Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1080 Time is running out
puff--

The rough feel, along with the sound of metal and glass friction, was transmitted to Elaine's hand through the dagger. The figure of "Lisa" in front of her shattered and turned into a shrinking mirror, which was deformed and melted by the black flame attached to the dagger.

The real body of the "painful" witch walked out of an unmanned shop at the other end of the street. Her expression was still surprised, but she did not despair because of her opponent's unexpected strength.

She stretched out one hand and invisible threads spread out, some of which tied to Elaine, and some were scattered around the streets, forming a trap that could transmit curses and black flames at any time; with the other hand, she took out a palm-sized cross from her chest. It was golden in color and was hung around Lisa's neck by a thin chain of the same color, shining brightly in the sunlight.

"captivity!"

Lisa clutched the cross and shouted in ancient Hermetic language.

An invisible force instantly surrounded Elaine, making the air around her sticky like liquid and making it difficult for her to move.

Taking this opportunity, the spreading threads quickly entangled her, and black flames spread along the spider-like, sticky threads. In the air, deadly germs also floated towards her on the wind, about to fall on Elaine who was unable to move.

boom--

A huge flame shot up into the sky, the white incandescent light mixed with black. The shock wave swept through the nearby streets violently, shattering glass one after another. The volcanic ash on the ground was blown up, creating a thick fog that blocked the vision.

The spider silk that was not resistant to flames and the germs that could not survive in high temperatures were all swept away. The invisible cage of "imprisonment" was still there, but Elaine was no longer inside.

She turned into a flaming spear and pierced through the "weak spot" of the force field that imprisoned her, flying into the sky like a meteor, and then falling rapidly under the combined effect of gravity and the invisible threads she emitted, almost directly hitting Lisa who was caught off guard.

Another fireball exploded on the street that had already been baptized by flames multiple times, mixed with the sound of shattering mirrors.

Before the flames faded away, Lisa's staggering figure slowly emerged next to a broken glass not far away. Her dress was on fire in many places and her exposed skin was a little charred. It was obvious that she had not completely avoided Elaine's attack.

Her pale face was filled with shock. She couldn't understand why she was blown to pieces even though she had clearly used the mirror as a substitute to leave the spot.

Could it be that she possesses some kind of seal that can harm her real self through the mirror?

At this moment, Lisa had already begun to feel like retreating. She was unwilling and afraid to continue fighting with this powerful female hunter.

But as she looked at him with fear, Elaine's tall figure emerged from the slowly dissipating flames and smoke, and once again transformed into a flaming spear that could penetrate everything, shooting towards her.

"die!"

Holding the cross on her chest, Lisa issued a majestic pronouncement, her body seemed to be integrated with some strange power, and then she took the initiative to run towards the flying flaming spear.

The moment the two came into contact, she leaned sideways onto the flame, and her body instantly turned into a burning magic wand, but the "Reaper" flame was also blocked by her seemingly weak but actually infinitely powerful impact, and she was directly transformed back into Elaine with red hair and a shawl.

Her expression was a little pale, and it was obvious that she had suffered some damage in the previous collision, but her eyes were still firm. She quickly scanned the messy streets, trying to find the "pain" witch who used the magic wand to substitute and avoid the attack.

However, the latter's figure did not appear on the street. Instead, he quickly disappeared with suppressed coughs and stopped abruptly behind a glass window that survived the explosion.

She ran away... But my "disease" that can resist high temperatures has taken effect on her. Although it is not fatal in a short period of time, and it is difficult to kill a witch who is also proficient in this ability, it can weaken her for a period of time...

Elaine touched the "Ice Mirror" talisman in her pocket, and realized that she was delayed for a moment by the opponent's sealed object that was suspected to be "Judge" or "Punishment Knight". It was unlikely to catch up with the opponent again, so she did not follow him into the mirror world.

But before she could leave the scene, a team of Morola law enforcers wearing black robes and with numb expressions came to the deserted street. The one leading them was the man who had just helped collect the bodies of the duelists in the "Fallen Nobles".

He glanced at the shops still ablaze with fire, then looked at Elaine and said:
“Arson and destruction of public property should be punished.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

Elaine immediately raised her hands to look innocent, then pointed in the direction Lisa ran and said:
"I was followed by a woman. I suspected she was going to assassinate me, so I hid in the Church of Knowledge. When I tried to track her down, I was ambushed. After a short fight, she was injured and escaped.

"This is self-defense! I am the victim and she is the criminal!"

As her words became more and more excited, Elaine used the witch's ability of "instigation" to strengthen the persuasiveness of her accusation.

Moreover, during her two months of living in Morola, she has determined that these law enforcers are nothing more than "law enforcement machines" with rigid thinking. They are not omniscient and omnipotent. They rely heavily on the reality they see and the information they get from questioning to make judgments. At most, they have some ability to identify lies.

And much of what she said was true.

Sure enough, the leading law enforcer stared at Elaine for a moment, as if using some ability to confirm whether she was lying. After a moment, he nodded and said:
"Can you confirm the identity of the attacker?"

