Witch Redemption

"Before the witch reforms, the existence of witches was considered a sin, and you all know that, right?"

"..."

Li Lan didn't understand why the old woman suddenly said such a strange thing, so he just nodded.

"What I want to say is that the persecution of witches was for the purpose of saving the world in the future, so no matter what price we pay or what kind of scorn we endure, the Empire will not stop. As for you, witch Karen Elf and witch Lorina Euphemia, the Empire has never changed its original intention. You are beings that must be eliminated."

"Is it still the same now?"

Li Lan didn't expect this old woman to suddenly stop hinting and instead speak with such a fiery tone right from the start.

"No, things are different now. You are envoys from the Dark Kingdom, and the Empire has no intention of being enemies with the three ancient creators. Naturally, we value peace. Therefore, the Empire does not intend to delve into the past, the escaped witch. However! Although history has changed, in the past, for the Empire, any citizen who dared to help the witch was committing a serious crime and would be severely punished."

The old woman's tone wasn't one of questioning or provocation, but rather a muttering to herself.

“I still don’t understand why this young man stands on the witch’s side. Ryan Litt.”

"If it were just Ryan Little, that would be one thing, but his brother, Rainer Little, went even further, choosing to help spies from an enemy country. This is what I understand the least. According to Imperial law, Rainer Little was executed the day after his arrest, yet afterwards his family colluded with these spies again, acting as inside agents. What do you think is the proper way to sentence someone for such a crime?"

According to the law, he should be executed; there is no other way.

Li Lan and Luo Lina remained silent. These were two familiar names, and both had died because of the witch.

Upon closer reflection, Li Lan and the others had already reached a certain level of strength. It could be said that these witches, who had reached the maximum level, were comparable to gods. However, behind this powerful body was a human soul, possessing the compassion that humans should have, rather than the indifference and detached attitude of gods.

It is precisely because Li Lan possesses a human soul that she has the compassion that humans should have, and that she felt sorrow and pain when she heard the news of the deaths of these two mortals.

In this damned world, Ryan Litt was one of the very few heretics who could stand on the witch's side. But sadly, his kindness ultimately became his death warrant, leaving Li Lan and the others with a knot in their hearts that they could never untie for the rest of their lives.

Without this man's help, Li Lan and the others would not have been able to escape so easily. This was not only a debt of gratitude that Li Lan and the others could never repay in their lifetime, but it also changed their view of the natives of this world.

No matter how cruel or treacherous this world may be, there will always be intelligent beings who stand on their side.

A probability of approximately zero does not mean it is nonexistent.

For example, Viscount Ivan and Lachesis whom Li Lan later encountered, and Rudolf and Tita whom Della met.

"Why did this old woman suddenly mention these two people? What is she trying to do?"

Li Lan suddenly became alert. He sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. What if he was about to be seriously hurt?

Chapter 17 Past Regrets

Ryan Little, Rainer Little.

The old woman's words reminded Li Lan of his former brothers, and a mix of emotions welled up within him. Beyond anger and pain, he sensed an ominous premonition, wondering what kind of trouble this wretched woman was up to.

As expected, after the slime and the Starry Night maids were executed, and seeing that Li Lan and Lolina remained unmoved, two more frail women and four children were dragged up to the execution ground.

One of the women was someone Li Lan was familiar with; her name was Betty Anfer, and she was Ryan Little's wife.

Once the woman was identified, it was not difficult to determine who the others were.

These two women were the wives of the Lane brothers, and the four children were all descendants of the Lane brothers!

"..."

It was a bit suffocating, really a bit suffocating; this operation caught Li Lan completely off guard.

Treason—that's the crime these women and children committed.

The laws of the empire require absolute obedience to every citizen living on this land. Anyone who betrays the empire, regardless of right or wrong, will face certain death without exception.

The meaning of the old woman Iris is now very clear: if she can't deal with these rebellious witches now, can't she at least punish a few ungrateful mortals?

Seeing the elegantly dressed witch, Crossane, step forward once again to read out the crimes of the two human women and four children, Li Lan finally couldn't help but question, "Does the law of the Empire not even spare children?"

