Witch Troupe and the Undead

Basically, if you really don't know which god to consult for something, you can go to the crossroads and pray to the statue of the goddess. In theory, you can consult her for anything, whether it's illness, death, business success, or the good fortune of finding gold on the road. Of course, whether it works or not is another matter.

According to a certain lonely old god, the god cannot hear most prayers, and even if he hears most prayers, he will pretend not to hear them, unless the prayer or request is truly important to the god's duties, or if a great enough price is paid, forcing the god to abide by the law of the scales and listen to the prayer.

"Equivalent exchange is the fundamental principle of this world. As long as you offer enough sacrifices, the gods must respond to your requests, but..."

The lonely old god said: "Most of the people who pray hope to give up almost insignificant sacrifices or costs in exchange for hundreds of times or even immeasurable benefits. Even if I heard about such things, I wouldn't pay any attention to them."

"That's the church of the Earth Goddess, with four bell towers at the four corners. Only her church is so strange. Do you know why this kind of church still exists even though she clearly doesn't need one and her doctrine explicitly forbids its construction?" Black Horse kept her in suspense for a moment, and then saw Livia angrily raise her hand, as if to say, "If you keep teasing me like this, you're going to get a knock on the head."

“Well, all the churches of the Earth Goddess can be called ‘Sealed Sanctuaries’. They use the power of the earth to seal away things that are difficult to deal with in a normal way. The earth represents inclusiveness, as well as heaviness and stability. Therefore, when something is sealed underground, a sanctuary of the goddess needs to be built on top of it, so that the goddess’s power can supervise and contain these dangerous things that cannot be eliminated in a short time.”

"The majority of the work of the goddess's priests is to guard the sanctuary and ensure that what lies beneath it can be gradually purified by the earth in a safe state. By the way, they don't usually seal demons like this, so I don't know how this seal works. And unlike the seals we've seen before, this ritual... is a ritual in the theological sense. I mean... it's different from esoteric magic."

"Hmm~" Livia nodded. No wonder even she could only vaguely sense some kind of abnormal magical reaction, but couldn't understand what it was.

"So, that guy... wasn't just involved in this series of conspiracies due to political factors, but may also have been controlled or bewitched by some supernatural being?"

"Oh, right, and by the way, that thing seems to have already..."

"Boom!" The earth shook violently, and debris rained down from the mine tunnels. Then, with the tremors, the small, solitary church perched on the mountainside cracked open before Roach and his companions' astonished eyes. One of the four bell towers collapsed entirely along the mountainside, and the bronze bell rolled down the slope toward Roach and his group.

"Clang!" The greatsword collided violently with the bronze bell. Alessina swung the greatsword forcefully to push the bell away, and his hand even split open in the process.

"Hahahaha! I'm finally out!" Purple smoke poured out wildly from the crack, bouncing around in mid-air like a ball of purple cotton candy. "That old woman would never have imagined I could get out, hahahaha!"

"Oh, and you too, my poor little one." The cloud slowly descended, transforming into a huge, purplish-black feline creature made of smoke, its four tails swaying happily behind it.

“I remember your wish…” It tilted its head, its amethyst-like eyes looking at the blood-soaked knight kneeling on the ground. “You wanted your father to take notice of you, you wanted fame, you wanted to become a great figure that the whole country would value, didn’t you?”

"Yes!" The knight's face lit up with ecstatic joy. He had orchestrated all of this and gained the support of an unspeakable figure in the capital, all for this day. "Please eliminate these damned bastards! I will inherit the Warren family's title, and from this day forward, no one will be able to ignore my existence!"

"You've already fulfilled your wish, haven't you?" The purple beast's face showed a human-like expression, and it spread its two front paws to the sides.

"Gah!?"

"Now, your father is watching you intently." Sir Warren, clad in armor and struggling to support himself with his weapon, his wounds still not fully healed, stared unblinkingly at the face of his bastard son.

"You should be quite famous by now. You caused the collapse of half of Cabel City, oh, and the burning of the manor, as well as a very unsuccessful rebellion. Now, not only Ruby County, but I'm sure the big shots in the capital remember your name!"

"Besides, you are indeed someone the whole country values ​​now. I think when you are executed, the whole country will look at you with admiration, right?"

"But why! I crave wealth and power that cannot be ignored!"

