Witch Redemption

The merfolk witch Wild Hunt opened her innate magic book, and the next second after chanting the true name of her class artifact, "Flowing Water," a pair of gloves resembling hydrogel appeared in her right hand.

"According to the rules we agreed on at the beginning, you will go straight into a one-on-one fight, and I will provide support as needed. After all, we don't get along very well, and if possible, I would really like to take him down together."

The Witch Hunter revealed a confident smile. Her mouth full of shark-like serrated teeth made her look somewhat ferocious and terrifying. Although her overall appearance was slovenly, when she decided to get serious, her overall image was surprisingly handsome.

The two "flowing" gloves, one on each side, were already on during the conversation. As the left hand pulled down the edge of the right hand's gel, the Witch Hunter clenched her right hand tightly. The flowing water burst forth like flames, scattering and overflowing, making a crisp, splashing sound.

"Hmph, you bastard, give me three minutes. If I can't kill him within three minutes, you can all come at me. Don't worry about my safety."

Next, they will face their witch senior. If they are not prepared, there is a high chance they will be caught off guard and suffer a setback.

As one of the strongest witches in the empire at present, Eris, the crocodile witch, is not so confident as to be arrogant. She may appear arrogant on the surface, but she is actually very cautious at heart.

If she were as arrogant as she appeared, she would probably have been devoured by a demon long ago.

"This is so unlike you, honey. Can't you say something a little more stylish?"

The merfolk witch, Wild Hunt, habitually flirted and teased, while quickly considering her next move.

"Let's talk about it after we kill him. We need to step on his head to show off, right?"

This pair of witches, the "bad couple," love to show off, but they don't talk a lot of nonsense to their enemies before they do. Instead, they kill their opponents completely and then slowly start spouting threats.

"She's here! I see, this girl is an elven witch. It seems strength isn't her strong suit."

The crocodile-woman witch Eris glanced at the large, scaly, and barbed tail beneath her skirt, and as she took a step forward, she opened her natal magic book, "Purple Night!"

A dark purple weapon appeared in the hands of the witch Eris at her call. The weapon was a full 1.6 meters long, with a thick blade 30 centimeters wide, engraved with numerous grotesque blood grooves. The heavy sword had no edge; this enormous weapon gave the impression of being an iron door, domineering and visually striking.

"Ancient bloodline!"

Awaken the power that the ancient giant crocodile should possess, and increase your speed.

"Killing intent sensed!"

The advanced skill "Mind's Eye" allows her to see through a certain degree of her opponent's attacks and avoid damage.

"Power Absorption!"

The unique status skill of the Crocodile Greatsword Warriors allows them to absorb any attack force below their current tolerance level, then store a portion of that force to enhance their own power, while the other portion is used as the power needed for "Berserk Counterattack" to retaliate against the opponent.

It can be said that Eris, the witch of the crocodile people, is the type who gets stronger the more she is beaten. Her power is simply a matter of "fighting fire with fire," and she becomes stronger when faced with a stronger opponent.

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

Alone, I stepped onto this vast expanse of dark gray gravel. The surrounding environment was somewhat gloomy. Looking out, the distant sky was separated by a thin line from the rock walls on both sides, making the entire Traso Corridor appear dim and eerie, filled with an inexplicable aura of death.

Li Lan had only just crossed the dense primeval jungle and arrived at this open area full of pebbles when she saw two menacing witches two hundred meters away who had already gotten there first. One of them had non-human features such as fish fins in her ears, while the other had a thick crocodile tail trailing behind her.

The two strongest witches dispatched to this place by the Empire were the Fishman Wild Hunt and the Crocodile-Man Eris, from the 10004th year of the New Calendar, only one year later than Li Lan.

Eris of the Crocodile Clan has mysterious abilities. All that is known is that she grows stronger the longer the battle goes on, and it is absolutely impossible to fight her for a long time. It is rumored that if the battle drags on for a certain period of time, her power can even kill any demigod-level being.

"Killing people of higher status" is the most distinctive characteristic of the witch Eris, and it is also the reason why many witches tremble with fear at her mere mention of her name.

The Murloc Wild Hunt is rarely seen in action; when he does, it's usually when the witch Eris faces an insurmountable situation. It's said his spellbook class is water elemental mage, and unlike typical ranged mages, he's a melee mage, always able to turn the tide of battle with a single move.

In short, these two witches are extremely mysterious figures to most witches in the Empire, and very few have witnessed their full power. Furthermore, it's said that their rapid leveling is due to their being rare leveling maniacs, killing wherever they go.

The Empire sent them to the central location where the four continents meet, intending for them to find the true location of the site where the sky fell, and then personally explore it to gain more experience with magic books and break through the level 50 barrier of magic books in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, the witch Karen Elf arrived at this place, which changed their initial plans.

