I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Duke abruptly looked up at Gretel, only to see an enigmatic smile on the latter's face, illuminated by the dim light of the oil lamp.

Hello, stranger.

Chapter Twenty-Five: But I Refusal!

The moment Duke heard that the saint was a stranger, he knew there was something wrong with her.

If it were Amber, one might assume that the saint was the "previous group of outsiders" mentioned by Hansen and the witch, but Duke knew she definitely wasn't.

The reason is simple: the "previous batch of outsiders" who were bewitched by Hansen and fought against the witch must have been evaluation experts sent by the witch.

The evaluation experts sent by the witch may not be able to complete the witch game, but their survival ability is absolutely top-notch. They must possess both the characteristics of "never dying no matter what" and "always being able to return to the floating city no matter what".

If even the evaluation experts couldn't return to the floating city, how could the witches so easily open this witch game to players? And on what basis did they give their hints?

Even if we take a step back and assume that their evaluation experts are really trapped and unable to return to the floating city, the witches will definitely take this witch game very seriously. They won't even bother contacting the top players on the overall leaderboard, but at the very least, they won't let that idiot Cecil oversee the game!

You, the Radiant Witch, are all hosting witch games. Can she keep things under control? No, she can't. She doesn't have the ability (brainpower) to do that, you know?

Ugh, that's an insult to the Radiant Witch.

In conclusion, if the saint is indeed an outsider, then she must have arrived in this alternate dimension before the witch evaluation experts.

And what is happening now is exactly as Duke predicted.

Hello, stranger.

Grete revealed an enigmatic smile, giving off a completely different vibe from the timid, animal-like cake princess she had been before, as if she had suddenly become a different person.

"You are a saint?"

"Yes."

"Are you also from out of town?"

“That’s right, I’m also an outsider, from the same world as you. It’s just that I arrived much earlier, much earlier than you and the witches of the floating city.” The saint nodded and said in a tone as if chatting with a longtime friend, “I arrived in this alternate dimension long before Hansen and Gretel got lost and came to Candy Castle.”

Duke looked somewhat surprised.

"Ask me anything you want to know, and I will do my best to answer."

After receiving the saint's promise, Duke pondered for a moment before asking, "Who are you?"

"Have you... heard of aphasics?" the sage smiled. "If you haven't, then don't ask this question. Sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing for you."

Duke silently memorized the words "aphasia" and made up his mind to find one of his "ex-girlfriends" and ask her what exactly it was.

But at this point, he readily changed the question: "Why did the witch adopt Hansen and his sister? How did Hansen seize control of Candy Castle?"

"The reason that old and ugly witch adopted Grete and his sister was because she coveted Grete's talent and wanted to eat the poor little girl to break through her own bottleneck. It was only with my help that Hansen was able to seize control of Candy Castle and drive the witch out."

The sage paused for a moment, then continued:

"It's worth mentioning that before leaving the Candy Castle, the old witch looked down on desserts and preferred eating living people raw rather than cakes, candies, and cookies. But after leaving the castle, she became a sugar addict who couldn't live without sugar, while Hansen, who loved sweets as a child, became a cannibalistic madman."

"The world is trying to restore the order you have disrupted and bring the facts back on track."

“Yes, that’s what I think too.” The sage nodded. “The forces inside and outside the forest are balanced. They can never determine the winner by themselves. But outsiders like you and me have broken out of this framework. Our existence has become a variable.”

"So that's why Hansen attacked the outsiders?" Duke frowned. "What exactly happened to the last group of outsiders?"

"Those witches did indeed listen to Hansen and attack the witch, but after seeing the terrifying power and potential of the skeleton army under the witch's command, they quickly realized the balance between inside and outside the forest—the witch outside the forest had an endless supply of corpses to turn into a skeleton army, but what about the candy castle inside the forest?"

"So they turned back and launched a surprise attack on Candy Castle, only to be repelled by Hansen's equally endless army. In their hasty escape, Gretel rescued them, allowing them to escape this alternate dimension."

