Witch Redemption

"No, this isn't just a dragon; it's a summon from another rogue witch! A god-level summon! And this witch is very likely one of them!"

Lana Sivir!

To the surprise of all the empire's present gods, the Dark Kingdom was expected to send only two envoys. However, in addition to these two envoys, a large number of god-level beings have stormed into the empire and the capital, ignoring all the rules.

It was as if these people hadn't come here today to negotiate, but rather to deliberately provoke a war with the empire!

The trembling storm in the sky never ceased, and the 120 pure white, sacred dragons continued to circle in the air, giving the impression that they were ready to destroy the capital and everything here at any moment.

Seconds later, one of the enormous dragons swooped down and hovered low in the air, and then four witches jumped off the dragon's back.

Indeed, they were not mistaken. The blonde witch standing at the very front, with her tall figure and a pair of jet-black forked dragon horns, was none other than Lana Sivir, the former runaway witch.

Not only Lana Sivir, but another rogue witch, Della Bertie, has also reappeared in the capital. Even more troublesome is that these two exude an aura far more powerful than that of Karen Elf and Lorina Euphemia.

With just a simple glance, they instinctively sensed that the two witches' strength had surpassed that of them, who were only half-baked gods of the present world, and had risen to the level of the aura that ancient gods should possess. Perhaps only the fully-fledged ancient gods could defeat the dragon-born witches.

Is this the limit for a witch?

It's unimaginable, unbelievable! Even the current witches of the empire are not as strong as these two freaks!

The gaze of the mortal god Twilight fell upon the pair of twin witches once more.

The Empire has received intelligence regarding the defection of a pair of twin witches from the Elf Kingdom in the year 10003 of the New Calendar.

It is said that the witch Karen Elf once went to the border of the Elf Kingdom to rescue the twin witches. In order to do so, she did not hesitate to cause the Skandar explosion, which destroyed the entire border of the Elf Kingdom and killed countless people.

Now, these twin witches stand on the edge of the Imperial Inquisition, their auras being on par with those of the witches Lana Sivir and Della Bertie, a truly terrifying sight.

Clearly, the arrival of these four witches was like a bolt from the blue, immediately deterring all the Imperial Gods who intended to make a move.

Who would have thought that the envoys sent by the Dark Kingdom this time were not the limit of the witch's power? The ones who came later were truly powerful enough to frighten the empire's present-day gods.

Judging from the current situation, this damned dark kingdom is not sincerely interested in negotiating with the Empire, otherwise they would not have sent so many ruthless characters to infiltrate the British Empire.

No matter how closely it is investigated, it is highly likely that it was intended to intimidate the empire.

Furthermore, the forces led by the Creator Shub Nicholas are the complete opposite of the Kingdom of Ross, led by the Chaos Creator. If the Kingdom of Ross is gentle and tactless, then this dark kingdom is likely extremely volatile, disregarding all diplomatic principles and ready to attack at any moment, destroying everything in its path.

If it were the former Kingdom of Rus, would it have dared to break down the empire's gates so directly as it does now?

One hundred and twenty dragons of god-level existence, plus six witches of god-level strength—such a large-scale formation is no longer a peace-making team; it can be considered an aggressor, using force to intimidate others!

"How to do?"

All the gods of the Empire were extremely distressed and had no idea how to resolve the current situation.

After counting, there were thirty-eight Imperial Gods present who planned to annihilate the witch Kallen Elf and Lorina Euphemia. Adding the Imperial Emperor and some scattered god-level beings, the total did not exceed fifty.

Putting aside whether they can kill these witches, if so many god-level beings from both sides were to engage in a fierce battle, it would not be as simple as the fall of the capital. More likely, it would affect more than a third of the empire's territory.

If it comes to a point where lives are at stake, there is a high probability that the entire territory of the British Empire today will be reduced to ashes.

The current god of the empire has only two choices: one is to take action now, which will inevitably kill these witches.

First, the Empire can open a temporary passage to the Celestial Realm to increase the reinforcements from the gods of the mortal world. However, since the prophesied day has not yet arrived, the reinforcements received will inevitably be limited and still insufficient to cope with the current situation. Second, the Empire still possesses a large number of trump cards at this stage, such as god-slaying weapons that have been researched for many years, or some extremely powerful sealed artifacts.

However you look at it, the price the empire has to pay to reach this level is simply too high.

However, if they chose the other option—true peace talks—and tried to satisfy whatever demands these guys made, wouldn't the Empire lose all its prestige? After all, it was the Undying Iris of the Witch Cult who provoked them, intending to eliminate them, and now...

"The situation has changed; we cannot afford to be their enemy!"

The Empire cannot accept the cost of the annihilation of its mortals at this stage!

