Witch Redemption

In an instant, the surrounding scenery distorted wildly. Li Lan felt as if he had fallen into a long dream. In the dream, he seemed to see a shattered, illusory sky, with vast amounts of darkness writhing behind the cracks in the sky, constantly seeping into this world...

The dream lasted only a few seconds, after which Li Lan's vision returned to normal.

They were standing at the entrance of the temple, with a large imperial army guarding the large square outside. These imperial soldiers, armed with various sophisticated weapons, were staring at them menacingly.

Behind him, when he looked back, all he saw was an empty ground stretching to the center of the temple, where a closed altar could be seen, but Parker's pitiful headless corpse was nowhere to be seen.

"This is a ghost!"

Li Lan only felt this sense of dread, but he didn't show it and continued walking forward.

At this moment, a man from the army quickly came forward. Li Lan remembered this man; he should be Lieutenant Jerome, the assistant to the city lord of Dawn City.

Lieutenant Jerome was extremely surprised at this moment. In the past, all the witches who entered the Temple of Sunset were bound to die, and most of the time the entire group was wiped out.

Last year, for the first time ever, four witches were able to leave the temple alive, but unexpectedly, there are quite a few this year as well.

"General Victor and the others..."

"They're still inside; we can't interfere with what's happening inside."

Li Lan spoke up, meaning that the battle inside was beyond the reach of these witches. On the other hand, he was avoiding the main issue, since he couldn't just say that these guys with little fighting power had deserted in the face of battle, could he?

Although staying inside to wait for the three imperial soldiers might have demonstrated Li Lan and his group's loyalty, after guessing some terrible facts, Li Lan and his group had no sense of belonging to the empire, so it was understandable for them to be "legitimate deserters".

"I understand."

Jerome understood Li Lan's unspoken meaning and could also see that the three conscious witches were somewhat exhausted, so he quickly made arrangements for them to stay in an empty area nearby and continue to wait for General Victor's return.

About fifty minutes later, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted in the temple ruins, followed by countless black hairs shooting into the sky, twisting like squid tentacles, emitting a terrifying, corrosive black aura.

The next moment, terrifying electric currents suddenly spread across the sky, bursting forth with a dazzling light that was hard to look at directly.

A thunderclap in the clear sky, dazzling lightning bolts dancing like silver snakes, struck directly at the countless black strands of hair shooting skyward, unleashing a destructive storm that swept outwards in all directions...

As the dust settled, the lightning, the black hair, and the storm all vanished, leaving only a ragged figure floating in the sky.

Her gray-blue classic dress was tattered and torn, her dreamy long hair was burned into a horrific charcoal, and her once snow-white skin was covered with terrible wounds, from which a large amount of dark purple blood flowed.

The face, now terrifying from its injuries, and its eyes filled with hatred, swiftly moved down to Li Lan and the other two below. Gritting its teeth, Lerakin ultimately refrained from further attack, choosing instead to flee northwards in a deadly flight, disappearing completely into the sky like a fleeting meteor…

The icy blue rapier in his hand turned into a fluorescent glow and dissipated, returning to his body. Abbot couldn't help but cough up a mouthful of blood.

"Even within the domain of the Book of All Things, is it still impossible for a mortal to kill half a god?"

“It seems that is indeed the case,” said General Victor, who was also badly wounded, as he walked straight toward the temple entrance. “However, there is still a chance. The Empire has been preparing for the day of the prophecy for nearly ten thousand years. After today, it should be almost here.”

"Not bad. Being able to severely injure the fourteenth pillar god, Leragin, is not a bad ending. Next, I will report to the warden and have the other inquisitors punish him."

Eisen, who was also walking towards the temple entrance, had a pale face devoid of color and only indifference. He calmly placed his left hand on the cover of the Book of Myriad Manifestations. The next moment, the seven eerie mouths suddenly opened their fangs and frantically devoured all the flesh and blood of his left hand, crushing it along with the bones!

Chapter 68 How can one resist this life?

In the living room of the Dawn City Lord's Mansion, Major General Aibo, now dressed impeccably again, was receiving Li Lan and the other four witches.

