Witch Troupe and the Undead

“That’s true, it is indeed quite absurd, but you’re not much better off either~” Leslie’s back was covered in sweat. Damn, the pressure of talking to this thing was too much, but she had to buy time for the others. The useless mermaid used her only and greatest talent in this life: eloquence—“You just said that this is the corrupt side of humanity that has separated from the Sentia?”

"Oh?" The Night King showed some interest and casually replied without comment, "So?"

"Hmm, what separates out when a goddess becomes a god or fully matures into a main god? I've been thinking about it, isn't that just a placenta? You mean, you picked up a placenta, raised it, and then lay down inside it, and thought you could become a god?"

"..." Alessina, who had struggled to stand up from the edge of the platform, laughed and then coughed violently, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Then she glared at the mermaid.

"..." The Night King took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down by not arguing with a clown poet. Ignoring Leslie, he looked at Lulua and asked, "Chosen One, so your goddess has returned?"

The Night King was slightly dazed, because if the Goddess of Night returned, this would be a big problem. She was not only the Mother of Night, but also the judge who vindicated evil, and his actions were undoubtedly a manifestation of the "great sin of blasphemy".

The essence of his ambition is that the Arbiter is trapped in the flesh, just like a city without guards and sheriffs. The reason why he did not release the Goddess of Night but chose the Calamity of the Earth is because—why not take advantage of the sheriff's absence and rob a bank?

As a result, when they discovered that the sheriff had returned, a sense of fear began to grow, but he quickly quelled it.

I am already a demigod, and even the Goddess of Night cannot completely destroy me!

And this is indeed a fact; it is no longer possible for it to be truly destroyed.

[PS2]

Yesterday's funny incident, the reasoning behind the selection of the "draw" strategy, was explained by the AI ​​as follows:

1. Why should the frequency of crackdowns be increased when corruption is rampant? Because increased corruption means a large number of officials are showing signs of corruption. If the crackdown isn't frequent enough, it will spread like a cancer, rendering the crackdown plan ineffective. If you remove 10 out of 100 corrupt officials, the 10 innocent replacements will quickly become corrupt themselves. Therefore, it's necessary to accelerate the crackdown and expedite the replacement of corrupt officials before these 10 become corrupt.

2. Why increase the rate of whistleblowing when there are fewer reports? Because bureaucrats, aside from corruption, cannot be completely infallible; humans inevitably make mistakes. Therefore, under normal circumstances, more reports mean that the oversight mechanism still exists. Bureaucrats who make legitimate mistakes only need to be punished normally. Thus, the rate of whistleblowing will decrease, from one in ten to 100, or even 1000 or more. If there are no reports at all, it means that the oversight mechanism has completely failed, and the entire bureaucracy needs to be completely destroyed to reset the system.

3. Why do family members have to take the lottery on behalf of the officials? Since whistleblowers cannot monitor officials 24 hours a day, the scheme uses the threat of mutual destruction to force the officials' family members, who are the direct beneficiaries, to become the most steadfast whistleblowers under the pressure of destruction.

4. Why expand the scope of the crackdown? Because officials only account for a very small percentage of the population, and their interest groups, under normal circumstances, cannot generate a sufficiently large outcry. If the outcry begins to grow, it means that the interest groups are expanding outward and connecting with other non-bureaucratic groups, so they need to be eliminated together.

Chapter 407 Are you a jinx?

“Look, this is just a placenta, and you expect to be reborn by lying inside it? How is that possible?” Leslie continued her scathing remarks. She noticed that Livia seemed to be preparing a very large spell, and she needed to distract the Night King.

Although the other party might not be able to see through Livia's actions, she still needed to buy as much time and attention as possible, at least giving Leon and Alessina time to recover.

"Sharp-tongued!" The Night King raised his hand, abandoning the other three elements and focusing on the power of the earth element. "Now, repent!" The moment the Night King pressed down, a gunshot rang out. He turned his head sharply, and his entire helmet was hit by an armor-piercing explosive round. The black helmet and crown shattered together, and the dried flesh fibers exploded backward, leaving only a headless torso.

But in an instant, countless slime-like substances surged out from within the armor, reforming a new head and an angry face. "Not bad weapons, not bad methods. I must admit, you do have some ability." The Night King took a deep breath, and after abandoning the power of the three elements, the four-element magic sword transformed into a complete rock greatsword, which he held in one hand.

