Witch Troupe and the Undead

The fiery feathers fell like a torrential rain, quickly igniting the noble gardens and villas in the East District. Fortunately, most of the nobles had hired sorcerers as magical advisors to deal with curses, assassinations, and other such situations.

The fire was extinguished in just a few minutes by a barrage of water elemental orbs summoned from the river. However, the fire was certainly devastating. The delicate and precious flowers and plants were caught in the crossfire, and some of the larger fires were even hit by a few "Polar Storm" or "Ice Blast" spells, leaving them all in ruins.

Livia stared blankly at the firebird soaring into the sky. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth slightly and exclaimed, "Wow!"

“Miss Natalia, you don’t actually need such an exaggerated spell in this environment.” The mercenary captain glanced at his completely charred, deformed, and ruined enchanted shield, then at Natalia, and said, trying hard to suppress his anger.

It's best not to speak rudely to someone who can unleash a spell of this level. Natalia was also completely bewildered. Although her sorcery fluctuated greatly, the energy level shouldn't be too exaggerated. After all, the amount of magic that could be mobilized by her vague spells, whether it was the magic of the environment or the magic of the medium, was limited. This level of spell shouldn't be possible!

...Flames poured into the ceremony area through the passage, and several cult warriors guarding the entrance were thrown backward by the explosion, crashing heavily onto the edge of the steps, their robes still burning.

"We have to get out of here!!!" The woman, frantically trying to extinguish the flames on her robe, finally realized what was happening. "Take my precious experimental subject and get out of here!"

"We can't get out, all the passages are blocked!" When they were preparing to evacuate through the secret passage, they discovered that the sewer exit was completely blocked. The explosion alerted the Imperial Guards, after all, such a huge explosion must mean there was something dangerous down there.

"..." The woman glanced at the finished product inside the cage. "What a pity. It was originally intended for those false god believers, so..." She quickly drew several runes, and the cage was released from its seal. The contents inside began to spread outwards along the released cage.

“This explosion was pretty serious…” Marcus, the vice-commander of the Royal Guard, stood at the edge of the explosion site, his hand on his rune sword. The rocks and ground were burned black, and there were still many small golden-orange sparks burning around them.

"Sir!" The dusty mercenaries crawled out of the collapsed sewer. "Sorry..." "Was it you who cast the spell?" "Uh, I just cast a fireball. Maybe some cultist ritual was interrupted."

Natalia, of course, could not admit to doing it. When she came out, she saw the gardens and villas burned black, a loss she could not afford to pay for.

"Leave the rest to us..." The sewers in the royal city have been blown open, so it's impossible to let the mercenaries run around down there. Also, some pipes need to be repaired or blocked if necessary, lest something strange crawls out when His Majesty the Emperor goes to the toilet.

The knights and guards descended the collapsed ramp into the sewers to clear out the few remaining cultists and monsters. Meanwhile, the Sewer Guild received a jaw-dropping request.

"What does it mean that the main road and dozens of branch waterways were blown open?" "What does it mean that there was an opening with a diameter of more than 20 feet that led directly to the ground?" "What does it mean that the entire pipeline network was rendered inoperable?"

"I need at least several hundred workers!" The guild leader said that he couldn't handle this huge order by himself. In addition to ordinary workers, he also needed professional stonemasons, carpenters, and coppersmiths.

Furthermore, working in the dark and damaged sewers requires hiring guards or being protected by guards dispatched by the Empire. In this world, the parts below the ground are difficult to be radiated by the magic of civilized order. In other words, the farther away from the ground, the more deeply rooted the chaotic and primitive savage magic becomes.

Therefore, mines and sewers are two major hotspots for monsters, and mines are even safer than sewers. Why? Because miners are extracting magic power by mining ore and reinforcing mine tunnels, which has a certain suppressive effect.

However, encountering large groups of undead and shadow monsters in abandoned tunnels is a common quest for adventurers. In addition to natural monsters, there are also magical creatures hiding inside, such as goblins—of course, this world is not Goblin Slayer, and goblins do not have that bizarre reproductive method.

Furthermore, modern research has revealed that what humans classify as "goblins" are not actually the same thing, only that they look very similar.

