Witch Redemption

"Since we have plenty of time, why don't we..."

Li Lan had an idea and immediately used Life Refinement.

Because of her increasingly skilled techniques, Li Lan only spent about ten minutes to shred all the hair of the Hidden Shadow Monster, forming a peculiar six-pointed star array.

"Next, place the Final Flame in the center of the array..."

Fortunately, the first life-forging attempt since entering the outer perimeter of the Mo City Ruins was successful. The corpse of the Hidden Shadow Monster twisted wildly around the dark red core of intelligence, but in the end, it transformed into a humanoid monster once again.

The monster was made entirely of black fur and had no facial features. It was similar to the flow-like humanoid created using the Mimicry Chaos technique, but unlike the previous one, this creature was more likely to trigger Li Lan's trypophobia and looked even more grotesque.

Servant: Number 46

Race: Monster

Level: LV1 Experience: 0

Talents: Faith LV1 Proficiency: 1223; Shadow Transformation LV1 Proficiency: 0; Absorption LV1 Proficiency: 0

In any case, this kind of talent seems much stronger than those fluid-like humanoids.

Li Lan stared at the guy curiously for a few moments, and the black-haired humanoid figure, which was about 1.6 meters tall, began to tremble, looking very frightened.

"..."

This life-transformation process is really strange. All the transformed monsters are humanoid? They've lost their original intimidating form? And all the servants are such cowardly creatures?

After thinking for a moment, Li Lan recalled the strange servant No. 46 and continued walking towards the northern area of ​​the Mo City Ruins.

"Perhaps my profession shouldn't be called a creator of life, but rather a slave owner..."

He shook his head, confirming that each Shadow Monster he killed gave him 11 experience points, which was 1 point more than the Mimicry Chaos, so it was not bad.

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

After walking for about two kilometers through this lush jungle, along a sloping upward course, it took Li Lan a full two hours to reach the end and see a desolate city.

The broken city wall stretches out along both sides, with no end in sight. Beneath the wall are numerous holes and gaps, some as tall as a person, which can be easily stepped over.

Beyond these broken holes, the ruined architectural layout can be clearly seen.

While keeping the magic book open and keeping an eye on the movements on the abstract "survey" map out of the corner of her eye, Li Lan cautiously entered it.

However, this eerie and tranquil area was devoid of any vegetation, consisting entirely of bare sand and gravel. Unlike the area around Mori City, the dilapidated buildings here were mostly flat-roofed structures, with the bricks arranged in a way that resembled the scales of some kind of snake, giving them a rather mysterious appearance.

"From here on, we enter the above-ground urban area of ​​the Mo City Ruins."

It is known that the above-ground city of the Mo City Ruins is home to a large number of Shadow Monsters, which lurk in the shadows of the many buildings and are even stronger than those in the jungle.

Furthermore, it was from here that the rumored mid-level intelligent monsters, the "goblins," began to become active.

According to imperial history books, goblins are a type of social, intelligent monster with a tribal chieftain system. Whether they have formed a goblin army is unknown, but it is known that if you encounter goblins in the ruins of Mo City, you will definitely face more than five.

Sometimes, the number can be as many as fifteen, and often killing just one goblin is like stirring up a hornet's nest.

To put it simply, the moment you commit murder at the Mo City Ruins, you never know how many goblin giants will emerge from that seemingly peaceful underground entrance to kill you.

Li Lan is an extremely cautious person. Due to the lack of information about goblins, he will not act rashly. Instead, he hopes to test the waters first and familiarize himself with the environment of this area.

After all, he was going to be staying in this godforsaken place for five or six days, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

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

In the southern area of ​​the Mo City Ruins, a team of five witches arrived at the city ruins with ease after a series of powerful kills.

After all, for witches who are loyal to the Witch Cult, the experience level of the magic book is not slow to increase. Now, each of them has raised their level to 6.

The witch's strength increases with the level of her magic book, and she also unlocks various new skills, so exploring the ruins of Mo City is not a very strenuous task for her at the moment.

"As per Major General Abbot's instructions, we are now responsible for clearing out this area."

The witch codenamed 077, Lanxi, a raccoon-like beastwoman, spoke in a melodious voice as her reddish-brown beast eyes stared at the paper map in her hand.

