2077: V really knows how awesome he is

“Don’t be silly, child.” Vesemir put his arm around Ciri’s shoulder. “It was never your fault.”

That night, Ciri had a dream in which V was not separated from her. Together, they defeated the Wild Hunt army, killed the Wild Hunt King, and lived happily ever after.

But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was the bare ceiling of Kaer Mohenjo-daro.

"Time to get up and get to work. Today we're going to set up traps with Lambert."

Running away won't solve the problem; only fighting will.

Ciri was dressed in full uniform, ready for battle, and prepared to fight.

In 27 days, Geralt traveled across the entire continent.

In Velen, Geralt persuaded Keira Metz and also found Letho, the Snake Witcher.

In Novigrad, Geralt sought help from the sorceress Triss and also received support from the dwarf Zoltan, who, having previously aided the rebel leader Roche, agreed to travel to Kaer Morhen. Geralt then went to see Dijkstra, known as "The Fat Man," but Dijkstra was merely a power-hungry fat man with no interest in the monster-and-demon brawl; he only offered some material assistance, which was barely enough to be considered a favor.

Geralt then traveled to the Skellige Isles. He first sought out Archdruid Mossack, an elder who had watched Ciri grow up. Upon hearing of Ciri's plight, the Archdruid immediately agreed to go to Kaer Morhen without hesitation. His friend Kratz, though unable to join the battle, gifted him a steel sword capable of cutting through iron like butter—the Winter's Blade. Finally, there was the new Queen of Skellige, Cerris. She explained that she was too busy with state affairs to leave the islands, but could lend Geralt her most outstanding warrior, her brother Halmar. Halmar, upon hearing that he could fight the Wild Hunt, immediately summoned Farron and Vige to join him in the battle at Kaer Morhen.

So far, things have been going relatively smoothly, but just to be on the safe side, Geralt went to the Nilfgaardian palace, hoping to borrow a large army from Ciri's biological father, Emhyr. Unfortunately, Emhyr was a ruthless and cunning ruler who would never allow command of an army to fall into the hands of someone else. Moreover, Geralt was Ciri's adoptive father, and he wasn't sure whether Geralt or Ciri was borrowing the army. If it was the former, that would be fine; a witcher could never be king and wouldn't be able to cause any real trouble.

But the latter would be a completely different story. Ciri is not only his biological daughter with a legitimate right to inherit the Nilfgaardian Empire, but also the daughter of Princess Pavetta of Cintra, with a legitimate right to inherit Cintra. Allowing such a person to control the army would directly threaten his rule, and he dared not gamble with it.

In the end, Geralt and Emhyr parted on bad terms. Geralt once again learned how ruthless the emperor could be, while Emhyr saw an opportunity in this incident.

His decision to send Yennefer to find Ciri wasn't out of paternal love, but rather to marry her. It wasn't that Emhyr was particularly twisted; it was simply that Ciri was the rightful heir to the Kingdom of Sintra, and by marrying her, he would indirectly gain control of the kingdom.

But Geralt knew of his ambition and had always forbade him from contacting Ciri. If the Wild Hunt incident could severely weaken the Witchers, perhaps his opportunity would come.

"Have spies keep a close watch on Kaer Morhen," Emhyr ordered his attendants. "And ensure our troops are ready to move at any time."

"Yes."

And so Geralt spent 27 days traveling almost the entire continent, bringing back all the allies and reinforcements he could, but he still couldn't find V.

“We can only rely on ourselves in this battle.” Geralt and Vesemir chatted as they surveyed their surroundings atop the Kaer Morhen watchtower.

“What a pity, I was hoping to see the 'President V' you mentioned.” Vesemir asked, “I heard from Ciri that she’s as fast as lightning?”

"It's faster than lightning, as if it transcends time."

"I want to watch it even more now."

Geralt took a deep breath: "I'll go check on everyone."

He descended the ancient stone steps into the courtyard, where the Skellige Islands trio were adjusting their equipment with tools in front of the weapons rack.

“The Wild Hunt is coming,” he said to the three.

"It will come eventually, the final era, the end of time." Viggi laughed as he sharpened his sword, "To have participated in such an epic battle, I will surely go to Valhalla after I die!"

Gerald nodded. Although he didn't want anyone to die in this battle, he was prepared for anyone to die in it, including himself.

