Witch Redemption

This "corpse collector," who was over thirty years old, rarely showed unease on his tired face.

"The city lord's order requires you to use the Demon Spirit Guards for round-the-clock surveillance. Any elf exhibiting abnormal behavior, regardless of its rank, must be eliminated immediately."

"you mean......"

"They must be cremated while they are still alive!"

Kowell's words were resolute, leaving the assembled secret service soldiers stunned.

"This isn't just a simple plague, is it?"

The Corpse Collector realized that something was very wrong with the city. As a member of the Dark Guard, he monitored the entire border city every day and was also responsible for the job of "collecting corpses." He knew very well what had happened in Skandar in the past few days.

An unknown plague struck the city, killing countless women and children. Today, the deaths are no longer limited to women and children.

Deaths are commonplace in Skandar, a backward border city, and the authorities have always turned a blind eye.

However, the dead are not so simple now. All the elves who contract the "plague" will completely turn into pitch-black pus and blood within twelve hours of their death. This pus and blood is terrifyingly corrosive. If it is allowed to continue to seep into the earth, it will gradually spread and become an intractable "pool of pollution".

In other words, after receiving this intelligence, ever since the first elf died from the "plague," this group of "dark members" who traveled to various regions have used magical flames to purify these sources of pollution more than once. The more they dealt with it, the more alarmed they became, believing that it was no longer as simple as a plague.

"I'm not sure if it's a plague. The city lord hasn't said anything explicitly, but to prevent the spread of the disease, he has ordered the entire city to be locked down and cut off from all contact with the outside world. But don't worry, he has already reported the situation to his superiors, and I believe strong reinforcements will arrive soon."

Panic can spread, and as a soldier, Kewell knew this better than anyone. So, from beginning to end, his expression remained unchanged, and he always appeared quite indifferent.

"I understand. Anyway, we in the secret service only follow orders; we don't care about anything else. Oh, right, that old woman you asked me to monitor before, what about her now..."

Has she shown any unusual behavior recently?

Kewell is a man with very accurate intuition. He trusts his own intuition and sixth sense more than the information he has.

If he thinks this old woman is suspicious, then she definitely is!

"As usual, just like in the records, this old woman liked to cause trouble when she lived in the slums. But one thing is surprising: she is stronger than I imagined. Her daily habits don't seem like those of a ruthless person who has lived in the slums for many years."

The body collectors' surveillance did not actually extend to the old woman's "private life," which had certain limitations. However, the visible signs indicated that the old woman's caution and defensiveness had reached a pathological level.

For example, even a light sleeper would be about 70% asleep, but this old woman is probably only 30%.

The body collector had tested the old woman's existence. He approached her dwelling without making a sound, but the old woman woke up when he was only about thirty meters away. Even when he used the illusory "ghosts," he could only get within about ten meters. At that distance, the old woman seemed to be able to sense the presence of the "ghosts."

This is without revealing any hostility. Once hostility is revealed, the old woman's perception range can expand several times over.

It was this unusual perception that made the old woman extremely difficult to deal with.

For a long time, Major General Kowell hired a large number of skilled men to deal with this guy, but they were all eventually defeated, largely due to this perception.

What the corpse collector wanted to say was that if one intended to get rid of this old woman, the only option would be to confront her directly, and that would likely come at a price.

Kowell noted down the relevant information and pondered, "Perhaps the one hiding behind her mask is not the real Caitlin Nassa, but someone else, such as that alien witch who has been unable to find a trace all this time, or the two teams that disappeared may also be related to her."

I don't know about other countries, but the Elf Kingdom is a great power that has indeed witnessed the witch's strength.

Years ago, after cooperating with the Sixth Apostle, Kalamiti, the kingdom legalized the so-called "witches" and helped them grow rapidly in the name of "saving the world." As a result, their growth rate was more exaggerated than any genius in this world, and in a short period of time, they showed signs of becoming "demigods."

Back then, in order to eradicate those three groups of "legalized" witches and to betray the Sixth Apostle, Kalamiti, the kingdom paid a huge price, and in the end, it was the gods of the mortal world who descended from heaven to resolve the situation.

Later, three more foreign witches, who came from the distant borders and fought their way into the borders of the Elf Kingdom and the Naga Kingdom, made the entire western continent realize just how terrifying monsters "witches" really were, and why every era and every ruler regarded "witches" as a huge threat.

The reason is that "witches" are terrifying beings who are very likely to rise to the level of "gods". What is terrifying is not their strength, but that when they reach this level, they will lose all their rationality and become super monsters that cannot be spoken to.

