Witch Troupe and the Undead

Chapter 401 The Plan

The number of Pale Rebels was increasing, but they gathered on the riverbank and did not launch any more attacks. Instead, they were repairing their camps and building siege weapons. It was clear that they had mobilized all able-bodied men, including some strong women, to make weapons and ammunition in the camps.

“I say, why don’t you let the water flow a little and let them pass? I don’t think you have any particular conflicts with each other, right?” Roach looked at the giant general beside him. The three elders were completely unable to move, so the front-line command was in the hands of this giant general whose name was unknown.

“We cannot break our oath, and…” the giant general pointed his sword at the pale rebels, “they will not show any mercy.”

"Never tried it?"

"I've tried it," the giant general said, looking at Roach. "I tried it the first time."

The result was that peace talks were impossible, because in the eyes of the Pale Rebels, these giants were the king's executioners, weapons he used to suppress rebellions, and should go to hell with the king. Moreover, the accusations or hatred against them were genuine.

According to the Giant General, initially, the Shadow Giants did indeed act as henchmen for the Night King, under orders from him, to suppress the army and craftsmen who attempted to destroy the underground palace and break out of it.

"We worked with the puppets and the colossus to destroy all their resistance, trapping them and the artisans underground," the giant general sighed, his voice like the cracking of rocks. "So they rejected all our offers."

"..." Luo Qi sighed. Damn it, this Night King is really good at being inhuman. He has blocked every possible path to a peaceful resolution.

Most importantly, you have no way to tell the other side that these giants were also coerced. Imagine, as the king's most loyal follower, when you have suppressed the artisans' rebellion and are preparing to execute the craftsmen who built the tomb, you find yourself being sacrificed as a funerary offering.

After learning of this, their attempts and hopes to break out of the tomb were crushed by the giants restrained by the king. Then, in this dark and sunless place, they multiplied generation after generation, eventually becoming this inhuman and ghostly creature. To be honest, just thinking about it, Roach could feel how terrifying the anger and hatred of these pitiful people must be.

Moreover, even if the other side wasn't blinded by hatred, frankly speaking, the giants might not be willing to negotiate. They are bound by an oath, and their progenitor is also in the hands of the Night King.

Although the arena has been reduced to skeletons, the Night King may still have more than one hostage. If the safety of the other hostages cannot be guaranteed, or if they have already been killed, it will be difficult for the Titans to compromise.

Even if everything goes according to the most ideal plan, with the Pale Rebels setting aside their hatred, the Giants agreeing to peace talks, and both sides learning that the hostages have been killed, and both willing to direct their hatred towards the Night King, what about the oath?

Thinking of this, Roach looked at Livia, "Miss, do you have a way to deal with that oath?"

"..." The blonde witch gave Roach a strange look, then reached out and rubbed Roach's face with both hands. "Don't think too much~" She looked as if she had heard some outlandish idea.

"What about Leon?"

“Theoretically speaking… there is indeed a way, and the Holy Lord also has a divine office in this regard. However, I am not a priest, and given that the person to whom the other party swears the oath and the witnesses are uncertain, I cannot say whether there is a way.”

"Breaking an oath is a very troublesome thing, and according to them, it's not even the kind of oath that's made casually or with the gods as witnesses." Not all oaths are enforced, otherwise the world would be too wonderful.

A casual oath has no binding force except your conscience; while the common kind that asks the gods to witness has a little bit of binding force, at least the major orthodox churches will assist in supervision, but that is based on the premise that you are in a formal and solemn occasion, and there are enough religious witnesses present.

Moreover, the level of supervision provided by this system is only slightly higher than that of a casual oath. As long as it is not a clear breach of the oath, there is basically no constraint. Unless the person making the oath is truly lucky or unlucky, and at that moment more than one deity actually glances at them, thus achieving the effect of "witnessing the gods" in a true sense.

A truly effective oath is one made in the name of one or more specific deities through a specific sacred ceremony, witnessed by specific symbols. Due to the nature of the ceremony, these deities will inevitably glance at it, and some deities with interest in this matter may even witness the entire process and leave their mark.

