Witch Redemption

Her solitary figure walked further and further away in the temple's long corridor until it disappeared into the night outside.

"As expected, they didn't even show any reluctance when they left. That's really..."

Not knowing whether to call it heartless, Luciara muttered to herself for a while before turning her gaze slightly to the side. "Archbishop Christian, aren't you going to give chase?"

In the shadows not far away, the figure of an old man gradually emerged. "No need. In any case, this world is destined to be destroyed. This is the will of God. Those who are willing to fight can stay. Those who are not should leave. Perhaps following those witch ladies is actually a good thing for them."

The old man's eyes were glistening with tears. To him, his close friend Ivan's daughter was, in effect, his own daughter.

When children leave home, how profound is the desolation and sorrow of the elderly?

"This country owes her so much..."

"Yes, I didn't expect her to choose to let go so easily, without any hesitation. Perhaps, as she said, she was really tired."

Politics involves a lot of intrigue and backstabbing, and a straightforward person simply cannot survive in political struggles.

Leaving is not necessarily a bad thing.

"Then, the Dark Order will be in your hands from now on."

Luciara also took a few steps.

"Ha, even you intend to..."

“I have said that I will never be loyal to any country, but only to my one and only master. Now that even the saintess under my master’s command has left in disappointment, there is no need for me to stay. I will always protect the saintess and my master. As for the survival of the Dark Kingdom, I am not interested.”

The fanatical Lucia, through countless years, has never changed her original intention.

She slowly took a step and gradually disappeared into the night outside.

The old man Christian did not try to stop them at all, but simply watched the two women, who had once held the highest positions in the Dark Kingdom, leave. At that moment, he quietly turned around, and his lonely figure once again disappeared into the shadows of the temple.

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

The high-foreheaded loli who calls herself "King K" is very depressed because she never imagined that the accident fifteen years ago was actually the work of two ancient creators.

Their goal was to open a teleportation array to Earth, and they actually succeeded?

What's even more frustrating is that these two damn bastards refused to play with her.

Why?

I'm afraid that once she returns to that world, she won't be willing to come back with me.

Yeah, that's true. If I had the chance, I would never come back. Staying in that world and living a life of luxury would be a million times better than staying in this godforsaken place.

"Damn it!"

In her indignation, she picked up the large bottle of soda that Lana had bribed her with, drank it all down, and then burped, just like she was drunk.

"You're too cunning! That damned sow and that stinky mud! Wait till I catch you, I'll teach you a lesson!"

Say the most hateful things, admit the ugliest cowardice.

This powerful avatar of the true god leaned against the city wall, lost in thought.

Based on her understanding of the ancient creator, those two, Shub Nicholas and Abhoth, would never return so easily once they had gained something. This time, their return likely indicates they've experienced something extraordinary, such as being threatened by the Supreme Father or being exiled.

"I think the reason they disappeared along with this witch Karen Elf is very likely because the Supreme Father God is interfering and intends to teach them a lesson."

"Breaking apart these witches whose relationships are as close as Brokeback Mountain indirectly leads to the division of the Dark Kingdom, which is not a good omen for me."

At this stage, if we can stay in the Dark Kingdom, even if the first and second lines of defense are breached in the future, the area behind will still be perfectly safe. However, if we take the initiative to attack, venture deep into the monster territory, and fight against a large army of monsters or even the legendary apostles, the result will definitely be a thankless and arduous task.

As for Ms. K, her initial intention was to persuade her.

However, the witch Lana and her companions brought back far too many wonderful things, and she really disliked the attitudes of these younger witches from the Dark Kingdom. So, after much deliberation, she decided to leave together with them.

"This will be a massacre!"

She could already foresee the terrifying monster tide she would face a year from now.

Just as Kelp was deep in thought, the two seaweed-headed banshees beside her, one tall and one short, carefully gripped their soda with their sharp claws. "Glug... hiccup... Uh, Master... Master, they're here!"

Suddenly, at the end of the line, many witches appeared. It seemed that today's negotiations had gone smoothly, just as the witch Lana had planned.

"It seems that not many witches left with them."