It is precisely because those three witches have become an indelible "nightmare" for the western continent that the kingdom is now so wary of the upcoming foreign witch. They absolutely cannot allow the tragedy of the past to repeat itself and must nip this one in the bud!

"This happened so suddenly, there's nothing we can do. We originally planned to let those good-for-nothings in the slums test the waters for a while longer, but now it seems unnecessary. Special times call for special measures. The city lord's idea is that those good-for-nothings in the slums can be cleared out in advance to prevent too many changes. So, leave her matter to me. You all need to act quickly. Most of those orphans are already dead, and the few remaining won't last long, especially those brats in that abandoned area."

Kowell remembered that the intelligence indicated that a group of mischievous brats were resting in that remote area. Originally, based on Lord Adrian's suspicion, it was thought that there might be traces of the missing witch behind these brats, and he planned to use more "ghosts" to monitor them for a period of time. However, given the current situation, it seems that these brats are almost dead, so there is not much point in continuing to monitor them.

"That's all for today. These are the tasks. First, clear out the entire slum, as it is very likely the origin of the pollution."

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

In the empty hall, only the young man, Kewell, remained. He raised his left hand and channeled magic into the compass-like device.

The "Star Compass," a special magical artifact, is also a product of "magic technology." It allows beings below the level of demigod to manipulate a large number of "ghosts," and can even unleash the true power of the "ghosts" to assist in combat.

Then, this bowl-sized "compass" began to emit a beautiful, ethereal blue light due to the pure white magic. Subsequently, the activated patterns on the entire Star Compass began to slowly move clockwise. In an instant, countless invisible threads of magic spread wildly in all directions, successfully connecting with the "ghosts" scattered throughout Skandar, sharing their vision.

To control these ghosts lurking in the void, a certain distance is required. For those "ghosts" that are unimaginably far away, Kowell can at most issue some simple movement commands and then confirm the intelligence through their vision.

"What exactly is Caitlin Nassa doing during this time?"

Kowell's sapphire-blue left eye had turned a ghostly green, and the images reflected in that pupil were the current state of the slum streets.

From a wealth of intelligence, Kewell learned that Caitlin Nassa's last known location was inside this completely sealed cabin.

He simply gave the "ghost" lurking in the void the command to move, and then all the images in his left eye began to move slowly, crossing the long street, penetrating the not-so-thick gray earthen wall, passing through the guest room, and finally stopping on the busy figure.

But there, the orphan girl named "Fu" lay naked to one side, her breathing had returned to normal, and the horrific wound on her chest was slowly healing, leaving only a trace of blood. On the other side, where Caitlin Nassa stood, a little girl named "Juliet" was also naked, and the old woman Caitlin was using a strange black blade to pierce her heart.

What is this guy doing?

Just as Kowell was wondering, the old woman suddenly turned around, her violet-colored beast eyes staring at him. As if sensing something, she quickly looked away.

Her movements became incredibly fast, from retrieving a strange magic core from her storage pouch at her waist to the subsequent miraculous surgery performed on "Juliet," all of it was unbelievably quick.

"Those eyes..."

This girl was definitely faking her blindness! She really isn't Caitlin Natha!

Intuition, Kewell's intuition is never wrong!

This person might really be that long-lost alien witch!

"Assemble the army! We need to assemble the army immediately! She's probably already noticed the kingdom's spies and will likely escape soon. I must find her and kill her before that happens!"

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

"Fake!"

Li Lan clicked her tongue. This was an international, no, universally recognized friendly greeting.

The reason he was a hundred times more cautious than usual after entering the city was because he could often sense strange things around him, things that were monitoring the entire Skandar. From the beginning, Li Lan thought this might be the Dark Organization that Rebecca and the others had mentioned, but to be on the safe side, Li Lan never tried to find these guys.

These guys, probably aware of his warning range, were intentionally or unintentionally keeping a certain distance.

Up until today, he originally thought it would be the same as usual, and these guys hiding in the shadows wouldn't approach easily. That's why he took off the blindfold and planned to deal with the little brat and Juliet's situation as quickly as possible. Who knew that these guys would inexplicably cross his warning range.

What's even more critical is that Li Lan was completely focused on the first aid, so she didn't notice the approaching danger.

By the time he realized what was happening, the guy was already eight meters away, which was an extremely dangerous sign.

"Have I been exposed? Have I been exposed?"

Li Lan's heart was pounding, and she felt more uneasy than ever before. Upon reflection, she realized that everything had become extremely unpleasant ever since she decided to enter Skandar, a border city of the Elf Kingdom.

