Witch Troupe and the Undead

Some were contacting suppliers, others were finding students to prepare for the start of construction, some were moving away the prototype model (just a model) to make room for the assembly platform, and still others were eagerly starting to draw detailed processing and manufacturing drawings. A group of people suddenly became busy, which made Roach, who was still worried that this design would cause the Imperial Academy's reputation to become strange, seem particularly... out of place.

The prototype will take a considerable amount of time to complete, and this work obviously doesn't require Roach's involvement, or rather, it has little to do with Roach during the preparation phase. The remaining professors are already calling on their apprentices to join the project team to start making some of the less difficult and demanding parts.

So Professor Roach returned to his mundane (?) teaching life, spending his days in the monotonous cycle of handing out papers, explaining wrong answers, giving lectures, and handing out new papers. Initially, the students found Roach's tedious teaching very uncomfortable, but after experiencing a few days of Old Ma's "quality education," they began to miss Professor Roach's cramming teaching.

"Who are these...?" As soon as Roach came out of the testing ground, he saw a row of wooden poles erected in the front yard of the academy, with several people tied to each pole and hanging like wind chimes. "Does the academy also double as an execution ground?"

"Before it became a school, this place was indeed an execution ground. The guard tower over there used to be where the executioners lived." Ms. Elena walked over, leaning on her long cane. Behind her was Lulua, the Night Clan girl, still dressed as a "night-shade church ascetic" with her black hair flowing down her shoulders, barefoot, and wearing only simple, plain clothes. She was carrying an unconscious student in her hand and skillfully hung him on a wooden pole.

"What did they do?" Roach examined the guys hanging on the wooden poles as a warning. Goodness, there were both men and women. Surely they couldn't have gotten into a murder at school, could they?

"It was requested by Miss Livia."

"Huh?" At most, the little witch will tap you on the head when she's angry, or at worst, she'll use her magic to punish you slightly. She won't make things too serious. Besides, she has a very good temper and will try her best to satisfy any request that isn't too outrageous—provided you've become familiar with her.

So what heinous crimes did these students, who were being hung high up, commit? Surely they couldn't have been professing their love to a witch, could they? At most, it would be boys, so why are there girls among them? Has the atmosphere at Imperial Academy become this open? Roach didn't understand, but he was deeply shocked.

"Miss Livia has started taking potions classes these past few days."

"so?"

"So, they're just hanging here." Elena thought Roach could understand the logic behind it, but Roach didn't understand the connection between Livia's potions class and these students being hung up high.

"Did they cause trouble in class?"

"It's better to cause trouble." Then Roach understood. If Potions class was like a chemistry class, this was probably more serious than pouring kerosene on a burning sodium block. At the very least, it was similar to stealing magnesium strips and setting them on fire on the playground during evening self-study. Such "mischievous" things as mixing aqua regia and pouring it on the floor to see the corrosion effect were not up to the task.

In Roach's understanding, to make the little witch this angry, she would at least have to be mixing explosives in class... No, he had already mixed explosives in alchemy class and blew himself away, so she shouldn't be this angry over such a "trivial matter".

"They blew up the classroom?" Now it was Elena's turn to look at Roach with surprise. How could he have thought of blowing up the classroom?

"They tried to concoct a dazed potion and then use it on Miss Livia, because she said she would check each potion individually."

"...The trance potion you mentioned, is it the one in that book 'Rare Potions of All Nations'? The one used for surgical treatment that makes people temporarily fall into a trance and absent-minded state?" Roach was a little speechless.

These people weren't killed by Alessina, but instead hung on the flagpole. It seems the little witch really has a good temper. That potion is used to numb pain and bodily sensation, thus making it easier to perform surgical amputations.

"Yes, but the point isn't what they did; the point is that they made the potion wrong, so..."

"Then the bottle exploded, and the young lady got sprayed all over her face and her clothes got dirty." Lulua gestured to Roach to describe the chaotic scene, because Livia's weak movement and reaction speed meant she couldn't dodge at all.

So she was sprayed in the face with that very strangely smelled potion, and a row of rashes quickly broke out on her face. You should know that her resistance to magic is very high. Under such circumstances, most healing potions will be very ineffective.

Even with a combination of advanced healing ointments and herbal balms, it took a whole day to get rid of the side effects. As a potion master, the little guy was said to have turned red with anger.

However, when all this happened, these unconventional guys were also hit one by one by the jumping staff and then lost consciousness. In Old Ma's words, they experienced the feeling of their souls leaving their bodies. The reason for hanging them outside was partly as punishment, and partly so that it could be used to cure their soul dissipation symptoms.

