Witch Troupe and the Undead

Won't they find out?

"No, if they ask why they can't do it, just say there's not enough information and ask them to provide the complete information." The church would absolutely not provide unencrypted or unmodified information, and of course they didn't expect that Livia could restore all of this information.

"In other words, we only need to arrange the three rituals of divine aura, holy water creation, and holy relic appeasement." Roach even removed the part about the holy covenant, because it was impossible for a mobile church to forge a holy covenant in such a small space as a train carriage.

"That makes things simple, but what about the data?"

"Whoosh~" Flames erupted from the woman's hands, instantly burning the remaining two volumes of translated documents to ashes. "We can't understand what kind of nonsense this is. Return it to them."

"You lot, don't go around talking nonsense when you get out. The Church can't do anything to me and Miss Livia, but dealing with you won't be a big problem." The professors all emphasized that they were very tight-lipped. The academic achievements in this world could indeed be converted into supernatural powers, and any mage who couldn't keep their mouth shut would be dead long ago.

After all, the statue of the guy who blew up his roof while talking in his sleep and ended up crushing himself to death is still displayed in the statue group at the entrance of the academy. He taught every mage a lesson with his life: even in your dreams, it's best not to chant spells!

The meditation training of a sorcerer is a form of self-hypnosis, ensuring that he will not accidentally chant incantations or make specific gestures while sleeping or unconsciously, thus preventing the triggering of some kind of secret ritual.

“I have one last question,” Elena said, looking at Roach, “Why did you insist on calling this mobile church carriage ‘Catalogue’ (Index)?”

"Just a random code name..." Roach shrugged, because this was the name that came to mind whenever the Mobile Church was mentioned.

"Never mind, I don't think they'll care." Elena thought for a moment. This code name didn't seem to have any special meaning; it was probably just something she came up with randomly.

Chapter 251 This is the Wind of Change

Before the Holy Trial in the capital began, the Shadow Raven Thieves received a special commission from Mr. Burke: to guide the caravans and knights recruited by the princess as a thief group passing through the territory of Anta, and to participate in the "relief" activities in the territory of Anta.

The total fee for this commission is 5000 gold coins, a rather large sum, but it needs to be shared with the knights. Of course, while the returns are reduced, it also means increased security.

As an experienced thief, Shadow Raven knew that this "relief" was definitely not a normal distribution of supplies. Besides, there was no famine in Anta Territory; it was just that some evil spirit had stolen the gold coins. It was a disaster for the nobles, but not for ordinary people.

Therefore, the real job was quite obvious: to help these merchants from the chambers of commerce take advantage of the fact that these nobles were in dire need of money to extort or threaten them into acquiring the land and assets along the railway lines and any future railway lines at extremely low prices.

Of course, the nobles, who regarded land as their lifeblood, would not easily submit in this process. However, they no longer had the gold coins to pay the wages of their mercenaries and knights. It was better to sell the land to merchants than to grant it to those wandering knights. Therefore, most of the knights who exceeded the number of knights granted by the nobles came from the recruited wandering knights.

Shadow Raven's mission is to contact these wandering knights and mercenaries who are no longer able to receive their wages and ask them if they are interested in receiving an extra salary. After that, many knights and mercenaries who arrive by train will join the "military mutiny caused by the depletion of the noble treasury and the arrears in wages".

Then the princess will arrive with a train full of gold coins, money, and manpower to help the nobles suppress mutinies and rebellions. Of course, some will be hanged. The captured rebels will, without hesitation, identify the loyal fief knights and nobles' confidants as the masterminds, at the behest of the merchants and Shadow Ravens.

Then comes the familiar process: because of his "meritorious report," his sentence was changed from hanging to hard labor. He escaped halfway to the mine where he was to serve, and then either changed his appearance and took the money to retire, or he changed his clothes and joined the princess's team.

As for the nobles' relatives by marriage, servants who had served them for generations, stewards, and illegitimate children, they were all sent to the gallows one by one. Moreover, in the minds of the nobles, this could not be considered an absolute frame-up, because, how should I put it, this kind of thing was really common in the history of the nobility!

Not to mention the illegitimate son instigating a rebellion, not long ago, the Earl's family in Ruby County had one such incident, which destroyed the largest ruby ​​mine. It is said that if it weren't for the special team from the Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau there, the disaster would have been much larger.

