Witch Troupe and the Undead

Of course, you should only take this answer and story with a grain of salt, because what is the greatest hobby of the fairy race? Writing unofficial histories!

Every fairy has a self-consistent version of their own unofficial history. Even stories based on their own experiences are often filled with imaginative twists, artistic embellishments, or even complete fabrications. There are at least eight or ten thousand people who have been misled by these fairy unofficial histories.

“I know a fairy pastry chef who told me that fairies love to fabricate unofficial histories. At least 70% of the stories and histories they tell are unbelievable. If only 50% or 60% of them are embellished and fabricated, then the fairy is considered an honest person, or even a staid old-fashioned person lacking in romance.”

"...She's right," Elder Tianjiang answered Luo Qi's question seriously. "You were able to gain the fairy's approval and tell you the truth, so she must like you very much."

"Huh? Really?" Roach looked at Livia blankly, who also looked bewildered. Leslie wore a look of anticipation, while Lulua and Alessina's expressions weren't much better than Roach's. In particular, the "well-informed" Alessina even instinctively compared the lengths, not saying anything, but her face practically screamed, "These sizes don't match, do they?!"

"Lies are the greatest pleasure of fairies, and the fact that she didn't tease you but told you the truth means that she likes you very much. This is because fairies only tell the truth to those they like and are close to, and this is not absolute, because fairies also use various stories and lies as a kind of fun within their own families."

"Honestly, I don't see at all why Titania likes me..." Roach scratched his head, while Livia next to him had a maternal smile on her face, as if she had thought of something happy.

“Fairy girls are often too lively and carefree. Therefore, when they express their feelings, they are very direct, but most of the time, people will think it is just a joke.”

“I mean, she probably hasn’t made any jokes like that with me,” that’s what Roach meant.

"..." Elder Tianjiang also fell silent. Based on the wisdom he received from the progenitor, the situation of the fairy race was indeed like this. Could it be that the times have changed so much? Even the fairies, who were born from chaos and disorder, have become orderly?

Fairies and giants were among the earliest living beings, born from the chaotic tide of magic. Fairies were so chaotic that even the magic of order was just one of countless other chaotic and unknown magical forces to them. As a result, they were not affected by the demonic effects, just as you can no longer make a brightly colored canvas dirtier.

However, because of this, fairies can mostly only use their natural magic tricks and cannot learn or use arcane spells, alchemy, or other spell systems that emphasize rules and order. Well, this isn't absolute, and there are fairies who have studied these systems, but the final results are mostly chaotic and unclear spell effects that could blow up enemies or themselves at any time...

Hearing this, Leon and the others all looked at Roach. If that's the case, Roach also had a lot of ingenious ideas, and the effects were equally unpredictable. They might blow up enemies, blow up their own people, or even blow themselves to pieces, requiring the little witch to sew them up. From the perspective of fairies and their culture, perhaps, I mean perhaps, he really was the kind of person who was very popular.

However, fairies probably wouldn't hide their feelings either; they don't have that option. At most, the way they express their love might make you think they're just joking around, but the problem is that Roach says they're not even joking around.

There is also a very small possibility, which the elder initially thought was too unlikely. However, if what this "Alchemist" said is true, then the fairy does not like him, but fears him. Fear is one of the ways to get the fairy to tell the truth, and the "Fairy Holy Sword" was obtained through fear rather than affection.

"In the kingdom's history, the first king swore an oath with the fairy, underwent four trials, and accomplished twelve great deeds, thus gaining the fairy queen's help and guidance to obtain this holy sword."

The usually taciturn "Stone Carving Elder" suddenly intervened during the telepathic communication. He was responsible for carving past knowledge and information onto stones and was the custodian of the tribe's history. Naturally, the history of the kingdom was no secret to this prisoner.

"However, the true history is that the former king tortured and tormented the captured fairy princess, forcing her to tell the truth and, with the help of sorcerers and occultists, steal the blueprints for the holy sword."

"Then how did you find out? This kind of dark history shouldn't be something you cricket prisoners could obtain, right?"

“According to His Majesty the Night King himself, he believes that this behavior is more like what the former king did. He does not believe in love, justice or anything like that. In His Majesty’s eyes, only fear and power are the only truths in this world.”

