Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Hmm..." Livia thought for a moment, took out five bottles from her small bag, unscrewed one of them and drank it all in one gulp, then pushed the remaining four bottles in front of the others.

"This is..." Vivi glanced at the liquid in the bottle. It was deep purple with black floating debris on the surface. There were no markings, it didn't glow, and it had a strong lavender scent. Identification complete—[Potential Antidote]

The fairy with the weakest resistance had already collapsed. She saw her long-deceased grandmother waving to her from the sky, with little angels blowing golden trumpets beside her, until someone grabbed her and forced a bottle of antidote down her throat, causing her stomach to swell up.

"What kind of hallucinogenic toxin mixture is this?!" The fairy, having recovered, jumped in front of Roach, grabbed his neck, and shook him violently. "What kind of hallucinogenic potion is this? Give me another one!"

"what!?"

"I'm going to share this with all my friends!" Illusion magic and hallucinogenic toxins are traditional skills of fairies. After figuring out something new, most fairies will choose to test it on their close friends. However, most of the things fairies make are not fatal; at most, they just embarrass people.

"Black cloud fungus," "angelica," "sunflower"—Livia picked out each ingredient from the soup, then added a bottle of distilled water and a little salt. "A potent hallucinogenic poison," the little witch said earnestly, her emerald eyes filled with encouragement, because Roach could now actually make potions, and the more difficult kind at that.

None of the above ingredients are poisonous, but mixing them together is like brewing a potion. Luckily, Roach added a lot of other random spices and ingredients, which do not conform to standard potion-making methods. Otherwise, Vivi would have collapsed to the ground before she even finished drinking it.

However, this poison does not cause much harm to the human body. It is usually made into incense by cults to deceive believers. Mystics and churches also use this substance to enhance their mental strength and concentration. Simply put, they induce hallucinations by drinking small amounts of the poison and then fight back by concentrating their minds and focusing their attention during the hallucinations. This is how they train themselves.

Since Roach had collected a lot of materials, the little witch picked out some of them and cooked a large pot of "professional version of potent hallucinogen." The rest of the broth had to be thrown away. However, Roach quickly removed the sunflowers from it and cooked a new pot of something else.

After Livia's approval, everyone nervously tried the new recipe. This time, there were no problems; it was just a regular stew of meat, quite fragrant, but not as delicious as before.

After the fortress was recaptured, convoys entered from the west gate one after another. These were conscripted soldiers and their families. Although the Deathwhisper Fortress was close to the Black Abyss Cemetery, the tax rate was low for this reason, and it was heavily guarded. Ordinary bandits and robbers would not come here to cause trouble.

Therefore, even after experiencing a fall, many homeless people are still willing to try their luck here. At the very least, the city is repairing buildings and defense facilities, so they can earn a living on the construction site.

"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~" At 7:30 in the morning, the bells of the three churches in the city rang on time. These three bells are not only timekeeping instruments, but also special sacred objects. After they are rung, their sacred power will envelop the city and form a ritual field to suppress the power of the dead with the help of the "conceptual magic" of the rising sun. It took the priests several days to repair these desecrated sacred objects.

"Hoo~" Two soft, white little things emerged from under the covers. A ball of light golden fur wriggled and pushed the covers aside, its emerald eyes gazing blankly at the morning light outside the window. It took a while before it focused its gaze again.

The small courtyard around the tower had been cleared by Roach and Leslie, with weeds and messy trash thrown outside the gate.

Livia ran down from the second floor cheerfully, her face flushed. Instead of her usual white dress with a gold embroidered hem, she wore a soft linen vest-like top and shorts, exposing her snow-white arms, thighs, delicate collarbones, and rounded shoulders, which looked like they were carved from white jade in the sunlight.

Her long golden hair was tied into two long ponytails with a hairband, which looked completely opposite to her usual quiet and well-behaved style.

The girl imitated Roach and Leslie, doing warm-up exercises. You'd think she was going to a sports meet, but she was just jogging around the yard twice.

