Witch Troupe and the Undead

There was no magical effect, because the sorcery coating the orcs applied to their bodies gave them high magical resistance. It was just heavy slashing, splitting bones and piercing flesh. The armor that grew from bones and metal was useless against this robust physical attack.

"Huff~" Gavins lifted his visor and exhaled a breath of scorching white mist. His extraordinary physique gave him a superhuman build and strength, as well as an extremely high metabolic rate. When his extraordinary physique was activated, his body would consume a lot of nutrients and energy and generate waste heat. Therefore, each of the Grim Reaper's armors contained a "cold energy rune" for cooling.

"Rest for fifteen minutes and let the companions eat something." The horses lowered their heads and began to gnaw on the undead remains on the ground. The third advantage of these "horses" is that they are not picky about food, which is their greatest advantage in the barren and cold northern provinces.

They eat both plants and dried meat, but they prefer dried meat. As for the source of the dried meat, it can be anything from wild animals to the carcasses of orcs, as well as other warhorses and oxen used for logistics.

However, the remains of the undead were still somewhat difficult for these horses to handle. After taking a couple of bites, they stopped touching the ground and waited for the knights to feed them honey-soaked dates and heavily salted dried meat.

Each heavy highland warhorse costs over 1000 gold coins, and some with neat coats and suitable age can cost over 2000 gold coins. For an average knight, that's more than half of his entire family's wealth.

Between a dead wife and a dead horse, 90% of the knights of the North would rather choose the former. At least a dead wife wouldn't bankrupt them, while a dead warhorse would truly bankrupt them on the spot, and they might not even be able to keep their knighthood, and would only be able to become a squire on foot.

Not only is the horse itself expensive, but its daily maintenance is also costly. Half of the estate's annual income goes to this horse. Of course, compared to horses on Earth, these otherworldly horse-like creatures have a longer lifespan, with some living up to 60 years or more.

"The defenses are much weaker than I expected." Knight Commander Gavins fed his companion "Heartbreak" some more honey-brewed dates. Even such an expensive warhorse wouldn't get to eat these honey-brewed dates outside of battle.

The short, stocky, crimson monster stretched out its barbed tongue and licked the sweet date in the palm of its armored glove with great speed, spraying white foam everywhere. The attendant carefully removed its armor temporarily, wiped the sweat off its body with a dry cloth, and after it was completely dried, put a new, dry riding coat on it and then put the armor on its legs.

The real four-legged bio-steel tank completed its basic maintenance. Gavins remounted and pulled his "spear sword" from the completely shattered corpse beside him. Even with the effects of his superhuman physique, he still felt a little tired.

"Keep moving forward. We must clear out all the undead creatures on the outskirts before sunset today, leaving none alive."

Meanwhile, in the ballista town

"This person doesn't seem friendly," the Soul-Binding Corpse Mage thought, looking at the crystal ball in front of him.

"These knights?" The black-armored Soul-Binding Knight glanced at his companion, a monster made of bones and scales tearing at the rotting corpse of a child.

"No, I mean this thing..." The mage was referring to a plain-looking black horse in the rear of the knights' main force, which was lying rather unsightly in the makeshift stable, looking like it was bowing and scraping before the powerful.

"This is just one..."

"High-level Nightmare Demon." Although they couldn't understand why a creature capable of wiping out half the surrounding humans and the entire Grim Reaper Order in a maximum of 20 minutes would turn into a black horse lying idle in the stable, these Soul-Binding Knights and Soul-Binding Mages could understand what kind of calamity a monster of this level was.

"It seems that the plan for Hearth City has failed."

"Should we give up?"

"We'll see. If this thing makes a move, we'll give up." There was no other way. If it were just an ordinary Nightmare Demon, the Soul-Binding Knights could say, "It's just a mere Nightmare Demon; watch me send it back to hell!" But this was a high-level Nightmare Demon, a sub-lord...

If you can't beat them, you really can't beat them. The difference between the two is like comparing two Mercedes-Benz cars: one is a sedan, and the other is a tank. With the former, you can try to collide with it while riding a motorcycle, but with the latter, there's really no good way to deal with it. This kind of problem should be left to His Highness the Duke to handle.

