Witch Redemption

Even so, the witch seniors did everything they could to leave Li Lan and the others with hope for the future. If the seniors could do it, why couldn't Li Lan?

"No, I can too!"

Even if this is a purgatory with no future, I, Li Lan, will fight to the end and make all malice pay the price!

Even if I, Li Lan, lose my future, I will definitely use these two hands to fight for the future of other younger generations!

"I am not alone in this world. I have my trusted companions who share life and death with me. The new transmigrators of the future will not be alone either. I will fight for hope for them. If we succeed, one day we will bring the most devastating punishment to this country and completely stop the tragedy that has lasted since ancient times! If we fail, it doesn't matter. Even if we fall, there will be thousands upon thousands of transmigrators who will have the opportunity to carry on the last wishes of us and our predecessor No. 47 and the others and rise up again!"

With her inner turmoil resolved, even knowing all the secrets, even knowing that she, Lana, Lolina, Della, and countless other witches were gradually heading towards destruction, Li Lan would not fear death.

Li Lan took out a pen and paper with a face value of 1 William and solemnly placed it in front of the old woman.

"You can just keep divining, my mental fortitude is fine. As an atheist who believes in the hammer and sickle, no matter what happens, I firmly believe that my hands can change everything!"

The old woman was slightly taken aback, unsure whether she didn't understand Li Lan's "sickle and hammer" or something more profound.

She took a deep breath, and her face suddenly turned quite somber. "Since this beautiful lady has made such a request, please look at this divination ball. It will guide you to see everything you want to know."

The old woman stopped wiping and pushed the glass ball forward slightly. A pure white magical power instantly transformed into a rapidly swirling vortex within the glass ball, creating a mesmerizing and eerie scene.

………………

The stars of heaven have fallen, and the crimson night is filled with madness and murderous intent.

"It's over, everything is over, it's all over."

Li Lan, dragging her heavily injured steps, stumbled and fell into a pool of blood.

“Lana…Lorina…”

His raised, powerless hand could not grasp any hope. In his blurred vision, he only saw two tall figures in black trench coats slowly walking toward Lana and Lorina, who were also lying in a pool of blood.

He recognized the two figures, but for a moment he couldn't remember who they were.

"I have to save them! Get moving! My damn body!"

He tried his best to stand up, but his consciousness was blurred, and he was in excruciating pain in his chest, with a large amount of life force being drained away.

"Eisen, they're all dead. It seems the abyssal monsters this time are really powerful. It's amazing they were able to hold out for so long."

One of the tall figures bent down and picked up Lana's natal magic book. The magic book turned into flames in his hand and burned away. Then, a dark red spear-axe appeared in his hand.

"It's a pity that we still don't know what clues number 47 left on them, and we can't find any trace of the Flame Witch."

The tall figure, known as "Eisen," bent down and picked up Lolina's natal magic book. A burst of flames erupted, and soon a black chain appeared in his palm.

"Very good, next up is this one, Witch Code 001 Kallen Elf? She's truly remarkable. To have held out this long with just the Gray Mist Grimoire... It's a pity, if only she had a little more time..."

"There was no other way. If the warden hadn't foreseen her ability to escape this predicament, we wouldn't have needed to deal with her so quickly. Hmph, are these three witches an army when they unite? Amazing! Amazing!"

"Keep her identification documents safe. If we can obtain her artifact, it might become the ultimate weapon to save the empire and the world in the future..."

All the sounds of the world faded away, plunging into utter darkness, leaving nothing behind.

On the night the torrent of crimson darkness descended, Witch Code 001, Witch Code 002, Witch Code 013, and Witch Code 099, having failed in their defection plot, decided to execute it ahead of schedule. In the end, they all perished under the claws of an abyssal monster, bringing this all to an end.

………………

Feeling completely disoriented, Li Lan felt as if he were in an extremely long dream, in which he couldn't distinguish between illusion and reality.

He saw everything that would happen in the future, watching himself and the three witches, Lana, walk step by step toward destruction.

Everything was so clearly etched in his mind, as if it had actually happened, deeply piercing his heart. How could he understand that sense of powerlessness and fear without experiencing it firsthand?

