Witch Redemption

Li Lan and the other two decided not to split up for the night watch and instead huddled together near the edge of the protective barrier.

They discussed in hushed tones what had just happened, but Lolina's words left Li Lan and Lana bewildered.

"There's no illusion at all. I saw all sorts of messy figures outside, which must be ghosts. Many of them were even waving at me, but I ignored them."

"Lorina, I remember your profession is a necromancer, right?"

"Yes, their race is the Raven Feather Clan."

"I remember crows are a symbol of death, right? Could it be that our hallucinations before were really ghost encounters?"

After much thought, Li Lan concluded that the special characteristics of their race and profession could grant them resistance to certain mutations. However, after further contemplation, a new concern arose in his mind: could these hallucinations possess some degree of reality?

Little did anyone know that after quelling the witches' conflict, Abbot, who continued to rest with his eyes closed, was unable to calm down for a long time.

"Since the fall of the ancient gods, all people or monsters that died in the monster-infested areas have turned into resentment on the earth, which cannot be purified. Currently, only the special ritual of 'Crimson Night Torrent' can clear away these resentments. I thought that tonight would pass smoothly, but I didn't expect that even I would be affected."

"Hmm, could it be that the two witches, number 93 and 94, who died in this area earlier, had some influence on the accumulated resentment? No, that doesn't make sense either. If the witches had strong resentment, then what the Sixth Apostle gained should have been a sealed artifact, not a divine weapon."

Completely baffled, Ai Bo suppressed his inner turmoil.

Chapter 49 Beyond the Hills

Since the first hallucination, Li Lan and the others have not encountered any more unusual events.

As dawn broke, the dense, writhing shadows that had been lurking in the darkness vanished, as if nothing had ever happened. Only the skeleton outside the protective barrier remained a chilling reminder of the madness of the previous night.

It was almost six in the morning when Cole and his four men, who had slept all night, finally woke up.

After a hasty preparation, the group, led by Aibo, continued their journey into the mountains.

Before Della and the others could even deal with Grace's remains, they were ordered by Abbott to follow. For a moment, their resentful eyes made Li Lan and the other two feel a strange pang of sadness.

Even if their companions died in this desolate wilderness, they were unable to say anything due to their own schedules.

Li Lan originally had some thoughts about helping them, such as seeing if he could store their remains in a magic book, but when he thought about how the relationship between the two sides had dropped to a freezing point, and the fact that there were high-ranking members of this witch cult present, he finally gave up the idea.

Humans are not plants or trees. Li Lan is not a saint, but he is not so cold-blooded as to be abnormal.

So the large group quickly continued on their way...

The quiet mountains are covered with a variety of trees and plants. Strictly speaking, this area is a transition zone between two monster regions, belonging to a gray area, so there are very few monsters to be seen along the way.

Traveling at breakneck speed, it took them an hour to safely cross the mountains and arrive at a vast hilly area once again.

Looking around, everything is lush and green, a stark contrast to the still somewhat desolate Moli Forest Defense Area.

Li Lan knew that countless dangers lurked within this lush greenery; it was several times more dangerous than the defensive forest area, and no carelessness was allowed.

After looking around, they followed the powerful Abbot onto a main road leading north, at the end of which lay the outline of a bustling city.

Looking down from this vantage point, one sees a cluster of spire-shaped Gothic buildings arranged radially, surrounding a vast central square. Within that square, one can vaguely discern countless dilapidated structures composed of yellow and white columns, which, despite the ravages of time, exude a sense of sacred inviolability.

"It seems that's Dawn City. The building in the middle should be the Temple of Sunset."

Li Lan had only seen written descriptions in relevant books and had never seen actual pictures, but he recognized it at first glance as their destination.

………………

The entire Mowai Hills are actually similar to the Moli Defense Forest. There are many roads planned in the forest leading to various places, which are presumably for vehicles. A large number of low-level monsters lurk in the areas on both sides of the roads.

Aside from the gregarious Phantom Wolves, which only appear at dusk, Li Lan and his companions encountered the other two types of monsters three or four times along the way.

Low-level tree spirits look no different from ordinary trees, appearing unremarkable. However, if you are not careful and get close to this monster, you will be instantly bound like a dumpling by its vines. Moreover, those vines are covered with densely packed thorns that can secrete a neurotoxin.

