Witch Redemption

In an instant, it was as if the end of the world had arrived. The unparalleled scorching temperature transformed into an irresistible and powerful shockwave, causing the area within 500 meters of the rising sun to completely vaporize. Everything and everyone affected by the shockwave vanished in the blink of an eye!

The people who were shocked by the sudden change were only stunned for a dozen seconds before their hearts were dominated by an unprecedented panic.

In a dilapidated residential building in the Mori City Defense District, Ryan, his muscular upper body bare, and Betty Anfer, who had recently married him, stared blankly at the enormous flames in the distance, their fear completely palpable.

"This……"

What on earth is going on? What high-level monster attacked Mori City?

As a frail adventurer who has faced death multiple times, Ryan's mental fortitude is no longer what it used to be.

The moment he calmed down a little, he instinctively realized that this was not the early arrival of the Crimson Night Flood, but rather that some terrifying entity had attacked the slum area of ​​the Mori City defense zone.

"Quick, Betty, pack your things, we're leaving right now!"

He quickly grabbed some clothes from the side, hastily put them on, and then rushed downstairs to wake up his brother, Rainer, who was completely drunk.

"Big... big brother..."

"Stop talking nonsense and come with us!"

"what?"

"The weather outside has changed! If we don't leave now, we might die here!"

Seeing his older brother, who was usually like a mother hen, with such a serious expression for the first time, Reiner couldn't help but shudder and come to his senses. "Where are we going?"

"Get to the inner city immediately! We can't stay here!"

The vast majority of imperial citizens living in border cities would rush to the inner city's sanctuary for refuge before the arrival of the Crimson Night Flood. For them, if there was any place in the world that was absolutely safe, it would be the sanctuary.

That was the last refuge for all the border residents, and also the last safeguard for their faith.

There, protected by the gods, one fears neither darkness nor demons.

Soon, Ryan, with his new wife and his brother who was staggering due to intoxication, quickly merged into the crowd on the street.

People in extreme panic are choosing to save themselves because of this terrifying change in the sky...

Mori City Defense District, Witch's Residence.

After the nine witch cult members issued an order to all the witches in the room not to go out, the old women officially gathered in the large field outside, where three heretics judges dressed in black trench coats were already waiting for them.

"Major General Eisen, what exactly is going on in this situation...?"

As Chairperson Monica Yao gazed at the enormous fireball in the distance, an ominous premonition welled up within her.

"The Flame Witch, Vesta Hestia, an evil witch who once brought destruction to this city!"

The aloof blond youth raised his left hand, which had been replaced by a mechanical prosthetic. Vast magical power transformed into pure white flames, and as the mechanical hand clenched tightly, the jet-black "Codex of Causality" reappeared in his hand.

"The Golden Spellbook! She's stronger than before!"

Eisen quickly glanced at the information in the Codex of Causality, a rare hint of gloom appearing on his usually cold face.

"A golden grimoire? This is beyond the capabilities of the Empire's ordinary army," Abbo suddenly exclaimed, "Lord Willis has already deployed his elite troops to that area. This is probably..."

In the Empire, all soldiers who enlist, as long as they possess a certain magical talent and patriotic loyalty, will become the Empire's elite after passing the assessment, dedicating their lives to their country. There is no concept of discharge.

As the empire's most elite soldiers, they swore throughout their lives to love their country and its people. Faced with such an extremely dangerous situation, they, with their lofty beliefs, never backed down and would even rush to the front lines.

"Major General Abbott, immediately notify Lord Willis to recall as many soldiers as possible. Major General Geno, immediately send an urgent telegram to the warden and priests, please prepare for battle. Tonight, the real witch hunt begins!"

At the critical moment, Major General Eisen, having calmed down, knew that every second counted. He quickly gave many correct instructions and then led the nine men to the area where the "sun" was rising.

In the history recorded by the Empire, even witches who possessed golden magic books were nothing more than ants at the mercy of others. So why is it that the Flame Witch in front of us makes all the powerful members of the Witch Order turn pale at the mere mention of her name?

The reason is simple: this witch is the only one who can interfere with fate, and the only evil witch so ruthless that she wants to live even if she kills all her accomplices. Her cunning and madness have left indelible humiliating secrets in the history of the Witch Cult.