Livia was relatively normal during the first lap, but she started panting during the second lap. After running two laps, the little girl could only support her knees with her hands and gasp for breath.

"Such a weak constitution..." the fairy said, feeling like she hadn't even warmed up after flying two laps.

"Take it slow, proceed step by step, there's no rush." ​​Luo Qi was quite open-minded. After all, when he first participated in a field internship, his senior brothers carried heavy equipment with ease, while he was exhausted like a dead dog with his hands empty. His senior sister even helped him carry his backpack and luggage.

However, after working for a few years, he was able to carry a backpack and equipment and move freely on rugged mountain roads.

After jogging two laps, Vivi had already heated up the milk. They each drank a cup, and Livia finally caught her breath.

Wheat milk is not pure milk. To be precise, it is the milk that remains after the cheese and cream have been extracted. It contains only a small amount of milk and whey, and it is also the cheapest type of milk. If you can't drink alcohol, drinking this milk is at least healthier than drinking water.

The witch's appearance was extremely beautiful, but compared to that beauty, the most deadly thing was the eerie charm she possessed. Apart from beings like Roach who seemed to have formed some kind of pact with the witch, and beings with amazing resistance like fairies and mermaids, most creatures found it difficult to resist the witch's allure and charm.

So, after the training, Livia returned to her original attire: a black cloak and shawl, a wide pointed hat, and a scarf that covered half of her face. Only her smooth, white legs and hands were exposed, in an effort to avoid influencing other ordinary people with her bewitching charm.

Roach called it "Tomie-like charm." However, the little witch does not have Tomie's self-regenerating ability, nor does she inspire people to want to kill her. She simply inspires people to have a strong desire to possess her, just like Tomie.

"Even I, an old man, have fallen for this desire," Black Horse explained to Leslie. He had been drawn in by this unusual attraction and now he couldn't escape it.

"Then you're really unlucky~" Leslie poured the "witch's special horse feed" into the trough. This stuff contained a lot of magic potion ingredients and soul fragments, which was quite delicious for the black horse.

"Not really. You can't have such a feast in hell."

"So it sounds like you're very poor in hell?"

"...I only pursue power, without being attached to external things, so as to avoid corrupting my heart as a strong person..."

"Isn't that just being poor?" All that talk about not being attached to external things, about great power returning to oneself, isn't it just about being so poor that you don't have any treasures and being such a failure as to not have any reliable friends, just a way to glorify yourself?

"...Newcomer, I think you've been a bit presumptuous."

“Hey Old Ma,” Leslie said, taking out a comb to groom it, “did you know that the most meritorious and hardworking old ministers are often the first to be purged?”

"Is there still such a thing!?"

"Of course, because the old ministers are of high rank, have strong prestige, have connections, and are skilled, they are not as easy to fool as those greenhorns. Therefore, once the ruler changes or the situation changes, they are the first to be purged."

"Ah..." Black Horse pondered for a moment, finding some merit in the suggestion. "However, I don't believe that kid can replace me."

After all, the entire brigade is now protected by this horse. Whenever there is an enemy beyond their capabilities, the old horse goes out and takes care of them clearly. The reason they didn't touch those Eternal Warriors before was simply because humans were capable of dealing with them. Besides, for a witch, Eternal Warriors are the type that she can take down with a wave of her hand.

She can perfectly press the soul back into the body, tie a knot in the soul thread, and then break the soul thread one by one, pulling out the soul imprisoned in the armor and making it into a "truly soulful dessert".

"However, I think with Miss Livia's abilities, it wouldn't be too difficult to find someone of your caliber from hell, would it?"

"..." It's not difficult at all. If the lord of the sixth floor had been there after being tricked, then right now the two horses in the stable would be staring at each other in bewilderment.

"However, I think it would be better if Miss Livia caught you slacking off."

"I never slack off."

