Mystery: The Witch of Desire

Edwina endured the increasingly intense and strange hallucinatory sensations, calmly watching the little white mouse walk to the front of the hallucinatory wind chime tree amidst increasingly urgent and loud sounds.

Suddenly, it stopped, opened its mouth, and used its large incisors, characteristic of rodents, to gnaw on the fur on its front paws.

Blood gushed out, but the white mouse seemed to have lost its sense of pain and continued to gnaw, peeling away its own fur bit by bit to reveal its bloody and mangled body.

As the sound of the wind chimes gradually subsided, the branches suddenly came to life, spreading downwards and engulfing the white mouse, its tiny, hair-like tentacles piercing its body.

Having prepared beforehand, Edwina knelt on one knee in the center of the magic circle, slapping her palm downwards. Instantly, blazing flames erupted from the center of the magic circle, swirling into a fire dragon in the air and sweeping towards the Enchanted Wind Chime Tree.

boom!

The fire dragon exploded at the roots of the psychedelic bell tree, quickly spreading upwards along the roots. At the same time, the branches of the psychedelic bell tree trembled and retracted backwards as if to curl up together. The frenzied bell sound that followed turned into a shockwave with an extremely high frequency, vibrating Livre's eardrums.

Although Livre immediately erected a spiritual wall to block her ears, at this moment her forehead veins throbbed, and blood flowed from her nose, eyes, ears, and all the orifices on her body. She became extremely irritable, and an impulse to kill Edwina in front of her instantly arose in her mind.

Just then, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her lower body. Liviel cried out in surprise and realized that Little White had bitten her hard. It was this tingling pain that instantly woke her up, and she realized that everything that had just happened was just an illusion, and she had not actually bled.

She exhaled softly, then immediately looked at Edwina, who was standing in the magic circle, her body glowing silver and crimson in succession. Sharp fire blades struck the surface of the psychedelic wind chime tree, and the strange tree trembled uncontrollably in the towering flames. Its branches swayed stiffly and chaotically, and it could no longer produce the orderly psychedelic sounds.

Liviel seized the opportunity, conjuring a frost spear in her hand with a menacing black flame at its tip, and hurled it fiercely at the Enchanted Wind Chime Tree, piercing the very core of its trunk.

puff!

A large gash split open in the trunk of the psychedelic bell tree, spurting out a rich, fragrant sap that revealed a fist-sized, colorless, translucent fruit.

Sensing something, Liviel immediately extended her supple spider silk, wrapped it around the heart-shaped fruit, and with a sharp tug, pulled it out, sending it flying into her palm.

After losing the heart-shaped fruit, the tree, whose surface was covered with eye-like cracks, froze, and the remaining branches drooped, losing their vitality.

Sure enough, as long as the correct information is collected and mastered beforehand, supernatural plants with relatively low intelligence are easier to deal with than extraordinary beings of the same level... Liviel took out the spirit-isolating container and put away the heart-shaped fruit of the psychedelic wind chime tree.

Then, she looked at Edwina and handed her the fruit:

"This is mainly thanks to you, please accept it."

Edwina deactivated the magic circle, brushed the dust off her clothes, and calmly said:

"It's alright, just accept it. Consider it extra compensation for you. After all, the blood of the flower-faced bat isn't anything of great value."

"Isn't our relationship a little too harmonious?"

Livre didn't stand on ceremony and happily accepted the fruit.

"The fruit of the Enchanted Bell Tree can be used as the main ingredient in potion-making for visitors. If sold, the estimated price is around 2000 pounds."

Edwina added two more valuable pieces of information, which touched Liver again.

Let's keep going.

Edwina carefully collected the spiritually significant materials such as tree bark and branches, then picked up a lantern to illuminate the road ahead.

The two bypassed the withered, psychedelic bell tree and entered the cave behind the strange tree, heading deeper into the ancient ruins.

Edwina led the way, while Livre followed behind, using her magic mirror's divination ability to keep a close watch on any potential attacks that might suddenly appear.

Inside the pitch-black cave, the sides were covered with damp green moss, and the path gradually extended downwards, winding and twisting, its destination unknown.

Liviel felt increasingly strange as she walked. What kind of ruins would be built inside an underground cave?

She asked casually:

What kind of building do you think this site originally consisted of?

Edwina paused for a few seconds and then said:

"grave.

"An underground cemetery."

Underground tombs... that's not surprising.

