Witch Troupe and the Undead

If it weren't for the fact that the Northern Provinces were the Empire's largest producer of magical minerals and cold crystals, and the Empire had even considered abandoning these untenable regions, cold crystals, which mainly appear in cold regions, are a type of magical crystal that can be used to smelt cold iron alloys.

Cold Iron is a metal with special properties, which is highly lethal to spirit-like creatures. It is an essential material for the Empire in its battles against the spirits in the swampy areas of the southwest. It is also very useful in fighting against the spirit mercenaries of the Kingdom of Rada.

"Don't you feel too cold? Is your physique too weak?" Vivi pinched Luo Qi's arm, and the latter could only show a helpless expression. By Earth's standards, he was considered to have a decent physique, but he was no match for these otherworldly people.

Livia looked up at Roach, tugged at his sleeve, pulled a vial of medicine from the front pocket of her apron and handed it to him, her large emerald eyes full of concern.

"..." Luo Qi uncorked the bottle and drank it, feeling much warmer all over.

"Warmth potion...is this too exaggerated?" Vivi was a little unsure of what to say. Warmth potion is used to remove abnormal statuses, including common abnormal statuses such as paralysis and stiffness. Of course, cold is also an abnormality. In potion-making, it is not so much about removing abnormalities, but rather about greatly improving the body's adaptability in a short period of time.

"Hmm!" The little witch nodded in satisfaction as she watched Roach finish the potion, then put the empty bottle back into her apron pocket.

Snowflakes fell thick and fast from the leaden sky, and the adventurers in the camp had to spend a lot of time clearing them and piling them up at the edge of the wall. The Imperial survey team was small, consisting of about seven or eight soldiers wearing thick red padded robes embroidered with the Imperial dragon insignia and metal breastplates, four or five mages, including a silver-ranked mage with three apprentices and a bronze-ranked lone ranger.

There were seven or eight alchemists, but most of them were at a similar level to Vivi, and were obviously working with their mentor. As for their mentor, Roach, they hadn't seen him; he was hiding in the basement laboratory, researching something.

Finally, there are the knights. Including the head of the investigation team, Augros, there are a total of three extraordinary knights. Originally, there were supposedly five extraordinary knights, but two of them went missing while covering the retreat. They were probably killed by the Sin Demon. The request to retrieve the knights' relics is still posted on the bulletin board at the entrance of the post station.

There are about four teams of adventurers, with a total of about 20 people. Overall, the number of people in the camp is very small. If there are even slightly more, the Sin Demons will attack and it will be all over. However, it is said that the Empire has received reports and it is expected that reinforcements will arrive after the spring. Many more adventurers have also received the news.

However, given that the extreme difficulty level of the secret realm is not an environment that ordinary adventure teams can handle, more preparations and recruitment of more people are needed. Also, when the news was received, Rock Tower County was already in late autumn. Without high-speed transportation such as railways, those high-level adventure teams would probably not arrive until after spring.

"Master Roach, what are you doing?" As soon as Augros stepped out, he saw Roach and his group training in the snow. Except for a certain dragonborn who could increase his physique even while sleeping, the rest of them stood in a neat row, following the fox girl in front of them and doing strange movements.

“Exercise~” Livia replied, her face flushed from the warm-up exercises. She tried her best to follow Alessina’s movements, but unfortunately, due to her poor physical strength and constitution, many of her movements were completely distorted, and she probably only achieved the basic function of moving her body.

“Basic training exercises for warriors,” Alessina explained. These were suggested by Livia and were warm-up exercises for beast warriors. They could activate muscles and serve as the most basic physical training. However, for real warrior professionals, this set of exercises was similar to calisthenics, just a simple warm-up.

“But…” Augros didn’t know what to say. “But aren’t you all spellcasters? Why did you suddenly decide to train your muscles?”

It's not that spellcasters don't know that a good physique is fundamental; it's just that their training is mostly limited to walking and stretching exercises, and the time they can dedicate to training each day is also very limited. Maintaining good health isn't a big problem, but to think that they can develop the physique of a warrior is really wishful thinking.

