Witch Redemption

As for the resentment of the Book of Judgment, it has not appeared since it helped Li Lan during the last siege of Ann Grenas. Li Lan guessed that its appearance that time may have caused considerable damage to the soul imprisoned in the seal, so much so that it has not appeared in his dreams again.

Li Lan had figured out how to use this sealed artifact, and knew more or less about its inner workings.

The resentment of the Book of Judgment originates from the soul imprisoned within it, and each use causes immense suffering to that soul. This is the true reason why the sealed artifact cannot be used continuously, as the imprisoned soul must be allowed to recover after each use.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the final showdown tonight will definitely be the Inquisitors, and it's unclear exactly how many there will be."

Of these witches, only three are currently known: the deceased Major General Abbot, Major General Eisen whose whereabouts are unknown, and Major General Geno. And those with equal strength to these heretical inquisitors are the several chairmen stationed in the witches' residence. No matter how you look at it, this can only be an overwhelming defeat.

"Leaving aside whether we will die in this night, when the Crimson Night Torrent officially begins, we will only have one hour left."

Within an hour of the start of the Crimson Night Torrent, the writhing darkness that filled the entire monster area would temporarily dissipate. In other words, the monster area during this period could be considered a de facto safe zone. Apart from the resentment of those monsters being difficult to deal with, there were not many things that could threaten the witch.

"To be precise, within thirty minutes after the end of the Crimson Night Torrent, the all-consuming darkness will gradually increase and eventually bury everything. What is certain at present is that even the Empire does not have many means to penetrate deep into the monster area at night. Even the former Inquisitor Abbot had to rely on the protective barrier forged from the witch's ashes."

"Therefore, once we can successfully eliminate this abyssal monster and take down the heretics who intend to block our way, we must carefully calculate the remaining time for our escape. When the time is right, we must use the witch's ashes to create a protective barrier for ourselves and then wait for the new day to arrive."

Opening the grimoire, Li Lan confirmed the specific escape route according to the map on it. "Lana and Della plan to find the legendary continent, the site of the fallen sky, so they should be heading in this direction. Peggy, Sherry, and Matilda plan to find the western continent, the Four Sacred Ancient Forest, so they should be heading in this direction. As for Lorina, she should be heading to the northern continent's wilderness, so she's heading in this direction... Hmm, with the boost from the 'Divine Speed' skill, going all out, it's definitely no problem to completely evacuate the Mori Defense Forest within an hour. We can choose to part ways here."

"As for the Book of Judgment, it must be used immediately after we eliminate the last heretic inquisitor who threatens us. After that, I will have one hour... No matter how you look at it, time is extremely tight. In other words, we absolutely cannot let the abyssal monsters we encounter delay us. We must finish this quickly."

In this world, death can happen in an instant. Whether it's a monster or a witch, once a vital point is struck, unless the body possesses some special ability, death is inevitable.

Even a powerful heretic referee like Major General Abbott was tricked by a slime and died a clean and simple death.

Therefore, Li Lan believed that they had a very good chance of taking down this abyssal monster in one fell swoop, and also taking down all the heretics who intended to attack them.

"The abyssal monsters must die, and our watchers will surely intervene at the crucial moment. They must also die, otherwise it will be difficult to deceive the Empire with the Book of Judgment."

Li Lan's expression gradually became solemn. The closer it got to the end, the less calm she became. "If that prophecy is true, then what we will encounter tonight will definitely be an abyssal monster, and that abyssal monster will be the werewolf type."

He still vividly remembers the illusion the Flame Witch showed him: a gigantic demonic wolf with blackish-gray fur and terrifying, long, sharp claws...

When I came to my senses, it was already late at night, and the red moon in the sky had begun to envelop the earth, radiating a light that sent shivers down my spine.

Li Lan glanced up at the swirling crimson moon, then shifted her gaze to the large number of soldiers stationed near the city walls in the distance. She thought to herself, "Witches all have a restriction on them. This restriction is that if they kill the native inhabitants of this world, they will summon Guardian Death Warriors, who will instantly kill them. However, we now know of a possibility: if we use the Book of Fate to create the illusion that we are all dead, this restriction will completely disappear. We can then freely attack ordinary people, as long as we have no psychological or moral burden."

This information was left behind by the Flame Witch. During her trip to the ruins of Mo City, Li Lan saw some of the Flame Witch's past, but also gained a lot of information about her escape.

"Lolina, how many?"

After returning from the ruins of Mo City, Lolina would use "Basic Necromancer Summoning" every day, leaving behind a large number of summoned creatures in the Mori Defense Forest.

"There are about 3,500 of them, but you should be careful, these skeletons are not as strong as you might think."