"But you didn't say that~~~" the purple beast said matter-of-factly, "Who told you not to say it?"

"That's just like our fellow countrymen from Hell!" Black Horse quipped, referring to the loophole in the contract. "See, this is what happens when you don't think before you sign a contract!"

"Damn beast, I helped you, and this is how you repay me?!"

“To correct you, you did help me a little,” the beast said, gesturing with its paws to create a tiny gap.

"If it weren't for you, I really wouldn't have been able to unleash my power from the seal. If it weren't for your planning of the attack, which forced the priests to go to the countryside to help the farmers, all my plans would have been ruined. But... do you really think your amateurish planning would have been of any use? Alright, now let's talk about your last wish." The beast revealed a terrifying smile.

"You want power? Then use this power to buy me some time~ Hahahaha~" Purple smoke, like tentacles, forcefully poured into the knight's mouth and nose. Soon, a three-meter-tall giant, completely crystallized, burst out of his flesh.

"Hahahaha, I'm back again, old woman, you... gaa~" The beast saw the black horse standing on the edge of the collapsing mine, the little girl with light golden hair, and the scent of sunshine and roses emanating from her...

"Damn!" The beast let out a short cry of surprise, and with a snap, it turned into a small purplish-black ball and fled into the distance.

It seems afraid of you.

"...I don't know~" Livia looked innocent; she wasn't familiar with this guy.

Chapter 184

Inside the mine.

A giant made of purple crystals, wielding a massive axe, charged straight at Earl Warren. The two knights merely drew their swords to block, only to be cleaved in two by the axe, armor and weapons clashing together.

"Retreat! This thing is too dangerous to fight!" Sir Rhine decisively ordered a retreat. Fighting in a mine would only result in this damned monster being picked off one by one. On the contrary, luring it outside would allow for a siege.

“Their strength is truly monstrous…” Earl Warren staggered behind the group. The crystal warriors didn’t move very fast, which gave them a chance to escape at their leisure.

“That thing… it looks…” Rhine glanced at the crystal giant one last time, as if it looked somewhat familiar. “Is it just my imagination… or is it simply because it resembles a dwarf golem?”

However, now is not the time to study this. When they entered, they were attacked by the miners. Although some miners chose to remain neutral or help the defenders, a considerable number of miners chose to stand on the opposing side.

Although Rhein did not ask Count Warren, he could guess what was going on with these miners. Laughable, what else could "invisible slaves" in the hands of nobles be? Moreover, these miners looked much thinner and weaker than those standing on the guards' side.

"Criminals or prisoners, or perhaps..." Criminals and refugees created by human intervention. However, the question remains: why would they collude together? Was it premeditated, or was it a last-minute collaboration?

"The road ahead has collapsed, we need to take a detour!" The structure of the mine has become very unstable, like a constantly changing maze. Fortunately, as a dwarf, Rhine was always able to turn around in time before being blocked in a dead end.

When they ran out of the mine, everyone looked exhausted. "Huff~ huff~ huff~" "Go call for help!" Rhine was in better condition than Warren, so he quickly called on the soldiers guarding outside to call for reinforcements and turned the city's defensive magic cannons on the city wall around to aim at the mine entrance.

"Boom!" The crystal giant, leaning against a collapsed support beam, casually pushed it aside and crawled out of the mine. "Fire!" "Whoosh!" An iron spear came straight for the giant's face. Without hesitation, the giant raised his axe to cover his face. The iron spear bounced high into the air, and the entire shaft of the fine iron spear bent into a sharp angle. The giant was also knocked back several meters.

"I've never seen this before." If even the dark horse says he's never seen it before, then it's obviously not something common.

"Hey!" Lulua took a step forward, crossing the indistinct darkness between them, and punched the giant's knee. However, just like the spear she had thrown earlier, it only produced a crisp sound. "Hiss~" The Night Clan girl decisively withdrew and retreated, her small fist turning bright red. Even with the protection of her silver "Qi Refining" energy, the damage from the recoil far exceeded her expectations.

“Reflecting physical attacks…” Roach put down his weapon and looked at Livia. “Is this thing considered an evil creation?” Livia sensed it carefully for a while and shook her head. This crystal giant was not an evil creation, meaning it could not be used for special attacks with the glowing fragments.

"Keep attacking, don't stop!" Rhine shouted. The knights who had entered the open area decisively began to adjust their breathing, picked up stones and spears from the ground and began to throw them at the enemy. A few who were skilled in archery also took out their bows and arrows and began to fire.