This means that all those who were attacked were immediately sentenced to death.

Fortunately, this thing is easy to deal with. Its weakness is that it is afraid of fire. By using some external objects to set fire appropriately, this kind of monster can be forced to reveal its true form. The only problem is that the location of its magic core and intelligence core is hard to find.

Another type is the Devouring Python, which is less numerous, but its individual combat power is extremely strong.

They usually lurk underground, and ordinary adventurers can't catch a trace of them at all.

As an exceptionally skilled hunter, the Devouring Python prefers to lie in wait for days without moving, until its prey steps on its head, at which point it unleashes a thunderous attack that almost swallows up the entire space, leaving no chance for the prey to react.

The people eaten, along with a large amount of soil, are dissolved within seconds by the strong acid in the giant python's stomach. All the nutrients are converted into energy, while the waste becomes a stinky pile of feces, which is expelled from the cloaca half an hour later.

Perhaps because its weakness is that it has no eyesight and can only locate objects by sound, it is not too difficult for experienced adventurers to deal with.

If the mimicry chaos in the Mori Defense Forest is a predatory hunter, then the low-level tree spirits and devouring pythons on the Mori Outer Hills are passive, Buddhist-like hunters. In comparison, they are surprisingly easy to deal with. As long as they don't provoke them, they can get along peacefully.

However, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Although Li Lan and her two companions had the secret of "surveying" maps from the magic book, they still dared not let their guard down. Who knew if there might be any monsters that could ignore the magic book's survey capabilities?

Four hours later, as noon approached, the large group of people finally arrived at the massive city gate of Dawn City.

There were also a large number of soldiers guarding the city gates, all wearing the same uniform as those in the empire.

At this moment, a handsome 30-year-old man, dressed in a civil servant's leather uniform, wearing a monocle, with a fancy middle-part hairstyle and plenty of hair gel, walked past the group of soldiers guarding the city and took the initiative to greet them.

"Major General Abbott, I am Jerome Hoyle, assistant to the city lord of Dawn City."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Lieutenant Jerome."

Aibo took the initiative to shake hands with the handsome man, who flashed his usual sunny smile, squinted his eyes, and then said, "I wonder how the preparations are going?"

"Since Priestess Monica informed us a week ago, everything is ready and you can enter at any time. I wonder about the necessary materials..."

"It's all ready, Chairman Cole. Please hand it over to Lieutenant Jerome."

After shaking hands, Cole, the experienced man, quickly called to his four men, who were carrying heavy bundles, "Lord Jerome, let's proceed according to the usual rules."

“Alright, no problem,” Jerome quickly beckoned to his men, and three Imperial soldiers in soft armor led them into the city. “Tomorrow I’ll have my men escort them back to Mori. As for them…”

Jerome's gaze lingered on the witches behind Abbott.

"Arrange a place for them to stay, and let them enter the Temple of Sunset in three days. All the rules will remain the same."

Abbott said this, and Jerome smiled and waved to a spot not far away. Soon, several neatly dressed female servants came over.

"Take them to the city lord's mansion and treat them well; do not neglect them!"

………………

In the spacious corridors of the city lord's mansion, Jerome led Eber while respectfully explaining.

"I apologize, Lord Victor is currently stabilizing the underground seal of the Sunset Temple and is temporarily unable to meet with Major General Abbot. Please understand."

"It's alright, but what's the situation at the Sunset Temple now?"

A rare look of worry appeared on Abbot's face.

"It's still getting worse, much more unstable than in previous years. What's more troublesome is that a few flies have infiltrated, intending to take this opportunity to contact this corrupted apostle of God."

"fly?"

"The Seventy-Two Pillar Gods, Major General Aibo, are you familiar with them?"

"Yes, in the ancient war of the gods, after the extraterrestrial demon gods killed many goddesses, they used the goddesses' remains to create an artificial race of gods. There were a total of seventy-two, also known as the seventy-two pseudo-demons. Their power was not comparable to the real demon gods, nor to the six apostles, or even to those terrifying abyssal demons."

However, there are rumors that most of the seventy-two pillar gods died after the ancient war of the gods, and those who survived to this day are all hiding in the shadows and dare not show themselves.

