Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 593 The Long-Awaited Main Quest
The Black Knight moved through the dark, withered woods like a black lightning bolt.

From the slender yet towering trunk of an oak tree, it leaps to another equally towering yew, as light as a falling leaf, its hard, rusty armor seemingly losing all weight.

The horde of undead on the ground was fighting a sudden swarm of carnivorous creatures, completely unaware of the shadow that swept across the night sky.

Dark red blood splattered in the deep night, accompanied by screams.

The Witcher silently leaped onto the withered forest, onto the tallest pine tree, and frowned as he looked around.

The spatial fluctuations caused by the fusion of different realms have gradually subsided.

The ghouls that fell from the sky, except for the unlucky ones who fell to their deaths or broke their legs, have all gotten up from the ground and are fighting with the undead, zombies, and spirits that have come after hearing the noise.

As the Witcher had predicted, they were completely overwhelmed by the undead.

There were too many undead. The hundreds of scattered ghouls could frantically tear the undead and zombies to pieces, but they were helpless against the half-real, half-illusory spirits.

Under the eerie green glow of the will-o'-the-wisps, they were torn to pieces by a jumble of weapons including scythes, spears, and pitchforks.

It wasn't until the colossal creatures emerging from the largest black holes of the interdimensional fusion, awakened from the shock of the interdimensional journey, that they led the ghouls in launching several effective counterattacks.

【Name: Corpse King】

【Level: 56】

[Attributes: Strength 99, Agility 34, Constitution 73, Perception 24, Mysticism 54]

……

【Name: Queen of the Corpses】

【Level: 49】

[Attributes: Strength 43, Agility 43, Constitution 99, Perception 42, Mysticism 63]

When he completed the first stage of the ghoul hunting mission, the monster that emerged from the convergence of the celestial spheres was killed by a summoning ritual before he could even see it, and was slapped to death by a tentacle against the stone wall of the valley.

When cleaning up the monster materials later, all I found was a lump of minced meat.

This time, Erin finally witnessed firsthand what kind of massive monsters would be summoned by the celestial conjunction of the ghouls.

The Corpse King was a humanoid monster, about the height of three people, with a grayish-white, rotting flesh-like body and bulging muscles in its limbs. The Corpse Queen looked similar, except that her belly was swollen, as if she were pregnant.

Phase One's exotic fusion—the Water Demon—summoned a total of four large monsters: two Water Demon Kings and two Swamp Fairies.

The alien fusion of the ghoul stage one has two more heads than that of the water ghost.

The Corpse King and the Corpse Queen each have three heads.

Judging by appearances, there were more ghouls falling from the sky than the water ghosts from the last time.

It's unclear whether it's due to the alien fusion of ghouls, which should naturally be larger than the water ghosts, or because of the Emerald Gate—the Gate of Ad Gais—that is becoming increasingly clear.

There's another point that's quite interesting.

In the world of Witcher, there are no large monsters that are related to water ghosts, so it's understandable.

However, ghouls are one of the few groups in the Witcher world that, once they reach a certain number, will give rise to different types of ghoul creatures, such as Commanders (Giant Ghouls), Bio-Bombs (Carrion Demons), and Advanced Bio-Bombs (Spiked Demons).

He even thought that the large monster summoned by the celestial conjunction might be a giant ghoul.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't that, but two unfamiliar monsters. Moreover, the monsters falling from the sky were only ghouls, with no other ghoul-eating creatures.

This is very strange.

In the world of The Witcher, almost all monsters originated from the cataclysmic event of the celestial conjunction 1,500 years ago.

Why is it that the Corpse King and Corpse Queen that appeared in the ghoul fusion seem to have never appeared in the Witcher world?

It may have existed before, but for some reason it quickly degenerated and disappeared, and did not reproduce.

Or did they never come into this world during the celestial convergence more than 1,500 years ago?

Furthermore, in the Demon Hunter's Notes, water ghosts, ghouls, carrion demons, and giant ghouls all have their own independent celestial sphere intersections.

Does this mean that these ghouls come from different worlds?

But if these ghouls don't belong to the same world, why do they manage to gather together harmoniously in the Witcher world, hunting and fighting together?

"Roar--"

A muscular zombie king roared to the sky, interrupting Erin's thoughts.