One of the more common types is the "goblin," which is naturally generated, similar to those in Goblin Slayer. However, they reproduce asexually and are considered monsters, not magical creatures. Another type, brown and light green goblins, are from tribal barbarians with their own basic civilization. The reason humans believe goblins are only male is because they cannot distinguish between female goblins.

The former type of imp can also appear in the sewers. "Pfft~" An ordinary brown imp was easily cleaved in two by the rune sword. These guys are different from the shadow monsters. After discovering the passage to the surface, they swarm out, only to be met by the guards' rune swords and heavy magic crossbows.

"Are these things insane?" Marcus wiped the blood off his sword. A pile of corpses nearly a meter thick had been stacked in front of the makeshift roadblock. The battle mages of the Royal Guard were burning the remains with flames. If left unattended, seven or eight skeletons might rise up at night.

Although the blood and flesh of the imps are good materials for making magical weapons, they still need to be collected and processed in large quantities. The alchemical elixir cart parked on the road was already full.

The "life essence" extracted from the little devil's blood almost filled several large elixir jars, enough to make half a ton of secondary recovery agents (not for treatment, but for accelerating physical strength and wound healing), and even high-grade recovery agents could be made into several jars.

Normally, such a large harvest would certainly make one happy, but now it only gave Marcus a very ominous feeling.

“Strengthen the defenses, seal off these sewer entrances and exits, and lock all the doors near the riverbank… No, send a few people to the academy and activate their surveillance magic towers.”

Soon, under the dim twilight sky, several beams of light, like searchlights, shot out from the academy's spire, illuminating the riverbank in the eastern district. The gates of the huge circular sewer outlets were illuminated as if it were daytime, and if anything slipped out from inside, it would activate the magic tower's defensive function.

Even if Lady Elena is only willing to provide the most basic "Psychic Arrow" as a counterattack method, it is enough to remind the mercenaries and knights stationed to clear out the enemy that Psychic Arrow is the only attack method for psychic mages before they master intermediate and advanced spells such as Psychic Projection. It uses mental magic to form a transparent, weak psychic force impact that pierces through the enemy like an arrow.

The destructive power is roughly equivalent to that of a light crossbow. Of course, the energy level of the bullets fired from the magic tower is not that high, but it is still equivalent to the effect of a heavy city defense crossbow. It is enough to deal with ordinary monsters that sneak out. Most monsters will be killed with one hit, and those that cannot be killed will be severely injured.

"It's so bright~" The little witch drew the curtains with some displeasure. She was a good girl who went to bed on time every day, but the brightness outside, which was like an air raid siren, really made it impossible for her to sleep. Even through the thick curtains, she felt very uncomfortable.

Livia angrily slammed the comb on the bedside table, raised her hands, and her thin nightgown clung tightly to her petite body as the magical wind blew it. A cloud of mist rose from the base of the wall and enveloped the window, and only then did she nod in slight satisfaction.

Goodnight~

"Goodnight, young lady~" Alessina was still not used to such a soft bed and chose to sleep on the sofa. For a beastman warrior, such a soft bed was a bit too much of a drain on fighting spirit and reaction.

Under the cover of night, a soft mass flowed out of the sewer grate. Almost the instant it touched the light from the outside world, a beam of transparent psychic energy struck it.

"Bang!" The metal fence exploded with a loud bang. Amidst the flying rust, the soft-bodied creature quickly flowed into the river and sank to the bottom. However, it was immediately blocked by the falling sluice gate. After several unsuccessful attempts to pass through, it could only climb up the riverbank and soon found its first target.

"Explosion, cult, I think the empire is doomed~" A drunken passerby staggered along the riverbank. The events of the past few days had put considerable pressure on the residents of the capital.

"Ugh!" The drunkard leaned against a lamppost and vomited. "Hmm... what's this? Who dropped this leather coat?" He looked at a brownish thing by the river, which looked like a leather coat with a furry collar.

"Hey~ Nobody wants it?" The drunk looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, cautiously approached the leather coat. Almost the instant he got within a meter, the "coat" suddenly stood up like a person, then pounced on him, enveloping him. Immediately afterward, there were faint sounds of bones breaking and flesh being chewed.

A few minutes later, a man with a stern face, wrapped in a leather coat, climbed up from the riverbank, looked around warily, and left in a hurry, leaving a trail of scarlet slime behind him.

