Witch Redemption

Marion paused for a long time. "What do the great powers want from killing us? What benefit do they gain from killing us? Mr. Franklin, I think you are overthinking it. There may be some hidden reason behind this."

"Who knows!"

Franklin was in a terrible predicament. He had thought it was just a simple guild commission, but he ended up in jail after approaching the snow-covered mountains and was now being driven into this terrible dead zone. If there was nothing fishy going on, who would believe it?

"Fine, if you insist on cooperating, that's not impossible, but these witches must obey my commands. What do you think? Besides, can witches really be trusted?"

No matter how you look at it, no one could possibly trust a wanted criminal, a fugitive who had killed a whole host of intelligent beings.

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

As dusk fell, none of the more than two thousand legendary adventurers dared to linger in that deadly town, and all retreated to the vicinity of the isolation wall.

By this time, the only entrance and exit had been blocked, and they were all trapped in this place with nowhere else to go.

Li Lan, having returned safely, successfully reunited with the adventurer Franklin and his group. They had reportedly joined a new adventurer team led by an old man named Marion Bush. This old man made Li Lan somewhat uncomfortable; he seemed to have a very controlling nature. Thinking about it, it made sense—how could he have gathered so many people without some shrewdness and toughness?

"As expected, legendary adventurers are different; they're all seasoned veterans!"

Li Lan thought for a moment, but in the end she did not agree to cooperate directly. Instead, she changed the subject slightly, "We still need to discuss this for a while. By the way, do you have any new information?"

“Uh, yes, that’s true. We’ve received the news,” Franklin explained to Li Lan while watching the adventurers around him busily working. “There are no monsters left in the entire Snow Mountain Range. After it was sealed off, there’s no more crawling darkness here. We should be able to settle down here safely.”

Li Lan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. "In that case, why don't we travel through the night and continue deeper into the region?"

There's not much time left today, and they can't investigate the true source of all the crises. If it weren't for the fear of the creeping darkness encroaching, Li Lan wouldn't have brought Yu Hui and the Twin Witches back to this place.

"No! It's too dangerous. You saw that town yourself; all those adventurers died there."

Franklin's face turned ashen at the thought of the tragic fates of the previous groups of adventurers.

"But you've overlooked a very important point: several groups of adventurers before you may have chosen to stay here, just like you, and then they encountered some kind of accident at night and all died in this area."

“That’s unlikely. Look, all the snow here has been cleared. There are no signs of fighting or even bloodstains in this large area. Moreover, the night road is not easy to travel and is much more dangerous than the daytime road. It is said that the death tide is most active at night. If we choose to travel at night, there is a high probability that we will lose our lives.”

These are all common sense, but it is precisely these common sense facts that make Li Lan feel inexplicably uneasy.

He recalled what he had seen in that town today: many adventurers had died under rather mysterious circumstances, and there were no unusual traces on the countless long streets, as if they had been deliberately erased.

The more Li Lan thought about it, the more puzzled she became. She thought to herself, "It is precisely because it is common sense that it is more likely to kill people. It is a good thing to be able to cooperate with these adventurers, but it does not seem to be my style to sit here and wait to die like them."

"I'm sorry, but since that's the case, how about we witches scout ahead for you?"

"this......"

"Cooperation definitely requires both sides to be honest with each other, right? Cooperation is only possible with consensus. I hope Mr. Franklin can consider this. We don't mind cooperating, nor do we mind following orders, but the premise is that the person in charge of us is not an idiot!"

Now that things have come to this, Li Lan no longer intends to be a gentleman, and her words have unknowingly taken on a bit of a thorn.

Franklin hesitated for a moment, "Miss Roman, please wait a moment, I need to consult him first."

A few minutes later, the old man Marion was a little confused. "All the relevant defensive barriers have been prepared, and the night road is too dangerous. Are these witches stupid? They don't even know where the death tide is in this godforsaken place, and they're already eager to go and get their deaths?"

His original plan was to have these powerful witches act as bodyguards, protecting the vicinity of the defensive barrier. However, these three witches were chatting happily one minute, and then they decided to slip away the next.

"Romon Hydra and the others believe that several other groups of adventurers may have chosen to camp here, just like we are now, and perished as a result. Frankly, I don't entirely agree with this explanation, but it's a valid point; perhaps we could try venturing out at night..."

"No way!" Marion refused on the spot. He was an old man, a man of great experience. "I've known about this place for a long time. The death tides usually break out at night because the undead creatures only appear at night, and that night is precisely the most dangerous time. If we move around rashly without setting up any defenses, we'll only perish. Don't you think about it? The death tide numbers at least in the millions, maybe even tens of millions. How many of us are here? Just over two thousand. Walking at night is suicide!"

"But......"

"No buts. I initially thought these three witches you recommended had some extraordinary abilities, but it turns out they're utterly clueless and childish. They can go and die if they want, but please don't drag us down with them, thank you!"

