Witch Troupe and the Undead

While Hell Warlocks are certainly hated, not all mages who use demonic familiars are Hell Warlocks. In addition to the normal low-level demons used for restraint and enslavement, there are also synthetic beings created by alchemists, such as artificial demons, which are used as bodyguards and assistants and are far more useful than real demons.

The only problem is that creating demons and constructs is one of the most expensive projects in alchemy. Many alchemy masters don't have such things as guards, and if they are damaged, it's much more painful than hiring mercenaries.

"Click~" After everyone had been fighting for a while, Leslie finally set up her magic machine gun and connected it to the magic pump that was set up and started operating. The next second, a dense barrage of bullets swept towards the archer who was drawing his bow.

The wind blades carved tracks into the ground, forcing the priest to cast protective spells even during this intense magical confrontation. "Calm Wind!" A barrier constructed of divine power was created, and the wind blades automatically disintegrated on their path. However, this action gave the little witch enough time to prepare the stage.

The magic circle beneath her feet grew larger and more complex, and the stones and wood were shaped into walls and fortresses, as if a miniature fortress model appeared around her, with burning wooden sticks turning into torches.

"Retreat quickly!" "Boom!" The ground shook violently, and countless sharp stones shot upwards. The priest quickly dodged, but an unlucky swordsman was grazed, and his wound immediately began to petrify. Then, Alessina kicked the momentarily stunned man into the pile of stones.

"Snap!" The stones snapped shut, blood spurted out, and countless stones and pieces of wood began to rise, elevating the little witch's position and forming an altar that rose above the ground. A miniature fortress was taking shape.

"Damn, is this Alexandria, the Time Machine City?" Roach stared at the ever-growing, fortress-shaped giant. The little witch stood on a platform formed by two watchtowers. This giant was at least 20 to 30 meters tall, its shape resembling a fortress, or perhaps a suit of steel armor. Its arms were planted on the ground, and its entire body was covered in patterns of magic circles. Beneath its feet, a magic circle covering almost half a city block unfolded.

"A giant, a colossus!?" The priest was visibly stunned. This spell was the highest-level earth elemental spell, summoning a colossus made of rock and metal on the spot, essentially a mobile altar and position, the perfect choice for defensive and positional warfare.

However, the difficulty is extremely high, as it almost entirely belongs to strategic magic. On the battlefield, it requires a long period of preparation to gather enough magic power and complete such a complex configuration and ritual structure.

The little witch standing on the giant's shoulder gave a smug "=w=" smile, then pointed her staff forward.

"Boom!" The castle-shaped giant, which was 25 meters tall, raised its arm and slammed it down with incredible speed, sending debris flying and a violent shockwave spreading outwards, instantly destroying a small part of the street.

"Retreat!" Even the most fanatical believer wouldn't think they could fight a mage who could summon Titans under these circumstances, especially with a high-level demon nearby.

Once the Colossus appears, it means that the opponent's occultist has an incredibly secure ritual site, allowing them to perform more rituals and create more magical bombardments without worry, squeezing out more magic from various sources.

Chapter 138 Total Annihilation

A giant, resembling a castle tens of meters tall, trotted through the streets with a slow yet swift pace. Livia gripped the wall with one hand and controlled the giant's movement with the other.

"Use Rocket Punch now!" Roach, standing next to her, seemed even more excited than the spellcaster. After all, what man doesn't dream of piloting a giant robot or something similar and wreaking havoc in the city?

The giant soldier raised his arms. Although Livia didn't quite understand what the Rocket Punch was, she understood Roach's meaning perfectly. The two fists, each the size of a house, began to spin rapidly and slammed down forcefully.

"Boom!" The ground of the entire royal city trembled, and huge cracks spread outwards, instantly swallowing up an unfortunate swordsman from the Church of Doomsday. The remaining people ran even faster.

"You're the ones who framed us just now, right?" Just as they were about to escape the attack range of the Titans, a small group of adventurers suddenly appeared from the side. The leader, a brute, pulled out a chicken leg-shaped wooden club with a sinister look and smashed it hard on the back of the head of the priest who was running past them.