"The power of Candy Castle and the Bone Legion is rising in tandem. Their evolution in this alternate dimension is completely illogical. It was because of the witches' nonsense that they evolved those dragon riders last time. At this rate of evolution, soon a large number of legendary professionals will be born from the biscuit soldiers and the Bone Legion."

That's what makes this witch game so terrifying.

The so-called high-level warrior Hansen and high-level spellcaster witch are nothing compared to their ever-expanding and ever-evolving legions!

At the same time, this constant balance is the core of this alternate dimension.

Duke began to ponder, and after finally clarifying the core issue, how could he then complete the game?

Breaking the balance?

"I know what you're thinking. Perhaps I have a way to help you break this balance. How about we cooperate?"

As if she possessed the ability to read minds, the Sage accurately uttered what Duke was thinking. Her face still maintained an inscrutable smile, but Duke keenly noticed some beads of sweat on her forehead—it seemed that the Sage's state was putting a great strain on Gretel's body.

"What you said is very well done, and I am deeply moved."

Duke nodded, but before the saint could even nod in delight, he immediately turned hostile:

"But I refuse! The thing I love most in my life, Duke, is saying no to self-righteous people!"

"I advise you not to offer a toast or to force someone to drink a penalty shot."

For the first time, the saint stopped smiling. She frowned, but just as she was about to make a move, Duke pulled out a large cake from somewhere and smashed it into her face.

The saint's control over Grete's body wasn't very strong. In her panic, she was forced to swallow a few bites of the delicious cake. Immediately afterward, a violently delicious taste exploded from her taste buds, affecting not only Grete's body but also the saint who was possessing her.

Intense emotions erupted from the depths of her brain and soul, while a surge of heat rose within her, causing her to involuntarily open her mouth slightly and curl up her burning body.

Before the saint could even get angry or react, her fragile control over Grete's body broke down amidst the intense emotional turmoil.

Grete collapsed to the ground, but Duke caught him with lightning speed.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Lonely Princess in the Candy Castle

[Item Name: Mixed Berry Cake]

[Item Description: Girls can never resist the temptation of sweets, remember, never!]

[Item Effect: Greatly increases the user's favorability.]

This "Mixed Berry Cake" was the first item Duke drew using the lottery system. He didn't know if there was some kind of guarantee mechanism for the first draw, but Duke, who was always unlucky in the previous life when playing pay-to-win mobile games, drew an unexpectedly powerful item.

Before participating in this witch's game, Duke, wearing an amber mask and disguised as a magic item shop clerk, randomly selected a few lucky passersby and conducted a simple experiment on the cake.

The prop works as long as cake is used, regardless of the amount ingested, and it is ineffective on men.

After eating the cake, the eater's brain automatically experiences intense emotional fluctuations and recalls intimate memories created with Duke. However, these memories are clearly false, as careful reflection reveals their fuzziness. Without prompting, however, no one typically notices the blurriness of these memories.

Under the influence of these false emotions, consumers will unconsciously develop a sense of closeness to Duke, and just one bite can raise the favorability of a stranger to a friendly one.

At the same time, it's unknown whether this cake contains any strange ingredients that stimulate certain hormones in the brain, causing the consumer to feel a surge of heat and an instinctive craving after eating it...

Emmmmmm, and you still say this isn't a heat cake?! System, what kind of drug did you put in it?!

This is also one of the reasons why Duke sent Amber away in advance. Given this awkward side effect, Duke, who felt he might use "Mixed Berry Cake," didn't want her to misunderstand anything.

He certainly didn't want Amber to further increase her affection for him, but he also didn't want to use this tool in front of her, lest some inexplicable misunderstanding arise—after all, Amber was a very useful tool, wasn't she?

Duke held Grete, whose body had gone limp, and his mind wandered.

The mixed berry cake definitely increases affection and arousal (?), but at the same time, its side effects have an amazing effect on Gret, who is possessed by a saint.

