Witch Redemption

"You are great beings, you are..." Li Lan thought the little guy was getting arrogant and needed him to flatter him.

"..." Black-haired Yu Hui was stunned for a moment, then said irritably, "Don't spout such nonsense. The invincible me doesn't need anyone's praise. I want your true thoughts!"

"Pleasure criminals, wicked slaves, incomprehensible monsters, murderous maniacs who treat human life like dirt..." Since that's the case, Li Lan doesn't need to pretend to be a gentleman anymore. She can just say what's on her mind. "I have no idea what you're pursuing because we're not even in the same dimension."

"You...you've gone too far!" Black-haired Yu Hui was furious.

"You won't listen to my flattery, and you can't accept my honest opinion either. I'm really desperate!"

"Then you have to compromise something! You're so clueless about romance, no wonder you were single in your past life!"

Since she was going to be single for life anyway, Li Lan decided to go all out. "Whatever, just tell me what's going on. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about what's going on between true gods."

Judging from this guy's attitude, Li Lan knew that there were some things that it would be difficult to tell him from Hei Fa Yu Hui's perspective.

“I have said before that we true gods are the most advanced beings in the universe, unlike you, existing in another dimension. What we seek is supreme enjoyment, whether it be the joy, fear, or despair of intelligent beings. And why did we true gods want to create this world? It was for enjoyment, for a supreme wager!”

Yu Hui with black hair did mention it, but she clearly told Li Lan at the time that she couldn't reveal the contents of the bet.

What she could assure Li Lan was that the true gods would not interfere with anything on earth, but would regard everything that had happened in the present world as a beautiful dream in the true gods' memory. They would not hold any concept of good or evil or justice.

"I know that, otherwise I wouldn't have said you guys were pleasure addicts. But what does what you're saying have to do with the Moon God?"

“Yes,” Yu Hui, with his black hair, replied confidently, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. “I can’t reveal the details of the bet, but I can tell you about the outcome of the first one. Back then, after the space goddess Chronos created the ‘witch summoning’ ritual, all the true gods decided to make all the ancient gods withdraw from the stage. Their battles were all instigated by the Creator, who even made numerous promises, but unfortunately, not a single god was able to keep them.”

Good and evil?

These two words don't exist in the dictionary of the true God; all that exists is pleasure, all kinds of pleasure.

When they let their toys die, they do so as if they were strangling an ant, without any emotional reaction.

"Even if the ancient surviving gods don't want to die, there's still a safety net to deal with them, so don't worry, they're definitely going to die, the only difference is whether they're completely dead!"

Upon hearing this, Li Lan immediately understood. This insurance was the six strongest apostles in the world. The sixth apostle, Kalamiti, had died with all the secrets, and her core wisdom remained quietly in her natal magic book.

Moreover, based on the information Mira mentioned before, the biggest reason why many intelligent beings in this world have been able to rise up and become masters is the result of the deliberate indulgence of these extraterrestrial true gods.

As for Hei Fa Yu Hui's question about whether he was truly dead, it was actually a hint at Li Lan.

“Normally, a true god like me would give absolute orders to my puppets. Back then, when I knew I couldn't protect the goddess of the underworld, I simply told her to figure it out, and she obediently went to die. But this ancient god of moonlight is different. To be precise, besides the ancient god of moonlight, there are probably quite a few other ancient gods in this world who are different. There's only one reason: they aren't backed by any true god.”

It was a monster! A monster so powerful that its strength was almost that of a true god!

For example, there are the Shoggoths, a lower-ranking monster race with near-limitless growth potential; the Star-Colored, a higher-ranking monster race whose formlessness and destructive power even frighten weaker lower-ranking true gods; and the sinister, bone-chilling god Mordigian, who commands countless ghouls. Unlike true gods, they were not born at the very beginning of the universe, but they have gained extraordinary wisdom and unparalleled power of terror over a long period of time.

Compared to the true God in the strict sense, these monster Pleasures, who also participated in the true God's wager, are more destructive, more aggressive, and more rebellious. As their creations, it is easy to imagine what kind of character they would have.

"The creator behind the Moon God is none other than the non-true god, Shoggoth. Judging from the information about my doll, the Impure Goddess, before her death, this goddess may very well have faked her death." Leviathan, who had been silent for quite some time, finally added at this moment and dropped a bombshell.

That is, in ancient times, this ancient goddess of moonlight betrayed and wiped out many of the cooperating gods of the entire Moon Sea, not even sparing her most loyal lackey, the goddess of impurity.

What's amazing is that no one noticed this betrayal. If Leviathan's "Hand of Abhoth" hadn't remained in the mortal world and witnessed a horrific conspiracy, even Leviathan would probably have been kept in the dark.

That's intriguing.

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

After talking for a while, the black-haired Yu Hui didn't say anything in the end. Instead, he calmly pulled the blond Yu Hui to play Chinese chess.