Although he managed to block the attack in time, he also didn't have time to dodge the flying stones. With a casual pull from the little witch, these randomly flying stones struck the priest's head like countless missiles. Even with the otherworldly person's amazing bone defense, he couldn't withstand this kind of blow.

Suddenly, the priest felt as if a symphony orchestra was playing in his head, and his steps became unsteady. The adventurers decisively chose to withdraw from the battlefield, since they had already achieved their goal.

The Doomsday Twilight group is like a pile of shit; once you get on them, it's hard to get away. But that doesn't mean adventurers have no way to deal with these fanatical lunatics. After all, as long as you didn't kill them yourself, you're not so afraid of their death replay. The simplest way is to lead them into some dangerous place, knock them unconscious with a stick, tie them up, and throw them near the monster's lair, then you can leave.

After all, death replays aren't unlimited. In the end, all they'll see is this kind of surveillance footage: their people are tied to trees and brutally murdered by monsters. As for who tied them up? They have no idea.

Similarly, there are various methods of faking accidental deaths and remote killings. After all, the essence of so-called death replays is to use the blessings implanted in the souls of these executors to create echoes. Therefore, if the person involved does not know how they died or where the attack came from, then the person watching the replay will not get such information.

Losing his balance, the priest stumbled a short distance before tripping over debris on the ground. Then he heard the last words of his life: "Million-ton kick!" and a giant stone foot falling from the sky, accompanied by the blonde girl's happy laughter.

The other swordsman and paladin who ran faster, as well as the fastest archer, also failed to escape the battle area, because the Thunderbird Knight, who was also frightened, and the scholar he was protecting also came to their senses.

"Damn it, try this!" A knight's shield burst forth with a bright flash in his hand, and the archer suddenly felt a blinding light before his eyes, unable to see anything.

"Force Field Lock!" The arcane scholar threw out a short piece of chain as a ritual medium. The force field lock appeared in front of the archer, taut in a straight line. The archer, who couldn't see the road at all, was tripped by the force field lock. At this moment, the arcane scholar had already set up a temporary small ritual field. "Active Binding!"

Countless illusory chains wrapped around the unfortunate man's arms, and his strength and energy seemed to be sucked away by something, disappearing without a trace. A hazy, veil-like thing enveloped the archer's will.

Although he managed to break free from the hastily initiated secret ritual in just a few seconds, the massive arm that swept across was too late to dodge, and it slammed him against the wall of a nearby building, turning him into a puddle.

However, the colossus created by Livia through a temporary ritual was not a complete product. In just a few moments, numerous cracks appeared in all the rock structures, and if she hadn't been using her magic to maintain them, it would have shattered long ago.

"Giant God Soldier, use Mount Crush!" Roach shouted like a trainer, grabbing the little witch's slender waist and jumping off the giant god soldier's back. Vilandella caught him, and the giant god soldier, deprived of the witch's magical power, shattered and collapsed, crashing down on the paladins below who had no time to dodge.

"Get behind me!" The paladin gritted his teeth and raised a shield, preparing to take the hit head-on. After all, this thing was just an ordinary falling rock, and it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with.

"Boom!" Smoke and dust rose dozens of meters high, and countless graves made of rubble, soil and wood chips appeared on the street. "Cough cough~" The little witch coughed and waved away the smoke and dust. She could sense that the paladin and the swordsman below were still alive. The holy shield supported a cavity large enough for them to save themselves or wait for rescue.

The final blow from the Colossus was a normal disintegration and crash, lacking any real power. Without the magical shaping, the solid rocks turned into fragile stones and dirt.

The arcane scholar in the distance nodded slightly to Livia, then summoned a light rain. Soon, the dry clods of earth turned into mud, seeping into the cracks between the stones. Meanwhile, the adventurers who had clashed with them earlier pulled out magical items and cast enhancement spells—"Turn Mud to Stone" and "Iron Rock"—onto the massive grave.

