It felt so good to be close to the witch!

Where should I begin...?

"Decades ago, the newly legendary Duke Soros traveled the continent and met Fuma's mother, Mayina."

"Maina comes from the Witch's Guild. She is the second disciple of the guild's former president and the junior sister of Freya, your mother, Roy. In order to seek the opportunity to break through to become a Great Witch, Maina left Witch Island and set foot on the mainland."

"The two traveled together and gradually developed feelings for each other. Two years later, when Duke Soros returned to the province of Rafa, Mayna was already pregnant."

"As imperial dukes, the Soros family is not only illustrious and glorious, but also under the watchful eyes of countless people. Even though Duke Soros and Mayna herself have tried their best to erase their traces, they have still been caught by those with ulterior motives."

“If it were just an ordinary witch, the temple would turn a blind eye because of her noble status. But Mayina’s status is too special.”

"Not long after the two returned to the Duke's mansion, the people from the temple descended."

"The strongest knights of the Divine Punishment Knights, six of the 'Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment,' arrived above the Duke's mansion, forcing the Duke's mansion to hand over Mayna."

"Among the twelve seats of divine punishment, the weakest has the strength of a peak Legendary Two-Star, and the top nine seats are all at Legendary Three-Star or above."

"This time, the last six seats of the Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment have arrived."

"Faced with the coercion of the temple, how could Duke Soros, who was about to become a father, possibly yield, and how could the Soros family possibly back down?"

"That battle shocked the world. Duke Soros, who had just been promoted to Legendary just two years ago, actually fought against three opponents, single-handedly facing the seventh, eighth, and ninth seats of the 'Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment,' and severely injured all three of them. The strength he displayed surpassed that of a Legendary Three-Star!"

"And the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth seats were also defeated in the face of the siege of the six dukes' legends."

"Just as the temple was about to be defeated, the chief of the 'Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment' appeared. With a single blow, he severely injured Duke Soros and forcibly took Mayna away."

"Later, Duke Soros went to the capital alone and persuaded the royal family to intervene in exchange for the Soros family guarding the border. Under pressure from the royal family and the council of nobles, the temple also backed down and agreed not to send Mayna to the stake, but she must be imprisoned for life in the underground prison of the Imperial Central Church."

“Every year, he can only meet with Mayna when Duke Soros enters the capital to collect military funds.”

"Both sides made a vow that Mayna would be released when the border duke guarded the empire for a hundred years, or when the border duke was able to defeat the chief of the 'Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment'."

At this point, Latie looked at Roy and Fuma in front of her, her tone complicated:

"The Radiant Empire is both large and small. There are only a few entities capable of causing this series of upheavals, and they are mostly concentrated within the empire."

"I think Duke Soros must have come to the capital with suspicions and is preparing to challenge the 'Chief of Divine Punishment' to rescue Mayina, right?"

My daily book recommendation: "Unable to Go Undercover, I Had No Choice But to Marry the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Cult"

[Recommendation]: As you can tell from the title, it's an undercover story.

Chapter 177 A powerful stimulation on the verge of spiraling out of control—are you ready?

Yet?

"Chief of Divine Punishment..."

Roy repeated the word, and the very title conveyed a strong sense of oppression.

"The Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment in the Temple, and the Twelve Pillars of Radiance in the Noble Council, are the twenty-four strongest legendary knights of the Radiant Empire."

"Of course, this refers to the surface part."

"Secretly, the temple and the royal family must have hidden experts or special methods."

“The young Duke Soros was no match for the Chief of Divine Punishment in the past. Now that he has decided to take action, he must be absolutely certain of success.”

Lati said slowly.

"Ms. Latie..." Fuma pursed her lips, "How strong is the Chief of Divine Punishment?"

Her eyes were somewhat unfocused. Upon hearing the news that her mother was still alive, she felt both joy and heartache, but also deep worry.

"When the Chief of Divine Punishment made his move at the Duke's mansion more than a decade ago, his strength had already reached the limit of the legendary realm. Now, he is most likely still at that level."

Lati said in a very serious tone: "The concentration of magic power in the world limits the birth of realms above the legendary level. The legendary and the great witch are the end of the path of cultivation."

"However, realm is realm, and combat power is combat power. Even within the same realm, there can be a huge difference in combat power."

"The top three seats of the Twelve Seats of Divine Punishment are all at the pinnacle of the legendary realm. Their specific strength depends on their own abilities."

"This winter, the monster calamity and the continuous blizzards that are rare in hundreds of years have affected even the Witch Island, which is far overseas. Such a strange phenomenon could only be indirectly caused by the royal family or the temple within the Radiant Empire."

"Duke Soros's trip is most likely to use himself as bait to lure the person behind the scenes into making a move."

Fuma fell silent.

Although I guessed that my father's trip would be extremely dangerous, I never expected it to be this dangerous.

Admittedly, the current border dukes are very powerful, and their ducal mansions are extremely influential. However, facing the royal family or the temple, or even both of them at the same time, is tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.

"What... should we do..." Fuma was confused.

Even knowing the dangers of the border duke's journey, there was still nothing they could do.

Her strength was only at the initial stage of Legendary Two-Star, while the strongest person in the Duke's Mansion, apart from the border Duke, was a Legendary Three-Star Elder.

Even if that legendary three-star retainer were to rush to the capital now, it would be of no use.

The enemies that the Border Duke faces are either at the peak of the Legendary Realm or at the limit of the Legendary Realm. For such beings, a Legendary Three-Star is simply a free kill.

"Lady Latie, can the Witch's Guild provide combat support?" Fuma looked at Latie with eyes full of ambition, her tone pleading.