Various arrows and spears could only create sparks on the crystal surface; the arrows broke and the spears bent, causing no effective damage.

"Whoosh~" The high-speed air formed sharp wind blades, and such attacks only caused a turbulent airflow when they hit the target. "Hmm, impact ineffective." Livia nodded. Impact ineffectiveness is what Roach meant by physical attack ineffectiveness, because most physical attacks are formed by impact or kinetic energy damage.

"Whoosh~" The flames from the torches on the ground and in the soldiers' hands suddenly veered towards the witch, then stretched out long chains of flame, forming a fireball in her hand. "Bang!" Sparks flew everywhere, and the flames wrapped around the target, making crackling sounds, but they did not cause any obstruction.

"The fire resistance is so high..." The impact is ineffective, which means that about half of the elemental spells are ineffective. The high fire resistance also means that it is also very resistant to damage from high and low temperatures. Only earth elemental spells, which are spells that transform matter, are effective.

"Milky Way~" Livia's staff tapped lightly, and the soil beneath the crystal giant's feet suddenly melted, engulfing his calves like a swamp. Although it did not cause any damage, it made his movements extremely slow.

When she uttered the first word, "poison, acid, rust," the soil turned a glossy green. When she uttered the second word, it made a sizzling sound against the crystal surface. When she uttered the third word, countless rust-colored things climbed on the crystal surface.

"Ineffective..." Although it was expected, the poison, acid and rust attacks were also ineffective, which meant that the earth and water element attacks were also nearing their end.

"Fragile~" Livia abandoned the direct attack effect and instead applied a negative effect to the target. The fragile effect took effect smoothly. The spears no longer produced sparks, but at least some crystals could be peeled off. However, this effect... could hardly be considered very effective.

The crystal giant seemed completely oblivious to pain and the outside world, steadily and resolutely approaching Earl Warren. He remained unmoved by the mud or the flying attacks, at most raising his axe to parry.

"..." The little witch reached into her bag and took out a handful of seeds. She pinched them with her index, middle, and thumb fingers and slowly released a large number of seeds with a strange gesture. "Grow, grow, grow~" Thick vines and plants grew wildly from the swamp, tightly wrapping around the crystal giant and further slowing its movement.

Then Livia raised her hand, her fingers naturally spread, and starlight slowly lit up the night sky. "Zzzzz~" Everyone felt their hair standing on end, and the intensity of the static field increased rapidly.

"Boom!" Lightning fell from the sky, striking the crystal giant like a spear. Arcs of electricity leaped rapidly between the crystals, and illusory flames ignited on the purple crystal surface, spraying out large amounts of crystal fragments in all directions.

"The lightning was effective, but not very effective." This lightning attack only created a crater the size of a fist. For the crystal giant that was over three meters tall, it could only be said to have caused some damage, but the damage was too small.

"..." Livia glanced at the knights and soldiers around her, a troubled look on her face. She did have a specific spell, but her teacher forbade her to use it casually in front of others. That spell was a spell from the "death" domain—the Withering spell.

Converting the target's life essence into death essence is a special attack against things like activated crystals. In other words, it's a lethal attack against things like golems and gargoyles that are driven by soul and life force.

However, revealing one's ability to use death arcane magic in front of this group is not a good thing. Besides, there are other spells, such as Infernal Gate, which throws something into Hell, but that would be tantamount to revealing one's ability to summon demons and understand Hell Warlock spells.

“Hmm… Spiritual Convergence~” Livia looked up at the sky. Her spiritual domain was trembling. “Valley of Courage” She reached out and disturbed the stability of the domain, causing the fear that everyone felt from this almost invulnerable monster to dissipate more quickly, thus making the courage that was not particularly prominent before become exceptionally obvious.

The accumulated "fear" in her hands transformed into a phantom skull rune. "Mind Blast" uses the mental magic generated by intense negative emotions such as fear, after being polarized and adjusted, as a weapon.

It's like compressing the fear of hundreds of people together and unleashing it in the target's mind in some kind of mystical way, enough to instantly confuse the target's mind and even cause serious mental or physical damage.