According to the original assessment of the witch Lana Sivir, those who would leave together should include the witches Violet, Anne, Sophia, Rosa, Edith, and the twin witches White Antelope and Snow Antelope, making a total of seven witches.

Aside from these seven witches, the most unexpected were the elven girl Juliet, and the two former high-ranking leaders of the Dark Kingdom, the first and second in command.

"Hey! This is big news!"

At this moment, Kroos simply couldn't understand whether the witch of the Dark Kingdom was mentally challenged.

Lachesis, the goddess of darkness, was the strongest trump card painstakingly cultivated by the true goddess Shub-Niggurath. Originally intended to guard the dark realm, she served as the final line of defense.

Furthermore, to strengthen this safeguard, she even helped reinforce the barrier across the entire Dark Kingdom territory, maximizing the effect of the Dark Goddess's domain. Yet, the Dark Kingdom actually let go of such a trump card?

On second thought, it's normal that these witches didn't know.

After all, this is a secret even within the Dark Kingdom, known only to a very small number of people.

Among those who knew Lachesis's true secret were Archbishop Luciara, Christian, and some of the core witches. Now, almost all of these people who knew have left, and even the only one left, Archbishop Christian of the Dark Order, did not stop them. Lachesis is truly exasperated.

In her view, Lachesis's value far surpasses that of these witches; she is the country's true trump card and last resort.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to remind them. Life and death are in the hands of fate."

After muttering a few words to himself, Krishnamurti took a few steps forward. "Akoano, it's time to go. Don't just stand there!"

On the night of September 19, 10030 (Gregorian calendar), King Lachesis of the Dark Kingdom formally abdicated, and the Dark Kingdom transitioned from a constitutional monarchy to a republic.

On the same day, under the leadership of the Dark Kingdom's high command, numerous flesh sacrifices pointing to the creator Cthulhu officially began, and a large amount of forbidden knowledge, long sealed away, began to provide blessings to the country through the link of evil gods.

A week later, with the help of the evil god Cthulhu, the numerous otherworldly manuscripts left behind by the witches Lana Sivir, Lorina Euphemia, and Della Bertie were successfully deciphered. The Dark Kingdom's research on magic crystal technology and nuclear technology rapidly entered its most important stage, and it was only a matter of time before the finished products were produced.

During the same period, the elves Rebecca and Susan stepped down from their positions as legion commanders, confirming their departure a year later.

Trish, the water elemental witch who once made great contributions to the Dark Kingdom, began to abandon the repair and maintenance of the first line of defense on the border and gathered at the southern border. The second line of defense of the Dark Kingdom officially entered a state of combat.

From then on, the witch Lana Sivir and others began to hunt down all the monsters around the Dark Kingdom using the most extravagant methods, in accordance with the original plan. They provided the Dark Kingdom with huge supplies every day, turning the entire Dark Kingdom into a super factory, constantly making technological breakthroughs day and night.

Finally, on the eve of the new year 10031, the world detonated its first nuclear-related bomb. The shockwave was powerful enough to kill any abyssal monster and even severely damage super-abyssal monsters.

Following closely behind was the first airship belonging exclusively to the Dark Kingdom, and the first mecha-like super exoskeleton, capable of arming any ordinary person.

The price for these achievements was incredibly heavy: the Dark Kingdom secretly decimated one-third of its population with serum. To save this one-third, they even resorted to extremely dirty methods, allowing the Crimson Night Torrent to breach the western border, thus creating an excellent pretext.

All work was progressing smoothly, with only one unexpected event: the Dark Goddess's domain barrier, which was supposed to be the last line of defense for the Dark Kingdom, disappeared with Lachesis's departure.

During this period, Prime Minister Livia Viner made several attempts to persuade the king to stay, using all sorts of moral blackmail, but ultimately could not bring back the king who had already stepped down.

Amidst her deep regret, the only consolation was that the Dark Kingdom had finally formed a final alliance with the United Duchy of Ries. And to the witch Livia's surprise, all the witches dispatched by the United Duchy of Ries were at the god-level, all from a mysterious organization called "Akatsuki," and each possessed the strongest class and the strongest race, their combat power utterly absurd.

Everything is progressing in an orderly manner.

