Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Whoosh!" The ash-like breath of burning embers covered the head of the greedy demon in front of the hill, like a handful of white ash being sprinkled down. Each speck of ash that fell was a spark of unextinguished dragon fire. Vilandera spread her wings and swept over this cloud of ash. The moment her tail brushed against the mist, the dragon fire burst into flames.

Transforming into countless scorching stars, they burned through the body and armor of the greedy demon, instantly turning the lakeshore in front of the position into a scorched wasteland. The dragon fire smoldered among the debris and rocks left behind by the demon, waiting for the next unlucky fool to die.

However, the same ember breath had no effect on the raging dragon; the dragon fire particles couldn't burn through its scales at all. And when it switched to normal fire breath, it could only knock the dragon down. For a real battle against a dragon, you still had to rely on Sylvia.

The silver dragon swooped down without any frills, its blazing white dragon flames transforming into a beam that slammed into the back of the raging dragon, slamming it into the ground. Its spine was completely pierced by the high-temperature dragon flame jet. Then, the dragon's feet slammed down on its neck, and another round of dragon flames burned the entire head of the raging dragon into charcoal.

After death, the sin demon once again turned into red flames and disappeared, leaving only some ashes. Compared to the greedy sin demon, which would leave behind collected spoils, the wrathful sin demon left only these cold ashes, as if its rage had passed and only a desolate state of powerlessness remained.

Since the barrier only exposed the slums struggling in the purgatory of rage and the graveyard shrouded in the sky of greed, the more troublesome things had not yet emerged. Although these sinful demons were endless, it also took time for them to be born.

During this time, Dirac and Sylvia set up a new barrier as much as possible. The purpose of this barrier was to isolate abnormal magic as much as possible and weaken the combat power and birth rate of the sinful demons inside, but it could no longer prevent the things inside from rushing out.

"I'm going to Storm Island. Dirac, if you slack off at this crucial point, you're finished." Sylvia spread her wings and soared into the sky. This matter was no longer something they, the "guardians," could handle.

We need to go to Storm Island and seek help from the Sages' Council to resolve this. As for these Imperial investigation teams that seem to have caused trouble... we'll have their emperor personally lead them back when the Sages' Council convenes.

Storm Island, a small island in the western ocean of the continent, is a gathering place for dragons. Due to the power and lifespan of dragons, as well as various other reasons, it is also the place where the Sages' Conference is held.

After all, besides wealth, the second thing dragons value most is face. If you cause trouble on Storm Island at this time, you are disrespecting the dragon race, and the dragon race will give you face. That is why countries send their leaders to hold meetings here.

It was originally intended to be called the Council of Kings, but... the Stoll Empire felt insulted because it felt it was not on the same level as those "kings"; the Great Island of Alesia did not have a unified king, and the chieftainship of the Orc Horde Alliance was rotated among several people, so who should go and who should not go was a problem that had been around for a century.

Finally, it was renamed the Council of Sages, and the nations sent their "wise men" to the meeting. The Council of Sages didn't have many topics; it basically didn't care about anything else. The only things that were discussed at the meeting were three things.

The first thing is about the church and faith, such as completely labeling a church as a cult.

The second type is about extraterrestrial invaders, such as large-scale hellish rifts or interdimensional portals.

The third reason for holding this meeting now is that the secret realms above the Desolate Realm have spiraled out of control, creating a scene similar to an alternate world version of Chernobyl.

You can pretend you don't see nuclear radiation, but when a demon wielding a giant blade reappears in your bathroom and stabs you in the groin, no one, from top to bottom, can truly ignore it.

Chapter 78 Is staying at home really such an inconvenient thing?

The greyish-white dragon flapped its wings and spiraled down, landing on the beach of Carrion Bay. The sand on the ground seemed to move slowly and imperceptibly until it sensed Livia's arrival and then stopped.

"Vivi!" The little witch happily hugged Vilandella, who had transformed back into human form, and the restless tendrils were pulled back into the mud.

"You... really live in the Dangerous Realm?" Vilandella already knew that Master Roach and Master Livia's group were all highly skilled, but they were really not joking when they said they lived in the Living Forest. She originally thought they lived on the edge of the forest, but after going around in circles, she couldn't find them until she came to the beach and saw Roach fishing with a small parasol.