Therefore, he ruled the country with an iron fist and fear, and even after his death, he continues to tyrannize the country in this tomb, poisoning every conscious being with fear and despair.

“What a pathetic soul…” Leon said with a sigh. He could not trust anyone, nor could anyone trust him. He made everyone fear him and dread him, maintaining his rule through brutality and terror. Only in this way could he make others obey his orders instead of paying lip service, because no one would trust his promises.

"A tyrant in everyone's eyes, he only clings to the little he has left, unaware that it is like quicksand, the tighter he holds on, the faster it slips away."

He distrusted his old subordinates, and in his attempt to seize power and the absurd throne after his rebirth, he turned his only trustworthy army and veterans into rebels. Similarly, he disappointed the few giants who were willing to believe his promises; his so-called hostages had long been killed, and even before that, they were drained of all their value, reduced to playthings in the arena.

It is believed that when the so-called oath ends, these giants will smash his entire tomb and drag out his bones—if any—to chop them up and feed them to the fish.

"That holy sword has a truly unique design."

"Because the original was used by the fairies and made from the seeds of the Tree of Life, every engraving is a natural rune on the Great Tree of Life, representing life and destiny, while these are replicas, replicas forged based on the original blueprints."

The original Holy Sword was only the length of a human palm, made from the condensed seeds of the Great Tree of Life, or more precisely, from the seed shells. That's why each one is a hollow rhombus. Normally, the core parts that interlock with each other are the seeds of the Tree of Life.

A seed resembling a jade-green octahedral crystal cannot be used to cultivate new Trees of Life, but it is a material for making advanced life potions. It can have an effect similar to resurrection. Simply put, as long as you haven't died, or haven't died long enough for your soul to leave and your brain to die, it can bring you back to life.

Even injuries like being cut in two or broken into a stick, or even having one's head chopped off, can be revived if the wounds are healed quickly enough. Therefore, this magic potion is also known as the "resurrection potion" or the "phoenix potion." However, it can only treat deaths caused by external injuries and some sudden illnesses. It cannot revive corpses that have truly died of old age or have been dead for some time.

"The king forged it with metal and ordered the astrologers to interpret the meaning of the runes on it..." Elder Tianjiang looked at the banner hanging on the door curtain, with the silhouette of the Fairy Holy Sword in the center of the banner.

"From life to death..." At the beginning of the kingdom's establishment, it was an era in which even the progenitor giants still had a small number of dormant descendants. In other words, death was everywhere, and outside the human city walls, there might be a surging tide of demons.

Of course, this surging chaotic demonic tide was not without its benefits. It was the most extreme manifestation of the physical changes in this world, which also meant that many powerful magical materials and minerals that were extinct or even rare in modern times were very abundant at that time. At one point, these minerals themselves could breed powerful monsters.

Therefore, people at that time could collect enough materials to build golems, even such an enlarged version of the Holy Sword. However, even so, collecting the materials to create these "Knights of the Round Table" golems almost drained the national treasury and the wealth of the entire country.

"I have one last question," Roach thought for a few seconds before asking, "What good things has that Night King actually done?"

After a long silence, the Grand Elder finally spoke, “I cannot discuss the King’s faults. Our oath requires us to assume that the King is incapable of making mistakes.”

“I understand…” Roach was about to talk about repairing the golem, because the most troublesome holy sword did not need repair. It did not seem to be too damaged, and as long as the damage was not too serious, the little witch could also help repair it.

Just as he was about to speak, a long horn sounded in his ears, followed by the loud noise of armor rubbing and clashing. Leon used his sword sheath to lift the curtain, and the giant guards outside ran in an orderly fashion to their posts, each holding two large shields and two weapons in each of their four hands. The shields could be joined together to form a huge shield wall that almost covered their entire bodies.

"Whoosh~" Sharp stones slid through the air and hit the shields, leaving a handful of white dust. Then came a barrage of arrows and javelins. Even though these giant warriors were all wearing heavy armor and wielding large shields, several of them were injured and fell.

Their blood was a grayish-white liquid. Roach even suspected that these guys might not be organic beings, as they did not have red blood cells. The dead giants began to petrify from their wounds in a short time, eventually turning into twisted stone statues on the ground.