He didn't use more of the Earth's Calamity's power, as that was reserved for the Reversal Seal; however, even this current power was enough to deal with these adventurers. Roach's magic crossbow roared again, but the Night King merely raised his hand, and the rock greatsword instantly melted into a thick stone shield, precisely deflecting the deadly armor-piercing bullet, at the cost of the stone shield shattering into fragments.

"This is never going to end!" the Night King murmured. The stone shield suddenly extended and deformed again, sweeping across Leon who was charging at him like a battering ram. The paladin's silver sword, burning with holy flames, slashed down, but only shattered a shower of flying pebbles. Instead, he was forced to retreat repeatedly by the unparalleled power.

At the same time, the Night King twisted the hilt of his sword with one hand, and the heavy rock blade, carrying immense force, slammed towards Leon. "Night Bind!" Lulua suddenly appeared behind him, black stripes appearing on her bare feet, like some kind of decorative tattoo. She swept her hand towards the Night King's head, but the latter simply raised his hand and grabbed the girl's calf, swinging her horizontally towards Livia, who was leaning on her staff and preparing to cast a spell.

"Pfft!" Alessina caught Lulua just in time, but was hit in the chest and felt a tightness in her chest. However, she still prevented the Night King from interfering with Livia's spell. The Night King had no idea what the spell she was using was, but he instinctively realized that it was definitely not a good thing.

Alessina put Lulua down, enduring the churning pain in her chest, and aimed her twin swords straight for the Night King's waist, launching a simultaneous attack with Leon on either side. The Night King didn't even look at them; he simply pressed down with one hand, the gravity field instantly causing the fleeing fox girl to stumble and nearly fall to the ground. Leon, his forehead covered in sweat, was in even worse shape than Alessina, his armor clad in armor.

"What a boring game. It's almost over. Can you guys give us some surprises?" King Eternal Night frowned. The seal reversal was about to end, with only a little bit left. But it didn't matter. The day of ascension was approaching, and the novelty these guys were giving him was almost gone. Only the blonde girl remained.

He looked at Livia again. He couldn't understand the spell she had prepared at all, but it didn't matter anymore. The ground was trembling slightly, and the final reversal of the seal had begun.

On the surface, the clouds in the sky swirled and gathered, and the ground trembled violently, as if something ancient was about to break through the earth. The ancestor of the ancient giants, the earth goddess Sentia, was awakening her own human side, which was a rock giant as huge as a mountain.

The eruption of a volcano is its breath, and an earthquake is its footstep. Even the slightest step is enough to destroy a small city-state. This is what is meant by the calamity of the earth. And this thing, like the Titans in Greek mythology, is about to awaken and break free from its seal.

"Enough!" The Night King's angry voice overlapped with the witch's clear voice. The latter looked at the Night King with surprise, winked mischievously, and slammed her staff into the ground. The rock elemental greatsword that the Night King had raised shattered into countless fragments in the next second.

"what have you done!?"

"Yes, teleport." What Livia did was simple: at the last moment of the seal reversal, she teleported the core of the Earth Calamity to the outside world. This was originally a way to break the seal, but who told the Eternal Night King to reverse the seal?

Then the mirror flipped, and the original outside mine became the sealed interior. Now the Calamity of the Earth was once again pushed back in, leaving only a completely decayed, lifeless shell outside, and the Night King himself.

"..." Luo Qi gave the little witch a thumbs up. Although her ability to withstand pressure was basically zero, her professional level was really high!

God the hell sent the things inside the seal out. Yes, that's possible, but the problem is that when the seal is reversed, the outside world is sealed inside as well. So, the Calamity of the Earth was essentially allowed to go outside for a few seconds before being locked back in its cage. And this time it's even worse because the door was locked from the outside by the Eternal Night King using the power of the Calamity of the Earth, while the source of that power, the Calamity of the Earth, is now locked inside.

In other words, this is a box with a key inside that can only be opened from the outside. This means that the calamity of the earth inside can no longer escape. And without the core, the light patterns on the inverted pyramid structure also dim, just like cutting off the source of water, using it little by little and it's gone.

Feeling the power belonging to the divine abomination constantly disappearing from his body, the Eternal Night King was dumbfounded. What's worse, he had already completely exchanged with that abomination, and if he were to die now, the consciousness in this body would disappear—whether it was complete annihilation or returning to some abomination, the consequences would be the same.

