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

Seeing that it was about to become mincemeat under von Dahl's hammer, the little devil, at its wit's end, revealed its ferocious nature. It decisively threw the stone in its hand at Leslaufer and bit down on the witch's fleshy and fat arm.

"Smash it!" it screamed in agony as the bones of the hag's arm cracked. "Come to hell with me, fat hag!"

Chapter 290 The Death of the Witch

"No!"

Even though the little devil had bitten off a piece of her flesh, the old hag had no time to bother with it.

At the same time, the Heart Stone that Barbasabalon had thrown was already close to Leslaufer, who had no regard for the magical item that annoyed him. He swung his sword with one arm and smashed it into a small pile of scattered fragments with a single blow!

The witch's two greatest assets have now completely failed!

"Your end is nigh, hag!" the dwarf roared as he charged again. With such an opportunity, he could no longer hold back. As the hag's claws slashed at him, the dwarf raised his left arm to meet the attack. His naturally strong limbs clashed together, sparks flying.

The witch was not only out of her mind, but had practically gone mad. Suddenly, she swung her staff in her other hand, meeting Angelita's descending sword head-on: "Get out of my way!" she roared, letting the sword crack her staff, from which wisps of ominous black smoke escaped.

"You forced me to this!" Amidst the swirling black mist, the Night Witch's eyes suddenly turned white. Her skin transformed into a bluish-purple, like the night sky, and a pair of slender, curved horns sprouted from her forehead. At that very moment, von Dahl, Daisy, and Angrita, who were attacking her, simultaneously experienced a violent sense of weightlessness. A powerful force instantly hurled them away, slamming all three against the surrounding walls!

"How come there's a second tier—" Daisy struggled to get up, but her harp had already flown out of her hand. The poet, who had lost her handy magic weapon, was immediately beaten by the witch in a fit of rage, and fainted with her body covered in wounds.

"And as for you!"

The hag pointed at Raslaufer, the only one still standing: "Is this what you wanted? Is this the result you wanted! You just wanted to disgust the hag and then all die here, but I will never let you have your way!"

"You will become my new slaves! But before that, I will tear every bone in your body apart and crush it to pieces, you lowly soldier!"

“You can no longer escape from this world. I don’t know what else you have to rely on.” Raslaufer stared at the hag’s movements. She had already entered the mercenaries’ attack range, but Raslaufer did not rush to make a move. He suddenly plunged his battle knife into the ground. Before the hag could react, her right hand had already grabbed his left arm and pushed it upwards without any mercy!

The shattered bone tips pierced through muscles and fascia, sending clear pain to its owner every second. Yet, Raslaw simply clenched his left fist, gripped the hellish sword tightly with his right hand, and took a deep breath of the bloody air.

"You!" Even the witch was startled by Leslaufer's actions. "I thought the one on your right was the one that didn't belong to you!"

Leslaufer didn't answer, but instead accelerated towards the hag, slicing his sword into her bones with terrifying force. Before the monster could react, his left fist slammed into half of her face!

Its power is as strong as if it had never been broken!

A piercing pain shot through Raslaufer's heart with the recoil, yet this did nothing to stop him. On the contrary, the physical pain only fueled his ferocity, and the ferocity only intensified the pain!

The old hag's body fell to the ground first, her bones caught in the sword, making it impossible for her to escape from Raslaufer's fist. At first, she kept twisting and turning on the ground, trying to escape or fight back, but from some point on, all that was left under Dopler's control was a stinking carcass that did not react at all. Under his storm-like bombardment, it began to slowly lose its elasticity!

“Uncle Raslaufer, that’s… enough…” Angelita weakly got up. The violent impact had left her with serious injuries, but thankfully she hadn’t fainted. “She… she’s dead.”

With a "whoosh," the gauntlet, soaked inside and out in blood and bits of flesh, came to a stop in mid-air, halting the surrounding gust of wind. The bloodlust in Raslaufer's eyes gradually faded, leaving only the corpse of the creature, whose original appearance was no longer recognizable.

The witch's head, along with half of her body above it, had lost its supporting skeleton and lay there limply like a mud monster, with no chance of survival whatsoever.

“Anne! Leslaufer!” “Your Excellency Leslaufer!”

The two looked up and saw Bella, Mary, and two spotted cat-people bursting in from outside: "The undead have all stopped moving! You guys—Edas!"

Black Claw charged forward, circling around Leslaufer with fear and awe. The creature sensed its master's injuries and wanted to comfort him but dared not approach.

