Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"What an ugly thing?!"

The sudden fright nearly terrified the confident Night Witch, but Raslaufer was equally startled. The mercenary's first reaction was to throw a punch, but the monster vanished from his sight in an instant, as if it had become invisible.

Raslaufer's return to lucidity was no accident. Although new victims stopped bothering him after the arm transplant, the old ones persisted. And when they began to disappear one by one, it would be strange if Raslaufer didn't regain his senses!

“Where did you run off to…” Raslaufer grabbed the greatsword from the bedside table but didn’t make any pointless slashes. He cautiously looked around and saw Daisy, who was on night watch, lying at the table.

The attacker seems well-prepared, but who is she? And why is she targeting me?

Chapter 281 No one comes to keep the mother-in-law company.

How did you regain consciousness?!

The reappearance of the witch seemed even more surprised than Leslaufer, but when she disappeared and reappeared in the material plane again, her surprise turned into mockery: "You can't defeat me, you fool! You haven't even learned how to use a sword yet!"

Such an insult was going too far. With a deafening explosion, a large hole was punched in the wall by Raslaufer, but the damned, hideous monster reappeared behind him, reaching out its claws to grab Raslaufer's shoulder.

"Give up! If I can't give you nightmares, then your reality is part of those nightmares! Give me back my poor little souls!"

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Raslaufer retaliated, but his attack landed on empty air again. This frustrated the mercenary, but he couldn't think of a good solution for the time being: "Dare to come out and fight!"

"Won't that be too tiring for you, little one? You killed so many people during the day, yet you didn't leave a single soul for your grandmother!" the Night Demon Granny said coldly. "In that case, your grandmother will have no choice but to take you away!"

The frustration of not being able to succeed was mutual; while Leslaufer couldn't easily strike the Witch, the Witch also struggled to pose a real threat to Leslaufer. In fact, if the Witch didn't possess a Heartstone that allowed her to travel between the material and ethereal planes, she would have already escaped.

"Did she say 'mother-in-law'?" Daisy whispered to Zhengling, "Could it be—"

"First, I know who you're thinking of, but we can't confirm if it's her or if that name will work; second, do you really have complete mastery of that spell? You only have one chance to ambush her. If you fail, a witch who escapes unscathed will keep harassing you, and you'll have an extremely troublesome enemy!"

Zhengling's warning forced Daisy to continue lying in wait, but even without seeing what was happening, she knew from the sound that Leslaufer couldn't be easily taken down.

“The soul? I’ve been thinking about that too,” Raslaufer drew his sword and suddenly attacked, tearing a piece of rotten flesh from the hag’s body. But even a weapon from hell couldn’t harm an enemy in the ethereal realm. “Unfortunately, I haven’t found anyone to blame yet!”

"Then you'd better hurry up and look, because my patience is very limited!" The wounded witch shrieked, appearing in front of Angelita's bedside in a flash, pointing a finger at her. "Don't come any closer, or I'll drag this little brat into her worst nightmare! And then!"

The witch flung out a dark leather sack, its open mouth seemingly emanating an evil aura from another world: "Then her soul can go back with me!"

"Not only that, none of your companions will escape!"

"What kind of bag is this?! This isn't an ordinary soul bag!" Zheng Ling's horrified voice rang out in Daisy's mind link. "A soul bag can only hold one soul, but this one contains... damn it, hundreds of souls! I'm afraid the souls of the entire town have been put inside! This is definitely going to cause a huge problem!"

“Only four-fifths,” Daisy interjected. “Wait a minute, how did you see that? I can’t see it!”

"I'm just using your harp to connect with you, not you yourself," the devil muttered. "But this isn't the time to talk about that now. We must take that thing away. I'm afraid only the flames of purgatory can completely purify it!"

"Is it to boost your sales figures?" "If that's how you interpret it, then I have nothing more to say."

"What do I get out of this?" "The benefit is—you can prevent your friends from getting into that bag too! She did it!"

Zheng Ling wasn't just bluffing. Unsure of what tricks the other was up to, Leslaufer had to slow his pace. However, the witch wasn't about to give up. This monster had no concept of boundaries. Seeing Leslaufer hesitate, the vengeful witch let out a triumphant laugh and pointed a finger down!

"She must be very important to you, right? That's great! Let her come and keep me company, um—come and keep me company!"

"Come keep me company!!"

