I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Faye previously said she could take on twelve Talias by herself. To be honest, Duke initially thought she was just joking, but now it seems that Ms. Faye is a serious person who doesn't joke around.

No matter how outrageous her words are, they sound very convincing when she says them.

“Interesting.” Fei looked down at Talia, who was still struggling under her foot, and said with interest, “I’m planning to take it home and keep it as a keepsake… Duke, what do you think about putting it at home as a decoration?”

Duke looked at Lady Scarlet in horror, and then saw her casually destroy Talia's clone, crushing it into fragments of her soul with a single stomp. She then removed the mirror that reflected Genesis Talia and put it into her spatial artifact.

Oh, so it refers to the mirror. So it wasn't "she" but "it".

Duke wiped the cold sweat from his brow, then awkwardly chuckled and called out to the others, "Alright, let's go. It's time to rescue Molly, Annie, and Megan."

To be honest, with Lady Scarlet in charge, Duke, who was initially a little nervous, immediately calmed down. Although he no longer viewed the witch game as a picnic, he no longer saw Talia as a monster.

The boss is only at the level of one punch from Fei, so this operation should go very smoothly.

……

Bugatti is confronting Carole and Eve.

It was called a standoff, but he was actually just slacking off. He yawned and then sat obediently in front of the two of them, neither launching an attack nor planning to run away, but at the same time doing his best to keep Carol and Eve from leaving.

Since they have no intention of leaving, that's the best outcome for Bugatti.

"Tell me, aren't you guys worried at all?"

Perhaps because the task was too easy, Bugatti felt a pang of guilt for making money so easily, so he took the initiative to flirt with the two witches, tentatively asking, "Who is it? The legend who's with Duke?"

Carol glanced at him but didn't say anything.

At this moment, she and Eve were playing cards. No one knew where they had come from, but they had pulled out a set of "Witch Duel" cards that had recently become popular in the floating city, and they were dueling.

The Witch Duel is somewhat similar to collectible card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: The Gathering, Gwent, and Hearthstone from Duke's previous life. The card images are based on the portrait rights of the witches and are designed based on the famous witches of the floating city. It is very popular in mainland China and has finally become popular in the floating city in recent years.

Because the number of witches in the floating city is limited, and TCG card games need to constantly design new cards to keep the game fresh, each witch will have several different cards.

For example, Cecil has versions such as "Radiant Witch (Standard Card)," "Genius Paladin (Knight Class Bonus Card)," "Little Light Treasure (Children's Day DLC)," and "Cecil in Gown (Cinderella's Ball series, the image is said to be based on the descriptions of Cecil's friends)." The illustrations of each card are drawn by a master drow elf, ensuring a consistent and exquisite art style.

"Give up, Carol, your life is already as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind!"

Carol ignored Bugatti's attempt to speak, and Eve was even more arrogant. She drew a "Valentine's Day Potion" card (the card depicted herself holding a "love potion," wearing a gift ribbon and sitting inside an open gift box), and then triumphantly popped open half a glass of champagne: "'Valentine's Day Potion,' its effect is to charm one of the opponent's cards... Your ace, Thunder Witch Rose, has already been NTR'd by me, what can you do now? Give up, next turn will be your death!"

"Hmph, then I'll just end the game this round, won't I?" Carol waved her hand. "My turn, draw a card."

As she spoke, she reverently stretched out her hand and placed it on the top layer of the deck, closed her eyes to sense the luck, and then shouted, "Open!"

As the flash went off, Carol revealed the card she had flipped over:

"Queen of Time".

This card is inspired by herself and has an extremely powerful effect, but its usage conditions are very demanding. Carol puts her in her deck purely because she really likes the card's artwork.

In other words, she was stuck; she couldn't play that card.

"Send it in, let's get started and move on to the next game."

As everyone knows, Carol is terrible at witch duels, but she's addicted and has a bad temper. No matter how many famous lines Eve shouts or how many flags she sets, it's all in vain—she can't lose no matter how much she tries to die.

Only then did Carol have a chance to turn her head to look at Bugatti and casually say, "It's Ms. Scarlet."