For territories without a lord, a temporary acting lord was appointed, awaiting the arrival of the other heirs of the Anta family. As for current affairs, they were naturally temporarily handled by the merchants, advisors, and clerks of the princess's joint merchant guild.

It's estimated that by the time that poor heir receives the empire's official documents, he'll only be able to remain a puppet here, receiving a small share of the profits each month, since all the valuable assets and power in the territory have already been divided up.

What Shadow Raven didn't expect was that Anta Territory was just the beginning. Having tasted success, the merchant alliance certainly wouldn't stop so easily. After the Holy Judgment was announced...

“Heretical, what a perfect excuse~” Shadow Raven twirled his dagger and looked out the car window. Thick smoke billowed from the towering Eagle's Nest Fortress. This fortress, situated between two high mountains and overlooking the narrow valley below, now looked exactly like a messy bird's nest.

At the foot of the mountain, a motley collection of flags crowded around the flags of the Holy City Church, where priests, clergy, knights, and paladins sang hymns in preparation for the next attack, using the power of the Lord to bless themselves and their army.

"Destroying fortresses, participating in the Imperial Civil War, and they even have divine grace? Is the excuse of heresy really that useful?" Firefly fiddled with the bottles and jars on the table. These simple alchemical incendiary bombs were very popular in this camp made up of train carriages and iron castles.

"Who knows? Maybe the Holy Lord doesn't think this behavior is disobedient. And judging from the speed at which these priests' strength is increasing... he might even appreciate it." "Could they secretly believe in the God of War?" Only the God of War would bestow power for war and victory.

"Who knows? Anyway, they're on our side, and they can cast even more powerful healing spells, especially since this time it's free." Because the divine power and grace that the Holy Lord gave back were so obvious, the priests really didn't charge any fees this time—of course, it's undeniable that their share of the spoils was much more than the little healing fees they would have charged on the battlefield.

As for why the Holy Lord would repay their divine grace, it's quite simple. Just look at the railway and the towns that are being rebuilt along the line, and then look at the ancient castle that has stood for thousands of years and the serf life on the manor that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. You'll understand what this represents from a higher and more macro perspective—civilization's expansion of barbarism!

To the Holy Lord, the fireballs hurled by the magic cannons at Eagle's Nest Fortress and the torches burning the Black Forest were no different; the rumbling magic machines and the straight railway tracks represented the next stage of civilization.

Now that this ancient castle and conservative stubborns are blocking the way, it is only natural for his priests and clergy to take the lead in clearing away these obstacles, which is in accordance with the most fundamental doctrines, and it is only natural that they would be granted divine favor.

For these fanatical paladins and priests who were engaged in the heresy trial, this divine grace basically made them even more convinced that the Duke Carol on the other side was indeed a damn heretic. Moreover, after discovering this, even the commander that the Duke had sent to be stationed here began to doubt whether the Duke was a heretic.

"Loading!" The magic cannon on the Iron Castle slowly rotated. This type of Iron Castle did not use Roach's kinetic magic weapon, but instead used a traditional magic cannon, which looked like a hemispherical turret surrounded by three blade-shaped crystals.

Of course, it doesn't need ammunition. The so-called loading refers to loading the corresponding magical materials into the ritual nodes extending the magic cannon around the Iron Castle. Accompanied by the scent of incense slowly rising from the brass incense burner, the mithril channeling runes gradually lit up, and the battle mages who had rested enough took their positions again.

Compared to the previously open-air magic cannons, the magic cannons built on the Iron Castle have their casting positions inside, distributed along the two wings of the gate-shaped structure, forming a circular ceremonial platform outlined with complex strings of runes and symbolic symbols by mithril wires.

The incantation echoed within the enormous carriage, where the environmental magic converging from all directions was focused, diverted, and dismantled, then injected into the crystal slabs at the top. The three crystals floated and rotated, their red representing fire, green representing wind, and earthy yellow representing earth mixing together, gradually transforming into a chaotic color.

"The Earth Collapse Technique is complete!" The chaotic colors finally transformed into a strange three-dimensional structure that would cause a violent mental shock to anyone who looked at it.