Therefore, breaking the oath becomes almost impossible. The only reliable way to dissolve the oath is for the two parties who made the oath, or their authorized representatives, to announce the dissolution of the oath in the presence of the deity who witnessed it.

That's why Leon said that without knowing who the witnesses were or who the oath was taken, it's difficult to find a loophole. And most of these loopholes lie in the definition of "plenipotentiary representative." If the oath was taken to the Night King personally, then his direct bloodline can be considered "plenipotentiary representatives" after his death and the annihilation of his soul.

All that is needed is to find out which deity was the witness at the time, and the ceremony can be completed, thus declaring the end of the vow.

If the oath is taken against his kingdom, then after the kingdom's collapse, any former citizen of the kingdom can, through a simple operation, declare himself to inherit the kingdom's legal authority. If done properly, it is possible to exploit loopholes. Although it is not as thorough or reliable as the first method of dissolving the oath, it is still possible to manipulate the situation.

However, now that it is unclear whether these giants swore their oaths to the Night King or his kingdom, and who the witnesses are, it is almost impossible to break the oaths.

"They didn't even keep the original oath, which is the most troublesome part..." Of course, the parties involved know who they were swearing to, but that's useless. What's written on the original oath is what matters—it's like a verbal agreement is useless; you have to see what's written in the contract.

“They don’t even remember the original oath.” Roach was also troubled. You should find something to record this kind of thing and pass it down from generation to generation. If you don’t know the original, you don’t know what it means.

If it were someone else, Roach could have been somewhat fooled, or he could have had the giant elders recount the general situation and text. However, with a humanoid creature like the Night King, he genuinely couldn't believe that the other party hadn't played word games in the oath text, especially since these giants didn't seem like the kind of cunning and treacherous beings—their faces practically screamed "I'm easy to fool."

"Even if we resolve the issue of the giants' oath, there's still a large group of rebels. How are we going to deal with their hatred?"

"The only way is probably for the Night King to personally intervene," Leslie complained. The giant's oath was to protect the Night King's tomb, not him personally. Even if it included him, there was a loophole: if both the tomb and the person were threatened at the same time, which would take priority? Of course, this loophole was meaningless.

After all, these are tombs. When this oath is needed, the person will definitely be lying inside. At most, there are rules about which has higher priority, the remains or the tomb. However, Leslie thinks it's unlikely that such a thing would be written specifically in the original oath.

"As long as the Night King shows up, everyone present only needs to attack him." Needless to say, the pale rebels will also undoubtedly take action, unless the Night King still holds the life of the living progenitor of the giants in his hands, which can threaten these giants to continue to obey his orders.

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"I said everyone in the stadium only needs to attack him."

"Previous sentence"

"Huh? The Night King himself came out?" Leslie was stunned for a moment, then looked at Livia. "She can summon spirits? I mean those who have been dead for who knows how many years?"

"Or are you planning to impersonate that guy?" Leon looked at Roach, wondering what idea he had come up with.

"I haven't asked before, is the title of Eternal Night King his personal name, or a general title for all kings?" Roach looked at the giant general, who paused for half a second, then, seeing that there was nothing unusual on the battlefield and that the pale rebels were still maintaining their standoff and preparing more war equipment, he replied, "It's the title of the king."

"What are his distinguishing features?" The giant general glanced at the central statue, his expression speaking volumes.

"I mean, what special characteristics, physical or symbolic?"

"The crown?" The giant general was also asked, but soon the elder's voice echoed through the mental link: "The sword and the crown. When the king is out in the world, he never shows his true face, but uses the crown and the holy sword as symbols."

"In other words, the one wearing the crown and wielding the holy sword is the Night King?" Roach pressed.

"Master Roach, you're not trying to impersonate him, are you? That's a bit difficult. If it were that easy to break the oath..."

“I’m not talking about the oath,” Roach said after a moment’s thought, then looked at Livia. “Would it be difficult to make an exact replica?”

