Witch Troupe and the Undead

In the adventurer's market, these spoils obtained from hell are very expensive. After purification, the greatsword can summon hellfire to entwine it, making it a high-level, constantly enchanted weapon. Although the hellfire will eventually run out and the weapon will be damaged, that's something that happens after several generations.

"I've discovered we have another way to get rich?" Leslie seemed to have come up with a wicked idea: summon demons, then bind and kill them, and sell the remaining equipment and remains.

“Wake up, this high-end market is limited, and you’re producing this kind of thing in bulk. Aren’t you really afraid of being confronted by the Church’s inquisitors?” Alessina tapped the mermaid on the head.

"Summon the next one?" Roach suggested. "Hmm!" And so, the Hell kidnapping and disappearance case increased by 1. This time, a demon overseer came, much quieter than the last one. Perhaps the head of the Doomsday Warrior on the ground made him quickly realize reality.

Livia's orders and mission for it were to go to the sewers and clean up the monsters and clones of the simulacrum. Burn any simulacrum it saw. For the demon overseer, what difference did it make what it cut? So it gladly rushed into the sewers, completely unaware that the rune collar around its neck was slowly burning.

"You taught me the idea for this explosive collar, didn't you?"

"I just mentioned it casually..." Roach said, indicating that he was not to take the blame. He had only mentioned it when telling the little witch a story, since the collar around Alessina's neck was also made by the little witch.

"Alright, we can rest for a while now. This should be the second gap, right?" At least this time there won't be any monsters bothering us. Livia skillfully set up a temporary barrier and prepared to rest. The little witch's physical strength couldn't support her moving for too long.

Half an hour later, a small team of battle mages and students arrived, along with a dozen craftsmen and two handcarts. "Wow, is this place so badly damaged?"

“It’s already been repaired.” Roach didn’t mention that the damage was to cover up the traces of the summoned demon, and that Alessina and Livia had further damaged parts of the ground and walls.

With the help of magic that turns mud into stone, the stonemasons began to repair the gaps in the sewers, while the mages drew runes on the bricks to resist the invasion of magic and to conceal them. Along the way, the students were even severely reprimanded by the little witch for their poor skills.

It must be said that building walls and drawing runes in a dark and dangerous dungeon was a rare hands-on learning experience for these students, especially with the witch who taught the course watching them from behind.

Many people have already shown me the expression that, although I am still alive, I am already a walking corpse.

"This year's juniors are quite good..." The battle mage was somewhat surprised by the solid basic skills of these younger students. Although they made some mistakes, they were mostly minor issues related to handling details.

Generally speaking, it hasn't reached the point where people would make mistakes even when drawing runes on the battlefield like before. At most, it's just a matter of connection issues, or that the rune processing itself isn't efficient enough, resulting in low utilization of mana and gem dust.

For a mage in their first real battle, this already demonstrates a good mental state and solid fundamentals. As for being rigid? That's not a problem. Most mages are neither qualified nor talented enough to create the future and achieve entirely new results.

Being able to inherit the knowledge and skills of predecessors step by step is considered qualified. On this basis, it is already very good if, with the accumulation of time and knowledge, one can create something new and make progress.

Even if a mage can't do that, a mage who can consistently throw fireballs and lightning on the battlefield, instead of blowing themselves or their teammates up or trembling in fear, is at least a qualified battle mage.

For these battle mages who have graduated for a long time, have a lot of experience, and have seen many eccentric colleagues, they can understand why the professors in the academy constantly emphasize that the stability of spell casting is more important than the complexity and difficulty of spells.

A mage who can reliably cast spells has at least some ability to fight back. Even if the spells he casts are not the right ones, the casting speed is too slow, the spells are not difficult, or the effects are poor, it is still better than not being able to cast spells at the crucial moment, or having a spell fail and kill himself.

“You just need to practice enough to build a solid foundation,” Roach replied with a smile.

