Witch Redemption

"That might be a bit difficult."

Lana waved her hand dismissively, her words becoming rather harsh. "You saw those witches today too. Most of them are sycophants of that Major General Aibo. They're still eager to attack the Goblin Kingdom tomorrow."

“I also don’t think it’s that simple,” Lolina, who was also looking at the magic book, added. “There must be a difference between intelligent monsters and ordinary monsters. Since they can form countries and have existed under the Empire for so many years, they can’t possibly be vegetarians.”

"If they are just a rabble, that's fine. What I'm worried about is encountering the kingdom's army."

This is what Li Lan is most worried about. There are only a hundred of them, but the opponents they will face are likely to be tens of thousands. How can they possibly be opponents?

"There can't really be a goblin army, right?" Lorina said uncertainly. "I think goblins should look like this, um... have you all seen the Goblin X Hand?"

Lana responded uncertainly, "You mean those cruel and horrible goblins who need to train human women into hot toilets and ravage them in order to reproduce?"

But judging from the picture we saw earlier, it looks more like a human, doesn't it?

While staring at the paper map, Li Lan joked, "Could it be that sewer goblin-throwing class from the DXF game, wielding chains and a spiked club?"

Whatever the speculation, what I'm more worried about right now is whether this so-called Goblin Kingdom also possesses firearms.

Li Lan added, "Actually, I'm also worried that these guys have so-called steam rifles. If they also have a technology tree similar to the Empire's, we can imagine what our fate will be."

A mere handful of witches possessing the Gray Mist Spellbook would have no choice but to strike first when facing such firearms, or else their fate would be quite troublesome.

"Probably not, right? Steam rifles are powerful, but their drawbacks are slow reloading and the smoke from each shot, which obstructs visibility. It's a pity we can't touch them according to imperial law, otherwise I'd love to try. You know, a man's romance is pulling the bolt!"

Lana chatted for a while, and when the topic of firearms came up, he was actually quite interested.

Lolina was stunned for a moment, "Shouldn't a man's romance be a drill?"

"None of those. A man's romance is driving a Zaku!" Li Lan quickly added a few more words of criticism. "However, this kind of romance can only exist in dreams."

Della, who came from another world, couldn't understand what Li Lan and the other two were talking about. After hesitating for a while, she asked in a low voice, "Which way should we go tomorrow? Should we travel together?"

Li Lan quickly responded to the question, "How about we act alone first? Don't go too deep. After we've tested the waters on the first day, we can discuss our next steps at the meeting that evening."

"Alright, then it's decided!"

As Lana spoke, she tore off a small piece of black bread and handed it to the obedient little red lizard on her shoulder.

As soon as the creature saw food, it happily wagged its little tail and made a strange "coo-coo" sound.

So Lana is raising this little guy like a dog?

"I'm so envious! I wish I had a pet like yours!"

Lolina couldn't help but let out a sound of envy.

“Use your basic necromancy summoning. There are bone fetishists out there, like that guy named Albedo,” Lana teased.

"Ugh—I'm not the kind of pervert who likes bones."

Muttering something, Lorina glanced absentmindedly at the "wonderful scenery" around her while looking at the magic book.

For example, Lana's impressive... well...

Li Lan smiled, feeling much better than before. He thought to himself, "I'll just have to take it one step at a time. I'll prepare everything in advance and wait for the day when my magic book job level reaches 10."

After thinking for a moment, he also summoned his servant "Slime". Since the day it successfully "transformed", it has had a complete digestive system and a mouth, one of its facial features, making it look even more terrifying than its original bald appearance.

"My lord..."

The slime made a respectful sound, like boiling water, but unlike before, today the sound seemed somewhat pleasant and clear.

Li Lan handed it a piece of black bread and also gave it a book about the geography of the empire.

It's unclear whether Ann Gnath is truly asleep or faking it. Li Lan and the others aren't afraid of this witch finding out about the existence of the Servant. In fact, if the situation becomes more critical, Li Lan even plans to try and win this guy over.

"Now we can only hope that when we face those goblins, they won't suddenly pull out guns and cannons, that would be very difficult," Li Lan muttered a few times, then thought to himself, "Anyway, it depends on how that Imperial Major General arranges things tomorrow. If it's not necessary, we still have to act alone as we always have."

The witch has this big problem of experience penalty. If you don't want to become stronger, you can only be a lone wolf. Li Lan naturally prefers to cooperate with the group.