"Enchantment?"

"Enchant it, enchant it according to the runes on that sword. You don't need all of them, just the most commonly used or the most distinctive ones."

“We need to look into it,” the little witch said, not refusing, but instead showing a thoughtful expression. She seemed to understand what Roach meant.

"Everyone come here!" Roach led everyone from the outer wall of the camp to the rest area in the upper city, where they could get a close look at the stone statue and the fairy holy sword in its hand.

What exactly are you planning to do?

"Leslie just said that unless the Night King appears, everyone present will unite against a common enemy, right?"

"Of course," Leon said after learning about the evil deeds of the Night King. He added that if this newborn were in front of him, he would at least strike him with a sword.

"Then, does it need to be the true Night King?"

"The true Night King...you mean...?"

“Those pale rebels have been here for many years. They are not bound by any oath, and the only way they can distinguish the Night King is by his appearance and image. Even this image has become blurred over the years. Although the giants have seen the Night King in person and are bound by an oath to distinguish him, it is precisely because of this that the rebels believe them.”

Leon understood Roach's meaning: to become a fake Night King. Because he was fake, the Titans would not be breaking their oath if they attacked him. Regardless of the original oath, the Titans had not broken their oath. Furthermore, this fake Night King should escape into the fortress and the palace. Since he was not the real Night King, he would also be considered an intruder.

As for the Pale Rebels, they had no way of distinguishing them, especially from a distance; they could only judge them by their features and the giants' reactions.

Leon, who had battlefield experience, was the quickest to understand this, because on the battlefield, no one remembers what a general looks like. What soldiers remember are the general's battle flag and characteristics, such as armor and an exaggerated helmet. This is why capturing a flag and beheading a general are considered equal achievements—only those with a general's battle flag are generals, and a general who loses his flag is just a higher-ranking soldier.

Based on this principle, if these pale rebels were previously lowly craftsmen and soldiers under his command, they most likely have never seen the true face of the Night King. The king's entourage is more familiar to them or more...trustworthy than the king's appearance.

"By the way, Livia, can you still use that Titan Soldier spell from before?"

“Yes, just a little while,” Livia said.

"It won't be long before you use that magic ritual to summon a colossus-like giant warrior. Then, Leon, you will put on the Night King's regalia and stand up to command the giant army to suppress these rebels."

"I'd give myself away if I opened my mouth, and I can't possibly imitate that twisted tone..."

“None of these pale rebels have ever heard how the Night King gave his commands, and he couldn’t possibly have lived that long. Besides, isn’t it normal for the undead to not speak?” Roach explained. “You just need to strike a pose and then use your actions to command those giants.”

"I will communicate with the elders regarding the giants."

"and then?"

"Of course, you'll flee in disarray on the battlefield. Under Miss's control, you'll break down the back gate of the palace, let the Colossus fall in, and then you'll get out. Anyway, it'll be far enough that no one can see you. Then you can just say that the Eternal Night King escaped inside."

"Is this okay?"

“Okay.” The biggest conflict between the giants and these pale ones is that the latter don’t trust the former at all. But the hatred from back then has been going on for a long time, which means there is a possibility of being redeemed. The best way to redeem them is to make them realize that the giants hate the Night King just like they do, and to form a temporary alliance during this pursuit.

"So now the problem comes back to where it started: what about the vow?"

"Isn't this fulfilling our oath?" Roach laughed. "The giants' oath wasn't to suppress the rebels, but to prevent the tomb from being destroyed. So why weren't we attacked before?"

“Because we are driving… Ah!” Leon suddenly realized, “Those trolls are part of the dungeon itself. When we drive those things, we are not ‘foreign invaders,’ but rather driving golems into the dungeon. This is not destruction or invasion.”

"Yes, and there's another point: we are outsiders, representing the 'Kingdom.' Whether those giants believe it or not, at least their oath hasn't been fulfilled, has it?"

