Witch Redemption

Unexpectedly, this foreign witch who had disappeared for so long finally reappeared, and she really did disguise herself as the old woman Caitlin Nassa, infiltrating Skandar City for so long.

Adrian was initially very excited when he learned of the whereabouts of this foreign witch, but the second half of the letter made his expression change drastically.

"He assembled troops to pursue and capture us without my orders! What a reckless fellow!"

As a city lord who had previously been in contact with Gian, the leader of the White Night Mercenary Group, Adrian possessed information far beyond what his subordinates could match. If what Leader Gian said was true, then this foreign witch was undoubtedly a formidable character capable of hunting down abyssal monsters single-handedly, and her strength certainly surpassed that of ordinary legendary adventurers.

You should know that even legendary adventurers would have no choice but to flee if they actually encountered abyssal monsters.

Therefore, it is evident that the true strength of this alien witch is probably not something that Major General Kewell's three hundred or so major general-level soldiers can easily deal with. Only a lieutenant general or even a general-level being would be able to reliably kill her.

This is assuming that this alien witch is not hiding too much of her strength. If she is similar to the three alien witches who died before, then it is very likely that a being of demigod level or above will need to take action.

"..."

In just a few seconds, Adrian's face went from heavy to somewhat dark, all of which was so coincidental that it was hard for him to believe.

Currently, there are thirty soldiers in Skandar City with the strength of a lieutenant general and carrying divine artifacts, while there is only one general-level expert, Adrian. Moreover, it will take a considerable amount of time to gather all the lieutenant generals together in a short period of time.

Moreover, this "dark plague" came all too unexpectedly. It was precisely because of this sudden outbreak that Adrian had no choice but to order the entire city to be temporarily locked down, completely severing all contact with the outside world. And because a special barrier was used as the means of sealing off the city, it would take one or two days to reopen the barrier.

He even suspected that the so-called "dark plague" might have been created by this evil foreign witch.

"We are severely lacking in intelligence. Just like those three foreign witches before, if we want to fight against such an evil being, we must ask for help from above as soon as possible."

The problem is that the entire city is now under lockdown, making the situation somewhat delicate. As the city lord, Adrian can only hope that the kingdom's soldiers stationed in the border city can completely eliminate this foreign witch. If they cannot kill her, they must at least wait for the powerful figures responsible for investigating the "Dark Plague" to arrive.

"Pass on my order! All soldiers stationed in all areas must assemble immediately! Abandon the maintenance of security in this city and assemble in full force!"

Adrian quickly summoned the clerk who would relay the orders, and he already knew what to do.

If quality fails, quantity will prevail. Against this incredibly powerful foreign witch, he must now go all out, risking everything to kill her. To prevent a repeat of the tragedy of "lost in the Wasteland," he must buy time for the kingdom, no matter the cost.

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

The story begins in March of the year 10006 in the Gregorian calendar. Adrian Hal, a general from the kingdom's noble class, receives a new appointment letter, ordering him to immediately go to the border city to serve as its lord.

This surprised him somewhat. As the most powerful family among the nobility, the Hal family, and with significant ties to the "present-day God," the newly appointed royal family shouldn't have made such a decision. But in reality, the appointment letter was right in front of him, and the royal family wouldn't even give him a chance to be summoned.

Moreover, the royal family's actions were tacitly approved by the "God of the Present World" who actually controlled the entire Elf Kingdom; in other words, it was all at the behest of the higher-ups.

Therefore, Adrian ultimately had no doubts. After all, he had always been like this. Apart from his daily training to make himself stronger, his hobby was to do his best to govern the territory he ruled and to dedicate his life's loyalty to the country.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to survive so many years of horrific coup d'état and the recent purges so peacefully.

Now that I think about it carefully, it seems that the politics of the Elf Kingdom underwent some changes after that terrible coup.