The old hag roared and pressed down again, but this time she was met not by Leslaufer's iron pincers, but by a sudden burst of emerald green sword light. If the old hag hadn't been experienced this time, her head would probably have fallen off the bed!

"How can you be unaffected?! That's impossible!"

“Thank goodness for Uncle Torreslaufer, I’ve had enough nightmares already,” Angrita thrust her sword forward, but a fiery arrow secretly shot out from beneath the blade, piercing the hag’s abdomen before she could react. “You’ve only helped alleviate my suffering!”

"But you still have plenty of companions!"

The ethereal hag reappeared in a disheveled state, but before she could inflict Margaret's nightmare, the night watchwoman at the other end of the room suddenly slammed her hand on the table. A gleaming psionic spear materialized from the poet's brow, accompanied by a sharp shriek that Daisy had been holding back for so long. In an instant, the spear transformed into a streak of light, heading straight for the hag's heart.

"If I call your name, will you dare to answer—Grandma Nightingale!"

"Laurohim's Mind Spear!"

"Do not--!"

The witch immediately tried to use the Heart Stone to transfer the spell again to avoid this unexpected and deadly spell. This trick always works because no matter how fast a person's movements are, they cannot outpace the speed of their thoughts. However, this time, the attack also came from the mind!

A single, decisive blow!

"Get out of here!" The Night Witch screamed in agony, enduring the soul-shaking tremors caused by the psionic spear, and forcibly vanished from this plane. She never imagined that such a powerful expert was hidden here! If her centuries of knowledge were correct, it was a spell created by a dragon!

The mortal who has the luck and talent to learn this kind of magic is no ordinary person. She has learned enough lessons tonight and must leave immediately!

However, when Grandma Nightingale finally appeared in the Chestnut Grove, panting heavily, she instinctively touched her waist—the Heart Stone, which was of utmost importance to her, was still there, but the equally important Soul Bag was gone!

“Even the soundest sleeper would be awakened by this noise…” Margaret wearily raised her hand, the bag covered in disgusting grease now in her grasp.

Angelita was both surprised and delighted: "You're alright, Mary! How did you do that?"

“I opened my eyes, and it was right there in front of me,” Margaret whispered. “It was just something I did on a whim, but—”

The eerie pocket suddenly began to shake violently, and ominous wails echoed in everyone's ears, as if it were about to explode at any moment.

"Throw it out, quick!" Daisy's eyes flashed, then returned to normal. "This thing has devoured too many souls; it's about to go out of control!"

Chapter 282 Reunion with the Spotted Catman

"boom!"

Before Margaret could even throw the bag through the hole carved out by Leslaufer and land, the witch's soul bag exploded violently in mid-air. An invisible shockwave swept across the night sky, and in the vision of some, a collection of spirits with a diameter of about two or three meters had escaped its restraints and appeared above the town of Ersore amidst the wailing of negative energy!

"This is truly bizarre! It's like a psychic version of that fleshy ball we encountered before!" Vondar yelled. "Old Ray, use your hellfire-forged sword! Ordinary weapons won't be able to harm this thing!"

“You don’t need to tell me that!” Raslaufer had already planted his greatsword to the side. “But I’d like to know, what is this thing?”

“The ones you didn’t kill during the day!” Daisy grabbed her mattress, trying to drown out the monster’s wails with music. “Now they’re coming for your lives!”

"Taking my life? I think it's more like sending me to my death!"

The mercenary, laughing wildly, leaped out of the hole, brandishing his sword: "I hope you don't hide!"

The Blade of Purgatory seemed to have a special effect on aggregates of souls. When Raslaufer swung that deadly weapon, the aggregate of countless souls howled in terror, trying to pull its massive body in different directions to dodge. But in the end, Raslaufer could only pass through it, causing dozens of souls to vanish in an instant.

"Don't cut them! Don't cut them!" Daisy shouted down towards the hole. "Let them come together again so they can't escape everywhere!"

"These souls have been corrupted. If they escape alone, they will turn into ghosts or other monsters, and then you will really have to hunt them down in the ethereal realm!"

The mercenary hadn't paid much attention to the earlier words, but the last sentence really struck a chord with him. He immediately sheathed his sword and cautiously swung it one by one, afraid that these guys might actually burrow into the ethereal surface.