He then looked at Halma: "I remember you grew up with Ciri."

“Yeah, she spent half her childhood on the island. She was skinny and tiny, always following me around,” Halma grinned. “But once she put on her skates, nobody could beat her. Once I tried to catch up with her, but I tripped and fell hard, hitting my mouth on the ground and getting a huge gash. My face was covered in blood, hahaha…”

Geralt suddenly asked, "Then you went to Kratz and told him you were going to marry Ciri?"

"Cough cough cough!" Halma coughed and shook his head repeatedly, "That was all when I was a kid, don't take it seriously. I was only 12 years old then, if I had really had any bad intentions, my dad would have beaten me into submission."

Geralt nodded in satisfaction, patted Halma on the shoulder, and left.

After walking a few steps, he saw the dwarf Zoltan again.

"I saw Halma and the others using your tools, which they brought specifically?" Geralt asked.

“Of course. We’re about to go to war, so we need to sharpen our swords and polish our armor, which is why we brought them.” Zoltan said in a muffled voice, “By the way, I also made some Mahakant, which will be incredibly useful when we’re defending the city.”

"Alcohol? The kind used to keep warm when keeping watch at night?"

"It can ward off the cold, or you can light it and throw it out; it explodes with great force."

Geralt suddenly realized and said sincerely, "You're so thoughtful."

Further ahead lies the inner court, where Vesemir has also descended from the watchtower and is listening to the Druid Master Mossak explain his trump card.

"This stuff is called gas. We just need to ignite it at the right moment."

Geralt looked in that direction and saw that small holes had been dug into the stone ground, and some orange-yellow gas was sinking inside.

Compared to the Wild Hunt army, Vesemir was clearly more concerned about the ground: "Will this hole stay here forever?"

Mossack said irritably, "Let's worry about the cave after this is over, what do you say, White Wolf?"

Geralt answered irrelevantly, "There's gas in another world too."

"Oh?" Mossack asked curiously, "How do they use this natural product, like I do, to create offensive spells?"

"No, they use it for cooking."

Archdruid: ?

"By the way, won't the gas explosion damage the city walls?" Geralt changed the subject.

Mossack said nonchalantly, "The city walls were already dilapidated, they can't get any worse."

Geralt thought for a moment: "How about we patch up those holes?"

Vesemir agreed: "Anyway, we have the materials."

"Call Lambert."

"Haha, that kid wouldn't lay bricks."

"Where is he?"

"They're repairing that old, worn-out ballista."

Geralt walked over.

"How's the repair going?"

“A pile of junk, older than Vesemir!” Lambert couldn’t help but complain.

“Vesemir is over 400 years old.”

"Then this ballista must be 399 years old. I was hoping it would be incredibly powerful, but it just won't fire any bolts. By the time it's fixed, I, a non-human, will be the pope of the anti-non-human cult in Novigrad."

"Take your time fixing it, Lambert. And don't try to be a hero when things get heated."

“I understand, the Wild Hunt army is no ordinary demon or monster.”

Further up, Geralt saw Escale kneeling on a pile of straw.

Are you slacking off?

Aiskar said with a serious expression, "I need to be alone for a while to prepare."

Gerald nodded: "Okay, you're just being lazy."

He was driven away by Escal, and inside, in front of the mannequins, Roche was instructing Vess on archery.

"I'm so glad you could come."

Roche crossed his arms: "Hmph, I was planning to come by myself, but Weiss insisted on coming along."

Weiss put her hands on her hips: "You didn't even come to me. I was going to beat you up first, but I've already taken my anger out on Roche."

Geralt looked at Roche, the rebel leader who rubbed his bruised chin with a wry smile.

At that moment, a burly, bald man slowly walked over, his expressionless face bearing all the marks of a warrior.

"Letho?!" Weiss was first shocked, then furious: "Why is the Kingslayer here?!"

Geralt replied, "We need him."

Weiss retorted angrily, "You may have forgotten what he did, but I haven't!"

Geralt explained, "Letho has fought against the Wild Hunt's army, and his experience is invaluable."

“I don’t doubt his abilities,” Roche said, “but I doubt him as a person!”

Geralt assured him, "He won't betray me."

"You're too naive. You might really get Weiss and me killed this time! Think it over carefully before it gets too late."