Adrian vaguely remembered that after betraying several groups of witches and the Sixth Apostle, Kalamiti, some "reformers" became the kingdom's iron-fisted dictators, carrying out a top-down purge of the entire kingdom and completely changing the entire ruling circle of the Elf Kingdom.

Then, the country gradually started to become strange.

First, at the end of 10003 in the new calendar, the new royal family dissolved the long-established council of elders. Several elders who were dissatisfied, such as Malfoy, were hanged the next day in the square of the capital, a very tragic end.

Soon after, a new parliament was established, whose members comprised elite representatives from the royal family, nobles, and commoners, who worked together to coordinate the relationship and rule among the three classes.

Secondly, a large number of industries vital to the nation's survival were stripped and restructured by the royal family. The new monarchy then introduced a new term for them: "state-owned enterprises." They no longer pursued profit; everything was done in service of the country. To promote this strange ideology, the new monarchy even began to control the nation's education system, changing even the textbooks.

The sheer number of measures implemented led the nobility of the entire elven kingdom to question whether the new royal family had gone mad. However, initially, neither the nobility nor any opposition within the royal family resisted. The most devastating measure among these reforms, however, truly impacted class interests: the new royal family issued an order stipulating that all city lords would serve fixed terms, limited to a single location for no more than five years. After the fifth year, any lord wishing to remain in power would be required to relocate to another city.

The rhetoric was that this reform was necessary to maintain the city lord's prestige and prevent favoritism; the kingdom needed elite rulers, not politically inept fools.

Each city lord is already deeply entrenched in their own territory, with a large and powerful family and business. How could they possibly accept such a move?

Soon after, extreme rebellions led by the various city lords began. However, to the surprise of all the elves, the new royal family once again resorted to extremely bloody methods, slaughtering more than two-thirds of the noble class overnight. In order to fill the vacancies in the noble class, the new royal family directly selected personnel from the common people to fill the gaps.

Thus, a very special "examination system" was officially implemented under the arrangement of the new royal family...

Even today, when Adrian thinks back on the Elven Kingdom over the years, he still finds it all so absurd. Fortunately, he is a patriot who swore an oath to serve the Elven Kingdom for life and has never cared much about personal gain. So, on the day he received his appointment, he resolutely embarked on the road to Skandar, regardless of what the future held.

Although everything that has happened over the years has been incredible, and the Elf Kingdom has been in turmoil, the new reforms of the new royal family have given this general, who is over fifty years old, a rare glimmer of hope.

I imagine the other city lords who also accepted the appointment letters felt the same way, right? Moreover, considering that the term system is no longer just for city lords, but also for a large number of important officials, I don't feel so lonely.

Adrian thought so, but his men didn't think so, especially Kowell, who was practically his "half-nephew," who complained and grumbled in front of him more than once.

He wasn't unaware of his nephew's intentions; his nephew was actually the same kind of elf as him, a patriot loyal to the kingdom rather than the royal family. Whatever decisions the new royal family made, as long as they served the kingdom's interests, Kowell would carry them out without hesitation.

What Kewell was heartbroken about were the businesses he had built up over many years.

“Kewell, you know about the so-called prophetic day, right? In order to save this country, in order to leave hope for this country, we must believe in our God. Since all this is the will of God, we must resolutely carry it out. No matter how much profit we gain, it is ultimately just external. What I want to see is not superficial benefits, but the inner essence, the hope for the future.”

"Before that, we just need to do our job well."

This was Adrian's response at the time, and also the belief he held at the time.

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

In the northern part of the Skandar slums, Li Lan, in a fierce battle, swiftly and decisively killed six soldiers from the Elven Kingdom within seconds.

He was incredibly calm and collected, having already pieced together all the clues. He planned to head ahead to the possible hiding place of the Twin Witches, but before that, killing the soldiers of the six elven kingdoms was just the beginning.

"You take them and escape through the main gate. I'll distract them first, then you follow me."

