Witch Redemption

"Um...you...you can ask now, she'll tell you anything."

Leviathan seemed to suffer from severe autism; after speaking, she hid behind the black-haired Yu Hui.

Li Lan remained silent for a while, then cursed inwardly, "She looks so innocent, cowardly, and wronged on the surface, but damn it, she's so ruthless when she gets going?"

Do so-called "true gods" always treat intelligent beings in unconventional ways?

"The first question is, why did they attack us?"

Celine Bellman instinctively wanted to shut up, but she was too terrified to control her tongue. "Because witches must die!"

Why is there such great hostility towards witches?

"As long as we kill the witch, we can seize her magic book weapon and increase our power."

"What is the name of your organization? What are its members? What is its objective?"

"The Restoration of the Divine Court, formerly the direct order of the Ancient God of Moonlight, has two Divine Envoys and ten Elders above me, and two hundred and sixty-three Executors at my level. Below the Executors are countless followers of the Divine Court, all stationed on the edge of the Great Desert. Our goal is to resurrect that great god and revive our ancient kingdom of Lanno..."

Overwhelmed by fear, Celine Belluman stared wide-eyed at this soul-searching question. She couldn't even bring herself to commit suicide; she just kept talking, spilling everything she knew.

"What is your purpose in sending so many witches into the sealed area of ​​the Great Desert of Rune? Tell me your detailed plan."

"No... um... On December 17th, 10004 of the New Calendar, when you arrived at the Rune Tribe with your two daughters, the Divine Messenger already sensed your unusual nature. He then prophesied that you would introduce variables into our plans, so he decided to test you and initiate the Ancient God Resurrection Plan ahead of schedule. One part of this plan was to eliminate the Pillar God Vipa, a major obstacle. Afterwards, the higher-ups decided to deliberately leak information to the Duchy's high-ranking orcs, intending to increase the witch's support..."

Everything was planned in advance. Whether it was the Rean orc from the Duchy testing them, the witch Savage testing them, or Celine Bellman personally leading the team to send them to the seal site of the pillar god in the Great Desert of Rune, everything unfolded according to the organization's foresight.

However, what Celine was unaware of was that the pillar god Lerakin would be arriving with another mysterious man, and this witch Roman Hydra actually possessed the power to make her arm go out of control. All of this was truly extraordinary, and if she didn't quickly inform the higher-ups of all this, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"I see. So you also treat witches as disposable items, right? Why is that?"

"Yes, witches are all transmigrators from another world, right? Why should we believe in a heretic? We don't share a common culture or ideals, we can't understand each other, and it's impossible for us to trust each other, right? Besides, as long as we kill you and take your power, we can become stronger. In that case, of course we'll kill you. Who wouldn't want the benefits?"

Yes, these are the truths, the innermost thoughts of Celine Bellman, a person from another world.

It's not unusual that people who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts.

Celine Bellman only wanted to use these witches to get rid of the pillar god Vipa. Once she succeeded, these witches would be trash that could be killed at any time, and who would care about their lives?

"Yes, I understand the gist of it." In the end, Li Lan was caught up in an undeserved disaster. Sure enough, her characteristics as a witch were too obvious and aroused suspicion.

"So, where are we now? How do we leave?"

"The underground temple of the Rune tribe, located in the lowest level of the underground teleportation hall, has been abandoned for tens of thousands of years. Now, only the immortal knights left over from ancient times guard this place. To leave here, one must possess the 'Guardian Code of the Ancient Gods.' Originally, according to the plan, after arriving here, I could have notified the divine messenger guarding the temple to come, but I have been bound here by you..."

After a long period of interrogation, Li Lan finally understood the current situation.

That is, they are tens of thousands of meters underground, and this location is a temple full of dangers. What awaits them outside is not only a huge pile of immortal skeletons, but also two divine messengers whose strength has reached the level of gods, and more than three hundred demigods. This is an extraordinary situation!

"Okay, I've asked all the questions I wanted to ask. What's the next step?"

When Celine Belluman heard these words, her face finally turned utterly terrified. She knew what they meant, but the word "surrender" was definitely not in her vocabulary.

Even so, her expression changed when faced with this deadly situation.

"Tell me, just how many witches have you killed?"

“You were the first people I wanted to kill, but I failed.” Celine Belluman closed her eyes as if she had resigned herself to her fate.

"Is that so? Do you have any last words before you die? Just say them."

Li Lan is a very kind person. He will never show mercy to his enemies just because they are women. This guy almost killed them before, so he won't be polite now.

"Give me a quick death, and at least before you die, let me know why you can influence my power."

