Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

But Holly—to be honest, Eben found almost no Red Knight qualities in her.

Or rather, although she is also a sheathless blade and follows the Red Knight's branch, she is far from a true Red Knight. Her desire for wealth is even stronger than her desire for killing.

Furthermore, a certain degree of faith in chivalry emerged. However, from a psychological and selfish perspective, the pursuit of morality is also a desire based on self-interest.

Could it be a completely new branch? Iben felt that he didn't know much about the Unsheathed Blade and couldn't comment on it.

Just like that spirit dog.

It looks like a Fenrir wolf; who knows where it stole the corpse of this ancient creature from...

Before Iben could think for long, a slippery sound came from behind him.

"Ibn, it's been a long time. Come and have a chat."

Ibn's long oak staff, which he had just extended, seemed to freeze in mid-air.

When Holly turned around upon hearing the sound, the voice behind her had gradually solidified.

He was a rather robust middle-aged man with a Temujin appearance. Beneath his curly brown short hair, a scar stretched from his forehead to his left eye. He wore a purplish-red classical aristocratic robe, and his arms were wrapped in bandages covered with incantations written in ancient Temujin script. He had the air of a temple monk.

However, the slight protrusion on his sides and the familiar aura emanating from him still caused the shadow behind Holly to quickly become agitated.

This sense of oppression felt as if one were being stared at by a thousand eyes, as if a thousand sharp arrows were about to be shot into one's eyes.

Faced with this undisguised and intense killing intent, Holly could clearly feel her heart pounding faster, her soul trembling with fear, and malice gathering into a gust of wind that stirred within her body, making her tremble with terror.

A blade without a sheath.

Moreover, the sequence level is very high.

He's at least several levels above her!

Holly is preparing to escape.

While abandoning the elderly and abandoning the mission are wrong, wisdom is also a virtue of a knight!

Murad glanced at Holly, then looked away, gazing at Ibn Musa's retreating figure.

"Ibn, should I come and talk to you?"

"Murad?"

“That’s right, Ibn, you haven’t been back to Tianfang for so many years, so you’ve taken on new students again?”

"A Red Knight, and a spirit so weak it's down to Sequence Six? Ibn, you've really changed. You've even started taking on followers of the Unsheathed Blade as students."

"This is so unlike you."

“Spatial lock...that’s enough, Murad.”

Ibn shook the oak staff in his hand like a bell hammer striking a steel station. The staff struck the ground, and the surrounding air made a series of loud noises, and cracks appeared in mid-air.

Monsters emerged from the cracks, all made of stone: tall golems wielding weapons, gargoyles slowly reviving and emitting shrill cries, and Hydras wielding nine snake heads.

But most of them are humanoid, with Abdullah's humanoid statues being the most prominent. Almost every one of the hundreds of humanoid statues has reached the Sequence 8 level, and with their stone bodies, they are almost comparable to Sequence 7.

These are all the students Ibn taught over the past century, and also the teaching aids he used to train himself in simulated teaching. After giving these sculptures simple wisdom, he passed on the knowledge he taught his students to these stone statues that used artificial human technology without any change.

Frustratingly, some students are not as good as the stone statues.

Ibn said indifferently, "Let the child go. This place has nothing to do with her."

"Let him go? Are you expecting me to have a conscience? Ibn, when did you develop such delusions?"

Behind Murad, several clumps of black mud were taking shape. He glanced at Holly, who was being protected by two gargoyles, and immediately sneered.

Murad drew his scimitar from his waist and swung the silver blade lightly. The silver light instantly struck the two gargoyles. The light did not make any obvious cuts, but the surface of the statues was covered with a dense network of bright red patterns, and the wounds spread rapidly from the inside out.

Two piercing screechs rang out, and the gargoyle, which was flying in mid-air, turned into a pile of rubble on the ground.

Then came another slash, this time the crescent-shaped blade of light met no resistance.

If the blow lands, Holly's flesh and blood will quickly disintegrate—this is the secret Murad learned over decades in the Assassin's Court, the secret he acquired on his path as a Red Knight.

In that instant, Holly saw what she felt was a strange illusion: Murad's malice had coalesced into solid, black sludge, and behind him was a blooming crescent moon, bathed in the blazing sunlight.

In just one glance, Holly's upper body, which was flowing with thick blood plasma, was covered with blood-red lines, and her muscles were rapidly atrophying, like weeds being scorched by a raging fire. Pain quickly swept over her mind.