"So?" Leslie pointed to the outside of the yard with her comb. "Don't tell me you didn't sense it. Apart from Roach, that strange creature whose perception is basically zero, even Miss Vilan sensed it."

"Well, if they didn't enter the courtyard, it's not my responsibility. What if they were just passing by? Besides, the smell of hellish power doesn't mean they're here to cause trouble," Old Ma argued. Of course, he sensed that lump outside, after all, it was the hellish magic he had released outside the courtyard.

"Ray, is this really going to work?" The tall, red-haired warrior looked at the repaired door, which had a "Do Not Disturb" sign on it. "We have to try, even if it doesn't work, otherwise... Angela will really be captured and burned."

The former trainee gatekeeper girl is now completely different from before. Strands of purplish-red hair are mixed in, the white of her left eye has turned blood red, and her pupil is a burning golden-red vertical pupil, like a date pit.

She didn't have any scales or anything like that on her body, but all the holy magic spells she cast had hellish effects. Because of this, she didn't dare to return to the church to report and could only claim that she was cursed by a demon.

"Gulp~" Angela forcefully pried open a glass bottle and poured down the potion inside, which was used to suppress the corruption of hellish power. This potion was prepared by an alchemist and had an effect, but that was all. "Whoosh~" The girl exhaled specks of purplish-red smoke, and anything it touched became bent and charred as if it had been scorched by flames.

"Knock, knock, knock!" There was a knock on the courtyard gate. Leslie looked at the black horse and asked, "Is this what you meant by 'no problem'?"

"At least they knocked, they didn't just break in." Black Horse shook his head and saw the little witch curiously peeking out of the window. From this height, she could see the people outside. Her long golden hair, which had been untied from her twin tails, hung down her shoulders like golden tassels.

"Look, the young lady didn't say anything, did she?" (Lower floor living room of the tower)

"A curse from hell?" Livia tilted her head and looked towards the stables. The black horse silently lowered its head, indicating that it wasn't his fault. After all, this guy had prayed for power from him.

"It's not a curse," the girl whispered, her voice soft, like that of a timid little girl, but no one here would take her for a real, ordinary little girl.

"It is a gift." Livia rarely speaks at length, except when reading from a book. It seems that speaking for too long would make her breathless. As a sorcerer, maintaining steady breathing is one of the professional training she has received, to avoid making mistakes in spells due to unclear exhalation sounds.

The monk requires that, under any circumstances and in any setting, the voice reciting mantras must not fluctuate in any way; the tone and intonation must conform to strict rules, and the hand gestures and the flow of the ritual must be flawless. Otherwise…

No one knows what the consequences will be. It might be that the spell weakens, or it might fail. It's also possible that the gathered elemental power will be completely out of control. More likely, the enemy and the spell will be sent to their deaths together.

However, given Livia's physical abilities, this would be difficult. Fortunately, most of her spells do not require incantations; at most, they only require simple hand gestures for assistance.

“A blessing? A blessing from the gods!” Angela leaned forward excitedly. “This doesn’t feel like a blessing from the gods at all! It’s more like hell…” The blonde girl leaned back slightly to avoid the purplish-black smoke coming out of her mouth. Her expression showed no disgust, but her eyes were slightly flustered.

"Hell's Gift," Leslie said to Livia, "You've probably accidentally come into contact with some demonic power and caught the eye of some hell lord. It'll be easier for you to become a blasphemous priest in the future."

Blasphemous priests, who worship demons of hell, are different from hell mages. These guys have no intention of helping those guys in hell expand their territory. Rather than worship and faith, it is more like a transaction. They exchange power from the demons of hell through cruel and bloody rituals such as human sacrifice.

However, for this reason, blasphemous priests or demon priests are not universally hated; only the church and common people hate them. On the contrary, the noble knight class has a relatively neutral attitude towards this profession, and adventurers care even less.

"Lord of Hell, how could this be... Is there a way to solve this?" Ray asked anxiously.