This undead aggregate contained a chaotic mix of thoughts, preventing it from successfully burrowing into the ethereal plane. Even after Raslaufer severed the remaining small fragment of souls with his final strike, they were unable to travel to other planes before completely disappearing.

"That's interesting..."

Zhengling murmured in Daisy's mind, "This time I observed the whole process carefully. He couldn't bind these spirits, but the power of purgatory also failed to work—neither his arm nor that knife. What could be the reason?"

“Wait, maybe they all work, but they conflict with each other and are incompatible... It’s like two children fighting over a toy, which eventually causes the toy to fall into a ditch. Those souls are sent to other places.”

"Other places? Like the abyss? Can you please stop being a riddle-maker? It's so annoying."

“How would I know? I’m just an actress locked in the hostess’s theater, a pathetic wretch who reads the devil and writes the debtor’s words. How am I supposed to track them down?”

"Or I could ask the mistress for you, but you know..."

“Then forget it!” Daisy exclaimed, startled. “Even if I’m not happy with my life, I still want to live for now, not to mention that I’m quite happy with my life right now!”

"So, that's the end?" Margaret and the others rushed downstairs. "Sorry, I think I stole something terrible..."

“No, no, no, you did the right thing! Absolutely right!” Bella quickly interrupted her. “If this thing had remained in that monster’s hands, it would have been used for something terrible! Without you, we probably wouldn’t have had any chance to thwart this plot!”

“You’ve been a great help, Mary,” Angelita nodded in agreement. “But this matter is probably not over yet. There are always rumors about witches in the Empire, and we have to be careful to get rid of them each time. We can’t let her continue to exist in such a dangerous way.”

“But where are we going to find her?” Fontaine agreed with this view, but asked, “The people here can’t give directions anymore.”

“But there’s one more place where people can do it!” Bella exclaimed, a sudden inspiration. “Remember the Oguri Society, those druids!”

“The townsman said they were all bad people, but if the people here, even the shapeshifters, have been corrupted by that hag, the situation might be quite the opposite. I can send Jumpy to scout ahead and negotiate, and then we'll go visit them!”

Bella's idea was indeed a good one, and the group immediately sent their most capable assistant, Jump, as a messenger, while the others continued to sleep soundly until dawn.

The Night Witch was probably terrified, or perhaps she knew her soul bag was ruined, so she didn't come back to do evil. Even after the sun rose again, the deserted town didn't become "lively" again.

However, just as everyone was packing their things and preparing to leave, they unexpectedly encountered two familiar faces at the entrance of the town.

"Praise be to the Lord of Cats! There are still living people here!"

When they saw that the people who came out were Leslaufer and his group, the two spotted cat-men who had been bent over and their fur standing on end finally relaxed. Sistine even raised her hands to indicate that she had no hostility or vigilance whatsoever.

"My brother and I eventually decided to risk coming back to see what was going on, but... what exactly happened here? It's like a nightmare!"

“We dare not go in… Did some monster sweep through this town?” Rosso stammered. “But thankfully, you survived… My sister and I should have warned you not to go near here.”

“You should have pointed that out,” Leslaufer said, scrutinizing the two men. “You’ve stated that the Rangers here have been replaced by shapeshifters, but do you know anything more?”

“For example…?” Sistine shuddered involuntarily, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

“For example, this place has actually been completely corrupted by a Night Witch, and all the townspeople, regardless of their original nature, have been completely replaced, and that witch who calls herself Nightingale is always ready to harvest their souls.” Daisy’s words startled the two spotted cat people so much that they fell to the ground.

“And there’s something even more interesting: when I mentioned you, those people and shapeshifters driven by the witch started attacking us recklessly, trying to find out your whereabouts,” Leslaufer said with a playful look in his eyes, like a lion ready to snatch the hyenas’ prey and devour them alive. “You two can’t say you have no clue about this, can you?”

Rosso's trousers were damp and warm, and his voice was trembling with tears: "We really didn't know this would happen!"

Chapter 283 Unmanned Sales

If possible, Sistine and Rosso would rather avoid their fellow rangers than have any contact with the witch. However, thanks to this, they managed to escape the town quickly, before the witch could actually harm them.

Although it only takes a finger to haunt a person with nightmares, complete corruption is a gradual process, and the witch cannot turn a person into a lamb to the slaughter in just a few days.