"Are these people from the Twilight of the Apocalypse really that annoying?" Roach looked at Leslie, who gave him a "What do you think?" look.

"Do you think a group of guys who think they're saviors and cause trouble everywhere are going to be annoying?"

"Moreover, they were just deliberately setting these two groups up. Once they realize what's happening, they'll naturally kick them while they're down." Because of this "little incident," the adventurers and Thunderbird Knights seemed to have developed some kind of tacit understanding or a friendship with Roach and his group, and they also came to Roach's camp to rest and treat the injuries they had sustained during the confrontation.

"Miss Livia is really a Gold-level arcane mage?" The Thunderbird Knight took off his helmet, revealing a remarkably youthful face. "She can actually summon something as outrageous as a Colossus all by herself!"

As a strategic magic, the normal way to summon the Colossus is by a ritual group of 12 high-ranking, or Star Silver level, arcane mages. The ritual usually takes 2 to 3 days and requires a large amount of materials. The ritual site is very complex and cannot afford to go wrong.

The Colossus's spell duration is usually a whole day. Of course, if you sacrifice the duration, the requirements for materials and magic power will be lower, but it is not a spell that can be used by a single person, let alone setting up such a ritual site with rubble and wood blocks scattered all over the ground.

Of course, the real Colossus is not the sluggish "fake" Colossus summoned by the little witch, which is made of ordinary rocks and mud. The rocks on its body are magically strengthened to be stronger than steel, and it even has extremely high magic resistance, as well as protection and buffs that can refresh three pages of lists.

It can also be regarded as a mobile war core, which can provide powerful buffs to the surrounding troops. The giant soldiers that Livia just summoned, apart from their huge size and pure physical attacks, have not shown any special abilities.

However, all of the above shortcomings cannot be considered drawbacks compared to the advantages of solo play, swift summoning, and the almost costless Ritual Arena.

"Uh..." The blonde loli opened her mouth, unsure how to respond, and could only shyly hide behind her companions, clutching the hem of her clothes. "That... isn't a real Titan."

It was merely a byproduct of her research into automated armor and puppets. It simply resembled the Colossus in appearance, essentially just a giant automated puppet. It only fooled the Twilight Cult members who were relatively inexperienced. If they were to retaliate, they would immediately realize that it was just a giant temporary earthen puppet.

"To be able to make an earth golem just like a giant warrior is already amazing! Such magical control!" The arcane scholar's eyes shone brightly, and his ardent gaze made Livia involuntarily shrink back again, her hands gripping Roach and Alessina's arms tightly, as if she would protect these two meat shields in front of her at the slightest movement.

"..." She remained completely unmoved, showing no trace of the way she had chased those unlucky guys while standing on the giant machine. She looked more like an ordinary thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, but in reality, Livia's age was definitely more than that.

"Alright, kid, stop asking so many questions. You still haven't given us an explanation about what happened before!" The adventurer captain glared at the young man, but ultimately didn't retaliate, since the situation was different now.

"Um... I didn't throw that axe." The scholar scratched his head awkwardly, "I don't know where it came from either."

"You say it's not, so it's not?!" An adventurer suddenly stood up angrily.

"I...I don't know any throwing spells."

"Hmm~" Livia nodded, indicating that this guy really didn't know any throwing spells. He seemed to specialize in mental domains. Most throwing spells were of the life domain type. Although there were throwing spells in mental domains, his mental strength didn't seem like he could cast "telekinetic throw" on his own.

"You really didn't do it?" The adventure captain glanced at the little witch and asked in a deep voice.

"Absolutely not!"

"Yes, I trust Miss Livia's judgment." After all, her report, given as an assessment by a third party unrelated to the conflict between the two parties, is highly credible.

“My name is Drake, they also call me ‘Captain’,” the adventure captain said, extending his hand to Roach. Come to think of it, they hadn’t introduced themselves yet. “This is Gore, our herbalist; and this is the brute Ursus, the unlucky guy who got chopped off by a flying axe.”