"Servant, I've told you everything you need to know, so why are you still so worried? Who cares whether the Moonlight Ancient Goddess is dead or alive? You've already accepted the commission, and even if things go wrong, you still have those three juniors, right? Use them as cannon fodder, thank you. Come on, show me your true colors and let me witness the depravity of humanity. That's what I've been waiting for, hahaha!"

No, Li Lan initially hoped that this guy was just an idiot.

"You don't know how to enjoy life, that won't do! Enjoy the joy of being alive, enjoy the pain of death, enjoy the fear of being driven to the brink of despair, that's the ultimate experience!"

"I'm not some masochist." Li Lan was inwardly upset. She had finally come up with a conspiracy theory, and these two ancient creators just gave her this lazy look? Did they have no fighting spirit at all?

"In short, don't overthink it. There's a saying in your world, what's it? 'Things will work themselves out'?" Black-haired Yu Hui muttered a few more times. "However, the curse you mentioned is indeed a problem. I'll reluctantly take action when they wake up. It's just that their souls are mixed with a few fragments of the Moonlight Ancient God's soul. This little thing can be easily dealt with."

In fact, Hei Fa Yu Hui did conceal many facts, one of which even she herself was wary of.

One point is that the summoning of witches is indeed confirmed. The witches' bodies are similar to those of the ancient gods, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them "gods." Another point is that all the ancient gods who knew about the summoning of witches probably knew what witches were. It's possible that some gods were already considering how to possess these witches' bodies, and some even left wills for their followers.

The reason why he only dared to write a will for his followers, and then had to die after writing it, is quite simple.

Because this is the command of the Creator.

If the Creator wants them to die, then they must die, however they may die.

As long as they could respond to the Creator's command to leave the stage in that era, and if they wanted to be resurrected after the storm had passed, the sleeping Creators wouldn't bother with them too much.

"However, Karen Elf is quite an interesting witch. Other witches have already shown some signs of divine qualities, but her physical body is frighteningly stable," after pondering for a while, the black-haired Yu Hui speculated in his heart, "Perhaps 'humanity' prevails. When a person's will overcomes madness and fear, she will remain like this forever, and it will probably be difficult for her to become stronger in the future."

Humanity and divinity are opposites!

For a moment, Hei-haired Yu-hui even had the idea of ​​erasing all the "humanity" from this witch, but in the end he dismissed it. "If that's the case, she'll be no different from any other toy. Besides, I'm still hoping that she can take me to that world. Going crazy isn't a good thing. I might as well just make do."

Those who needed help had already been helped; as for the other witches, they were not important to the black-haired Yu Hui.

Of course, even if she wanted to bestow the blessing of the other witches upon the true god, judging from today's events and the last time they were dominated by "divinity" and underwent severe mutations, something bad would likely happen.

Seeing that Hei Fa Yu Hui had stopped talking and, unusually, hadn't bothered to ask him for payment, Li Lan shook her head, didn't insist, and shifted her gaze to Leviathan.

As a result, the guy immediately burst into tears, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, servant, I... I'm very weak! Please don't..."

Could you be any more cowardly?

Li Lan really wanted to say, "Are you a god? What do you mean by putting on that pitiful, aggrieved expression?"

"It's hopeless! There's no hope!" Li Lan sighed helplessly in her heart, but she still had to say something aloud, "It's okay, you don't need to do anything. I'm just curious, your natal magic book shows that your level has reached level eleven, but why haven't you unlocked any new talents?"

"I...I haven't made a choice yet..."

On the surface, he appeared timid and cowardly, but inside Leviathan was secretly overjoyed, thinking, "Great! Great! Great! This experience is fantastic!"

Having been tricked into the mortal world by Shub Nicholas and become a powerless prisoner, Leviathan is now embarking on a brand new life. This wonderful experience of imprisonment is driving Leviathan wild with excitement.

What Leviathan is currently struggling with is the choice of talent.

Since she had replaced Li Lan's original servant and inherited all of the original servant's abilities, when her grimoire level increased, many information options appeared in her mind. However, she did not make any choices immediately, which is why no new talents appeared after the level up.

That's what's troubling her right now; she's considering which direction to choose.

"Absolute control over water element, advanced immortality, and monstrous strength—these three talents should be enough. My biggest problem right now is that I can't walk, but there are no related options in the information I've been given. What should I do? Can I use my imagination and instincts to manipulate or add new talent information?"

Leviathan fiddled with things in silence for a while, then his expression suddenly changed, revealing a smug smile.

"..." Li Lan was speechless for a few seconds. "I'm starting to wonder if this guy is like Shub, who likes to pretend about everything and uses facial expressions to deceive me..."

Just as he was about to leave, having put aside his many complicated thoughts, Leviathan's next move made him widen his eyes in surprise.

Leviathan actually took off her long tail? Li Lan wasn't mistaken, she really did take it off, just like taking off a pair of pants, revealing her slender and fair legs. And that tattered long tail was flicked a few times and turned into a dark green bracelet, which she put on her right hand.

He calmly opened his natal magic book, only to find two strange talents in the "Life Creator" interface, in the talent information of the follower Leviathan: one was "detachable portable fish tail" which was unlocked after the magic book reached level five, and the other was "absolute healing ability" which was unlocked after the magic book reached level ten.