Little did they know that while Li Lan and the others were having a pleasant conversation, the short witch Ann Gnas, who was lying on her side on the bed pretending to be fast asleep, was covered in sweat, as if she was trying hard to control her emotions.

He clenched his left hand in front of him, then quietly pressed it down on the bed with his right hand.

For a fleeting moment, a hint of killing intent flashed in his narrowed, azure-blue beast eyes, but it quickly vanished without a trace.

..................

Campfire Town, the permanent command center of the Imperial Border Guard stationed in Charlotte City.

Inside this spire-shaped building heavily guarded by the Imperial Army, Major General Abbot, the Inquisitor, Colonel Hughes, the Battalion Commander, and many other high-ranking officers of the border troops gathered to examine a map of the ruins of Mo City.

"The number of elite goblins hasn't changed much; based on observations over the years, it has remained at around 100,000, guarding the entrance between the first and second underground levels. Especially this location," Colonel Hughes pointed to the central area of ​​the Mo City Ruins, "This place leads directly to the royal capital of the Goblin Kingdom, the Feathered Serpent Palace, so the elite troops are concentrated here."

"It seems that, just like before, they are unaware that the Empire is about to take action against them?"

"It's possible. There are two possible reasons. One is that the evil god they worship has given them protection, making them fearless. The other is that the rumor that the Sixth Apostle instigated them to attack the Empire is false; they actually have no intention of being enemies with the Empire."

Major Hughes explained that due to his insufficient strength, the information he currently possessed was limited, and he could only vaguely guess that the Empire's plan to exterminate the Goblin Kingdom likely had a deeper secret behind it.

"Regardless of the reason, for the safety of the empire, we have no choice but to strike first."

Abo smiled brightly. Of course, he knew that the information he had sent out earlier was just a smokescreen. Not that many imperial soldiers had died in the Goblin Kingdom. As for the many adventurers who died tragically in the ruins of Mo City, that was nothing to be surprised about.

When venturing into areas overrun by monsters, one must be prepared to die at any moment; otherwise, what kind of adventurer are they?

The Goblin Kingdom's hostility is merely a ploy to deceive some uninformed citizens of the Empire. By focusing on the pretext of defending their homeland, the Empire's military actions can appear righteous, and it can also enhance national cohesion—a win-win situation.

Moreover, are the so-called "goblins" really intelligent monsters?

Colonel Hughes was a smart man; he always knew very well what to ask and what not to ask. He didn't dwell on the information about the Goblin Kingdom and quickly returned to the topic of the witch.

"According to the original battle plan, the imperial army was supposed to attack from these four directions, using swift and decisive methods to wipe out the goblins in the above-ground city and the first level of the underground area, and then have the witches advance towards the capital on the second level to carry out the plan to assassinate the king..."

Beneath the ruins of Mo City lies a terrifying secret: the empire had allowed the goblin kingdom there to continue existing because it was extremely wary of it.

However, what exactly did the empire's higher-ups realize this year? Otherwise, why would they suddenly take such a risk?

"Major General Abbott, what I'm more worried about is that these hundred witches alone might not be enough to hold off this army for seven days, and I fear it could lead to other serious consequences..."

“It’s alright,” Abbott said, his expression unchanged. “It is precisely because of various considerations that the Warden instructed the witches to take action themselves. This is a great opportunity that no witch has ever had before. As long as they can seize this opportunity, they can become stronger.”

"But......"

"Even if they all die inside, it doesn't matter. It's all the warden's orders, so just carry them out. Besides, the Imperial army's reinforcements for Charlotte City will arrive soon."

..................

The ruins of Mo City were enveloped by the surging darkness of night, plunging everything into a terrifying stillness.

The raging darkness, like flowing water, soaked this vast area, its murderous intent continuing to seep into the underground region. Unfortunately, it was ultimately blocked above the ancient buildings on the first underground level.

It was as if an invisible barrier separated hope from despair, giving this ancient region its last breath of life.

But the countless buildings were remnants from ancient times, full of the vicissitudes of time. On both sides of the dark street, you could see many closed doors and windows that revealed a little dim light.

Quiet and peaceful.

This peaceful and tranquil atmosphere may last forever, provided no new changes occur...

At midnight, in this vast underground space, as the last household turned off their lights, this underground world began to fall into endless darkness.

From a building in the northern region, a rustling whisper could be heard. It was a lost ancient language, preserved from the ancient Feather God Kingdom, but unfortunately, no one in the modern world could understand it. It could only be understood as a form of communication possessed by intelligent demons.

