Witch Redemption

………………

The Witch's Abode.

The old woman, Monica, held the Libra Cross Greatsword, codenamed after Witch Code 073, in one hand and examined it closely. "It is indeed the identification of Witch Code 073. You did a good job. Since you completed this mission together with Witch Code 099, you will each receive a reward of one hundred Brown. I look forward to your even better performance in the future."

After saying that, Monica realistically took out two banknotes worth one William and handed them to Li Lan and Lana.

The two of them naturally accepted it without hesitation.

"In addition, there is another task for you. A week from now, a group of caravans will be heading to the Sunset Temple at Mowai Hill, and you will need to accompany them."

Mowai Hills, a place Li Lan and Lana had already scouted out. As long as they crossed the northern part of the Moli Defense Forest, they could enter a sparsely populated mountain range, and beyond that, they could reach Dawn City, another autonomous capital of the empire.

That place is completely surrounded by monster territory, and it is said to be even more terrifying than the border area of ​​Mori City, with a large number of phantom wolves, low-level tree spirits and devouring pythons living around it.

Since most of the monsters there are more troublesome to deal with than the Mimicry Chaos, it is said that only adventurers of Silver rank or above dare to set foot there alone, otherwise they can only go there under the protection of the Imperial Army.

Perhaps noticing that Li Lan and the other person's expressions had become somewhat serious, Monica added, "Don't worry, there may be Survey Corps soldiers accompanying you. They won't put those nobles who need escorting in too much danger. You just need to do your job well."

"Are there only the two of us witches?"

"No, besides you, there is also codename 099 and eight other witches living in this building."

What Monica didn't tell the two was that if they hadn't cooperated with codename 099 to kill the lucky monster "codename 073", the trip to the Sunset Temple would probably have required four or five more witches.

"I understand."

Li Lan only knew that the place was very dangerous, but now that she learned that many of her accomplices would be going there together, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Most importantly, there is also a powerful ally among them, codenamed 099, Lorina Yuffie. It is known that this witch and Li Lan are on the same side, so cooperation is a foregone conclusion.

"Yes, Chairman, about our witch costumes..."

"If the witch's clothing is damaged, it needs to be reported. In addition, the empire will not provide material subsidies without compensation. Each set is worth twenty browns, and five sets will be prepared for you for each report."

As she spoke, Monica turned and went into the room, returning shortly afterward with two wooden suitcases.

“Each report will also record one hundred Brown’s debt for you, which will be used to offset your task rewards later.”

Li Lan and Lana's eyebrows twitched slightly. The witch cult of the Emotional Empire was also a ruthless merchant, desperately squeezing out the remaining value of witches.

After hesitating for a moment, the two took the suitcase Monica brought down, thinking to themselves, "There's a reason why the four witch seniors were so poor back then. Ugh, those damned imperial dogs!"

After agreeing on a final time, Li Lan and Lana quickly left the witch's residence.

………………

At this moment, only Monica remained in the empty and silent building. She sat down and waited for an hour.

A tall man suddenly opened the door, his black trench coat with red trim fluttering slightly with each step, making him appear extremely dashing.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Priestess Monica is still as beautiful as ever."

"Major General Abbott, I am just an old and faded martyr. You should save your words for those witch girls."

Monica responded expressionlessly, then quickly changed the subject, "How's the situation at the Sunset Temple?"

The mere mention of the "Sunset Temple" caused even the usually sunny and cheerful Abbot to become somewhat gloomy, as if he were preoccupied with something on his mind.

"The sealing of the Sunset Temple this year was three months faster than expected, which is very abnormal. With the current strength of this group of witches, I'm afraid they can't handle the situation of that temple. I'm considering whether to ask the warden to let the demigods or even gods above intervene."

“No, this is too far-reaching. We should not let the gods interfere in the affairs of the mortal world unless it is absolutely necessary,” Monica pondered for a moment. “I have already discussed this with the other priests. This time, we will send a certain number of witches there as sacrifices, just like in previous years.”