"Not even children were spared?" The Undying Ellis smirked. "Romon Hydra, the bloody crimes he committed are probably known better than I am to Lady Karen Elf. To put it bluntly, after you escaped the Empire, you probably killed quite a few children, didn't you?"

"..."

Not only Li Lan, but Luo Lina was also speechless.

Indeed, during the period immediately following their escape from the British Empire, they were engaged in a bloodbath, killing almost every single time. Any adventurer who discovered their witch identities and attempted to threaten them, regardless of age or gender, was to die.

Li Lan and her group would never leave any trace that could expose their identities or whereabouts. From the very beginning, they abandoned all moral standards of the pre-modern society and lived a life of ignominy in this world through extremely barbaric behavior.

Even now, the memory of disposing of corpses in the monster-infested area under the cover of darkness feels like it happened just yesterday. Those horrific massacres are like a haunting nightmare; they will probably never forget them for the rest of their lives.

"This world is cruel. The empire is a cage for you, and this world is a cage for the empire as well. Since you have the protection of an ancient creator, and since you have been able to live to this day, you will understand many truths without me having to say them. In this world, right and wrong have no meaning."

The Immortal Iris laid her cards on the table, and her words were very direct.

Pretending not to know that these two envoys from the Dark Kingdom weren't the former Seven Witches who had defected? There's no need, really no need. This old woman is different from most of the empire's rulers; she has always believed that an enemy is an enemy, and that as long as you stand on different sides, you will inevitably become enemies.

If someone is an enemy, there's no need for pretense or pretense; the only thing to do is to find a way to eliminate them.

Therefore, she is now trying to provoke the two witches, forcing them to be the first to take action and become enemies of the empire.

“Indeed, you’re right.” Li Lan agreed. He understood the logic; from the Empire’s perspective, raising witches like pigs was perfectly justifiable. As long as the ultimate goal could be achieved, killing a thousand witches, or even ten thousand or a hundred million, wouldn’t matter.

However, no matter what stance or reason one holds, nothing can stop Li Lan's impulse to seek revenge.

Anyone who offends him will suffer the consequences; this applies to the empire as well as the elven kingdom.

If it weren't for the desire to develop discreetly, who would want to stand here so timidly? Who would want to watch their followers be executed like this?

Li Lan clenched his fists slightly, gritted his teeth, and hesitated inwardly.

Human beings are inherently hypocritical!

Li Lan believed he should abandon all traditional modern morality from before his transmigration and become utterly inhuman, which was how he had always been. He had killed so many adventurers, so many witches, and so many soldiers from great nations, from the elderly to three-year-old children—not one was spared.

His hands are stained with the blood of countless people and are full of sins. This is an undeniable fact. If he were in the society before the time travel, the crimes Li Lan committed would not be enough to warrant a hundred deaths.

So, what reason does someone like him have to interfere with the laws of the empire? Or, as the saying goes, in times of chaos, harsh measures are necessary. The empire's laws are so strict that they don't even spare children; that's the empire's business, and it's perfectly normal.

However, Li Lan felt very unhappy; she was really unhappy at this moment.

Undying Elise was surprised. She thought she had stirred up the witch's emotions, but after the witch gave a positive answer, she calmed down and remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

"The law is the law, but seeing such a young child about to die because of the stupidity of his elders, don't you think this is a tragedy?"

It was indeed a tragedy. From the Empire's perspective, if Ryan Little and Rainer Little hadn't been fools, they wouldn't have met their deaths, nor would they have implicated their families and children. Their disloyalty was the root cause of this tragedy, and they deserved to die.

But for Li Lan and the others, these two men were not only traitors to the empire, but also benefactors to them, these witches.

Ryan and Reiner never intended to fight the Empire; it was only their remaining goodwill that led them to make appropriate choices at the right time, such as treating witches kindly.

"The witch is not wrong, the empire is not wrong, and Ryan and Reiner are not wrong either."

Li Lan understood that no matter which side you stood on, it would be hard to find fault. Ultimately, everything could be blamed on "the world," and it was all "the world's" fault.

"Warden, now that things have come to this, since you've laid your cards on the table and it means you don't like us..."