To be honest, the skeletons summoned by the so-called "basic necromancy summoning" are just cannon fodder. Lolina's most powerful summons are definitely the zombies from her sub-profession "Dominator". However, these zombies are difficult to obtain and there is a limit to the number they can be obtained.

"That's enough. Once we identify our enemy, let them take action immediately. Don't be stingy with your goblin zombies."

Similarly, Li Lan will summon the ten maids, sixteen servants made from simulated chaos, and slimes that she has so far.

"I understand." Lorina already knew that tonight might be their night of escape, and according to Li Lan, they would inevitably part ways after this escape to avoid being defeated one by one. So at this moment, she felt very sad and reluctant to part.

"Peggy, Sherry, Matilda, there's something I might need to ask you."

Unfortunately, the three newly joined witches have not yet been able to unlock their secondary professions, but even so, they are extremely powerful and have their own trump cards.

Peggy's "Demon King's Armor," unlocked after reaching level ten in her Grimoire, grants her a berserk mode similar to Della's, granting immense power and speed, but at the cost of gradually losing her sanity as the skill's duration increases. Sherry's "Weathering Killing Intent," unlocked after level ten, imbues her wind-based sword techniques with a weathering effect, amplifying their destructive power to an absurd degree. Matilda's "Holy Sacrifice," unlocked upon reaching level ten, is a classic signature skill of the Lancer Knight. Combined with the unique regenerative abilities of the Fairy race, it allows her to ignore all attacks after using this skill, lasting only one minute.

“Yes, just say it.” Peggy nodded.

Strangely enough, ever since joining the group of these wandering witches, Peggy has had a strange feeling that the group doesn't have any leader. They all act alone most of the time, but they all take Karen Elf as their core leader.

To be honest, Karen Elf did give Peggy a strange sense of approachability; just being around her gave her a strange feeling of reliability.

Even this elderly man found it incredible; he rarely trusted someone so unconditionally. Especially after transmigrating, the barriers between people seemed to have deepened. Even when he teamed up with Sherry and Matilda, it took a long time to work things out.

"First, the Witch Order's mission for you is to participate in the defense of the border city. I expect you to disregard this order tonight. As for the consequences of disregarding this order, I cannot say for sure, so..."

Li Lan's question is, do you want to take a gamble?

If the bet succeeds, they will face that terrifying abyssal monster together; if the bet fails, then Peggy and the other two will likely be wiped out on the spot tonight.

Similarly, Lolina and Della will also be gambling tonight. Their missions are similar to those of Peggy and the other two. Only Li Lan and Lana have actually been assigned to the Mori Defense Forest.

Li Lan knew that if she stayed in Mori City, she would surely die. Senior No. 47 and the others were a cautionary tale. Going to the monster area was the only chance of survival.

Unfortunately, what we don't know now is what the consequences of disobeying orders will be, since Li Lan didn't see Peggy and the other two in the future shown by the Flame Witch.

He wasn't sure if he could only see these so-called prophecies if he had contact with Li Lan.

“I understand, we will go together.”

Peggy nodded. Since returning from the ruins of Mo City, the Witch Cult had acted very strangely, completely silencing all their witches and imposing a stay-at-home order. Now, having learned the general information from Li Lan, he also vaguely sensed his impending doom, so his answer was resolute and without the slightest hesitation.

"Lana, Della, no matter what kind of enemy we encounter tonight, I need you both to go all out from the very beginning..."

Under normal circumstances, when encountering an enemy of unknown origin, one would first probe to determine the gap between the two sides before using one's strongest trump card to decide whether to kill the enemy or flee.

However, Li Lan's statement today took everyone by surprise; he planned to start with a "trump card."

"This..." Lana actually wanted to say, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" But she quickly understood what Li Lan meant.

How can the glow of your decaying grass compare to the bright moon in the sky?

They are nothing but ants, and ants must have the awareness of being ants.

Keep in mind that all the opponents they faced tonight could potentially crush them all with a single hand. If they held back and tried to test the waters in the face of such overwhelming power, their fate would be a swift and decisive death.

It would be better to reveal your hand from the start and strike first; you might get unexpected results.

"That's all I have to say. Let's go, it's almost time."

Li Lan took a deep breath, her gaze sweeping over the faces of her many accomplices around her. At that moment, Li Lan felt an urge to deeply imprint their images in her heart.

He had always known that after tonight, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would never see these accomplices again, and all he could do was wish them well.

May they escape the clutches of the empire and live on!

Seven witches, carrying greatswords of the Libra cross, dressed in gray-white bodysuits and black hoods, began to slowly walk towards the open city gate.

Seeing that the group of witches were about to disobey orders, the two tall figures lurking in the shadows hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not stop them.

"They're not fools. Getting them to team up might have unexpected consequences. Should we...?"