“That makes sense…” The battle mage shrugged. Everyone understood this principle, but everyone wanted to learn as many advanced and sophisticated things as possible while knowledge was free in the academy, things that would cost money to learn outside. Who would waste their limited time and energy on repetitive basic exercises? There’s plenty of time for that kind of thing outside the academy!

Many mages think this way, but once they leave the academy, they find that they simply don't have that much time to practice. They also find that those advanced spells are rarely used. Whether you're an adventurer, a battle mage, a magic advisor, or a magic workshop owner, you need more basic spells.

Because the ritual materials inside the academy are free, but outside, they have to pay for them themselves. They have no idea how much a bottle of the gem dust and ink they burn usually costs outside.

Chapter 367 The Mist Dissipates

The capital city, shrouded in both mist and barrier, resembled a giant egg-shaped structure lying horizontally on the ground. The residents of the surrounding towns watched with worry and fear as they listened to all the news coming from this massive city. But the only news coming from this city was... nothing at all, at least not to ordinary people.

In a sense, this is good news. Without news, the various noble territories are unsure of the situation in the capital and what might have happened, so they dare not act rashly, especially when it is clear that demons are at work.

Although most nobles are more or less eccentric, openly rebelling or causing trouble at such a critical juncture is tantamount to courting death, and the surrounding neighbors would never let go of such a good opportunity to enhance their reputation.

Furthermore, various churches will call on their members to refuse to serve them. Regardless of any conflicts within the churches regarding missionary work, their stance on dealing with demons, especially evil spirits, is unified. Therefore, as long as no news is released, it can be considered good news.

“Good news…” A thin horse, as thin as a donkey, stopped on a small hill, struggling to carry a rather tall figure on its back. “…?” The rider dismounted, his boots, encased in dirty and heavy fur, leaving two large footprints in the mud.

A wolf-headed two-handed sword was casually slung over his shoulder. Compared to the dust-covered cloak and the rusted armor that looked like it hadn't been cleaned for decades, the sword was quite exquisite and could even be described as magnificent.

Long golden ribbons hang from the end of the hilt, which is wrapped in pure white, luxurious fur. The guard, carved from pure silver with the head of a howling wolf, extends a broad silver blade from between its sharp teeth. Five runes of different colors are inlaid on the spine of the sword, shimmering with magical radiance in the sunlight.

“Lord Leon…” The battle priest in white robes approached the towering giant, whose height far exceeded that of ordinary people, with some trepidation. “His Holiness the bishop has asked you to lead the team to enter the capital through the sewage canals. According to the scattered information coming from the city, the demons seem to have torn open the rifts in the sewers and underground areas.”

"Why are you hiding so far away? I'm not going to eat you." The giant turned to look at the priest behind him, revealing a pair of fierce eyes that were not friendly under his wolf-head-shaped helmet.

“Sorry, I might be a little unaccustomed to it…” The battle priest took a small step back. Leon Erian, who was known as the “Holy Beast,” was a powerful weapon of the Church, but also the most uncontrollable double-edged sword, or rather, an untamed beast. When he was tearing apart the Church’s enemies, he didn’t mind moistening his throat with the blood of his companions.

It's truly hard to imagine that such a ferocious beast could be a devout follower of the Holy Lord. In any case, releasing Knight Commander Leon from the Church's seal was undoubtedly a good idea in dealing with demons. However, how to put this beast back into its enclosure is a headache for the bishop.

"I don't need those useless things..." The giant shoved the battle priest aside and strode down the hill. "They're just some simulated demon clones. I can handle them all by myself."

"Lord Leon!" The battle priest hurriedly chased after him. "Don't underestimate the enemy! News from the capital indicates that not only are there simulated demons, but even those horse-headed heretics are considering performing a divine descent and summoning an army of angels!"

"Huh?" Leon stopped and glanced behind him. "The Horse-Headed Sect? What the hell is that now!?"

