Witch Redemption

"All servants above level eight possess physical strength, power, and speed comparable to silver-level adventurers. With the support of my auxiliary skills, they can definitely fight these gold-level adventurers head-on. As for the two platinum-level adventurers, I will personally deal with them!"

In less than a second, the numbers on both sides underwent a stunning reversal. The moment after summoning this large number of followers, Li Lan made a stroke on his magic book, and a large number of swords and blades that he had once looted from the ruins of Mo City in the British Empire soared into the sky and clattered into the front of these humanoid servants.

"My men! The time for battle has come!"

At his command, all his loyal servants frantically grabbed the swords and knives in front of them and gripped them tightly without hesitation.

The Creator's command is absolute!

As beings born of the Creator, their life's mission is to dedicate everything in this life to the Creator, including their lives. No matter when, they will always offer the Creator their most glorious loyalty!

"Sizzle—", "Sizzle—"

All creation emitted a low, hissing sound, and they were all roaring madly, "For the Lord!"

For their faith, for their loyalty, for their victory! This group of fanatical believers, driven to the brink of madness, were completely enraged! They were poised to launch their most lethal charge!

Just before these underlings were about to charge into battle to their deaths, Li Lan, the creator they revered, began to display her unique skills as a priestess witch.

"Revelation!"

The long-lost hammer of life reappeared in his hands, still possessing an unbearable weight that made it impossible for him to hold it.

But it's alright.

"Grace Domain!"

Power surged through my body! The muscles in my arms were bulging! The sledgehammer was whistling as it was swung!

As the hammer handle, with its layered veins resembling leaf veins, slammed into the ground, a visible pure white breeze transformed into ripples that swept outwards. All those blessed by the "Grace Domain" were imbued with the four statuses of "Blessing," "Prayer," "Protection," and "Courage."

Even in this day and age, without the gods, the priest's level three proficiency skill doesn't bring much improvement. However, the current state of everything has greatly encouraged all of Li Lan's creations, maximizing their fighting spirit and causing their "faith value" to rise at more than twice the usual rate.

"Lightning speed!"

Another extremely powerful support skill spread out with the breeze, and the speed of all the minions increased dramatically once again.

"Take them down!"

Suddenly drawing the Libra Cross Greatsword unique to witches, Li Lan, relying on the powerful physique brought by the LV14 magic book, instantly increased her speed to a terrifying level, almost that of a platinum-level adventurer.

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

Witches are a special intelligent race controlled by many powerful nations. Outside of these nations, many adventurers have only heard of the existence of such intelligent beings and know that they are incredibly valuable. They even believe that these beings hold the true secrets of the great powers.

However, apart from major powers, not many people actually know just how terrifying the power of these witches is, and even fewer have ever truly fought against a powerful witch.

Even so, any adventurer with considerable strength has more or less heard about the characteristics of the witches living in great countries.

They all have beast-like eyes paired with different non-human features, possess innate grimoires and cross-shaped greatswords that accompany them throughout their lives, and can unleash various magical abilities when using the grimoires, even summoning special weapons to assist in battle, and so on.

"A witch?! She's actually a witch?"

Just as this self-proclaimed member of the Dark Elf royal family silently pulled out a black book with silver-white engravings, both Sago Hank, the well-informed bald Ken, and his partner Ford recognized the true identity of "Romon Hydra." They all widened their eyes in astonishment at this surprising identity.

They were even screaming in their hearts, "This is impossible! How could such a witch swaggering around the streets of the theocratic kingdom? How did she deceive so many people, and from which great power did she defect?"

A myriad of questions filled their minds, and the very next second after they expressed their doubts, the witch who had pulled out her treasure quickly unleashed a terrifying technique they had never even heard of before.

More than a hundred towering, humanoid monsters stood one after another beside her in the flickering light, all exuding murderous intent.

"this!"

Everyone gasped in shock; the numbers had completely reversed!

At this critical moment, forced into such an open area and forced into a head-on battle, the adventurers began to retreat.

Twenty adventurers face off against one hundred and thirty menacing humanoid monsters, and they look so fierce! How are they supposed to fight them? I'll beat the hell out of you!

"Don't be afraid! These humanoid monsters aren't strong! Maybe this is just an illusion to mislead you. The most important thing now is to kill the woman who cast the illusion. Once we break the illusion and return to the real terrain, we won't be afraid of this witch!"

"Furthermore, no matter which great nation it is, witches are absolutely forbidden from killing the people of this world. That's the rule, and it's the same in our Kazan United Kingdom. This guy is just bluffing. From now on, you will cover us while we use magic to wipe out these monsters in one fell swoop!"