"There are only the two of them here. It seems that the other witches must be lurking in other places. Besides dealing with my large retinue, are there other witches lying in ambush here? It seems that I need to be careful."

Li Lan did not actually come alone. When he was still some distance away, he summoned his remaining five humanoid followers, all skilled in stealth. Unfortunately, as soon as he set foot on this land, all the followers reported that they were being watched and could no longer remain hidden. They could only protect their creator, Li Lan, and cover their retreat.

Clearly, after learning yesterday that some of his followers were skilled in stealth and assassination, the Empire had already notified the witches here in advance, and they had all taken certain measures against them.

"My profession is a priestess, not a true warrior-type witch, which will be a huge disadvantage for me. Oh well, I should at least test the waters first and see what special abilities these two witches have."

Although he is a priest, Li Lan's close combat skills are absolutely top-notch.

"What, where's your sacred artifact? You don't actually think you can fight me with just that Libra Cross Greatsword, do you?"

Seeing that Li Lan was only carrying a Libra Cross Greatsword, the Crocodile Witch became wary and, while bending down, asked him probingly.

"Who knows?"

With a simple response, both sides simultaneously unleashed astonishing power and speed, traversing the 200-meter distance in two seconds and colliding violently.

The collision of the Libra Cross Greatsword and the "Reverse Edge" Greatsword created a dazzling display of power, and the immense force of their impact exploded into a violent storm that surged in all directions.

"Power Absorption!"

All the power that Li Lan unleashed was completely absorbed and disappeared without a trace.

"A furious counterattack!"

The overwhelming counterattack force was transmitted through the Libra Cross Greatsword to Li Lan's body, causing countless bloody gashes to erupt from his upper body, and his entire body was thrown backward like a cannonball.

"Water Hell Creates Life!"

The merfolk witch, Wild Hunt, raised her right hand, clad in a "flowing" glove, and made a clenching gesture towards the two battling witches at the very moment the two witches clashed.

At that moment, the torrent of water that shot into the sky instantly transformed into a high-density gel, completely sealing off the two witches who intended to fight one-on-one, preventing anyone from interfering with their duel.

"Forehead--"

The impact slammed into the stone-like water behind her, instantly causing Li Lan to cough up a large amount of blood and nearly lose consciousness.

"There's something fishy about the nature of this guy's power!"

After only a brief exchange, Li Lan had already made a judgment: he clearly felt that this witch's physical attributes and strength were at most one level stronger than his.

To put it simply, this guy can easily lift a 100-kilogram door and smash it randomly on people, while Li Lan can only lift 80 kilograms at most. But when the two of them smashed the door together, he found that all his strength was canceled out. The difference in weight on him was not 20 kilograms, but 140 kilograms.

Of course, the kilogram here is just a figure of speech. In reality, the force that Fang unleashed far exceeded the analogous value. Otherwise, Li Lan would not have been smashed to the point of vomiting blood and almost dying from serious injuries.

It felt as if this guy could use someone else's strength against him!

"Using someone's strength against them?"

Li Lanzhen never imagined that a witch would possess such overpowered abilities. If such abilities had no upper limit, then this person would indeed be an unsolvable problem for him.

"No, it might not be as simple as using someone else's strength against them! According to Rosa, this person gets stronger the more she fights, and it seems she's not some kind of berserker; her fighting style is more like a normal melee witch. Could it be that she's storing energy? Any force that attacks her is partially absorbed by her, and the rest is countered."

With her Thornmail armor, this guy is like a warrior wearing Thornmail. Li Lan's proud basic attacks probably won't be able to stop her.

"Indeed, in a head-on duel, without resorting to underhanded tactics, I have no way to defeat her. In that case..."

From the very beginning, when Li Lan decided to come alone for the challenge, she had already made all the necessary preparations.

He quickly steadied himself, casually pulled out a bottle of top-grade recovery potion, and splashed it on himself. For his current injuries, Li Lan's "potential activation" would be enough for rapid healing, but if he wanted it to be faster, some external force would be needed.

"It will heal in just one minute. Against this guy, I can't attack first; I have to counter!"

The battles between witches are not just about strength, but more importantly, about the gap in intelligence. They must always be wary of the opponent's possible trump card.

Li Lan has a trump card that can kill this guy, the key is to lure her in.

Especially after seeing that the two witches seemed to be intent on a one-on-one fight, Li Lan became even more convinced of her idea.

On the other side, Eris, the crocodile witch who had succeeded in her attack, did not immediately give chase, but instead stood at a safe distance and kept watch.

"No, the legendary rogue witch Karen Elf couldn't possibly have such limited power. Is this guy trying to trick me?"

The overwhelming situation made the witch Eris question her existence. She had a strong feeling that if she chased after the traitorous witch immediately, she would surely die.