All his painstaking efforts ultimately failed to go according to plan, leaving him at a loss.

He never imagined that today, June 4th, 10007, less than a month after he entered the city on May 11th, he would completely expose his actions and his identity.

Thinking about it carefully, Rebecca and Susan had mentioned long ago that the Elf Kingdom was an extremely terrible prison, even more terrible than the British Empire. He didn't believe it, thinking that it was just like that, and that with the help of Shub Nicholas and Abhoth, he might be able to take advantage of the situation.

As it turned out, he was wrong.

Even if he didn't know what this unseen thing was or how much of a threat it could pose, its sheer number—equivalent to a bunch of surveillance cameras monitoring the entire city around the clock—and its ability to silently pass through walls like "ghosts," was enough to illustrate the predicament Li Lan faced after being "trapped."

Faced with such a "surveillance system," it would be too difficult for Li Lan to eat and sleep without revealing any clues.

"No, I can't stop. Juliet's life is in my hands. I have no choice but to continue the surgery."

To be fair, Li Lan was calmer than ever when faced with a crisis. While speeding up his actions, he was already estimating the exact time needed to complete the "emergency surgery" and planning the specific time and direction for his subsequent escape.

Fortunately, this guy, who was very likely from the "dark side," just stayed where he was and didn't make any further moves, allowing Li Lan to complete the surgery smoothly.

"It's done!"

After several minutes, seeing that Juliet's breathing had returned to normal and her wounds were slowly healing, Li Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Without a doubt, I just exposed my identity, and the plan that was already decided will have to be brought forward!"

First, go and check out Rebecca and Susan's former residence. After confirming that, follow the information Rebecca and Susan had previously provided to find the secret passage where the two missing elves were hidden.

Plans can never keep up with changes. Li Lan had always wanted to play it safe and integrate into this distorted society, perfectly disguising herself as Caitlin Nassa. But was that even possible in reality?

The identity of Roman Hydra is fictional and can be used by anyone.

As for Caitlin Nassa, this is an existing identity, someone else's mask. To ask him to wear someone else's mask and try to disguise himself under such terrifying surveillance is simply asking the impossible.

In other words, it's already quite an achievement that Li Lan has managed to remain undetected for so long. If it were someone less careful, they would probably have been caught on their very first day in the city.

With a turn of her head, Li Lan, no longer concealing her identity, directly took out her natal magic book and the Libra Cross Greatsword, and attacked the hiding guy without hesitation.

Unfortunately, all his physical attacks were ineffective, and the invisible creature remained standing in the same spot.

"This guy really is a ghost!"

Li Lan felt a chill run down his spine. Seeing that the guy didn't retaliate, he breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned around to pick up the two well-dressed little ones.

"Today we must immediately verify the previous intelligence. Regardless of whether we can find those two witches or not, we cannot stay in this awful place any longer!"

A desperate sprint is about to begin.

Chapter 19 Past Events

They first traveled to this world in the spring of 10003 in the new calendar, when they knew nothing.

As rare twin sisters with only twelve years of life experience, this was their first time encountering such a bewildering time-traveling situation, and also their first meeting with those kind seniors.

They vaguely remembered what the elves who summoned them said: "This world is about to be destroyed. In order to fight against the countless monsters and the six strongest apostles, the kingdom needs your strength. It needs you to do everything in your power to save this backward country, and even save the world."

This novel-like story unfolds, filling them, still in their teenage years, with beautiful fantasies and anxieties about the unknown future.

Yes, those were perhaps happy times, but they were also enough to ease the deep longing for home.

The wise and caring witch elders have always looked after them, protected them, and taught them a great deal of knowledge and countless combat skills without reservation.

"My descendants, don't get hung up on saving the world. It's meaningless."

The blonde senior, who always had a cheerful smile, and whose real name was "Itisa," said this: "I never care who I am or where I am. All I know is that I'm going to smash everything to pieces right now!"

Indeed, for these predecessors who traveled to this world much earlier than them, it seemed they treated it as a game. Whether hunting monsters or accepting missions from the Elf Kingdom, it was all like going through a series of game steps. Regardless of whether they succeeded or not, the ending would always be returning to their homeland.

Perhaps that's why the older generation was so happy? And why they were able to support each other through countless years?

Indeed, they initially believed the words of these seniors, treating this world as a game with "realistic" aspects. However, in their naivety, they never imagined that a nightmare would one day arrive.

On that day, the predecessors and their fellow transmigrators encountered annihilation...

Inside the inner city of Skandar, the three witches, who had successfully broken through overnight, quickly crossed this blood-stained checkpoint.