Almost the instant the six large monsters, the Corpse King and Queen, awoke, the ghouls, who had been fighting individually and at a disadvantage in their battle with the undead, instantly became orderly. They retreated, gathered, and protected the Corpse King and Queen, these six large monsters, in a disciplined manner.

After a short break, they split into groups of five and began to tear apart the dense formation of the undead, just like a well-ordered army.

However, Erin only glanced at the core of the monster battlefield. The bluish-gray flame in his bone socket then shrank into a line, hiding in the darkness of the pine forest, scanning the chaotic, withered woodland before him.

"It's not here...and there are no unusual magical fluctuations..."

"Such drastic changes, even the magical cage created for the mountain people has been broken, yet they still haven't shown themselves..."

A harsh, metallic scraping sound emanated from the rusty helmet.

Ben Ade's male wizards were more patient than he had imagined.

Only at the easternmost edge of the forest could one hear the occasional shouts of ancient battles, the magical glow of thunder, hurricanes, and ice crystals, and the fierce battle between ghouls and undead not far in front of them; the rest of the forest was deathly silent.

If it weren't for Erin's own considerable expertise in ritual studies, he would have almost thought there were no male witches in this forest.

But that's impossible.

There must be many sorcerers skilled in ritual studies in this withered woodland.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to support such a large-scale ritual magic circle, which almost covers the area of ​​two Elland.

and……

“The necromancers’ activities are becoming more regular…” The Witcher narrowed his eyes.

Just moments ago, the undead were fighting individually and crumbling under the attack of the ghouls, but now they have become organized and have a hierarchy.

The most vulnerable, human-looking undead serve as cannon fodder, attracting attacks from ghouls, while the tougher-skinned, sharp-toothed zombies wait to harvest the ghouls, whose numbers are no longer too great.

As for the demons carrying eerie green lanterns, they appeared directly behind the ghouls, beside the Corpse King and Queen.

The undead that had not been attracted at first were also rapidly gathering.

Some wandered over, while others headed directly to the west of the woods, the direction Arryn had come from… “The ritual has disappeared, but it hasn’t disrupted the warlock’s control over the undead.” The witcher looked up at the exceptionally bright moon. “That means the ritual that previously shrouded the sky wasn’t for controlling the undead.”

"Isolated spatial teleportation?"

"That should be the case. The fluctuations in space have stabilized. At least part of the ritual should be used to isolate the free elves' teleportation spells. Otherwise, the free elves are few in number, and there are quite a few elven sorcerers skilled in teleportation, so encirclement and suppression would be out of the question."

"And they also discovered me... no... it's more like the ritualist's senses were triggered when I passed through that eerie green magical barrier."

"Otherwise, if they had discovered me through the senses of the undead, they should have had those undead surround this pine tree..."

……

The witcher concealed himself on pine branches, trying to gauge the limits of Ban Ad's abilities while attempting to locate the cunning sorcerers' hiding place.

But actually...

Once the first phase of interdimensional fusion breaks the ritual that isolates spatial teleportation, the Witcher's purpose in coming here has been achieved.

Francesca's free spirits could easily leave via a portal.

However, looking at the ragged undead on the ground, his sense of morality as a human being made him want to do more and clean up the scum among the sorcerers.

The male wizard who dared to use necromancy to turn living humans into undead tonight, who had broken the "ban" and was capable of doing so for a group of mountain people who had long since declined to the extreme, absolutely could not survive tonight.

Otherwise, he didn't even dare to imagine what would happen if these ten thousand undead appeared in Kaer Morhen in winter, when the Witchers were drinking all night.
To take it even further.

Sunny and Ottoran benefited from this misuse of necromancy and became dependent on it. If a warlock kingdom is ever established in the future, then they can expect the undead scourge to run rampant across the world.

It's not impossible.

To be honest, Erin has always been pessimistic about Tissaya de Veres's plans.

It wasn't that I thought the operation to rescue Henry Gedimidis would fail, but rather that even if Henry Gedimidis were rescued, the radical faction led by Sunny would truly be suppressed by him, and Ottoland and his Risberg civil cooperative would be driven out...

There is still a high probability that the Warlock Kingdom will be established at some point in the near future.