As platinum-level adventurers, bald Ken and Ford were far stronger than the others. They could clearly sense that the group of humanoid monsters summoned by the guy opposite them were at most silver-level adventurers. If they were to be classified as ordinary monsters, they would be at most at the peak of the low-level, not even mid-level monsters. What were they afraid of?

More than twenty powerful Gold-level adventurers teaming up to hunt low-level monsters—isn't that just indiscriminate slaughter?

“That’s right!” Realizing he couldn’t back down, Sago Hank immediately chimed in, “The witches of the major powers are indeed incapable of killing ordinary people. Moreover, the value of a witch’s existence is beyond your imagination. If you could capture her, even if you only get her corpse, you could definitely exchange it for huge benefits in the theocracy. These benefits cannot be measured in money!”

It's the same in every country; anyone with a bit of status knows more or less about the value of witches. They hold many secrets unknown to others, making every small country eager to obtain them.

However, the witches were controlled by those great powers. Any force that dared to openly plot against the witches would become a common enemy of the great powers, and might even bring about their own demise.

It has to be said that after learning this, Sago's initial panic had unknowingly turned into ecstasy. This was an incredible gift! Whether he captured her alive or took her corpse, this witch could definitely become a political contribution for him to climb up the ranks of the theocratic state!

So, to boost the morale of his men, Sago Hank was willing to go to any lengths: "Don't be afraid! If you can kill her, tonight's reward will be doubled again! Afterwards, I will also secure you the right to reside in the Kingdom of Theocracy, allowing you to access the core of my Bay City Chamber of Commerce!"

Self-interest is the best catalyst, and desire becomes the most lethal fighting spirit.

After hearing the encouragement from the strongest members of the group, bald Ken and Ford, and Sago's promise, the fear in the eyes of these adventurers disappeared. They transformed into gamblers with bloodshot eyes, each displaying their powerful abilities, first casting various physical enhancement spells on themselves.

"Ford, as usual!"

As mages trained in the orthodox tradition of the Kingdom of Kazan, bald Ken and Ford are not best at direct combat, but rather at providing behind-the-scenes support and assassination. They are professionals when it comes to stabbing someone in the back.

"Understood!"

Upon hearing this, Ford abruptly raised his right hand, hovering it in front of him. The pure white magic that was constantly surging forth was being held in his palm. That magic was transforming into a massive amount of swirling, cutting airflow, like a roaring blade, unleashing magical power far exceeding anything he had ever seen before.

He was about to begin displaying the mid-level magic unique to wind mages.

"Whirlwind Blade" will be the strongest killing move that no mortal body can withstand. As long as it hits, it will instantly cut people into a lot of pieces of flesh. It is the most powerful magic in Ford's possession. Its only drawback is that the preparation time is too long.

As for Bald Ken, an earth mage, he had nothing to hide at the moment. Without thinking, he grabbed the last twenty-six black prismatic stones from his waist pouch and threw them into the air.

These twenty-six stones, bearing magical markings resembling the letter "Ω", exploded, releasing a large amount of yellowish-white earth elemental energy. They transformed into numerous giant rock figures constructed from a large number of rock fragments. Two of them turned around to protect the group the moment they landed, while the other twenty-four entered a top-speed sprint.

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

What is the biggest difference between humans and beasts? It's not simply intelligence or moral constraints, but desire!

Any intelligent being will have desires. With desires, one will weigh the pros and cons, and may be blinded by desires in the face of huge profits, thus failing to see reality and ultimately making a desperate gamble.

All the adventurers present knew they were Gold-level adventurers, and they knew that teaming up against low-level monsters would be a sure way to slaughter them. But they hadn't considered that humans have their limits! A slit throat, a pierced heart, a severed head... all lead to death!

This is the limit of mortals. Often, before one's strength reaches a certain level, the weakness of being human—the possibility of death—is magnified infinitely.

Therefore, in this terrifying shock, the smaller side was defeated in an instant, because they were not strong enough.

Whether it's magic or swordsmanship, they have little room to maneuver in this brief, less than a few seconds of impact. Once they can no longer create an overwhelming advantage and turn the battle into a primal carnage of swords and shadows, then the only thing that can sustain one side in the end is numbers and courage.

If these adventurers were at the level of an Imperial Major General, would they be afraid of such a low-level, insignificant humanoid monster?

Sago Hank stared in horror as he watched the meat grinder-like battle unfold. Twenty adventurers at the forefront were inexplicably routed in less than a few seconds by the hundred-plus humanoid monsters wielding knives, all chopped into mangled pieces. The pitiful, dense wails abruptly ceased.

"Are these monsters immortal?! Why is this happening?!"

Whether their arms were severed or their heads were cut off, these terrifying, fearless humanoid monsters stood still, mercilessly killing all the adventurers who faced them head-on.