My god, such a powerful initial talent, and then they learn an extra one that's not very useful? And they already have the incredibly strong defensive talent "Advanced Undying", and then they add this superfluous "Absolute Healing Ability"?

It's like someone who already has a shield as tall as themselves, and their right hand should be equipped with a longsword with powerful attack capabilities, but they feel it's not enough, so they discard the longsword and equip themselves with a shield instead, creating a strong sense of incongruity.

"..." Li Lan opened her mouth, but looking at the guy's silly grinning expression, she couldn't say a word.

His current mood is just like that of a certain old turn-based game he used to play. He finally got an offensive divine beast, but then the divine beast learned several defensive skills and was completely ruined.

It's very subtle, really subtle.

"Forget it," Li Lan thought, not wanting to dwell on it too much, otherwise life would be very unhappy. She rummaged through the storage space of her natal magic book for a while. "Leviathan, safety shorts, put them on."

“Shab, come with me first to deal with their curse problem.”

"But......"

"No buts, you lazy bastard!"

Damn, I thought I had two more powerful legs by my side, but it turned out to be no different from raising two lazy cats. Li Lan was just short of having to scoop their poop.

Chapter 45 Advice from a Senior

Black-haired Yu Hui moved so quickly that Li Lan couldn't even see what she did. She simply stroked Violet and Sophia's foreheads with her slender hand, and the parasitic curse that had merged into their bodies vanished without a trace in an instant.

"Tsk, this tastes really disgusting, like a salted fish that's been rotten for ten thousand years."

Black-haired Yu Hui muttered something, using a completely incomprehensible metaphor, before turning to leave. "Then I'll go back and play first?"

Upon hearing this, Li Lan waved her hand dismissively, not in a hurry, and found a chair in the room to sit down first.

"Senior, Sophia and the others..."

Yin Anni was deeply worried. The condition of her two accomplices had really frightened her. She wouldn't be at ease for a moment until they woke up.

"It's alright, sit for a while and wait for them to wake up."

At this point, there's no point in being overly critical. The most important thing is to tell them what they should do in the future.

There is still a long time to go, and this ceremony will continue. If it is for their own good, they should be given opportunities to learn and grow.

This was Li Lan's thought. He had been in this world for two years already, and compared to these three witches, how many battles had he experienced? It was far beyond what these three witches could compare to. Right now, he could only believe that this battle, which would last for an unknown period of time, would bring about change for them.

"By the way, senior, do you know what happened regarding Sophia and the others before?"

Because of the mutations in Sophia and Violet, Yin Anni quickly recalled the first time she stepped into the sanctuary of the Moon God.

At that time, she was also dominated by despair and madness, and almost couldn't extricate herself. In the end, it was senior Roman Hydra who intervened in time and pulled them back from the frenzy.

Although she couldn't remember the details of that time very clearly, Yin Anni still had a vague impression that she, like Violet and Sophia, had undergone some degree of physical mutation.

This change made her instinctively uneasy.

“Deification, if nothing unexpected happens, this state is called ‘deification’,” Li Lan thought for a moment, without hiding anything, since he would have to let these witches know sooner or later anyway, so he told them his judgment in full, “I don’t have much information about deification. What I can tell you now is that the witches’ bodies contain secrets and are definitely not as simple as they seem on the surface.”

"To put it simply, none of the ancient gods were actually the beautiful girls you imagine; they were monsters in some ways. Witches are the same. Within us lies another self called 'monster.' Once a witch goes mad and loses her human will, she will become like Sovia and Violet just now."

Hearing Li Lan's words, Yin Anni's face grew increasingly pale, and finally, as if she couldn't accept it, she slumped her head, utterly dejected.

"Remember my nemesis? Ann Gnath. His true form is far more terrifying than you can imagine. I've said before that he devoured many witches and can absorb the spellbooks, classes, and abilities of any witch. Moreover, he is likely one of the few witches who retained his sanity after mutation. All I know about Ann Gnath is that he once possessed the divine essence of an ancient god."

"Well, perhaps you can understand it this way: the witch's mutated form is that of an ancient god without divinity, the only difference being that she has no reason. And your former accomplices, who have joined his ranks, will probably need the divinity of an ancient god to reclaim their original bodies in the future."

Li Lan didn't know the specifics, but he insisted on one thing, something he had held onto for two years: he believed he was a human being, and on that premise, he would never abandon himself for the sake of so-called power.

Therefore, even if he dies, he will never follow in the footsteps of Ann Gnath; this is his bottom line.

“But senior, if we end up in this situation many times in the future, if…” Yin Anni’s voice was filled with disappointment, “if you’re not by our side then… what will we do?”

She felt an instinctive fear. She had a vague idea that Sophia and Violet's current state seemed irreversible. In other words, if they parted ways with Senior Roman in the future, wouldn't they be doomed if they fell into this mutated state?

"Power must be in your own hands, through will and faith."

This is Li Lan's answer: if you can't even believe that you can control the power of your body, then what's the point of trying?