Witch Redemption

But now, after learning from Queen Greta that Satogua was probably the culprit who exacerbated the side effects of the kingdom's "god-killing curse," he has gradually abandoned the idea.

He quietly took out a bronze key from the inner pocket of his robe. The key was covered with numerous vein-like patterns, like a living organism. This was the legendary "Scepter of Zatogia," a gift from the gods.

Wesley hesitated for a long time before finally closing his eyes and placing the key on the jade bed in front of him.

Half an hour later, Elder Wesley, who had emerged from the Queen's palace, had regained his composure. He calmly crossed the gates of the capital and then gave his final instructions to the ten Holy Land guards stationed there.

"Gather all combat-capable individuals and send them to the southern region. Inform the four legion commanders that today we are locked in a life-or-death struggle with the British Empire! Demand that they utterly slaughter that human city!"

Wesley knew that without Satoguya's help, the kingdom's army had no chance of winning.

Right after the ten Holy Land guards left, Wesley quickly headed to another area. This time, he would gather the last glimmer of hope for the kingdom and, under the cover of this war, head east.

..................

It was around 10 a.m., and Li Lan and her three companions, still lingering on the outskirts of the northern part of the Mo City Ruins, did not rush into the city.

At this moment, they had no idea what kind of shocking changes had occurred in the southern region. Neither the twenty-one witches with silver grimoires were dismembered in the underground region, nor the tragedy that Lanxi and her two companions had suffered.

"Della, could you please take a look at the situation in the city?"

Under Li Lan's instructions, Della nodded, and then, with the agility of a monkey, she climbed an ancient tree in less than ten seconds, looking down at the ground city of the Mo City ruins from dozens of meters above.

Since Della's main class in her magic book is archer, she possesses innate skills such as "eagle eye," which allows her to clearly capture most things at extremely long distances. As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the farther you can see, making reconnaissance her greatest advantage.

"It seems we can't rashly enter the underground area. If, as the slime said, there is a massive army of goblins down there, then going in would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, and we would only be courting death."

While staring at the map of the Mo City ruins displayed in the magic book, Li Lan pondered what to do next.

To be honest, he had already decided to take advantage of the chaos since last night. He would not easily confront the goblin army before he was sure of the truth of the intelligence. No normal person would think that 100,000 goblins were a joke.

"Huh? They've lost some members?"

Within the limits of Della's vision, she suddenly spotted Peggy's group retreating rapidly. At the same time, a large number of black-armored humanoids poured out of the entrances to various underground areas in the southern region, forming a killing frenzy that quickly spread outwards.

But at the same moment this killing frenzy occurred, a strange flying object coming from the direction of Charlotte City also caught her attention. It was a huge creature that floated slowly in the air, and even from a distance, one could feel a chill from the depths of one's soul.

"Is that a magic crystal cannon?"

In Della's world, there is no such thing as a "Kirov airship." She just thinks that this shuttle-shaped aircraft is too high-tech and obviously not something to be trifled with, even though she has never witnessed the power of such a large weapon.

Soon, feeling deeply uneasy, Della returned to the ground.

"how?"

Li Lan, Lana, and Luo Lina all noticed that Della's expression changed after she went upstairs.

"Peggy and the others have fled towards Charlotte City. We haven't seen any other witches yet, so it's very likely that the cooperation has fallen through. As for the goblin army you mentioned, they're all concentrated in the southern region, closely following behind them. I'm afraid we won't be able to provide support."

Della spoke frankly, adding at the end, "I saw ten strange airships coming from the direction of Charlotte City. They are very likely the Empire's secret weapons, and they are equipped with a lot of magic crystal cannons."

Seeing Della's gesture, Li Lan and the others were quite surprised. "A shuttle-shaped flying object? What kind of high technology is this?"

It makes sense, considering that steam cars already exist, so it's not surprising that steam spaceships are now being created. Come to think of it, this is a strange world where magic and technology coexist, although Li Lan and her companions don't know much about magic.

"What about the northern part of the Mo City ruins?"

"It's strange, there's been no movement at all."

Della couldn't understand why this was happening either. She wondered, "Could it be that those Holy Land Guardians have gone into hiding?"

“It’s possible…” Li Lan was about to say something when the magic book in front of him suddenly changed. All the content on the screen disappeared, and in its place were a few lines of somewhat distorted text.

"Follow this route to the second floor of Mo City. There you will find what you need, and it will become your greatest asset in the future."