The little witch hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "The other party agrees or we kill the other party." The living room fell silent. Whether it was negotiating with the Lord of Hell in person or killing the Lord of Hell, it was a problem that these greenhorns could not solve.

Of course, the former might be easier to accomplish; all you need to do is talk to the black horse in the stable.

“Actually, it’s not impossible…” Roach thought for a moment, then took out an alchemical device that looked like a necklace. “This can make her look almost like a normal person.”

The fairy's illusion equipment technology was recently developed, but it only allows Angela to enter and exit markets and cities normally. She absolutely cannot go to the church, and it's best to avoid running into the church's exorcists.

"Is that all?"

“Hmm…” Livia knew what was going on, but there was nothing she could do. The Black Horse could give him a good beating (physical) later to make him retract the seal, but the power of those Hellish Gifts would have to wait until Angela exhausted them.

Even so, she could no longer continue to be a normal priestess, and could no longer receive any blessings from the god she believed in. Livia could not help her with this.

And to be fair, as long as the hell lord you contract with doesn't cause any trouble and you don't need to perform blood sacrifices or anything, becoming a demon priest isn't so bad. At most, you'll just become a bit more arrogant in appearance.

Chapter Fifty-Four: Successful Degeneration

"Is there really no way at all, Master Livia?" Angela's expression was one of utter despair. This meant that her past honors, career plans, and income were all about to vanish, and that her parents, family, and the entire village might also suffer as a result.

“Hmm…” The golden-haired dumpling thought for a while, then shook its head, indicating that it had absolutely no solution. “Use my illusion necklace. At least in the eyes of ordinary people, you’ll still be a normal priest,” Roach comforted it. “Besides, becoming a demon priest isn’t entirely without its advantages.”

As long as the Lord of Hell doesn't cause any trouble, his power is truly formidable, and his blessings and various demonic powers arrive quickly, so there won't be any situation where you pray and pray for a long time and nothing happens.

"Thank you so much. We'll raise the money for this necklace for you later." Lai bowed to Roach and left with his companion who still wanted to say something.

After the adventurers left, everyone surrounded the black horse. "Thump!" The little witch pounded on the horse's head, soon becoming breathless. She then shoved the stick into Roach's hand, her emerald eyes filled with displeasure.

"Hey!" To the black horse's astonishment, Roach swung the stick around and hit him on the head. The stick broke, but the horse was unharmed.

"Wait, Miss, I can explain this. I was just receiving a prayer from the other party and then casually gave them a little power." Seeing Livia looking for a new stick after it broke, Black Horse quickly explained.

"Besides, I didn't give her any contract or agreement. Moreover, it was that guy who took the initiative to ask the demon for power, so it's not my fault." "There are many ways to make someone 'voluntarily' request the power of a demon~" Leslie silently added.

"I promise I didn't do anything unnecessary this time, you have to believe me!" Black Horse protested in a panic. "Besides, so-called gods and demons are essentially no different; they are all powerful entities from another world." It's just that gods, being powerful entities, don't meddle in other people's business, which is why they are called gods, while those who like to interfere in reality and cause trouble are demons.

After all, no one hates the idols on the altar becoming real more than religious people. The reason why demons are demons is simply because they really want to collect money, while the reason why gods are gods is because they really don't care about other people's business and let those priests and bishops make money recklessly. If you were a demon, it would probably be: "This is all my money!"

"Who asked you that? You're the one who made this mess, so it's your job to sort it out!"

"Hiss, let me think..." The black horse fell into deep thought. "I've got it! I can't make this demonic power disappear, and I can't make the god she believes in favor her again, but I can pretend to be the god she believes in!"

As a nightmare demon, entering dreams is a basic skill, as is seducing innocent girls in dreams. Until this innocent, high-ranking nightmare demon smelled the fragrance of an incomparably pure and beautiful dream and crashed headlong into the little witch's dream. Her dream was not threatening, but her control over her own dream even exceeded the level of the dark horse.