“As long as we don’t show any intention to destroy the underground palace, then… the giants won’t stop us. And those pale rebels and giants are both chasing the ‘false Eternal Night King’ and the colossi. In other words, according to the oath of the giants, those pale rebels are not invaders, but accomplices.”

"That's right, and their oath should also include not entering the Upper City and the Bridge District. Therefore, as long as the Pale Rebels pass through the camp and enter the Upper City or the Bridge District, then it will no longer be the giants' responsibility."

“They must have been preventing outsiders from entering the upper district…” Roach smiled without saying a word, “Those pale rebels, although they have betrayed us, their identities are still…”

"The army of the Eternal Night King... is not from outsiders."

Why didn't those giants think of this idea before?

"Could they even conceive of this? And... if they came up with this plan themselves, then they've breached the contract," Leon nodded emphatically. "They can't possibly deceive themselves, devise it themselves, and then pretend they haven't breached the contract. But it's different when we devise it—not being able to distinguish between falling into a trap and breaching the contract are two different things."

"Therefore, we cannot tell the giants the whole truth. We can only hint at it indirectly and reveal some external details, such as that the Night King will appear on the battlefield and that they should not stop the rebels who are seeking revenge against the Night King."

"And as long as the rebels don't enter the upper district, they're unrestrained on the riverbank. So we can even use their power to repair that troll statue. Maybe they have other troll statues too." All we need to do is have the little witch "persuade" them one by one, and then everyone can drive in their Gundams and storm in.

Putting aside the fact that piloting a Gundam would likely be a bug that allows them to bypass the oath against the Titans, they could still have a reason to say: "We couldn't stop them, brothers!" Incompetence doesn't necessarily mean they've broken their oath. They really could have stopped them, but they couldn't!

"The only problem here is that the enemy general is a rational person who will follow your plan, and that the giant elders will understand your hints. One mistake here and it's all over."

"Then what good ideas do you have?" Roach spread his hands and looked at the palace behind him.

“What I mean is, we need to take precautions to ensure that the giants have to cooperate even if they don’t understand, and the same goes for the pale rebels.”

"Oh?"

"Their oath originates from the progenitor... and the progenitor's remains are outside, along with a greatsword called 'Giants's Hatred.' I suspect that sword will attract the giants' frenzied attacks." This is probably why the Night King left this thing outside. If the adventurers are greedy enough to take this thing and venture deeper, they will soon understand what "Giants' Hatred" means!

"what do you mean……"

"Given that freak king's freakish personality, I guess this sword should allow the giants to bypass the oath's constraints to some extent. So, all we need to do is hold this sword and charge in, and the giants can follow us in."

"At the same time, the remains of the progenitor can also make them completely give up hope..."

"Then what about the Pale Rebels?"

"I guess they wouldn't mind the help of a group of outsiders, especially since our goal is to get rid of the Eternal Night King and this underground palace. There are no fundamental conflicts of interest or contradictions between us."

As for the adventurers potentially damaging the dungeon and plundering its treasures, that's a joke. The Pale Rebels would be happy to see that happen. The only problem is... if real adventurers come in, they might mistake the women and children living on the third floor for monsters and kill them, then plunder their savings, thus creating a deadly feud.

However, Roach and his group skipped levels. Even though they killed many in the arena, those were piloting Gundams, and their true appearances were not revealed. Therefore, they had no enmity with these pale rebels, and their interests and goals were even the same.

Unless these people are monsters who have completely lost their rationality, but if they were such monsters, they would not have formed such a well-organized army, much less have such intense hatred and purpose.

Both Leon and Alessina said the plan was feasible. The biggest problem now was who would impersonate the Night King. Then everyone looked at Roach—he was the only one who wouldn't die, and he was undoubtedly the most suitable for this grand undertaking.

If they don't escape in time, they'll probably be killed by those puppets and thrown out as corpses. Then they can just revive the witch. I have to say, that's the good thing about being immortal. You can do these extremely dangerous jobs as bait and substitutes without worrying about escaping afterwards.

Chapter 402 Although the performance was a disaster, but...