All creations that summon their natal grimoire can sense Li Lan's location within a certain range and even communicate with him to some extent. The reason for this decision was that Juliet and the brat were now Li Lan's biggest burden. The only way he could protect them was to have these humanoid followers take them away as quickly as possible and not cause him any trouble.

Fortunately, the two little ones are currently in a deep coma, and it's unknown when they will wake up, which actually benefits Li Lan's next move.

"No matter the cost, we must protect them. Until then, I will do everything in my power to cover you."

The two designated black humanoid followers reached out their hands and gently took the two unconscious little ones.

"For the Lord..."

The two black humanoid followers, displaying fanaticism, made muffled gurgling sounds like boiling water, instantly preparing for their final moments.

Thank you.

"Revelation!"

Without hesitation, Li Lan summoned his unique professional artifact, which summoned ten more humanoid followers. Without hesitation, he buffed these followers with a series of status effects.

"There are still three uses left for Divine Speed. If you want to use it next, it's best to summon all the remaining minions. In addition, Divine Grace Revelation only has one chance right now, so you can save it for a while. If a soldier with a divine artifact appears, this trump card might be able to turn the tables on the opponent."

"Also, we can't waste these dead guys."

Li Lan took out a subspace cargo bag and handed it to one of her followers. "You'll be the last to leave. When you leave, use the sealing artifact inside to give these kingdom soldiers a big surprise. I don't know how many elves I'll kill later, but no matter how many, don't make a direct move. Instead, secretly use this sealing artifact to follow behind me and assist me."

Every humanoid follower possesses talents and abilities from their past as a monster. For example, the earthen-yellow humanoid follower in front of us is made from a monster material called "Shadow Bug" and has the most powerful talent for hiding among all humanoid followers.

However, the powerful ability to hide comes at the cost of a fragile body and not much strength, which is its biggest weakness.

However, this "Book of Dark Fusion" may be able to make up for this shortcoming.

Li Lan handed him this object, which the witch could not touch directly.

"Gentlemen, are you ready?"

As the countdown in her mind reached its climax, Li Lan took a deep breath, suddenly raised the Libra Cross Greatsword, and swung it powerfully against the wall beside her.

The wall, as fragile as tofu, burst open instantly, sending sand and stones flying. His hunched old man, as agile as a monkey, leaped out.

At that moment, he could feel a great deal of attention focused on him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw two elven men dressed in white military uniforms running quickly towards him from the end of the long street on his right. After seeing Li Lan's figure, they quickly stopped and raised their right hands, and their whole bodies began to radiate pure white magical light.

This is the unique fighting style of the elves. They can engage in close-quarters combat like orcs, but their strength lies in their incredibly powerful control over magic.

At this moment, one of the elven soldiers was enveloped in orange-red flames, a portion of which began to activate, forming a massive, coiling serpent that spat out a scorching tongue. The other elven soldier, meanwhile, conjured a dazzling spear of lightning in his right hand, emitting a terrifying hissing sound. All the lightning in the atmosphere was now under his control, as docile as a gentle kitten.

"Make an example of them first. If I fight them, it will attract more attention."

Instead of retreating, she advanced. With the blessing of "divine speed," Li Lan, as elusive as a ghost, unleashed an even more exaggerated speed thanks to the physical attributes unique to high-level witches.

What is a mere few dozen meters? Li Lan was indeed wary of the magic of these two elven soldiers, but casting magic requires the concentration of magical power. In other words, the stronger the magic, the more "casting time" and "casting speed" are required. Furthermore, offensive magic in reality requires positioning, and it is more difficult to lock onto objects that are moving at high speeds.

Indeed, the magic's effects were dazzling, and its destructive power was undeniable, but what use was it to Li Lan, who was moving at high speed?

Their overconfidence, their overconfidence in magic, cost them their lives in that moment.

