Witch Redemption

Most of the abyssal monsters revealed their true forms and were distributed on the outermost edge of the group. No matter what kind of danger they encountered, they were always the first to rush forward.

Quality cannot be achieved by quantity alone.

Abyss monsters can be used as cannon fodder. Once they reach a certain level, they can kill off some of the wandering "lone ghosts," and their numbers are constantly replenished, so there's no need to worry about them all dying out.

As for the super-abyssal monsters, those at this level of strength don't like to reveal their massive true forms. They generally prefer more convenient and quicker forms. In other words, these monsters will basically choose to transform into human form. Whether they have human facial features or not is not important; what matters is their size.

These types of monsters are now gathered around the five apostles, forming an elite group responsible for commanding the surrounding abyssal monsters.

It is worth mentioning that the power represented by the Pillar God Leragin is the royal family of the Kingdom of Ross. Although she came along, her team is not actually under the jurisdiction of the Five Apostles, but has a certain degree of autonomy. Therefore, her team is located at the back of the group and does not need to be at the forefront.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"What do we do, Lord Lelagin? That thing has broken through the defenses!"

The scene suddenly became chaotic, and in the sense of the pillar god Leragin, there was indeed an invisible monster rushing towards them from the front.

The invisible monster, like a gigantic serpent, floated in the air. Wherever it went, it would suddenly unleash a multitude of tentacles, attempting to hunt down any creatures below. Any abyssal monster struck by its tentacles would be instantly sucked dry into shriveled garbage—a truly horrifying sight.

"Get behind me!"

Faced with this sudden situation, Leragin began to direct all the humans around him to evacuate, quickly clearing a huge space.

Then, Leragin raised his right hand from afar and gently clenched it in the direction of the invisible monster.

"Come forth! My sacred beast! Fenrir!"

Chapter 26 The Eve of Resurrection

Fenrir, the Icefield Wolf, is one of the strongest demigod-level guards under the Sixth Apostle, Kalamiti. This abyssal monster has been renowned for tens of thousands of years.

It was once the blue grim reaper that struck fear into the hearts of the people of the northern continent; even the gods of the present world in the north did not want to provoke this guy easily.

Aside from needing to give face to the Sixth Apostle, the more important reason is that this murderer possesses extreme power, far surpassing that of an ordinary demigod.

Of course, all of that is in the past.

More than twenty years ago, this ferocious beast, along with its master, the Sixth Apostle Karamit, perished on the border of the Viana Theocracy in the eastern continent, and its corpse was eventually taken by the pillar god Lerakin.

Putting aside what exactly happened during that period, what deserves more attention is the actions of the pillar god Leragin. Her participation in taking the corpse of this ferocious beast was not simply for cooking or making it into a specimen, but rather for a deeper purpose.

This purpose relates to the common characteristics of the ancient pillar gods.

"Eating" and "assimilation".

As is well known, the seventy-two pillar gods who were born in the ancient mythological era were not exactly easy to deal with.

Their bodies were originally composed of the remains left behind after the death of the gods.

This results in them being unable to possess a complete divine status. Even their bodies possess a characteristic that most other creatures do not have: they can enhance their power by devouring the corpses of demons and assimilating with those corpses. The stronger the demons they devour, the greater their power increases.

If a Pillar God dares to ignore the side effects of devouring monsters, then that Pillar God can even enter a state of complete berserk mode, becoming infinitely stronger. However, for most intelligent beings, this would be an absolute nightmare.

Indeed, the Pillar Gods have to pay a price for devouring and assimilating demons.

Most of the super-abyssal monsters are extremely large in size. Once a pillar god decides to devour and assimilate them, then all of the monster's physical body will become part of the pillar god's body.

If these bodies are completely "consumed" without any restrictions, the pillar god will not only double in size, but its appearance will also completely lose control in an instant, revealing an extremely ugly form. It will take countless years to suppress it and restore it to its normal form.

Furthermore, since the corpses of most Abyssal monsters are usually mixed with tiny fragments of souls—products of almost eternal resentment, these fragments can be considered as potent poison. If a Pillar God doesn't deal with these soul fragments before consuming a monster, there's a high chance of serious consequences, potentially causing mental problems for that Pillar God.