Now that the defensive barrier has been set up, most of the adventurers present have emerged from the shadow of a few hours ago and are feeling somewhat at ease.

Franklin thought for a moment, then persisted, "Mr. Marion, I think we all need to reach a consensus; this will help with cooperation. What do you think...?"

“Yes, you’re right,” Marion felt that this adventurer’s opinion was already biased. Without further ado, he quickly stopped the busy adventurers and repeated what Franklin had said not long ago, “That’s it. Does anyone agree to travel at night? Raise your hand or give your opinion!”

"Are you stupid? It's so dangerous at night, isn't it suicide to not use a protective barrier to shield yourself?"

"Yes, so many people have died, which means the opponent is too strong to be countered. If that's the case, we should set up defensive positions and hold them firmly."

"Which idiot came up with this idea?"

Amidst the cacophony of voices, in the end, not a single person supported Franklin.

That's right. The devastation in the towns today has touched a nerve with them. Fear is often the stagnant force that holds intelligent beings back. Because of fear, people will subconsciously choose to escape and defend rather than attack.

"Did you hear that, Mr. Franklin? This is common sense!"

Marion patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, "It's alright, we have enough people, and there's a strong defensive barrier here tonight, so we'll be safe enough!"

No amount of sweet words could dispel the unease in Franklin's heart. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "I will consider it."

He turned to his companions Ruda and Nig, and after a brief discussion, he was surprised to find that all the people he had won over today had sided with Marion. Now, only the three of them were left, hesitating whether to follow Roman Hydra's advice.

"Since we're probably going to die anyway, why not take a gamble?" Franklin asked.

Chapter 11 The Hunter in the Night

"You're not planning to stay there?"

With only half an hour left before nightfall, Li Lan began heading away from the town, choosing another path leading to a secluded, dense forest.

Franklin hesitated for a few seconds, then spoke frankly, "Staying there won't put my mind at ease, so I might as well take a gamble."

“Yes,” Ruda touched his bald head. Although he looked fierce, this middle-aged adventurer was actually quite easy to talk to. “The previous groups of adventurers probably had similar experiences to us. Even so, they all died. We have to think of another way.”

Nig echoed, "It's a pity that those people we managed to recruit earlier could have been our teammates."

"It's a real pity. We can only hope that we can recruit more people later. What we're about to face is a massive wave of death, and with our small numbers, we're no match for them."

Franklin waved his hand slightly, then couldn't help but ask, "Miss Roman, where are we going?"

"An open space is best if it has a wide view."

In fact, the area where so many adventurers had gathered was quite open, but unfortunately it was a plain, so it didn't quite meet Li Lan's requirements.

As an old witch who was always extremely cautious, her thoughts were actually very simple: "What I can think of, others can also think of. In your opinion, how strong were those previous groups of adventurers?"

Franklin pondered for a few seconds, "They're similar to us, probably all legendary adventurers."

"Well, I'm not being modest. Even we witches are only slightly stronger than you. If this opponent can easily kill even you, then even if we fight head-on, we probably wouldn't be a match for him."

The enemy could be a being at least a demigod level!

Once Li Lan realized that the gap in strength between the two sides was too great, he was certain that he absolutely could not confront them head-on on his first night here, lest he be killed on their first meeting.

He needs more intelligence now, and much of it is intelligence that these intelligent beings probably can't gather through direct investigation.

"Then..." Franklin became a little anxious upon hearing this. If even these stronger witches were helpless, would leaving the crowd now be a bad idea?

"I have already prepared some contingency plans. If nothing unexpected happens, we will know the outcome tonight. The reason I chose an open area with a wide view is to catch some subtle crises more quickly."

Now that these three legendary adventurers have chosen his side, he also needs to stabilize their minds to some extent.

Moreover, Li Lan never liked to fight unprepared battles unless he was truly forced into a corner and had no choice but to act recklessly like a brute.

"If something really goes wrong, then..."

"Correct!"

Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, running away is the best. We don't even know the enemy's strengths and weaknesses yet; to confront them head-on without any probing is truly suicidal. Anyway, Li Lan plans to escape tonight with the Twin Witches and Yu Hui, regardless of whether these adventurers join them or not.

Of course, there is another way to deal with it: like the team led by the old man Marion before them, they could choose to set up camp on the spot and concentrate their forces to set up defensive positions. As long as their combined strength is strong enough, they should have no problem getting through the night safely.

What Li Lan was worried about was this: even if the more than two thousand legendary adventurers present united, they would not be a match for this enemy lurking in the depths of darkness. Perhaps the previous groups of legendary adventurers had already considered this possibility and chosen to set up camp together, only to die silently in the end.

The path of alliance is indeed correct and can be followed, but given the current situation Li Lan is seeing, the conditions are not yet right.

Because everyone is too weak!