Those wooden poles are specially arranged ritual props that will gradually gather the souls and spirits of these people. After all, we can't really create a group of people in a vegetative state.

"Given Livia's abilities, that potion couldn't possibly have any effect..."

"The problem is that it's not a potion, it's a bottle of waste liquid," Elena complained. Even if they really made the Dizziness Potion, it would only make the little witch dazed for a few seconds at most. Even for a life-type witch like her who is not good at potion-making and has low magic resistance, being given such a potion would only have an effect of less than a minute.

The key point is that it wasn't a bottle of medicine, but a bottle of waste liquid. Given Livia's poor constitution and overly delicate skin, it was already quite good that she only developed a rash after being hit like that.

"I reminded her a long time ago that it's best to pass the theoretical exam first when studying Potions."

“Miss Livia thinks that after three years of theoretical study, they should be able to put their knowledge into practice.” Elena looked speechlessly at the intelligent people on the flagpole. How did they think they could concoct such difficult potions themselves?

"Sigh~~~~" Luo Qi sighed, "It's good that nothing bad happened. However, based on my understanding of Miss, these people won't be giving her a pleasant look from now on. She has a much better temper than you think, but she also holds grudges much more than you think."

Just think about how those elves died, and you'll understand.

"It's alright, as long as no one dies," Elena said indifferently. Besides, she hadn't spent much time with Livia, but even that short time was enough to make her certain that Livia wouldn't kill these students. At most, she would punish or tease them severely, which was a very light price to pay for teasing a Gold-level witch.

"But not everyone was unlucky. There were some nice people who helped the young lady get towels and water and even helped hold down the culprits." Then the little witch fed him strange snack boxes. Although Roach felt that giving those weird candies and snacks that would shout "Eat me" was hard to say whether it was repaying kindness with enmity.

Chapter 227 A Gathering of Heroes

The academy gives students about four days off each month, concentrated at the end of the month. Except for the lower-year students who are given a lot of homework to do at home, the upper-year students are pulled to work at the prototype workshop of the magic motorcycle, of course, without any pay.

Although it was already springtime, the temperature in the capital was still not high enough. The velvet curtains were drawn tightly, and the only light in the room came from the candlesticks on the table and the fireplace.

Livia sat on a soft chair, her white skirt draped down the seat. Her emerald eyes were focused on the old book open in her hands. She seemed serene and peaceful, but her small, naked feet under her skirt were swinging restlessly, revealing her rather good mood.

Seemingly sensing the heat of the fireplace, the little witch slightly raised her foot towards it, but the heat of the flames quickly made her feet itch, so she quickly withdrew, curled up under the chair, and disappeared into the shadows. After a while, she seemed to wait for the heat to dissipate before cautiously peeking out again.

Her light golden hair cascaded down one shoulder, falling onto the pages of the book and obscuring large areas of eerie and terrifying patterns that clashed completely with her appearance.

"Wicked Creatures and Sorcery" is a magic book that describes potion recipes and theories within the Sin Magic system. It is one of the forbidden magic books in the library, and only people like Livia can borrow it.

Of course, the librarians won't interfere with students entering the "black library" where these forbidden books are stored, provided that they can break the seals and don't end up in the school hospital while reading these magical texts.

The school hospital here isn't like Hogwarts, where they can treat all sorts of strange ailments. Although their potions and herbal remedies are more complete than those on the market, and the school's connections can get the priests from the Imperial Cathedral to help, that's about it. It doesn't mean they can cure everything. And most of the curses and magic on the spellbooks in the Black Archives don't fall into the category of "curable."

Because the potions of the Great Sin system belong to the "Void Realm," they emphasize the symbolism of the potions more, and their effects are qualitatively different from those of the other five realms. Their alchemy recipes often contain things like "a woman's beard" or "the sound of a cat's footsteps." Of course, these are all metaphors, referring to materials with the concepts of "nothingness" and "the boundaries of existence."

Without understanding the secret language among great sin mages, even if the recipe is presented to you, you won't know how to make it. Potions made this way often have this characteristic: it's difficult to describe their effects accurately, or you won't even know if they're truly effective after using them.

For example, "lucky potions" fall into this category. Are they effective? No, we don't know. Are they ineffective? We don't know either, because you don't know if your good luck is truly due to drinking the potion, or if you were simply experiencing good fortune at that moment.

This magic book describes the potions of the sinful sorcerers among the great sinners. Therefore, most of the ingredients used are very sinister and terrifying, and the potions are mainly poisons and tortures. Of course, there are also some types that they use to make a profit and earn necessary resources and money.