"Otherwise what?" Roach retorted, lifting the fishing rod. The glowing float bobbed up and down with the waves a few times. "Hmm? A fish's on!" Vilandella looked over and saw that the float was still floating on the surface of the water, with no sign of a fish biting the hook.

"Bang!" The fishing float suddenly exploded, and a group of large red fish, stunned by the shock, slowly floated up belly to belly. Alessina decisively grabbed the net and scooped these unlucky fish into the bucket, planning to take them back to the fishpond later.

“Master Roach, your fishing method is… quite unique.”

"There's nothing we can do. The fish in this godforsaken place are all smarter than ghosts." Luo Qi had no idea that in the eyes of the aquatic monsters, he might be more terrifying than a ghost.

"So I could only use some technical means." It has to be said that the profession of rune master, which looks simple and crude, is actually very promising. It uses a sensing magic paradigm to detect whether there are any living things around the fishing float, and then connects the fishing line mixed with mithril wire to the runes on the winch.

Once a school of fish is sensed gathering nearby, conflicting magic is output from the rune disk, which is transmitted along the mithril thread to explode the float, achieving the ultimate effect of never missing a fish.

"Hiss~ Master Roch, do you sell your fishing rod?" Vilanda's hand was also itching to try it. She also liked fishing. Not only her, but nine out of ten alchemists in the Alchemy Society were fishermen, because fishing allowed them to clear their minds completely, which was a great way to relax and didn't consume much physical energy.

Especially when alchemists need to go out into the wild to collect materials, fishing is a win-win situation. But since they are fishermen, there are naturally those who have a full set of luxurious fishing gear but end up catching nothing.

"Not for sale!" This was his fishing master's signature weapon, how could he possibly sell it? Roach looked at Vilandella warily, afraid that she would try to steal it.

“But speaking of which… isn’t this a red dragonfish?” Vilandella glanced at the large fish in the bucket. Its scales were as red as blood, its body was large, and its head had a winding organ that resembled a dragon’s horn. This carnivorous fish used this horn-like organ to glow and lure smaller fish closer, hence the name red dragonfish.

Red dragonfish are excellent high-level potion and alchemy materials. From an extraction perspective, in addition to extracting water element essence, it can also extract fluorescent agents and refine red scale powder, a substitute material equivalent to ruby ​​powder. Its meat can also be used by potion makers to create underwater breathing potions.

It is a relatively precious fish, but unfortunately, this carnivorous fish only lives in places like Carrion Bay. It is quite sensitive to magic, making it very difficult to catch. After all, most fishing boats may not dare to approach these [dangerous] or [perilous] areas.

"you know?"

"Hmm, excellent alchemical materials..."

"Oh, we usually grill it, it tastes great." Nobody here needs the underwater breathing potion. The little witch can partake of water, Roach isn't afraid of drowning, Alessina doesn't go into the water, and Leslie is a mermaid, do you think she needs this potion?

Water element essence can be extracted from ocean tide crystals. It is abundant and pure. Fluorescent agents and red scale powder come from inedible scales and keratinous light-emitting organs. What's the point of keeping the rest if you don't eat them?

After the red dragonfish was scaled and its internal organs were thrown into the feed bucket to ferment and be made into fish bait, the remaining meat was sliced ​​into uniform-sized pieces by Alessina. It seems that this guy has probably processed a lot of fish. Considering the way she handles the knife, could she be a fishmonger?

Roach marinated the spread-out fish fillets with salt and spices, and then grilled them over a fire when they were almost done. The taste of the grilled fish was only so-so, but the tender meat made up for it.

Livia squatted by the grill, like a little hamster, holding the grilled fish in both hands and nibbling at it, her face smeared with spices and oil.

"So, Vivi, something went wrong on your end, some kind of barrier is about to explode, so you came here to lay low? Or are you asking the young lady for help?" Leslie asked, then stuffed a piece of raw fish into her mouth. There's nothing wrong with mermaids eating raw fish; they can't exactly start a fire in the water to grill fish, can they?

“Both,” Vilandella said, looking at the grilled fish in front of her with a troubled expression. It wasn’t that she didn’t eat fish, but the portion was just too small for her. It was fine when she was a dragonborn, but now that she was a full-fledged dragon, her appetite was enormous.