"..." Abbot frowned. "Such a large commotion from the loosening of the seal is probably beyond the capabilities of the current witches. If only they possessed the Silver Spellbook..."

"Don't worry, two of the witches sent this time have had contact with the four witches from the previous batch. Those four witches happened to be survivors of the Sunset Temple. They must have taught us some kind of experience."

Monica said calmly, her tone revealing confidence, "Furthermore, the Witch Order has always wanted to know what secrets those four witches obtained in that temple, and they also want to know the whereabouts of the Flame Witch. Isn't now a perfect opportunity?"

"That's another matter... What if, I mean what if, we fail, the seal left behind by the present god will be completely destroyed. You should know better than anyone what the being buried in the Sunset Temple is. What kind of guilt do you intend to bear then?"

Abbot was rather anxious. He was a responsible person, holding the title of "Hero" bestowed by the Empire, and no matter what happened, he had to take it upon himself to protect the interests of the Empire.

Having thoroughly studied the history of the empire, he knew very well that what was sealed within the Temple of the Setting Sun was not merely the Archangel Angel, an apostle of the Goddess of Dawn who had fallen in ancient times, a terrifying being corrupted by extraterrestrial demons.

There lies a terrible secret there! A secret concerning the gods!

If this matter is not handled properly, the most serious consequence could be that Dawn City vanishes overnight.

"Major General Abbott, there's no need to worry. I've already consulted the warden, and the relevant instructions will be officially issued in three days. The only reason I invited you here today is to ask you: are you prepared to lead the team?"

Abbott was silent for a few seconds before finally replying, "That depends on how confident you are."

"Very good. With Major General Aibo's approval, that's enough. I will take care of the manpower to reinforce the seal as soon as possible. The rest is the preparation of the sacrifices. At that time, a dangerous entity lurking near the Sunset Temple will also make its move. I hope you can act according to the plan."

Monica slammed her hand on the table and said, "I request that Major General Abbott arrive here at six o'clock in the morning one week from now."

While these two high-ranking members of the cult, each with their own agendas, were discussing a matter of life and death concerning a witch, Li Lan and her companion, who had already returned to the inn, remained completely unaware of the situation and began making various preparations for their upcoming outing…

Chapter 44 On the Eve of Heading to Dawn City

On April 10, 10003 (Gregorian calendar), there was only one day left before accepting the new escort mission.

Six days ago, after returning to the inn with the witch's costume, Li Lan quickly used the collected herbs to make recovery potions, eventually obtaining a beer bottle of top-quality recovery potion and ten bottles of ordinary-quality recovery potions.

With so many recovery potions as a guarantee, the two quickly gained the confidence to venture deeper into the monster zone, and then they separated again to act alone.

Lana, in particular, continued to venture deeper into the northern part of the Mori Defense Forest, slaughtering various mimic Chaos. In order to gain more experience as quickly as possible, she even took the initiative to contact and cooperate with any adventurers in the area.

For him, there was no immediate need for money, so he only wanted to kill monsters and didn't need anything else.

Humans are inherently pragmatic beings, and Lana's suggestion to act as a free henchman was quickly accepted by the vast majority of bronze-level adventurers. As a result, their magic book experience skyrocketed over the next few days, finally reaching 60,000 and leveling up again.

As for Li Lan herself, she had a very difficult life due to her lack of skills, and her magic book level remained at level three for a long time.

After all, his profession doesn't offer any powerful attack skills, and he has to put in a lot of effort every time he hunts monsters alone.

Fortunately, Li Lan is a person who can endure loneliness, so she calmed down and took things one step at a time.

As night was about to fall, Li Lan walked along the secluded streets of the border region while reading the contents of the magic book.

