Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

Upon hearing these place names, and based on his knowledge of the map, Nophis quickly sketched out the royalist army's marching route in his mind, and then immediately determined his own location.

He was originally a native of Cloud Valley and had served as the captain's first mate on the ship, so he was very knowledgeable about maps.

It might be very difficult for him to determine his location in the misty woods. But if the warlock had already pinpointed his location, he would definitely be able to find it on the map at a glance.

This is the instinct of officers in the Silver Mist Border Region. If they cannot make such a judgment, then getting lost in the mountains and running out of supplies will become commonplace.

It's about 140 kilometers from White Deer Fortress, and 90 kilometers from the easternmost patrol point of White Deer Fortress. And it's mountainous terrain.

However, his wilderness survival skills are decent, and he can go on foot—because he used to get lost all the time and could only lead a small team to hunt in the mountains.

The legion hadn't expected to run into a former minister; the detention cell was hastily converted from a cabin, with a very thin door. And the guards watching him probably hadn't anticipated that the ordinary officers on his ship were members of the Silvermist Clan—or rather, barbarians from the Great Icefield Clan.

After generations of interbreeding between barbarians and the extraordinary creatures they created, they have developed supernatural abilities that are not possessed by humans in other countries of the continent.

For example, being very strong, running very fast, having excellent hearing, or having very large breasts.

This ship was clearly a warship that the Transformation Hand had ordered from the shipyard years ago. The exterior was fairly sturdy, but the cabins for the crew inside were poorly constructed, with the so-called iron doors actually being made of iron-clad hardwood.

Despite the risk of a broken bone, he could smash a dent into the door with a single punch.

If he could escape and, taking advantage of the swirling fog, reach the nearest patrol point, he could contact White Deer Fortress and relay the movements of this hidden legion and the royalists to Fogmoon City.

Nofius did not rush to take action because Milke had already left him with enough help. The best time would be tonight when General Nora could concentrate on her private conversation with Minister Milke.

Nopheus sat in a chair and closed his eyes for a short rest.

As darkness gradually fell outside the narrow porthole.

When even the fog becomes too thick to see clearly—

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

The deep sea was pitch black.

As the water pressure gradually eased, Holly opened her eyes.

In the laurel grove, when Brenna realized that Holly and the dog were about to dive into the laurel grove, she immediately set up an anchor point between them and the laurel grove to help them descend.

Brenna was completely baffled by the arrival of the dog and the puppy when Holly surprised her with a statement.

"Sister Brenna!"

The big dog suddenly looked up, its face full of questions.

Holly, oh Holly! What's wrong with you?

Holly, barely catching her breath, blurted out, "An explosion has occurred at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Mistmoon City. Minister Kamas is critically injured and unconscious. The Hand of Transformation and the superhumans of the Imperial Inquisition have taken control of Mistmoon City and, in conjunction with the Palace of Wisdom, have deployed a massive spatial lock!"

"Please convey this message to the Witch immediately!"

Chapter 400 Brigitte's Letter

"The Ministry of the Interior was attacked by a bomb, Minister Kamas was killed, and Mistmoon City was completely sealed off?"

When Lovisa heard the news, she frowned and for a moment could hardly believe it.

In the conference room, she looked at Tia again and asked the girl, "Are you sure what you received wasn't a lie fabricated by the Empire? The Ministry of the Interior is heavily guarded; how could it have been attacked to this extent?!"

Marne, with his pipe in his mouth, extinguished it and tapped his knuckles repeatedly on the conference table.

Anne was also a little uneasy, not expecting things to develop to this point. Vera, on the other hand, was very relaxed, or rather, she lay down and peeled grapes. After eating a few and finding them quite delicious, she fed some to Anne and Tia.

The grapes from Golden Moon Bay are not the same grapes used for winemaking on the Politics Coast. They are sweet, slightly acidic, large purple grapes with a rich and fragrant aroma, and they are seedless.

Just as Tia was about to chop Vera in the hand, she saw Vera hand her a grape, which she then ate in one bite, along with her fingers. After finishing, she was too embarrassed to do anything.

Beside him stood Mayor Rafa, who looked utterly bewildered, and four newly arrived alchemists—two Sequence 5 and two Sequence 4.

The sorcerers asked incredulously, "Are you sure you have a source? Should we have a few prophets perform some divination first?"

Tia swallowed the grape and said decisively, "The source of the information is not problematic; it can even be verified by cutting into one's soul."

"Our concern isn't about the person providing the information being problematic, but rather what if her memory has been distorted?"

The warlocks' words made sense, and Lovisa and Annie nodded in agreement.

But Tia insisted, "She has evidence of a contracted spiritual being."

The warlocks' pupils suddenly contracted.

Spirits cannot fake it—because the ritual of distorting memories is essentially similar to seawater pollution, but spirits are thoroughly polluted, and can even be considered one of the sources of pollution.