"Thank you, I think I know what to do. Also, you know I'm a witch, right?"

Li Lan stood up to express her gratitude, and was not discouraged by the incident.

The old woman was taken aback by Li Lan's unchanging attitude, but this surprise quickly turned into a smile. "Yes, I still remember the witch who came to me two years ago to have her fate told. She was just as determined as you. I also remember that she called herself number 47."

The old woman's words shocked Li Lan. Number 47 had also performed divination here before. Could it be that the coordinates mentioned by Senior Number 47 referred to this old woman? Did he want me to see the outcome of all this in advance, and then see if I could turn the tide based on this?

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this was the case, and the countless complex questions in my heart were explained.

"May I ask your name, beautiful witch?"

Chapter 77 A Turning Point in a Desperate Situation

“Code name 001, Karen Elf, thank you for the old man’s divination, I know what I should do.”

Li Lan stood up and bowed politely. Although he felt that the old woman in front of him might also be a citizen of the empire, her attitude towards the witch did not offend him.

There seems to be a certain affinity about it.

"Could she be the old lady Lorina mentioned who can tell fortunes and also scams people out of food and drink?"

Just as Li Lan had this thought, the smiling old woman suddenly raised her head. "Beautiful witch, you don't need to worry too much about the divination results. Although fate is predetermined and cannot be changed, it only applies to the person involved. If a third party intervenes in your fate in advance, there is still a chance for things to turn around."

"I see..." Upon hearing this, Li Lan quickly thought of Ryan's side, which represented the imperial family. If they could get help from that side, they might actually be able to live longer. However, Li Lan believed that he couldn't trust anything related to the empire.

"Alright then, I've already received a considerable amount of payment from you today, so I'll perform a divination for you free of charge. This divination will foretell your greatest turning point in the future. If you can seize the opportunity, all your confusion will be resolved."

As the old woman spoke, she placed her withered, branch-like right hand on the glass ball. Pure white magic once again transformed into a swirling vortex, causing the entire glass ball to emit a mesmerizing glow.

Li Lan only glanced at the glass ball once, and a piece of information suddenly flooded into her mind.

"You have passed my test. Now, please remember that a witch cannot change her fate by her own power. From time immemorial, predetermined fate is destined to remain unchanged. However, there is an item that can allow a witch to transcend fate and break through the limitations of the Codex of Cause and Effect. But the use of this item requires the killing of one of your closest witches as the price. If you can accept this price, come to me here late at night three days from now. Now, please leave as soon as possible. They have been monitoring this area for many years if you do not want to get into trouble."

When I came to my senses, the old woman, whose face was somewhat frightening, still had a gentle smile on her face.

Li Lan took a deep breath, quickly mustering her courage to calm her expression. "Thank you!"

It seems that this old woman is not just a simple fortune teller, but a far more terrifying being. A short premonition and a message were enough to convince Li Lan that her identity was extraordinary. It seems that the message left to him by number 47 may not be as simple as letting him see his future fate.

Without making a sound, Li Lan got up, turned around, and went back along the same route without looking back, maintaining the same speed as when she came.

Shortly after Li Lan left, the old woman happily stuffed a William from the table into her pocket, and with faltering steps, she calmly gathered up the divination glass balls and those strange books.

After packing up her stall, she walked contentedly toward the bakery in the distance...

Unbeknownst to them, two middle-aged men in military uniforms were hiding in a dilapidated building, watching closely through the gaps in the curtains as everything unfolded before the ruins.

That happened three years ago. A terrible witch killed many of the Empire's soldiers, not even sparing her own kind. Afterward, she faked her own death, deceiving the Empire for several months.

And the ruins below, which they were monitoring, were the beginning of everything.

The witch's battles with the empire's soldiers and her own kind destroyed everything there, and she then took advantage of the chaos to escape.

Some suspect she fled to the Mori Defense Forest and hid there, while others suspect she went to the ruins of Mo City and became the strongest ally of the Goblin Kingdom. Still others suspect she has been hiding within the Empire all along, perhaps even in these ruins.

Everything is pure speculation; the empire's spies, painstakingly planted over the years, still cannot find her.