"This intelligence was recently discovered by the Survey Corps. The mastermind lurking in Dawn City is Sequence Fourteen, the Demon Marquis Leragin, the Hunter of Chaos. His goal is to release the sealed Archangel Angel and seize her magical core amidst the chaos. He probably wants to regain his former strength, and it may be necessary to ask Major General Ebo to take action personally."

Upon hearing this, Abbott's expression turned grave. He thought to himself, "It seems everything is going according to the warden's plan. It's time this year. However, this ancient pseudo-demon god who has survived to this day was once a demigod. Even if its strength has declined, it is still beyond my ability to deal with. In that case, I must ask the other heretics to join me."

………………

Led by the maids, Li Lan and the other witches slowly entered Dawn City, only to find that the architectural style here was actually similar to that of Mori City, and even more prosperous.

The main street was lined with bustling shops, and a large number of adventurers walked along it. It was said that the lowest level of these adventurers was silver, and the highest level could reach platinum.

Perhaps it was because Li Lan and the others' attire was too eye-catching that the adventurers all turned their heads and even whispered among themselves.

"Are they the witches from Mori City?"

"He's quite good-looking. Look at that one with the halo above his head, doesn't he look like a divine messenger from a historical mural?"

"Um, those last three are a bit gloomy. Aren't they the so-called witches?"

"I don't know. It's said that the empire implemented a witch reform this year. Witches should have dressed like those three."

"Forget it, don't get too close to them. Witches are a symbol of bad luck, and getting involved with them will only lead to a bad end."

Li Lan and her two companions were indeed somewhat gloomy, especially since they had clashed with the seven accomplices the previous night. Naturally, they wouldn't want to get too close to them now. Upon hearing such remarks, the three of them didn't take them seriously, focusing solely on following the maids who were leading the way.

"Those merchants will be escorted back after they arrive here, so it seems we have other tasks ahead of us."

Li Lan said in a low voice that he had already made a preliminary judgment after overhearing the relevant conversation behind the city gate.

"It's very likely that the main task is coming up next, otherwise they wouldn't have given us seven days all at once."

Lana responded softly, glancing around as if trying to memorize the general surroundings.

"Maybe, hopefully it won't be too difficult. And actually, I'd rather go out and hunt monsters to level up than accept related missions."

Li Lan shook his head. From the moment he saw Lana and the seven hostile witches evenly matched last night, he had already deduced that the levels of their magic books were probably not that different.

Lana is a dragonborn, so it's normal for her to be stronger than beastmen and other great beings.

In other words, among the witches present, Li Lan might really be the weakest, so weak that he has no other thoughts on his mind except killing monsters and leveling up.

After walking for nearly an hour in deep thought, they finally arrived in front of a tall and magnificent building.

The private residence of General Victor, the city lord.

Before Li Lan could even marvel at the grandeur of the building, the maid in front had already finished handing over to the guards and hurriedly led them inside.

Little did they know that shortly after they entered the city lord's mansion, a homeless man who had been squatting in a corner begging got up and walked into a secluded alley.

Before long, he arrived at a secluded dead-end alley.

The homeless man scratched his head, touched the gray-white bricks on the wall and walked over. Finally, he stopped in front of a brick with a simple arrow pattern engraved on it, and his hand began to emit a white magical glow.

The next second, the pattern was sensed by an unknown force, causing the surrounding space to inexplicably distort.

When the distortion of space disappeared without a trace, the homeless man's figure had completely vanished into the dead end.

At this moment, the occasional dripping sound of water falling from the dark underground riverbed dozens of meters below echoed in the air. Mixed with the sound of dripping water were the sounds of small creatures such as mice scurrying about and foraging for food, as well as a rather incongruous sound of footsteps.

The footsteps grew fainter and fainter until they finally stopped half a minute later, and the space became completely silent.

"Master, the offerings have already been delivered to this city. It seems the British Empire plans to take action soon to reinforce the seal once more. I intend to go alone and infiltrate the Sunset Temple..."

“No,” came the melodious female voice, like heavenly music, in response to the boy’s voice, “I need to take action myself.”

"But it's the master's power..."

“Not only have the people from the Empire come, but the Sixth Apostle has also sent people to obstruct us. I cannot let this opportunity slip by. If I miss this year, my power will weaken to the point where it is unstoppable. You understand, right? If I lose my mind because of this, I will be unable to save my other compatriots, unable to open the outer seal again, and allow the Lord to descend upon this world once more.”