Witch Redemption

"It's alright. Witches will inevitably face this hurdle after reaching a certain level. You've overcome it, and they certainly can too."

Li Lan offered a word of comfort. In fact, he was quite confident in the will of these witches and believed they would be able to withstand this mutated state.

"Karen, is it convenient for us to talk?"

Lana hesitated for a while before finally speaking up.

"Okay, go ahead." In Li Lan's memory, Lana rarely seemed to ask questions in such an uneasy way.

“It’s like this…” Lana began to explain.

"Nightmares? I have them every day, but the kind of startling awakening you're talking about..." Indeed, for these witches who have fallen into exile, every night's sleep is a blur, having nightmares is normal, what's abnormal is the intense unease that follows waking up startled.

Li Lan pondered for a while, thinking to herself, "Although I personally don't believe in any metaphysics, since Lana has said so, why not give up the rest and continue on our journey?"

Doing some things in advance is just for peace of mind; there's no other motive.

Just like obsessive-compulsive disorder, Li Lan understood this feeling, so she immediately responded to Lana's idea.

"Um, aren't you going to argue with that?"

“Because I’m scared too, worried that something might really happen. It was your words that scared me,” Li Lan waved her hand, then greeted Miranda, Rosa, and Lily Williams beside her, “Miranda, Rosa, we’re heading to that place tonight. Can you two hold on?”

“No problem.” Rosa and Mirada responded at the same time. They were now demigod-level witches, and stable ones at that, with plenty of energy.

"Lily, let my servant carry you from now on, so you can take this opportunity to rest for a while."

As the weakest member of the team, Li Lan often took care of this human woman, prioritizing her needs and doing her best to ensure her safety.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you."

The human woman, who was originally quite impatient, has become very obedient after more than two years of life-and-death experience. She prioritizes obeying orders in everything she does.

After making the necessary arrangements, Li Lan quickly summoned several humanoid attendants, had them carry the seven witches including Hera, and then continued on their journey.

The place Lana wanted to take Li Lan and the others to, according to the location on the ancient map, was in the western part of the central region of the Abyss Rift. To get there, they would have to take a long detour.

During their journey, they would have to cross numerous mountains, rivers, and formidable natural barriers. Moreover, according to Lana, the area was teeming with "basilisks," making direct confrontation impossible; they would have to resort to trickery. Lana already had experience from her previous successful run, so figuring out how to do it was entirely up to her.

"I estimate it will take us about three days. From now on, we'll keep a low profile and walk in this direction for twelve hours. Then we'll reach the first place where we can rest. If all goes well, it'll be safe there. We'll rest for about six hours, and then we'll set off again and continue on our way to the end."

Lana, while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings, explained that they had arrived at a vast forest of stone pillars. Since they had previously "sweeped" through this area, this quiet place was still safe for the time being.

"By the way, is that place you mentioned really that special?"

Li Lan was also very curious. He had asked Lana more than once before, but she always gave vague answers.

"Um, I don't know how to explain it to you... Hmm, have you read the legends of the Dragon Kingdom?"

"The complicated history of the Dragon God Reggios and the Dragon God Kassania?" Sorry, Li Lan, who is a bit of a gossip, only remembers this part of the legends of the Dragon Kingdom, which is extremely complicated. She feels that even ten family calculators would not be enough.

"Karen, your focus seems a little...too mundane!"

"It's alright. Anyone would find it interesting. It always reminds me of the Western gods from my past life."

When Li Lan mentions the world before her transmigration, and Greek mythology, what comes to mind? Of course, it's the bizarre relationships. Aside from these many amazing relationships, what remains are the many familiar names, such as Zeus, Athena, and Gaia.

Well, people who think like that usually have absolutely no humanistic or artistic talent; they're just clueless idiots.

Myths and legends often contain historical value, the beauty of humanity, and rich imagination, serving as an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration for future generations.

That's roughly it, anyway, that's how it sounds, to put it nicely.

Lana shrugged. "What I want to say is that, like you, I only know that the specific geographical structure of the Dragon Kingdom and the history of the Dragon Clan's relationships are very complicated, so I'm not very interested."

As she spoke, Lana opened a map. "The Dragon Kingdom was born on a supercontinent floating in the sky, but I don't know the specifics. In the year 10003 of the New Calendar, shortly after we arrived in this world, didn't I acquire this little guy, Osiris?"

“Yes,” Li Lan would never forget the memories of their time together. “I remember that you started collecting information about the Floating Continent back then. I think you even found some legend about the Floating City that never sleeps.”

