Witch Redemption

Peggy was as cunning as an old fox; she just wanted to sound him out and didn't want to take sides on this issue.

Li Lan thought about it and felt it was normal. If Della's situation hadn't been so special, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to win her over.

As for Peggy and her group of witches, they unconditionally trust the Witch Cult, so it's understandable that they would hold their own opinions on this issue of rebellion.

"This is just my personal opinion, and I can't go into the specifics. I'm just reminding you that the consequence of rashly upgrading to level ten of a magic book is that you might not survive the upcoming Crimson Night Torrent. You can also take this as me exaggerating, but unfortunately, there are some things that I can't say, not because I don't want to."

Li Lan waved his hand dismissively. In any case, he had already given them a warning; whether they believed it or not was up to them to decide.

Upon hearing this, Peggy's heart became unsettled. She thought to herself, "No, I'm certain that the witch codename 001's words weren't unfounded. But what should I do now?"

At this point, the approachable Matilda smiled and took over the conversation, "If we don't consider advancing to a Silver Magic Tome, do you have a way to deal with the Goblin Kingdom?"

“No,” Li Lan said truthfully, but he quickly added, “The Witch Cult’s mission for us was to stop the Goblin Kingdom at all costs to buy time for the Imperial Army to regroup, but they didn’t tell us to what extent. If we are not strong enough to stop the main force, then we can’t be blamed, can we?”

The implication is that if the Goblin Kingdom truly intends to attack the Empire, then the Kingdom should be allowed to attack, and these witches should at least appear to be putting on a good show.

"..."

Peggy hadn't expected that Li Lan's viewpoint would align with her own, and her feelings became even more complicated, with a hint of admiration in her gaze as she looked at Li Lan.

From the perspective of the Witch Cult, their behavior is nothing more than pretending to work extremely hard on the surface, while actually trying to find ways to "legitimately slack off." If they were caught, it would be more than just a simple punishment.

Soon, the three of them stopped dwelling on the matter and simply said that they would contact the other witches the next day to reach a consensus before considering it further.

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

Ann Gnath looked terrible. Today he had witnessed the horrors of the city of Mo City Ruins. He was even recruited by Peggy when he was trying to escape into the outer area of ​​the city ruins. Later, he ended up here by chance and encountered the four wandering witches again.

It was also tonight that he conceived the idea of ​​betraying the Witch Cult and cooperating with these four wandering witches.

Currently, only Ann Gnath is certain that Li Lan and her four witches possess extremely powerful abilities, and that they have definitely unlocked secondary professions. If an opportunity can be found to...

"I'm sorry, Lolina, I've been thinking a lot lately."

Ann Gnath's voice sounded very frustrated, and his expression became very disappointed.

In Lolina's memory, this somewhat gloomy former teammate had always been a very strong person. How come she seems like a different person today?

"install......"

“You’re right. I was indeed too selfish before. You know how cruel this world we’ve come to is. Every day when I went out, I would think about whether I could survive the day, and how strong I could become. That’s how I used to be. I always thought about myself and would do anything to become stronger. But recently, I’ve been thinking that I was wrong.”

It's hard to imagine that this diminutive witch could express such low spirits, which inadvertently touched Lorina's compassion.

"An, this is only natural. In this world, we can only prioritize self-preservation. It's not your fault. I just hope that we can both respect our own choices. Also, you don't need to be pessimistic. In fact, death is not the end of everything in this world. As far as I know, death is indeed the correct way to end the transmigration. So you might as well be more optimistic. You've finally encountered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transmigrate, so why not enjoy the fun of this world?"

Luo Lina comforted him, saying that she didn't believe Li Lan's previous statement and only brought it up to cheer up the depressed guy.

Ann Gnath discreetly observed Lorina's cold expression, concealing the disdain in his heart. Death could end the transmigration? No fool would believe such a thing!

However, since it was just acting, Ann Gnath naturally didn't show any unusual reaction. "Maybe so. Hearing you say that has indeed made me much more optimistic."

Ann Gnath, taking the opportunity to apologize, reiterated her desire to become Lolina's teammate again and asked for Lolina's opinion.

"In this regard..." Lorina turned her head slightly, glanced at Li Lan who was talking to the other two witches, and finally sighed, "Ann, becoming a wandering witch requires you to give up a lot. It's something that requires you to be prepared. Think about it for another night."

It wasn't that Lolina didn't trust her former teammate, but she had a vague sense of unease. She felt that Ann Gnaz was acting strangely tonight, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.