No, perhaps the former is more merciful; the latter means he would be imprisoned in a desolate mine shaft, facing empty stone walls, until the seal completely collapses or the world ends.

For the first time, the fearless Eternal Night King felt the terror of death, because this time, he truly could not die again. However, the power of the evil creature was dissipating, leaving only the power remaining in his mangled body and the underground palace built upon the creature's body.

The golems inside the dungeon began to stop moving one by one. Deprived of their power source, they gradually came to a standstill, and their dark gold structure quickly faded, turning into ordinary rocks. Without the support of the earth's inherent energy from the abominations, these forcibly created dark gold materials also lost their original properties.

Moreover, the structure of the underground palace also died with the death of the source of the giants, with large chunks of rock constantly falling and collapsing. Meanwhile, the shadow giants in the giant camp sat quietly together, ignoring the shaking dome and the falling stalactites, as well as the collapsing buildings. They gathered together and sang ancient ancestral songs.

The gray color spread upwards from the soles of their feet, and gradually, all the giants slowly turned into rough, human-shaped rocks.

The Pale Ones reacted even more violently, rolling and howling on the ground, with people dying one after another. The living continued to have black liquid flowing from their eyes and facial features. Their pale skin cracked and healed, and their deaths were incredibly gruesome.

But some of the pale ones survived. They still had pale skin, but when they opened their eyes again, they no longer had those black, writhing tentacles, but a pair of amber eyes. Some kind of power was seeping out from the depths of the earth, permeating their bodies.

They were transformed from thin to strong. These newborn pale beings curiously observed their surroundings. They regained their sight, but the scene before them was not good. There were corpses everywhere, puppets turning into stone statues, and a collapsing underground palace.

In a corner of the underground palace, Old Ma tossed aside the stoned remains of the puppet in his hand, a look of surprise on his face. "Wait, did the young lady break into the core? When did she...? This shouldn't be happening."

Old Ma searched the upper area for a long time but couldn't find any trace of the young lady. He even thought they had left and gone home. Did they actually rush into the core? Without the interference of the Earth Calamity, he could clearly sense the young lady's presence, as well as the hostile presence beside her.

"Hey!?" Old Ma rubbed his hands. "Kid, you're pretty good at this!"

The great demon from hell vanished into the shadows, charging towards the battlefield. The instant the scorching flames pierced the rock shield, the Night King swung his rock greatsword directly at Livia. He couldn't care less now; no matter the consequences of killing this little thing, he had to kill her!

"Hey, grandson, look over here!" Suddenly emerging from the shadows, the horse-headed demon punched the Night King in the back, slamming him into the floor. However, this damage was not enough to kill him; it only made the Night King get up in a sorry state and warily look at the old horse and Leon who were surrounding him.

Livia cast another spell, and the silver-blue soul chains instantly snapped onto the Night King's ankle. Without the continuous power supplied by the Earth Calamity, he was now almost indistinguishable from an undead. The intense pain from the soul chains finally caused him to let out the first cry of agony in the entire battle.

"Take this punch!" Old Ma grinned and grabbed the greatsword that the Night King was slashing at him. In the instant he pulled the Night King towards him, he punched him in the face, sending the Night King flying. The rock greatsword shattered as a result.

The latter flipped over, bracing himself on the ground with both hands. Gravity was applied to Old Ma, and even a great demon like him was unable to move due to this level of gravity spell. His muscles bulged and his white mane stood on end, but it had no effect. He was completely unable to move, as the gravity field was an invisible cage that held him firmly in place.

However, the others were not affected. Lulua, in Night Wrap mode, was only a black shadow. She appeared to the side of the Night King in an instant. The moment she landed, she switched to Moon Wrap mode. Silver light enveloped her arms and legs like armor. She kicked at the Night King's ribs, but was blocked by a rock wall as hard as a diamond.

"Hiss!" The girl cried out in pain. The pain of kicking the wall with her bare feet was unbearable. Even with the Moon Wrap, the wall was too hard, and she had used too much force in her kick.

"Hey!" With a cross of swords thrusting down, Yongye raised a hand and caught one of the swords, throwing Alessina away again. The fox girl used her tail for balance in mid-air and landed steadily. "His strength has weakened, attack!"

