My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 342 How Many Oars Did the Ferryman of the River Styx Lose?
Death, death, death.

But this is not the end.

The deceased was swallowed and corroded by a viscous liquid that resembled a shadow, and then became one of the giant worms flowing with thick black mucus.

For the villagers, today was just an ordinary day.

They were to prepare the precious meat left behind by the two kind people who had stayed there, just as they had done in the previous days.

Winters in the North are long, and temperatures don't start to rise until the end of May.

These precious meats can greatly replenish the village's scarce food reserves, helping them better survive this chaotic winter.

Although it is a small village located on the edge of the Empire and the Kingdom of Platia, there is no need to worry about the war between the King and the Princess affecting this place.

However, the impact of the war also made it difficult for them to procure the supplies they needed.

These meats are very valuable.

but……

When that repulsive, foul-smelling, black pus-oozing, indescribable monster appeared at the village entrance, everything was already destined.

The villagers scattered and fled, but after running only a few steps, they all stood still as if they had lost their minds, and then turned around and walked towards the monster.

To become nourishment for that monster to increase its size.

You could vaguely make out some armor from the monster's body.

Those are the armors of the Blood Demon King's Royal Army.

Clearly, a small patrol force had been attacked by this monster.

No fire broke out in the village, and the buildings did not collapse.

There wasn't even a corpse to be seen.

There was only a grotesque, thick black mass that constantly oozed black pus.

The monster seemed to dislike moving around, and after arriving at the village, it stayed at the village entrance.

Until a bone dragon, flapping its enormous bone wings and flashing with a ghostly purple flame that symbolized death, swept across both sides of the village.

With just a wisp of dark purple dragon breath, the indescribable monster vanished completely, leaving not even ashes behind.

Then, when the bone dragon floating in mid-air was about to exhale another breath, it coughed as if it had something stuck in its throat, and then it turned back to its original form in a somewhat disheveled state.

Still sporting her dragon horns, bone armor, and a small tail, Polycia covered her mouth and coughed.

Clearly, she lacks experience in being a dragon, and she takes some things too seriously.

I used too much dragon breath, and although it felt great, I choked on my saliva.

"Cough cough cough..."

Polycia, who replaced Nash, the real dragon, as the Dragon Girl, is coughing incessantly and it seems she won't be able to stop anytime soon.

Kalia, who jumped off her back, patted Polycia's back and began to help her catch her breath.

As for Roland, he wielded a greatsword in one hand and a holy sword in the other, using runic magic to skillfully and easily deal with the humanoid monsters crawling out of the black pus in the village.

Roland looked rather pale; there was no one left alive here.

Apart from the three of them, there was no sign of life here, not even a single corpse, not even the carcasses of livestock.

All life seemed to have been swallowed up by the grotesque monster that had just been blasted away by Polycia's dragon breath.

Kalia's expression was somewhat sorrowful.

Compared to Roland, who didn't interact much with the villagers, Roland, who spent most of her time living with them, found this outcome difficult to accept.

She even plans to come back again sometime to bring some gifts for the villagers.

but……

Kalia pursed her lips and silently clenched her fists.

Soon, Roland, carrying Dawn of Destruction in one hand and Durandal in the other, walked towards the two of them and then shook his head.

"The range of anomalies I can detect is not limited to this."

"Polusia, please take Lia back to Isfar. Lia will give you directions."

"I'm not able to take you with me on the next mission."

"Given the unique nature of this polluting force... I cannot guarantee that I can protect your safety while ensuring my own."

Upon hearing this, Polycia became even more anxious than Kalia: "Are you going to face the danger alone?!"

"I'm really strong now! I can definitely continue to help!"

Kalia rolled her eyes at Roland: "Don't even think about leaving me behind to do anything dangerous!"

"No matter what, it's easy to escape if we're threatened, isn't it?"

Roland shook his head: "This time is too special."

"Even the Demon King at his peak couldn't detect that pollution in time; by the time he did, it was too late."

"I can't guarantee that I can detect these contaminations on you in time."

“Especially you… Leah.”

Roland's gaze was unusually serious: "You're special...you know what I'm talking about."

"You should try your best to avoid anything related to existence."

Kalia crossed her arms, turned her head away, and stopped talking.

Polycia continued, "The Demon King? My lord, do you know the Demon King?"

“…Hmm.” Looking at Polycia, whose perception was likely still stuck four hundred years in the past, Roland asked, “If I told you that I am friends with the Demon King, what would you do?”

“Of course I’m on your side!” Polycia shouted.

Roland chuckled, then shook his head: "Alright, take Leah with you."

"Even though she's throwing a tantrum now, she still knows what she's doing."

"At first, she was just being stubborn because she didn't know what she was going to face."

Kalia did not answer.

But sometimes not answering is also an answer. She was indeed still being stubborn, because Roland was always like this... Every time she wanted to share risks and crises with him, he could always come up with a string of reasons that she couldn't refute.

She knew that if she insisted on going with Roland, Roland would definitely take her with him... but the trouble that would bring would definitely be a big one.

