My health recovery is incredibly fast.

The alchemy school advocates starting from the principle of Shadow Fiend's signature spell, Shadow Walk, and erasing the shadows that allow it to traverse.

Beatrice, being a high tower mage born into an alchemical school, would naturally employ a quicker and more convenient sealing spell to directly seal the Shadow Demon.

Both sealing approaches are feasible, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The alchemy school's approach is energy-efficient, while the tower mage's approach is more efficient.

After sealing the Shadow Demon, we need to work on removing its physical form.

Inside Shadow Fiend is a Shadow Core, which is its "brain" and the core of Shadow Fiend.

By modifying the Shadowcore with enchantment magic, one can use it to search for the location of Erin's true memories.

The task of removing the Shadow Demon's husk was entrusted to two poison alchemy masters within the academy.

Shazo and Kurov worked together for half a month to prepare a large jar of highly effective antidote for the Shadow Fiend.

Everyone hoped things would continue to progress smoothly, but a small accident occurred when the antidote was administered.

As is well known, antidotes contain traces of elements.

The large number of elemental traces coming together inevitably caused some interference with Beatrice's sealing array.

Inside the sealing chamber, Shazo and Dim were pouring out the antidote.

Just as the Shadow Demon was soaking in the antidote, its body rapidly dissolving, its voice pierced through the slightly weakened sealing array and entered the minds of the two people present:

“We…make a…deal…I…give up…psychic abilities…you…release…me…”

Tim reached out and turned on the gramophone next to him, and "Praise the Sun" began to play from the speaker.

As the bubbles inside the sealed container became denser, the energy reading of the magic circle decreased further, indicating that the magic circle's power had been weakened even more.

Dim turned the speaker volume up to maximum.

The Shadow Fiend's form began to twist and deform, about to completely dissolve in the antidote; its shadow core was already faintly visible.

The singing in the room made the table tremble slightly, but even so, the Shadow Demon still unleashed its full power, releasing its mental abilities once more, using almost inaudible whispers to bewitch Xia Zuo and the other two:

"The mission to find... Lord Black Flag... has failed..."

"Lord Black Flag?" Xia Zuo was taken aback.

Tim frowned. "What is this guy talking about? What black flag?"

Their voices were drowned out by the singing coming from the loudspeaker.

"Uh..." Xia Zuo looked at the "Stop" button on the control panel, patted Dim's arm, pointed at the button and shouted, "Should we stop?!"

Dim scratched his beard and shouted, "Can we search the Shadowcore for memories related to 'Black Flag'?"

“This is no problem for other Shadow Fiends’ Shadow Cores!” Xia Zuo shouted, shrugging. “But this Shadow Fiend has the ability to construct false memories! Even if we find that memory, it might be fake!”

While the two were discussing the matter, the antidote continued to be poured into the sealed container without stopping.

Ultimately, in less than 30 seconds, the Shadow Fiend's body disintegrated with the antidote, and a black egg-shaped object floated in the water.

Beatrice crafted the enchanted item that modifies the Shadowcore a couple of days ago, and it's on Dim. It looks like a compass.

Dim took out the enchanted compass and installed the shadow core in the groove on the back of the compass.

The hands on the dial wobbled and pointed straight to the due west of the kingdom.

"It's all set. This thing can lead us to Erin's true memories. Let's report to the head of the academy first, and then set off." Dim stuffed the compass into his pocket.

The two left the sealing chamber and entered Beatrice's study.

Dim showed Beatrice the shadow core attached to the back of the compass, and said:

"Chief, before disintegrating its body, this Shadow Demon said its mission to find Lord Black Flag had failed. Xia Zuo and I have never heard of him. Perhaps it's trying to buy time, or perhaps there really is another Lord Black Flag lurking in the kingdom. Should we go and search for him?"

Beatrice manipulated the silver sand hand to put down the pen, her delicate brows furrowing as she pondered for a few seconds. "Lord Black Flag? Who is that? Is there a surname Black Flag in the Church of the Otherworldly Demons?"

“Alright then…” Beatrice snapped her fingers and said, “You all leave this to yourselves. I’ll inform the outer sanctum. If what this Shadow Demon says is true, that it came looking for the Black Flag, then it means the so-called Black Flag has disappeared. The person who could send the Cube Shadow Demon deep into the Starry Night Kingdom wouldn’t be some nobody in the Church of the Otherworld. The temple will send people infiltrate to investigate.”

"Yes, Chief."

"Okay, teacher."

Xia Zuo and the other person nodded in agreement.

After leaving the study, the two boarded an airship and flew towards the western mountains.

Beatrice's expression turned serious after they left.

She took a specially made notebook from her desk drawer and wrote a line on the page with special black ink:

[Starry Night Kingdom - Beatrice: We captured a cube-sized Shadow Fiend, and it mentioned "the Black Flag."]

Chapter 25 Intelligence Collection

Gray Corner Subplane, Ancient Sea Fortress.

This is the homeland, resting place, and headquarters of the Witchers.

A weathered ancient castle stands atop verdant mountains, morning mist swirling through the forest, while witcher apprentices shout and chop scarecrows in the castle's training grounds.

The sunlight here is a bit strange.

The clouds in the sky stretched out in one continuous layer, like a large gray net covering the earth. When the sunlight pierced through the gray clouds and shone down on the ground, the golden dawn was tinged with a pale gray sheen.

The Witchers were used to the unique lighting phenomenon of this Gray Corner sub-plane.

Some were researching mutation inducers in the alchemy room, others were drinking and fighting with swords, some were compiling a thick monster encyclopedia at their desks, and a few were lying on the open-air balcony, lazily basking in the sun and enjoying a rare moment of relaxation.