The skeleton in the secret chamber of the stone cave is likely a saint. She is currently possessing Grete's body in a spirit form, waking up at specific times to take over her body. Her control is weak; in such a short time, large beads of sweat have already appeared on her forehead. Therefore, the intense emotions and physical changes directly impact her soul, causing her to temporarily lose consciousness.

The saint's soul fell silent due to the intense emotional turmoil, while Grete's physical body soon and slowly awoke.

The Cake Princess's eyelashes fluttered slightly, then she opened her eyes in a daze. She stared blankly for several seconds before struggling to get out of Duke's arms. She took several steps back before finally stopping, covering her slightly flushed face, and timidly said in a barely audible voice, "Stranger..."

“Just call me Duke.” Duke shrugged and said, “We should go, Cake Princess.”

"Egg...don't call me princess anymore."

The little girl didn't seem very happy with the title. She pouted, about to complain, but then she saw that Duke didn't wait for her and strode away from the secret chamber of the stone cave. She quickly followed after him with small, quick steps.

As she chased after him, she asked:

"Duke, what did the saint say?"

"Her?" Duke glanced at her, judging that she genuinely didn't know what the saint had done with her body, so he made up a story: "She said I was a madwoman who wanted to destroy the world, that my existence was no different from throwing little boys and fat men into the world, bringing nuclear peace to the world. She tried to stop me, but I killed her instead."

"Huh?" Grete was stunned, but quickly recovered, pouted, and angrily exposed, "You're talking nonsense, Duke!"

"They found it so quickly. It seems to be much better than Cecil, but I don't know about Amber."

"..."

Greta was somewhat out of sync with Duke, but when she looked at him, she felt an instinctive sense of kinship, which made her ignore his nonsense and focus on Duke's next move.

Where are we going?

“Return by the same route, back to the ground.”

"Huh?" Grete asked again, sounding puzzled. "Aren't you going to leave this world?"

Upon hearing Grete's instinctive reaction, Duke raised an eyebrow:

"I see. So the last group of outsiders you helped left immediately after meeting the sage?"

"Yes, after I brought them to the saint, they talked for a long time. Later, the saint told me that with her help, they left this world and returned to their hometown."

From Grete's perspective, she seemed to believe that the saint was a sage living in the secret chamber of that stone cave who had provided a lot of help to her and her brother. She was completely unaware that she was possessed by the saint, nor did she realize that her well-intentioned act of "bringing the witch evaluation experts to the saint" almost harmed them.

...At least the previous group of outsiders certainly didn't leave the Witch Game alternate dimension with the help of a saint.

Duke stopped talking and silently retraced his steps. They quickly returned to the ground via the teleportation array.

On the ground, the war had officially begun. Gretel watched the two sides locked in fierce combat with some concern, when suddenly Duke shouted:

“Grete?!”

Princess Cake was startled by his sudden shout. She looked around to see if any of the skeletal warriors were planning to assassinate her before turning back and giving him a strange, inexplicable glare.

However, while there were no bone warriors, there were biscuit soldiers.

A squad of biscuit soldiers noticed Duke's shout and, to them, it was clear that a wanted criminal was about to take their princess, so they quickly surrounded him.

Just as Greta was about to stop him, Duke, who was standing next to her, suddenly moved.

He pulled out a dagger and swiftly sliced ​​open the hem of Greta's cake dress, then ripped it apart and violently tore off the steel skirt underneath!

"Huh? Duke?! What are you doing?"

Greta is undoubtedly a good person, a pure and kind girl. She took the initiative to help the witch evaluation expert, Joseph and his group, and Duke and Amber. In this otherworldly space where everyone is competing to be the worst, she is like the only ray of light in the darkness.

However, the saint, who is both "evil" and "ambitious," is hidden within the body of the "good."

However, she lived in a castle ruled by cannibalistic madmen and was powerless to resist her evil brother.