Even on the opposite side, Celine Belluman is a straightforward person, and she is now in a state of wanting to die.

Li Lan thought for a moment, and finally agreed. "This arm of yours is no ordinary arm. Its owner was right in front of you just now. You understand, right?"

“An impure goddess?!” Celine exclaimed.

"No, she is a being even higher than the goddess of impurity, her creator."

After Li Lan finished speaking, he took out the Libra Cross Greatsword from the magic book. He had asked all the questions he needed to ask, and he hesitated whether to send her on her way now to avoid causing any problems later.

Even though he wasn't a bloodthirsty person, there was one thing he was always very clear about: once it was determined that the two sides were enemies, the only outcome would be a fight to the death, and that was an unchangeable fact.

Moreover, this guy is the executor of that so-called "Restore the Divine Court," and at his peak, he could easily crush this group of trashy witches. If she were to pull any tricks later, it would be very difficult to deal with her.

However, Li Lan never expected that at the last moment, it would be the black-haired Yu Hui who would stop him in time.

"Wait, servant!"

Chapter 28 Can killing solve the problem?

Black-haired Yu Hui knows this witch well. Don't be fooled by her usual kind demeanor; she never hesitates when facing enemies.

Indeed, how could a weak and indecisive person possibly escape from the imperial prison?

“Servant, why do you always resort to violence? Killing won’t solve anything.”

With a sigh, Yu Hui with black hair gave up.

Li Lan was also a little puzzled upon hearing this. Shouldn't this be addressed objectively? Given the current situation, killing this guy wouldn't cause any problems later. However, he then thought, why did this little black-haired Yu Hui suddenly stop his murderous intent? Did he have some profound insight?

He then slightly sheathed the Libra Cross greatsword in his hand, keeping a wary eye on Celine Bellman lying on the ground, and gestured, "You speak."

"Don't you think this guy is a very strong fighter? Don't you ever think about controlling him?"

"No, of course I know she's strong, but her strength is beyond our control." Black-haired Yu Hui had mentioned before that this guy was a demigod-level expert, much stronger than the former major generals of the Empire. If he were allowed to recover his strength, Li Lan and the others would probably be crushed in the ground.

"Tsk," Yu Hui, with his black hair, clicked his tongue, revealing a sinister grin characteristic of demons. "No, no, you have to change your thinking. Anyone you can use should be turned into your weapons..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Li Lan seemed to have heard a terrible word.

"No, no, no, what I mean is, do you want me to help you train her into a slave?"

Destroying the will and spirit of an intelligent being has always been a specialty of true gods; directly corrupting the spirit of these ants is enough.

Moreover, Yu Hui, with her black hair, had already noticed the special qualities of Celine Bellman, and she was eager to know just how far her mind had broken down.

The little guy's smile was cunning, and Li Lan had no doubt that this gleeful fellow would resort to some underhanded tactics later.

"Forget it, I don't need any slaves." As a modern man, he instinctively felt disgusted by this kind of "indoctrination," which could be said to have crossed his moral bottom line.

Li Lan can respect her opponents and give them a quick death, but she will not torture them for her own pleasure.

As the saying goes, "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated," this is the principle he adheres to. Even if the other party is a scoundrel, he would rather kill them instantly and then continue to humiliate their corpse.

In this garbage world, only dead enemies can give you a sense of security. You can talk about anything after the other person is dead.

"That won't do. Unnecessary kindness can be an obstacle to survival, you understand?"

Black-haired Yu Hui thought she had seen through the witch's true nature, but now she was a little confused. It turned out that the witch was not as ruthless as she had imagined.

Li Lan sighed upon hearing this, her tone softening. "Shab, this isn't about kindness or being a saint; it's a matter of principle. I hate killing, and I know that killing can't solve all problems, but it can often resolve trouble. You understand?"

He was never a person of this world to begin with, and now he lives alone. Why should he align himself with the people of this world? Destroying a person's will is easy, and the feeling of dominating a bunch of slaves is wonderful, but watching a living person painfully crawling beneath him is not a pleasant thing at all. At least, Li Lan could not accept this situation.

This is true compassion in modern times!

This is also the biggest difference between him and most of the intelligent beings in this other world!

He hadn't become numb yet, and the behavior that Hei Fa Yu Hui mentioned was the source of his downfall. Once it happened, it would happen again, and he might eventually lose himself.

Of course, to the supreme true god, destroying a person's will is like catching a grasshopper and tearing off its limbs—a small prank, nothing serious, even somewhat pleasurable. Therefore, not only did Black-Haired Yu Hui not understand, but the other true god "Leviathan," cowering behind him, was equally unable to comprehend it.