"Within Mo City, there is a barrier that can shield cause and effect; that is also your greatest opportunity for revenge."

"My last bit of strength can only give you one minute to make the decision."

The text disappeared quickly, and then the magic book returned to its original content. However, unlike before, this time, the map of the Mo City ruins was marked with a series of lines.

From where Li Lan and the others are now, it leads directly to the second level of the underground area of ​​the Mo City Ruins.

"What's going on? What are these words trying to tell me?"

Li Lan looked astonished. He quickly explained the changes to the grimoire and asked his teammates for their opinions. As a result, Lana and the other two became curious because their grimoires had not undergone such changes.

Lana pondered for a moment, then asked, "Should we follow this route? Surely our innate magic book won't lie to us?"

“I think so too. If all those goblin armies are concentrated in the southern district, then we should be safe for the time being. Besides, Peggy and the others are in danger now, and we can’t come to their aid, can we?” Lolina agreed.

"Anyway, we didn't reach an agreement yesterday, so I don't want to risk my life for them." Lana added fiercely, acting like a villain.

“I have no objection. Karen’s idea is my idea.” Della, as usual, acted as a hands-off manager.

Since his teammates all shared the same opinion, Li Lan was naturally eager to try it out. In any case, he had an extremely strong intuition that the information revealed in this magic book seemed to be extraordinary, and he had to seize it no matter what.

"Okay, let's go right away!"

Half an hour later...

They were completely unimpeded, which surprised Li Lan and her companions. The underground area was deserted, and the journey was eerily quiet. Not a single goblin came forward to stop them.

"what happened?"

My first thought was that something must have happened in this underground area, and the more I thought about it, the more horrified I became.

Looking around, there are ancient buildings on both sides that bear the marks of time, and these flat-roofed buildings also clearly show signs of biological life. Since there are no plants in the underground area, it looks more like an underground tomb.

Just to be on the safe side, Li Lan sent her servants, and Luo Lina sent her novice skeletons and goblin zombies to explore the surrounding area, and they came to a surprising conclusion.

The place is deserted and there is no ambush.

"Something's not right, this is really not right! Could it be that they all went to the southern region?"

Li Lan thought for a moment, could it be that the reason the magic book gave him such instructions was because there was no longer any danger here?

While they were pondering, the four of them quickly arrived at the entrance to the second level of the underground area. Looking at the spiraling underground staircase, the four of them looked at each other in surprise.

"This is a bit too peaceful, almost frighteningly so?" Lana, the strongest among them, was at a loss and even felt a little scared in the face of this peaceful situation.

"Who knows? Maybe we should speed things up and see?"

The entire underground area is terrifyingly vast. If you walk slowly, you don't know how long it would take to follow the map's directions. But if you run at full speed, it only takes half an hour.

“Alright,” Lana said, unleashing her full “Mind's Eye” ability. “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!”

Chapter 115 The Silent Kingdom and Sanctuary

After applying the "Divine Speed" skill to everyone present, Li Lan and her three companions advanced at twice their usual speed, finally arriving at the middle of the second level of the underground area of ​​the Mo City Ruins.

Like the first floor above, this second floor was also deserted, with a stench of decay floating in the dim space, and a deathly silence everywhere.

"Strange, there really isn't an ambush at all. What exactly happened down there?"

Completely baffled, Li Lan cautiously followed the instructions in the magic book and arrived at the outer perimeter of a magnificent palace.

After passing through the ancient wall gate, a building entirely constructed of jade came into view. It covered an extremely large area, and the white jade stones that met the eye emitted a soft, sacred light, illuminating the surrounding environment.

The existence of this palace is like a guiding light in the darkness.

Li Lan approached the palace with curiosity and caution. He noticed that the large number of jade walls were carved with wing-like patterns and many ancient, curved characters that he could not understand. These ancient characters did not have any dangerous aura; instead, they seemed to be epics praising the gods.

"If the jade here were chipped off and sold, I don't know how much it could fetch."

Lana's eyes lit up, and she felt an eagerness, as if she were on a treasure hunt.

"I'm afraid no one wants to buy it?" Li Lan said. If this thing is too valuable, the Imperial Witch Cult will definitely investigate afterward. If it's not valuable, it's just a pile of junk and nobody wants it.

More importantly, there isn't a single nail to be seen in this godforsaken place. If a piece of nail were to be smashed down and cause a butterfly effect, wouldn't it crush them all inside?