………………

Is this finally the end?

A sharp pain spread through her chest, her gaze fixed on the heroes who had retrieved the divine artifacts.

Some of those heroes wore the exclusive attire of heretics' inquisitors, while others wore the religious uniforms unique to priests of the cult. They were her enemies, the evil executioners she had once fantasized about killing them all.

Three years ago, she was powerless against them, and three years later, it is the same.

However, she did not regret it, even though she knew from the beginning that she was just throwing an egg against a rock, because she had tried her best, even if the outcome was failure.

As she slowly fell, gradually losing her vitality, her eyes remained wide open, staring at the red sun that was becoming blurry and dim.

Her raised right hand was already covered in wounds, as if she wanted to grab onto something. She seemed to see her former best friends reaching out to her one by one, trying to pull her up and prevent her from falling.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I..."

Their vision was completely plunged into darkness, everything was receding into the distance, and with the death of the Flame Witch, the fiery red sun in the sky emitted mournful cries and continued to expand.

That blazing sun was composing its final requiem for the witch who had given her all, bringing the city, no, the world, its last and most devastating revenge!

The instantly exploding red sun transformed into an unstoppable and terrifying shockwave, shaking the entire earth and engulfing everyone and everything present, including the corpse of the Flame Witch!

The devastating flames melted everything in their path, and the towering mushroom cloud emitted terrifying shrieks, bursting across the sky with unparalleled brilliance, turning the world into daylight for a fleeting moment...

As the dust settled, the sky and the earth returned to the long night. In the darkness, only the magic book with golden patterns lay quietly among the ruins, its crimson lotus-like patterns still burning fiercely, never to be extinguished.

"cough--"

The warriors, their clothes now tattered and torn, staggered back a few steps, coughing up a mouthful of blood, all suffering considerable injuries.

"He's absolutely insane!"

Eisen, whose face was usually cold, showed a rare hint of lingering fear on his handsome face.

All the heroes present underestimated the witch's madness. Her final suicidal attack destroyed everything within a radius of nearly a thousand meters, almost causing the three heretical judges and nine priests of the cult to perish simultaneously.

Fortunately, they had anticipated this and were able to withstand the terrifying attack, preventing them from perishing on the spot.

"Fortunately, we've successfully killed it. All that's left is to deal with this golden magic book."

Eisen's longtime partner, Jeno, endured a burning pain throughout his body and slowly approached the center of this scorched earth.

Chapter 81 Waves in Fate

On May 2, 10003 of the New Calendar, the Flame Witch, who had been lying in wait for more than three years, reappeared and attacked the defense zone of Mori City, causing the deaths of more than 5 elite imperial soldiers, seriously wounding three heretics, and killing a priest of the Imperial Witch Order.

The ordinary people living in Mori will never forget that terrible night, nor the terrifyingly fiery red sun, nor the deep pits and scorched earth within a radius of one kilometer caused by the horrific inferno...

Kate, the capital of the British Empire, the Witch's Prison, the Central Sanctuary.

Despite their severe injuries, the heretics, Eisen and Jeno, rushed back overnight and bowed to Iris, one of the Empire's ten strongest warriors.

“I understand the specifics now, and you’ve done a great job.”

Even with so many Imperial soldiers dead and such a huge reaction, the Immortal Iris remained expressionless, his grimace, as bark-like as an old tree, seemed forever devoid of joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.

"The Flame Witch's situation is special; we can only retrieve her spellbook..."

With a solemn expression, Eisen presented the grimoire that should have belonged to the Flame Witch Vesta Hestia.

Unlike the silver grimoire, this golden grimoire with golden patterns did not trigger the "ashes" effect after its original owner's death. Instead, it has remained in the form of a grimoire and has not mutated into a sealed artifact.

"It's alright, it was already quite an achievement to kill it."

Iris the Undying had already experienced this terrifying and insane witch three years ago. If she hadn't noticed the anomaly in the Codex of Cause and Effect from the beginning and placed a special curse on the witch in time, completely confining her within the city of Mori, history might have been rewritten by this person.

This witch's ruthlessness and decisiveness far surpassed any witch the Immortal Elise had ever encountered.