"Well, that's a long story. In short, you'll be dealing not only with clones of the simulated demons, but also with the simulated demons themselves and even more demons! Demons that aren't even recorded in the scriptures!"

“Bringing those useless people along will only distract me,” Leon shook his head. He knew what kind of trash the church’s guards were after he temporarily ended his boring guard duty at the Sealed Place.

The capital city, at the sewage outlet. Faced with the sewer entrance emitting a strange odor, Leon showed no particular reaction and simply strode in, leaving behind several knights looking at each other, hesitant about whether to follow immediately.

"Demons, and skeletal replicants, huh..." The dark sewer environment did not affect his vision. His helmet, enchanted with darkvision, was enough for him to see everything in the sewers clearly, such as the large, unconscious chunks of flesh that were writhing. These chunks of flesh were the transport units of the skeletal demons. They used these chunks of flesh to absorb life magic and various necessary flesh and blood materials, thereby providing raw materials for creating more replicants.

Those sensory-delusional clones completely mistook demons for humans and humans for monsters. They were the demons' rations, weapons, and cannon fodder, as well as spies and vanguards attempting to infiltrate and spread outwards.

After countless memory copies and battle deaths, these things seem to have mastered quite good combat skills. Some of them who could never get used to combat were recycled to strengthen the rest.

However, even a clone with extensive combat experience, resurrected dozens of times, was no match for Leon. The twisted, fleshy blade grazed the wolf-headed two-handed sword, missing its target, while the holy silver blade pierced precisely the heart of the clone, whose entire body was encased in a blasphemous and disgusting human skin.

Contrary to his imposing and rugged appearance, Leon's swordsmanship is exceptionally refined. He almost never engages in weapon clashes with his enemies; his two-handed sword is as deadly and elegant as a slender, swift blade.

"This kind of trash needs to raise a barrier to send out a distress call?" Leon was a little confused. Although his appearance was different, his mind was not so crude. If it was just a replica of a demon, it would not be enough to raise a barrier in the capital. At most, it would be to impose martial law.

The greatest threat of the simulated demons is that they will continuously replicate various types of humans, then replace normal people with them, and use religion and seemingly resurrected miracles to absorb people, forming a large cult with the worship of demons at its core.

Only when it reaches its limit will it absorb all its clones and eventually become a mountain of flesh and blood. Basically, only this level of skeletal demon is worthy of being dealt with by the angel legion.

Before this, if there is already some warning, all that is needed is to implement strict martial law and personnel screening, thoroughly investigate missing persons, and blockade and continuously annihilate the areas where the simulated demons are entrenched. Soon, the simulated demons, deprived of flesh and blood resources, will fall into a weakened state.

On the contrary, passively raising the barrier defense is a wrong choice, because passive defense and waiting give the simulated demons enough time and opportunity to grow. It may seem that the core population is protected by fortresses and fortresses, but it also means actively sending those slums and small communities into the mouths of demons.

Even if the old emperor is a fool, and Dean Elena of the academy isn't either, it wouldn't be easy to open the complete Imperial Capital Barrier without the academy's cooperation. If a witch also thinks it's necessary, then it means that the simulated demons aren't the most urgent matter, or that the simulated demons themselves aren't a threat.

As Leon walked through the dark sewers, he quickly realized something from the pervasive hellish magic. "If the simulated demons aren't a threat, then what summons them? No, it's not summoning, but some kind of rift, right...?" Being able to pass through the rifts of simulated demons meant he could basically pass through most common demons, and that was the key to raising the barrier.

"It was those scum from the Ember Society...!" It didn't take long for Knight Commander Leon to figure out who was behind all this. A normal Hell Warlock wouldn't open the rift in Hell so easily.

They either simply crave the power of demons and choose to summon projections to obtain their services, or they are purely traitors who directly serve a certain lord of hell. Even if the lord tears open a rift, he is heading towards the real gates of hell. In other words, what he summons is a well-organized army of demons from a specific realm.