Upon closer reflection, it's understandable that Lorina, like Ann Grenas, is a transmigrator from Earth, and it's perfectly normal for her to always feel drawn to people from the same world.

"Alright, I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

Ann Gnath wasn't in a hurry; he still had a gloomy face, as if he had already withdrawn into himself.

"By the way, your left hand..."

Lorina noticed that Ann Gnath's left hand was wrapped in several bandages and realized that the small man might have suffered a serious injury.

"Ah... this... I got injured today, but I'll be fine soon," Ann Gnath said casually.

Lolina looked at him with heartache for a few moments, then took out a recovery potion from her person and handed it to him, saying, "Make do with this. I have plenty of these recovery potions."

Ann Gnath was stunned for a moment, and in that instant, a strange feeling of emotion welled up inside him.

However, he quickly gritted his teeth secretly, his eyes becoming incredibly resolute, as if he had made a final decision.

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

Around 11 p.m., most of the witches in the protective barrier had fallen into a deep sleep, with only a few guards remaining alert and vigilant about their surroundings.

At this time, Della and Lana, who had been asleep for a long time, gradually woke up, and their bodies had almost recovered.

Noticing a group of unfamiliar witches gathered in the distance, Lana asked in surprise, "Karen, where did you pick up so many witches from?"

"Pah, Lanxi introduced me."

Li Lan quickly gave a brief account of what had happened that day, "That's right, the other witches have also noticed something's wrong with the Mo City ruins, so they plan to unite and work together to deal with this mission. However, there are a few conditions for cooperating with these witches, and it won't be easy..."

After briefly explaining the general conditions, Li Lan's words sounded somewhat helpless, "I haven't agreed to them yet. I need to follow your decision. After all, we wandering witches don't have a common leader."

Lana then fell into deep thought because of his words.

Della, whose face was still somewhat pale, spoke up, "Karen's decision is my decision, and I will abide by whatever Karen says."

Having endured a series of setbacks, Della, who finally opened her heart to Li Lan and the others, had never felt so naive and unsuitable to participate in devising strategies. At this moment, she unconditionally trusted Li Lan and firmly believed that he could lead them out of this predicament.

"Hey, don't just sit back and do nothing. At least give me some advice."

Li Lan grumbled, but Della pretended not to hear and quietly stayed to the side.

At this moment, Lana, who had been pondering for almost a minute, also looked very serious. "Indeed, there is strength in numbers. If we join their team, things will be much easier for us. But don't you think these conditions are too harsh? I have no objection to unified command, but does he really have that kind of ability?"

Lana didn't mind being a henchman, but her biggest worry was that the team leader in charge was incompetent.

In other words, it's a case of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." In Lana's view, a leader like Li Lan would be more suitable. At least in her impression, Li Lan truly had the spirit to go to great lengths for his friends, and only someone like that was worthy of her trust.

"Moreover, what do you mean by cooperating only in this mission? What about after that? Heh, it seems like they're just a bunch of profit-driven guys. That's right, there are indeed many people who are hostile to the Wandering Witch right now. Little do they know, you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. If they don't even have the awareness to abandon their existing interests, such a team is not worth my time."

Lana was as irritable as ever. Upon hearing that this joining was only temporary, a surge of anger welled up inside her, and her words became extremely sharp.

In his view, if the wandering witches who wanted to join their ranks couldn't even defy the orders of the witch cult and stand on their side, then it would be better not to cooperate at all.

To put it bluntly, these witches are unwilling to give up the high benefits of the Witch Cult, yet they want to use wandering witches as free henchmen. Where can you find such a good deal?

"Lana, calm down, they have their own difficulties..."

"Karen, I agree with Lana. It's better not to join them for now." Lorina held the same view, but her reasons differed from Lana's. She mainly disliked the witch codename 040, Peggy.

After all, even Lorina instinctively felt uncomfortable with the eyes of that guy, codenamed 040, Peggy, as if her original identity had been seen through in an instant. Lorina even decided to stay away from that guy so as not to expose her "fake otaku" nature.

Since both witches on her side agreed that they couldn't join, and it seemed they had a lot of prejudice against each other, Li Lan could only maintain a consensus for the time being. "Alright, since you've both said so, I'll talk to them again tomorrow morning to see if we can use other ways of cooperation."

Regardless, this Mo City Ruins are dangerous. If all the witches are not united in a short time, things could get very difficult.