"Nikolai, how's the situation today?"

It was barely recognizable as a woman's voice, and along with the woman's voice came the babbling of a child in their sleep.

"Keep your voice down, don't wake Adai..." The somewhat hoarse male voice hesitated for a moment, then murmured, "Today was the same as always, we stopped a few damned guys who wanted to invade the Holy Land, but the orders from above are a bit strange."

"what happened?"

The man hesitated even more upon hearing this, and lowered his voice further, "It is said that the capital city held another prophecy ceremony three days ago. The current king foresaw that our kingdom will face annihilation, and the one that will attack us may not be that damned empire, but an even more terrifying evil entity!"

"this......"

"At first I also thought it might be a rumor, but later Elder Wesley organized people to enter the Origin Holy Land on the third level. He may be planning something with the help of that ancient being. It seems that the world is about to change."

"You must be kidding me. Making contact with that ancient being is against ancestral precepts..."

"Alas, we have no other choice. Just guarding this country is almost at its limit. If those evil beings invade us, we will have no choice but to..."

The man uttered a few final grumbles, then whispered, "Sleep, Caroline. After tomorrow, take the children to the sacred ground on the second level. I have already arranged a way out for you."

..................

On the morning of May 10, 10003 in the Gregorian calendar, the witches, who were gradually awakening, were divided into many teams and began to head towards various areas of the ruins of Mo City under the command of Major General Aibo of the Empire.

Li Lan and the others, who were among the last to arrive, concealed their faces under black hoods and awaited Ai Bo's orders.

"This contains the ashes of a saint and the fiery blood of the phoenix. The amount is enough to sustain you for seven days. Return on time after seven days. During these seven days, use any means necessary to eradicate the goblins in each region and ensure that they can no longer threaten the safety of Charlotte City."

Chapter 87 Ruins of Mo City

The route from Charlotte City to the Ruins of Mo City passes through a vast primeval forest, where a large number of monsters, the Shadow Monsters, live in this lush and ancient forest.

The Shadow Monster, as its name suggests, is a special monster that can hide its body in shadows. It can move at high speed between shadows and only reveals its true form a second before attacking a human.

Although this type of monster is defined as a low-level, mindless monster, it is a natural assassin, making it no less dangerous than most mid-level monsters.

Therefore, in order to deal with this terrifying monster, the adventurers who come here are basically all of silver level strength, and they usually form teams of more than ten people, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

At this moment, Li Lan, who was walking slowly through the jungle alone, paused for a moment and raised the Libra Cross Greatsword.

"According to Lana, the Shadow Monster doesn't possess the ability to evade 'reconnaissance,' so detecting its signs beforehand shouldn't be too difficult. Furthermore, these monsters are straightforward; once they attack, it's a linear assault with incredible speed. If we can anticipate their movements..."

With her eyes fixed on the rapidly approaching red dot on the abstract "survey" map, Li Lan took a step forward, and as she turned to the side, she suddenly raised the Libra Cross Greatsword in her hand.

The muscles in his right hand, which symbolized power, bulged slightly. At the same time, a large amount of hair suddenly appeared several meters away, rushing towards him like lightning, and crashing straight into Li Lan's Libra Cross Greatsword.

"Ah-"

Thick, purple blood gushed out like a fountain, cleaving the strange monster in two. It was flung away like a kite with a broken string, rolling several meters across the decaying leaves.

"Slime, protect me."

Li Lan summoned a slime, using the humanoid, flowing servant to protect him, and then slowly walked towards the still-wriggling monster.

The Shadow Monster has a bizarre appearance; its body is a large sphere, about the size of a washbasin, with a lot of black hair extending out, making it look like a shooting star. However, unlike a shooting star, the Shadow Monster has a gaping maw filled with numerous fangs at its front.

Without a tongue, its open mouth was filled with countless teeth, enough to crush anything.

Thanks to Li Lan's prior prediction, his greatsword cleaved the monster in two from its mouth, without damaging its intelligence core or magic core, only temporarily rendering it unable to fight.

With the slime diligently protecting him, Li Lan approached the dying Shadow Monster and, without hesitation, raised his greatsword again, cleaving open its skull with a snap, revealing the adjacent red rhomboid magic core and an oval dark red intelligence core.

Fortunately, the Shadow Monster is not like the Mimic Chaos and does not have the ability to corrode. The scene was extremely bloody when the two cores were picked out.