Witch Redemption

"It seems there's some trick to collecting this stuff."

Then his gaze fell on the three pharmacists not far away. When they bent down, their hands emitted a faint green glow, suggesting that they had used some kind of magic to successfully harvest the Mist Grass.

There wasn't enough time. Lana didn't have time to consult the "Pharmacopoeia of the British Empire" in the magic book, and she couldn't identify which of the many plants was useful. After trying for a while, she had no choice but to give up and focus her attention on the surroundings.

He believed that Li Lan must have some solution at this point. "Karen, don't worry, these people won't leave anytime soon."

"Ah."

Li Lan responded and continued to use his "herb identification" skill to check the surrounding plants. Apart from the mist grass, he picked any herbs that he needed, taking advantage of the moment when the adventurers nearby were slightly distracted.

About an hour later, the three pharmacists not far away seemed to have finished, while Li Lan was still at a loss as to what to do with the Mist Grass.

"Refined Gathering, this skill might be worth a try."

Li Lan was not anxious about this. He started staring at the secondary profession information page on the magic book, and while taking a step, he clicked on the skill text "Pure Gathering" on the magic book with his right hand.

In an instant, the magic book lit up with a large amount of emerald green fluorescence, bursting open like fireworks.

"Ok?"

When she came to her senses in surprise, the firefly's light had vanished without a trace, and Li Lan's right hand began to feel a faint, cool sensation covering it.

"what happened?"

The strangeness of the grimoire was completely invisible to the others around her; only Lana noticed the unusual expression on Li Lan's face.

"It's nothing, I'm just trying out how to use the skill."

After saying that, Li Lan quietly bent down and stretched out her right hand.

In an instant, an invisible wind suddenly spread out from Li Lan. However, before Li Lan could confirm what information appeared on the apothecary sub-profession page of the magic book, unexpected changes occurred one after another!

Chapter 36 Witch Code Name 073

A sudden sense of alarm made Lana grab the Libra Cross Greatsword in her hand. As she turned around, she saw a girl in tattered clothes appear behind her, raising the Libra Cross Greatsword and slashing it down at Li Lan!

"That guy!"

Is this a witch? Lana was both shocked and furious. She knew beforehand that these new witches harbored strong hostility towards her and Li Lan, but she never expected that they would launch a sneak attack on them.

"Zheng—"

Sparks flew as the gray-silver greatswords clashed, igniting behind Li Lan. Upon hearing the ominous sound, Li Lan immediately switched the magic book to her personal information page.

When they turned around, they saw Lana send one of the girls who had attacked them flying.

The girl was about 1.6 meters tall, wearing a black gothic dress riddled with holes from corrosion. Her long, blood-red hair flowed like liquid, and beyond her long bangs, one could see a pair of grayish-white beast-like eyes.

Those eyes held intense malice, a desire to destroy everything!

"Is this guy a witch?" Li Lan was surprised, but she quickly grabbed the Libra Cross Greatsword in her hand. "No, whether he is or not, he's planning to take us down now, so don't blame us for being impolite."

Just as Li Lan was reacting, Lana had already clashed with the attacker for the second time. This time, Lana, who had used the "Dragon Power," was actually forced back several steps by the terrifying force.

………………

Lolina and Ann Gnath remained by the side of the three apothecaries and two merchants throughout, gripping their Libra Cross greatswords tightly and glancing around them intently.

The desolate plain gave them an extremely oppressive feeling. Although there were no monsters to be seen anywhere, and their perception skills using the magic book class could not detect any danger, they still felt a chill run down their spines just standing here.

It wasn't just the two witches; other adventurers who were visiting this place for the first time felt the same way.

Only those who have been here countless times can remain so calm at this moment, as if they have long been accustomed to it.

"Demons possess a certain territorial awareness, which extends to the level of their race. This is true in many areas of this continent where demons exist."

Perhaps sensing the confusion of the other adventurers who were visiting this place for the first time, the leader, Richard, explained to them in a low voice.

The gist is that the existence of monsters in any given area is predetermined by fate, and the buffer zones between different monster zones are actually gray areas that monsters from both sides will not easily set foot in.

However, this does not rule out another possibility.

That is the balance of numbers among monsters. Once a group of monsters becomes scarce due to the hunting of adventurers, their collective territory will shrink. As a result of this shrinkage, the buffer zone will be pushed inward, causing the original gray area to become a monster zone again.

"In short, nobody knows if this place will become a monster zone in the next moment. This uncertainty is the source of your anxiety. You'll get used to it." Ultimately, it's just a psychological effect. You're just instinctively on guard because of a sense of crisis.

However, it's unusually quiet here today.

Richard recalled his experiences of visiting this place more than a dozen times and suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Based on his intuition as a seasoned silver-level adventurer, Richard approached the vice president of the merchant guild, the fat man who was calmly picking herbs on the overgrown ground.

"Mr. Robin, more than an hour has passed now, and the quantity is estimated to be almost complete. Should we consider calling it a day?"

In the past, they would usually arrive at this plain around 7:30, leaving them with little time. Today, since they arrived early, the time it would take to stop now would be about the same as usual.

As the second-in-command of the merchant guild, Robin was not the kind of person who was greedy and unreasonable. As soon as he heard what the adventurer leader said, he immediately instructed the three apothecaries to hurry up.

After all, the biggest task of this trip was to pick the mist grass.

"Richard, what's going on?"

"The environment is a bit unusual today; we haven't encountered any danger so far."

Richard glanced around, his unease growing stronger.

"Isn't this great?"