"How did the mission go?"

The task that Abbot assigned to these three witches was to retrieve the identity documents of the witches who had died in the Sunset Temple. In reality, this was just a perfunctory task, and he never expected them to be able to complete it from the beginning.

Furthermore, his idea was that since these witches were unable to complete the task, he could put some pressure on them and give them a warning.

"There are only four, and for some reason, these greatswords are all severely corroded."

Li Lan handed over the four Libra Cross Greatswords that she had prepared in advance, and didn't say anything else.

"Oh?"

After taking them, Aibo examined the engravings one by one and discovered that they belonged to the group of witches who died last year.

The reason why the Libra Cross Greatsword of the witch is a proof of the witch's identity is because this kind of weapon appears with the arrival of the witch. As the witch dies, her weapon will gradually be corroded by the years and will usually turn into dust within two years.

If they can be recovered in time, the Witch Cult can use the witches' weapons to make further use of them and conduct additional witch summoning.

Abbot naturally wouldn't reveal such classified information.

"Good! Very good! You did a great job!"

After a series of compliments, Abbott smiled appropriately and narrowed his eyes. "According to the previous mission agreement, the reward for escorting the caravan is 300 Browns, and the reward for exploring the temple is 200 Browns."

As the saying goes, rewards and punishments should be clearly defined. Since these three guys were able to complete the task in time, Abbot naturally wouldn't make things difficult for them.

So Li Lan, Lana, and Luo Lina quickly and unceremoniously collected their respective rewards.

“Code name 099, Lorina Yuffie, come forward.”

Then, Abbot gestured like this, and although Lorina remained expressionless and indifferent, she was a little confused inside.

However, she did not refuse. After hesitating for a moment, she stepped forward. As a result, Abbot slowly got up and raised his right hand and pressed it directly on her head. The next moment, a strange drowsiness came over her, causing her to faint instantly.

"..."

How is that possible? Completely blank? Was her memory searched before this?

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out if someone had tampered with things beforehand. Ai Bo didn't dare show any surprise, but instead gestured for Li Lan to help her to the side.

Li Lan witnessed this scene, and the shock she felt was immense.

He recalled that crazy night when he and Lana had experienced similar measures, and he realized that these people were spying on their memories.

"This is getting a bit troublesome. What if he tries to pry into my and Lana's memories later..."

Wouldn't that expose all of Li Lan's deepest secret?

This is not a good sign!

People will die!

To calm herself down, Li Lan even gave herself a boost of "courage," which barely helped her regain her composure and prevented her from showing any unusual expression, though she was still extremely uneasy inside.

“Code name 013, Della Bertie, come forward.”

Soon, Abbott called over another witch.

The betrayal and tragic death of her comrades, the crisis of trust and the collapse of faith in the Witch Cult, have left Della like a walking corpse. Upon hearing this, she stepped forward like a puppet on a string, her eyes seemingly devoid of any attachment to life.

Abbott used the same trick again, prying into all of Della's memories, and this time he succeeded.

He witnessed many events that occurred in the Sunset Temple through Della's eyes, including the betrayal and tragic deaths of his teammates, as well as the conversations between Li Lan and the three witches.

"After this, she will likely lose trust in the Witch Cult. It seems we'll have to deal with her in advance, just like these three witches. Once they advance to Silver Magic Books, we'll have to start the process of taking them back immediately."

Based on this idea, Abbot gestured for Lana to go forward and help the poor, unconscious man. After exchanging a few polite words, he sent them away without any intention of prying into their memories.

At the moment, Li Lan was unaware that the ability to peer into a witch's memories could only be done once in a lifetime, and a second time would have no effect.

In other words, his worries were completely unfounded.

………………

Back in the back room, Li Lan felt as if she had just gone through a long nightmare whenever she thought about what had happened.

Looking back now, a sense of lingering fear washes over them. If they hadn't stumbled upon a dream left behind by a witch, how would they have found the secret passage to the "Witch's Tomb"? If their professional artifacts hadn't played a crucial role at the critical moment, how would they have faced "Archangel Angel"? If the three "heroes" from the Empire hadn't appeared in time, would everything they had in this world have come to an end?