Elaine immediately replied:
"Her name is Lisa. She should have come to Morola two months ago."

The law enforcer took out a thick book from under his black robe and started to look through it. He quickly wrote a few words on it as if to confirm something, and said to Elaine in a calm tone:

"We found her registration information. We will confirm with her what happened today. If she was indeed the one who attacked you first, she will be charged with arson and destruction of public property, as well as intentional injury to you."

"Will she become an 'experimental subject'?" Elaine felt relieved and asked curiously.

"will not."

The law enforcer replied coldly, and then began to disperse on the street, putting out the remaining flames and cleaning up glass windows and other items damaged by the explosion.

Elaine looked for a while, and when she saw that the law enforcers were no longer paying attention to her, she left the street and returned to the Church of Knowledge in the center of the city.

Only after entering the absolutely safe church hall did she feel completely relieved. In an empty corner, she took out the magic mirror that she carried with her, which had its connection strengthened by her blood, and performed a divination with clumsy skills in order to find Lisa's trace.

As she expected, the divination failed.

"It seems that her injuries are not serious. She still has the leisure to do counter-divination. This may have become the instinct of the members of the witch sect..."

She muttered, put away the magic mirror, and walked towards the rows of brass bookshelves.

"The battle just now really demonstrated the power of 'Gift'. Even though I didn't use many witch abilities, the special combination of the two pathways gave me an overwhelming advantage over the single-path 'Pain' witch. For example, 'Harvest' combined with the cursed black flame can penetrate the mirror double and cause certain damage to the main body. For example, using high temperature to remove the opponent's 'disease', my own is not affected...

"If I were still the same 'reaper', I wouldn't have much of an advantage against a witch of the same order. She also has a seal that can restrict movement and launch fatal attacks, which looks like a 'judge'... I didn't bring most of my magical items into Morola, which is a big problem. I wonder if Miss Angelica can provide some help...

"Did Lisa follow me because of Gu Xin's intention, or did she make the choice based on the interests of the Witch Cult... How far has their cooperation with the Iron Cross progressed?"

Summarizing the gains and losses of the battle and her guesses about Lisa in her mind, Elaine walked to the long table where she often read, and was surprised to find that Archbishop Heraberg was already waiting there.

"Have you finished reading those books?"

His first words made Elaine's face fall. After a moment of silence, she nodded.

"Very good," Heraberg said with satisfaction, placing several test papers on the table, "After you finish these papers, you can go back."

Elaine, who thought she would be assigned more reading plans, looked at the archbishop with gray hair and clear and gentle eyes in surprise and asked:

"Don't you need to read any more books?"

She regretted what she had said as soon as she finished, fearing that the other party would point at other bookshelves and say something like "You have to read these and those."

Fortunately, Heraberg just shook his head and said:

“You never stop learning, but your time is running out.

"The knowledge you have learned so far is enough for you to complete your tasks. Of course, whether you can do this ultimately depends on your efforts, not just relying on those books."

Time is running out... Is he referring to the changes on Morola's side, or other problems in the outside world?

Elaine was startled, and immediately thought of Lisa's stalking today, and Gu Xin's initiative invitation. Under the gaze of the other party's amber eyes, she nodded, sat down obediently, spread out the test paper, picked up the pen and looked at the first question:
“Have you had nightmares since you started studying?”

What a weird question… Elaine’s gaze froze again.

She has been having nightmares a lot lately!

----

It was not until nightfall that Elaine, who had finished all the test questions, returned to her residence. William and Tia had already returned and were lazily lying on the sofa and rocking chair. They had not even prepared dinner, but were waiting for takeout from a nearby restaurant.

Tia is fine, but William is a relatively self-disciplined person, but now he has become lazy. This city will allow people to gradually integrate into it, making every exile no longer himself... Elaine's mind is full of the contents of the test paper and the knowledge in the books she read this month. She is extremely dissatisfied with the performance of the two.

But because of this knowledge, Elaine realized that the various abnormalities in Morola were most likely caused by the negative effects of the seal below, and the "gift" she possessed could resist this effect to a certain extent, but William and Tia were inevitably affected.

If we want to enter the underground mausoleum and get close to the "Salinger Blood Flag", we must not bring them with us, otherwise it will only kill them... Elaine thought about it, coughed lightly to attract the attention of the two, and said:

"You should be careful recently. Lisa from the Witch Cult followed me today and will probably follow you later. If you meet her, don't get into a direct conflict with her. Use the Ice Mirror spell to escape."

After reminding the two, Elaine returned to her room, set up the altar skillfully, sealed the room with the spiritual wall, chanted the name of the "Golden Queen", and successfully saw Miss Angelica's figure in the mirror placed on the altar.

After a while, she walked out of the room, looked at William and Tia, who were much more energetic because they might be pursued by the Witch of Pain, took a deep breath, and said:
"Go and order me an extra dinner, all meat."

Around her neck, a ruby ​​necklace sparkled with charming brilliance.

(End of this chapter)