The crystal giant, having been hit by a mind blast, finally stopped moving, and the purple crystal dimmed considerably. "A spiritual entity?" Livia's eyes lit up, as if she had found the thing's weakness or origin. It was driven by the power of the spiritual domain, much like being possessed by a ghost; no matter what damage you inflict on the physical body, it's useless.

"Spear of Will!" The illusory spear pierced through the crystal giant, and the purple crystal at the point of impact turned grayish-white at an astonishing speed, falling off like lime.

"Attack with mental magic!" The mages of the Cabel City Mystic Society, who had finally arrived at the battlefield, understood what was happening and decisively gave the order. The knights also began to forcefully concentrate their attention, thereby making their will and spirit more focused and providing more refined mental magic.

"Torture!" "Pain!" "Pierce!" Illusory mental daggers enveloped the crystal giant like clouds. This mental spell could inflict pain as if one were being torn apart by a thousand knives, but it would not cause physical damage.

Then, illusory purple-gray thorns wrap around the target. This spell draws on hatred and hostility as raw materials to amplify the effects of the mental attack on the target. Finally, it pierces through with the same Spear of Will as Livia.

Compared to Livia's ability to summon magic at will, their spellcasting required setting up the ritual space with chalk, tools, runes, and all sorts of other props to utilize the magic on-site. Moreover, due to manpower constraints, the effect was quite poor.

As more and more soldiers gathered, and with such a commotion, the citizens, whose minds had been blank, finally realized what had happened. After the society activated the city's ritual field, the negative spiritual magic generated by fear, doubt, and dread rapidly gathered, forming a visible purplish-gray cloud of smoke that filled the sky above the city.

After being bombarded with intense mental spells, the crystal giant finally stopped moving, and the purple light at its core gradually faded, eventually turning into a pile of grayish-white fragments.

"Is this the power gained by selling everything?" Earl Warren looked at the stones on the ground, his expression somewhat complicated.

“Thank you very much for your help, Your Highness Livia, Master Roach, and Sir Rhine,” Earl Warren said with difficulty.

"Ahem, don't rush to say thank you. We're all completely clueless about what happened here," Roach said, implying that Roach should give him an explanation.

From Roach's perspective, after entering the city, they first encountered a fire, then an attack, then a battle in the mine, and finally a sealed object appeared. They were completely unaware of what they were doing or what had happened, so they needed an explanation.

“Yes, after I clean up this mess, we’ll have plenty of time to discuss this matter.” Count Warren glanced at Rhine, his expression similar to Roach’s, which conveyed the message: either you give me an explanation, or I’ll give you one.

The cleanup work was barely completed by noon the next day. In the evening, several priests of the Earth Goddess politely visited the hotel where Roach and his companions were staying and presented them with a gift as a token of gratitude—a basket of freshly baked bread.

"Is this how they... give gifts?"

"Otherwise, why do you think the priests of the Earth Goddess are disliked by the nobles?" Vivi cut open a piece of bread filled with jam, which looked quite delicious. "Because their doctrine can only repay with the produce of the earth. In the past, they would use things like gems and gold, but now these mines belong to the nobles and the empire, and they don't have their own mining industry, so all that's left are crops."

For example, bread, jam, and fresh vegetables, and of course, small stone statues or stone amulets, are all worthless items.

"In other words, they're poor?" Roach instantly understood. Because they were poor, the best gift they could offer was this basket of bread. Of course, considering the spices, jams, and fermentation with beer, the price of this basket of bread wasn't exactly low; it was considered a relatively valuable, high-end food.

"What exactly was that beast-like thing? Didn't the priests say?"

"No, they don't know what it is either. There are no records of it. After all, things that use this kind of sealing ritual..." are the kind of things that are best left unnamed, because some things can provide power to break the seal just by saying their name.

"This world is getting more and more interesting," Alessina rolled her eyes. She had really broadened her horizons on this trip, seeing all sorts of strange and wonderful things.

"On Earl Warren's side, they said they need another day to clean up, and then they will tell us the details of what happened before. In addition, he also sent a thank-you gift or apology, but the amount is not much." After all, the family manor was burned to the ground, and they still have to pay the knights' pensions and rewards. It's already good that they were able to squeeze out this thank-you gift for Roach and the others.

It was a very beautiful necklace made of dozens of rubies of different sizes and gold. Livia happily put it away. This was the first time she had ever received jewelry as a gift. However, this extremely luxurious necklace did not quite suit her. Mainly, she was too short, and her temperament was not suitable for such a magnificent style.