Outside the camp, at least several hundred pale human figures appeared on the opposite side of the underground river, bypassing the city gate's defenses and launching a fierce attack on the camp. It seemed that the previous tremors had damaged part of the rock wall, creating a path to bypass the defenses.

Soon, urgent horn sounds rang out from the direction of the city gate, and the city gate passage was also damaged. The giant had no choice but to get entangled with these suddenly appearing rebels. As old rivals who had fought for who knows how long, they were familiar with each other's weaknesses. The giant turned slowly and had dull senses, so he would not feel pain even if he was slashed several times.

This is their strength—their fearlessness of pain and injury—but it is also their weakness. Because they cannot perceive the harm they suffer, they will unknowingly bleed to death, eventually petrifying into a cracked statue.

The giants also knew the rebels' weakness: they relied on tentacles inside their eyes to perceive the outside world, and could only sense general outlines and magical reactions. Therefore, the giants suppressed their heartbeats, which was a dangerous action that meant they could suddenly turn into stone at any moment, but it also made them look like the stone statues that filled the passage.

The statues were made from the remains of giants who had died in battle, not from the work of artisans who Roach and his men thought. This effectively confused the rebel soldiers, who would be struck by shields as they passed by the statues, their safety uncertain, and hear the sound of bones being smashed.

The rebel soldiers' tactics of besieging the Titans were equally dangerous. They had to harass them repeatedly, maintain good coordination, and frantically attack the weak points of the armor to create openings and dodge. If they were not careful, they would be smashed by the giant sword or shield. However, this tactic also caused many inexperienced Titans or young Titans who dared not continue to "conceal their aura" to be drained of their blood.

"Commander? The war has already begun."

"what?"

“If you don’t want to participate in this farce, then leave.” “Those rebels will not let go of anyone who has even the slightest connection with the Eternal Night King.” After the Grand Elder finished speaking, he stopped talking and just listened to the sounds of battle outside. To ordinary people, it was just the noisy clash of weapons, but to him, it was a battle report composed of countless mental messages and battle cries.

"Do you need help?"

"Unless you can persuade those severely mutated rebels to cooperate with these giants, and then we can storm the royal city together?"

"...Then let's forget about it. At least these giants seem to have been persuaded, and the probability of them helping to attack the royal city is almost zero, not to mention the rebels."

“If we do nothing, they might attack the royal city after they’ve eliminated the giants,” because Roach and his men had already heard the creaking of the catapults and the sound of stones hitting the statue in the center of the town model.

"What I fear most is... that after they eliminate the giants, they plan to eliminate us as well, and they can't even take down the royal city, don't forget that..."

"Yes, I didn't even have a chance to ask..."

There's also a "Knight of the Round Table" inside the royal city, and it's probably the captain's unit. The witch could crush these rebels with just a mass-produced machine, let alone that captain's unit. It didn't even take five minutes to destroy the witch's machine, including three minutes of posing time.

Chapter 400: Not Knowing What to Name

Countless pale rebels crawled out from the cracks in the rocks, even forming square-like military formations. Roach observed these enemies from behind the giant's guard fence and found that they could be roughly divided into four classes or structures.

The lowest rank consisted of the lowest-ranking soldiers or slaves who carried stone picks or slings, were wrapped in rags, and were extremely thin.

The three elders were also not very familiar with the organizational structure of these pale rebels. They could only tell Roach that these pale rebels were led by several generals and lived in the front courtyard. They did not know the exact location, since the oath bound them to not leave this small space.

Since Roach and his companions directly piloted the golems, skipping the actual third level and jumping straight into the arena, they couldn't be sure whether these pale rebels lived in the underground palace between the theater and the arena. It was also possible that they lived in the caves surrounding the arena, just as they appeared from the outside.

However, the pale rebels that appeared in those caves seemed to be the lowest-level cannon fodder. They brandished their weapons, waded across the riverbank, and faced the giant guards in small groups of three to five, under the stones and crude javelins thrown by their own side. Usually, one or two people would hold back the giant guards' shields and swords in front, while another would wait behind to attack the guards' vulnerable backs and legs.