All of this seems to be an arrangement of fate, as if an unseen hand is driving all of this forward.

"Hey--"

With a sigh, Li Lan and Lana laid the unconscious Lolina and Della down on the bed, then sat down at the guest table.

"what happened?"

Lana, who is usually a broad-minded and optimistic person, couldn't help but ask why Li Lan was sighing so much after surviving such a close call.

"No, I just felt a little scared. Do you remember those three soldiers from today?"

If he wasn't mistaken, the middle-aged man should be "General Victor," the city lord. As for the other one, Li Lan felt he looked familiar. Only after calming down did he suddenly realize that this guy was the strange man who attacked him and Lana that night during the Crimson Night Torrent.

"That guy..."

Lana suddenly remembered who one of them was, and her expression changed slightly.

"Who they are doesn't matter; what I'm really worried about is something else."

Li Lan was naturally aware that their conversation might be being overheard, so she spoke more cautiously and didn't delve too deeply into the subject.

"You mean Leragin, one of the seventy-two gods?"

Lana recalled the terrifying look in the eyes of the heavily injured pillar god as he fled earlier that day, and felt a chill run down her spine.

In any case, the Empire won't care about the lives of these witches. If that pillar god survives and then targets them specifically in the monster-infested areas, things will become extremely difficult.

Putting aside the empire, which is a major concern, it would be extremely sad if there were a demigod outside who was constantly worried about their lives. They wouldn't even be able to sleep peacefully.

"Yes, we'll have to be careful of her retaliation in the future, but we don't know what to do right now."

There's really no way around it; the difference in strength is just too great!

Of course, what Li Lan and Lana didn't know was that today, the fourteenth pillar god, Leragin, and the three "heroes" of the empire were fighting tooth and nail, giving it their all.

As a result, one hero was crippled, another was seriously injured, and the third hero, with the help of a newly acquired artifact, was barely able to resist the Pillar God but also suffered a significant drop in strength in a short period of time.

Meanwhile, the fourteenth pillar god, Lerakin, was also in bad shape. This battle had completely damaged her original divine essence, and it would probably take her two or three years to recover. She would no longer have the energy to cause trouble for Li Lan and the others.

Needless to say, it would take at least two or three years. Even if it were just half a year, Li Lan and the others might be lucky enough to escape the empire alive. But if they were unlucky, they would only become ashes in the Witch Cult. Who knows what might happen to them after that?

"It's alright, what's done is done. Although I'm also afraid of being messed with, there's really nothing I can do but accept my fate."

Life has forced me to my limits, and if I can't resist, I can only close my eyes and accept it.

It's really quite tough.

With a similar sigh of helplessness, Lana began to open her magic book. Today was a lucky day for her and Li Lan; they had gained quite a few good things after entering the Sunset Temple.

Looking at the numerous icons arranged in storage order on the right side of the spellbook, Lana quickly identified the first item she had acquired: the "tainted dragon-slaying greatsword," the weapon used by the "archangel Angel."

"Hmm, the Dragon Slayer Sword that once slew a dragon in ancient times, its effects after being corrupted are unknown. The side effect is that it corrodes the wielder's will and assimilates it... This weapon is not good, and it seems to be of little use now."

Lana swiped the icon of the black greatsword, and a short preliminary assessment message quickly appeared on the spellbook.

So he moved on to other acquired items. The human boy named "Pak" was also a poor man, carrying little money. The only things he might have had any value were a black short dagger called "Hassan's Blade" and a dark purple prismatic magic core. The immense magic power contained in the magic core made Lana vaguely suspect that it might be the werewolf monster she had encountered earlier.

"Hassan's Blade inflicts an unhealable curse on attacks, and also has a basic piercing effect. Karen, I don't need this, so I'll give it to you for self-defense."

After Lana finished speaking, she placed the short dagger on the guest table, while keeping the dark purple magic core for herself.

The dangerous situations she has encountered these past few days have made Lana realize how inadequate her strength is. She not only needs to hunt more monsters to improve the level of her magic book, but she should also seize the time to try out the secondary profession "Life Creator".

Thanks.