Before even the dog hiding in Holly's shadow could jump out, the blade had already slashed into her body. The giant wolf in the shadows suddenly glared at Murad with eyes wide with fury.

The clumps of black mud behind Murad finally solidified, and several assassin apprentices lunged forward to surround the big dog.

But the next moment, a force appeared from above, like a plunger being pressed on top of your head to wash out your brains.

Slurp slurp~

Holly felt all the pain disappear, as if she were floating. Looking down, she saw her body rapidly shrinking, but she could still move freely. She had just been sucked into the strange space that housed the stone statue.

Iben remained unmoved upon seeing Holly's physical body, only scolding the Fenrir giant wolf, "Take Holly from the deep sea, what are you standing there for!"

Chapter 364 Tia: But I refuse

--deep sea!

The giant unicorn wolf, which was confronting five apprentices from the Red Knight branch, was startled awake upon hearing the words.

With a sudden lunge forward, the big dog stretched out its front paws, tearing through the two Red Knights' obstruction. It then turned and swung its tail, its sharp teeth and claws striking the two Red Knights behind it.

These apprentices of the Assassin's Court are indeed battle-hardened and experienced; in terms of combat prowess alone, they are fully capable of fighting against, or even capturing, a Sequence 6 like Big Dog.

But even the most extreme students have an instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.

Fear of pain and dread of death are common traits, even for those who tread the path of unsheathed blades.

Spirits are different. These bizarre creatures, so different from humans, are often more ferocious than real berserkers when they fight. They are not afraid even if their spirit body is destroyed.

Taking advantage of this, the big dog pounced and tore at the Red Knight behind him. Taking advantage of the gap when the apprentices in front were forced back by him, he transformed into a shadow and suddenly flew into the abnormal space guarded by the statues, picked up Holly's soul, and immediately dived into the deep sea.

This was Murad's bad move.

The space lock only blocks the "stable space" with boundaries in the material world.

However, the deep sea does not fall into the category of "stable space." There is no concept of stable space in the deep sea. Even if a saint were to dive into the deep sea, he would never be able to find the boundaries of the deep sea in all directions.

This gave Holly an opportunity to escape.

Holly felt like one second she was sitting in a row with a large group of stone figures, and the next second a big dog grabbed her by the neck and held her in its mouth. Her vision went black and she sank into the deep sea.

Holly swam for an unknown amount of time as the thick, cold seawater washed over her. Then she felt a thorn-like pressure on her back.

This is the extraordinary ability "Killing Intent Perception" brought by her unsheathed blade.

The big dog was carrying Holly at a depth of seven or eight hundred meters underwater.

With a powerful flick of its head, it sent the child flying upwards, then lurched forward, letting Holly ride on its back, before continuing its deep dive.

Holly thought to herself, "Dog, something is chasing you."

"They're like ghosts! Damn it, can't these foreigners just shut up for once?!"

Just as Big Dog finished cursing, several more menacing figures appeared behind them, locking onto them and refusing to let go. Big Dog was also exasperated; they hadn't even finished dealing with the group of assassins from the Assassin Court, and now this bunch of weirdos had arrived!

—The prophet of the Palace of Wisdom?

The big dog gritted its teeth, not having time to think about the conspiracies and tricks involved. It simply sniffed the air and, with Holly in its arms, struggled to float upwards towards the banquet hall.

While they were chasing each other, in the banquet hall on the other side, Tia subconsciously pressed her hand on the Victory Sword at her waist.

Before she knew it, a young alchemist in his early thirties, wearing a monocle, sat on a sofa not far from her. He was dressed in a neat brown suit, took out his pocket watch, glanced at it a few times, and then bent down to pick up a teacup.

As Santis picked up his teacup and lowered his head to sip his tea, the prosthetic eye behind his glasses slowly rotated.

He was surrounded by a faint white light, and the background behind him was blurred as if the camera lens was not in focus, making him stand out from the gentlemen and ladies passing by.

Tia immediately realized: this was an illusion. And it was specifically targeting her...

But before Tia could call out to Milke, Santis put down his newspaper, got up, and walked to Tia.

“Your Excellency Ambassador Ansu, Your Excellency Tia Surf, please wait a moment.”

"Please rest assured—I am not here to antagonize you. Neither Bernice behind you nor Miss Mercury's brother want to provoke you."