The burly man with bandages wrapped around his shoulder gave Livia a good-natured smile. "This last one is our new recruit, Digger." "Victor, trainee knight of the Thunderbird Knights. Good day, Ms. Livia."

The young knight gave Livia a knightly salute. "This lying here is the full-fledged knight Tore," he introduced his colleague, the unfortunate fellow who had been hit in the abdomen by a spear. Even after being given a potion, he was still unconscious and seriously injured.

"Uh, Orechi, a scholar of arcane arts." The young scholar stammered as he introduced himself, a suspicious blush on his face for some reason. This made Leslie narrow her eyes and look at him warily. Old Ma, who saw this, also widened his eyes involuntarily and looked the guy up and down with a dangerous gaze.

"Is Ms. Livia here to investigate the history of the ancient city?" Oleich asked impatiently.

“No, we’re just here to collect the books from the library and investigate this ritual.” Roach finished speaking and looked at Vivi. “You dragons and those guys from the Sages’ Council have been at it for a year now, and you still haven’t come to a conclusion?”

“Generally speaking, it’s unlikely there will be any results in two or three years.” Vilandella spread her hands. “Do you have some misunderstanding about these guys’ efficiency? If this barrier had completely exploded, then they would probably have formed a Salvation Army to deal with it next month. But, if it’s just like this…”

"It won't be clear for at least two or three years, don't worry."

"..." Roach was speechless. "Is your efficiency really this low?"

"If it weren't so inefficient, the world would be at peace by now!" Vilandella said dismissively. "Aside from a true apocalyptic crisis that wipes everyone out, the Sages' Council's discussion efficiency is usually like this. But that's normal; these kinds of things can't be agreed upon in just one meeting, so representatives from various countries often need to go back and consult..."

"Can't we use Swift Eagle?"

"Sure, but it's too expensive, and it's not much faster!"

“To be honest, if you hadn’t set up the venue on the dragon’s island, it wouldn’t have been this slow,” Leslie complained. On the contrary, Roach and the others had no objections.

"If this organization isn't located on dragon territory, it can't even hold meetings!"

For example, if the meeting is set up on the territory of the Empire, it's questionable whether the representatives of the Kingdom of Rada and the Orcish Horde Alliance would dare to attend. It's not that they're afraid of being killed, but rather that they're afraid of having their information and intelligence stolen, or even being kidnapped and tortured.

Don't think it's impossible. You should know that there are major countries on Earth that have done this before, and they've done it more than once, even more than three times. Anyone who thinks nothing will happen should take a look at Alstom.

"I even suspect that the Empire is afraid of something like this: what if they gather for a meeting and then someone plants a bomb in the meeting room and blows them all up..."

"This is so contrary to the spirit of chivalry, so shameless!" The young knight loudly expressed his disdain and anger.

"Let me correct you. Even if the meeting is held on Dragon Island, there is still this risk. I remember once, someone planted a Holy Hammer bomb under the bridge leading to the meeting venue. Fortunately, the guy in charge of lighting it was too nervous at the last minute and forgot the incantation. Otherwise, all the representatives would have been blown up on Dragon territory."

Vilandella stated that even when meetings are held with a neutral third party, such incidents are not entirely unavoidable.

"..." Even the adventurers, who were usually well-versed in the ways of the world and had seen countless valuables, were speechless. They really dared to do that!

"By the way, if we resolve this matter, will there be a reward?" Roach suddenly remembered this, and the adventurers and Thunderbird Knights also pricked up their ears.

"Yes, if we resolve this in advance, the Sages' Council will reward us, and the amount will be quite substantial. Generally, the country where the incident occurred is responsible for paying the reward, and the specific details depend on the local level of wealth. In the case of the Empire, the reward should be quite generous, well, considering the size of our group."

The key reason for the failure to reach an agreement lies in the fact that the extremely generous compensation, which is extremely generous to an individual, seems rather meager when applied to one or even several specialized organizations. And expecting the countries surrounding the incident site to contribute money for this is really wishful thinking.