"It's Ms. Fei...Ms. Fei?!"

Bugatti's voice trembled with surprise, causing Carol and Bugatti to turn to look at him simultaneously. They frowned and asked, "Is it really necessary to be so surprised?"

Although Ms. Fei has retired to the second line, she is not a recluse who does not care about worldly affairs. Surely Bugatti must have thought that it might be her.

"So it was Ms. Fei. No wonder... no wonder that guy was so confident."

Carol raised an eyebrow, obediently put away the cards, and then narrowed her eyes:

"What do you mean?"

Chapter 151 Shall we have a witch duel?

"What do you mean?"

Carol narrowed her eyes, radiating a chilling murderous aura towards Bugatti, causing the latter to involuntarily assume a defensive stance.

Although the city lord is a terrible card player and has a strong addiction to playing cards, even with enemies in front of her, she still has the mind to play cards with her equally terrible confidants. However, this is only because the situation is still within a controllable range. Without this premise, Carol would not really relax.

On one hand, Carol had complete faith in Duke's abilities, and with the experienced and powerful Scarlett and Rose by his side, it would be difficult for him to make a mistake. She felt there was absolutely no need for them to be nervous.

On the other hand, the Bugatti in front of her was a legend specializing in survival skills. Killing him would be harder than climbing to heaven. Escaping from the obstruction of a legendary professional who was fearless and daring to die would also be a difficult task. Carol felt that instead of wasting her energy, she would rather stay where she was and play cards with Eve to pass the time.

But now the situation has changed.

The werewolf in front of them self-destructed. Judging from Bugatti's tone, he definitely knew something, and that something was aimed at Lady Faye—perhaps a trap, a conspiracy, or something else entirely…

Carol snapped her fingers, and time stopped. Neither Eve nor Bugatti resisted, but she couldn't leave the room because before the time stop, Bugatti had enveloped the entire room with some kind of power. The only way to leave was to kill him.

Killing him... isn't difficult, but it's troublesome.

In an instant, the time stop ended.

Carol's murderous aura subsided considerably. No one knew what she had done during the time stop, but she had clearly determined something.

She gave Eve a reassuring gesture, then pulled out her Witch's Duel card again: "Want to play cards?"

Bugatti was completely stunned.

Is the current lord of this floating city out of his mind?

However, he then thought that Carol's mental problems were actually a good thing for him, so Bugatti nodded happily: "Come, let me show you my Slaanesh style."

Eve, standing behind Carol, breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her best friend's abilities very well and knew that in addition to her most commonly used time-stopping ability, Carol had many other time-related abilities.

For example, time acceleration, time deceleration, time skipping, time rewinding, etc... And in her arsenal, there is a very powerful ability that helped Carol eventually become the current lord of the floating city.

Future Vision.

Despite the numerous limitations, the result was a blurry, fragmented image. Carol was unable to articulate what she saw and could only become a riddle teller and a card player. However, the power of this ability was so great that Eve's explanation was unnecessary.

Since Carol is going to continue playing cards, it means nothing serious has happened, right? At the very least, the consequences are "within an acceptable range," right?

Eve breathed a slight sigh of relief before looking at the card in Bugatti's hand. It was also a "Valentine's Day Potion," but unlike Eve's complete version, the illustration on Bugatti's card was much more provocative.

The cartoon character in the painting, modeled after Eve, is also wearing a gift ribbon and sitting inside a half-open gift box. However, apart from the ribbon and the gift box, there is nothing else to cover her fair skin in the picture.

The ribbons concealed all her vital parts, clearly outlining her beautiful figure. The perfectly proportioned southern hemispheres, aided by the ribbons, became the most eye-catching detail in the entire painting. However, the blush on the figure's cheeks and her slightly parted mouth were equally tempting.

Upon seeing this card, it's as if you can hear the figure in the painting speaking in Eve's voice, shyly saying:

"A Valentine's Day present? It's...me!"

"Grass!"

Eve panicked after seeing the card illustration clearly:

"No way, where did you get this set of R18-level Witch Duel cards? Is the Witch Duel you're playing a knock-off eroge version? Damn, I knew those dark-skinned elf dogs who are just doujinshi artists can't change their ways, they're actually doing this kind of thing in secret..."