"If Master Livia doesn't help, I'll have to move in with you." Anyway, those sin demons shouldn't be able to break into the Living Forest. Even if they do, they'll have to cross most of the Luster Plain, giving them enough time to move to the next safe point.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the foundation of the Sin Demons is the huge ritual site in the royal city. The amount of Void Source that the ritual site can absorb and transform is limited. In other words, the overall strength and number of Sin Demons is a constant value. Once it spreads, the situation is not so severe.

This is also why there has been no progress on Sylvia's side. At the Sages' Conference, everyone was arguing fiercely. After all, the only ones who would suffer if the situation spread were the Empire, the Kingdom, and the Orc Alliance. It posed little threat to other races and human kingdoms.

Of course, they also need to be wary of hidden great sin mages taking the opportunity to cause trouble. If there is only one ritual site in the Lost Royal City, then it is indeed only these three nearby families who will suffer. In fact, for the Empire, it is only the Eastern Province and the Northern Province that will suffer, while the western part, which is the essence of the Empire, will be fine.

However, if a high-ranking Sin Mage were to cause trouble, setting up more sub-ritual fields and guiding more Void Sources into Sinful Magic... then it would be no different from a zombie apocalypse, or even more terrifying. After all, zombies require corpses to be converted, but Sinful Magic is created out of thin air! Just like a monster spawner!

"A grave sin...the ritual site?" Livia tilted her head, as if she had thought of something. "I don't want to go."

"Then I'll move here." Vilandella quickly sold Dilasik, who was still desperately waiting for her to bring reinforcements. Besides, she ran away because the two dragons needed to spend a lot of energy constantly reinforcing and maintaining the barrier. Sylvia probably thought the same thing. As for who will clean up this mess in the end... whoever made the mistake should take responsibility.

As for Sylvia's statement that "we must concentrate our efforts on resolving the Great Sin Ritual Field," this is a political stance and does not represent the actual situation.

"Are all of you dragons... civil servants?" Luo Qi asked curiously. This way of doing things looks just like civil servants: first, cover it up; if you can't cover it up, you shut your mouth; if it gets out of hand, you ask your superiors to intervene; if your superiors are too busy, you pass the buck to some unlucky guy and then find a way to cut your losses and run away.

What is a civil servant?

"That is, city officials and the like."

“No…” Vilandella certainly knew what Roach meant. Of course, the bureaucrats of the real feudal era were still relatively “reliable” in some aspects. At the very least, they dared not cover up the truth, because noble lords really would kill the whole family.

However, their ability to shift blame far surpasses that of modern bureaucrats. This is because noble lords are genuinely capable of killing their entire families, and their skill in turning funerals into celebrations is equally impressive. As for other aspects that don't affect their ability to get things done, well... you know what I mean.

"Are you all citizens of the Empire?"

“No,” Roach and Alessina answered. “No,” Leslie shrugged. “What is an Imperial Citizen?” the little girl asked, puzzled.

"Oh, then why are you worrying about the Empire?" Vilandella sat lazily on the ground, holding Livia, who was eating fish in her arms. The petite witch exuded a sweet rose scent, just like a soft, large-sized pillow.

"It mainly concerns our future procurement, and also, it would be troublesome if the Sin Demon came here."

"That's true." If the imperial towns on the Luster Plain fall, it means that the prices of various crops and the like will inevitably rise, which is not good for Roach and his group's economic situation.

Don't be fooled by the treasure chest of gold coins you just received. That "treasure chest" wasn't very big to begin with. It wasn't one of those huge chests that are several feet long like in fantasy games. It was a small chest less than a foot in size, used to store valuable items such as jewelry and gold coins.

After counting, there were only less than 150 gold coins and some gems and jewelry of decent quality, totaling less than 300 gold coins. That's enough for a normal fiefdom nobleman to earn a little more than a year's income, but that's about it.

"If you move here, our output here might not be enough to support you." Luo Qi was telling the truth. The original Vivi wouldn't have an excessive appetite as long as she didn't use her shapeshifting ability, but now that she has reverted to her ancestral form as a true dragon, her appetite is extraordinary.

“It’s alright, I can hunt for myself,” Vilandella said confidently.

“He means there’s no prey around here that you can beat,” Old Ma said slowly. “There are no edible creatures living in the living forest that a newly reverted dragon like you can defeat.”

"..." In the end, Vilandella decided to stay for the time being. After all, the real boss here, Livia, had agreed, so there was nothing else for the others to say. As for the problem of finding food, they could only ask her to fly a little further to Eagle Feather Mountain and see if she could defeat those giant eagles.