Roach and his team had no intention of hiding anything from each other, since high-ranking officials in various countries were aware of these matters to some extent.

“Then count us in,” Captain Drake quickly said. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have gotten involved so easily, but now that there was a super powerful witch leading the team, why not join in immediately and ride on her coattails?

Even if you don't get a single penny, it's still a good thing. Why? Afterwards, all you need to do is show off your resume of successfully solving a secret realm event of the highest level, and fame and fortune will come rolling in. Besides, even if you don't get a single penny of reward, you can still get a share of the loot along the way. The equipment and loot in such a high-level secret realm won't be too bad.

"I..." The scholar originally wanted to join, but after looking at the knight who was still unconscious, he hesitated. Their combat strength was only enough to safely evacuate, and they had no ability to continue to get involved. Moreover, strictly speaking, they were competitors.

"Then I wish you good luck," the young knight Victor said with some regret. He had to take care of his partner and could not possibly abandon his partner, who was completely unable to move, to join this matter.

"I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I'm afraid your abilities aren't very useful," Alessina said. "Although you are both experienced adventurers, one is injured and the other is still a newcomer; it's unlikely you can be of much help to us."

"Ah, I understand~" Drake nodded. This was normal. It wasn't easy to curry favor with someone powerful. Being rejected was normal. Nobody liked to join someone who wanted to share the spoils and rewards unnecessarily.

Chapter 139 The Forgotten City

Deep in the northern part of the Northern Plateau lies the Aré Mountains, known as the spine of the world.

The wind swept across the cold, solid stone bricks, leaving large patches of frost. In the distance, the castle, blending into the mountainside, nestled in a valley that seemed to embrace the mountain, connected to the snow-covered road on the other side only by an ancient, long bridge.

No one knows when or by whom this castle was built. It seems to have stood for a very long time since the first discoverers arrived at the fortress. After being repaired, reinforced and expanded by dozens of generations, it has now become a small kingdom that is independent of the world. Buildings made of cedar wood extend along the mountain walls on both sides of the castle and even into the bottom of the valley, where crops are planted in the relatively warm valley.

"Whoosh~" The wind whistled through the mountain crevice at one end of the stone bridge, like the breath of ghosts and gods, or the weeping of a wronged woman. This made the traveler involuntarily wrap himself in his leather jacket. Even so, at an altitude of at least 7000 meters, the cold wind carrying snowflakes still made people shiver to the bone.

At the head of the stone bridge, the ancient bunkers, having been repeatedly reinforced and fitted with insulating shells, appear incredibly bulky. Between the bunkers hangs an arm-thick iron chain from which hangs a black iron plaque that flutters incessantly in the wind: "The home of the homeless, the retreat of the destitute."

The traveler looked up at the plaque that seemed to have been there since the beginning, and continued walking forward. A humanoid creature, completely covered in thick Yeti fur, emerged from the bunker, sizing up the traveler and the string of giant ibex that followed him.

These giant ibex, which can weigh up to a ton, are the only creatures that can move freely on these plateaus and mountains. They are also one of the only sources of animal power and meat for the people who live here. The ibex have a lot of packs tied to their backs, and the lead ibex has a copper bell hanging around its neck.

“It’s you, Silva~” The captain of the guard pulled down his scarf to reveal a face covered in scales. His vertical pupils scrutinized the newcomer’s features, and he only allowed him to pass after confirming that he was a merchant who frequently traveled to and from this “forgotten city”.

It's no wonder they're so wary, because none of the people living here have legal status to walk down the mountain; those who come here are truly homeless and desperate.

Humans, or rather the mainstream races in the civilized world, are a minority here. Those who come here, whether humans or other races, are either extremely heinous, universally hated, or extremely rare individuals who cannot live in the normal world due to their identity, bloodline, or other reasons.

The mainstream factions here are creatures that are not tolerated or accepted within these races. These include the products of the bloodline experiments of the sorcerers of the past, deformed freaks born from incestuous marriages of nobles of divine blood, and "beast elves" produced by high elves and orcs.