“Although I have the upper hand, it’s not safe enough yet. And…hmm! Interesting. Is this guy not going to attack first? Rapid healing, just as the intelligence said. No matter what kind of injury, it can be healed in a short time. It looks like he can be back to his peak in just one minute.”

If they are fighting other witches or monsters, and they encounter the same situation, they will often take a gamble when they are seriously injured and desperate, choosing to burn their bridges and directly use stronger power to fight head-on.

However, this rogue witch, Karen Elf, is different. Not only was her first attack a probing attack, seemingly without using her full strength, but it is also highly likely that the nature of her power was detected after the probing, otherwise she would never have stood still and hesitated.

Little did they know, Li Lan did indeed possess an extremely powerful close-combat trump card. If he had used that trump card from the beginning, he would definitely be a corpse lying on the ground right now.

"What should I do now? Could this guy have set a trap? Is he deliberately trying to lure me into a chase?"

Karen Elf, the rogue witch, was their predecessor and a wanted fugitive by the British Empire; her power was certainly far greater than they had imagined.

This is a bit tricky. If the opponent attacks relentlessly and lets the witch Eris "drain" them, the battle will quickly become one-sided. But if the opponent avoids combat, the situation becomes unpredictable.

"He should be capable of more than that... No! That's not right! This guy's spellbook class is Priest, and his secondary class is suspected to be Summoner. That means that neither his primary nor secondary class is related to warriors. He doesn't have any skills that can enhance his strength, so that first attack must have been his strongest attack!"

"Furthermore, his race is elves. Elven witches are generally skilled in magic or speed, not physical strength, so they certainly don't have any racial advantages. Considering all of this, this guy's current situation is just a bluff. He has indeed been severely injured and will find it difficult to launch an effective counterattack in the short term."

"I've heard that the legendary Karen Elf never fights head-on because she's not good at it. Her specialty is psychological warfare, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to turn so many witches against her. Even that traitor Rosa from a while ago was defeated by her psychological tactics and ultimately chose to betray her."

"In other words! This guy is using psychological deception right now. He really doesn't have any more close combat skills. What he wants right now is to stall for time and let his body recover. After that, he will probably still have to rely on those summoned creatures to fight me together!"

"Fine, as long as this guy dares to retaliate, my power absorption will definitely trigger. Besides, I'm a greatsword user, not just a few basic skills. Anyway, with the support of the Wild Hunt, I can use my own style to kill him here at any time!"

After a brief hesitation of about ten seconds, the witch Eris suddenly bent down, tilting the Purple Night Greatsword in her hand and pressing it to the ground, deciding to reveal her strongest trump card.

Because she has already seen through her opponent!

What is the rogue witch Karen Elf?

She's just a piece of trash who only knows how to play mind games! Eris doesn't fall for that!

Chapter 19: Resolving the Battle in a Bloody Way

Greatsword users are not uncommon among witch classes, but if this class is paired with an extremely powerful rare race, such as the Dragonborn, then the class will undergo a qualitative change!

The Crocodile People are a rare race among witches. In terms of physical strength, they are a cut above the average sub-beastman witch. In terms of skills, their defense and endurance are top-notch, completely outclassing the vast majority of witches.

The witch Eris, by combining her powerful race with the greatsword warrior who is like a tiger with wings, transformed into a "heavy tank" and reached the pinnacle of attack and defense.

At this moment, although she strategically despised the rogue witch Karen Elf, regarding her as a piece of trash skilled in "psychological deception," tactically she took her very seriously.

"Now is the best time to take him down while he's still recovering from his serious injuries!"

She had all the advantages – timing and location.

The merfolk witch Wild Hunt used "Water Prison Creation" to confine both sides within a radius of about 100 meters, with no obstacles in sight. The crocodile witch Eris, with her powerful and unrestrained attacks, could simply strike, and the traitorous witch Karen Elf would have no way to avoid it.

"Domain Technique: Demon Transformation!"

The open grimoire burst forth with endless black flames. These eerie black flames seemed to possess a life of their own, spreading upwards along the right hand of the crocodile witch Eris, growing ever more intense. A second later, with a deafening roar, they completely ignited the right side of Eris's body.

The witch Eris's trump card was to make half of her body "demigod-like." Her right hand had transformed into a ferocious claw, and her once beautiful right face had become as hideous as a demon, revealing sharp fangs. Meanwhile, her long, gray-brown hair behind her had completely transformed into raging flames, bursting forth with countless starlight.

Power, this is ultimate power!

The moment the professional artifact "Purple Night" greatsword was ignited, the witch Eris finally moved. At this moment, she not only had the three states of "Ancient Bloodline", "Killing Intent Perception" and "Power Absorption" added to her, but also had four other powerful state skills added to her, making her like a god descending to earth, exuding an unstoppable oppressive force.

"Mountain-Splitting Sword Technique!"