Chapter Forty-Three Ancient Ruins

In the temporary stable at the encampment, a black horse lay listlessly on a pile of hay, its tail swaying idly back and forth to shoo away the mosquitoes that were attracted to it. It lazily chewed on hay and beans, its face full of frustration.

As night fell, the black horse slowly stood up. Black shadows flowed from its body along its four legs into the shadows, then the reality shifted, and the horse that had been in the stable became a silhouette, while its real body appeared in the woods not far from the camp, following the shadow.

Two summoned hellhounds lurked in the woods, observing the camp's situation. Just as they were about to launch a sneak attack, two claws burning with black flames pressed down on their shoulders from the left and right.

"?" The dog demons turned around blankly and saw a horse face with six eyes baring its white fangs at them. "..." The dog demons exchanged glances and unanimously chose to forcibly break the contract and escape back to hell.

A few minutes later, the black horse lay back down on the haystack, happily picking its teeth with a dry, hard blade of grass between its front hooves, and looked at the grumpy but less intelligent highland warhorses with disdain (the more intelligent an animal is, the less suitable it is for a battlefield mount, such as pigs and elephants).

"The hound demons we sent out to scout have lost contact." The Soul-Binding Mage looked at the dimmed crystal ball, and the last hideous demonic face that appeared on it. "They were eaten by that high-level Nightmare Demon."

"Let's stop wasting our precious resources." The Soul-Binding Knight shook his head. There are now hundreds of Soul-Binding Warriors in Ballista Town. These Soul-Binding Warriors are different from ordinary Soul-Binding Corpses. They have obtained near-eternal life and perfect bodies through the smoky gray crystal. Even if their bodies are destroyed, they will quickly return to the crystal and be resurrected in a new body.

Furthermore, the more souls these soul-binding warriors consume, the harder they become to kill, and the stronger their souls become, increasing their resistance to various spells.

"Soon, these wretched invaders will be driven out by us, and they will forever repent in purgatory for stepping on this land!" Even though the ancient kingdom has long been buried in history, these loyal subjects whose lives are bound by the obelisk of souls will not give up any chance of revival, nor will they let any invaders who dare to set foot on this land go unpunished.

Beneath Hearth City, the caverns grew increasingly narrow, and the rocky walls were replaced by ancient bricks, convincing the adventurers that they had indeed found the ancient dungeon deep beneath Hearth City.

It is said that this dungeon was once used to imprison beings known as "Great Sin Mages," and left behind many valuable magical items and materials. These things are the reason why adventurers and female mages are attracted here. However, previous explorations have only been around the underground waterways, and this is the first time they have gone this far.

"Prepare your weapons and spells, the road ahead won't be easy." The leader raised his hand to signal his team to prepare for battle. Apart from a few monsters lurking in the shadows, they hadn't encountered anything particularly troublesome along the way, but things were about to get complicated.

“Miss Ellis, I’d like to know, what exactly is a so-called Great Sin Mage?” The guild leader looked at the female mage, who paused for a moment before replying, “I’m not entirely sure either. I only know that Great Sin Mages are a branch of the former Ritual Mages, belonging to the Void Source system. They use magic based on the concept of the 'Great Sin' of nothingness. As for their specific abilities and spell effects…” he knew nothing more.

"What if they become undead?"

"Then all their spells will be converted to the Death Source, just like an elemental mage who becomes a necromancer is just a new graveyard master." They can only use death or soul-based spells. As for whether they will be able to use these two types of spells after the conversion, that depends on whether they studied them in their previous life.

"That's good," the leader breathed a slight sigh of relief, but he wasn't entirely convinced. After all, these mages always spoke with great conviction, but when things actually came down to it, their promises always differed from reality in various ways.

At the end of the cave is a large black metal door, with sharp, intersecting blades like ribs encasing it. The carvings on the metal door are indistinct, but one can vaguely make out the pattern of a huge, symmetrical butterfly.

