the ground, and he himself felt a deep sense of sleepiness.

In a daze, he tried to perk himself up by pinching the web between his thumb and index finger, but he still couldn't stop his eyelids from drooping and his body from standing unsteadily.

Finally, looking at the blurry figure standing in front of him, he slowly collapsed.

He couldn't remember who that figure was; he only remembered that the figure in his hazy vision was exceptionally beautiful, like a dream.

(End of this chapter)