"But we haven't found any signs of goblins around here. What should we do?"

"Witch codename 078 Maria Benger," the winged witch asked somewhat irritably.

Since her transmigration, this winged witch has lived in constant fear of death, leading a rather uncomfortable life and gradually developing a somewhat distorted personality. Fortunately, the witch codenamed 077, Lanxi, as the captain, is quite capable and managed to keep her in check.

"Don't rush. According to my previous investigation, even other Silver-ranked adventurers who entered the ruins of Mo City rarely saw any signs of goblins. This is a bit unusual."

After learning about the mission to come to the Mo City Ruins a week ago, Lanxi painstakingly searched for a lot of information, but unfortunately, there was almost no valuable information about the Mo City Ruins, and it was also difficult to find information about how "goblins" survive.

According to some written descriptions, this intelligent monster is the same height as a human, has blackish-green skin, and has a backward social system.

“Other adventurers who have been to this area don’t dare to go deep. They rarely know what goblins look like, or even have any. There are two possibilities,” Lanxi analyzed while keeping a close watch on the surroundings. “One is that goblins mostly live underground and rarely appear in the surface area. The other is that these intelligent monsters have extremely good stealth skills and can deceive adventurers’ identification.”

It's important to understand that dead people cannot bring back any information about the ruins of Mo City.

While listening to the captain's analysis, Olivia, the witch codenamed 079 and of the elven race, chimed in, "What we fear most now is that they can evade our professional perception skills; that would be quite terrifying."

The witch codename 079 is a sharpshooter. Her class perception skill is Hunting Instinct, which allows her to detect the signs of all monsters within a 50-meter range. Combined with her race and class bonus "Magic Eagle Eye", her ranged attacks are not to be underestimated.

What troubled her most at the moment was that there were only six Shadow Monsters within a fifty-meter radius, and after dealing with these six Shadow Monsters, the area fell into a terrifying silence.

Are there really no other dangers around?

None of the five witches were sure; they all doubted whether their senses were malfunctioning. Ever since they stepped into this complex of buildings, they had felt an indescribable unease.

“We’ll retreat first, Maria. You use your class magic to blast this area apart, and we’ll crush it.”

"Witch codename 077 Lanxi suddenly gave this instruction. She was an extremely cautious witch who never made any risky adventures and always took the safest approach."

"Wait, Lansie, I feel I need to go to heaven once."

Maria, codenamed Witch 078, is a wind mage and a winged human. She can fly to a height of about 100 meters with her real wings to survey the ground and confirm the route of the area.

"No, we must investigate the situation here before making a decision. Flying up rashly will only make us a sitting duck."

"Those goblins are just intelligent monsters. Based on the many novels I've read before, these kinds of monsters are not worth mentioning at all. Do you think they can blast me down with guns and cannons? At most, they can use arrows and crossbows. You know, I'm already at level 6 in magic books. With this kind of physical strength, I don't need to fear any arrows or crossbows."

Maria explained somewhat impatiently, "Trust me, Lancy, I just want to make our journey safer and better accomplish the mission that Major General Abbott has entrusted to us."

Seeing her accomplice's stubbornness, Lancy didn't know what to say. "Be careful, Maria. I don't want to see you end up like Lulu and the others..."

They used to be a team of eight, but in the Crimson Torrent last month, Lanxi and her companions lost three witches forever, leaving only five. Although the Witch Cult later brought in three new witches, unfortunately, those three couldn't integrate into their group at all.

"I see."

What Maria found most annoying was that the captain who was rising in rank kept bringing up the topic of the dead. She slowly unfolded her white-yellow wings, and with a flap of her wings, she created an updraft that lifted her black gothic dress, revealing her black safety shorts. In the blink of an eye, she was already in the sky.

However, to everyone's surprise, three seconds later, a dull thud came from underground.

Almost without warning, a strange, dark green object suddenly shot into the sky, rapidly expanding as it flew, and unexpectedly engulfed the area in the air where Maria was standing.

No one expected that the witch, who was alive just a second ago, would turn into a rain of blood in the next second. In the terrifying explosion, the blood and flesh were scattered everywhere, and the shocking red flesh and blood crackled and slammed hard onto the rough sand and gravel ground!