In the end, he failed to distort the little witch's dream or seduce her. Instead, he was twisted into a horse by her in the dream. Since the nightmare demon's dream and reality are strictly correlated, in reality, he was also twisted into a horse.

But that trainee gatekeeper clearly didn't have that ability, did he?

"What god does she worship again?"

“The Holy Lord of Light, one of the six main gods,” Vivi explained. The faith in the gods also corresponds to the six secret sources, or rather, human faith does indeed stem from the fear of the forces of nature, and here is the otherworldly entity corresponding to the six secret sources.

The Holy Lord of Light corresponds to the spiritual source, originating from a world composed of spiritual power known as the "Heavenly Realm" or the "Spiritual Realm." Due to differences in individual perception, He has seven aspects, and no one knows what the true Holy Lord looks like.

Drawing upon positive human emotions and spirit and amplifying them into powerful physical effects is why the Mystic Sorcerers initially believed that the power of the gods and arcane arts were one. However, this is not the case. Devout faith, unwavering conviction, and the will to defend the light are not what constitute sacred arts, but rather the fuel that activates the Holy Lord or the power of the spirit world.

If magic is like fire, then holy magic is like steam. As for the power of these mystical sources, it is only used to ignite the coal in the boiler. This led to the mystical sorcerers who studied this paying the price of having most of their schools chopped into mincemeat or roasted by the church. In the end, they concluded that magic and holy magic are two different things.

“Holy Lord of Light, let me ponder this. That thing, it’s easy to disguise, but also easy to disguise.” Because His appearance is not fixed. The seven appearances are just the generally accepted understanding of mortals. In fact, there are other appearances that are not recognized by other churches, but exist in various branches.

"It's hard to pretend, and it's not easy to pretend either. Only she knows what kind of face that girl saw when she first successfully stepped into the extraordinary realm. I have to try my best to sneak into her dream and find out what she really looks like."

For a priest to gain supernatural power, he must catch a glimpse of the supreme god for a moment. In that moment, he will see one of the many aspects of the supreme god, and the Holy Lord of Light has the most complex and numerous aspects. Apart from the priest himself, no one knows what he looks like.

"If it were the Elemental King or the Goddess of Life, it would be much easier..." Old Ma muttered. The Elemental King could simply appear in the form of an Elemental Elder. As for the Goddess of Life, as long as you grasp her main elements, it wouldn't be too difficult to disguise her. Of course, the premise is that you need to know what elements the other party's appearance has when a priest advances to the extraordinary.

"Elemental Lords are mainly prevalent in the northern provinces and belong to the ancient highland faith. They are rarely encountered in the plains. The Goddess of Life is the official faith of the Kingdom of Rada. Although it is not an illegal religion in the Empire, it is not very common as a foreign religion." There is indeed a church of the Goddess of Life in the Deathwhisper Fortress. There is no other way. When it comes to dealing with undead monsters, the church of the Sleeping Guides is the best, besides the Goddess of Life.

As a wandering bard who had traveled far and wide, Leslie was quite familiar with these matters. She gave the bewildered Roach and the little witch a general overview of the religious regions of the six major religions.

As night fell, Angela, still filled with demonic power despite the illusion necklace, found it difficult to fall asleep. She prayed to the Holy Lord for forgiveness and mercy, but the suppression of the demonic power caused black flames to entwine her body, forcing her to sleep far away from her teammates.

"Why isn't this girl asleep yet..." Black Horse crouched in the shadows, waiting for her to fall asleep. It wasn't until late at night that he saw Angela barely manage to fall asleep, and without any dreams.

"..." The black horseman stood up, transforming into a demon enveloped in the flames of the dream world. He glanced at the adventurers in the camp, holding a wooden stick in his hand, and smacked anyone he saw to ensure they all had a good night's sleep. Then he took out a bottle of sleeping pills made by a witch, pried open Angela's mouth and poured it down her throat. Finally, he took out a healing potion and sprinkled some on each person to prevent them from waking up the next morning to find a big bump on their head.