Rexor and Ceres sat facing each other at the card table, playing Gwent and chatting happily.

"Buzz..." A vibration came from Rexor's alchemy pocket.

"Huh? Didn't I put all the secret communication rings in the closet?" Rexor reached into his pocket, his fingers touching the leather cover of the notebook. "Oh no, it's an urgent message. Looks like our vacation is going to be ruined."

He took out his notebook, turned to a page, and saw a line of text that appeared out of nowhere—the very sentence Beatrice had written.

When Rexor saw the words "Black Flag," his expression turned serious.

Serites glanced at the bald man's expression, then looked at the words in the notebook. "Alright, we have something to do."

He glanced at the card game on the table, realizing he had the upper hand. "Let's finish this round first."

Knowing he was at a disadvantage, Rexall said seriously, "No, that's exactly what matters."

Then, he quickly retrieved his cards and put them in his card bag, took out a book, placed it on the card table, and opened it.

The book is titled "A Collection of Intelligence on 'Black Flag'", and the table of contents is handwritten from page 1 to page 5.

Page 6 records the circumstances of the Demon Hunter school's first encounter with the "Black Flag," and it reads as follows:

...

[Time Period] 1906 to 1913

[Location] Western Continent, Starry Night Kingdom, Silver Moon Federation, Poseidon City, Outer Hall, Decipherer's Hall

[Characters] Rexor, Beatrice, Shazzo, Dim, Decipherer Kadum, (and others omitted)

[What Happened]

1. In the year 1906 of this era, Beatrice of the Starry Night Kingdom reported that she had discovered traces of the Blood Demon within the kingdom.

...(Some content omitted)

5. In 1910 of this era, Rexor successfully sealed the Blood Demon Quarowich on the western side of the Storm Mountains in the Western Continent.

6. In 1913 of this era, Rexor, carrying the sealed artifact, returned to the Eastern Continent aboard a transoceanic airship. During the journey, the Blood Demon Quarowuch attempted to self-destruct. His companion, Shazo, assisted Rexor, preventing the Blood Demon's self-destruction.

7. In 1913 of this era, the Poseidon City Emergency Response Department broke through the physical body of the Blood Demon Quarovich, and was subsequently attacked by a high-ranking Blood Demon. With the assistance of the high-ranking Blood Demon, Quarovich escaped from its sealed container in the form of a Bloodstone, and was later destroyed by the action team member Shazo.

...(Some content omitted)

11. The high-ranking Blood Demon was separated into nine Blood Demons and sealed in the basement of the Poseidon City Emergency Response Department. The Blood Demon Iboyik was removed from its body, and its Bloodstone was transported from the outer hall to the Decipherers' Hall.

12. High-ranking codebreaker Kadum deciphered Iboik's Bloodstone, obtaining a wealth of information, including the name of an unrecorded Otherworldly being. The details are as follows:

"In accordance with His Excellency Nukoalofa's (Note 1) secret orders, we will assist Qualouchi, who is on his way to the Western Continent to find Lord Black Flag."

(Note 1: Nukalofa, the deacon of the Church of the Otherworldly Essence and Flesh, guided the cult in attacking cities such as Poseidon.)

The Decipherers' Hall has confirmed that the name "Black Flag" has never appeared in the past, and this alien may have come from outer space.

13. The codebreaker Kadum attempted to forcibly decipher the shattered bloodstone of the Blood Demon Khurooqi, but failed. We lost crucial intelligence related to the "Black Flag."

[Event Summary]

The Church of the Otherworldly Demons appears to have received aid from the Starry Sky Demons, whose name, "Black Flag," may have penetrated the primordial smoke and descended to Earth. The Temple must locate this Starry Sky Demon as soon as possible.

...

From page 7 to page 110, every page contains information about the "Black Flag".

Since 1913 of this era, the Church of the Otherworld has dispatched no fewer than 100 Otherworldly beings of the same level, such as Blood Demons and Shadow Demons, to infiltrate every corner of the Temple Territory in search of the Starry Sky Otherworldly being known as the "Black Flag".

They found nothing.

The fact that they went to such great lengths to send out people and search for the "Black Flag" at any cost made the Temple realize the importance of this Starry Sky Demon to the Church of the Demons.

As a result, the Temple also issued a long-term mission within its ranks to find the "Black Flag," which was mainly handled by the two Witcher Masters and the codebreaker Kadum, who were the first to come into contact with the "Black Flag" information.

Since no demon had ever come into contact with the "Black Flag," the information the temple had received had always been limited to knowing that such a person existed.

The long-term mission of searching for the "Black Flag" gradually turned into a routine:

Wherever clues about the "Black Flag" appeared, Rexor and his companion went there, brought back the essence of the Otherworldly demon, and handed it over to the decoder Kadum for deciphering.

The results of each decryption were not exactly the same, but they were exactly the same—the demons sent by the Church of the Demons couldn't even catch a glimpse of the "Black Flag," let alone find it.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Shadow Demon that appeared in the Starry Night Kingdom will probably be in the same situation.

That being said, the things that need to be done still need to be done.

Rexor first wrote down the information he had obtained from Beatrice in "Intelligence Regarding the 'Black Flag'", then closed the book, picked up the longsword leaning against the card table, and beckoned to Ceretus:

"Let's go, let's go and come back quickly. I heard that the teleportation hall in the Western Continent is half completed, we can teleport there directly."

“This makes things much more convenient.” Serites walked beside the bald man.

The two traveled through the teleportation room in Gray Corner to the outer hall's teleportation hall, and from there they were teleported to the teleportation hall of the Western Continent.