"Target: Eagle's Nest!" The symbol flashed and disappeared, and invisible ripples converged towards Eagle's Nest, forming the same planar symbol on the city wall. "Boom!" Rocks shattered, and hot air currents expanded from every crack in the castle's brick walls, tearing the bricks and causing the entire section of the wall to bulge and deform. The anti-magic runes on it flashed desperately to resist the erosion of mixed elemental magic.

The anti-magic metal strips reinforcing the walls were twisted beyond recognition by the combined magical and physical attacks. Many garrison soldiers tumbled down the steep slopes of Eagle's Nest Castle as the walls deformed, twisted, and trembled violently.

"Release the arrows!" The archers drew their bows, and arrows, trailing faint flashes, landed on the city wall. These were archers of extraordinary level; they could not only use super-heavy bows that were almost impossible for normal people to use, but they could also imbue their arrows with a faint supernatural power.

"Arrow rain! Shields up!" the commander on the city wall shouted in a hoarse voice, decisively grabbing a steel shield and holding it in front of him. Then, a terrifying sound of metal scraping against metal rang out on the shield. The 15-millimeter-thick steel plate and at least 3 centimeters of black hardwood behind it, which was no less than steel, were almost completely pierced by the arrows. On Earth, this would be equivalent to the effect of a regular assault rifle firing a full-power round.

Arrows that pierced the shield bounced off the steel armor, but a few still managed to penetrate the gaps between the armor plates and get stuck between the inner chainmail and padded armor.

A veritable grassland of arrows sprouted from the city walls, and the archers standing on the iron castle's deck, now at its highest point, quickly drew their second arrows and continued firing despite the defenders' counter-attack.

On the ground, the paladins led a motley crew of mercenaries in a charge toward the gates of Eagle's Nest, covering another iron castle. It had no turrets, only a newly installed unicorn-like device on the front of the vehicle, which was Shadow Raven's suggestion—mainly because he thought this plan was excellent after seeing Master Roach's sky-piercing drill.

So Mr. Burke temporarily manufactured this device from the rear military factory. Anyway, it wasn't anything particularly complicated. All it took was connecting the power of the wind turbines in the Iron Castle to it, and then having the mages use arcane magic to imbue it with powerful wind elemental enhancements to achieve the same effect.

"Fire arrows! Keep the catapults running!"

"Activate the defensive magic array of the arcane tower!" The magnificent protective barrier once again enveloped Eagle's Nest Castle. The drill bit fiercely drilled through the barrier, sending up tiny sparks. Accompanied by the salvo of various magic cannons, as well as the catapults and magic cannons firing from the city walls, the entire battlefield was once again thrown into a boiling cauldron.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" The psychic javelins launched by the psychic magic cannon tore through the air and fell, the violent psychic impact directly hitting the shields and armor. Several church paladins were blasted into the air. Even superhumans were nothing more than slightly stronger ordinary people in the face of such cannon fire, which also belonged to superhuman power.

Fortunately, the healing spells soon followed, and the holy light enveloped the knight on the ground. The wounds inflicted by the psychic power healed at an astonishing speed, though this healing process caused great fatigue.

The logistics team carrying stretchers rushed to the battlefield to pull the knights back to camp to rest, but the ordinary soldiers could only grit their teeth and advance against the stones, arrows and magic raining down from the city walls.

"Boom!" A burst of flames erupted from the arcane tower, as if some kind of arcane device inside had exploded. The iron castle roared as it approached the city gate, and the worn-out drill bit crashed into the gate, instantly deforming the supporting steel beams behind it.

"Everyone back up! Back to the inner fortress!" Eagle's Nest Fortress consisted of two fortresses, one high and one low, connected only by a very narrow bridge across a massive gap in the mountain. This bridge also served as a means of blocking the valley passage, and pouring fire down from it was simply...

The defenders scrambled to abandon the outer fort and retreated to the inner fort, which was on higher ground. However, there were still some unlucky ones who were stuck in the towers and at the city gates and didn't even hear the evacuation horn before they heard the crashing of the gates being smashed open.

The heavy swords and warhammers raining down on them left them no chance of escape. The entire outer fortress area was filled with the sounds of fighting, the clash of weapons, and the explosions of rapidly activated arcane spells. Thick smoke and flames quickly spread throughout the castle.

"Blow up the connecting bridge!" "Quickly!" The mages at the bridgehead squeezed out their last bit of energy, drawing out the last bit of elemental magic from the already extremely thin magical environment to bombard the ancient bridge.