“Then it’s decided. We absolutely cannot be at a disadvantage,” Lana replied firmly, her emotions calming down. “Karen, you and Lorina take a rest. We’ll take care of the night watch.”

Chapter 108 The Illusion of the Curse

The first level of the underground area of ​​the Mocheng Ruins, the center of the sacred site.

This is an incredibly spacious plaza, with a spiral staircase in the center leading directly to the second level of the underground capital.

At this moment, a large number of Holy Land Guards have gathered in the square, forming a massive army formation, densely packed in this huge ancient city.

"Welcome Elder Wesley."

The moment the old man in the long robe stepped off the spiral staircase, four humanoid figures in silver armor emitted a hissing sound and simultaneously knelt in salute.

Then came a tidal wave, and all the holy site guards performed the same salute.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone!"

The old goblin spoke in a hoarse and aged voice, raised his hand in greeting, and then, protected by two holy site guards, went straight to the four legion commanders in silver armor.

Roland, the commander of the Second Legion, spoke first, "Reporting to Elder Wesley, the army has assembled. Does the Elder have any further instructions?"

Wesley gestured for the four legion commanders of the kingdom to follow him, and they headed straight for a tall and ancient palace building at the edge of the square.

His face looked terrible. Just today, an accidental attack struck the Goblin Kingdom, resulting in the deaths of more than two thousand junior guards and natives. The cause of death was a chain reaction triggered by a terrifying zombie outbreak, leading to horrific infighting.

Although the bizarre zombie attack was quickly suppressed by the guards who rushed to the Holy Land, it put Wesley under tremendous pressure.

In the kingdom, the vast majority of the native inhabitants are producers without combat capabilities. If these evil gods' minions were to infiltrate the kingdom through its weakest point, it would put the entire kingdom in an extremely passive position. It was precisely because of this terrible attack that Wesley urgently believed that all of these evil gods' minions must be eradicated immediately.

“Two things happened today,” Wesley said, getting straight to the point as he entered the spacious conference room and took his seat. “One thing is that one of the evil god’s henchmen, skilled in the use of death, personally orchestrated a horrific zombie attack. The other thing is that an invisible force has infiltrated the Holy Land, and as many as five thousand junior guards and Holy Land defenders have been assassinated on the outskirts of the northern region.”

"All indications suggest that the kingdom can no longer afford to delay."

Wesley's face was ashen. "The Holy War, originally planned after the Crimson Night Flood, has now been moved forward!"

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

In his dazed state, Li Lan seemed to hear a lot of babbling around him. Among those babblings were mournful wails, angry roars, and gentle lullabies. A host of negative emotions, including mystery, fear, and irritability, surged into his heart all at once.

In an instant, as if jolted awake, he felt himself suddenly sit up in a daze.

Looking around, all that could be seen was a bottomless darkness, with no one or anything visible.

"Where...where am I...?"

After muttering to himself for a few moments, Li Lan suddenly felt a chill on his back, as if something had climbed up his back, brushed past his neck, and wrapped around his body.

"This is..." A bone-chilling coldness surged from her spine, quickly spreading throughout her body, instantly waking Li Lan up completely.

Is this a hallucination?!

"Am I still asleep?"

Instinctively trying to get up, Li Lan found herself unable to move, as if she were experiencing sleep paralysis.

It was at this moment that Li Lan saw that the hands encircling his neck were two slender, pale female hands. Those elegant fingers lifted slightly, gently stroking his cheek, and then...

"Are you the new master? Would you be a coward like her?"

The whispered voice, dreamlike and alluring, carried a devilish temptation.

Fear continued to spread in Li Lan's heart. At the critical moment, on the eve of his emotional collapse, he instinctively shouted "courage" in his heart. Immediately, the rapidly collapsing emotions were stabilized by the strong positive energy that surged from his heart, and his brain resumed functioning.

"Who are you?!" This was Li Lan's first sentence after regaining her composure, a sentence filled with intense hostility.

"Who am I? Heh heh," the unidentified thing behind him chuckled, the laughter gradually turning into a strange, raucous sound. "My true name is North Enki, your most loyal servant and the supreme master of fate. My dear master, fate has already changed. Would you be willing to observe it once? Perhaps I can change your destiny."

"North Enki?" Li Lan's mind went blank for a moment, and a sense of horror washed over her.

He hadn't forgotten the name North Enki; it was a name the Flame Witch had once mentioned, her former best friend.

If I'm not mistaken, North Enki is the true owner of the "Book of Judgment," and also the pitiful witch who was killed by the Flame Witch.