Liviel gazed at the darkness ahead, where no light could be seen, and muttered a few words to herself.

"Which parts of this ruin have you visited before?"

She asked with some curiosity.

Edwina didn't answer, but continued walking forward.

This made Liviel a little uneasy, but fortunately, after walking a few steps, she saw some scattered lights ahead, and after turning the corner, the view in front of her suddenly opened up:

The underground space, which is the size of a small town, is filled with various types of houses. In the center of the distant building complex, there is a tall, dilapidated building with only the main structure remaining. It is impossible to know what its original layout was like. Judging from the remaining parts, it has thick walls, is magnificent and huge, and has narrow windows. It once had a tower and a clock tower. Its exterior is simple and its form is ancient.

“We’ve been there before.”

Edwina pointed to the tall, dilapidated building.

"This is an architectural style from the early Quaternary period, recorded in the scriptures of the Church of Knowledge. It is said that during that period, major churches widely adopted similar forms to build churches. Its most distinctive feature is that the temple is above the burial ground, unifying life and death. However, I cannot be certain that the interior of this ancient church is as I described, because I have not ventured deep underground. We only removed the altars of those celestialists from the upper level of the church."

The Fourth Age… Livre couldn’t help but think of the Antigonus family’s notebook again. The Fourth Age truly held many mysteries; she really didn’t know what kind of history it was…

Edwina led the way to the ancient church ruins with their unusually tall archway, followed closely by Liver. The two quickly ascended the exaggeratedly tall, gray-white stone steps to the archway, where they saw the remaining classical stone pillars and concentric multi-tiered arches.

Livre didn't rush inside. She took out the mirror again and performed a divination to confirm that the danger of this trip was still within an acceptable range.

Suddenly, she remembered something crucial and turned to Edwina, saying:

"Are those masked bats in the catacombs of this church?"

Edwina said calmly:

“Those celestialists used the blood of the flower-faced bat when performing sacrifices. The blood of this extraordinary creature can only be preserved for one hour once it leaves the body, so it must be killed and the blood taken immediately. In addition, we found hair and feces left behind by the flower-faced bat at the entrance to the underground ruins.”

There are very good reasons for this; based on these, it can indeed be inferred that the underground ruins are inhabited by flower-faced bats...

Edwina paused, then continued:

"That's why I had you bring all the potion ingredients. If something unexpected happens after we get the blood of the flower-faced bat and we can't return to the ship immediately, you can prepare the potion on the spot and directly hold the ceremony to become the Witch of Pain."

Upon hearing this, Livre asked somewhat curiously:

"What about the other witches? Do they all have to find the Flower-Faced Bat and kill it to obtain its blood in order to advance to Sequence 5?"

Edwina explained:

"The Witch Cult should keep flower-faced bats. The blood needed for an advancement does not require killing the flower-faced bats, and blood can be taken repeatedly. Wild witches like you do not enjoy this kind of treatment."

Wild witch... well, I'm not worthy of that title.

Liviel nodded slightly, a sense of anticipation rising within her as she imagined herself becoming the Witch of Pain within hours if all went smoothly. However, the thought of enduring a quarter of an hour at the stake filled her with fear; even with Edwina's secret method, it was destined to be an extremely painful experience.

Edwina carried the lantern and walked into the church, arriving at the pulpit where the pastor was preaching.

The spot behind the platform where the statue was placed was empty, clearly indicating that the deity who was originally worshipped there had been desecrated.

"Whose church does this belong to?"

Livre asked the question naturally.

Edwina thought for a moment and said:

"Two possibilities."

"One belongs to the evil god worshipped by the Celestial Church. The other belongs to the god of death who perished in the Pale Calamity."

“Death?” Livre asked in surprise. “But He has been dead for over a thousand years.”

“It’s not impossible,” Edwina said, offering her conjecture. “In the Southern Continent, there are still some places where the belief in the Grim Reaper remains, and this church may have a history of over a thousand years.”

"I see……"

Livre didn't speak again, quietly watching as Edwina conjured a whirlwind in her hand, blowing away the withered leaves next to the statue's base.

A huge hole, about two meters wide, was revealed, with some black excrement scattered around it.

According to Edwina's guess, this is where the flower-faced bats live, and it is also part of the underground catacombs of this church.

Liviel approached the cave and looked down. It was pitch black, with little detail in sight, no end in sight, and no stairs leading up.