If we have to resort to deeper trump cards for the sake of these mere rogue witches and holy dragons, how will we be able to fight against the ancient creator who is about to destroy the world in the future?

Now is not the time!

Thinking of this, the present-day god "Twilight" made a decisive decision: "Notify these witches and the Inquisitors to retreat. None of us can intervene. The rest will be dealt with by the Emperor! These witches and the Dark Kingdom are very likely to threaten the Empire in the future, but we'll deal with the future later. At least we'll have to wait until the Celestial Realm collapses and the gods return to their places!"

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

"Lana, what's wrong with you...?"

Li Lan was extremely surprised. According to the original plan, wasn't it agreed that only he and Luo Lina would come for the time being? Lana and the others were supposed to wait for Li Lan and the others on the outskirts of the British Empire. How come not only Lana but also Della, and even the twin white antelopes Xue Ling came along, making such a big fuss.

Indeed, it was an extremely large formation. Minutes after Lana's dragon fleet arrived, a dark, imposing Imperial fleet appeared in the distant sky, making the atmosphere in this vast area increasingly unsettling.

"Miss Shub instructed us to cheer you on today. Besides, no matter what, this capital city is my place of origin, containing our shared memories. It would be too cunning for you to come back alone."

Lana made a few jokes, completely ignoring the large fleet in the sky.

According to Hei Fa Yu Hui, they should just barge in arrogantly and ignore everything else.

Don't be fooled by the Empire's current arrogance; soon, the Empire will have to fawn over them and speak sweetly to them.

All of this was Black-haired Feather's doing. Lana didn't think too much about it, but looked at the witch and the heretic inquisitor who were quickly leaving the corrupt execution ground and asked, "Karen, is something wrong?"

"It's a long story..."

Just as Li Lan briefly explained what had just happened, she suddenly heard a commotion of footsteps behind her. It turned out that Emperor William 46 of the Empire was walking over with the Imperial Army and a large number of high-ranking officials.

It was obvious that the emperor of this empire had only just learned what had happened here, and his expression showed not only confusion but also, and more so, anger.

The Empire is currently divided into two factions. One faction is the moderates, whose ideology is to set aside disputes and not confront the Dark Kingdom. This faction is led by the Emperor, who is well aware that the prophesied day of destruction is not far off. The Empire has been preparing for so many years and absolutely cannot be destroyed at the last moment.

Regardless of what happened in the past, even if the current peace talks are a sham, we must carefully consider accepting them.

The other faction, led by the immortal Iris, is the hardliners. They believe these rogue witches will seek revenge on the Empire, becoming its greatest enemy and potentially even driving the world to its destruction. If that's the case, then these witches must be eliminated before they become too powerful.

Unfortunately, seeing the giant dragon circling in the sky, along with these terrifying witches, who could still believe that they were still inexperienced?

"These gentlemen are also envoys from the Dark Kingdom, aren't they? I apologize, the meeting of the Council of Elders just now caused a delay. Please proceed to the Council Hall now to continue discussing the peace treaty with me."

Emperor William 46 made no mention of what had just happened, and the Imperial fleet in the sky appeared to have withdrawn directly on the Emperor's orders.

Lana was about to speak when Li Lan pulled her behind her and tactfully refrained from mentioning what had just happened. "Please!"

"Karen, you..."

Lana wasn't the only one puzzled; Lolina and the others were also confused. The other party had already taken advantage of their kindness, yet now they were being polite and pretending nothing had happened.

"Don't forget our purpose. When it's time to settle things peacefully, we absolutely cannot hesitate!"

Li Lan said in a low voice, while also expressing her helplessness.

That's what "politics" is all about: in the morning, people fight to the death and harbor deep hatred, but by evening, as long as common interests are involved, they can become brothers and pretend to forgive and forget.

They came today for the future development of the Dark Kingdom, not to completely break ties.

Although Li Lan is an ordinary person, he is not a foolish or ignorant person who doesn't know when to advance or retreat. It is precisely because he realized this that he made such a decision now, even though not long ago Li Lan crippled the immortal Iris and even killed the witch Krossane.

Clearly, the fact that the emperor continued to treat them with courtesy after arriving, completely ignoring what had just happened, was an attempt to save face for both sides. Choosing to continue the commotion would be the choice of a fool.

As for who lost out in this, it's hard to say. At the very least, allowing the subsequent defecting witches to swagger across the empire's territory was an absolute disgrace in the empire's history. When has the empire ever suffered such humiliation?

After Li Lan and the others returned to the Imperial Council, the collective meeting of the Imperial Elders and the Holy See continued, and Lolina also deactivated her "Domain Skill: River of Resurrection," as if the previous little episode had never happened at all.

After the Imperial Conference ended, Li Lan and the Emperor had a rather "pleasant" conversation. The conclusion of the peace was much smoother than when they first arrived in the capital, as if everything was going naturally.