"Bang!" The third armor-piercing bullet grazed the Night King's cheek and exploded in a huge cross-shaped crack on the rock shield in front of him. Because he needed to free his hands to cast spells, Old Ma was also slowly breaking free from the constraints of gravity.

"Then let's try this!" Leon's Demon-Slaying Silver Sword left a long wound on the Night King's abdomen. Without the divine power of the Earth's Calamity covering him, as an undead creature, the wound burned by the holy flames and silver was difficult to heal and continued to cause damage.

"Collapse, converge, flow..." Livia closed her eyes, held her staff in both hands, and quickly uttered the keywords in a language that no one could hear. The rocks above her head collapsed even faster and converged into a huge rock hand, which slammed down.

"You rat!" the Night King roared, abandoning control of Old Horse and the struggle for control of Livia's magic. Instead, he chose to pull a makeshift metal greatsword from the ground, which he had shaped with his last bit of strength, and swung it horizontally at Leon.

"Clang!" The paladin was sent flying like a baseball, crashing into the rock wall and unable to get up for a long time. Next were Lulua and Alessina, one grabbed by the arm and the other by the blade, and then they were swung together, colliding with each other with a heavy thud.

"Die!" Roach stared in astonishment at the swirling metal greatsword flying towards him, and could only abandon his weapon as if giving up, waiting to be cleaved in two by the greatsword.

This unexpected turn of events caused the witch to halt her preparations for new spells. Instead, she decisively pulled out a small bottle, inside which the pale green life essence quickly condensed into threads. After resurrecting Roach so many times, Livia had now learned how to conserve energy and time.

That meant stitching Roach back together before he died, as stitching up the body was simpler than stitching up the soul. Countless pale green rays of light traveled between Roach's two halves, quickly connecting them together. The broken internal organs, flesh, and bones healed at an astonishing speed, leaving no trace except for a light-colored scar around his waist.

".……!!!!" King Yongye stared at the scene in disbelief, but the old horse was already rushing over in a rage, leaving him no time to think about what was going on.

The horse-headed demon grabbed the Night King and, before the latter could put up any real resistance, unleashed a barrage of high-speed, heavy punches, leaving him completely dazed. Meanwhile, Livia, having finished healing him, picked up her staff and began her own operation.

The Night King instinctively manipulated gravity to bind Old Ma once again, but Livia also superimposed a dynamic elemental field on the gravity field effect. Instantly, the Night King's expression changed drastically, his leg armor made a sound of being unable to bear the weight, and the next second the armor deformed and exploded, and he was pressed to the ground. Old Ma took the opportunity to break free of the restraints, and his passively elementally enhanced fist smashed down with a savage grin.

With a piercing scream and a strange whooshing sound as a soul was forcibly pulled into a small hole by some force, the core of the underground palace fell completely silent. "Is it over?" Roach asked, clutching his stomach as he sat on the ground.

"perhaps……"

"That unlucky guy's soul was pulled back; it seems he made a thorough exchange with that Earth Calamity."

“No, the one that was pulled back was the real Calamity of the Earth, while the Night King…” Livia kicked at the wreckage on the ground, “is probably, perhaps, truly dead?”

The next step was to figure out how to dig Leon out of the rubble. The large dose of potion that the witch had prepared in advance came in handy at this time. However, the taste, which could only be described as "dark and deep," made Leon jump around like a fish on a chopping board, and he frantically retched by the rocks.

It's not just the awful smell, but also the itching and tingling as the wound heals rapidly. Especially since this is for healing internal injuries, the itching sensation inside the body is the most terrifying because you can't scratch it at all. You just want to find a knife to cut yourself open like a fish to feel some relief.

Then Livia looked at Alessina, who was also coughing up blood. The fox-girl's ears immediately flattened, her beast eyes contracted into thin slits in fear, and she waved her hands repeatedly, indicating that as a beast-human, she did not need such a powerful potion; ordinary medicine would be enough.

However, Leon, who had already suffered, was not about to let her go. He grabbed Alessina and forced her to drink the liquid, so now there was one more person gagging and rolling on the ground.

In contrast, Lulua's situation is much simpler. She only has superficial wounds. Although topical medications can also cause this side effect, at least she can scratch through the bandage to relieve the pain.