Just look at Alessina's daily exercise and weight training to know what level a true warrior's training method is at. Therefore, there is no such thing as a "magic warrior" in this world. After all, there is no time magic in this world, and the number of hours in each day is fair to everyone.

This applies to dragons as well. According to Vilandera, it takes about 200 years for dragons to learn dragon language magic. After all, dragons can do most things without magic, and when they need magic to make up for something, it can't be ordinary spells.

For example, the shell that a certain lazy dragon added to the seal of the capital is a typical example. If an ordinary arcane mage were to use that, it would probably take a hundred years or more to even begin to grasp its basics.

"It's just a simple physical workout. Miss Livia's physical fitness is really terrible; she can barely handle even a normal trip," Roach explained. After all, Livia's physique was the only one here worse than his. Don't be fooled by her lack of fear of the cold; it's because she shares the demon resistance of her pet, the Black Horse.

Her resistance to hot and cold environments is 3 to 4 times that of normal people. Simply put, for Livia, a temperature of 60 or 70 degrees Celsius is about the same as a normal person's perception of 20 or 30 degrees Celsius.

“Well…” Augros wanted to say that compared to the crude training methods of the beastmen, as an imperial knight, he had better training methods. Humanity’s civilization over the past few hundred years has not been wasted. However, he didn’t know how to say it, so he could only change the subject to guide the conversation.

"Master Roach, why do I notice you're always wearing armor? Have you also received knightly training?" A knight's full suit of armor is quite heavy, and being able to carry it suggests that Master Roach probably has a formal knightly rank. "Or perhaps you learned about warrior training methods from other sources?"

As long as Roach responds, he can naturally steer the conversation toward the origins of the warrior training method, and then casually mention that his Imperial Knights have an even better training method, thus successfully delivering this gift and favor.

"Oh, no, that's because this armor is a magical piece of equipment made by Instructor Livia. In reality, I don't know any knight training methods at all." This armor supports itself and moves according to Roach's movements. Roach even suspects that removing him, the "pilot," from the armor might be the real way to remove the shackles on combat power.

"Magic equipment?"

"Yes, it's actually a kind of active armor. It moves on its own. I'm just wearing it," Roach explained briefly.

"Master Livia, is this armor... expensive?" Ogros asked the crucial question. If it wasn't expensive, then the empire's nobles and knights would spare no expense to destroy its manufacturing technology, even if it meant facing off against a gold-level witch, because that would truly sever their very foundation.

If it's expensive, then it's fine. Which noble family doesn't have a few spoiled brats who like to become knights but don't actually have the willpower and perseverance to do so? As long as it's expensive enough that it's almost impossible for the lower classes to afford, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just another prop for the noble class to skip school and for the spoiled brats to gild their resumes.

“Hmm…” Livia thought for a while and then looked at Leslie. She didn’t know if this thing was expensive or not, so she could only ask Leslie, who knew the most about prices among the group.

“Approximately…” Leslie finally found her purpose, carefully assessing the cost of the essence that Roach spent on explosive mining, the processing cost of those magical ores, the fuel cost for the Black Horse, the sub-lord of Hell, to summon magical fire for forging, and the cost of hand forging, and finally multiplying it by the processing cost of a gold-level arcane mage and a master-level magic tool maker.

“If we remove those inconvenient and sensitive materials…” Leslie hesitated before giving a rough estimate, “If we measure it purely in gold coins, about 20,000 gold coins per set would be a fair price.”

This outrageous price includes approximately 2 gold coins for the essence, less than 10 gold coins for Roch's labor and mineral processing, and about 10,000 gold coins for the ritual of restraining and ordering a great demon to work. This price is the public price, after all, the last time the Kingdom of Rada used such a ritual to solve the secret realm in the Star Forest, it cost this much.

The processing fee for Gold-level Mystic Masters and Master-level Magic Tool Makers is roughly doubled from this base fee, which is a fairly reasonable coefficient. After all, the more expensive the materials, the more difficult the processing, so it is reasonable for them to charge proportionally.