Name: Karen Elf

Race: Elf

Occupation: Pastor

Secondary Profession: Life Creator Pharmacist

Level 3, Experience: 8002

skill:

First Aid LV1

Prayer LV1 Proficiency: 8100

Blessing LV1 Proficiency: 8100

Courage LV1 Proficiency: 3222

Guardian LV1 Proficiency: 3333

Binding artifact:

Revelation LV1 Proficiency: 132

Libra's Cross Sword LVMAX

Since these professional skills can be used on oneself without the aid of professional artifacts, Li Lan now casts a professional skill on herself almost every minute, and often has three status effects on her body that are not very useful.

Therefore, the two initial skills, "Prayer" and "Blessing", are probably not far from being upgraded to level 2.

Unfortunately, it's unknown what changes will occur as the skill level increases.

"If only it were like an online game, with specific numerical values ​​to explain the effects, how wonderful that would be."

Every time this happened, Li Lan would think to himself with such frustration, lamenting that the world he was in was the real world, not the virtual game world.

As for the deadly hammer "Revelation," Li Lan hardly uses it anymore, only occasionally summoning it to test his strength. He doubts that even if he reaches level 100, he still won't be able to swing it.

Retracting her initial assessment that this thing weighed a few hundred or a few thousand kilograms, Li Lan now believed that it weighed an unknown number of tons. In other words, this thing was an absolute weight that life could not bear, and could not be moved by human power.

To Li Lan's surprise, the "First Aid" skill was no longer grayed out. However, he could not use the skill on himself, and he still couldn't find an opportunity to try it on others these days.

After thinking it over, the reason this skill was unlocked is because he created a recovery potion and stored it in a magic book.

Lost in thought, Li Lan crossed the commercial street and entered the refugee camp in the border area.

It's called a refugee camp, but that's not entirely true, because few people set foot here. It's practically an abandoned place, with many buildings long since lost to their original owners.

After all, the Crimson Night Flood in this world is too terrifying. People with even a little spare money will choose to seek refuge in the inner city. Only the real refugees will stay, but those who stay will only face death.

That's why there aren't many beggars in this area; no matter how poor you are, you have to fight to survive on this border.

There's a reason why there are so many adventurers at the bottom of society in this world.

"Yo, Karen, I've been waiting for you!"

Suddenly, a very sweet voice came from ahead. Li Lan looked up slightly and saw that Lana had been waiting for a long time in front of an old, empty house.

"What's wrong? You look preoccupied."

Lana went into the house first, pulled up a simple wooden chair and sat down. The chair creaked as if it could barely support Lana's weight.

These days, Li Lan and Lana, who stay here at night, sleep soundly in chairs until dawn, while during the day they fight in areas teeming with monsters.

"I was wondering what the effects would be after this professional skill was upgraded."

Li Lan thought of Lana's current level 5 magic book, which far surpassed his own, and felt even more envious.

"Well, it's just like that, either the power is increased or the range is increased. For example, the Warrior's 'Mind's Eye' is like that. At level 1, the range is about 20 meters, and after level 2, the distance is increased by 10 meters. Back then, Senior No. 47's Mind's Eye skill was level 7, so I don't know how far the range could reach."

"I see." Li Lan suddenly wanted to ask why the priest series skills were originally ineffective, and whether the effect might still be unsatisfactory after upgrading, but she decided to hold back, as exposing her weaknesses was not a good thing.

It wasn't that Li Lan didn't trust Lana, but rather that he felt that if Lana became worried about him, it might hinder his progress.

After all, Lana is really having a smooth ride right now. If she keeps going at this rate, she'll eventually pull far ahead of me.

This could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing.

"By the way, I've already received the items from Mr. Ryan."

Lana took out a "subspace cargo bag" from the magic book and handed it to Li Lan.

"It's faster than I expected." Li Lan had thought it would take a few more days, but he didn't expect to get the item before he and Lana were about to leave Mori City.

"Yes, I tried it and it works pretty well, but it smells a bit."