The Floating City That Never Sleeps is the sacred land of the Dragon Kingdom and its capital. Legend has it that this sacred land will never experience darkness, always bathed in light and warmth. All the dragons living in this sacred land sing praises day and night, recounting the great achievements of the Dragon God Regius and Kassania.

“Yes, I noticed it from that time on. There are very few records about the Floating City that never sleeps, but they all mention one thing in general: the Floating City that never sleeps has only one entrance, which is called the ‘Gate of Heaven’. Only those with dragon blood can activate this unparalleled gate and enter the holy land.”

In reality, it's not just about needing dragon blood; there's an even bigger requirement: a true god-level dragon bloodline.

Lana's guess was right: he himself possessed dragon blood, but unfortunately, he couldn't enter that strange place the last time he came.

“I see. However, we don’t know much about that area, so we can’t afford not to prepare in advance.” Li Lan’s expression was a little serious. He was always this cautious when encountering unknown territory.

"Yes, so we may have to rely on your trump card once. I will do my best to ensure your safety within ten minutes, and you must protect us."

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

The mortal god Mitchell Groler finally reached an agreement with the vast majority of demigods in the Abyss Rift, with a total number of demigods, numbering in the thousands, ultimately choosing to stand on his side.

After all, many demigods have been trapped in this realm for thousands of years, their strength stagnating and their lives constantly threatened with death. For them, being given a gamble naturally ignites their deepest survival instincts.

With such a powerful, god-like figure leading the team, and a large number of members, there might still be hope of breaking the deadlock.

That very day, the massive team set off on their journey, heading directly west towards the central area of ​​the Abyss Rift.

"God of men, why don't you leave with them?"

After Mitchell, the current god of the British Empire, led most of the demigods away, the orc demigods who remained in the Primordial Lands couldn't help but ask a question, and the elven demigods standing beside him also looked puzzled. They had initially been tempted, but seeing the human demigods ultimately choose to retreat and let the other demigods make their own decision, they dared not easily take sides.

“We are all beings who possess half a godhood, and in terms of strength, we are infinitely close to being gods. You probably know more about the situation in this region than I do.”

In private, with no one else around, the few demigods who had chosen to remain in this place had already fallen into hibernation again. When the three met, the human demigod no longer concealed his words.

In this world, regardless of race, the ultimate limit of strength is demigod. There is basically only one path to becoming a god: to seize the bodies of the ancient gods and absorb their complete divine essence.

"Godhood" means "the dark blood of madness and chaos," and is also a source of pollution that ordinary people cannot come into contact with at all.

Half a godhood is the limit that these demigods can withstand. Exceeding it will not make them become gods directly, but will instead plunge them into eternal death.

After all, the human body is ultimately just that of a human, and cannot become a true god.

The leaders of the three major forces—human demigods, orc demigods, and elven demigods—were all demigods who entered the Abyss Rift nine thousand years ago. They were among the first, and the first lucky ones to obtain "divinity" in the Abyss Rift.

That's why their strength is terrifying. The stronger they are, the more they can perceive the strangeness of the Abyss Rift. For example, the Abyss Rift is actually located in the future timeline, and the flow of matter is always one day ahead of the outside world.

This is the real reason why they cannot leave. Not only can they not leave, but the imperial god's avatar that barged in with such confidence probably won't be able to leave here safely either. All those reasons are just a pretext to use them.

As an old-fashioned being, the human demigod could not have failed to see that the current god of this empire intended to exploit their will to survive, but he was too proud to expose it.

"Alas," the Beast God sighed, feeling very disappointed, "I would gladly serve anyone who could rescue me, but it's a pity."

This godforsaken place holds no hope, and has remained so for over nine thousand years. Prolonged stagnation in despair and darkness would cause any intelligent being to become depressed, and then indifferent to everything. I vaguely remember that eight thousand years ago, when they first divided their forces, there was a lot of fighting and killing, but later they gradually became complacent and settled down.

Rather than wasting a lot of energy and life on internal strife, it would be better to settle things through negotiation.

This is also why, even after learning that the Dragonborn Witch who fell was extremely powerful, and later a new batch of witches were incredibly strong, they were still able to control themselves and not get carried away at all.

Since we can't get out anyway, we might as well make do. Fighting and killing is pointless; we'd be better off sleeping and conserving our energy.

“Maybe we really will have a chance to leave,” the human demigod shrugged again, speaking in a coquettish voice. “Rather than believing this empire’s current god who loves the art of language, I’d rather believe those witches who speak in a simple and crude way. At least they created a stable environment for us after entering the Abyss Rift.”