Of course, even a fledgling dragon could easily take down a giant eagle, but giant eagles are social creatures and don't have much meat. Whether they can get enough to eat depends on Vilandella's combat skills and energy efficiency.

Vilandella's arrival had almost no impact on Roach and his companions' lives. They continued fishing, tending to herbs and vegetables, fetching water, chopping wood, cooking, and waiting for Livia, their little teacher, to give them language lessons and basic alchemy courses.

When they had nothing to do, Roach studied the Mystic Source Paradigm and Runebook, Livia studied the magic books she got from the library, and Leslie soaked in the pool to replenish her salt and try to turn herself into a salted fish in the sea breeze as soon as possible.

Alessina was responsible for doing the rough work, practicing martial arts, and preparing fodder and other food for the unfortunate bull.

As time passed, Livia finally completed some preparations and called everyone into the house. Sometime later, a cellar door appeared in the corner of the living room, leading to a basement made of stone bricks, with torches lit in the four corners to symbolize re-employment after being laid off.

The basement contained Livia's new tools, including a furnace for smelting metal, as well as various blacksmith and even stonemason tools. Of course, judging from the little girl's frail arms and legs, everyone knew that these tools were probably "mature tools" that could do the work on their own.

"Rocky~" The little girl gave Rocky a soft hug, patted his head with her little hand, and then a rather gorgeous suit of armor fell off the rack and came toward Rocky to assemble.

Soon, a fully armed knight appeared on the spot, wearing a bird-faced helmet, a breastplate engraved with intricate magical patterns and inlaid with aquamarine, and a short blue cloak with dazzling patterns outlined by blue ocean crystals. Apart from the rune plate on his belt, which seemed out of place with the overall style, he looked like a tall and agile plate-armored knight.

"It doesn't feel too heavy," Roach said, stretching his limbs. The armor itself was quite heavy, but it seemed that the magic array made of these gems and crystal powder provided the weight reduction and power.

Then there was a longsword about two fingers wide, with about one-third of the blade not having a blade, but instead covered in a pale gold bronze covering with densely connected runes.

Roach tried to infuse the rune disk with magic, and the blade began to slowly glow and lengthen. This made only one sentence pop into his mind: "Hail! Kalia!" Wait, it seems that the Knight of Kalia was loyal to the witch. So he made a vague gesture from his memory.

"Mmm!" The little witch's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously, with an expression that said, "Wow, that's amazing!"

Then she gave Leslie a harp, a harp that would play music on its own without needing to be played. This made Leslie, a bard, feel as if she had been insulted, and that the other person had used very foul language.

Besides the harp, there was also a hat with feathers, but it didn't have any special function; it was just a hat. Next was Vilandera, who received a witch-style dress: a white, long-sleeved dress with lace trim and golden runes on the hem and cuffs. Like Roach's armor, it was a true arcane artifact.

The skirt provides approximately 20% spell weakening, meaning it can reduce the effect of targeted spells by up to 20%. Additionally, the runes help to gather environmental arcane power, accelerating the arcane mage's casting speed.

In addition, the same style but gray pointed hat has the effect of calming the mind and improving concentration. The staff is also made of wood, just like the witch's. That one doesn't have any extra functions; it's just a wooden stick made by Old Ma.

Finally, the newcomer Alessina received... a greatsword, a greatsword the size of a door panel, and a suit of armor that looked incredibly revealing. Clearly, the little witch mistook her for an orcish warrior—the kind of person in a storybook who wears bikini armor.

This left Alessina speechless, especially since her profession was actually that of a scout, not a warrior. She was skilled with bows, crossbows, short swords, daggers, and throwing axes, but she had never actually used a greatsword. However, judging from the expressions of the others, she knew that this was just a prop for the young lady to play house with.

Putting everything else aside, Roach is a proper alchemist. Giving him a knight's armor already speaks volumes. In any case, Alessina doesn't think that with the little witch's intelligence and knowledge, it's possible that she didn't know Roach was a spellcaster. There must be some reason why Roach was the only one who could play this role.

Looking around, he saw that everyone was a girl, so it was clear that the role of the knight could only be played by Roach, a grown man.