After they left, the town guards rushed over, but there was nothing at the scene except for some scattered bloodstains and scarlet slime.

"Follow the slime trail, chase!" But it was too late. The slime trail disappeared near the southern city area. Marcus, who had been woken up before he was fully awake, felt like his brain was about to explode—what did it mean that an unidentified monster came out of the sewers and then disappeared in the southern city area? That area was one of the major markets in the capital!

Chapter 361 Disaster Erupts

"Ooh~" A pair of fair and tender arms stretched out from under the covers, followed by a small golden head and a round face. After rolling around on the bed several times, the emerald eyes slowly opened. When the eyelids were halfway open, they seemed to encounter some unknown resistance and remained in a half-closed state.

Livia slowly sat up, her light golden hair disheveled and draped over her body, sliding down her thin nightgown. The equipment in the academy had obviously not been fully activated by the witch yet, so it was Leslie, who had been kicked awake by Alessina, who helped her wash up.

The witch's hair was perfect, its light golden color shimmering like moonlight under the light. Leslie yawned as she used a large comb to smooth her hair, then wrapped two strands of hair around her ears and braided them into a short braid to cover her hair.

After combing her hair, Livia seemed to recover from her morning daze. She staggered into the washroom to wash up, and several minutes later, she staggered out again, collapsing onto the large velvet sofa. Breakfast was delivered to her room by the academy's servants and then brought in by Alessina.

Servants and masters are not supposed to eat together, but Livia didn't care about that. So, the three of them actually ate the same thing in the morning. Anyway, for the academy, having two extra meals wouldn't increase expenses much.

The empire's culinary styles vary greatly, with the differences between the east and west and the north and south being so vast that they seem like they belong to different countries. Northern cuisine is more influenced by dwarves and orcs, while southern cuisine is influenced by the Goblin Trade Federation.

Since breaking away from the civilized state of the tribal barbarians, those dark green dwarves have put a lot of effort into their diet, but have paid a heavy price for it—their stews and porridges are not simply for convenience, but because their digestive systems simply cannot directly digest hard grains.

As for the east and west sides, it is related to the local products, climate and region. The east is closer to the German style of food, while the west is closer to the Central Asian style.

Then we arrived in the capital. The capital's cuisine is a blend of the characteristics of various regions of the empire. You can basically find anything here. However, in general, since Silver Maple County and Catherfield County are closer to each other, the cuisine is mainly French and Italian.

Dairy products, wheat, or rye cereals are common ingredients for them, even at the college. Rye bread fermented with beer is soft and fragrant, and it pairs exceptionally well with the college's homemade dry cheese with its rich, milky flavor.

Then there are sliced ​​low-salt ham slices, which are cured with pepper, rosemary, bay leaves and juniper berries and then smoked. The salt content is very low, so they can be sliced ​​and eaten directly.

Overall, the meals consisted mainly of smoked, dairy, and grain products. While breakfast was relatively monotonous, dinner was exceptionally plentiful, much to the surprise of someone like Roach, who had prepared a large selection of "grilled XXX" and "XXX pancakes" for his seemingly abundant but actually monotonous meal.

Although there are dishes like grilled XXX ribs, there are also many dishes that use "fermented rice", "pickled", "fermented", "fried", or even "braised" and "stewed". Most importantly, he even found a food similar to rice in the canteen, which is what locals are used to eating when it is cooked a little undercooked.

After finishing our meal, it was about time to go for a morning walk. The academy's curriculum wasn't very tight, not only because a lot of knowledge required a long time to practice, but also because the spellcasting energy consumed in class couldn't be recovered in a short break of a few tens of minutes.

The college's courses usually consist of only 2 to 4 classes a day, with a maximum of 6 classes including theoretical ones. Both students and professors have plenty of free time to do various things. Of course, students are also usually assigned some necessary work by the college, euphemistically called "spellcasting teaching," but in reality, they are just free labor.

For example, this kind of soft and sweet fermented pastry bread uses magic to remove the bran and also uses magic to grind the grains, making the flour exceptionally fine. Only an academy could have so many free spellcasters to do this kind of thing—of course, the reason is definitely not to help in the kitchen, but to practice the operation of telekinetic attack spells.