It's not something like a simulated demon, nor is it the remnant of the crawling demons that are everywhere in the sewers.

And what will tear open an uncontrollable rift leading to a random realm of hell... Aside from the Ember Society and these madmen who worship the ancient gods, their goal is nothing more than to destroy the world so that the so-called ancient gods they believe in can return, destroy this world that causes them all sorts of dissatisfaction, and establish a perfect and beautiful world.

“Well, these scum…” Leon looked at the clones emerging in the dark passageway and gripped the wolf-headed sword in his hand. “Looks like today will be a good day for slaughter.”

An underground labyrinth. The stonemasons polished and smoothed the stones created by the mages, then stacked them one by one into cages made of silver-plated iron bars. These metal cages were pieced together and fused together by magical flames, eventually sealing the entire gap.

Meanwhile, the carpenters used large pieces of dried planks and sticks to support the maze's passageways and repair damaged walls and floors to prevent the maze from collapsing and affecting the academy structure above.

"What's the situation up there?"

"A group of worm-like demons stormed the prison, which is barely holding on. Some demon scouts appeared at the academy gate, along with quite a few... human figures."

“A clone?” Roach asked.

"Probably... after this battle, the population of the capital will decrease by at least 30%." Elena sighed, assuming everything goes smoothly and there is no scene like the angel legion fighting against the demon legion.

Although the monstrous and the worm-like creatures are almost hopeless enemies for ordinary people, the capital city is, after all, the capital, and almost every community has a small stone chapel. In such times, these chapels serve as the best refuge and small fortresses.

A small number of worms would find it difficult to breach a church, especially one guarded by a proper combat priest.

What about this side of the maze?

"Aside from some giant insects and a few goblins, no monsters were found."

While Roach and his companions were wandering through the maze, they did not find any threatening monsters, only some imps and giant insects. The former were killed by magic bullets and arrows before they could even get close, while the latter were easily buried underground and crushed to pieces by Livia's magic.

"However, some worms had already entered the maze through the gap, and we encountered a small group of worms."

“That’s perfectly normal. Creepy demons are attracted to any non-hellish magic; they are, after all, underdeveloped demons.” Elena wasn’t surprised at all.

Aren't you going up there to keep watch?

“It’s more dangerous down here.” Elena nodded. “However, I only came to take a look. After all, this place isn’t really suitable for my fighting style.” The underground labyrinth and sewers are not suitable for her to fight as a giant beast, which limits most of her combat power.

"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~" The academy bell rang again, which was definitely not good news. Almost at the same time as the bell rang, the fog gradually dissipated, revealing the city streets and... the terrifying army on the streets.

Thousands of replicants, clad in flesh-and-blood armor and armed with weapons, lined the streets. They were clones of the Death Guards and adventurers, and in their sensory derangement, they might feel as if they were besieging demonic fortresses rather than human cities.

Further away, many small churches were engulfed in flames and thick smoke, with screams echoing everywhere. Behind this army, several tall war demons, wielding double blades, looked menacingly toward the academy and the castle.

"Enemy attack!!!" Some kind of alchemical incendiary bottle slid across the sky and smashed into the academy's barrier, followed by a legion of clones charging in with shouts. They wielded weapons made of twisted flesh, bones, and metal, and carried long ladders made of human bones, covering the hellish siege engines forged from flesh and metal as they approached the academy's main gate and the relatively weakly defended back gate.

"Shoot! Don't let these guys get close!" The defenders on the city wall drew their longbows, and arrows forged from alchemical metal pierced through the foremost clones. However, this was ineffective against the sheer number of the enemy. In fact, the clone that was killed was quickly taken away by its comrades, as everyone knew it would soon resurrect behind the enemy lines.

The street surface cracked open, and fleshy flowers extending from the sewers swayed slightly in mid-air. Countless fleshy pods hung from the fleshy branches. Whenever a replicant on the front line died, his or her body would be taken away by his comrades or absorbed by some fleshy branches that grew out of the ground, and then reappear as a new fleshy pod.