Giants' camp, elders' tent. "The King's Crown?" The elder observed the crown that the little witch in front of him had made based on the stone statue. Although it was just a stone model, the shape and structure were determined first, and then it was replicated with real materials.

Of course, there's no need to use the original expensive dark gold or fine gold materials; instead, you can use cheap dark copper with dye.

“It’s very similar… but…” The elder extended a withered finger and touched the crown, “There are still quite a few differences. The crown was left to the successor when the king passed away. When the king went to sleep, he wore a regular crown, which was different in style from the crown on the statue.”

“Hmm~” Livia reached out and covered the crown. The stone crown quickly deformed, changing according to the memories passed down by the elders into the crown worn by the Night King when he was buried, which was also the style of the crown worn when he ordered the giants to suppress the rebels.

Next, the crown's diameter was adjusted to match Roach's head size. As for the armor, it was made by gluing simple dead wood and clay onto Leon's heavy armor, much like making a large, life-size clay doll.

The best craftsman at this job was Roach. He not only perfectly simulated the shape of the armor with clay, but also mixed a special coating with various metal powders from the alchemy kit. After several adjustments, it was almost impossible to tell the difference unless you looked closely.

Moreover, neither the giants nor the Pale Ones could observe with their eyes. Therefore, Roach and Livia cut about half a gram of Titan crystal and mixed it with other herbal materials to create a coating that simulated the surface material and magical reaction of the Night King's armor.

"It's a bit heavy, but it shouldn't be a problem if I don't do any strenuous exercise." Roach tested Leon's armor. Even without the lining, it was still a bit too heavy. Fortunately, he didn't need to do any strenuous exercise while wearing the armor; he only needed to pose.

The witch slowly closed her emerald eyes, placed her small hands flat in front of her, fingers spread, her fair palms overlapping each other facing the ground, and specks of magical light swirled around her fingertips. As the witch slowly pulled them apart, a long light pattern appeared, which was the shape of the fairy holy sword.

Countless crystals and metal powder provided by the giant craftsman came together, just like the "iron rod" originally made for Roach, and quickly stretched into several interlocking prismatic structures, or like two sharp tree roots intertwined into the shape of a DNA double helix, finally converging at the end into a flat prismatic metal sheet like a branding iron tip.

"It's finished..." The witch handed the completed draft to Roach, who was in charge of the subsequent finishing touches, until it was perfect and exactly the same as the design and the holy sword on the statue. Then came the inscription of runes.

It is filled with magical essence powder made by the arcane sorcerer. It does not need to have the same function as the real holy sword. It only needs to have the same magical strength as the real holy sword, and it does not even need to be maintained all the time.

"Boom!" The ground shook as the pale rebels launched a new attack. Large pieces of glowing crystals were hurled at the giants' camp and makeshift positions by catapults. This time, the little witch was too exhausted to help them erect a dark barrier. In fact, she was almost completely drained.

While waiting for Roach to finish the final touches and finishing touches, the little head was nodding off as if it was about to fall asleep at any moment.

"Bang!" The thick shield collided with flesh and blood, making a dull sound. The giant guard's body was almost motionless. His two extra hands gripped two longswords and thrust them into the shield. A slight thud sounded as the sharp blades entered flesh, and blood splattered on the shield and helmet.

A javelin came from the side, and the giant guard had to use the shield on his right forearm to block it. The double shield-piercing javelin was hardly affected by the shield, and its slender core pierced through the shield and sank deep into his palm.

White fluid dripped from the wound, instantly forming small, white, jade-like patches on the ground. The giant guards had been able to maintain a balance of power with the rebels by relying on the city walls and gates, but now the enemy had bypassed the front lines. In this open area, the giant guards simply could not hold their line, and defeat was almost only a matter of time.

"Alright, it's done!" The witch forced herself to grip the staff with both hands and forcefully thrust it into the prepared ritual site. With the ritual site set up and other mages or sorcerers helping to share the burden, her pressure would be less, especially since it was just summoning a slightly special Titan.