"Butterfly?" The female mage paused for a moment. The butterfly was the emblem and symbol of the Great Sin Mage, because they studied the concept of "original sin" and believed that intelligent beings were born with primal sin, which they called the Great Sin. Only by transcending this original sin could one reach the next stage of "godlike wisdom," just like transforming from an ugly worm into a beautiful butterfly.

But isn't this the dungeon where high-ranking mages are imprisoned? Why are their symbolic marks on the door? A mage's mark can't be used arbitrarily. The mark of an elemental mage is an hourglass shape; a spiritual mage's mark is the arcane eye symbol representing wisdom; and a life mage's mark is a tree growing in reverse.

As for the rest, the Great Sin Mage is the "Metamorphosis Butterfly," the Necromancer or Graveyard Mentor is a human face with half a skull, and the final Otherworld Mage or Hell Mage is an inverted triangle representing the demon.

These marks not only have their own unique symbolic meanings, but also represent a certain unique meaning and magical effect. The female mage raised her head and was about to speak when she saw the thief squatting in front of the iron gate making a gesture to resolve the situation.

The sharp blade retracted section by section, revealing a massive black iron door behind it. "Watch out!" A point of pink light fell from above, swiftly outlining the shape of an exceptionally beautiful swallowtail butterfly along the patterns on the door. The colorful butterfly fluttered its wings and flew straight through the adventurer and Iris, disappearing into the cavern.

After the butterflies disappeared, the gate slowly opened inward, revealing a deep passageway. At the same time, a thin layer of mist gradually rose from the cave.

"..." Elise gripped her staff tightly. Now she understood that this was not a dungeon at all, but a secret society of the Great Sin Mage, and also a place where the ancient kingdom had researched something, only using the name "dungeon" as a cover.

After all, the reputation of a Sin Mage is not as good as that of a Spirit Medium or a Hell Mage. However, these guys who are proficient in desire and sin often have deep connections with nobles. This means that if you need a legitimate reason or place to gather a large number of Sin Mages for some forbidden research, nothing is more suitable than a dungeon.

The captured people were sent to the dungeon to secretly conduct some kind of research on the [Void Source]. However, Ellis could not imagine what they were researching in such a large underground facility, but no matter what they were researching, they had no way out.

"The defense mechanism has been activated. We don't have the token from the original escort team; staying here is suicide!" Iris shouted, stopping the adventurers who were preparing to retreat. "They've already been... Get out of here!"

Sparkling fireflies appeared in the cave, fluttering and dancing like a dream. "Those are 'Reverse Life Butterflies'! Once you encounter one, you'll never be able to think about anything more than eating, drinking, and sleeping for the rest of your life!"

"Quickly, let's get moving!" The captain realized the seriousness of the situation and took the lead in stepping into the door. After everyone entered, the fluttering fire butterflies lingered outside the door without taking a single step inside, and the black iron door automatically closed little by little.

"This was the original defense mechanism, ensuring that no one could take any knowledge or information out of it." The more stringent the defenses, the more deadly the things the Great Sin Mages were researching back then were. Iris already regretted choosing to study the ancient ruins of the Kingdom of Luster and the "origin of Great Sin Magic"—such obscure subjects—for the sake of credits and papers.

The moment the gate opened, the royal city, shrouded in an everlasting barrier and seemingly frozen in time, in the mountain range bordering the Northern Province and the Orc Alliance, slowly trembled, and the colorful barrier seemed to dim slightly.

At the top of one of the city's seven towers, a vibrant demonic fire ignited. "Ah~ the first secret seal has been opened." A slender, white arm lazily stretched out from the fire and gently pressed down on the head of a withered corpse kneeling beside the flames. The corpse instantly turned into a handful of ashes and fell to the ground, leaving only a dim, butterfly-shaped golden emblem.

"What a fresh and delicious taste! What a pity!" The bright red snake scales shimmered in the fire. "If only there were more."

Clusters of pink flames ignited in the royal city's commercial district. In the shadows cast by each lit brazier and torch, serpentine figures darted swiftly between the city and buildings. Soon, the city fell silent once more, leaving only the flames burning in empty braziers devoid of fuel, as if they were not igniting flames, but some kind of biological desire.