"How much!?" What does 20,000 gold coins mean? For example, if the weather is good and there are no major expenses in a year, the Earl of Rock Tower County will not have more than 2000 gold coins left over. That means the Earl of Rock Tower County would have to work hard to save for ten years.

"I've already ruled out materials that money can't buy." The little witch had spent a month collecting soul essence on the battlefield, which was indeed something money couldn't buy, unless she staged some kind of cult sacrifice ritual. But a sacrifice ritual of this scale...emmmm, the scene would probably be no smaller than the lifting of the seal on the outer perimeter of this lost capital.

"...Hmm?" The little witch looked at Leslie with a puzzled expression. Is this thing really that expensive? If you only consider the materials, the cost of production should not exceed 50 gold coins, but you can't calculate the price based on the materials.

The soul fragments of thousands of high-level Soul-Binding Corpses and the soul fragments of human warriors are worth more than money, not to mention hiring a Hellish Sub-Lord to forge iron, especially since the latter has to endure such humiliation.

"Old Horse's loss of dignity should be this much." Leslie explained to the little witch in a low voice, and the latter's eyes lit up immediately. The black horse, who was supervising the bull's work, suddenly felt a chill run down its spine.

"You spent so many gold coins just to make a magical armor like this?" Augros couldn't understand. He was shocked. It was as if he were wearing a mountain of gold coins.

“The cost of materials isn’t actually that high; it’s the rituals and labor involved that are expensive,” Leslie explained. “And there are some considerable costs involved,” such as the dignity of a hellish demon lord and the labor involved.

"I see..." Augros roughly understood. It was armor that required a special secret ritual and alchemical ceremony, and a considerable price to be paid. Although the materials were not expensive, the hidden costs behind it were very high. It was understandable that the favor and cost of having a gold-level witch make this for you would be at this price.

"Master Narochi, you're truly favored by your mentor." This was the truth; most mentors wouldn't go to this level for their apprentices. At least a ritual fee of ten thousand gold coins? You're dreaming!

"Probably..." Roach glanced sideways. If he understood that the bulk of the cost was some old man, he would understand that the price of this thing was very high. If you really calculate it like that, the radishes in the vegetable field behind the hut would be a loss if each one was priced below 200 gold coins. After all, the people doing the plowing were demons from the first level of hell, and the overseers were great demons.

However, it seems that this useless mermaid, Leslie, has leveled up her "valuation" skill to a very high level. In the future, she can be put in charge of negotiating large transactions, which should allow her to earn a lot more gold coins.

In the end, Ogros still hadn't found a chance to give the favor, but the way he looked at Roach was very strange, as if he were looking at a gold mine. This made Roach consider whether he should just sell the set of armor that looked so much like the Kalia Knight's armor to him at a low price, otherwise he was really afraid that one day he would wake up and find that he had been beaten up by a burly man with a thick beard.

As the weather grew colder, even Alessina stopped going out to exercise. Most adventurers and soldiers, unless they had duty shifts, would stay indoors and slack off. Roach and his companions were no exception, but compared to the adventurers, the witch's hut was much more comfortable.

Chunks of cured meat, fat, radishes, and potato-like tubers are simmered in a crucible into a thick paste, emitting a rich aroma of spices. Although it looks terrible, this dish is a popular winter soup recipe among the beastmen, known for its appetite-stimulating, cold-dispelling, and sweat-inducing effects.

It is usually eaten with a bitter herbal soup to cut through the greasiness. The latter can effectively replenish vitamins and counteract the greasiness of the soup. If you add some oily roasted meat and dry bread slices that are grilled on both sides, it will be a very hearty beast-like meal.

The imperial people's diet is light and sweet, and they are accustomed to creamy soups or vegetable soups. In contrast, the Kingdom of Rada often uses mushrooms to make broth, and then uses the broth to cook other foods, focusing on the original flavor of the ingredients.

As for the areas where the beastmen and orcs live, they mainly use spices, with spiciness and saltiness being their primary seasoning methods. After all, living in cold and humid regions without spices would be like torturing one's joints.