Livia seemed to have found what she needed. She raised her small hand slightly, held up a finger, and slowly rotated it in mid-air. Tiny specks of water mist spontaneously rose from the crucible hanging above the fireplace, and eventually, the water, flowing from nowhere, gradually filled the crucible.

Her abilities cannot create something from nothing, but her mystical spells can gather elements into this non-physical elemental water flow. It is just like real water in terms of appearance, feel, weight, and physical properties, but it is not real physical liquid water.

This magically constructed water disappears once the magic dissipates, leaving no water stains or dampness. Under normal circumstances, it cannot be used for potion making, but when making potions of the Great Sin system, this elemental water must be used as a base.

The water vapor swirls like a vortex, and flames rise, dyeing the liquid a bewitching crimson, like blood or wine. This is the "Matrix: Blood of God".

Gods do not bleed, so the blood of gods is a void liquid composed of these elements; it is neither real blood nor real liquid, just as the blood that gods do not shed.

At the same time, since the original creator of the world in the legend used his own body as material to create the world, then this mixture of elements, which are the basic building blocks of the world, can naturally be regarded as the blood shed by the "god".

A group of biscuits with arms and legs carried a basket over while chanting, and a mortar and pestle hopped and skipped onto the low table next to the witch.

"The Ashes of Lust" - A bundle of dried epimedium fell into a mortar and turned into fine particles, which gradually turned into a layer of black granular ash within the shimmering triangular magic circle representing "humanity".

The dried snake molts, a "breeding ground for inertia," automatically rolled up to envelop the wood ash, which fell into the crucible and was then stirred along with the vortex until it gradually disappeared.

The black substance in "The End of Arrogance" is oxidized and corroded silver powder. After the three materials are put into the crucible, the liquid quickly turns into a colorful yet seemingly colorless color. Finally, during high-speed rotation, the colorless gas rises from the crucible and falls into the prepared glass bottle.

The little witch touched the bottle cap, and it automatically closed, sealing the substance that was between liquid and gas, constantly boiling and condensing inside the bottle. As time passed, she quickly obtained a colorless magic potion.

"Purification Potion" can purify a person's sins, conceptually eliminating sins and the effects of major sins. It was developed by major sin mages to deal with the physical and physical deformities caused by the use of major sin spells, especially karmic major sin spells. This potion can eliminate such deformities, but since it only temporarily eliminates sins, the mutation will soon occur again as long as the root cause is not eliminated.

For those high-ranking sorcerers who operate in human society, this is practically a life-extending potion, and it is also highly addictive, much like the exhilarating feeling of suddenly having the weight removed after a long period of carrying it.

However, for ordinary people, drinking this purification potion is like what was mentioned before: it seems to work, but it also seems to have no effect. After all, the worst sins that ordinary people can commit are not enough to generate enough sinful magic to cause human mutation.

Only truly heinous criminals would feel it, but of course, these people wouldn't need this potion, except for a very few who genuinely intend to repent. However, they rarely experience the same level of sensation as the Great Sin Mage.

The little witch, of course, did not intend to stop there. New materials were quickly added to the swirling elemental flow, and the potion bottle gradually took on a new, clear color. When everything was ready, the witch obtained a large bottle of potion that was as black as ink yet as clear as water. This contradictory phenomenon appeared in this thing.

Simply put, everyone who sees this potion will assume it's black, but upon closer inspection, they'll find that the bottle seems to be empty, and they can see what's on the other side. This contradiction makes people doubt that what they perceive is a characteristic of the Great Sin system potions.

"Hmm~" Livia nodded in satisfaction and put the bottle away. This potion was something she had recently started experimenting with. She happened to have a large number of lab rats to test it on, and she was also very curious about whether this conceptual potion was really effective—or rather, whether this might be the correct way for an apprentice to use it.

The northern district of the capital. The scattered snowflakes melted in the high temperature of the factory area before they could even touch the ground, turning into cold raindrops that pounded against the edge of the cloak and slid down the thick canvas to the ground.

The sallow-faced, emaciated workers walked towards their workplaces with numb expressions as the bell rang. A black horse-drawn carriage with its bells jingled sped past the factory owner down the street. A glimpse of a gaze lingered on the passerby for a mere half-second through the slightly parted curtains before the curtains were drawn back shut.

The splashing mud added a new splash of color to the already filthy cloak, making its original color unrecognizable. "..." A pale hand emerged from under the cloak.

Numerous fingers twisted rapidly like the limbs of an insect, outlining dozens of runes. The deep and eerie incantation shook the thick, sinful magic that lingered above the capital, extending downwards like a funnel. One of the magical tentacles reached into the carriage, touched it lightly, and then broke off.