Roche glanced at Letso, who remained unmoved and silently walked to a corner to sit down.

Geralt walked over and asked, "How are the preparations going?"

Letho said slowly and deliberately, "Remember fighting the Wild Hunt at the Hanged Man's Tree? We can take them down just as easily this time."

Gerald nodded and walked back to Roche and Weiss.

"Please don't get angry, okay?"

Weiss retorted, "We will stay and fight, but we will never fight alongside him!"

“Don’t blame Weiss,” Roche said. “I’ve already given you a lot of face by not fighting that bastard Leto on the spot, White Wolf.”

"I know I owe you a favor."

"Then join us and help us overthrow the bloody rule of Radovid V, how about that?"

Geralt shook his head: "Witchers have always remained neutral and do not participate in politics."

"Haha, only a fool would believe such nonsense!" Roche retorted, "Does the Witcher remain neutral, and does Geralt also remain neutral?"

Geralt did not answer.

But no answer is the best answer.

Roche felt confident this time, and looking at Geralt's retreating figure, he said to Vice, "With the Witcher's help, our assassination plan might actually succeed!"

"That is, we can survive the Wild Hunt's attack," Weiss sighed.

Geralt had originally intended to visit Triss and Keira, the two sorceresses who were setting up a large magic circle, but a sudden gust of cold wind blew in, and despite it being midday, a layer of frost instantly formed on the ancient rock walls of Kaer Morhen.

As Vesemir said, disaster never waits for you to be prepared.

"Ready to fight!"

Geralt exhaled a puff of white breath and drew his silver sword from behind him: "The Wild Hunt is here!"

Chapter 133 The Death of the Witcher

The battle began in the woods outside Kaer Morhen Castle.

Under the cover of trees, the Wild Hunt army opened the portal, and Wild Hunt soldiers and Frosthounds surged out in droves.

But Roche and Weiss were prepared. Coming from the rebels, they were skilled in guerrilla warfare and mountain warfare. They had set up pitfalls and traps in advance. These devices could withstand the Witchers in leather armor, but could not support the Wild Hunt soldiers in heavy armor. The Elven vanguard suffered heavy losses as soon as they arrived. The dwarf Zoltan and Harma from the Skellige Isles took advantage of the chaos to break out and eliminate many more enemies.

Meanwhile, Geralt and Lambert were made invisible by the sorceress Keira, who took the opportunity to sneak behind the Wild Hunt army and destroy the portal with a high-grade anti-magic bomb.

“Miss Kayla’s magic is really useful; I’ll have to thank her properly later,” Lambert said.

Geralt glanced at him.

Lambert asked in surprise, "Am I wrong?"

“No, you’re absolutely right.” Geralt’s eyes narrowed as he spoke, grabbing Lambert and crouching down with him. He released the Quen sign, enveloping the two of them, and then countless fireballs rained down from the sky, crashing into the ground and exploding like meteors, beginning to slaughter hordes of Wild Hunt soldiers and Frosthounds.

After the explosion subsided, Geralt stood up and looked towards Kaer Morhen Castle. With the Witcher's eyesight, he could clearly see Triss standing on the highest wall, her hands each enveloped in flames, casting spells continuously.

That's right, the seemingly endless fireball was Triss's doing. She single-handedly wiped out 80% of the Wild Hunt army, so never let the caster finish chanting the spell.

Lambert, still shaken, asked, "Is Miss Triss always this hot-tempered?"

Geralt shook his head: "No, Triss is usually very gentle."

Lambert: I don't believe it!

During the conversation, the Wild Hunt army had already begun to retreat and prepare to regroup, but the Serpent Witcher Letho launched a sinister pursuit, using the body of the most ferocious warrior to do the work of the most assassin, calling out the scattered Wild Hunt soldiers one by one, shrewd and efficient, with remarkable results.

Everyone joined in the encirclement, and as the last Wild Hunt soldier was cut in two, Halma looked up to the sky and shouted, beginning to celebrate the victory.

But strangely, no one followed.

"What's wrong with you?" Halma asked curiously. "Aren't you happy at all about defeating the Wild Hunt?"

“Too easy, child. The Wild Hunt won’t be defeated so easily,” said Archdruid Mossak.

Letso said slowly, "They're all just lowly soldiers, no commanders, not a single one."