Carol interrupted Eve:

Do you still have this kind of hand? I'll buy it at a high price.

Eve: "?"

I never expected you to be like this, Carol. I treated you like a sister, but you wanted to see my lewd pictures?!

……

Things went much more smoothly than Duke had anticipated.

They soon found another altar, exactly the same as the previous two, with identical internal structure and decoration. There was also a mirror here that had previously summoned Talia's clone.

This time, Duke has learned his lesson and directly had Ms. Scarlet clear the way for him to look in the mirror. As a result, before the Talia clone could even show off, Ms. Scarlet grabbed it by the neck like a chicken.

And then? Don't ask, the answer is a second.

Jasmine was naturally in this altar, but she wasn't locked in ice; instead, she was soaking in a jar of green nutrient solution, which looked quite like something out of a science fiction movie.

Upon seeing her prized student, Rose couldn't control her emotions and a bolt of lightning shattered the device containing the nutrient solution, rescuing Jasmine who had been missing for a month or two.

She is still alive, but Jasmine's situation is much worse than Joan's.

Compared to the dream witch who was already cuddling and kissing her fiancé, Jasmine, held in Rose's arms, was still unconscious. Her vital signs were normal, but her soul was severely injured, and no one knew if she could recover.

But at least the person didn't die, right?

As long as she is successfully brought back to the floating city, Eve, the "Netherworld Soul Chaser," can save her, regardless of whether she is physically injured or her soul is damaged.

After rescuing Jasmine, Duke and the others resumed their journey. With Amber's help, they quickly found the third altar.

The group, already familiar with the area, first swiftly destroyed Talia's third clone and dismantled the mirror. Then they began searching for Annie's whereabouts, but found nothing there.

"That's strange, I can clearly sense that Annie is here."

Duke frowned in surprise, but just then, Amber let out a cry of surprise, attracting everyone's attention. Everyone looked at Amber, who was standing in front of a coffin-shaped object, staring intently at the contents inside.

"What's wrong?" Duke leaned closer, looking into the coffin with a puzzled expression. "...I'm...?"

What came into view was Talia, not Anne.

Chapter 152 Two Seconds and Seventeen Rescues

Duke's initial reaction to the coffin was mixed; after all, he had come to rescue someone and didn't want to see Annie in a coffin. However, Annie was, after all, an excellent necromancer, and the coffin perfectly matched her overall aura. So, the simple coffin instantly reminded Duke of Annie.

Logically, the story would be more plausible if Anne were lying in the coffin, but it was Talia, not Anne, who was lying in the coffin.

"Holy crap!" Duke jumped up with a start, grabbed Amber's wrist, and pulled her back quickly while shouting at Faye and Rose, "Help! Help! Help! Help!...Ms. Faye, save me!"

Under the influence of Talia's PTSD, Duke unleashed unprecedented potential, breaking the embarrassing world record with a 2-second 17-rescue, and making his teammates look up to him.

But no one stepped forward to save them, and even Amber, whose wrist he had grabbed, didn't teleport immediately... After all, there was no need for anyone to do so.

Because the body lying in the coffin would not attack people, nor would it haunt Duke and cause trouble whenever he participated in the witch's games—because it was a body without a soul.

The "Talia" lying in the coffin before them was nothing more than a corpse. Clearly, it was the same body that Talia had once used, just like the one that Grete's treant was holding in his hand.

However, that body possessed far more vibrant life force. Aside from lacking a soul, it was indistinguishable from a living being, still breathing, still having a heartbeat, and still possessing the strength of a legendary professional's body. This body, on the other hand, was different. It was cold and stiff like a stone, exuding more an aura of death than life. If the flame of the soul were ignited, it would likely become an undead creature outright.

Duke's lips twitched, he silently released Amber's wrist, covered his face with his hands, and then yelled in despair, "I have PTSD, what can I do... If you want to cure me, help me kill Talia!"

"Touch it."

Amber stood on tiptoe, reached out and patted Duke's head, chuckling as she offered a perfunctory reassurance: "Don't cry, don't cry."