Just as Livre was wondering how to get down into the cave, Edwina picked up a small stone and let it fall vertically.

A few seconds later, the crisp sound of a pebble hitting the ground was heard.

"32 meters above the ground."

Almost instantly, Edwina figured out the answer.

The formula for free fall... Good heavens, I've completely forgotten this formula even though I had a university education...

Liviel blushed slightly and felt a little worried. A distance of 32 meters was roughly equivalent to 7 or 8 stories. Even if she possessed the Assassin's Creation ability, it was impossible for her to jump directly down.

At this moment, the whirlwind in Edwina's hand reappeared, becoming even larger and forming a vortex.

Next, she directed the vortex downwards, inserting it into the cave and creating an invisible passage.

Edwina turned to Livre and extended her hand.

You seem to have a way...

Livre grabbed Edwina's icy-cold hand, and the two stepped into the dark cave together, jumping down along the vortex passage.

You jump, I jump...

Livre suddenly recalled a classic scene from her past life on the Titanic. It seemed that Emperor Roselle hadn't had time to transcribe this classic work yet. If she had the chance in the future, she could teach Fors to adapt it into a novel. That way, maybe they could write a blockbuster and make a fortune...

As they pondered, the two slowly floated down to the ground, and the faint light of their lanterns grew brighter, illuminating their surroundings.

Almost the instant the lights came on, a pair of huge, scarlet eyes met Liviel's eyes, only a few meters from her face.

Swish!

Liviel's figure vanished from the spot, and then the mirror she left above the cave shattered into pieces, her image slowly emerging beside the fragments.

Her intuition told her that the power contained in those scarlet eyes even surpassed that of the ageless witch Katarina, and was definitely not something she and Edwina could contend with.

Liviel quickly threw down several spider silk threads and shouted down into the cave:

"Grab my thread, and I'll pull you up!"

There was no response from below for a long time.

A surge of intense fear and grief welled up within Livre; Edwina might have already been... killed by the owner of those scarlet eyes.

Just as she was about to activate the Mirror Beacon's ability to teleport directly back to the Golden Dream, Edwina's calm voice came from below:

"Come down, I'm fine, these are just some murals."

"Edwina?! You're still alive!"

Livre was overjoyed, but then frowned nervously.

Could it be that the owner of those scarlet eyes killed Edwina and then imitated her voice to lure me down? There are similar supernatural beings in this world.

She asked cautiously:

"Are you really Edwina? How can you prove it?"

There was silence for a few seconds at the bottom of the cave, then Edwina's soft voice came from below:

"You and two ladies, one tall and one short, the three of you together..."

"Okay, okay, I believe you!"

Livre blushed and quickly stopped Edwina from continuing. The events involving her, Fors, and Hugh were included in the experience of digesting the pleasure potions transmitted to Edwina through the knowledge channel; unless someone had accessed Edwina's memories in such a short time, they certainly wouldn't know.

Liviel carefully stepped into the vortex and descended to the ground again.

At this moment, she took in her surroundings: a narrow corridor with various murals on both sides, and Edwina was standing next to one of the murals, quietly watching it.

The mural depicts a gigantic wolf-like creature, several meters tall and over ten meters long, entirely black with its fur standing on end, appearing incredibly tough. It has four pairs of limbs with sharp claws, and its wolf head, full of fangs, faces forward, with a pair of enormous scarlet eyes.

It was those scarlet eyes that frightened Livre into activating the Magic Mirror's ability to teleport back to the cave.

Suppressing her inner turmoil, Liviel walked to the mural, gazing at the eight-legged demon wolf as she asked in bewilderment:

"What are these murals? Are they magical artifacts? Why do they contain such immense spiritual power?"

Edwina pondered for a few seconds before speaking:

"Perhaps the demonic wolf depicted in this mural is too powerful, so that just a painting pointing to it, no, 'It', has a status that surpasses that of a demigod."

Such great spiritual power in just one painting!

Liviel was startled. Could this eight-legged demon wolf be a true god?

As the mural extended forward, the two saw that the eight-legged demon wolf was not alone. Opposite it stood an old giant wearing a dark black robe and with distinct features of the southern continent. However, the giant was already rotting, and white feathers stained with pale yellow oil were growing from its body.

This ancient giant with white feathers also possessed extremely powerful strength, and his status seemed to be no less than that of the eight-legged demon wolf.