“Go wake Daisy up first,” Raslaw effortlessly picked up his battle knife—the same knife that had rubbed against the hag’s arm bone during the fight, eventually severing the entire arm.

"Oh, okay!" At this moment, Leslaufer was sitting on the witch's corpse, looking extremely tired, but Bella did not dare to contradict him at all. She quickly prepared a healing spell and rescued the unconscious Daisy. The two of them went to treat Leslaufer, as well as Angreta and von Dahl.

The pain in his left arm gradually disappeared with the music. Raslaufer moved his arm, which was no longer uncomfortable, and nodded to Daisy with satisfaction: "Thanks."

“There’s no need to be so polite—” “I’m not just talking about that.”

"Uh—" Daisy laughed awkwardly upon hearing this, "Um, did we get caught?"

“We’re complete strangers, it’s unlikely that little thing would risk its life for us like this,” Leslaufer said, tapping the large chunk of flesh missing from the hag’s arm with the tip of his knife. “What will happen to it now that its master is dead?”

“Well, anyway, I’m free, so I don’t need to worry too much about that,” Daisy pondered for a moment, then whispered, “Should I tell everyone? After all, it’s still quite risky, and with a…”

“What’s so risky about traveling with a poet?” Leslaufer glanced at her, and seeing that Angelita and the other woman were still receiving treatment, he added, “It’s just a literal thank you, don’t overthink it.”

"I don't have any prejudice against it. It's just a devil, it's not like I haven't killed one before."

"You can only bully those weak guys..." Zheng Ling muttered weakly in Daisy's mind link, but this stubbornness did not bring her much sense of security.

Is this some kind of warning? Is this man, who doesn't seem to be very intelligent, using this to warn himself?

Chapter 291 A Skull

The witch was dead; her body was burned to ashes by the crowd, while the fallen druids were properly buried in the woods behind the Society. Bella's power was far from sufficient to restore the corrupted woods to normal, but they had done their best to take care of the druids of the Oguri Society.

The parts of the hag's stock that could be used by ordinary people were naturally looted. Vondar even chipped off some metal blocks from the adamantite golem that could be melted down. However, when the dwarves did this, they unexpectedly discovered a strange "thing".

A white skull, impaled on a broken wooden stake, appears to be a former enemy of the witch, and has been crafted into a unique work of art.

“Something’s not right,” Daisy said, examining the skull closely. “There’s still a spirit in it, but it doesn’t look like a magical object. It’s really strange…”

“Perhaps he was the great druid of this place?” Bella guessed. “Perhaps his attachment to the earth was so profound that even after his martyrdom, the aura still lingered on his skull.”

“That sounds a little creepy,” Daisy rubbed her arms and whispered. “Are you really sure this is something that would happen to a proper Archdruid?”

“Maybe…maybe,” Bella thought, the image of Ruffer’s head flashing through her mind, and she felt a chill run down her spine. “I was just saying it offhand. I haven’t finished reading the books the temple priests gave me…”

“Then let it stay here,” Angelita finally decided. “Don’t let it stay stuck on the pole. Put it in a box or something, so that if other druids come along, they can deal with it.”

Ordinary remains can be buried naturally, but the skeletons that still possess spiritual energy are difficult for everyone to handle, so they can only help it move to another place. After settling it in, they all turned around and left the stone hall.

Shortly after they left, two pale blue will-o'-the-wisps suddenly lit up between the skull's eye sockets with a "poof," accompanied by a long sigh.

"Nightingale, nightingale, you wretched thing, you've gone and died, leaving me here all alone... What am I to do?"

"I'm just a head, incapable of doing anything. Am I destined to remain like this until my last vestiges of spirituality are consumed? If so, what's the point of everything I've done, merely to allow you to steal my work and then have it burned to ashes—"

No, that won't happen.

The skull muttered to itself, completely unaware of the voice that suddenly echoed from the side: "What can't you do? Back when I had a whole body, I couldn't do anything, so what can I possibly accomplish now?"

"I truly regret sending Nightingale to find that brooch, but who knew that such a small brooch would ultimately lead to Nightingale's death here? I... wait! Who's speaking?!"

"That's what we should be asking you."

Within the eerie gaze of those two will-o'-the-wisps, figures that had just left inexplicably returned, gathering around the skull without exception. It could even feel a surge of heat on its head; that must have been the strange-looking, feathered giant lizard.

“You can talk after all,” Leslaufer said, picking up the skull with one hand and looking directly at the two will-o'-the-wisps. “Tell me, who are you? Why are you here? And what is your relationship with that Night Witch?”