On the way back, the corpses of the Pale Ones, now completely petrified, could be seen everywhere. Passing through the half-collapsed corridors and audience halls, the golems had turned into worthless mud and rocks, and the giants formed a circle of rock statues.

Next, they ran out along the still-collapsed structure of the underground palace. This process was quick because there were no enemies interfering and because of Lao Ma.

A group of people, clinging to black steeds, burst out of the underground mine in comical poses. Collapsing rocks almost chased after them, while on the surface, the rock skeletons and rock monsters stopped moving in an instant, turning into countless rock sculptures.

On the old mine slope, the militiamen, covered in blood, could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Whether by coincidence or some other special factor, the dark clouds in the sky caused by the divine apocalypse gradually dissipated, and the sun pierced through the clouds again. However, for this small town, their biggest problem was no longer the collapse of the mine, but how to clean up the ruins and collect the bodies of their relatives and friends.

"It's simply hell on earth..." "To be precise, it's the second hell on earth." The first was the imperial capital after the demonic calamity. Strictly speaking, that was even more like hell than this. I hope that after the princess finishes fighting the duke, she won't faint on the way back—what about my huge imperial capital? I worked so hard to earn 300,000 gold coins, and you turn around and tell me that I need 5 million gold coins for post-war reconstruction?

Well, things probably aren't much better in the town. Roach even feels like he won't get the payment he agreed to with the mayor. It seems like even if they have a little money left, they'll have to spend it on themselves first.

The patients infected by the petrification curse have largely stopped deteriorating, but the petrified parts remain stone and require surgical removal. The lost ability to work is irretrievable – with more than half the population dead or injured, and a large number of disabled and semi-disabled people left behind, the town is utterly doomed.

"Master Roach, why does this scene seem so familiar?" Leon seemed to be implying something, as if to say: Are you some kind of jinx? Why does everything you do cause explosions?!

Chapter 408 Losing all my savings

The leaden clouds had completely dispersed, and the midday sun shone unhindered on the remaining ruins of the town, or rather, part of the ruins.

The guards were silently dragging heavy stones, compacted bags of mud, and broken furniture away from the ramp of the open-pit mine, opening a passage outwards.

A jumble of rocks and bloody, mangled "corpses" lay piled outside the roadblock. Leon poked at them with his sword. "Looks like they're really dead."

“The rock core is gone too. This trip was a waste.” Roach examined the “heart of stone” inside a rock skeleton. Originally, it would have contained either gems or rare minerals when opened, but now it was just a stone, shaped like a heart.

"The good news is that the items we got from opening the treasure chests before weren't restored, the bad news is..." Leslie showed everyone the loot she had collected, the fragments of the Dark Gold Puppet, which were now just a pile of gray, unidentified stone artifacts.

All the rare and magical metals in that underground palace were maintained by the Eternal Night King using the divine power of "Earth's Calamity," and now that the divine power has disappeared, these things naturally begin to return to their original state.

Moreover, the very structure supporting the empire, the magic that keeps its rock harder than steel, is crumbling. For the unfortunate people of the town, this disaster is only the beginning.

As the rock structure becomes brittle, the entire mine will soon collapse and sink, burying everything with millions of tons of rock and soil. It's estimated that no adventurers or anyone else will come to dig up this giant tomb.

"Wait, since the Dark Gold has been restored, then have the petrified books, ancient artifacts, and gold and silver items also been restored?" Roach suddenly realized the blind spot, and everyone—I mean everyone, including the Little Witch—showed annoyed expressions. Obviously, everyone was in such a hurry to escape before being buried alive that they had forgotten about this.

"Should we dig it out?" Lulua pointed in the direction of the mine. Roach and the witch exchanged a glance. He estimated the amount of earthwork to be done and then shook his head, while the witch estimated the magic power and effort required and then showed a frightened expression.

"Even if they could dig it out, it'd probably just be a pile of mud..."

“The mine hasn’t completely collapsed yet, so the underground palace shouldn’t have completely collapsed. Maybe we can still make it back now?” Leslie suggested. If the underground palace had completely collapsed, this hill would have sunk at least one or two hundred meters. But now there has only been a partial collapse, which means that the underground palace has not completely collapsed.

"Forget it, it's too dangerous. That thing could collapse at any time, and we didn't save the map. If we go any further, it probably won't be easy to find anything." After thinking about it, Roach decided to give up on the plan.