“I want to kill her because I’m afraid she might do something funny later. Besides, she’s a powerful figure who’s loyal to the restoration of the Divine Court. Letting her go would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains. If you have a way to make her absolutely obedient to me without torturing her, I can consider letting her live for now. That way, our escape will be much smoother.”

Yes, if we let this guy live and he doesn't do anything underhanded, then we can ask him whatever comes to mind, and gathering intelligence will be much easier.

They tortured him into becoming a weapon.

"You should have said so earlier!" Since Li Lan had already brought it up, Yu Hui, who originally intended to "properly train" Celine Bellman, changed her mind. "You want her to be absolutely obedient and not have any tricks up her sleeve, right? That's too easy. Leviathan, set a trap for her, otherwise it would be a pity to let her die like this."

Three minutes later, Celine Bellman's mutated hand, which had turned into a giant pool of flesh and blood, had returned to normal. She collapsed to the ground, her face extremely pale.

Fortunately, the two somewhat pleased true gods did not destroy her will and turn her into Li Lan's weapon, but they did tamper with her mutated hand.

After all, the "Hand of Abhoth" was originally a small part of Leviathan's body, which Leviathan could control however he wanted. Right now, it was just making this mutated hand have a self-suggestion, suggesting that this guy must not tell any lies and must not betray everyone here.

To put it bluntly, it was an invisible form of "brainwashing," which instilled fear in Celine Belluman, yet she was powerless to stop it, and in the end, she could only fall into a weak sleep.

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

It is now noon on January 12, 10005 in the Gregorian calendar. In the territory of the Rune tribe, the pig-headed chieftain is receiving a mysterious man dressed in black robes in his residence.

"Peter, have those Rean orcs been dealt with?"

The man spoke in a voice typical of middle-aged men, and judging from his face beneath the hood, he didn't seem to be an orc.

At this moment, the pig-headed chieftain Peter Rune exuded an aura he had never shown before. "Yes, as planned, they have all been sacrificed in those temple areas. Last night, all the foreign adventurers living in the Rune tribe were also cleared out. However, we dare not touch the Bel orcs in the Mausoleum area for the time being, for fear of alerting the duchy too early."

"Make our move tonight, leave no one alive."

"But what about the duchy..."

"The duchy will soon send troops over, but it doesn't matter. The guardian warriors of the temple have been resurrected, and all your people who went underground have received the glory of the gods. It's time to fight against these traitors from the duchy. They will pay the price for their ancient folly!"

Little did people know that in the true history ten thousand years ago, after the Moon God sealed the Pillar God Vipa at a heavy price, he did not perish on the spot, but dragged his badly injured body back to the underground temple where the Rune tribe was located.

To the Moon Goddess's utter surprise, the horrors of the Dark Ages led most of her followers to betray her at a crucial moment. They used a god-slaying weapon obtained from a mysterious organization to deliver the final blow, a blow that not only destroyed her divinity and ended her life, but also completely dismembered her divine remains.

These believers were the predecessors of the United Duchy of Ries. The more powerful the tribe, the more benefits it gained in the ancient god-slaying battle.

"Yes, I'll prepare immediately!"

Peter Rune immediately agreed and then hurriedly left.

The mysterious man dressed in all black fell into deep thought. He slowly walked to the window of the treehouse and looked out to see a snow-covered landscape, the weather extremely cold.

However, his attention was not on the snowstorm, but on the more distant azure, the boundless ocean, which was as vast as it was ten thousand years ago, except that there would be no more life there.

This is an irreversible fact; the Moon Sea was destroyed long ago along with the gods.

"The Pillar God is dead, and the Moon Sea has returned, which means Celine's plan has succeeded. But we haven't heard from her at all. Has something happened?"

The Pillar God Vipa, the ruler who once brought despair to this world, is probably not someone who is easy to deal with.

“I know Celine Belluman very well. She never fails. Once the plan succeeds, she will definitely return here via the teleportation array and notify the organization immediately. She would never wait until today.”

The mysterious man recalled events from over two hundred years ago, a time when it was just as cold as it is today, with heavy snow falling from the sky.

A couple from the United Kingdom of Kazan, with their six-year-old daughter, were stranded in the Rune tribe because of a snowstorm.

At that time, he was hiding in the underground temple and was still very worried because he could not find a suitable candidate for the "Hand of Abhoth".

Indeed, this arm left behind by the goddess of impurity after her death is the greatest gift that this great deity left to her believers when she fell. Any believer can try to transplant this arm, but the prerequisite is that they must swear an oath of eternal loyalty to the ancient god of moonlight and bear the madness curse from this arm.