As for the little witch's eating habits, they are quite special. She can eat anything. After all, she can even eat soap-like things like Soul Soft Cake, and she can also tolerate the atomic bomb-like taste of the nutritional magic potion used to fill her stomach. So there is no food that she cannot tolerate.

Livia stood on a stool to the side, watching Alessina skillfully prepare the ingredients, her eyes sparkling, until she placed the stew, mixed vegetables, and bread on the table, and everyone else had disappeared.

"Where are Master Roach and the others?"

"Sleep," the little witch said seriously. Roach stayed up all night preparing the long-range explosive weapons that might be used at any time. As for Leslie, she was chatting and drinking too much with the adventurers at the tavern. As for Vivi... there was no reason for her to sleep in.

"I'll go call them," the little witch said as she went upstairs. "Splash!" A blast of ice water hit her head, instantly sobering Leslie up. Looking at the sulking little witch, she shuddered. "I shouldn't have drunk so much, Mama Livia!"

"..." The roar of lightning woke up Roach, who had been staying up all night, and a row of guys with their heads down obediently appeared around the dining table.

"I won't do it again, Mom!" *Boom!*

"Sigh~" The fox girl sighed. Today was another noisy and chaotic day.

Chapter Ninety-One: Magnificent, Livia!

On the outskirts of the ancient capital of Gurust, in a slum, the area is completely covered by an unidentified substance resembling lava. This is the material manifestation of the magic of the "Great Sin of Wrath"—viscous, scorching, and constantly emitting a deep red, mind-affecting toxic fumes.

The most important part of the Great Sin Ritual is to give "evil," which originally did not have a physical form, a physical form in order to create and form the effects of the Sin Demon and the Great Sin Mystic Arts.

Conversely, this is also the greatest weakness of sin magic. The concept of ethereal sin is impossible to manipulate unless all intelligent beings are killed, while sin demons with material entities and these forms of original sin can indeed be destroyed by violence. In a sense, this may be the original purpose of the sin magicians.

After all, it's easy to kill a person, but difficult to eradicate sin. Killing a sinner is much simpler than cleansing one's sins. As for whether this ritual is actually effective in purifying people's hearts and sins, no one knows now. Nowadays, the great sin sorcerers are themselves influenced by greed and desire, pursuing the spread of more sins and using this power to satisfy their own selfish desires.

The snowflakes falling from the sky were instantly swallowed up when they touched the blood-red lava. In the snow, crimson, angry demons wandered among the buildings in the slums. The lava did not destroy the buildings; it simply flowed, hung, and piled up between them, existing between reality and illusion.

"To the left front, a Sin Demon." The adventurer, cloaked in disguise, slowly crawled over the low shack, observing a lone, angry Sin Demon. "Don't move." Everyone stopped and waited quietly for the Sin Demon to pass by.

Hunting the Sin Demons is pointless. As long as this lava slum exists, angry Sin Demons will continue to form from the lava. Their true purpose is the treasures within this slum.

Slums don't sound like places with treasures, but quite the opposite is true; they actually contain a lot of wealth, just hidden in secret rooms and hideouts.

Slums are the perfect hiding place for thieves' guilds and black market dealers. The poor living conditions of ordinary people in this area do not mean that the gang leaders are the same. The wealth they have accumulated by doing all sorts of dirty work for the nobles in the inner city is hidden here.

At the same time, because of the chaos and neglect of the slums, they are the best location for some experiments and workshops that are not convenient to be exposed to the light. No one cares if a few people go missing here. Therefore, the laboratory, dungeon and other facilities of the Great Sin Secret Law Organization are still hidden here.

The enraged demon lingered for a while before diving back into the crimson lava. Only then did the team slowly crawl out of their hiding place and move towards the exit. Each of them carried a long box reinforced with mithril bars on their backs. The purpose of these boxes was to isolate the demons' senses and circumvent the outermost, barely effective barrier detection, so as to bring out anything contaminated by the demons' power.

There are small altars in the Imperial camp where the church can perform simple purification on these things, and these artifacts and magical creations are what the occultists are willing to pay high prices for.