On the other side, people leaving the shelter were in twos and threes, supporting each other or staggering alone. They dispersed almost immediately, as if drawn by invisible threads, heading towards the places they once called "home". Many of them had bandages on their bodies or still bore the remnants of petrification.

Frankly, in this situation, how much they can salvage from the rubble determines how many more days or months they can survive.

On the outskirts of the town, the living petrified demon trees ceased their activity after the power of the Earth Calamity disappeared. They collapsed like normal stone statues crushed by their own weight, their massive trunks or gnarled roots lying across the middle of the streets, completely blocking the narrow roads; some leaned against or directly crushed low houses, leaving behind piles of crushed rubble and fragmented pieces of wood.

The broken section of the grayish-white tree trunk was covered with jagged edges and scattered reflective crystals. The "Rusty Beard" dwarf tapped these crystals with his hammer, a clear look of disappointment on his face. He spat on the ground beside him, "Damn it, quartz glass shards!"

I thought these chips were gems left behind by some monster, but the identification result was: glass shards. Of course, glass shards are a very cheap material that is hard to classify as magical materials. If they were actually cleaned out, they might be worth a few silver coins, but that's about it.

The estimated cost might not even cover the labor costs of hiring someone to clean up such a large piece of demon tree remains, which infuriated the dwarves who thought they could at least recoup some of their investment from these demon trees.

Besides the remains of the demon tree, the scattered rock formations throughout the town also need to be cleared. These monsters, transformed from humans and animals, have now completely decomposed and collapsed, turning into piles of dark rock fragments and dried flesh, like piles of abandoned, low-quality slag.

The guards were using rakes or simple wooden poles to push these lifeless rubble pieces to the roadside, corners, or depressions. There were no ceremonies, no coffins, just the most rudimentary clearing to make room for the movement of the living.

Others poked around on the relatively intact rock skeletons, trying to see if they could suddenly jump up again. However, Leon and Roach believed that if these rock skeletons could actually jump, this would only make them die faster than the others.

Buildings in the town collapsed in large numbers, walls pierced or pushed down by tremendous force, revealing dark, gaping cavities. Torn pieces of cloth or charred wood hung from the remaining roof frames. Survivors scavenged among the ruins like ants, dragging charred boxes and cabinets from under the rubble, prying open warped wooden crates, and searching for any remaining food, drinkable water, or uncontaminated tools.

The mayor stood expressionless beside the collapsed blacksmith's furnace, looking at the ruins before him. When he saw Roach and the others arrive, a look of exhaustion appeared on his face. "Obviously, as you can see, the conditions I promised you can no longer be fulfilled."

There are certainly no merchant guilds claiming sovereignty over Star Silver, Red Copper, and Black Iron Ingots right now, so he can directly requisition these minerals. Gold coins aren't of much use at the moment either. The problem is, they have to dig up those ruins to find these things.

Moreover, if the money were actually paid to Roach and his group, given the current state of the town, let alone rebuilding, just a few days or a rain shower would soon leave everyone unable to even scrape together their next meal.

Because the salvageable food buried under the rubble will soon be covered by mud. If you're lucky, the unhulled millet might sprout, and at least the tender sprouts can be chewed a couple of times. If you're unlucky, the hulled grains, bread, cured meat, and sausages will either become a feast for rats or a kingdom of mold. In short, no one will be able to eat them.

Defaulting on a debt is not a good option, especially for this group of people. Neither Livia nor Roach, nor that Paladin Canned Food, are easy targets. But reality is another matter.

The mayor even harbored a bizarre idea: it would be even better if he could provoke these adventurers into killing him on the spot, thus relieving him of all the headaches that followed. And if these adventurers were capable of plundering anything from these ruins, then so be it.

"Nothing's left?"

"There's nothing left." The mayor spread his hands calmly. "Of course, if you're willing to help dig through the rubble, there might still be something we can do with the ore." After all, those guild leaders couldn't possibly come back to life and challenge him on property rights, but as for the gold coins…

"And even if we get the ore..." Rusty Beard looked at the furnaces in the blacksmith shops, "It would take at least several weeks to rebuild the furnaces and reheat them. Smelting black iron is not something that can be done in a short time. If those merchant guilds have finished black iron ingots and star silver ingots, that would be fine, but if not..." then it would be quite troublesome.