Santis then looked at Anne, who was humbly seeking advice from a professor at the academy not far away, and turned to her with a smile, saying, "I'm here just to discuss a business deal with you."

Tia responded politely, "But your behavior is rather impolite, sir. Especially since you're using illusions to present yourself to people."

"I'm sorry, but Minister Milke probably wouldn't be happy to see me come to you."

Santis's voice was devoid of any emotion, he simply said with a faint smile, "The extraordinary individuals from the Palace of Wisdom and the Court of Assassins have also arrived at the Sparrowtail Grand Theater, you should know that, right?"

“I know. What are you trying to say, Mr. Dragon Hunter?”

"Don't be nervous, sir. I've come to discuss this business with you in all sincerity. To show my sincerity, let me first present you with a gift."

Santis said gently, "Those who have come to the Sparrowtail Grand Theatre this time are Murad, a Sequence Four Assassin Instructor, five Assassin Apprentices, and twelve Prophets from the Palace of Wisdom."

Tia frowned slightly.

This is indeed important information.

Despite her seemingly knowledgeable demeanor, she didn't actually possess much intelligence. However, Tia was reckless, adopting a "I don't care about this or that, just give me Master Ibn first, or else I'll give you my Victory Sword, my network of connections, and my deep-sea dump trucks!"

But the question is, why is Santise saying this?

Isn't he with the prophets? The Empire, the Hand of Transformation, and the Celestials are allies...

Seeing the reaction on Tia's face, Santis's lips immediately curled up.

Help the Arabian people?

Let that stubborn old man, obsessed with bloodshed, die in the arrogance of traditionalism!

What he needs is "the essence of pure things."

But it didn't say it had to be Ibn Musa.

However, if he wanted to acquire Murad's physical body, there was a tricky problem—although Murad was emotionally and mentally unstable, the prophets were still around.

Although he could tear apart this massive array of illusions with his bare hands, it would still take some time. During this time, he would have to deal with both Murad and the Prophet, which was quite troublesome.

Santis said sincerely, "Your Excellency Sulph! If we allow these Celestials to cause trouble, I think your side will suffer many casualties... These are all talented people from Ansu. If something happens, you won't be able to explain yourself, will you?"

"So—I can help you stop Murad."

Tia was silent for a moment, feeling as if the antimony sorcerer in front of her was simmering a pot of thick green soup. "And what is the price, Santis?"

Santis became increasingly satisfied.

Compared to the old-fashioned Murad, Ambassador Sulf, the special envoy from Silver Castle, was the truly promising talent, at least knowing what it meant to assess the situation and adapt to circumstances.

"It's very simple, I will provide you with the location where the prophets are hiding."

Santis clapped his hands and paced beside Tia. "They're very well hidden. The inaccessibility of Sequence Four is a ritual that even Milk struggles to solve. But I know where they are."

"You already have the anti-suppression agents you planted in the theater, along with seven priests from the Holy Church and two Grand Knights of Sequence Five. Go and deal with these prophets."

"The prophets have set up a massive maze within the theater. The ritual nodes of these mazes can be retrieved, and the mazes are yours. Murad's body, however, is mine."

Upon hearing that Santis needed a corpse, Tia immediately understood his purpose.

A few months ago, she would never have thought of this. But during this time, she became somewhat obsessed with studying the Philosopher's Stone, so much so that when Santis mentioned Murad's corpse, Tia instantly thought of several ways to use the corpse to create the Philosopher's Stone.

Although the corpses of Sequence 4 superhumans have various uses, most of them are not cost-effective and not worth Santis's special effort.

So that's how it is—that's what you were after!

As for that bullshit deal...

Tia puffed out her chest and said, "I don't believe it! That's not enough sincerity! You need to show me some sincerity."

Santiston stopped, clapped his hands, and laughed, "Your greed has indeed exceeded my expectations."

"But I really like it—what do you want?"

"I need to know the overall layout and ritual diagrams of the Maze."

Tia opened her mouth wide like a lion.

Santis refused, saying, "How could that be! It was designed by the Great Prophet of the Palace of Wisdom himself. How could I possibly know about such things?"

Tia added, "Then at least let me personally experience the existence of this ritual, otherwise I will find it hard to believe you."

This is a lie—the truth is, if she couldn't detect the ritual, the Victory Sword wouldn't even have anywhere to strike...

The sound had barely faded when...