Under the influence of the potion, Angela finally fell into a deep sleep and began to dream. In her dreams, the Holy Lord of Light, in disguise as a majestic middle-aged man, inflicted various punishments on her, reprimanding her for her disloyalty and blasphemy.

"Hmm, let me think..." The black horse transformed into a demon and suddenly descended into the dream, completely driving out the power of light, and the entire dream was shrouded in raging demonic flames.

"Get out, you demon! I will never submit to you!" The girl was covered in sweat, her whole body charred black by the flames.

"Hahahaha, ignorant mortal, your soul will eventually fall into my hands. No one can save you. That damned alchemist can't, your companions can't, and not even the so-called Lord of Light!" The black demon laughed arrogantly, and his golden-red hellfire whip suddenly wrapped around Angela and pulled her in front of him.

"Ah, delicious fear, you are afraid, you are afraid that your foolish and incompetent god will abandon you. Ah, yes, you are just a trainee gatekeeper, a transparent person in the church who is dispensable. Who will care about you? The priests will not, and neither will the Lord of Light."

"No, our Lord blesses every devout soul!" Angela's heart was already wavering. Outside the nightmare created by the black horse, her dream was indeed twisting and changing, sliding towards the abyss of depravity. And this was necessary. If she did not fall, she would not be able to control the power of hell.

"If he cares for every devout soul, how could he not see the people kneeling outside the church? Are they not devout?" The black horse materialized the scene at the church entrance. This memory came from Angela's companion. She had grown up in a family with a strong religious atmosphere. After growing up, she was sent to a monastery, where she showed a talent for "extraordinary abilities" and was selected and trained as a battle priest.

Although she wasn't a "second-generation church member," she was doing alright. But her companions were different. Their feelings toward the church were complicated. On the one hand, the church was indeed fighting against the invasion of the undead and otherworldly demons, and providing reliable but expensive treatments. They might also give out some bread and wine, making it an important force in grassroots management and maintaining stability.

On the one hand, the church did indeed amass wealth from its followers through various means, deceiving and refusing entry to those without money. These were all real scenes experienced by those companions, and many of the places and people in them were even familiar to Angela. The author selected the most impactful scenes and presented them to Angela after careful arrangement.

The girl could only kneel on the ground, close her eyes and refuse to look, chanting scriptures incessantly. The "real dream" outside the nightmare illusion began to crumble and shatter, and her faith was constantly collapsing.

"Hmm, Roach sometimes makes a lot of sense." Black Horse stroked his chin as he watched this scene, his claws rubbing against his iron-like muscles, sparks flying. "A lie is just a breeze, the truth is a sharp knife."

Those demons who tempt with promises of glory and wealth to all nations seem to have gone astray. Well, in a sense, maybe not? After all, few who reach the upper echelons of the church can resist such temptations, while those with unwavering will are either ascetics or struggling to keep the church afloat.

However, the demons tempt church members not really to gain power or anything like that; they are either planning something big or simply trying to annoy their "colleagues" who are treated as gods.

Old Ma and other high-ranking demons belong to the latter category. Stripped of the sacred robes of church clergy, the souls of those high-ranking individuals are not much more noble than those of street thugs, and have no collectible value. Only the souls of devout and steadfast believers are truly delicious.

"What? Doesn't your God only favor those bishops with their holy and magnificent robes? Those who kneel before His holy image are nothing but stubborn stones and mud beneath His feet. And you? A mere gatekeeper, do you really think that false light will come to save you?" Indeed, it wouldn't. In fact, the moment she was tainted by the demonic power, that power distanced itself from her.

Angela was speechless and could only keep chanting exorcism scriptures loudly. But even if she hadn't completely wavered, without the "exorcist" title, the scriptures she chanted could only make the low-level demons dizzy and unable to exorcise them.