Now, all that remains of the memory of that witch is her resounding title, "Flame Witch," who single-handedly took down a heretic inquisitor, fifteen witches, and a lurking high-level monster—an extremely terrifying existence!

"Another witch has come looking for this swindler. Should we report it?" asked one of the bearded middle-aged soldiers.

Many years ago, after this unqualified fortune teller suddenly arrived here, the empire immediately launched an investigation into this old woman. The results showed that the old woman's background was normal, but she possessed an immense magical power that she had never had before.

As for the old woman's divination skills, that's utter nonsense.

After numerous tests, the Empire concluded that she was a fraud, using illusions to make people believe her divinations. Over the years, almost every informant who had consulted this fraudster knew that everything she predicted was false and had never actually come true.

What's even more amazing is that few of the empire's local residents come here to have this old woman tell their fortunes. On the contrary, several witches come every year, and most of them change their expressions drastically after the divination, and some even die shortly afterward.

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This strange situation made the empire pay special attention to this old woman. No matter which witch came to this place to perform divination, these monitors would report it immediately.

For example, a while ago there was a very cold-looking black-haired witch who also came here to do divination. After that, she miraculously came here many times, leaving the two monitors in a dilemma: whether to report her or not.

"A new witch definitely needs to be reported, but a second one doesn't need to be."

Another slender middle-aged soldier made this judgment, then took out paper and pen, "This guy's characteristics should match the witch's codename..."

Before he could finish speaking, a strange distortion suddenly occurred around him—no, the entire world—so subtle that it was almost imperceptible to anyone.

"Witch Code Name... Witch Code Name..."

The thin, middle-aged soldier stared blankly at himself, muttering to himself.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

The bearded middle-aged soldier was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered.

"I remember a witch just asking that old woman for a fortune telling?"

"Really? I don't recall it. No, I don't think so."

"Oh, I see. It seems I was wrong," the thin, middle-aged soldier said dejectedly, putting down his paper and pen. "Keep monitoring her. Sigh, if only we could actually find clues about that damned Flame Witch."

………………

After buying a lot of black bread, the old woman returned to her cramped room.

The moment the door closed, the space became completely dark, and a strange female voice came from the darkness.

"Vesta, you're eating this kind of food that has absolutely no nutritional value again."

"We had no choice but to do it because of our economic difficulties."

The old woman spoke in a weak and aged voice, staggered a few steps, and the sound of a wooden chair being pulled out echoed in the darkness, followed by a crisp snap when the magic crystal lamp was turned on.

Soon, the old woman sat down at an old desk, and then a white, blurry figure began to appear beside her.

"Hey, how long are you planning to keep running away? I've been losing my memory lately, so I'm afraid I can't help you for much longer."

The eerie phantom clung to the old woman's back, uttering murmured sounds.

"Noss, this is the ten thousandth time you've said something like this. Don't you get tired of it?"

"Hehehe," the eerie phantom first chuckled, then the laughter turned into a sinister, raucous screech, "Because you are a coward, you took my life, but in the end you trapped yourself here and restricted my freedom, you incompetent sinner!"

"As expected, you've long forgotten your memories; this is a choice we both made..."

"No, it's just your own wishful thinking. You killed me, and now you've bound me, confining me to this damned seal. I wish I could tear you to pieces and take back my own freedom."

The old woman ignored the phantom's complaints and instead took out a book about the size of two palms. The book's cover was rough and grayish-blue, with straight silver borders and a structure in the middle that looked like a door.

At first glance, the book seems completely unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, one discovers that the silver patterns are slowly trembling, as if some liquid is flowing within them, and the door-like structure in the middle gives the illusion of rotation. If one stares at it for too long, an indescribable fear will rise in one's heart, as if the soul of the person looking directly at the book will be dragged into it in the next second.

"You want to use it again! You want to use it again!"

As the old woman took out the book, the eerie phantom began to howl wildly, its voice filled with intense killing intent and anticipation: "Who do you want to kill this time? If you don't pay the price, everything you have will be over!"

Completely ignoring the disturbing sound, the old woman opened the strange book, which was empty.

She picked up a quill pen and wrote in the book, "On the morning of April 29, 10003, the witch code name 001, whose real name is Karen Elf, did not come to perform a divination."