"Boom!" The bridge shook violently under the bombardment of alchemical bombs and multiple spells, while the attacking knights charged toward the bridgehead. This bridge, like the castle, had been reinforced and enchanted, and could not be destroyed by a few elemental spells and bombs.

The paladins, lined up in groups of three, were enveloped in an aura of light from their activated superhuman physiques. The spell enchantments of the consecration spells flowed between them and their warhorses. "Block them!"

Arrows, crossbow bolts, and spells rained down on the knights charging across the bridge. Some were knocked off their horses, while others were thrown into the abyss. However, most of the attacks were shattered by the sacred barrier and various defensive magical effects.

The hastily assembled shield soldiers were blown away by two rows of men with just one contact and were caught in a fierce battle, breaking through the bridgehead defenses at a visible speed.

"Boom!" Another round of spells struck the steel frames supporting the bridge, cutting off the magical supply to the bridge itself. The stored magical energy was quickly depleted, and the entire bridge began to shake violently. "It's going to collapse!"

The fall of the first brick was the beginning; the entire bridge followed suit and collapsed. But it was too late, for the paladin squadron had already crossed the bridge and was now charging into the midst of the mages who had no time to escape.

Ordinary arcane mages would find it difficult to master magic that could be triggered quickly in such an environment. Even if they did, the effects of such small, high-speed spells would be difficult to cause effective damage. Not to mention, after the protracted siege between the two sides, most of the easily accessible magical energy in the surrounding area had been drained, unless forbidden magical energy sources were used.

The "Death Realm" draws power from the souls of the dead, the "Otherworld Realm" borrows magic from indescribable beings in another world, and the "Nothingness Realm" draws power from the concept of nothingness.

Knowledge of the realm of death is taboo, while the realm of otherworldly beings requires signing a contract with beings from other worlds. The most commonly used realm is drawing power from hell. As for the realm of nothingness, it is too profound and difficult to understand, and is not something that ordinary mages or even apprentices can access.

The Iron Castle slowly approached the gap created by the collapsed bridge, activated its levitation system, and lowered its front and rear armor plates, thus creating a temporary bridge. The infantrymen shouted as they passed through the Iron Castle's interior and top, charging towards the battlefield ahead.

Almost any observant military commander would know one thing for sure: this fortress was completely destroyed.

"It feels like this era is changing too fast~" Shadow Raven squatted on the outer castle wall, looking at the gradually falling inner castle area. Under normal circumstances, blowing up the bridge would be enough for the attackers to clear for at least half a month, whether it was rebuilding the bridge under the threat of enemy arrows and spells, or clearing the pile of collapsed rubble obstacles in the valley.

Taking the inner fortress would have required a long siege, but the appearance of the Iron Castle plugged the gap in the bridge within minutes, turning it into a heavy fortress node stuck in the middle of the bridge.

The magic cannons above even began to rely on the magic power generated by burning magical materials in the wind turbine and phlogiston furnace for power, so they no longer needed to compete with the magic circles of the sorcerers and the conventional magic cannons for environmental magic power.

Even on a battlefield where environmental magic is depleted, it can be launched at a lower power. In this situation, the defenders who retreated to the inner fortress did not even have time to block the gate, and the second layer of defense was breached.

“Yes, this era has changed too fast ever since we started riding the train.” The Squirrel looked down at the foot of the mountain, where engineers were laying makeshift tracks and at the enormous “Throne” iron castle, where a certain bloodthirsty princess was gloating.

The battlefield is far more bloody and exciting than the arena—she certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to run to the front and command the army's charge, but watching the show from inside the iron castle in a safe place is perfectly fine.

"There used to be only two railways, and one of them is now abandoned. Trains were incredibly valuable national treasures..." Shadow Raven complained. "Well, they still are now. Or rather, they've gone from being precious aristocratic toys to true national treasures..."

The reason the attack on Eagle's Nest went so smoothly was that the trains transported thousands of strong men from various towns along the Imperial Railway to the front lines in just one day, while Grand Duke Carroll's reinforcements were probably still crawling along dirt roads, and might not have even scavenged enough arrows and dry bread for supplies.

However, the train could deliver enough cured meat, bread, and even fresh fruit to the front lines from Silver Maple County in just a few hours, enough to feed an entire knightly order, and also bring along the adventurers, mercenaries, and fanatical believers from the church who had signed up for this heretical campaign.