However, their weapons were too rudimentary, requiring many hits to inflict even the slightest damage, and were more like a waste of the giants' stamina. If they made a mistake, they would be turned into mincemeat.

"Why don't you fight in formation?" Leon was curious as to why these giants were fighting alone instead of in formation. In his view, if these giants formed a simple shield formation, these crude cannon fodder would not be able to cause any damage.

The giant general who was commanding the battle said nothing, but simply waved his hand, indicating that no questions should be asked and that everyone should just watch.

The second class of pale rebels consisted of slightly stronger individuals dressed in tattered clothes. They carried no weapons but instead carried huge metal canisters with long hoses attached to a complex device in their hands.

"..." Flamethrower soldiers, Roach could understand why these giants used skirmish formations. Otherwise, these things wouldn't even be able to spray fire at us; they could just charge up and self-destruct and blast the giants' limited forces to smithereens in two hits.

These pale rebels were probably a more regular army; besides those carrying jars, some carried flint spears and metal swords, and some even had shields and armor made of leather and stone flakes.

[Stone armor does exist; the Shaanxi History Museum has a complete set.]

However, these "flamethrowers" did not spew flames. Instead, they sprayed out a large number of spiral cone-shaped missiles from their long, complex device. These missiles even had some guidance capabilities, and each one could explode into a fist-sized cloud of light on the giant's shield.

Rather than an explosion or a thermal weapon, it was more like a rudimentary magical attack. To be honest, its power was not great. A giant could withstand several rounds of such ranged attacks, its entire body almost completely enveloped in the bursting halo and colorful mist, leaving only small dents on the metal shield.

However, if they stand a little closer, a translucent white block, resembling an ice cube, will be launched from the ranged units. Its power is immense; upon landing, it will create numerous piercing crystals that radiate in all directions. Many giants will be pierced instantly and petrified at high speed.

“Hmm, earth elemental domain spell, and otherworldly secret domain.” Livia judged the general principle of this spell configuration or the source of its magic power. However, she had never seen this spell configuration before and was very curious. Moreover, the source of this otherworldly magic power was not a common place like hell or the underworld.

The giants also had the ability to deal with these spell soldiers. The heavy ballistae set up at the four corners made a loud bang, and a spell soldier was pierced through. The broken canisters sprayed out a large amount of colorful golden mist, which gathered in mid-air into clumps that looked like glowing worms.

The pale rebel soldiers let out sharp screams and scrambled away on their hands and feet. Those who were unlucky enough to be contaminated were wriggling like real worms, crawling into their mouths and noses. Soon, their bodies began to emit a faint blue light, and they would frantically attack the surrounding friendly forces until they were pierced by a javelin or stone spear.

“Hmm, it’s a living thing…” Livia rubbed her fingers together and waved her little hand. The golden spots seemed to be drawn by something, but after moving less than ten meters, they extinguished one by one and finally turned into countless light blue crystal powders that fell down.

“It’s a living being,” Livia confirmed her judgment. It wasn’t some kind of magical mist or spiritual water vapor, but some kind of living being, or something like a firefly. The magic soldiers seemed to be extracting magic from this creature to power their weapons.

Judging from this magical configuration, this creature should be an "otherworldly being" and possess "earth elemental attributes," but she didn't know what that meant; she could study it later. After being attacked by the giant's ranged attacks, the magic soldiers further dispersed, hiding in various bunkers and ditches along the riverbank.

Meanwhile, the giants seemed to have brought out some kind of ancient weapon. Two craftsmen cranked a handle, lifting a fiery red device made of bronze from some kind of underground storage warehouse.

It looked like the claws of some kind of wild beast, stretching forward, with faint flames burning between each claw.

As the giant craftsman gripped the lever with all four of his hands, the flames burning in the furnace of the base were instantly drawn upwards by the power of the magical ritual, entering between the claws. Starting from the first claw gap, fist-sized fireballs were unleashed, and the spellcasters, due to their enormous containers, became the primary targets of these fireballs.

"Crunch~ Crunch~ Bang!" With the sound of energy being released, the huge crystal block roared and crashed towards the front of the giant camp. It exploded the moment it hit the ground, releasing a burst of intense light.

Roach instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes, and heard several giants around him let out shrill screams, but he himself felt no problem.