The elven soldier wielding the lightning spear was already the fastest at casting magic; he had already hurled the lightning in his hand as Li Lan was charging forward, unleashing a thunderous explosion. However, this blindingly bright lightning spear grazed past Li Lan because he had dodged ahead of him. The terrifying lightning directly blasted a dilapidated slum house into pieces, and as a bolt of lightning shot into the sky, the earth shook violently.

"It truly possesses terrifying power, but..."

Just like many real-time action games I've played before, is there no recovery time after using skills?

Before the elven soldier's incredulous gaze, Li Lan, who was already close, raised the Libra Cross Greatsword in her hand and slashed down wildly.

Red, white, and green liquids splattered everywhere, and ruptured organs along with countless pieces of flesh and blood were scattered all over the place. Li Lan, like a god of death, ignored the red blood that splattered all over his body, stomped his right foot on the ground, and used it as a point of leverage to lift the greatsword in his hand up again.

At this moment, another elven soldier who used fire magic was stunned by the sudden attack. In a panic, he hurriedly retrieved the long fire serpent he had used for the attack and transformed it into the strongest fire defense.

However, how could Li Lan, with her strong desire to kill, be frightened by such flames?

Undeterred, he charged forward, braving the countless flames, and swung his greatsword.

The blood-stained sword, the bursting fireworks, and the sky filled with crimson blood became the last dazzling sight in the elf's eyes. It was a painful and dark death, which evoked an instinctive scream of terror from his throat.

With a single stroke, no matter what kind of magic it is, under the witch's powerful physical attack, there is only one way: to be reduced to nothingness.

Watching the elven soldier, his upper and lower body completely separated, fall to the ground groaning in pain, the dazzling fire magic vanishing without a trace, Li Lan, with a cold expression, ignored the burning pain in his hands and instead raised his hand, slashing the man's head directly with the Libra Cross Greatsword.

For Li Lan, his finishing move skills are top-notch.

"Two of them. The others should have my attention drawn too. Proceed as planned."

Turning around quickly and identifying the northeast direction, Li Lan took another step.

By this point, the nearly one hundred kingdom soldiers who had first gathered here had all their attention drawn to this witch who intended to escape, and anger and murderous intent were already building up on their handsome faces.

Chapter 22 The Chase

Danny, a 38-year-old veteran general from the Elf Kingdom, is a seasoned soldier of equal rank to Major General Kowell and is one of the commanders of this encirclement and suppression mission.

For this weathered elf uncle, the deaths of his two comrades would not stop him from moving forward; he recognized reality faster than anyone else.

That is, this fleeing foreign witch is very strong! Her strength is probably even above those of these major generals!

"All troops, form ranks! Wilu, take your men and restrict her movements! Garok, take your men and use the magical heavy crossbows to kill her..."

Danny didn't make a sound. At this moment, he was using a support magic unique to the Elf Kingdom. This magic could achieve extremely fast communication between elves using their thoughts. The commander only needed a few simple thoughts to convey his orders to all his subordinates immediately.

It was precisely because of his swift command that the elven soldiers who arrived in time sprang into action. They completely ignored the two gruesome elven corpses on the ground and instead focused all their attention on the foreign witch who was about to escape, who was about a hundred meters away.

Then one of the elven soldiers slammed his thick hands down on the ground, and pure white threads of magic burst forth in all directions, covering an area of ​​500 meters in radius at a terrifying speed that exceeded the speed of light.

The next second, the right eyes of all the elven soldiers present began to glow with a ghostly blue light. The image reflected in their right eyes was the exact location of this foreign witch, presented as a view looking down from the sky.

"Eye of the Sky" is another support magic unique to the Elf Kingdom. This magic can lock onto an enemy within a distance of no more than 500 meters, bring everything within a 20-meter radius of that enemy into view, and then share it with all allies connected by magic.

Soon after the exact location of the foreign witch was captured, nearly a hundred kingdom soldiers present took action one after another.