"Damn it!" In the mountains not far from the royal city, atop an ancient and dilapidated fortress, a small, silver-white dragon spread its two pairs of ice and snow-constructed wings. A boy's voice rang out from its mouth, filled with negativity: "This job is unworkable. Hurry up and urge my older sister to come back and take over. I'd better stay far away. Honestly, I told you long ago not to ask me for this kind of thing. Those short-lived creatures can come up with something every few days. I'm so busy I don't even have time to sleep."

“Young master, if I remember correctly, you have been asleep for eight weeks and four days, and before that, you only foraged and relieved yourself once, without even driving away those short-lived adventurers outside the castle.” A two-legged wyvern landed on the fortress’s spire and spoke in a high-pitched voice like that of a eunuch.

“They’ve already set up observation camps and outposts around the royal city.” The dragon looked down and saw that on the edge of the forest below the fortress, in the area closest to the slums on the outskirts of the royal city, wisps of smoke were rising from a wooden camp, and several people dressed as mages and adventurers could be vaguely seen coming and going inside.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!?"

“Eight weeks and four days ago, an hour before you fell asleep, I reminded you at least twenty-six times, and your response was always, ‘I’ll do it when I wake up.’”

"I never expected that they would break through the first layer of the secret seal while I was only asleep! These short-lived species have developed their technology so quickly!?" The silver-white dragon jumped up and down, shouting in protest. "No, I have to go and drive them away!"

The opening of the first layer of the secret seal means that the outermost layer of the seven-layered barrier surrounding the royal city can be broken, allowing these adventurers to enter the outer slum area. Once they enter the slums, whether they open the second layer of the secret seal or accidentally awaken something sleeping within, it will be a huge mess.

Faced with such a huge mess, the silver-white dragon chose the most dragon-like approach: first, cover it up, then pass it on to the next unfortunate successor, and how the successor handles the aftermath is none of its concern.

Thinking of this, the dragon soared into the air and glided down towards the camp below. Intense flames were brewing between its teeth. In an instant, a white-hot stream of fire swept across the camp, precisely setting all the tents, walls, and supplies ablaze, and burning a wall of fire in front of the camp to block everyone's way.

"Damn it, it's that big white lizard again!!!" The camp's owner cursed loudly. They had been wasting a long time here, and every time they made a little progress, it would be burned by a white dragon with flames, which is why they had only just established their first camp near the barrier.

I had initially thought that the sudden weakening of the barrier might be the opportunity for the outer ruins area to open, but before we even set off, the camp was burned down by dragon fire again.

The underground ruins of Hearthstone City.

The ancient cage was reduced to dry bones, the glassware in the research room had developed waterfall-like patterns, the bookshelves were covered in dust, the ancient books and scrolls had become decorations that would shatter into dust at the slightest touch, and even the murals on the walls had been eroded by time and become blurred.

Only in the deepest research room, the spellbooks protected within the magical barrier remained intact. "Miss Ellis, we've investigated. There are no monsters or dangers around here; it seems to have been completely abandoned."

There wasn't much treasure for adventurers, and those sophisticated tools had long since become obsolete. Besides, in this day and age, they could only be sold as antiques.

However, it cannot be said that there were no gains at all. The adventurers found a lot of dark metals in the material library, which were silver that had been oxidized and turned black, as well as the more expensive refined silver, a silver alloy processed by alchemy.

In addition, there are dark-colored gold nuggets mixed with a little adamantite, large chunks of copper oxide, and a considerable amount of crimson gold (enchanted copper), etc. These are the best loot for adventurers.

Small in size but high in value, second only to jewelry and magical equipment, but for them now, treasure is no longer the most important thing; how to leave here safely is what they care about most.

This matter could only be addressed by the mage, Elise. She was engrossed in reading the scrolls and books on the experimental table. These magically protected records were still clearly readable and discernible even after so much time had passed.

"They are researching a massive, nationwide ritual..." This was the vague information Ellis gleaned from these records. The specific details of the ritual were unclear, but it was related to the "Original Sin Ritual." According to the proud boast of the count of the ancient Luster Kingdom who was in charge of the research, if the ritual succeeded, the kingdom would become the first true empire to rule the entire continent, completely freeing itself from the power of the church and gods.