She was acutely aware of just how troublesome she was.

Polycia didn't refute further, but simply asked, "But... if it's pollution and an enemy that even the Demon King can't prevent, then why are you so confident?"

Roland laughed: "I'm special. There are some things I have to do."

"Even though it wasn't my responsibility to begin with."

"But there are some things that can only be done by someone as special as me."

"For myself, and for the people I care about."

After saying that, Roland looked at Polycia and laughed; "Although I don't really like ordering people around."

"But today might be an exception."

"Polusia, take Kalia and leave, return to Isfar."

As soon as Roland finished speaking, his expression changed drastically. He immediately appeared in front of Kalia, who was sulking, and then swung the Dawn of Destruction in his hand, slashing towards Kalia's face.

Kalia didn't understand for a moment why Roland would suddenly attack her.

But when the greatsword's blade cleaved through flesh and blood, and the thick, purplish-black blood was blocked by the shadows and Roland's telekinesis before it splattered onto her, she realized what had happened.

There are enemies!
Kalia immediately hid in the shadows and then appeared next to Polycia.

Then, countless shadowy sharp weapons rapidly materialized from the ground, instantly piercing through a dozen or so invisible enemies.

Even when pierced by various weapons, they did not reveal their bodies.

The only thing that is certain is that the enemy is human.

At least it hasn't completely escaped the realm of humanity.

Roland's greatly enhanced mental and magical power, amplified by the rune, was unleashed at this moment.

Spell counters and spell interference! Full coverage!
As Roland unleashed his wide-range AoE control skill, the enemies who were originally invisible suddenly revealed themselves in various forms.

If it weren't for the fact that they were currently strung up in mid-air like candied hawthorns by Kalia's spell, limiting their range of motion, the pain of their internal magical energy melting due to the spell's counter-spell would not have been so easy to bear.

These stealth assassins, whose strength is mostly at the fourth or fifth ring level, are not like Cassius, a ninth-ring legend.

The effects of spell counters on these low-level beings can directly cause the small source of energy within their bodies to melt away.

Just as Roland was walking toward the nearest assassin, intending to examine his clothing and use mind control techniques from runic magic to extract information, he discovered that all the enemies who had been breathing were now dead.

Moreover, the corpse began to emit black mist.

"Eivaz!"

Roland frowned, and with a burst of mental power, countless runes instantly filled the already desolate village.

The phantom of the World Tree rose up from the spot, obscuring the sky and also dispelling the black mist emanating from the corpses.

Upon realizing the abnormality of the corpse, Kalia instantly severed the connection between herself and the shadows.

After the two of them performed a smooth and seamless routine, Polycia finally realized what had happened and lowered her head in shame.

It's a dereliction of duty for someone who is supposed to be a bodyguard to make the person being protected do it themselves!

This precious new life is hard-won, so you must cherish it!
However, the crisis is clearly not going to end so easily.

The first wave of assassins was clearly just bait, or cannon fodder to test Roland and his group.

Soon, a jet-black spear suddenly shot out from the side, flying with astonishing speed and power toward Polycia, a girl who seemed easy to bully but was actually a great threat.

Polycia spotted the spear that had been used to ambush her, slightly sidestepped it, then raised her finger covered in bone armor, aimed it at the hilt, and flicked it.

boo.

The seemingly sturdy spear snapped in two with a snap, as easily as breaking a toothpick.

Roland even heard a shout that was a mixture of panic and anger.

At that moment, Roland looked down at the spear that had been thrown out.

Hmm, why does this look so familiar?
How come it looks so much like my own Gray Spear before it was possessed by Elena's power?
Roland curiously picked up the broken spearhead and had Brother Tong examine it.
The Broken Gray Spear

[Ding... Information update detected.]

[Aura of a key figure detected... Information updating...]

[Related terms updated]

[Originally, these were oars and protective weapons bestowed by Death upon the ferrymen of the River Styx.]

[An object that, in theory, will never break or break, and conceptually has been stripped of the concept of 'death'.]

[This weapon should be something only Death and the Ferryman can use and destroy.]

But there are always exceptions.

The careless ferryman had clearly lost more than one oar.

Fortunately, she had plenty of stock.

Meanwhile, Elena, who was working tirelessly on the River Styx, suddenly sneezed.

She paused for a moment after sneezing.

It's a rare thing.

She can sneeze too?
In the human world, it seems that sneezing is caused by someone muttering their own words... Could it be that that great one has already started thinking about them?
Sure enough, when it comes to things like security, adults still trust their children to handle it themselves!
It's a pity I still have to work overtime...

Thinking about this made Elena a little angry.

In a fit of anger, she lost her grip, and the gray spear that had transformed into a paddle slipped from her hand and fell into the River Styx, a place even she dared not venture into.

Irena: "..."

The petite ferrywoman didn't say anything, but silently took out a new oar and continued rowing, huffing and puffing.

So, how much did she actually lose?

Never mind, I’ve lost count.

(End of this chapter)