The withered right hand received the black grimoire, and a vast amount of pure white magic power erupted in the hand of the Undying Iris, burning the entire golden grimoire together.

Immediately following that powerful, heavy grab, the golden grimoire and the intensely burning magic dissipated and merged into her body.

"Today is the state funeral for Priestess Cagalli. At the same time, I need you to investigate the whereabouts of all the witches in Mori City recently, especially witch code 001 Karen Elf and witch code 002 Lana Sivir."

"Yes!"

The vast and gloomy central sanctuary quickly became deserted, with only the Immortal Iris, the warden of the Witch's Prison, remaining.

She slightly raised the pocket watch wrapped around her left hand, letting it swing like a pendulum in front of her eyes. The wrinkles on her face, like old tree bark, began to tighten. Upon closer inspection, one could see that as the pocket watch swayed, countless illusory shadows began to flash in her green eyes.

Those shadows were a microcosm of the entire city of Mori since yesterday.

The immortal Iris remained standing motionless until the sky above the sanctuary was once again swallowed by the night.

"I see, that's the answer."

She was just a witch at her wit's end, making her last desperate struggle.

After hiding for so many years, the Flame Witch eventually suffered a mental breakdown due to the influence of the sealed artifact in her hand, and gradually headed towards her own destruction.

If she were truly the Flame Witch from three years ago, someone who would kill anything, even betray her own comrades, just to survive, would never have made such a self-destructive move as she did last night.

The highest authority of this witch cult knew better than anyone what the side effects of the so-called sealed artifacts were.

Sealed artifacts have always carried the resentment of deceased witches. This resentment not only cannot be eliminated, but it also subtly influences the holder, eventually driving them insane. This is an unsolvable situation; otherwise, the Imperial Witch Order would not have set up a special restricted area to store these sealed artifacts.

"The Flame Witch is dead, and her golden grimoire has been successfully retrieved. So, we are still missing a sealing artifact."

Three years ago, the moment the Flame Witch killed her accomplice, the Immortal Iris learned through the Codex of Causality about the birth of a sealed artifact, whose true name was "The Book of Judgment of Fate," and whose effect was to conceal the Flame Witch's presence within the Codex of Causality.

Although the Immortal Iris once suspected that the description of this sealed object in the "Codex of Causality" might be wrong, after so many years of observation, she has been able to preliminarily confirm its effects, and the effect of this sealed object in concealing causality is probably only effective for a single person.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to successfully retrieve the many witches who may have had contact with the Flame Witch.

Especially the Witch No. 47, who are among the strongest in history, are also suspected of having a particularly close connection with the Flame Witch. If they really had the help of this sealing artifact, they would not have willingly accepted their fate.

Little did they know that even the incredibly powerful and immortal Iris could not perceive how cautious Number 47 was.

Ever since he realized that his relationship with the Flame Witch was likely to be exposed, Number 47 took the initiative to sever all ties with her. Even at the very last moment, he kept all his secrets hidden, preferring to face death calmly.

"This sealed artifact must not be lost. We must find out which witches have had contact with her!"

After more than ten hours of divination and prediction, even the ten strongest people in the empire, the Undying Iris, had not grasped the most crucial information: the witch codename 001, Kallen Elf, had met with the Flame Witch twice!

………………

Li Lan did not look back. He followed his promise to the witch and wandered aimlessly north after leaving the area, eventually stopping at the ruins near the witch's residence.

He didn't understand why he suddenly felt so sad. Maybe it was because he missed home, maybe it was because he suddenly learned so many secrets and felt wronged, or maybe it was just because the scenery reminded him of the past.

It wasn't until the fiery red light enveloped the entire world in daylight that he understood the true meaning of the witch's words, and the real reason for his sadness.

He didn't understand why this witch senior, who seemed to be disappointed with reality, would ultimately choose to take her own life. He just suspected that perhaps this senior's choice had other, deeper meanings.

Li Lan couldn't understand it, and with insufficient information, he might never understand it. But he could vaguely sense that it was all a setup, just like the countless preparations made by Senior No. 47. This kind-hearted, unknown witch senior who had told him all her secrets and even helped him was also doing everything she could for the future hopes of these younger generations!

be terribly upset.