“Mary…Maria…”

Chapter 88 Hidden Killing Intent

Lanxi's pupils contracted violently with extreme fear. Once again, she watched helplessly as her comrades died tragically before her eyes, just like the Crimson Torrent last month, powerless to resist.

Before that, they had never realized how cruel the world was, how fragile life was for humans and witches alike, and how death was just a matter of a moment for them.

This is not a dream, but an utterly unreasonable reality!

"Don't panic! Retreat immediately!"

After a brief moment of fear, Lanxi quickly shouted.

She was the captain of the squad, and she shouldered the responsibility entrusted to her by the former captain. No matter which teammate died tragically in front of her, she must not panic and must always remain calm.

This is her realization.

"Lansy, what just happened was..."

The still-shaken witch Olivia let out a tearful cry, her emerald-green eyes frantically scanning her surroundings, trying to find the attacker.

"What killed Maria was a swollen lump of flesh, and we don't know exactly what it was. In any case, those goblins are not to be underestimated. We need to find cover immediately!"

What's terrifying isn't just the bizarre thing that crushes the witch, but that they don't even know when or how many goblins attacked, let alone where they're hiding.

However, just as the surviving Lansie (codename 077) was leading the other three witches in retreat, a series of chaotic tremors suddenly came from underground, indicating that some kind of creature or monster was rapidly approaching.

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

Within just one hour of the witches entering the ruins of Mo City, as many as six of them had died, all of them due to being ambushed and killed out of carelessness.

These witches had been training in this world for nearly two months, and those who survived were not fools with mental problems. Soon, many teams made a close call and withdrew from the ruins, plotting how to find the mysterious killer hiding there.

Of course, there was also a reckless man and a desperate fugitive who continued to advance towards the center of the above-ground area of ​​the Mo City ruins.

The northern area of ​​the Mocheng Ruins, above the city streets.

After separating from Li Lan and the other two, Luo Lina first hunted down a few Shadow Monsters in the outer area, gaining some experience with magic books. Then, she entered the dilapidated urban area of ​​the Mo City Ruins alone.

Besides opening her natal magic book to check the abstract map on the "Survey" page, Lolina, as a necromancer, also has many clever self-defense techniques, such as using "Basic Necromancer Summoning" to have twelve basic skeletons help her scout the way.

"Strange, all the Shadow Monsters in this area have been eliminated, so why is there still the aura of the living?"

With her race being the Raven Feather race and her profession as a necromancer, Lolina is extremely sensitive to the aura of the living.

Whether human, monster, or witch, they all possess their own unique life elements and soul aura, and Lorina didn't know how to describe that feeling.

All she knew was that the stronger a human, monster, or witch was, the richer their life element aura and soul aura would be, and that the auras of different races and different monsters would also be different.

"It should be in human form, but its aura is vague and unclear, unlike a demon. Could it be a goblin?"

An unprecedented alertness made Lorina stare intently at the "Survey" page of the magic book, but unfortunately she found no trace of goblins, and the surroundings were completely calm.

"You go over there, you..."

Without needing any words, Lolina quickly gave instructions to the twelve novice skeletons with her mind. Soon, these pale skeletons excitedly ran out and checked the surrounding buildings.

However, just as these stark white skeletons were identified and about to return, the ground suddenly trembled.

In the blink of an eye, the floors of the four areas surrounding Lolina, which should have been intact, were suddenly pried open by brute force, and twelve black figures that had been lying in wait for a long time rushed out, drawing sharp blades that flashed with cold light.

Even though Lorina's face remained as cold as ever, her heartbeat had quickened many times over due to the sudden change, and she was overcome with excitement.

"Basic Necromancer Summoning!"

The necromancer, with only nine uses remaining, used all of his skills without hesitation.

As the natal magic book emitted a faint light, a total of one hundred and eight deep "black holes" suddenly appeared around Lolina. A large number of low-level skeletons, exuding murderous intent, leaped out with lifeless roars and quickly launched an attack.

No one knows how big a hornet's nest was stirred up by killing a goblin, but no one also knows that the consequences of angering Lolina would be far more terrible than stirring up that hornet's nest!