Li Lan didn't care about anything else; he only wanted to fulfill the task assigned to him by Lachesis, the current ruler of the Dark Kingdom, and he was too lazy to bargain with the Empire on other matters.

Because it is not necessary.

In any case, it's just a temporary peace; everything that needs to be settled will be settled in the future!

Soon it was evening. After handing over the relevant documents with the imperial family, Li Lan quickly led Luo Lina and the others to the imperial border, intending to stay overnight and leave on time the next day.

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

The once empty Imperial Council Hall was now empty except for Emperor William 46, who sat wearily on his throne, his large right hand supporting his cheek.

He was deep in thought about what had happened that afternoon.

The Undying Iris acted on her own initiative. If she could swiftly and decisively eliminate the witch Karen Elf and the witch Lorina Euphemia, that would be acceptable to the gods of the mortal realm.

However, there was no problem, and many things happened during this period that could have threatened the security of the empire.

For example, the massive ghostly figures resembling a "dead tide," and the large number of god-level dragons that followed—if things had gone wrong, the empire today might have faced an unprecedented catastrophe.

It can be said that when these god-level dragons invaded the empire's territory, a huge uproar swept through the entire empire, with many "moderate" living gods showing signs of turning into "hardliners." After all, this was already a sign of war that could break out at any moment, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a battle at the god level.

Regarding this matter, Emperor Wilhelm 46, while deliberately downplaying the conflict and avoiding mentioning the previous events, was quite worried that the witch Karen Elf might bring it up. However, the witch was far more clever than he had imagined; she too pretended not to know and withdrew all her hostility.

"The witch Kallen Elf?"

This witch is no ordinary person!

Today, the witch achieved all the goals she sought, and she didn't mention a single thing unrelated to those goals.

Even after the final handover of documents and her safe departure, the witch did not inquire about the situation of the immortal Iris, nor did she ask about the executed spy or the families of the six spies, nor did she attempt to seek justice from the Empire.

No, perhaps this witch herself understood that there is no right or wrong in one's stance, and there is no such thing as justice.

“Indeed, as Ellis said, this witch and the forces she belongs to will become the empire’s greatest enemy in the future. Today’s peace talks are not true peace talks, but a huge threat. I believe that with this threat, not only the empire, but also other great powers will not easily take action against the Dark Kingdom before the day of prophecy arrives.”

“I suspect that Ellis’s actions today, and the subsequent arrival of the Dragonborn Witch Lana Sivir, were all within the expectations of the ancient creator Shub Nicholas, just like the former creator of Chaos.”

"Very well, today's empire has lost face to some extent, but it has enhanced the reputation of the Dark Kingdom. Fortunately, no major disaster has occurred, so this matter can be considered closed. From now on, apart from avoiding the Dark Kingdom, it is also time to promote the territorial expansion of the empire. The situation of so many god-level dragons driving straight in must never happen again!"

Standing up slightly, Emperor William 46 finally called out towards the entrance of the council chamber, "General Lucas, you may come in."

"Yes!"

"Inform Warden Ellis that the Twilight God has issued a disciplinary order. Due to her grave mistake, Ellis Sparda is officially removed from her position as Warden of the Witch Prison, effective immediately. One week later, the Twilight God will personally escort her to the Heavenly Dark Prison. If she fails to pass the 'Trial of Fall,' she will be imprisoned for life!"

"Yes!"

General Lucas, now back to normal, hesitated for a moment, unable to utter a startling truth.

That is, it seems unlikely that the limbs of Warden Iris the Immortal will be saved anytime soon; the poison used by that ruthless witch Karen Elf is definitely problematic.

Chapter 22 The Same Road

When Li Lan and his group returned to Mori City on the border of the Empire, it was already around 10 p.m. Because they had so many god-level beings escorting them, the heretics and witches sent by the Empire did not dare to monitor them openly as before, but instead chose to treat them with genuine courtesy.

Thus, the empire did not pursue the matter of Li Lan taking away six prisoners, and Li Lan also wisely refrained from mentioning it, acting as if nothing had happened.

So they quickly settled Ryan and his wife and four children. Then, the six witches, Li Lan, Lolina, Lana, Della, and Bai Lingxue Ling, gathered together and, under the cover of night, had a short discussion.

"Karen, I thought this was a rare opportunity, and you would do something to slap me in the face or make a strong statement."

Yes, Lana originally intended to push her luck and make some harsh remarks, but to her surprise, her comrade remained calm until the very end, letting the matter pass by peacefully.

This made Lana feel slightly annoyed, as if she had come all this way and accomplished nothing.

"Indeed, in literary works, it would be a perfect opportunity to show off, but unfortunately, what we are facing is reality."