But what was the final result? Just look at these ancient ruins buried deep underground and you'll understand. Either they failed, they messed up, or the church and the gods behind them were simply not so easy to deal with.

"Miss Elizabeth?"

"Ah!?" The female mage suddenly looked up, her hair sticking to her forehead with sweat. "Sorry, I was just too engrossed in my work. I haven't found a way out yet. How much food do we have left?"

"It should last at least a week. There is a water source here, but we haven't found any food, including rats, nor any way out except the way we came in."

“The external magical rituals can be disrupted, but I need to study these…magic books to figure out how they work.”

How long will it take you?

"I don't know, but let's conserve food and water as much as possible." The female mage looked at the bookshelf, a strange emotion flickering in her eyes. "I need some time... to break the ritual."

She reached out, hesitated for a moment, but finally grasped a thick magic book on the bookshelf, firmly pulled it out, and spread it out on the lab table. On the mural behind her, the huge butterfly wings looked like a pair of eyes watching the female mage under the magical lighting crystal.

She examined the books and records; they contained no special magical effects, no seductive spiritual rituals, and were just ordinary books, aside from normal preservation and alchemical treatment.

However, Ellis was unaware that as the Great Sin Mages of the Void Source, their expertise lay not in spirit and consciousness, but in the concept of nothingness. Some things had already taken effect from the moment she saw the first word on the paper.

Chapter Forty-Four: The Witch's Salary

It rained for two whole days, and during those two days, there was no response from the town of Nukaku. It was as if the undead creatures had given up completely and were hiding in the town. In the rain, it was also difficult for the Knights to cross the deep trenches and muddy roads to rush into the town with its complicated terrain.

Therefore, the first wave of attacks was carried out by ordinary infantry. Professional infantrymen wearing armored uniforms and chainmail generally had a certain level of "superhuman physique" or "physique", which was the basic requirement for professional soldiers.

A minor baron or knight can usually only muster a small squad of 12 soldiers like this. As for those without extraordinary physiques, they are just militiamen and conscripted peasant soldiers. There's no way around it; professional soldiers with extraordinary physiques are simply much stronger than ordinary militiamen just by looking at their bodies.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Bone arrows shot out continuously from the arrow platforms made up of the rooftops of the buildings on the outskirts of the town. The infantrymen, holding round shields in one hand and wielding all sorts of weapons in the other, charged toward the ballista town. The wooden round shields could cover their heads and faces, while their bodies were protected by chainmail and armor.

Such equipment and sights would have been unimaginable decades ago. Thanks to the advent of the arcane furnace, the difficulty of metal smelting and forging has been greatly reduced, making it possible for such a large-scale infantry force equipped with metal armor.

The impact of the bone arrow striking the shield made one's arm go numb, and when it landed on the body, one could feel a chilling aura penetrating directly through the armor.

"Buzz!" A circle of life force swept by, and the infantrymen at the front line felt their bodies warm up a little. But after running a few steps, they were out of the range of the spell ritual, but the outer walls of the town had already appeared in front of them.

"Snap!" The reinforced grappling hook was thrown directly onto the low outer wall and hooked onto the wall crenellations. The outer wall of such a small town did not need to be built with special ladders. It was only about 4 meters high in total. The temporary ordinary ladder and grappling hook could be used to climb up. Even for tall infantrymen with [extraordinary physique], a few people could form a human ladder to send them up.

Why should we abandon the outer wall?!

"I can't be sure if that being will intervene if the attack fails, or even which side it's on," the Soul-Binding Mage said, adding that it was best not to take such a risk. "Besides, our warriors are better suited to operate inside the town."

Experienced Soul-Binding Warriors, who are not easily killed by common fatal wounds, are the experts in urban warfare. On the contrary, on the front lines and city walls, when facing the bombardment of arcane spells, they are not much different from ordinary zombie warriors.

Outside the ballista town, behind the military camp.