It is precisely because the pillar goddess Leragin cannot ignore these circumstances that she will not rashly embark on this path unless absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, starting from 10013 in the Gregorian calendar, she suffered setbacks repeatedly, eventually having to rely on her own characteristics to seek a new path to breakthrough.

Fortunately, she succeeded.

Fenrir, the Icefield Wolf, is now part of her body.

This terrifying giant wolf, hundreds of meters tall, caused its ice-blue fur to ripple like waves as soon as it appeared, emitting waves of bone-chilling cold and stirring up the falling snowflakes, transforming them into an impenetrable icy domain.

At this moment, the consciousness of the pillar god Leragin became connected with that of the giant wolf, sharing all five senses.

Immediately, the enormous demonic wolf took to the air!

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

Disassembling the remains of the goddess of mechanics is a technical task.

Just as Black-haired Yu Hui and Leviathan said, it would take half a year to completely destroy it. For the past six months, these two little guys have been hammering away like they're forging iron, and finally broke it into a large number of fragments.

"There's no way around it, it's too difficult. This guy's corpse was already corrupted by the power of the true god. Even for us, using our original power isn't easy."

Black-haired Yu Hui had reminded Li Lan more than once that among the true gods, apart from the absolutely invincible Azathoth, there was not much difference in strength among the other gods.

We are all immortal beings; at most, we just have certain elemental weaknesses that prevent us from fighting each other.

Of course, true gods are extremely detached from each other, and their true forms never fight each other.

The battles are mostly between clones, and the clones are just killing time and having nothing better to do than engage in combat.

"Well, it's all sorted out now. You can decide what to do next."

When the black-haired Yu Hui said those words, all that remained in front of Li Lan was the remnants of bones and a spherical skeleton.

“Yes, servant. Although the divine essence within has been purified by Leviathan and me, you'd better handle it yourself to avoid any accidents.”

"Ah."

Li Lan understood what he meant. As a witch, he couldn't directly access the divine essence of the ancient gods; it would cause serious problems. However, his secondary profession, "Life Creator," had a means to interfere with divine essences: the creation of faith imprints. This special skill could not only purify the magical cores of demons but also process the divine essences of the ancient gods to a certain extent.

However, dealing with this took more time than he had imagined.

Li Lan placed the spherical structure on her natal magic book, allowing it to bask in the emerald green light for several days before the sphere began to change.

It gradually transformed from a circle into a prismatic shape resembling pure white crystal, emitting a gentle glow.

Within this pure white that symbolizes light, there are also faint glimpses of black, signifying madness hidden beneath the calm.

"It's done!"

After more than half a year, with the help of two ancient creators, Li Lan finally completed all the preparations, and all that remained was to hold the relevant ceremonies.

Thinking back to that quiet little guy from before, Li Lan felt a pang of sadness, but also a touch of melancholy in her expression.

He had always known that any Servant who returned through "Life Transmutation" would lose all their past memories. So how would he face Mira when she returned?

"Perhaps for Mira, simply being alive was a kind of suffering."

Li Lan both hoped that the little one could remember everything from the past, but worried that she would not be able to bear the pain brought by the past memories. "Well, let fate decide. We'll talk about it when we meet again."

With that in mind, Li Lan no longer hesitated and quickly arranged the fragments of the Goddess of Mechanics into a special six-pointed star array. This wasn't the first time Li Lan had created such an array. Overall, it consisted of numerous nested rings surrounding the six-pointed star, filled with a large number of strange characters whose meaning was incomprehensible.

This script does not belong to this world, but to a higher dimension, and is filled with an indescribable and eerie aura.

And, the instant the array was completed, he felt an unprecedented shock. In his dizziness, it seemed as if some strange and great being was watching him from above, and this time the gaze was far stronger than ever before.

Fortunately, the prying gaze did not linger for long and quickly retreated.

Only Yu Hui, the black-haired man standing next to Li Lan, showed a look of sudden realization after sensing this spying.