"Don't panic. Just like you've always learned, check the runes, instruments, and elements one by one, and then..."

"Release!" The elemental magic gathered in the magic pool pulsed continuously onto the city wall, enveloping the entire outer wall of the academy in a halo of magic. This was not a defensive spell, but a strange spectacle formed by the convergence of magic flows. Its purpose was to provide magic for the students' rituals, saving them the effort of slowly absorbing magic from the environment.

Streams of flame rained down from the city walls, instantly turning several teams of clones into irretrievable ashes. Engineering vehicles forged from hell metal also collapsed under some kind of spell cast by a professor. Flames were shaped under the control of the arcane mage, and arrows, fireballs, or even pillars of fire rising from the spot turned the entire road and small square in front of the academy into a world of flames.

With a magic pool and fortress, the destructive power of a sorcerer is almost the greatest among all superhumans. After all, mages in this world do not need spell slots or mana bars to cast spells. They use rituals to communicate with the magic of the environment and cast spells without consuming any energy other than their own stamina and physical strength.

Elena's transformations do not consume her own life magic, but rather come from the power of the life essence she collects, as well as the life force that can be absorbed from the surrounding area.

This also means that as long as there is enough time to gather environmental magic or a sufficient source of magic, even an arcane apprentice can unleash extraordinary destructive power—provided, of course, that the apprentice does not mess up the ritual.

The whirlwind of flames raged across the front plaza, but the back gate seemed to be in a precarious situation. Most of the students were concentrated in the front, while there were mages and guards, as well as magic watchtowers, in the back. However, the numerous buildings everywhere largely blocked the damage from the spells.

Moreover, wantonly destroying city buildings is not a good thing. In this battle, every human who dies adds to the demons' strength.

"Dean Elena, are you really going to make a move?"

"While the situation is still good, my attack can effectively strike these demons and delay their plans. Once it's truly beyond repair, there's no point in me taking action."

Elena held her witch's staff, her short gray hair gradually growing longer and turning into a silver-gray mane. Soon, a silver-gray lion appeared on the city wall and leaped into the army of clones and demons nearby.

The lion, its body ablaze with silvery-white soul fire, almost instantly pulverized the weak, fake souls of the clones. Then, the lion transformed into a giant werewolf over six meters tall, its claws tearing open the throat of a war demon that couldn't escape in time.

For ordinary superhumans and knights, the War Demon is an enemy that is almost impossible to deal with alone, but in the eyes of witches, especially witches who specialize in shapeshifting melee combat, it is nothing more than slightly more powerful cannon fodder.

The witch's staff also transformed into a giant double-headed sword under the effect of the transformation spell. Few people realized that Elena herself also possessed considerable swordsmanship or rather, staff skills, and she easily broke through to the flesh flowers that had burrowed through the ground.

With a "poof," the werewolf's claws transformed into hundreds of tentacles that pierced through the flesh and blood flower. "Life Drain!" A continuous stream of life force was drawn from the flesh and blood, causing it to wither away at an alarming rate.

This is a unique ability of Elena, or rather, a skill that only top-tier powerhouses at the level of sages and witches can master: directly seizing control of the opponent's power and life from a living being, using the opponent's magic and life force to cast spells or take possession of it.

"Ultra-Effective Healing!" This immense life force rapidly infused into the flesh and blood, quickly healing and eliminating the minor wounds left by the demons and clones. Then, green life flames ignited, scorching all living things around them while also rapidly squandering the life force they had absorbed.

The spoofing demon quickly severed the connection of the flesh and blood flower. Under Elena's attack, several attack strongholds formed by the flesh and blood flowers in the surrounding area were completely flattened. However, she did not have time to deal with the densely packed clones and could only return to the academy first. Moreover, these clones did not pose much of a threat under the academy's defense measures.