"If that's the case, then the situation in Mistmoon City has indeed reached a dangerous point, everyone." Marn then affirmed Tia's statement, put down his pipe, and said:

"Unfortunately, however, President Jeremiah and Regent Nor cannot depart at the moment. He is currently monitoring the Bloodthorn in the south. He can only return once he is certain that the Hand of Transformation has raised the Bloodthorn in Mistmoon City. Regent Lost is on the northern front. Master Rihocha can come, but his presence is essential for maintaining trade with the Eastern and Mountain tribes; the dwarves do not trust our credibility."

Lovisa immediately said, "The Grand Master must remain at the temple on Saint Engard Island to protect the Codex. But Grand Master Hogel can leave now; he has advanced to Sequence Three."

"The master of 'Blood Wine' with the sheathless blade is still living in seclusion in a nearby county. He is also a Sequence Three."

A sorcerer raised his hand, then reluctantly lowered it, saying, "But Master Blood Wine had a conflict with Master Rihocha and was owed wages by the Kingdom's government, so he probably won't be willing to come."

Tia remembered her old profession, "How much is owed? I'll take care of it."

"It'll probably cost tens of thousands of gold coins? Master Blood Wine is a man who loves money but also cares a lot about his reputation; he takes this very seriously..."

Anne nodded and said, "Leave it to me. I will request him to take up a post in Ansu on behalf of the Ansu Navy."

"Alright, then the job of recruiting the Blood Wine Master is yours, Annie. I'll take care of collecting the debts."

Tia had a clear division of labor.

Two Sequence 3s are enough to deal with Sazdil.

The remaining one is Santis, who was about to ascend to Sequence Three but was ruthlessly cut off by Tia—this is something Tia herself must handle.

The trouble that started with him will inevitably end with him.

As for the Imperials, saints are rare and hard to come by, so they certainly wouldn't send out saints for the sake of the Transformation Hand.

After all, their goal wasn't to rule the Iris. This wasn't the Year of Solomon's Order; the unified Earthly Empire had become history with the destruction of the Sheathless Blade. They simply wanted to weaken the Iris and turn it into their own private domain.

With those two dealt with, the rest is easy.

After all, it's a war fought on home soil.

What needs to be done next is to gather as much strength as possible to expand one's own advantages and weaken the enemy's advantages.

The former is easier to solve.

But the latter is troublesome—Golden Moon Bay and the southern counties can't even contact the forces within Mist Moon City!

Mayor Rafa suddenly had a brilliant idea: "Your Excellency Sulph, Your Excellency Marn, since Scarlett's administration was able to open a gap in the spatial lock, could we continue to open it, so that we can deploy our forces during this period of accumulating advantages, contact the people in Misty Moon City, and interfere with them?"

The sorcerers were the first to object, saying, "Mayor, it's a good suggestion, but it's completely impossible."

"The spatial lock is a ritual where the smaller it is, the more stable the interior, and the larger it is, the more stable the exterior. If the prophet really used some means to seal off Mistmoon City, then this spatial lock must be terrifyingly large. Even if one or two saints break through from the outside, it would take them more than half a month."

"It's simpler to start from the inside, because the larger the scale of the ceremony, the more key points there will be. If one point goes wrong, the entire ceremony will be greatly affected. But if we want to break through from the inside, we must establish connections with the inside, which brings us back to the previous problem."

Another warlock lamented, "What's most troublesome is that these prophets have specifically reinforced the spatial lock's effect on the deep sea; otherwise, it could have infiltrated from the deep sea."

That's true, but Tia was too embarrassed to say why.

—After all, the real culprit is still in the laurel grove.

But that doesn't mean there's no way out.

She once tried to project her soul onto a doll. The process of soul projection is essentially about traversing the deep sea, which is why a deep dive is necessary beforehand.

This shows that the prophets were not proficient in sealing the boundary between the deep sea and reality, and even left many loopholes, which allowed Tia to occasionally cross the deep sea and project her soul into the Misty Moon City.

But once you succeed in transmitting the information to Fogmoon City, the loopholes will multiply like cockroaches in your house.

Tia interrupted, "I still have a way to contact Mistmoon City. As for the method..."

Before she finished speaking, two silver knights rushed in from outside the door. One stood guard outside, while the other knight clenched his fist and patted his chest in salute. He looked at the warlock, Rafa, and Annie present and said solemnly, "Sir! We have important intelligence."

The Silver Knight then fell silent.

Lovisa immediately realized the importance of the intelligence and said to Tia, "Lady Sulph, please come with me!"

Tia got up and followed.

She followed Lovisa and several knights to another room. The knights remained silent, but quickly spread a piece of paper on the desk and began to set up a ritual to cleanse the evil spirits, stabilize the sea, and subdue the spiritual energy.

Tia sat at the table and immediately noticed the signature.