“I’ve heard the story of Granny Nightingale, but I never imagined… Good heavens,” Rosso said, his eyes glazed over. “But if that’s the case, wouldn’t killing the entire town’s inhabitants have been sending a whole bunch of souls to that old woman?”

“Unfortunately, she was too greedy and ended up empty-handed,” Angelita spread her hands. “She ended up with nothing but her own life.”

"However, we think it might be better not to keep this part either."

"I'll go with you!"

Sistine hesitated for a moment, then resolutely looked up and said, "I'll go with you! I need to ask her face to face why she did this!"

"Sister?!" Rosso exclaimed in shock. "We can't even defeat the shapeshifters she sent!"

“But what if we have to live in hiding for the rest of our lives, afraid she’ll come looking for us?” Sistine shouted. “Or should we confess to her that we gave the brooch to our benefactors?”

"Even so, she won't let us go! Now that we've gotten involved, we can't expect to get away easily! We might as well just tell her directly that we're worthless and will only die faster!"

Sistine was clear-headed, but her actions were indeed reckless. She drew her dagger and brandished it, saying, "Let's settle this face to face and be done with it!"

“Your courage is commendable, but I advise you to stay in the back,” Raslaw pointed to Margaret behind him. “Just stay with her; you can be of use if needed.”

Sistine was extremely grateful for this "tolerance," not to mention that the return of Jumpy the squirrel after traveling for a while made them feel extremely safe.

They didn't just impulsively decide to seek their own death!

“We’d better be more careful,” Bella said, her expression growing serious after hearing Jump’s story. She stroked Jump’s ruffled fur. “The Society’s druids are probably all dead. We shouldn’t ask for directions. That hag has taken over the Society as its base.”

"Jump was discovered by her, but fortunately the old hag seemed to be held back by something and couldn't act in time, allowing the little guy to escape—she was terrified."

Jump is a clever friend, but at this moment her eyes are darting around, and she can't believe everything around her. Only Bella's gentle touch can make her feel a little safe.

"Why do you say that almost all the druids there are dead?" "Jump Jump said it's similar to the situation in the town." "Okay, I understand."

“Although it might seem like we’re alerting her, since she’s busy with other things right now, it might be the perfect time for us to come and bother her,” Daisy said, her eyes darting around. “Hopefully, that matter will continue to distract her.”

“Don’t worry, she will,” Zheng Ling said confidently in her mind link. “Finding someone in the entire Purgatory is not easy, but one of the theater’s waiters is free. He made contact with that ‘prisoner’ in a very discreet way, and now I’m using that resource.”

"Hmm...you're not planning to use this to threaten me, are you?"

“We have a mutually supportive relationship, and I don’t want things to get too awkward between us,” Zheng Ling’s sweet laughter sounded like it was hiding a deadly poison. “Let’s talk about it when you completely trust me. Actually, you know, it’s not uncommon for magic contract masters and sect leaders to have a harmonious relationship.”

“Let’s talk about it when I completely trust you,” Daisy shrugged.

“I hope so,” von Dahl rubbed his left arm, which looked perfectly normal, though the bard now knew it was not as simple as it seemed. “But we are in the daytime and none of us are sleeping, so the situation looks very favorable to us.”

Bella gave a noncommittal "hmm": "But don't be careless. Witches are natural spellcasters, and she can hide in the ethereal plane. Another thing I'm most worried about is whether she has joined any witch gatherings."

"When three witches of the same ilk get together, their power will swell as much as their evil, and if that happens, it will be dangerous."

Even the devil couldn't answer this: the witch's gatherings were highly secretive, and that wasn't information she could possibly know.

The crowd fell silent for a moment. Sistine and Rosso nervously adjusted their weapons. For tomb raiders who hadn't experienced many large-scale battles, facing a hag was already a very challenging situation. In contrast, Angelita and the others were not so tense. Raslaufer seemed completely relaxed, as if he wouldn't be afraid even if he faced a giant dragon.

That's not true.

"What's ahead?" As the road gradually turned into a dirt track and narrowed into a path, the trees on both sides began to block out the sunlight overhead. However, this was not a big deal for the spotted cat people. Even without using dark vision, their adjustable pupils were enough for them to see everything clearly ahead.

There were piles of things laid out by the roadside, seemingly open to anyone to pick them up, and around them were scattered a few coins, some copper and some silver, probably left behind by the customers of this "unmanned vending machine".