Chapter 368 Even the little witch couldn't help but close her eyes.

The Empire certainly wasn't trying to wear down the impossible demon army by attacking and devouring them with fortresses. Instead, it was reducing the ways demons obtained souls and flesh, thereby slowing down their troop growth and buying time for the teams sent into the sewers to deal with the rifts and the pseudo-demons.

This also buys time for the Holy City reinforcements that are about to arrive. The various churches are very good at sealing the Hell Rift, while ordinary extraordinary knights are not good at dealing with this kind of thing.

Even the mages in the academy are far more skilled at tearing open rifts than at healing them.

In the sewer.

The wolf-headed rune sword tilted slightly, allowing the slashing fleshy scimitar to slide aside. Then, the fist encased in iron armor smashed the head of the resolute-looking hero in front of him, causing it to spin 170 degrees. Leon kicked aside the corpse blocking his way, gripped the sword in a backhand grip, and slammed the hilt heavily into the face of the guard clone that was flanking from the side. The blade then slashed across the throat, drawing a large spray of blood.

The knight, bathed in gushing blood, stood in the waterway almost filled with flesh and blood. He took out a small bottle from his robes, and the milky white liquid slowly dripped onto the ground. The holy fire directly burned these replicas to ashes.

"Damn it, I'm lost. I forgot to ask them for a map." Leon could only choose the nearest sewer exit and crawl out to see where he was. According to the intelligence from the capital, these monsters came out from near the river in the noble district, deep in the sewers.

On the surface, in the southern chapel far from the academy, or rather, in a religious area where multiple non-Holy Lord sects gathered, it became a refuge for ordinary people in the capital who didn't have time to go to the academy.

"Block the intersection, don't let those monsters rush in!" Carriages, furniture, and miscellaneous debris were piled up on the street, forming a makeshift barricade. Apart from a few church guards, only civilians with basic combat training were standing guard behind them, trembling as they gripped sharpened wooden sticks.

"Awooo!" A wolf-like howl came from across the street, and soon several war demons and a large group of clones appeared on the street. These clones no longer looked like humans, but were more like some kind of ghouls.

"They're here!" a sentry on a small watchtower cried out in terror. Almost simultaneously with his scream, he was pierced through the watchtower by a javelin and torn off. These clones should now be called "demons" or "mutants." The demons had begun to develop into their second stage. Having collected enough human combat data, they began to create entirely new flesh-and-blood constructs based on it.

"Bang!" The magic crossbow roared as it fired a verdant magic bullet, knocking to the ground the monster at the forefront, whose upper limbs had swelled and expanded, and which was constantly pulling bone spikes from its back to use as spears. The power of the magic bullet tore apart the chest of the mutated monster, but fleshy tentacles that surged from the ground quickly began to repair the wounds.

"Throw the holy water bottle!" The Holy Fire of the Holy Lord Church is the best weapon against demons, and in the absence of that, the holy water of other sects is also an option.

"Daughters of the Moon Goddess, what are you doing?!"

"My Lord, my Lord, you cannot respond to us..." The power of moonlight is still there, but the power of darkness that conceals the aura is gone. All related offensive holy spells have lost their effect. Many priests of the Moon Mother Church who have chosen the physical enhancement path have even found that their path forward is completely cut off. This divine grace is becoming less and less with each use.

"Use Moonfire!"

"But, but it's not a full moon night!!!" Normally, even in the darkness of a non-full moon night, one could summon moonfire to attack, but now... The priest looked at the crescent moon in the sky (which was almost a blank slate) with a sorrowful expression, revealing a helpless look.

Previously, Moonfire was strongest during the full moon and relatively weaker during other lunar phases, but it would still be effective even on the night of the new moon. However, now, while the full moon is still normal, the power of other lunar phases has begun to decrease exponentially, and it becomes completely ineffective on the night of the new moon.

"What about the spark?"