The steel siege crossbows that were fired yesterday were delivered from the capital this morning. The fire from the furnace on the arrows hadn't dissipated, and they still carried a kind of terrifying, cold sharpness. Shadow Raven even felt that the arrows and swords were still warm.

Faced with such intense, relentless, and continuous attacks, even a castle like the Eagle's Nest, which had been passed down for hundreds of years, appeared so weak that it didn't even take a full day for the entire castle to fall after the outer fortress was breached.

"Speaking of which, our people intercepted several Swifthawks before, but quite a few messengers still managed to get through the blockade. I guess the guy at Giant Rock Fortress has received the letter by now, right?"

"Which stage of the letter?"

The letters containing "insults," as well as those pleading for mercy, negotiating terms, and making threats, are still on their way. It's estimated that by the time the Emperor receives Grand Duke Carol's letter of pleas for mercy, they will be almost at the gates of the poor duke's residence.

"The premise is that His Majesty the Emperor can clearly understand the efficiency of the railway..." Otherwise, if the Emperor receives the abusive letter and decides to add some weight to the Grand Duke's scales, then by the time he receives the negotiation letter, the prisoners might already be loaded onto wagons and transported back.

Even if he escalates the situation after receiving the threatening letter, the effect will likely be similar. After all, if the emperor really uses the Imperial Guard Knights and one of the two Imperial Guard Knights in the capital to give the Grand Duke some extra treatment, then by next Monday at the latest, these reinforcements will be able to cross the valley and enter the eastern plains of Rye Valley County.

On the plains, encountering an attack from the Imperial Guard Knights and a large group of vicious heretical crusaders, the Grand Duke's reinforcements, who were still on their march and probably hadn't even had a chance to react, could only imagine the consequences.

Under such circumstances, it goes without saying how many days the indefensible eastern plains and His Highness's "Silver Valley City" could hold out.

Chapter 252 The Dark Witch

After passing Eagle's Nest, there is no railway. A newly built railway could not keep up with the speed of the attacking troops. After all, the Empire has not yet invented a high-speed railway paving machine. Even if it did, the rails here could not be ordinary steel rails. Moreover, railways cannot be built just anywhere. The ground needs to be surveyed, large rocks need to be cleared, and the roadbed needs to be reinforced.

After finally crossing the valley, the train could no longer keep up, leaving only traditional horse-drawn carriages and a convoy of three iron castles. They also temporarily stopped at the valley's exit.

“When did war become like this…” Looking at the camp made up of dismantled train carriages, the commander of the Magar Guard felt that he could no longer understand the current state of war.

These carriages were brought by train and then unloaded at the end of the railway. Since the carriages themselves have wheels, they can be dragged a short distance even without tracks. Therefore, these carriages were used to form this wagon camp.

Compared to traditional tents, these wagons are much more useful as kitchens, field hospitals, or barracks. They are not only warm but also offer decent protection, as they are armored.

"Have you scouted the Grand Duke's army's route?" The combat command post was also inside such a carriage, with maps hanging on the walls and spread out on the table, and a large number of chess pieces representing the enemy and our side interspersed on the map.

"Those mercenaries have already gone to scout, and Swift Eagle's Nest hasn't received any reports yet." The reason they haven't continued advancing is that they're afraid their retreat will be cut off by Duke Carol's reinforcements, which would truly turn them into bandits.

"Well, our supplies are quite plentiful, and we can also get a lot of supplies from Rye Valley County itself when early summer arrives..." Knight Commander Magal glanced at the princess who was lost in thought, and sighed silently in his heart, "How are the priests and clergy?"

"They were very excited, especially after their mobile church carriages arrived." The design of the mobile church carriages didn't take Roach and his team much time. In less than a week, with Livia's help, they deciphered the entire consecration ceremony process, and the remaining production process didn't take much time either.

The real waste of time was the religious paintings, sculptures, decorations, and so on, but this carriage clearly hadn't undergone any of those processes, and the priests were still trying to salvage it—however, people on the battlefield didn't care much about these superficial things.

"These priests have violated the Empire's constraints on divine authority, haven't they?" Heresy trials cannot be conducted directly on nobles and those protected by nobles. They must be discussed with the Empire's Council of Elders, who must first strip the nobles of their titles before a heresy trial can proceed.