Because Henri Gedimidis only undertakes internal, gentle corrections and changes...

Will he kill Sunny?

Maybe, maybe not.

But he could never kill all the radicals, much less eliminate all the warlocks who were looking forward to the establishment of the warlock kingdom.

In particular, when the possibility of a sorcerer kingdom being established became clear to everyone, and the attitude of secular monarchies was so ambiguous, the establishment of a sorcerer kingdom became almost inevitable.

It is almost inevitable that sorcerers will intervene in secular power due to their magical abilities.

Even Philippa Ehrert expressed regret to Erin, explaining that she only participated in the rescue of Hen Gedimidis because of her own position as Erethusa, rather than truly resisting the establishment of a kingdom that belonged only to sorcerers.

From beginning to end, it was only Tissaya de Veris who maintained the ancient Novigrad Alliance, and the fact that no other warlock faction, apart from Eritusa, intervened is proof of this.

Tissaya de Veres remains as naive as she was with "The Future".

of course.

The operation to rescue Henry Gedimidis must continue.

Whether the first "king" of the Warlock Kingdom was Hen Gedimidis or Sunny made a world of difference to the Wolf School.

The establishment of the Warlock Kingdom was almost inevitable in Erin's eyes.

These male wizards who possess necromancy, are skilled in necromancy, and have used necromancy should not be spared and must be killed as much as possible.

He certainly didn't want his "backyard" to inexplicably catch fire while he was fighting fiercely against Wild Hunt and White Frost on the "front lines."

Necromancy is not a simple skill; it is a top-level magical knowledge comparable in difficulty to genetic mutation studies, and its difficulty is equally top-level, especially when it is applied on such a large scale.

Once this group of warlocks is eliminated, the likelihood of necromancy reappearing in the future will be reduced countless times.

After making up his mind, the Witcher hid himself even more deeply.

At the same time, it used the mirage pearl to add another layer of disguise to itself, completely blending into the half-withered pine tree.

“They’re cautious, extremely cautious,” he thought to himself, watching the ghouls gradually losing ground and the undead gathering in the distance. “The spatial blockade hasn’t been broken yet, and the free elves could escape at any moment, exposing their whereabouts…”

"Were they frightened by the fusion with other realms?"

The Witcher stroked the rough bark of the pine tree with his right hand, paused, and said, "Possibly, but it's not necessarily a bad thing."

"With the spatial blockade lifted, the free elves are now free to come and go as well as the male witches."

"The fact that the necromancers are still being controlled means that while the fusion of the alien realms has frightened them, it hasn't scared them away yet."

"They're observing, which is a good thing..."

As he was thinking, he suddenly thought of Kaer Morhen, those nasty rats.

Often, skilled witchers can hunt down ferocious, incredibly strong monsters, but they are helpless against those cunning little creatures that dig burrows in the nooks and crannies.

They would come out at night to feast on stored meat, flour, and vegetables while everyone else was asleep, causing the Witcher Rumon, who was up early to prepare the meal, to roar throughout Kaer Morhen.

At the slightest sound, it will immediately slip away and not reappear for a long time.

But they are cautious yet greedy and opportunistic, and they will not let go of any food that comes into their range.

The best way to get rid of those rats is not the Igni sign, which involves filling all the rat holes with scorching flames, but rather with poisoned dough and chunks of meat, and rat traps filled with cheese...

Ultimately, it comes down to patience and bait.

“I have patience, and the free elves don’t need me to do anything more, but…” the Witcher frowned, “what method can I use to lure out those Ban Aard male sorcerers? What exactly constitutes bait?”

"Roar--"

The battle between the undead and ghouls on the ground quickly reached its most intense stage. The huge bodies of all the zombie kings and queens were covered with zombies and demons, looking like maggots on rotting flesh from a distance.

The witcher watched this scene and said with a wry smile, "On the bright side, at least the male witches don't reproduce as fast as rats."

Just as he was racking his brains, trying to figure out a way to lure out the male wizard Ban Ad, a cold system notification suddenly rang in his ears.

"Ding! The first stage of the alien fusion 'Ghoul' has been completed. Current fusion progress is 1%..."

"Ding! A main quest has been detected: The Restoration of the World. Accept?"

(End of this chapter)