Of course, it's not that Li Lan didn't consider that he might need a lot of money after escaping the empire. He did have the idea of ​​scavenging here at first, but after thinking about it carefully, what could this so-called "jade" do?

In this world, the "magic core" of monsters is the real currency, serving as both an energy source and a substitute for money, far superior to these flashy decorations.

The empire is currently considered a safe territory, but it's unclear how many times more dangerous it would be in other countries.

If it were a dark area where people were dying almost every day, Li Lan felt that scavenging a few sets of goblin-made armor and knives would probably be worth much more than this jade.

“That’s true. Actually, I really can’t think of where to sell this.” Lana thought about it carefully and was also surprised. There are hardly any jewelry stores in the entire city of Mori, and the women in the border area rarely wear any decorations. Their clothing is very light and simple.

During the conversation, Li Lan suddenly felt the scenery around him blur. Before he could figure out what was happening, his consciousness went blank with a buzz.

..................

The writhing darkness that had devoured the entire world was isolated outside the protective barrier constructed from the witch's ashes.

A deathly silence filled the space, with only the crackling of the campfire echoing through the air. The orange-red flames made the three witches, whose faces were hidden in the shadows, appear even more sinister.

“These are the last ashes, Vesta. You should understand what to do next.”

One of the shortest witches spoke in a childish, melodious voice, "If you want to escape this cage safely in the future, our ashes alone probably won't be enough. I've already spoken with Nia in private, so you can go directly to them when you get back."

The witch known as "Vesta" remained silent, even staring blankly at the burning campfire. She seemed to be controlling her emotions, and after a long time, she managed to keep herself from collapsing on the spot before simply replying, "I understand."

"Hmm." The short witch nodded, then opened the magic book and began reading the information inside.

Meanwhile, the other witch, who was also silent and quite tall, habitually took out her food, a piece of black bread that looked like a teething stick, and replenished her energy while flipping through relevant information.

Unlike Vesta and the short witch, this seemingly dull, tall witch has always been the type who is not good at talking, rarely speaks, and it is difficult to tell what she is thinking.

Incredibly, every witch who followed him felt a strange sense of security, as if he were a gentle and caring older sister.

Perhaps sensing Vesta's low spirits, the tall witch remained silent for a moment before whispering a word of comfort, "The road ahead is long. Don't let these meaningless emotions cloud your judgment."

Yes, for Vista, the road ahead is indeed long, but what about her two allies here? What about her thirty-odd allies in Mori City? Why must she be the only one to bear all of this and live on alone?

“I know, but why me of all people?” Vesta whispered in anguish.

The air suddenly became heavy, and all the witches fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts.

Indeed, among this group of witches, Vesta is a genius among geniuses, one in a million. As a fire demon and a grimoire mage, she has displayed strength that surpasses that of most witches.

However, it was precisely because of this terrifying power that she was favored by an ancient will, who captured many truths about witches from her month-long dream and gave her a series of cruel guidance.

Even now, she still wonders if she had just had a ridiculous nightmare.

A few minutes later, the diminutive witch revealed an extremely bitter smile. "Because we are all too weak. The weak are destined to be unable to resist their own fate. Vesta, you should understand that you are our only remaining hope. We have placed all our hopes on you."

Upon hearing this, Vesta became agitated again, nearly collapsing. She screamed hysterically, "But what if—I mean, what if—the person appearing in my dream is a demon, and everything she says is meant to bewitch me..."

"But everything that has happened so far has aligned, hasn't it? Those two witches who saw you as a rival advanced to the Silver Spellbook ahead of schedule last month, and then they died in the Crimson Night Torrent. And now, Karin's ashes are here protecting us, foreshadowing the future we may face."

The little witch's smile was bitter, but the gray-silver beast eyes hidden under her hood did not lose hope. "Vesta, the Imperial Witch Cult is untrustworthy, and perhaps the being in your dream is also untrustworthy, but that's not important. What's important is how we can get out of this predicament. The Empire is invincible, and we have no chance of winning at this stage, so everything must be planned carefully."

The tall witch gently patted Vista's shoulder and said softly, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just remember us and don't let our deaths be in vain. Nea and the others are all prepared."

Yes, most witches respect Vesta. In their eyes, with Vesta's strength, she should have already advanced to the Silver Magic Book. However, she has been working tirelessly, using her kindness to save the lives of many witches without asking for anything in return.