In addition to these adventurers, the Imperial Investigation Team's official squads were also active on the perimeter, reinforcing the outermost barrier as much as possible. However, as the activities of the Sin Demons intensified, the official actions became more cautious.

The crimson magma flowed slowly, and the entrance to the shimmering barrier was clearly visible. Compared to the beginning, the light patterns of the barrier had become much dimmer. Just as the team was about to enter the entrance passage, which had been barely reinforced by the secret rituals set up by the Imperial Investigation Team, the mithril bars fixed to the cargo box suddenly began to change color continuously, eventually turning into black fragments.

"Damn, it's the Demon King!" The material structure of the Wrathful Magic Ritual Field, one of the core elements of the entire Original Sin Ritual, roared as the Wrathful Demon King flapped its broad, fleshy wings and charged towards the adventure team.

"Run!" The squad took off running. The unlucky guy at the back of the group was hit by a "raging flame" before he could react. Instantly, he turned into a burning skeleton in the flames. Soon, the skeleton stopped struggling and lowered its head. Lava climbed up and transformed it into an enraged sin demon that was even bigger than an ordinary sin demon.

"Boom!" The raging demon king crashed into the barrier, countless golden runes entwined around it. The barrier could not stop the demon king's movement. It chased the team away from the slums, and team members were constantly killed or turned into burning skeletons.

However, as the Demon King moved further and further away from the ritual site, he gradually found it difficult to resist the power of the runic light bands on his body. Finally, he stopped at the edge of the Black Forest and roared at the Imperial Survey Camp in the Black Forest.

"Shut up!" The little witch angrily pushed open the window of her room and stared at the roaring, furious demon king. Then she raised her staff, and the earth began to hum. Countless tree roots mixed with soil transformed into a giant earth serpent that suddenly rose up and bit the leg of the crimson dragon-human demon king.

Next came the second giant serpent. The ground at the edge of the forest seemed to instantly transform into a colossal nine-headed serpent, tightly coiling around the Wrathful Demon King. The two giant beasts were frantically fighting each other, but the Original Sin Demon King ultimately gained the upper hand. Even with the barrier's restraint, he almost completely tore the nine-headed serpent apart.

However, at that moment, a huge eye burning with raging black flames appeared above the Demon King's head. The black horse, which had just been smoking leisurely, suddenly collapsed to the ground and became transparent as if fading. The hellish magic drawn from the Hellish Sub-Lord forcibly tore open the curtain, and the hellish magic transformed into a giant black fire blade that slashed down.

Faced with equally troublesome hellish magic, the Wrathful Demon King finally chose to retreat, allowing the giant blade of demonic fire to cut off one of its wings, turning it into countless viscous, blood-red magma that flowed back into the lava lake in the center of the slums. It was as if it had given up the fight and fled back to its home ground.

Behind the Eye of Hell, countless demons sensed the presence of the mortal realm and rushed madly toward the rift. Just as they were about to pass through the rift, the Eye of Hell closed again. The demons at the front of the line took a bite of hellish blood and soil, while the demons behind them didn't mind pouncing on the demons in front of them and tearing off large chunks of flesh from their opponents before they could react.

"What are you looking at?" The black horse, covered in sweat, got up from the ground and roared at the bull-headed man who was looking at him with curiosity. "Haven't you ever seen the young lady kill someone before?! If you don't do your job properly, you'll be whipped into beef jerky by the young lady!"

The bull-headed man shuddered and obediently used two fingers to hold a copper watering can that was disproportionate to his size to water the flowers planted by the little witch. He looked almost like an ordinary retired cadre taking care of flowers and plants, except that he was wearing a straw hat on his head.

The battle between the Angry Demon King and the Little Witch ended in defeat because the Demon King did not participate in the fight. However, only two members of the unlucky adventure team returned alive, carrying two boxes that were almost completely corrupted by the power of the evil demon.

Inside the box were ritual implements imbued with thick, original sin magic: a golden cup with ominous purplish-black marks, an unidentified crystal soaked in blood, parchment inscribed with strange writing, and an obsidian ritual dagger carved with a goat's head, among other items.