Another missing witch, far away on the southern continent, also made a great gain during this period.

Chapter 21 Dead City

Southern continent, the land of mechanics, the holy land of Machina.

It took Li Lan more than a month to gradually descend from the thousands of meters high wall to the ground, which was somewhat unexpected.

The reason it took so long was not only because of the complexity of the many corridors above the wall and the distribution of buildings, but more importantly, because he needed to explore many buildings to obtain more information.

Of course, thanks to the many books available above, Li Lan's natal magic book now contains a wealth of geographical knowledge about this place, enough to locate her current position using the "survey" interface.

"arrive!"

With a final leap, Li Lan, along with the black-haired Yu Hui, the blonde Yu Hui, and Leviathan, landed steadily on the ground.

Looking out, a light drizzle was falling from the sky, and a hazy mist shrouded the entire dark space, with only countless tall buildings rising from the ground visible in the distance.

"Huh? A monster?"

The open natal magic book, the "exploration" interface which should have been calm and undisturbed, underwent some changes because of Li Lan's arrival in the ground area.

The "Exploration" interface of a natal magic book generally comes in two forms.

One type is an abstract map covering a vast area, where any monster appearing on the map will be represented by a red dot, while Li Lan's location will be marked by an arrow.

Another form is a small-scale, real-world overhead view.

Generally speaking, as the level of one's natal magic book increases, the "survey" interface within a specific range will gradually change, transforming from an abstract view into a three-dimensional top-down view of the specific location. Li Lan can, with her willpower, explore the scenery and monsters within a specific location whenever she wants.

"It's still a long way off, we'll have to wait until we get there to see what the situation is like."

Indeed, in the "Survey" interface of the grimoire, a huge red dot is shining brightly in the center of the massive abstract landscape.

Generally, only monsters are presented in this form.

Unfortunately, to get a detailed look at the location, Li Lan would need to get closer to a certain area.

So, with a mixture of curiosity and strong vigilance, Li Lan began to look around again.

The bottom was littered with dilapidated, towering buildings, and the long streets that stretched in all directions were a testament to the prosperity of this place in ancient times. What was truly shocking was that, starting from the bottom, the long streets were littered with scattered, blackened skeletons and strange, unidentified fragments of various colors.

Li Lan was familiar with the identities of these skeletons; if nothing unexpected happened, they should be the skeletons of those machine-dwelling races.

According to the two ancient creator avatars, Black-haired Feather Radiance and Leviathan, the arrival of the Ancient Dream Witch was extremely terrifying. Her power killed all creatures on the southern continent in an instant. Outside the sacred land of Machina, no matter how divine a being was, it was instantly reduced to dust, completely crushed by the explosive power that transcended the laws of the world.

The Mechanoid race and their goddess, protected by the sacred barrier of Machina, were not much better off.

Even without directly experiencing the impact of the Creator's power, an unprecedented soul pollution still caused all creatures in the barrier to die instantly, leaving only intact corpses.

Neither Black-haired Yu Hui nor Leviathan provided details about the terrifying situation that occurred back then, but from their words, one message could be gleaned: the true form of the ancient creator was indeed invincible, and even the strongest god-level beings in this world were mere ants before these true gods.

As Li Lan surveyed the horrific scene around him, numerous images began to flash through his mind.

Roughly speaking, on the eve of the arrival of the ancient creator, the Dream Witch, countless powerful mechanical races, along with their respective mechanical elves, garrisoned various strongholds in the holy land of Machina to defend it.

At the same time, an unimaginable number of guards chose to float in the sky, like a swarm of locusts.

Unfortunately, the moment the true god descended, they were all killed. Their bodies lost all power and life force, turning into kites with broken strings, their falling bodies blooming into crimson flowers on the ground...

Judging from the characteristics of these broken bones and fragments, the Machinist race and Machinist elves did not simply lose their souls; their physical functions were also damaged, reducing them to fragile bodies even less capable than mortals.

That's why he fell and ended up in such a terrible state.

"That's terrifying!"

After muttering to himself a few times, just as Li Lan was about to take a step forward, Yu Hui, with his black hair, suddenly called out to him.

“Servant, wait.”