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

On the western outskirts of the snow-covered mountains, also at dusk, a large group of legendary adventurers were stationed near the "isolation barrier," intending to unite against this damned region.

As these legendary adventurers busily set up the defensive barrier for the night, a girl dressed in black and gray soft armor, with ordinary twin swords at her waist and half her face hidden under a gray hood, looked up at the distant, hazy mountains.

"The process of getting here was not very smooth. Today I almost exposed my identity as a witch, but fortunately I managed to sneak in in the end."

"Now I only have one problem left: how to survive this first night safely. Normally, people who have reached the level of legendary adventurers aren't fools; they shouldn't have died so tragically if they had teamed up. But judging from the state of this town during the day, this place is clearly suspicious. Is there some secret I don't know about?"

"The most likely scenario is that the murderer who killed them is far more powerful than I imagined, possibly even at the level of a demigod or higher. If such an enemy does appear tonight, I will have to go all out against these adventurers, which is not good news for me."

For so many years, she has kept an incredibly low profile, pretending to be a powerful legendary adventurer. Now, this legendary "title" is even quite well-known.

Even though she later learned that many legendary adventurers didn't care about the witch's identity, she never dared to reveal it, except in front of that couple, just to be on the safe side.

Just as she was lost in thought, a legendary adventurer from the Arctic tribe, also from the Desolate Ruins region, approached her.

The man was an ape-man named "Volkov," who had a somewhat goofy smile. He approached the man for two main reasons.

One of his purposes was that both of them had "worked together" in the Adventurers' Guild of the Arctic Tribe, so he was well aware of this woman's true strength. After witnessing the tragic state of those adventurers today, he had been trying his best to win her over, even disregarding the objections of others.

The second objective is that Vokov comes from a mysterious organization on the northern continent, an organization connected to the ancient gods. In order to resurrect this deceased deity, the organization is desperately seeking the witch's corpse, and this mysterious woman happens to be a suspect in the "witch's" identity, suspected of murdering several of the organization's followers over the past two years, but they have been unable to find any evidence against her.

Today, when we tracked this mysterious woman to this area, we still don't know why she wanted to enter the snow-covered mountains. Since entering this place requires a commission from the Adventurers' Guild, she almost got into a conflict with the soldiers of the desolate ancient kingdom. In the end, it was Volkov who made amends and resolved the situation.

"Peerless Sword Saint Adele" is the title of this mysterious woman, who is also rumored to be the strongest legendary adventurer of the Extreme Ice Tribe.

On the one hand, Vorkov suspected that the woman was a witch, and on the other hand, he was also very surprised. At first, he thought that this mysterious woman was not interested in the reward related to "awakening the source" and had not accepted the guild's commission at all. He did not expect that she could not resist the temptation in the end and secretly came over.

"If she's not a witch, then this woman is truly an arrogant fellow!"

He clicked his tongue inwardly. Although he despised this kind of person, Volkov genuinely admired the guy's abilities. It was just a pity that the guy had such a sour face. His indifference was outrageous, giving him the feeling of offering a warm welcome only to be met with indifference.

Indeed, this woman is none other than the long-lost witch Della. After learning of the Adventurers' Guild's request in early February, she ventured alone into the Snowy Mountains. She had heard that the "Destroyer of Kingdoms" was located in the central region of the Snowy Mountains, and that it would take at least three months to reach that place.

So during this time she was traveling at full speed, and it took her a whole week to reach the outer edge of the snow-covered mountains. She almost got into a conflict with the soldiers stationed at the fortress, but fortunately she made it in safely in the end.

"Sword Saint, what do you think tonight...?"

Despite the ape-man uncle's attempts to win her over, Della remained expressionless as always. Since the uncle had helped her out of a predicament earlier, she became a little more polite. "I'm sorry, I won't be joining you tonight. I'll be traveling through the night. By the way, here's a piece of advice: it's best not to stay here. Everyone who stayed here before is dead."

Common sense often leads to disaster; it's probably safer to walk at night in this godforsaken place—that was Della's intuition.

At that moment, she had made up her mind and took the first step without hesitation.

"I have only one goal: to investigate the true identity of 'The Destroyer of Kingdoms' as soon as possible, and then leave immediately. The lives and deaths of others are none of my concern." This was Della's thought. She never cared about the lives and deaths of any irrelevant people and always lived as strongly as a lone wolf.

Even now, knowing that these adventurers have encountered tremendous trouble and were abandoned in this godforsaken place a week ago due to the conspiracy of the desolate ancient kingdom, she would not feel any sympathy, let alone think of helping them out of kindness.

Della has always had her own kindness, but her kindness doesn't belong to anyone here; it will always belong only to her trusted comrades and the couple who saved her in her time of need.

"Since there's something strange about this area, then what's next..."

She will use her own methods to completely hide herself in this place until she finds the "Destroyer of Kingdoms"!