Faced with these things, the investigation team's only priest also had a solemn expression. He carefully wrapped the obsidian ritual dagger in pure white ritual cloth and placed it on the altar. The angel statue holding the sword pointed the tip of the sword to the center of the altar. As the ritual field was completed, holy water slowly dripped from the tip of the sword, and large prayer texts were carved on the blade.

"Hiss!" The moment the blessed holy water dripped onto the cloth bag, a cloud of white smoke rose up. As the holy water continued to drip, the smoke became denser, as if it were dripping onto a red-hot metal surface. The holy water that seeped and dripped through the cloth bag was already grayish-black, accumulating in a large amount in the golden chalice below the altar.

"Such a strong aura of original sin!" Original sin magic is no different from other secret source magic. The so-called purification is nothing more than using divine power and relatively neutral spiritual secret source magic to squeeze out foreign magic. This grayish-black water is the carrier used to contain the original original sin magic. It will take more time and rituals to safely consume it.

As for this ritual dagger, it may not necessarily be a magical equipment or prop. It may simply have been corrupted by participating in the construction of a large-scale original sin ritual. However, conversely, we can use these things to deduce the original arrangement and methods of the ritual, thereby finding a solution to break and dismantle it.

Just as the purification ritual was taking place, the alarm bell on the watchtower rang, "Sin Demons, a large number of Sin Demons are approaching!" Countless angry Sin Demons charged towards the Black Forest. Some were torn to pieces by the runic light bands, while others were entangled and absorbed by the roots as they entered the Black Forest. However, a considerable number of angry Sin Demons still managed to cross the thin outer edge of the Black Forest and launch an attack on the camp.

"..." Livia looked at at least twenty or thirty sin demons outside the camp, her small mouth slightly open, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't. She was stunned for several seconds before angrily lifting her skirt and rushing downstairs.

With a deafening roar, the rubble wall collapsed inwards. A furious demon, its body crimson and covered in black thorns, slapped away a soldier who had mustered the courage to charge forward with a spear. The demon then sped off on all fours toward the post station, smashing away the nodes of the ritual field that the little witch had set up for the separation of wind elements.

"..." The activated kinetic ritual field caused all the experimental objects in the area to tremble, and then crashed into the Sin Demon with tremendous kinetic energy. The magic collided with each other, forming colorful fireworks and light fragments.

"Whoosh~" The engine roared, and Alessina stared expressionlessly at the sin demon who had climbed over the wall, dragging half of the guard's remains on one claw. With one hand, he twisted the copper ring on the hilt of his sword, and tiny specks of light formed from magical waste energy shot out from the six small holes on the blade.

"Whoosh~~" The wheel near the hilt began to spin, and the blade slowly turned red. The fox girl twisted her waist, spun around, and kicked the blade backward. Using the force of her body's rotation, she swung the greatsword in an arc. As the blade spun halfway and was fully swung, the fox girl's body slid under the oncoming demon's body. The moment her feet touched the ground, the third engine roared.

His legs transformed into sharp claws, gripping the ground tightly. Using his body as the central axis and fulcrum, he swung the blade to its highest point, and under the influence of gravity and inertia, he slashed fiercely at the demon. At the moment the blade reached the peak of its arc, he pulled the trigger with both hands. "Bang!" The crimson burst of flames seemed to wrap the blade with six pairs of crimson wings.

"Pfft!" The scales of the Sin Demon shattered instantly under the heavy blow, and its entire body was split in two. The blade, wrapped in magical smoke and flames, pierced the ground heavily. The nearby imperial soldiers even felt the ground beneath their feet tremble. The fox girl's body was also thrown high into the air by inertia.

The frozen, steel-like earth cracked open with countless fissures from the location of the sword mark. An empty cartridge ejected from the reel, and the scalding metal rose into the snow as it hit the ground, creating a cloud of white mist.

The "fancy" fox girl loosened her numb arms, shakily took out a potion and gulped it down, only then did she feel a little better.