There are also strange creatures born from beastmen and forest spirits, and even individuals that escaped after awakening their own consciousness and being created from the blood of snakemen and lizardmen.

In short, this is a concentration camp for freaks from all over the world, and they can only live here. They may be persecuted and hunted down for no reason anywhere they appear. After all, some are a disgrace to their race, some are a disgrace to their family, and some are simply dangerous experimental subjects that need to be destroyed.

Of course, this also includes various beings who simply cannot survive in the mainstream world, such as demons who accidentally appear in the real world and cannot return, as well as the descendants of demon bloodlines, and traditional great sin mages and hell warlocks. Of course, there are also a small number of arcane warlocks here, but their lineage is incomplete, and they appear extremely low-key among such a large group that everyone hates.

“This should be the last trip. Winter is almost here.” The merchant named Shiba handed over a flask of wine. “Alright, I still have to make some handover with the guild members, so I won’t stay here any longer. Damn, it’s freezing cold. I don’t know how you lizard people survive.”

“To be honest, I’m also curious about the answer,” the lizardman captain said, making a rare joke that only they understood. “Maybe it’s because being here makes us feel ‘excited’.”

The lizardman captain, having accepted the drinks, signaled to the others to let them pass. Although they were vigilant enough, the city never actually refused any visitors. However, most visitors, except for a few merchants and transporters, could only enter and could not leave.

Passing through the long stone bridge and city gate, you arrive at the heart of the "Forgotten City." Originally, this area served as the castle's front square and a training ground for the army. Now, it is crowded with densely packed wooden and stone houses, leaving only a small, pitifully frozen fountain.

The streets were exceptionally narrow, with numerous curtains crisscrossing overhead. Melted snow dripped from the wooden eaves onto the curtains, then trickled down into the dark alleyways and gutter, eventually turning into the filthy water that cascaded down the cliffside like a waterfall.

The narrow roads and crowded houses are a deliberate design to maximize the use of the urban heat island effect, prevent snow from burying the entire city, and minimize heat loss.

The only drawback is that an indescribable, strange smell, mixed with the aroma of food and the body odor of humans and animals, hits you in the face. Even the most unrefined beastmen will try to wear scarves when they go out, otherwise their sense of smell will be impaired.

The guilds are the sole administrators of the city. To be precise, they are an alliance of various guilds responsible for providing necessities and jobs. The city-state has almost no laws, with only a few existing provisions: for example, killing within the city is forbidden for any reason; stealing public property is also forbidden, and violators will be tied to stone pillars and thrown into the cold wind to be judged by the eternal ice.

The only slightly odd law here is that there can be no public religious activities. This is not because they have any views on religion or God, but because the place is too chaotic and mixed, to the point that any religious activity could turn into an internal conflict that affects everyone. Therefore, they simply prohibit all public religious activities in the same way.

As for people of all races, ethnicities, faiths, and professions, they can worship whatever gods they want in their own homes behind closed doors, and no one will care even if it is considered a cult or evil god in other places, as long as you don't cause trouble or kill people in public.

Even if it's a human sacrifice, as long as you don't kill anyone, nobody cares about things like the sacrifice committing suicide.

Shiba walked around the steam pipes that stood in the middle of the narrow road. These pipes, which stretched out from the middle of the road or in front of and behind houses from time to time, were the chimneys of those who liked to live underground and in caves. Obviously, there was no urban planning in this place.

Guilds only care about their own affairs and nothing else. There are no judges, police or town guards, no army or government agencies. Only loosely organized institutions like the Guild Alliance provide the minimum level of autonomy. The only armed force is the guards stationed at the bridgehead.

Even a city isolated from the world needs to purchase supplies and exchange necessary resources from the outside world. The trade guild is responsible for this task. They are responsible for coordinating the city's quarried stone, cultivated cedar wood and fungi, as well as various things that are difficult to manufacture legally outside, and selling them to the outside world. Then, through trustworthy transporters and black market merchants, they purchase urgently needed supplies and necessities to maintain the city's operation.