At the level of Grand Duke Carol, even this process is not enough; the royal family must step in and declare that they no longer have an obligation to protect him before a heretical trial can be conducted.

"This is not one of those small city-states or kingdoms in the Northern Continent."

“But, our leader is Princess Freya…” The priests and priests thought the Empire had endorsed them, while the princess thought the Church had endorsed them. In reality, neither side had guaranteed or taken the blame for the other. This situation… Magar thought about it and felt like his head was about to split open.

What he didn't know was that the emperor and the council of nobles actually seized on this as leverage to put pressure on the Holy City and began to support the Redemptionists' religious reforms—well, to a limited extent, otherwise his head would have really split open.

"I hope this chaos ends soon~" The matter in Anta territory is still within the rules. After all, he is out of money, which has caused the minor nobles and knights to start making trouble. As a member of the royal family, it is normal for him to act as a mediator and make a ruling at this time.

It is then quite normal for these rebellious minor nobles and knights to be suppressed. With the permission of their lords, it is also normal to find some evidence of heresy in the process and to purge them one by one under the pretext of heresy. According to the previous rule, the lord has already refused the obligation to protect them, and the actions of these people in resisting the lord mean that they have automatically lost their loyalty and oath, and are naturally not protected by any oath.

Later, with no heir to the Anta territory, it was in accordance with the rules for the temporary lord appointed by the princess to act as his agent and carry out heretical trials within the territory. After all, theoretically, during this period of agency, he was the lord of the Anta territory, and it was the lord's right to invite the church to conduct heretical trials and purges.

However, when it came to attacking Eagle's Nest and Grand Duke Carol, there was no legal basis left. It was entirely due to these rabble who had gone too far in a bloodthirsty frenzy. And Freya... not only did she not stop them, but she also fanned the flames from behind and brought in more weapons and rabble. Now they were completely caught in a dilemma.

Of course, when this message was relayed back, the Holy City was made to take the blame, since, no matter what, it was their people who were bloodthirsty and started the fight first.

"It's not over yet. I just hope there won't be any more trouble on the border." "The Kingdom of Rada and the Mountain Kingdom would absolutely not dare to get involved in this mess, and the Archipelago would most likely miss it." The modification and construction of warships cannot be completed in a month or two. Moreover, it would take a considerable amount of time to train people to use the large magic crossbows and the like that that have been installed on the ships.

"The real problem is that the Orc Alliance must not cause trouble at this critical juncture." Knight Commander Magal was very worried about this, because according to the season, the Orc Alliance was about to start its usual border skirmishes.

Meanwhile, at the Antalya train station.

"Times really do change quickly..." The young girl with long black hair peeked out from the crowd. Compared to her height, the rather long battle staff looked like a flagpole stuck behind her. "Is there such a way to use it?"

"Hey! Whose kid is this? Don't get near the front of the train, or you'll get sprayed to death!" The train is driven by a magic-powered wheel. When it stops and starts, the two wings spray out extremely hot air to accelerate or brake. Therefore, no one is allowed on the platform when entering or leaving the station.

"I know~ And I'm not a little kid~" The black-haired girl ran away from the front of the car. She needed to find a way to collect more fragments of soul essence, and the battlefield was the best place to do so. This ability was almost instinctive for any kind of witch. Livia could do it, so she naturally could too.

However, the train could only go as far as Anta Station. Beyond that, there were military trains, and she would have to switch to walking or riding to get there. If it weren't for the fact that this body was an artificial human created by alchemy, with physical strength far exceeding that of ordinary humans, this journey would have been unbearable.

"Ah, I still need to buy a mount and some supplies. Do people even need to eat?" Having stayed in the form of a magic aggregate for a long time, she realized that people do need to eat, even alchemical synthetic humans. This finally reminded her that she needed to buy some dry food for the road.

Train stations like this have always been places where all sorts of people mingle, and Antalya Station is no exception. A young girl carrying a staff that looked very valuable was clearly a wealthy academy-trained mage. After observing that she had no guards, several local gang members quietly approached her from behind.

"Where did she go!? She was just here!?" After turning a corner, the little girl in front of me disappeared.

"Are you looking for someone?" a voice came from above, followed by the whistling sound of some kind of heavy, long metal weapon being swung.