It must be said that this is indeed a good reason, and it really works. If you can grind a large bag of incredibly hard rye grains into powder, then on the battlefield, you only need one gesture to crush the bones and flesh of a non-superhuman warrior who is not equipped with anti-magic accessories.

If you can accurately separate the bran inside, you can also separate the bones, blood, or armor plates from the enemy's flesh and blood, and form a projectile to attack a second enemy.

This is also why mental magic mages are actually considered "heavy weapons squads" in this world. Roach's understanding of mental magic mages' combat style is: illusion, mental interference, and support. Well, that's actually true. On the battlefield, they use this kind of strategic magic more to enhance the combat effectiveness of the entire force.

But when it really comes down to them needing to fight one-on-one or inflict damage, the style isn't the "ingenious tactics," "cunning traps," or "brilliant deception" that Roach imagined, which is often combined with a bit of telekinetic attack.

Instead... eat my "Psychic Projection," an 80-kilogram supersonic rock! Eat my "Psychic Blast" and "Psychic Tear," and say goodbye to your XXX!

Even more necromancer than a necromancer, because there are two kinds of "corpse explosion". One is a true corpse explosion, which causes the death magic inside the corpse to explode, mainly dealing magical damage. The other is a psychic explosion, which physically causes the corpse to explode, turning the bones, teeth, nerves and flesh of the dead or even living people without anti-magic equipment into high-speed shrapnel that kills all living things around them.

Inflicting "mental damage" through physical means is also one of the specialties of mental mages. In particular, they can amplify this kind of "mental damage" and turn it into a permanent, manipulable wound on the soul and will.

"Natalia, you, get out!" Inside the group practice room, the instructor pointed to the door, telling Natalia to leave. First of all, she was a wizard, and although she also had a need to practice similar telekinetic spells, the actual effect was not significant.

Secondly... no one dared to let her cast spells in the classroom. Who knows, a "psychic strike" might cause a psychic tearing effect, and neither the teachers nor the students wanted to say goodbye to their XXX for the time being.

"..." Natalia glanced at Nina, whose companion gave her a helpless look. After all, she was also afraid that her good friend would blow up the classroom with a psionic spell. It would be a good thing if the classroom blew up, since there would be no afternoon classes. But it would be bad if more than just the classroom was blown up.

A small bag of rye, placed inside a thick linen sack, was presented to each student. They were then tasked with grinding the grain into powder through the outer sack as quickly as possible. As punishment and reward, their breakfast for the following week depended on the results of that day's lessons. Yes, no matter how well you ground it, the kitchen servants would use this bag of rye to make your breakfast.

Those who perform well will naturally eat the sweet and soft "Queen's Bread," which is no different from the Little Witch's bread. But for those who don't perform well, this rough and gritty stuff will be your staple food for the next week. I hope you have a healthy stomach.

“I thought the academy would focus more on knowledge cultivation.” Roach and Ms. Elena walked down the corridor. Roach was carrying something in his arms that made every student who saw him turn pale. Yes, exam papers, and they were graded papers, indicating that some people, although alive now, had already died a week ago.

“Practical skills, even combat techniques, are things that the academy must teach. Their future… most people may not be able to own their own towers and laboratories. Military mages, noble magic advisors, adventurers, or even garrison mages in small cities—these are the futures for most children who are not of noble birth,” Elena said with some emotion.

"Even for children born into nobility, leading armies in battle, facing assassination attempts, and having to personally lead teams to deal with rampaging monsters are common occurrences. If they don't learn how to fight, this world will not be peaceful, Professor Roach."

“There are too many things that can kill people, I’m not talking about wars between humans and intelligent species, at least not all of them.”

Elena, as a witch, had seen too many mages who didn't care about such courses and thought that spellcasters only needed to pursue knowledge. They died at the hands of otherworldly creatures summoned by a normal experiment before they could produce any results. And that was considered a "very mage" ending. A significant number of them even died at the hands of street thugs.

"My former mentor said the same thing: the more you are a researcher, the more you need a strong physique, because only a strong and healthy physique can keep you going until you get results, instead of dying young."