The severed remains of the Sin Demon fell to the ground and turned into a pile of charred ash, leaving nothing behind. In a sense, this is the most terrifying place for the Sin Demon – the loot list is 0, and it is a loss regardless of victory or defeat.

After learning her lesson, Alessina dared not switch to third gear again. Moreover, the power slash in third gear mode was too strong for these angry demons. After the new ammunition cartridges rotated into the propulsion chamber, the fox girl only dared to use first gear mode for slashing.

Accompanied by the continuous short engine roars and the crisp, violent gunshots, the greatsword drew an arc and collided heavily with the claws of a demon. The greatsword was bounced back, and the demon's claws were also bounced high. Then, using the force of the bounce, the greatsword, which had turned from the other side, slammed into its waist.

Whether it's slashing, chopping, or even smashing horizontally, the power of the Wupeng Sword is extraordinary. Everyone heard the crisp sound of bones cracking, and the scales on the Sin Demon's body shattered and flew everywhere. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Leslie drew her longbow, and countless stone fragments gathered into an arrow that pierced through the gap in the Sin Demon's scales that had been smashed open by the greatsword.

On the other side, the Black Horse, who could not use hellish magic, pulled his pipe out of his mouth, looked at the three-headed sin demons who had gathered around him, and exhaled a smoke ring. "I know you can't understand human language, but I still want to say something. Why don't you three brothers sit down and have a proper discussion?"

"Roar~!"

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Since you can't understand reason, I'll just have to use my fists a little." Old Ma put away his pipe and pulled out a large iron hammer with densely pointed spikes at both ends, like a meat tenderizer, from a pile of dry grass.

"Take this hammer!" The nearly four-meter-tall, muscular horse-headed monster slammed his hammer down on a sinful demon, pulling the trigger the instant the hammer struck the demon's sturdy scales.

"Boom!" A violent explosion erupted from the hammerhead. The sharp cones, like natural energy-gathering structures, poured intense prismatic burst magic into the Sin Demon's body. At the same time, the reaction force pushed the hammerhead away. Under Black Horse's manipulation, the hammerhead spun half a circle and smashed into the chin of another Sin Demon from below. "Boom!"

A headless demon's body flew out of the yard of the hut and crashed into the snow, while the last demon was grabbed by Old Ma and slammed to the ground. He held the hammer in one hand and swung it at the demon without using the power mode.

With a single blow, he skipped several prerequisites and directly opened a sauce shop, smearing a tangled mass of flesh and blood on the ground. Soon, the three corpses burned to ash on their own.

"Mama Livia, help me!" Leslie was being chased, leaping and bounding behind her. Behind her were two creatures smaller than ordinary demons, but much more agile. These monsters, covered in crimson scales, with dragon heads and thorns all over their bodies, were rushing towards Leslie on all fours.

"Bang!" A metal rod that flew from a distance pierced the demon chasing behind her. The metal began to deform the moment it pierced the demon, tearing it into pieces from the inside. Then, more round rods flew from a distance.

The little witch single-handedly achieved the effect of a battalion-level artillery unit, with metal and random wooden debris raining down like kinetic artillery shells. The moment they hit the Sin Demons, these sturdy-scaled demons were torn to shreds as if they were made of paper by an unknown force field.

“Master Roach, do you have any alchemical weapons you can use?” Augros swung his shield to deflect the claws of a sin demon. “Yes,” Roach drew his magic sword. “Hail, Livia!” The blade of light swept across, cleaving the sin demon’s claws in two.

However, compared to Roach and his group's combat prowess, the soldiers and adventurers of the survey team were in dire straits. They lacked such powerful ranged fire support, and they didn't have a strong main tank like Black Horse to allow Livia, a powerful ranged magic main DPS, to unleash her full potential.

"Roar!" Vilandera transformed into her dragon form, which was more suitable for combat, and unleashed Ash Breath towards the gap in the wall. Vilandera knew that Ash Breath was not very powerful against the Sin Demon, but she used it to ignite the gray mist that was similar to white phosphorus bombs all over the area. Then, she pulled out seven or eight alchemical bombs and two greatswords similar to those of the fox girl from somewhere.