"..." The cloaked figure shook his head slightly, then glanced at the most magnificent building in the North District besides the factory tower: the church of the Holy Church of Light. He then pulled his hood tighter, completely hiding his face in the shadows, and walked with his head down through the cold, waterlogged, and potholed streets, all made by the wheels of the heavy carriages.

"Squeak~" A musty smell wafted out from the open door. Pink light butterflies gathered in the palm of the hand, illuminating the dusty room. The drowsy shop owner leaned back in a recliner. There were only a few items on the shelves. The grime on the glass of the display case was so thick that you had to stick your nose to see what was on the shelves underneath.

The goods sold were mostly low-quality alcoholic beverages with no provenance, canned goods of unknown expiration dates, and some herbal preparations. For the workers living in the northern part of the city, these grocery stores were their main haunts. Although the goods were of poor quality, in small quantities, and often out of stock, they were the only shops the workers could afford.

"Purifying potion"? "How could I possibly have such a thing here? You should go to the shops in the upper city." That kind of potion is used by nobles and the rich. It can effectively dispel abnormal magic and common curses in a room. However, for wealthy nobles, it is simply used as a kind of air freshener.

Moreover, its effect is better than that of a simple air freshener, instantly boosting one's spirits. Of course, while the price isn't high among potions, it's still not something ordinary people can afford, especially in the North District.

"I meant another kind, you sell it here."

"We never sell those high-end potions here," the shopkeeper said impatiently, waving him away. But his movements quickly froze as a hand covered in fingers and toes pressed down on the counter. Underneath the cloak, a pair of blue and green eyes, like those of a wild beast, stared intently at him, their pupils burning with butterfly-like sparks.

"There's only one box left. The supply from the South has run out. You know, the war in Catherfield isn't over yet, and even if it is, I doubt we'll find a replacement. There are too few people who can make this kind of thing."

Normal people wouldn't read the Great Sin Magic Book, let alone study Great Sin Potions in detail. The Purification Potion among Great Sin Potions is even more obscure for mages and alchemists who don't usually deal with the Great Sin Secret Realm—they are more interested in things like "Fire of Desire," which, although illegal, are available for 150 gold coins a bottle on the black market but are never available.

The customer, who was giving him "give me," didn't want to waste any more words with the other party. His countless fingers, which moved restlessly like arthropods, made the shop owner swallow hard. "Don't go too far. You should know what the consequences will be if your identities are exposed."

With a "whoosh," a large bag of gold coins was thrown onto the counter. The shopkeeper's eyes gleamed with an inexplicable golden light. He immediately took out a small wooden box from the cabinet behind him. Inside were six test tubes, each about the thickness of a finger. The colorless liquid inside was almost imperceptible, just like six bottles of water. Upon closer inspection, the liquid hardly reflected any light, as if there was nothing in the test tubes.

The visitor drank the liquid in the test tube, and the fingers on his palm drooped down like the withered limbs of a dying insect, gradually shrinking and turning into thin, long tendrils that clung to the skin. Soon, even these tendrils broke off, and his hand returned to its original shape, a slender and beautiful palm as white as jade.

"Excellent, the quality is as good as always."

"Of course, this was made by a proper alchemist master. There aren't many alchemists who can make this kind of thing these days."

"Hmm..." The customer stepped out of the shop, took off his hood, and his fluffy flaxen hair, as fine as silk, slid out from inside the hood. His beautiful, heterochromatic eyes looked at the few idle people sitting at the end of the street. A hint of amazement flashed in their eyes first, followed by greed. And this greed, in a brief pause and bewilderment, turned into a brilliant gold that completely obscured their eyes.

A voice whispered in their hearts, urging them to indulge their desires. Suddenly, the group staggered toward the shop. The young man in the lead pulled out a machete made from scrap metal from a factory from his back waist, his face twisted with greed.

"Bang!" The shop door was violently smashed open. The shop owner, who was counting gold coins, looked at the local gang members in surprise and hurriedly tried to put the coins away. However, the glittering gold made the gold in the eyes of these men even more intense. Soon, the sound of fighting came from inside the shop.

The shop owner's screams were quickly drowned out by the increasingly loud whistles of the factory urging workers to get to work, leaving only the monotonous sound of some kind of sharp tool chopping meat and the crisp sound of gold coins rolling onto the floor.

"..." The girl's lips curled up slightly, and she smoothed her hair with her hands. An inexplicable aura flowed with her eyes, and several passing workers who were staring at her suddenly started fighting each other, letting out beast-like roars.

The victor quickly extended his bloodied hand toward the girl, but she merely pulled her hood up again without looking. The surviving victor stared blankly at the departing figure, then at the corpse of his companion on the ground, screamed, and rammed his head into the pillar supporting the steam pipe.