However, she still carefully kept the necklace in her little box. Livia was a child who cherished gifts from others. No matter what the gift was, even if it was a wildflower from the roadside, she would make it into a pressed flower bookmark and keep it.

"There have been so many things to do on this trip. Just thinking about all the things that need to be done in the capital makes me want to head back home."

"Mmm~ Mmm~" Livia nodded vigorously, indicating that she thought so too.

"So, are we going to run away?"

"Well, it's a promise we made after all, and... going to the capital isn't entirely without its advantages. The collection of books there is much richer, and I think the young lady thinks so too."

"Mmm~" Livia nodded very vigorously.

Meanwhile, on the southeastern coast of the mainland.

The village was engulfed in flames as pirates slaughtered and plundered it. Nearby, two pirate ships with black sails silently watched the tragedy. "A sacrifice offered only for the return of our lord!" the pirate captain, wearing a black turban, roared, arms outstretched, as he laughed loudly at the burning village. "Come, let this magnificent music become even more melodious!"

"Boom!" The burning house collapsed, and a cloud of purple smoke, hidden among the flames and smoke, seemed to pass through the flames like an illusion, hovering above the fire. A sinister laugh seemed to echo in the wind.

Soon, the village was reduced to ruins, and charred corpses were carelessly abandoned on the road. After burning the entire village, the pirates left this ordinary fishing village. At this moment, a wisp of pale purple smoke separated from the thick smoke and landed next to a severely burned body.

"...Great, I found a suitable guy as soon as I came out." The purple smoke slowly seeped into the body, and soon the consciousness in this body woke up.

"You..." His eyelids, completely burned shut, could only make out a blurry figure crouching on the ground in front of him, wearing an extremely flamboyant purple top hat. "Hello, I am Gregory, you can call me Generous Gregory. I have come to grant your wish." The other party elegantly removed his hat and bowed.

"...A wish..." "Yes, a wish, whatever it may be, I can help you fulfill it."

"cost?"

"There is no cost; fulfilling my wish is the greatest benefit to me." Yes, fulfilling a wish is the greatest reward because a wish represents a desire, and it amplifies that desire. Once you start making a wish, there is absolutely no turning back, and the wish it gives will always be fulfilled in a way that the wisher cannot accept.

Each time a person makes a wish, they gain something and lose something else. And because there is no cost to making a wish, they will keep making wishes. When they realize that each of their wishes will never come true, their desires, spirit, soul, and everything else have been drained. At this point, they will choose the next trading partner.

".……revenge……"

"Revenge, huh? Well then... I'll accept your wish." The figure disappeared, leaving only a top hat on the man's head. Soon, his burns were completely healed, revealing muscles so strong they seemed inhuman.

Meanwhile, on the pirates' side, a layer of purple mist rose from the mirror in the captain's cabin. Then, a beautiful girl dressed in a long black dress and wearing a triple crown appeared in the mirror. The captain looked at the girl in front of him with a look of infatuation on his face. "God, you have finally noticed me. Is it because of the soul I offered up?"

"..." The girl smiled sweetly, then disappeared into the purple mist. The captain also woke up instantly, a crazy smile appearing on his face.

"Pfft, hahaha~ How interesting~!" A sharp laugh echoed from the void. "Such an interesting wish... Hmm, don't let him know the truth too soon, I want to play around a bit more~ Hmm, oh no, that girl is catching up!"

The purple sphere suddenly split into two spheres, one large and one small. The larger one, which was supported by the mist, was swallowed up by a pitch-black rift in the next second and disappeared without even letting out a scream.

Chapter 185 Past Events

It took Count Warren more than a day to barely clean up the mess, and it's unclear how long it will take to resolve the aftermath. Rhine and Roach are also waiting for his explanation.

"It all started twenty years ago..." Earl Warren said slowly, taking a sip of tea.

"So far in the future? Can you make this short?" Leslie complained.

“Okay, this incident happened because…” About 15 days ago, before Livia and the others had even set off.

The Warren family is not large in this generation. Apart from the old Earl, there are only two sons and one daughter. Of course, this refers to the legal children. The eldest son serves in the Imperial Guard Knights in the capital. It is said that he is loyal to the emperor, but in reality, everyone knows that he is just a hostage. After all, the Earl of Warren controls the richest royal territory.