“Sigh…” Latie sighed slightly: “The Witch Council does indeed possess legendary-level combat power, but once the Great Witch is mobilized, the nature of the situation will be completely different. At that time, the royal family, the noble council, and the temple will all get involved, and the temple will not follow the rules as it does now. The situation will be far worse than it is now.”

"You don't need to worry too much."

“I know Duke Soros very well. He has been able to endure for more than a decade. Even if he fails to achieve his goal in the capital, he should be confident that he can make a safe retreat.”

"He summoned the conch shell to you, probably because he wants me to take you to Witch Island to avoid the risks, just in case."

"Witch Island is located among the gray fog islands overseas, making it difficult for the temple and the royal family to reach it."

"I..." Fuma's cherry lips parted slightly, but she didn't know what to say.

For a moment, the scene fell into an indescribably heavy atmosphere.

"Ms. Latie, do you have a way to contact the border duke?" Roy, who had been listening for a long time, suddenly spoke up.

"...I do have his contact information, but whether Duke Soros will answer is another matter." Latie hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth.

Upon hearing this, Fuma's eyes lit up for a moment, but quickly dimmed again. What good would it do for her to contact her father now? She and the Duke's mansion could not help her father at all.

Fuma turned her gaze to Roy beside her. She didn't know why she did it; it was just an instinct.

“If we can make contact, that will make things much easier.” Roy nodded, looking at Latie: “Ms. Latie, your spatial talent should be able to teleport people over long distances, right? By the way, has your talent evolved?”

"It is possible, but with my current abilities, under the spatial disturbance power within the legendary limit knight's domain, it would take at least 5 seconds to smooth out the space before I can teleport."

"If we're talking about talent evolution, I evolved once when I was at the witch level."

Lati shook her head. Below the legendary limit, she could freely enter space and was practically invincible, but at the legendary limit, she could no longer do so.

“Is that so…” Roy took a deep breath and asked seriously, “Ms. Latie, if I have a way to allow your talent to evolve a second time, are you confident that you can leave safely with the Border Duke?”

"A second talent evolution?" Lati shook her head bitterly. "With the accumulation of magic power, corruption has permeated my body and soul. Under these circumstances, how could I possibly undergo a second talent evolution, unless..."

As she spoke, Latie's pupils gradually widened, and her gaze towards Roy held a certain expectation.

“Phew…” Roy let out a long sigh and nodded: “Just as you thought.”

"In fact, it was I who removed the pollution from Princess Fuma's body."

"And I can completely remove the pollution from your body."

With his strength rising to legendary status, Roy no longer needed to keep many things a secret as he had in the past.

Appropriate exposure will help him develop more smoothly.

"This..." Incredulity appeared in Latie's eyes. Instinctively, she wanted to refute and deny it, because over the years, she and countless witches in the Witch Guild had tried too many methods to get rid of the pollution, but the final results were all dismal.

Kofuma's body was indeed virtually free of contamination; the facts were undeniable, leaving her no choice but to believe it.

"If, and I mean if, Roy, you really can remove the pollution from me, even without a second talent evolution, I'm confident I can forcibly take Duke Soros away in the Legendary Ultimate Battle," Latie said with an extremely serious expression.

For witches, pollution is not only a curse and torment, but also a heavy burden.

If there were no need to suppress the pollution and she could exert her full power, the witch's innate abilities would surely unleash even greater power.

“Thank you for your help.” Roy smiled, then stood up and gestured for her to come closer. “Ms. Latie, please come with me. Let’s talk somewhere else.”

"Your Highness Fuma, I'm sorry to trouble you to wait a while longer."

"It's alright," Fuma said softly, her head slightly lowered.

Roy was willing to help the Space Witch Latie remove the pollution, which naturally pleased her. With Latie's help, her father's safety would increase dramatically. Even if her father might have a prepared safe evacuation plan, having an extra layer of protection was always better.

As for Roy needing to discuss this matter with Latie alone—as a witch who had experienced the process of removing pollution, Fuma knew very well that it was indeed inappropriate for outsiders to be present in that situation.

With Latie by his side, Roy headed toward the hidden place.

"Roy, it seems there are many witches in your lord's manor?" Latie, who was following behind Roy, suddenly spoke up.

Roy remained calm and readily admitted, "Yes."

Latie is a great witch with an exceptionally keen sense of magic. Although Lilia, Shanica, and the other girls deliberately concealed their magic, traces inevitably remained in their daily lives, which were still clearly visible to the great witch.

Roy had no intention of hiding this from anyone.

The description of the Empire's high-end combat capabilities given by Latie made him realize that his current situation was not good.

Although the border duke is strong, he is far from being able to fight against the royal family and the temple, so he needs more help.

The Witches' Guild is a ready-made, natural ally.

After receiving Roy's reply, Latie didn't say anything more, but just silently followed behind Roy.

……

In the secluded place, the flickering, dim candlelight illuminated the faces of Roy and Latie, who sat facing each other at the desk.

Roy poured Latie a steaming cup of black tea and handed her a delicious raspberry cake, made by Shanika herself and stored in his spatial ring. Roy then took a sip of his own tea before asking:

"Ms. Latti, before removing the pollution, could you tell me where my mother and father are now? And what are their true identities?"

“Of course, now that things have come to this, there’s no need to hide anything from you.” Latie put down her teacup. “Speaking of which, Roy, your current situation is quite different from the information I’ve received…”

"A bit big, isn't it?" Roy chuckled self-deprecatingly. "If it weren't for some special methods, you probably wouldn't even be seeing me now."

“I’m sorry…” Latie sighed, “Don’t blame your mother and father too much. They’ve also had a hard time.”

Before Roy could ask, Latie began to speak softly:

"As I just told you, your mother, Freya Amorim, is the most brilliant and talented witch in the Witch Guild in the past hundred years."