Yes, those "basilisk monsters" that troubled all the demigods have been wiped out, and the primordial land is now incredibly peaceful.

In contrast, these "grandmothers" who run wild everywhere are actually able to win their favor.

"Never mind, I'm going back to sleep!"

The elven demigod, as if finding it troublesome, turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter 31 The Book of Teleportation

"Edith, how much experience with magic books?"

Alone with the dragonborn witch Edith Ivanka, the present god Mitchell Groll casually hunted down a "basilisk" unique to the Abyss Rift, and then asked a question.

"Grand Duke Mitchell... in total is..."

The dragonborn witch appeared extremely panicked, and her speech remained incoherent throughout.

"I see, I understand now."

After hearing the approximate experience points, Grand Duke Mitchell, the god of the mortal world, began to calculate the approximate strength of these witches.

As for the superpower that carries out the "witch summoning", they know almost everything about the witches, including the approximate experience required for the witches to level up. They have arranged various hunting missions for the witches separately in order to strictly control the witches' current level.

"Such a vast area of ​​pollution has been swept away. It seems that these witches have become much stronger than they were two years ago. They may have even reached the level of demigods. This is really a headache!"

In the empire's recorded history, the destruction of the Dragon Kingdom was due to the deaths of the Dragon God Reggios and the Dragon God Kassania, which caused the floating continent to lose the power of the supreme gods and become shaky.

Then, the civil war in the Dragon Kingdom further exacerbated the fall and destruction of the floating continent.

The fall of the floating continent created the "Abyss Rift," which sparked legends about the "fallen site of the sky."

Without a doubt, in that terrible fall, the dragon kingdom was reduced to nothing overnight, and all the dragons perished. Furthermore, many dragons, after their deaths, began to be corrupted by the divine power of the dragon gods Reggios and Cassanea, turning into walking corpses, one of the representative products of which is the countless "basilisk monsters" in the outside world.

Indeed, these "basilisk monsters" should be the lowest-ranking and most numerous beings among the dragon race.

They are not undead creatures, but evil beings tainted by the resentment of the Dragon God's divine essence. They cannot be killed by ordinary means of light; to kill them, their "pseudo-divinity" must be destroyed. Furthermore, since the location of the "pseudo-divinity" is difficult to determine, the best way is to completely shatter them.

Little did they know, the witch herself was actually able to sense the approximate location of these "basilisk monsters'" "false divinity," but the witch that Michael Greer had with him was filled with fear, so she didn't utter a word to warn him throughout the entire process.

"We have obtained specific intelligence. We are currently quite far from the location of the traitor Rosa. At the current speed, it should take about two days to catch up."

The mortal god Mitchell Groer could actually go all out in the pursuit, which would leave a large number of demigods unable to keep up.

Moreover, there is an even more important reason: the Abyss Rift was once a place of annihilation where only death and destruction existed. It has been silent for nearly 10,000 years, but that does not mean that this hellish place is a safe zone.

If any god-level being were to set foot in this realm and truly believe themselves to be invincible, and were to unleash their full power, the greater likelihood would be that they would trigger the power left behind by the Dragon God Reggios and the Dragon God Kassania, with unimaginable consequences.

In the past, the resentment of the ancient gods after their deaths would turn into writhing darkness, affecting the entire world to this day. Not to mention these two dragon gods who were extremely powerful in ancient times and could almost rival the ancient creator.

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

On August 23, 10011 (Gregorian calendar), after two days and two nights of travel, Lana, along with Li Lan and many witches, arrived near their destination. They then swiftly crossed an underground fissure, bypassed a continuous mountain range, and finally reached a more open plain.

Fortunately, the seven witches, including Hera, have completely stabilized their bodies and only need a period of recuperation to return to their peak condition.

This is the best news we've had in recent days.

Standing at the exit of the underground fissure, Lana's vigilance was at its peak. In the darkness, her azure beast eyes were stretched long, and the range of her vision expanded to about three hundred meters before she could go any further.

Compared to when she last came here, when the visibility was only 100 meters, Lana, whose strength had reached its peak, was much stronger.

“There is no danger. Follow me closely. The basilisks in this area are also lurking deep underground, but there is a way to avoid them. See these grayish-white paving stones that are spreading out? They avoid this kind of ground for some unknown reason. As long as we walk on it, we should be safe.”

Lana reminded her as she carefully took her first steps.

At this point, none of the witches present dared to make a sound, and they all crept into the darkness.

Li Lan followed behind Lana, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, always on guard against any potential danger.

"I don't know how far Lana can see. My visibility is only about thirty meters, and that's about fifty meters away..."