Indeed, the feeling of unease I feel here today is far stronger than ever before, but past experiences have made these "veterans" subconsciously ignore this feeling.

"Although this is a buffer zone between two monster areas, it is impossible for there to be a situation where you can't even encounter a single lone monster."

Especially those Shadow Monsters, whose strength is much higher than that of the Mimicry Chaos. These extremely difficult creatures are encountered almost every time they come, and it sometimes takes them a lot of manpower to kill them.

“Now that you mention it, I’m reminded of some inside information,” Robin, as the second-in-command of the merchant guild, often dealt with imperial nobles and some renowned adventurers. “Since a witch died in the area near this place three days ago, the Shadow Monsters near the Moli Defense Forest in the ruins of Mo City have vanished without a trace overnight.”

"They were all hunted down?"

Richard was quite surprised.

"I don't know. It's said that two Gold-rank adventurers planned to investigate, but they were quickly attacked by a witch and barely escaped with their lives..."

All the Shadow Monsters near the Moli Defense Forest area of ​​the Mo City Ruins have disappeared? This is not a good sign!

"The monster population is out of balance. Now that we've gathered enough, we must leave immediately!"

Richard's expression turned somewhat frightening. He made a quick decision, but just as he was about to consult Vice President Robin for orders, the two witches guarding the outer perimeter suddenly started fighting with someone.

"How is that possible? That guy is..."

After Ann Gnath saw the woman who was directly confronting Lana with a knife, his expression changed.

"What?" Lolina, standing to the side, looked completely bewildered.

"This guy is... Witch Code Name 073, Payne!"

………………

"This guy is stronger than me! That means he's above me?"

Each swing of the Libra Cross Greatsword unleashed nearly 100% of Lana's power, yet even so, Lana was still at a disadvantage, forced to retreat by this unexpected guest.

As soon as Li Lan realized that Lana might not be a match for him, she immediately wanted to provide support.

"Karen! This guy's level might be two levels higher than yours, that's not normal. Go and support those guys behind us right now!"

This girl is definitely not a real witch! Judging from her clothes, she must be one of the new arrivals. Based on their previous encounter, Lana could tell that these people were at most level 3 in magic books. Even she, who had worked incredibly hard, was only level 4. This girl in front of her was just too abnormal.

Upon hearing that this guy was level five or higher, Li Lan, like Lana, immediately remembered what the old woman had mentioned yesterday evening: a witch had been devoured by the mimicry chaos in an area near the southern part of the Mori Defense Forest.

"Witch, codename 073!"

With a sudden thought, Li Lan's left hand reached out erratically across his magic book, turning the page back to "Exploration".

As a result, at the very end of the abstract map, a large number of red dots were slowly approaching, seemingly intending to completely surround them.

"Oops!"

What's going on? The number is still increasing!

"Lana! Don't die!"

After giving those words, Li Lan turned around without hesitation and rushed towards the large group of adventurers who were keeping watch over the surroundings...

"Monsters are closing in! Retreat immediately!"

Before even getting close to the group, Li Lan loudly warned them to be careful, but she was still a step too late.

A bronze adventurer on the second line of defense suddenly felt something wet on his feet. Not knowing what was happening, he felt a numbness in his body, and then his vision was completely plunged into darkness.

The bronze adventurer, a strong and muscular man, suddenly turned into blood and exploded in the distance. At the same moment the blood exploded, a large amount of dark gray viscous liquid appeared around the adventurer, writhing and devouring it, trying to form a new humanoid object.

The adventurers who witnessed this madness all turned pale and took a few steps back. Some were even terrified and tried to run away again. However, Richard, who was prepared, roared.

"Form ranks and defend!"

He truly lives up to his reputation as an experienced Silver-rank adventurer and a long-time partner with whom he has collaborated many times.

Richard's words acted as a shot of adrenaline for the adventurers around him, and in a short while, the group of adventurers quickly sprang into action.

"Mr. Robin, you five stay in the middle! All bronze-level adventurers, move to the inside as well! The rest of you, follow me and guard the outer perimeter!"

That's how it is in areas teeming with monsters. Even if you witness your comrades die before your eyes, you must remain calm and choose a course of action, or you'll all perish together.

In less than a second, the five most important employers were surrounded by several bronze-level adventurers carrying herb bags, while the silver-level adventurers joined Richard in dealing with most of the monsters that were about to attack.

It must be said that this unfortunate adventurer's death will bring great changes to their lives.

Because the transformed, mimicking chaos will be many times more powerful than its original form!

"Oh no! This is way too many!!"

While still running, Li Lan's peripheral vision was fixed on the abstract map in the magic book. He couldn't help but gasp, because the edges of the abstract map were already covered with countless tiny dots!

What does this mean? It means that the entire plain is now fraught with danger, and terrifying monsters roam everywhere.

If it were just one or two, Li Lan wouldn't have paid them any attention. But there were several hundred right now, and thanks to the dead adventurer, they would soon be facing a large number of humanoid mimicry Chaos.

This is an incredibly deadly and desperate situation.

As Richard, the team leader, looked at the mass of frantically writhing mimicry of chaos, and then glanced at the vast, empty plain in the distance, a gloomy feeling began to settle over him.

"Baboo, everything as usual!"

He gave a hint to a silver-ranked adventurer in the group who was about fifty years old. Upon hearing this, the latter raised his steam rifle with a click and quickly inserted a large-caliber, golden bullet into the chamber.

Immediately, the steam rifle was powered by the magic crystal, and a burst of heat erupted from both sides of the barrel. The unique bullet, propelled by the force of the explosion, shot into the sky.