“No injury, it seems to be just glowing…” Leon also released the little witch from behind his cloak. His armor was still spotless. Alessina also checked himself and found nothing had happened. Even the weakest mermaid was unharmed.

However, the giant guard who had just been standing next to Roch screamed and fell to the ground, his body covered with large areas that looked like burns. Soon, these burn marks turned into countless bluish-gray patches spreading across the skin, from which countless sharp stones grew, seemingly trying to turn the body into a rough stone statue.

Fortunately, the process stopped quickly. However, the guard lost his fighting ability as a result and was carried to the back by the taciturn ordinary Titan civilians. There, several female Titans seemed to be healing him with some kind of ancient ritual magic, and a deep purple power representing the darkness shone between their fingers.

Lulua rushed over to help. After all, she was a true Night God's follower, and she was exceptionally fortunate in praying for divine favor. To put it simply, her salary level was very high, and the goddess paid her a lot of money. Therefore, she had enough savings to purchase the paid value-added services of the "Night God Group," which were essentially divine blessings.

With Lulua's help, some of the more severely injured Titans were able to maintain their vital signs, and it would take them several days or even weeks to slowly recover from the petrification.

"Hmm..." After observing the battlefield for a while, the witch finally decided which spell to use. As the saying goes, a witch who has enough cannon fodder to hold the line and enough time and safe space to observe is invincible.

Amethyst powder slipped from her delicate fingers, and the edge of her skirt seemed to be tinged with a strange purplish-black halo. A distorted purplish-black space seemed to spread in all directions from under the girl's skirt, like mist, or like a huge purplish-black curtain pulled up from the ground. In the end, this curtain enveloped the entire battlefield.

All light, whether supernatural or non-supernatural, was blocked out. The exploding light crystals disappeared silently into the black mist that suddenly appeared and enveloped the riverbank battlefield, producing nothing.

Of course, this did not affect the battle between the two sides. Neither the giants nor these pale rebels relied on sight to locate their enemies. Whether there was light or not was irrelevant. Rather, the light crystals here were more like a way to weaken and suppress these giants. In the darkness, the giants unleashed even greater power.

They no longer need to suppress themselves; they can lower their heart rate to synchronize with the earth, drawing upon its almost limitless earth elemental magic to heal their injuries and restore their strength. However, in a light-filled area, this action will quickly petrify them from the heart, ultimately turning them into ugly, twisted stone statues—a death sentence.

“No souls…” Livia looked at the battlefield with some confusion, or rather, their souls could not form stable fragments and structures. The difference between their souls and those of normal living beings was probably similar to the difference between gas and solid.

According to Livia's perception and understanding, the souls of most creatures in this world are like solids, like grains of sand. Once broken, they cannot be pieced back together. Although they are soft and can regenerate to some extent, once their integrity is broken, they become those drifting fragments of the soul.

Even if she stitches it up, it's only a temporary measure. Once the jade fragments break apart, they will shatter again. In addition, those soul fragments are just sand balls gathered together.

Roach's soul is like a liquid. Although it can't combine and merge with each other as freely as water, it is at least a kind of viscous fluid. As long as it is stitched up, it will slowly merge into a whole over time.

The souls of these giants and the pale rebels were like gas. While the souls of normal beings can persist for a period after leaving their bodies, taking a considerable amount of time to dissipate, their souls vanished the instant of death. Even the witch struggled to capture enough fragments; the bottle in her hand contained only a tiny, faint glimmer of light.

The witch maintained this enormous dark canopy, which caused some commotion in the pale rebel camp. The last two classes were the commander class and the elite class.

The former has a tent-like dwelling, walks upright, wears heavy armor, and has hundreds of slender, translucent tentacles extending outward from behind the grille of their faceplates; the latter both have weapons and armor made of ancient metal, at the very least a metal shield and a rusty broadsword.

"..." The pale rebels whispered among themselves. The dark sky could not prevent them from observing the battlefield, but it did prevent the attack of their largest artillery units. Moreover, the troops carrying spears and javelins made of glowing crystals were also useless.

The battle between the two sides seemed to have instantly shifted from trench warfare in World War I back to cold weapon combat. Apart from the occasional missiles and fireballs, most of the fighting was limited to close-quarters combat.