“I… sigh, could you put me down first, or hold my chin up? I feel like it’s going to fall off,” the skull said, though it didn’t rely on speaking. “You want to know who I am? That’s a simple question: I’m a witch too, just dead for many years.”

"He was killed by the nightingale."

"why?"

“Why? Good question. I’ve asked her that question, and I’ve asked it myself,” the will-o’-the-wisp flickered in the skull. “You know, the witch can actually choose what kind of being she wants to be and use that to pass the time. Maybe it’s a lifetime, maybe it’s just a few hundred years. In short, we can transform our form and become completely different from before.”

“I used to be a witch who lived in the forest, and according to your classification, I belonged to the green witch. Later, I got tired of it and decided to try being a night witch, so I started preparing all the materials needed for the conversion ritual.”

"I am, well, a rather meticulous witch, but ordinary materials are not enough for me, so I traveled to many planes and worlds in search of a way to become a more powerful night witch. Finally, I succeeded, but not by much, only half."

"That soul bag, was it your creation?" Daisy immediately thought of the human skin bag that defied common sense.

“No, I only have a blueprint, it’s not finished. Nightingale sewed it herself,” said the witch’s skull. “There’s also the Heart Stone. An ordinary Heart Stone couldn’t make her jump back and forth between the ethereal plane and the mortal world. That’s my work.”

"Unfortunately, it's been ruined by the handsome guy who's holding me now."

Leslaufer didn't know if the old hag was flattering or being sarcastic, but given her distorted aesthetic sense, being praised by her was clearly nothing to be proud of.

“You want to be a powerful witch, and she wants to be a powerful witch too,” Leslaufer nodded, “but what does that have to do with the brooch?”

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that. It was a key to a mausoleum. If it's gone, it's gone. Actually, you could see it as a trap I set for Nightingale to get revenge on her for turning me into this grotesque state."

"But it's no longer needed. I saw with my own eyes how you turned her into mincemeat. Tsk tsk tsk, she has no means to revive or maintain her life."

Raslaufer nodded upon hearing this: "If she can't be resurrected, that's for the best. But as for that brooch, you seemed to be struggling to understand why she died from your earlier mutterings? That brooch is in my possession."

The will-o'-the-wisp within the skull suddenly swelled, and when it saw Leslaufer take out the brooch, the entire skull was almost completely engulfed by the flames: "This is it! This is it! But I heard it wasn't in..."

“His Excellency Raslaufer saved our lives,” Sistine said at the opportune moment, “and this is our way of thanking him.”

“Spotted Cat People, that matches up, matches up…” The will-o’-the-wisp dimmed a bit, but it was still burning brightly compared to before. “But your purpose is definitely different from mine, right? So, why are you going there? That reason might be very important.”

Chapter 292 The Converging Mausoleum

After obtaining the consent of Raslaufer and the others, Sistine revealed her intention to steal the treasure from the tomb. She originally thought that they would be furious or show contempt and ridicule, after all, the Night Witch had done just that.

However, to her surprise and that of everyone else, the skull did not show any signs of life; instead, it revealed a faint sense of nostalgia.

“Treasure…yes, that’s right, there should be quite a lot of treasure there, all left behind by him…”

"he?"

“Naturally, it’s the owner of the tomb, right? You probably already know that a descendant of the Popazobote family is buried there.” The skull made a “clattering” sound. “To be precise, the last descendant, because after him, the Popazobote family changed their name to something like… the Popenos family.”

"What's your name?!"

This surprised everyone, not just the others, but even Leslaufer, who hadn't paid much attention to the matter: "The Popenos family! The Popenos from the Kingdom of Pope?"

“Who else could it be? I’ve never heard of anyone with the same name,” the skull said. “You all seem quite surprised. Why is that?”

"Of course I'm surprised! Because if things go as expected, they're probably going to be rolling in money!" Daisy exclaimed. "They messed with a kid they shouldn't have in their power struggle, and now they're all in trouble!"

"Hmm... Is that so? Is that really how it is?" After hearing about Edward's story, the skull showed a strange emotion. It didn't seem very surprised, but the way things had turned out was indeed beyond its expectations. "If that's really the case... Could you do me a favor and take a trip to the mausoleum?"

“…You should have mentioned it earlier, that was the trap you were preparing for Granny Nightingale,” Mary said after a long pause, “This kind of dangerous information is not easy to forget.”

“Of course, of course, but as I said, it’s a trap prepared for ‘Nightingale,’ not for you,” the skull thought for a moment. “You can take me with you, which will save you a lot of time and effort. The most important trap is actually my own resurrection. You’ll be fine as long as you don’t put my skull in the corresponding position.”