Many graduate students around the world share the same idea that there is no need to spend time exercising. Professor Luo echoed his teacher's words in this regard. Fortunately, his major involves a lot of fieldwork—the dozens of kilograms of equipment and the scorching sun on site help them make up for the missing physical education classes and sunlight.

"It seems your mentor understands this principle well, but Miss Livia..."

"She's already working very hard at training; at least considering her physical condition and circumstances, she's been very diligent."

She was indeed trying very hard. The blonde little witch, wearing a short skirt and a tank top, was blushing as she "jogged" around the academy's central courtyard at a pace that was almost like taking a walk. It looked like she had run a marathon, but in reality, everyone knew that she had only run half a lap. The second half of the lap was now almost at a walking pace.

“Yes~” Elena also looked into the distance. As a witch specializing in the mystic arts of life, she looked like a gray-haired woman with a not-so-robust figure, but in reality, even the average extraordinary knight's physique might not be as strong as hers. After all, no one knows how much hard work a transformation master has done to strengthen his own body.

"Perhaps this is the price of magic... She's always been like this?"

"It's much better now... In the past, I would have reached my limit after walking around the central courtyard once, but now I can at least jog."

"I heard that you used to live in the dense forests of the eastern province. With her physical abilities..." Elena was a little curious. Wouldn't she have been able to survive?

“That forest is rather special, and she only goes out occasionally, usually by carriage to the beach for a walk. She doesn’t usually walk too far. That narrow beach is probably her only area for physical exercise, and even then, it’s just for walking.”

As for collecting herbs and potions from other places, that's a living forest, where every tree is alive. She has eight hundred ways to stand still and let the plants and roots collect the materials and bring them to her. At the very least, there's always an old horse for manual labor. Who could be more useful than a proper Hellish sub-lord?

“Then she really should train harder.” Elena and Roach glanced at Livia, who was already sitting on a bench in the courtyard, chugging down a recovery potion. Even a warrior exhausted on the battlefield could recover quickly by drinking recovery potions like that, but for Livia, it was probably just a vanilla-flavored energy drink—her magic resistance was so high that most potions had very limited effect on her.

We already knew this when we had a cold before. In comparison, traditional herbal decoctions might be more effective.

Meanwhile, inside the stable, the black horse suddenly raised its head and snorted a few times, "This smell is..."

"Young Miss, something terrible has happened! Power from the lower levels of hell has infiltrated us!"

"?" The little witch's hand holding the potion bottle suddenly stopped. She tilted her head, wondering what meant by "the power of the lower hell has seeped in." "Quickly translate this! What does it mean by 'the power of the lower hell has seeped in'?"

"It seems that some demon god has taken notice of the mortal realm. I don't know which one it is, but it's definitely not someone to mess with."

"Oh~" No need for Old Ma's reminder, because a faint supernatural mist began to slowly seep up from the depths of the ground, and the air was filled with abnormal magic. Almost every Star Silver level arcane mage noticed that something was wrong, and the academy's professors also stopped teaching and asked the lower-year students to return to their dormitories immediately and not to run around.

School staff and servants were also forbidden from leaving, and the administrators were required to quickly take inventory of the academy's food and magical materials, while senior students were required to report immediately to the clock tower and the outer magic tower.

"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~" The large bell in the academy's central courtyard, which Roche had never heard ring before, suddenly rang. After a brief moment of confusion, the students who were still strolling outside, or even visiting brothels, immediately changed their expressions. This bell represented the countdown to the academy's lockdown. When the bell stopped, the four gates of the academy would lock, and a powerful magical barrier would seal off the entire academy, making it a powerful magical fortress of the imperial capital.

Not only students, but also the surrounding residents, especially those born and raised in the capital, rushed into their cellars at the first opportunity, stuffed their stored flour, canned goods and valuables into their pockets and ran wildly toward the wide-open gates of the college.

Even those outsiders, after the last riot, knew that the academy was the closest, and second only to the Royal Guard Knights' fortress and the best and most secure refuge in the imperial city.

Not only are the buildings here enchanted and reinforced, but there is also a huge underground experimental area that can accommodate people seeking refuge. Most importantly, the academy has one of the largest underground warehouses in the capital because it needs to provide food and supplies for thousands of students and three times that number of servants (casters are considered minor nobles by default and are served by servants provided by the academy, unlike modern universities).