“I didn’t say that.” The Undying Iris denied it outright, but her expression already spoke volumes.

"Whether you said it or not is unimportant. What's important is that you really think that way, otherwise you wouldn't have brought us here just now," Li Lan didn't want to beat around the bush anymore and instead asked a question. He felt uncomfortable if he didn't say it. "What is your purpose?"

"What do you think?"

"You want to incite our anger, make us take action against the Empire, intervene in this punishment, and then use that as a pretext to eliminate us?"

Li Lan had already thought of this level of thinking. He even felt that what happened today was not a conspiracy at all, but an open scheme.

This damned old woman has been hinting at them to take action from beginning to end. The Emperor's side is still unclear about what she means, but the warden's intentions are very clear. She just doesn't like them and wants to find a suitable reason to get rid of them as soon as possible.

"No, that's not what I meant. I was just showing you around. Besides, you are now high and mighty demigods, or even gods. The life and death of mortals, these ants, are nothing to you, are they?"

It was like the death of a complete stranger, at least that's how the old woman saw it.

"..."

Li Lan remained silent. In the blink of an eye, Betty Anfer, the former wife of Ryan Little, had been dragged to the middle of the execution ground.

Betty Anfer is different from the slimes and Star Maids who have already been executed.

After all, Li Lan's followers all possessed strong wills, and even if they were to die in the end, they would not hesitate or complain in the slightest.

Betty Anfer was just an ordinary woman; she wasn't even an adventurer.

A mortal, an absolute mortal.

However, now such a mortal kneels on this sacred execution ground, about to accept death, and about to receive the supreme treatment due to other powerful adventurers or even demigods.

This can be considered a highlight in an ordinary person's life.

This time, the convict did not turn his back to Li Lan and the others during the execution. Instead, he deliberately made the woman kneel in front of them, as if to show them.

This weak and fearful woman did not see Li Lan and Luo Lina watching from afar. Her vision was limited to the large number of strange witches and heretic judges around her. Her body was trembling, which was the instinctive reaction of a normal person before death.

At that moment, her mind went blank, and her vision was blurred by tears.

She knelt on the cold ground, stained with dried blood, her clenched teeth chattering.

Facing the raised, black blade, the woman, filled with fear, suddenly awoke from her daze and, with a voice that was calm but trembling with sobs, called out to the little girl struggling and crying not far away, "Lulu, close your eyes!"

She didn't want her daughter to see her death at this moment, even though she knew her daughter would die with her soon. She didn't want her death to become a lifelong nightmare for her daughter.

"Close your eyes, sweetie! Mommy's okay!"

In the final moments, all that filled my heart was fear and a strong will to survive; nothing else mattered.

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

The slimes and the others can be reborn from the death of Li Lan's natal magic book, but what about the family of the Ryan and Reiner brothers?

The former Seven Witches on the run owed a debt of gratitude to Ryan Litt; otherwise, they would have been unaware of the general situation of this world and would most likely have perished after their escape.

That successful escape, however, came at the cost of this kind-hearted man's life.

Li Lan knew that she could never repay him in this lifetime, and even thought that she might also embark on the road to death, never to return to the empire again.

Unexpectedly, time flies like an arrow, and years later, upon his return, he had to face this damned choice.

To Li Lan, the slimes were family. It was precisely because they were family that he was so pained upon learning of their deaths. And it was also because they were family that he was able to understand each other when it came to making sacrifices, transforming the lost kinship into a greater desire for revenge.

But now, what are Ryan Little and his family to Li Lan and the others?

They were not relatives, and in fact, there was no special relationship between them. Li Lan had only met this woman, Betty Anfer, a few times.

Since they weren't family, why did Li Lan's mental state worsen and become more volatile upon seeing them about to be executed?

He pondered for a long time, as if a blazing flame was burning fiercely in his chest, growing stronger and stronger, about to make him lose his mind.

"They are not my family; to me, they are more like an irreparable regret!"

Similar to when she witnessed the deaths of Matilda and her trio, the emotions that filled her heart were called "grief and indignation" and "helplessness." However, unlike then, at this moment, in addition to grief and indignation, Li Lan also felt another indescribable emotion.