It was a letter from Brigitte.

Chapter 401 In the Snow Mountain

Ten minutes after nightfall, a commotion broke out among the fleet stationed on the misty riverbank.

—Just now, while the two replacement scholars, Muir and Husse, were changing shifts, Norpheus, who should have been locked in the detention cell, forcibly broke open the iron door of the cell with his elbow, and then quickly killed a ship's soldier who came to check the situation with his fighting skills, took the weapon and left.

With a "thump"!

Nophis took a deep breath, grabbed the rocks on the riverbank and climbed ashore. He looked back at the steamship that was starting up and the lights on the deck that suddenly turned on and then quickly went out, before disappearing into the woods.

Unsurprisingly.

While he dared not reveal his location, neither did the rebels of the Hand of Transformation.

Although this is the edge of Cloud Valley, the patrol range of the White Deer Fortress rangers has now expanded to include this area due to the increased pressure on the front lines.

The fleet can remain hidden by the fog and blizzard. But if they were to turn on their lights and become a giant light bulb, the risks would increase dramatically.

But that doesn't mean we're safe now.

A cold wind blew from the hillside, and Nophisto was instantly jolted awake. Looking up, he realized he had already climbed into the woods. The blizzard of the night had stopped, and the bright moonlight shone on the wide river below, slightly dispersing the misty fog.

This valley is the best compass.

After confirming his direction again, Nopheus hid in the woods on the mountainside, wearing a robe he had taken from a soldier over an officer's uniform, with a longsword at his waist and a semi-automatic rifle with a bayonet on his back. He quickly headed west while observing the valley.

Along the way, they also needed to identify the wooden huts and tents temporarily abandoned by nomadic herders on the hillsides along the river valley, and then dig them out of the cellars to replenish supplies. At the same time, they also needed to stay as close as possible to the patrol routes that the rangers often took.

After walking briskly through the woods for most of the night, several sudden sounds reached his ears.

The footsteps were extremely faint, barely audible due to the snow. There was almost no clanging of metal armor, and breathing was relatively clear.

In other words, this is neither a Silver Mist Ranger nor a soldier of the army.

Although the Rangers are a rather old organization, their equipment has long been upgraded. They are generally equipped with alchemical plate armor with heat insulation and shooting protection rails. Their weapons are the same as those of modern armies. In addition to regular swords and composite bows with optical sights, they are also equipped with various light firearms and explosives. Some Rangers with great strength even carry mortars on patrol, so their footsteps cannot be so quiet.

The sound of her breathing was also as if she had never been trained.

Nophis quickly held his breath and hid in the snow. He could vaguely hear voices talking, and from a few keywords they used, Nophis's expression changed slightly.

He is a transcendent being of the Transforming Hand.

Although he also possesses some supernatural abilities inherited from extraordinary beings, he is not in a favorable position when facing a true superhuman, especially since his opponent is the Transformer.

The permutation scholars can master the four-element permutation at Sequence 8. When he cannot use firearms, he is almost invincible in a head-on confrontation!

"Ancestors, gods, and the father of all things..."

Nopheus silently prayed, gritted his teeth, and stabbed his left hand open with his sword. Using the blood, he hastily wrote words on the inner layer of the linen of his robe. Then, with a soft "rip," the blade cut through the hem of the robe and fell into the bushes.

The sound was not obvious, but to the sorcerers whose physical abilities had been enhanced through multiple rounds of training, it was tantamount to openly wielding fire.

In the thin mountain mist, the sharp sound of gunpowder exploding instantly shattered the silence of the night.

The rifle in Nofice's hand rang out with a loud bang. Before the warlocks could react, he shot one of them, shattering his chest and creating a bloody hole. However, the warlock was only stunned for a moment and did not die.

After a series of noisy and chaotic footsteps, Nophis immediately covered the rifle in his hand with his cloak, which melted into a puddle of icy water in the next moment. Then the wounded sorcerer quickly found cover behind a tree, while the remaining two sorcerers worked together to set up the ritual. Sparks flew as they raised their hands, and a silver-white bolt of lightning shot out from their hands in an instant.

Nophis quickly rolled to the ground. Hearing the deafening roar of electricity behind him and sparks flying onto his robes, he instinctively pulled the pins off two grenades from his waist, tossed them into the air to force the sorcerers to use their elemental transformation to avert the crisis. Then, taking advantage of the ongoing transformation ritual, Nophis raised the rifle he was holding and, relying entirely on instinct, shot a sorcerer in the eye socket, blood gushing out. Just as he was about to pull the trigger—click!

As luck would have it, it got stuck.

The tall elf threw down his rifle and almost simultaneously drew his longsword, throwing it with undiminished force, striking a sorcerer squarely in the throat.

Thump, thump!

They both fell to the ground, their blood staining the snow.

And then there's the last one.

This is a complete victory for martial arts.

Firearms are also weapons.