What is the one thing that is most abundant here? Answer: Dharma masters.

Therefore, this is the only large-scale magical cold storage facility in the capital besides the emperor's private icehouse. Its main function is to store the various food needs of those noble high-ranking archmages, such as seafood. It should be noted that these professors are not all human, especially the visiting professors.

However, a large amount of ice and food were also stored. The ice served as a safe reserve of fresh water, while the food was an additional food ration. Strictly speaking, the academy was designed to withstand a siege that could last for more than six months.

As the bells rang, the braziers at the four corners of the Royal Guard fortress were lit, and the chaplains chanted hymns loudly. The holy golden flames dispelled the mist from the surrounding small block, and people who were visiting relatives, on leave, or were family members of the knights' squires and infantrymen from the nearby area pushed their carts, carrying large and small bags, and hid inside.

In the more distant noble districts, the imperial city was also lit with the sacred flame. The nobles either ran to the small chapel or to the imperial city. Those who had no other choice ran to the military intelligence bureau's black jail, as prisons were sometimes a good refuge and fortress.

Aside from those living near the college, the wealthy citizens of the southern city had no choice but to head to the Sky Plaza and the Cathedral. At this critical juncture, the priests of the Holy City and the Horse-Headed Church tacitly stopped attacking each other and instead cooperated to guide believers to safety.

While heresy is certainly hateful, a true demonic invasion is a different matter. As mentioned before, engaging in heretical practices, religious trials, and breaking precepts are not really a big deal to the Lord; at the very least, it won't strip him of his divine grace.

However, if you compromise with the devil, collude with the devil, or fail to resist the devil, then what awaits you is the divine punishment itself—all the favors and power you have received from the gods will be taken away, including your lifespan and physical strength.

However, the remaining ordinary citizens and workers in the northern district could only hide in community churches or pin their hopes on sturdy factory buildings and warehouses. If they weren't in factories or had no workers' mutual aid teams, they could only huddle at home, trembling, hoping that the flimsy doors and windows could provide a negligible sense of security.

The city's massive shields rose, the city gates closed, and the trains departed before the passengers could even take refuge, heading towards safe locations. The passengers at the station were considered lucky, since the train station itself was a fairly sturdy building, even though it looked like it was made of wood—wood from a magical world, and it was an enchanted product, so it was best not to mistake it for thin wooden planks.

Before the capital was shrouded in mist, the entire process of locking down the city was completed. This certainly confined the threat within the city, but compared to the demons spreading across the entire Central and Southern Plains and completely destroying the empire's largest tax base and population base, this price was entirely bearable.

Moreover, at this time, external knightly orders can be summoned to quickly come to the capital to provide reinforcements and launch a pincer attack on the demons from both inside and outside—usually, in such situations, the nearest holy city is the first to send out combat personnel and priestly teams.

Other countries won't attack the empire at this time either, because firstly, no one wants to experience the feeling of real divine punishment; secondly, your home might also be invaded by demons, and if you do the first thing, don't blame others for doing the fifteenth.

Even if your family doesn't suffer from demonic possession, you can't stop the empires or other countries you've messed with from actively helping your family to summon demons. Forbidden knowledge of summoning demons isn't something that's difficult for the ruling class to obtain.

Therefore, the only covenant passed by the Continental Sages Council that was recognized by all nations, including the city-states of the Northern Continent, was that if any nation was plagued by demons, especially great demons, other nations, even if they did not offer assistance, at the very least could not launch an attack on the other side.

Of course, whether other countries would send help if they received the news at this time is another matter. Emperor Stoll believes that... after they receive the news, they will probably hold a banquet to celebrate and pray that the empire's demonic calamity will continue for a few more days.

Chapter 362 Soul! But you are a monster!

The fog covered the entire capital city in just a few hours, but there seemed to be no other abnormal phenomena. The fog was simply confined within the city's barrier, and its concentration was not too high.

"Non-magical creations," Ms. Elena shook her head at Marcus, the vice-commander of the Royal Guard, who had arrived. "They cannot be directly dispelled; they are more like artificial fog or steam." Magical fog, when used in a city-level ritual site, could be dispelled in a large-scale ritual, but non-magical creations...