Pink butterflies guided the way through the dark alley, and the cloaked figure carrying a medicine box quickly disappeared into the shadows of the alley. The capital city's underground.

"This is the last box. There won't be any more medicine, and the final payment promised by the Floros family will also be delayed."

The previous coup in the capital, the emperor's close attendants who bewitched him by hanging the "Sage's Poison" above his bed, and the initial release of the Great Sin Curse to mislead the emperor and even the astrologers into believing it was some kind of powerful curse—all this dirty work was for the sake of the magic book treasured by the Floros family, which was said to be able to solve the abnormal state of the Great Sin Spell "Entanglement of Evil" once and for all.

Another thing is that they can reliably provide high-quality purification potions. Unfortunately, it seems that even black market merchants can't get more purification potions now, since this kind of thing is too rare and the requirements for refining it are very high.

"Then what are we still doing here?" Everyone here has unintentionally or intentionally walked the path of sin magic. However, compared to pure sin mages, they are more likely to be unaware of the true inheritance of the sin secret realm. In other words, most of them have not committed too many sins, nor do they know how to draw more powerful magic from sins.

That's why they need purification potions. For those sinful mages who have completely fallen, this distortion is actually a source of power. Using purification potions will also eliminate this magic.

Compared to proper sin mages who understand the meaning of "restraint," these self-taught individuals often don't know what restraint is. The result of their misuse of sin magic is that they haven't completely transformed into sin mages, but they're close. They're like people standing on the edge of an abyss, ready to jump off at the slightest provocation.

"Then what do we do?"

"We either need to find a way to get what the Florosole family promised before the Imperial Army does, or we need to find a more stable source of supply. Besides, we probably don't have enough money to buy the purification potion."

“Money is not a problem,” a monk said, twirling a pen in his hand. His arms, which had previously resembled jelly and tentacles, became noticeably more normal after drinking the medicine.

"With the 'Sin Domain Magic' we possess, acquiring gold coins is easy, just like we did in Silver Maple County before."

"Shut up! This is the capital city. There's a hundred-faced witch in the academy alone," the girl scolded. "Don't be so presumptuous."

"But what about us? Are we just going to go back and hide in the cave forever, never to be seen again? Are you willing to do that?"

"No, I have a plan..." A pink butterfly of light flew from the girl's fingertip. "Recently, a new, obscure church has appeared underground in the capital, and it's said to grant any wish."

"Is that a cult?"

Are we good people?

“Oh, that makes sense.” The dissenting monk immediately shut up.

"Perhaps they can solve our purification potion, or even solve this problem permanently. Apart from this kind of evil god, do you really think that the proper gods would even give us a second glance?"

The answer was a deathly silence.

Chapter 228 The Meeting of the Priests

"The Spirit Response Church? It doesn't sound like a cult at all~" said the Great Sin Master leaning against the corner of the wall. After drinking the purification potion, small scales kept falling off his body, revealing the bloody muscles underneath. However, the skin quickly regenerated, leaving behind white spots that looked like they had been burned.

“Cults generally don’t use names like ‘Bloody Cult’ or ‘End of the World’ that sound suspicious. On the contrary, the strange branches of orthodox churches like to use such names.” The blonde woman sitting at the wooden table had a pendulum chain hanging from her hand, as if she was divining something.

"So, I'm more concerned about whether that evil god on the other side really has the ability to grant all wishes? For example, to completely eradicate this mutation in us?" For these mages who have gone astray and have not received a complete education in the Great Sin Magic system, they believe that the mutation in their bodies is some kind of curse for peeking into taboos, or the inevitable price for using Great Sin Magic.

"It's hard to say, but at the very least, getting our hands on the purification potion shouldn't be a problem. However, there's a very serious issue: the potion we have won't last more than a few days, and... it's only a matter of time before the Giant Rock Palace finds out about us."

Because the empire has issued an official announcement that His Majesty's curse has been lifted, and the person who cast the curse was related to the former palace steward, however, due to the severity of the curse's effects, His Majesty's physical condition, although somewhat improved, has not yet fully recovered.

For these sorcerers who formed a criminal society, it meant that the emperor had realized who was responsible, and this would inevitably lead him to investigate further down the chain of events, to find out who the chief steward had contacted, when the planning began, and so on. Sooner or later, they would all be found out.

It's not about digging up all personal information, but it's certain that they'll start consciously investigating any signs of possible major criminal rituals within the capital. At times like these, any outings and preparations must be carried out with extreme caution.

"So we need to speed up our investigation into this sect. By the way, Lilith, where do they operate?"

Dongcheng District