Even the strongest bald Ken and Ford paid the most terrible price because of their common sense.

Are witches unable to harm humans?

Yes, this was true both in the British Empire and in the Kazan United Kingdom, where Ken and Ford originally belonged.

But times have changed, my lord.

From the moment they realized that this witch was very likely a defector, they absolutely could not rely on common sense, and they absolutely could not let their guard down and allow this witch, who had unleashed terrifying speed, to enter their true vigilance range...

His crotch was already wet, and Sago's pupils contracted violently. "No...don't kill me..."

Despite the pain in her abdomen, Li Lan placed the Libra Cross Greatsword directly against the red-haired youth's neck. The latter had already lost his will to fight because of this terrible battle.

Just as Li Lan had predicted, it only took him three minutes to completely wipe out this group of not-so-strong adventurers with his superior numbers. Except for the two strongest Platinum-level adventurers, for whom he had to use a large number of servants to deal with them, Li Lan even paid a considerable price: an unpredictable wind blade would have cleaved him in two. If it weren't for the timely rescue by his loyal servants, it probably wouldn't have been as simple as a severe abdominal injury.

"I never expected a Platinum-level adventurer to be this strong. If I had known, I wouldn't have held back from the beginning. Using Divine Grace directly would have been the best approach."

With a sigh, Li Lan stared intently at the red-haired youth who had lost all will to resist. "Now we can talk this over. Why did you kidnap my daughter?"

"I...I'll talk! I'll talk! Please don't kill me! I was forced into this!"

Driven by his will to survive, Sago Hank burst into tears and couldn't help but reveal all of Prince Randall Richard's intentions.

Within a mere three minutes, he witnessed the horrific deaths of countless adventurers, and saw the strongest, Ken, and Ford, perish at the hands of this witch. Even a fool would know that the claim that "witches cannot harm humans" was a deceptive pretext. With nowhere to run, Sago's thoughts could not overcome his inner terror, and he was already terrified.

"I see."

Damn it, after all this time, it turns out that everything that happened today was caused by a lolicon? Nobody actually wanted to target Li Lan; all she wanted was Yu Hui.

"Lolicon is disgusting!"

He couldn't help but click his tongue, and then ruthlessly slashed the Libra Cross Greatsword in his hand, unleashing a blinding burst of crimson.

"you......"

You untrustworthy bastard!

Li Lan stared at Sagana's increasingly unfocused gaze. "I'm not some gentleman, and I never said I would let you go after you answered the question."

At this moment, Li Lan is not so carefree as to let a human who knows her secret identity leave alive.

Ignoring the bloody mess, he picked up the exquisite briefcase next to Sago Hank's body. It seemed that Yu Hui was currently inside this briefcase.

After staggering a few steps, he returned to Mira's side, grimacing slightly.

In this battle, more than seventy servants died, which made Li Lan so heartbroken that he was speechless. Especially when he fought the bald duo head-on, he had countless opportunities to use his secret killing move "Divine Grace Revelation", but the opponent did not give him any time to use it. Helpless, he could only fight head-on.

"I was just making assumptions."

Ultimately, it's partly because Li Lan lacked experience and underestimated the power of Platinum-level adventurers, thinking that she could crush everything with sheer numbers. On the other hand, it's because of the priest's exclusive "Divine Grace Revelation," a trump card that will definitely clear all "faith proficiency" once used. It can be said that the longer it is accumulated, the stronger it becomes, so it's normal for her to hesitate because of this.

"However, we can now barely control the specific division of strength."

With various enhancements, his servants are at most at the peak of the Silver rank among adventurers, while Li Lan himself can only match the Platinum rank in terms of strength and speed. In a true head-on battle against a Platinum rank adventurer, he would still be at a disadvantage.

It was at this moment that Li Lan suddenly remembered the seniors, number 47 and the others. At that time, they were completely confined to the border of the empire, and their magic books were probably only around level 15 until the last moment of their lives.

A level 15 magic book is equivalent to the level of a Gold-rank adventurer. Such strength is impressive, but not enough.

"It seems I need to reach around level 20 in my magic book to be able to crush this bald duo head-on. Unfortunately, even at level 30, I still have no chance against the Empire's Major General."

In just six months, she stood on the shoulders of those witch predecessors and caught up with their pace. However, the hope they pursued was still a long way off.

Li Lan slightly recovered from her depression. The wound in her abdomen was healing rapidly under the dual blessing of the recovery potion and the priest's talent "Potential Activation". It seemed that it would only take a dozen minutes to fully recover.

He summoned back the surviving followers one by one, and was about to ask Mira the little girl a question, but she spoke before Li Lan could.

“Here, everything related to you, including yourself, will never die.”