"Instead of speculating with each other like this, why don't we just not go?" Although Angelita had been very interested in the tomb before, now that the trap was obvious, she couldn't possibly set foot there easily.

"Oh, of course you can. I'm just a skeleton. There's nothing I can do about what you want to do."

“But from what you said before, Edward got along quite well with you, right? And if I’m not mistaken, the gears set in motion by that prophecy are about to start turning.”

"Let me confirm first, is there a cult or something with a symbol of five lines active outside right now? I don't know how they would present themselves, maybe just lines, maybe tentacles, or maybe five dragon heads representing Tiamat, anyway, it's some kind of organization."

Upon hearing this, Raslaw and Daisy exchanged a glance: that Dragonfinger, and that Wheat Harvester!

"How did you know!" Raslaufer raised the skull high, ready to smash it to pieces at any moment. "You're one of them too?!"

“No, I have no interest in dragons roaming the land. Dragons, giants, elves, dwarves, humans—they all make no difference to me,” the hag’s skull said, her voice surprisingly sincere rather than sarcastic—which amplified her danger. “But I don’t know if you know anything about Chargigi Popazobote. Perhaps you remember him as the sorcerer Chargigi. As the progenitor of the Popazobote family and a powerful spellcaster, he was also quite accomplished in prophecy.”

"He was the one who made that prophecy, and many years later, his descendant, who is my... no, the owner of that tomb, found a way to break it. A way to make that prophecy completely fail."

“We have dealt with one of the five organizations, called the Harvest Society, who released the devil into the world and sank the upper city of Tilted Barrel,” Angelita said in a deep voice. “I’m afraid their prophecy has failed.”

“Little girl, you don’t understand what I mean,” the skull said, lacking a neck to shake its head. “Did I say they were ‘a collection of five organizations’? They will only ever be one organization.”

"Just as tentacles can often regenerate after being severed, even if I haven't seen them, I can guess that your so-called five organizations are nothing but a decoy. When one is cut off, another will take its place, but the damage they cause will take a long time to heal until the prophecy is fully fulfilled."

"So the only way to really disable them is to join them—'You have to be behind someone before you can stab them in the back.'"

“Interested? I’ll resurrect you, infiltrate them, and become one of the five organizations to secure my position. Their prophecy will fail, and that gifted kid named Edward can continue his life.”

"otherwise……"

"If you're going to make any threats, you'd better not."

The skull swayed in Raslaufer's hand: "There's no threat, just a possibility—dragons are no longer the main characters on the stage, not even the famous Bite of Colin Otto. So if they want dragons to walk on the land again, they'll have to invite another formidable character to take center stage."

"Who could it be? Those kind metallic dragons with their shimmering scales probably wouldn't agree, and the gem dragons probably wouldn't be interested either. So it must be one of the chromatic dragons, a being with a name."

"For example... the red dragon Asadron? For example, Tiamat?"

"Leaving aside other places, at least Inassus and western Inassus will be devastated. Even if a few kids in their teens have great abilities, what role can they play in this? And when things are beyond repair... won't you regret it even a little bit? If you had made a deal with me right now, would the outcome have been different?"

“You are not to be trusted,” von Dahl said in a deep voice. “None of the witches are trustworthy!”

“I don’t intend to refute that, dwarf. I naturally have my own reasons and my own plans,” the witch’s skull readily admitted. “But think about it, I’m just a witch, and the kind that can’t even beat a nightingale. Compared to an ancient dragon that might descend, which is more dangerous? I think it’s very clear.”

"By the way, you could all play the role of this 'undercover agent' yourselves, but you certainly wouldn't do it any better than me. Do you know why?"

"Because when that prophecy that deciphered the prophecy appeared, I was right next to it and didn't miss a single letter."

Chapter 293 Popazobote Cemetery

Ultimately, everyone decided to take the skull with them.

Western Inassus, as the crossroads of the Empire, Inassus, and Korathond, may not be considered of paramount importance, but it is certainly a place of great influence. Any changes there will inevitably affect everything around it.

If an ancient dragon that has lived for at least 1,200 years has truly been summoned here, no one can escape responsibility.

“But we can’t be sure if we’ll resurrect you, so you’d better behave yourself,” Mary warned the creature in the animal skin bag from time to time as she carried the skull. “If you have any ill intentions, don’t blame us for crushing you and feeding you to Black Claw!”

The Deinonychus tilted its head, not understanding why this young human was suddenly calling its name.