Only visible specks of debris, mixed in with the ghostly wind, gathered little by little in her palm, then flowed into the bottle she held in her hands, quickly filling it with a viscous, silvery-gray liquid.

"Young Miss, this..." The black horse leaned closer, its eyes greedily fixed on the contents of the bottle. This extracted essence of the soul was purer than the soul coins of hell. It didn't need to be refined with demonic fire to remove any obsessions or residues; it could simply be consumed directly.

Livia poured a little into her palm, which quickly expanded into a soap-like substance in the air. The black horse rolled its tongue and swallowed this substance, which was rich in life and soul power. A warm feeling spread throughout its body, and it even felt as if its strength had increased slightly.

Such things could not be made much from the debris collected from the dead on the beach and the life force of the living forest in the past. No wonder the demons in hell liked to start wars. Livia was also very satisfied with her collection efficiency.

The life essence she created could not only be used to feed horses, but also to revive Roach, and of course, to heal the rest of the team. For those activated items, it was like their "salary." However, there was a guy mixed in who needed a lot of this stuff to restore physical firepower and soul fragment adhesive for each resurrection.

Fortunately, they were outside, and Livia had many ways to collect these debris, so Roach's relationship with these "colleagues" improved slightly.

The petite witch stood in the darkness, the night wind blowing her white skirt and golden hair. Her fair legs seemed to glow faintly in the darkness, and tiny specks of light rose from her palms, drifting around like fireflies or like shimmering snowflakes falling into the animated devices.

The witch held a ball of soft light and sealed it into the scroll she carried with her, turning it into a talisman shaped like another fireball of soul. This was the second soul crystal she had collected.

"Hmm~" The girl looked up at the fireflies that were gradually spreading across the sky. The wind gently lifted them and carried them to farther places. According to her mentor's instructions, each time she collected soul fragments, she only needed to keep the most essential part and let the rest go with the wind.

Niel Riley meant to let the debris die naturally, while Livia understood it as actually summoning the wind to carry the debris away. There wouldn't be any problem in the living forest, as the revitalized forest would absorb the debris. Or rather, it's hard to say that the forest's revitalization wasn't due to these unique "fertilizers."

Fireflies, like scattered stars, streaked across the battlefield strewn with broken weapons and fragments of bone arrows, drifted over the pitch-black town of Ballista, and were eventually drawn to the smoky gray crystal at its center, all falling into it.

"How come there's only so little?" The Soul-Binding Mage on the crystal pedestal frowned. On the pedestal, which was made up of hundreds of skulls, only a small portion of the skulls had silver-white soul fire burning in their pupils.

This means that it only collected a very small fraction of the soul fragments generated on the battlefield. Without enough soul fire, it is difficult for many resurrected warriors to be resurrected, and a large amount of this adhesive is also needed to repair the damaged souls of Soulbound Warriors after their death.

"Could it be that there weren't many human casualties?" Or perhaps the Nightmare Demon was collecting souls on the battlefield? That makes sense. For demons, souls are as attractive as sugar is to humans, even a delicious food, or a form of hard currency.

"Squeak~" The carriage door was pushed open, and the little witch stepped in, holding a bottle in one hand and lifting her skirt with the other. Her face still had a slight blush from the activity. Her physique was as weak as ever, and her breathing would become unstable after a little activity, showing that she was seriously lacking in exercise.

The second floor of the carriage was reserved for the little witch, while the first floor housed three rather unsightly sleeping figures. Leslie leaned against the sofa, her seaweed-colored short hair pressing down on Vivi's robe. A girl with upright braids lay on the workbench, and next to her was a hammock woven from delicate vines, where a fairy lay.

As for Roach, he slept on the roof of the carriage. There was no way he could fit in all the girls in the carriage. Livia stepped over Leslie's legs and climbed up the small ladder into the second-floor mezzanine of the carriage. Only someone with Livia's figure could squeeze into this cramped space.

The battle on the battlefield continued, but it did not affect Livia and Roach. They were just following the team to collect materials. Roach needed to collect some necromancy materials, while Livia needed soul fragments and the traces of life remaining in the bodies of the dead.