And in that instant, the classic wicked smile on Yu Hui's black-haired face suddenly turned ferocious.

"I see, we're definitely going to win this time!"

Chapter 27 The Moment of Awakening

Guided by the natal magic book, numerous dark gray bone fragments are slowly converging towards the center of the array. They are all surrounding a fist-sized, pure white, prismatic crystal called "Spark of Hope," gradually condensing into the shape characteristic of a loli, and then further refining.

From its elegant limbs to its beautiful silver-white fur, and finally its delicate yet familiar facial features.

After three hours, the Sixth Apostle, Kalamiti, who should have died in the past, reappeared before Li Lan.

Unlike any previous life-forging experience, upon seeing this figure that seemed to be fast asleep, Li Lan felt a mix of emotions.

"Hey!"

An unintentional sigh could be a sign of longing, pity, or even regret.

Even Li Lan herself didn't know what her feelings for the Sixth Apostle, Karamit, were. Perhaps, during the time she lived in Kobe City on the border of the Viana Theocracy, the little guy who called himself "Mira" had, like the golden-haired Yu Hui, become like family to her without her even realizing it.

Li Lan once treated them like her daughters.

That's why he felt pain when Mira passed away, and why he made that vow to bring Mira back to life.

Now, the moment is about to be fulfilled, but Li Lan's feelings are not just joy, but also mixed with a faint gloom.

Li Lan herself knew that even if they could resurrect the Sixth Apostle, Kalamiti, their remaining time was limited. Soon, when he was able to reunite with Lana, these witches, who had been persecuted by the world, would unleash their most ferocious revenge against it.

And this will be a one-way road to certain death.

How much happiness will the resurrected Calamitie be able to enjoy?

If Li Lan were to bring this once lovable little girl back to life, only to have her die with her again in the near future, would that be a huge mistake for her?

Li Lan couldn't make a judgment on this; he only knew one thing: even if it was wrong, he had no choice but to do it.

The Sixth Apostle, Caramiti, should not have died so pathetically, nor should he have lived with such regret for the rest of his life. Li Lan will personally help this once despairing apostle regain his hope of living.

"After resurrecting Mira and receiving these machine elves, I will return to the Eastern Continent as soon as possible to reunite with Lana and the others. At that time, I will respect the wishes of Mira and her other followers. Anyone who intends to survive will be allowed to stay in the Dark Kingdom, since this was originally my personal revenge."

More than a decade after returning to Earth, Li Lan's mindset and understanding of this world had subtly changed upon her return.

If it were more than ten years ago, he would definitely have tried every means to unite the forces of the entire Dark Kingdom, using that power as a base, to launch a revenge against all the superpowers.

After all, his previous belief was that only "power" could fight against "power," and that the power of an individual was always insignificant.

But things are different now, because the entire Dark Kingdom is not developing under his nose, and people's hearts are incredibly complex. Not every human being is willing to die with him like his followers.

Li Lan was certain of all of this. It was precisely because he could foresee some of the possible outcomes that he felt relieved and was able to make the worst-case scenario plan in advance.

"If, and I mean if, the Dark Kingdom might part ways with me, what should I do?"

If they were on the opposing side, obstructing these witches seeking revenge, then Li Lan would show no mercy, even using all her power to slaughter everyone in the country. But if they were neutral and only wanted to protect themselves, then Li Lan naturally wouldn't force them; perhaps this country could become a safety net for some people he cared about.

Even this last resort will eventually lead to a dead end.

But Li Lan at that time was probably long gone.

During her contemplation, Mira, who had been successfully resurrected, began to stabilize her body shape. At the same time, the natal magic book in front of Li Lan shone brightly, and all the information on the page disappeared, revealing the final words.

"Life is successfully forged"

Please empower the Servant and bestow upon them a true name.

Li Lan stepped forward and, following the instructions in her natal magic book, took out the corresponding life element and the faith imprint in her hand, which had also transformed into a pure white prismatic crystal.

This seal of faith was made using the divine essence of the goddess of mechanics, and it can give the sixth apostle, Kalamiti, almost limitless power.