Without the ability to use luminous crystal weapons, these pale rebel rank-and-file soldiers were truly no match for these giant guards.

After all, the former is only about 1.56 meters tall when standing upright, while the latter is at least 4 meters tall with four thick arms. The combatants are all wearing heavy metal armor, making the fight seem like an adult bullying a kindergarten child.

Especially after losing the continuous damage from the glowing crystal weapon and the continuous debuff from the crystal light above their heads, these giants have made use of their "children of the earth" talent inherited from their ancestors. As long as they stand on the ground, their stamina and injury recovery will be accelerated, even if this acceleration is only about twice the stamina recovery and wound healing speed of a normal person.

This healing speed is actually not very useful. A normal person's ordinary knife wound takes at least several days to heal and 5 to 10 minutes to stop the bleeding. Twice the healing speed means it takes 2 to 5 minutes to stop the bleeding, provided that the person is resting without exercising.

However, their stamina recovery speed is incredible, which means that as long as they control the rhythm, they can maintain a high level of attack power and speed for a long time, coupled with the advantages of heavy armor, thick skin, and great strength.

These pale rebels were quickly driven out of the riverbank position, but the giants did not rashly step out of the cover of darkness. Instead, they launched various weapons and spears at the pale rebels on the opposite bank. The power of their spear attacks with their four arms was equivalent to that of small ballistae, and each shot could penetrate several layers of shields and armor.

"Woo~" The pale rebels sounded some kind of trombone-like instrument, and soon the front-line troops retreated to their camps. The two sides exchanged fireballs and missiles across the riverbank, hiding in bunkers and trenches, returning to the boring scene of trench warfare.

"Magic, it can't last long," the commander ordered in a hoarse voice. "Maintain the front line, wear them down!" His voice was muffled, as if he had countless grains of sand in his throat and mouth. Perhaps it was because they hadn't used language to communicate in a long time. In the dungeon, sound would attract attacks from the monsters hiding inside, as well as the ancient defensive mechanisms and puppets.

It must be said that the commander's view was correct. The little witch is indeed not a player in long battles. It would be remarkable if she could maintain this canopy for half an hour without getting enough rest.

At most, it would allow the giants to catch their breath, draw upon the earth's power to recover their strength, and channel the chaotic earth magic within them back into the earth to restore the layers of debuffs on their bodies. Meanwhile, above the arena...

"Bang!" A heavy fist burning with demonic flames slammed into the face of a giant petrified lizard. The black horse-headed giant leaped onto the lizard's back, grabbed its seven-spike crest, and began to beat it mercilessly until the dark gold chain hammer smashed the lizard's brains out.

"Where did the young lady go? She couldn't possibly be that fast. Did I miss her?" Old Ma looked around. In the gaps and inside the room, there were some small creatures hiding. They looked pale and weak, not like any formidable opponents. He also couldn't find any signs of battle between the young lady or Roach, or even the paladin.

"Could I have really missed it?" It would be too much to fight my way to the bottom only to find the young lady resting somewhere on the upper level. Old Ma felt that whether he could defeat the sealed artifact on the bottom level was secondary; the main issue was that its resources were truly outrageous. What if three more Dark Gold Puppets suddenly appeared, or even more?

Of course, what Old Ma didn't know was that in the audience hall, there wasn't just one golem, but twenty or thirty golems, and they were even operating dragon-hunting crossbows used to target dragons, as well as an elite captain-level dark gold golem.

If Old Ma were to charge in headfirst, he could return to the highest level of Hell and wait for the resurrection bar to start as the lowest-level Hellworm. Although Old Ma was unaware of such a treacherous battlefield, he figured that with the resources of the guys in this tomb, it was impossible for them to place three Dark Gold Golems in the outer area and not more, or even larger ones, in the core area.

"Should we go back and look again?" Old Ma looked around. With the young lady's stamina, it was impossible for her to walk this far without resting. Therefore, she should still be in the upper area, and the upper area was big enough for her to hide in some room to rest.

"How about we find a place they have to wait for?" Old Ma looked down. The arena seemed like a good spot. They could fight their way over there, take out the opponents they could beat, and then wait for the young lady and the others to slowly move down from the upper level. Great, that's the plan!