"Just keep an eye on them. If they really can threaten the Sixth Apostle's Servants, then we'll need to see what kind of trump cards they have."

Even though Ann Grenas is dead, the Imperial Witch Order still suspects that the sealed artifacts left behind by the Flame Witch might be on these surviving witches, so all of this is just a test.

Or rather, they wanted to see what other futile struggles these witches could make.

Chapter 139 Clash

The crimson moonlight spilled across the land, diluting the writhing darkness that should have enveloped the entire monster-infested area, making everything both quiet and terrifying.

Li Lan and the other seven witches slowly stepped out of the city gate before the crimson torrent descended, arriving at the main road leading into the depths of the dense forest, where they proceeded without hindrance.

"Those heretical judges didn't come out to stop Peggy and the others..."

The unexpected situation actually made them feel somewhat fortunate. "The fact that they didn't come out to stop us doesn't mean they weren't paying attention to us."

After all, tonight might be their last night alive. After tonight, all the existing witches will be taken back by the Witch Cult.

The witches looked at each other, each seeing the unease in the other's eyes, but at that moment they had no other choice.

"Let's head in this direction; we're only five minutes away from the so-called 'Heavenly Starfall'."

In those five minutes, they decided to leave the city gate behind and take the opportunity to continue deeper into the Mori Defense Forest...

"Clang—", "Clang—", "Clang—"

The distant clock tower in Mori City rang out with its hourly chimes, accompanied by a gust of cool wind that ruffled the cloaks and strands of hair peeking out from under the hoods of the seven people.

At the same moment, faint roars came from all directions of the monster area, like the hoarse roar of the sea, one wave after another.

Looking up, the swirling blood moon had transformed into a black hole, encircled in the air by a ring of red light, spreading out in ripples.

The crimson moon had transformed into a gateway to another world, and a dense, sharp rain of stars surged in all directions amidst a dense and piercing whistle. No matter how many times they saw it, it brought Li Lan and her six companions an extremely strong shock, as if they were witnessing the end of the world.

"coming!"

Without hesitation, the seven opened their respective natal magic books, and tightly gripped the Libra Cross Greatswords that they carried on their backs.

But as far as the eye could see, eerie black energy surged up to the ground, transforming into thousands upon thousands of monstrous beasts that madly charged toward the protective barrier of the border city.

Flood! It's a black flood!

Faced with this sudden situation, all the witches present seemed like a drop in the ocean, so insignificant that they could be swallowed up by this terrifying torrent at any moment!

"Blessings! Prayers! Protection! Courage!"

Li Lan, who was the first to react to this terrifying torrent, summoned "Revelation" without hesitation and immediately applied a status effect, which was better than nothing, to all the witches present.

Just as they were about to face the onslaught of the countless torrents, the massive horde of dark beasts deliberately bypassed them and vanished behind them in an instant.

"How......"

All seven were shocked, unsure of what this unusual situation was.

It wasn't until the massive horde of dark, monstrous beasts crashed into the protective barrier of Mori City, and the roar of countless magic crystal cannons shattered the terror of the night, that Li Lan and the others finally reacted. And from that calm, dark front, strange sounds once again echoed.

"Werewolf?"

Hundreds of meters away in the dense forest, a humanoid black figure could be seen slowly walking towards them, its blood-red, crazed beastly eyes gleaming ominously in the shadows.

Perhaps it was because of witnessing the existence of these witches that the dark figure curled up a beastly grin and revealed its sharp fangs.

The next second, the dark figure suddenly accelerated! It raised a pair of sharp, gleaming claws!

...... ...... ......

Half an hour ago.

A lone werewolf monster stood in the desolate monster forest, the slivers of crimson moonlight piercing through the dense woods illuminating its calm, canine face.

It stands guard like a calm hunter, patiently waiting for its many prey to arrive.

Its name is "Hati," an abyssal monster of the Icefield Wolf race, a powerful being bestowed the title "Moon Chaser" by the Sixth Apostle, Karamitti.

Despite being known as the "Moon Chaser," Hati unexpectedly developed an indescribable fear of the blood moon in the sky, and even longed for the arrival of dawn.

Whenever it faces a night like this, it recalls the fear and despair it felt when it was dominated by destruction and madness before it had advanced to become an abyssal monster.

With each wave of the Crimson Night Torrent, almost every demon that descends upon this world cannot control its self-destructive instincts and becomes part of that death torrent, impacting all the remaining temple barriers in this world. This has been the case for thousands and tens of thousands of years, and no one knows why.

Even its master, the Sixth Apostle, never told it the truth. It could only vaguely know that it was all related to the "eternal oath" made between the human apostles and the human apostles.

"The torch?"