"Mage, Knight, Berserker, Bard, Alchemist, hmm, we're still missing a Priest," Roach said, glancing at the team's situation. They were currently missing a healer, and with a priest, they would have a standard six-person adventure team, ready to go on a dungeon run.

"Hmm!" The little witch looked at everyone with satisfaction, then pressed her hands firmly on the ground. Bright magical patterns spread along the walls and floor, causing the entire house to shake violently.

How to resolve Livia's dilemma of not wanting to go out but wanting to travel? The answer is: just bring your home with you.

A deep ravine split open at the edge of the Witch's Clearing, and then the entire ground rose up. Legs made of giant stones inlaid with crystal clusters and magic circles extended from the edge, like a giant tortoise carrying the entire Witch's Home on its back.

Now Roach knew where the little witch had used the stones they had blasted out of the mine. "Whoosh~~~" The little guy was seriously holding a crystal ball and manipulating the land that had grown legs to run wildly through the living forest, making cheerful noises.

It took quite a while before it stopped. By then, the eight giant stone legs had been submerged by the tide. The witch's hut was moored in the Carrion Bay, and the sea breeze rustled through the trees at the edge of the plot.

"..." Luo Qi looked at the large pit in the open space that was still protected by the barrier, thought for a moment, took out the pirate treasure chest from before, placed it neatly in the center of the open space, and then buried a few rune stones around it.

"What are you doing?"

"I was thinking that this place used to be the witch's home, but now that she can move around, it feels empty. As a secret realm, without a final reward or a boss, doesn't it feel a bit... incomplete?"

"!!!!" Leslie immediately understood, and the two of them exchanged a glance and revealed a terrifying smile.

"I'll go find Old Ma and that bull-headed guy."

"So you mean to give the adventurers who might enter the Living Forest in the future a beating they deserve?" Black Horse thought for a moment, "Okay, take me with you!" So the number of people emitting the terrifying, sinister laughter increased to three.

In the end, only Alessina, due to the language barrier, could only watch with a bewildered expression as Roach, the Little Witch, and the others sat in a circle, arguing loudly over a blueprint and dozens of cards.

Indeed, Livia also thought the idea was great and volunteered to be the "Dungeon Master," providing Roach and his crew with crucial technical support.

Perhaps for her, whether or not adventurers come is not important. What makes her happier is that everyone gathers together and discusses such interesting things. Even if no adventurers come in the end and a lot of magical materials and magic power are wasted, she still feels it's worth it.

Chapter Seventy-Nine: A New Beginning

A map of the entire living forest was drawn and displayed on the table in the cabin, with several cards scattered around it, each bearing a simple drawing of a monster. It was clearly Livia's work, as the monsters were presented in a cute chibi style.

Roach held a handful of cards with magic circle patterns, representing magical traps. Alessia was half-lying on the table, diligently drawing on a map with a pencil and ruler. As for Leslie, she held a handful of dice and muttered, "Give me a 1, give me a 1, give me a 1..."

Livia's small face was hidden behind a brand-new, large notebook. The book contained maps, trap diagrams, and various magic circles and trap designs that she had just drawn. She was carefully flipping through this "Adventurer's Happy Book," her expression very focused, completely immersed in the adventure game on the desktop.

Since it's highly unlikely that any adventurers will venture into the living forest to their deaths, there's no need to make the entire forest transformation too difficult. To avoid accidentally harming nature, we've decided to do a paper-based simulation first, and then choose a fun plan.

"The construction plan is finalized. Livia, do you have any objections?" Roach slammed his hand on the table. The blonde witch shook her head, indicating that she didn't have any major objections. All that was left was to proceed with the construction.

Honestly, the process is very simple. After all, there's no need to actually build an underground city. Just change the tree paths in the living forest, and then add some traps and magic traps. You don't even need to release real monsters, since this place is called the Dangerous Realm, there will be plenty of monsters.

The main change was to alter the terrain and rearrange the existing monster distribution. The only construction work needed was to fill the large pit left by the original witch's hut. Roach and Old Ma rounded the pit a bit, and then the little witch used the cut rocks to seal it up, turning it into a very simple circular room.

She solemnly placed the pirates' magnificent treasure chests on the central platform, then set up a powerful magical barrier. As for the treasures inside the chests, there was only a hand-drawn picture by the little witch.

Since it's a place for people to have fun, like a theme park, there's no need to put real treasures inside; just something that conveys the idea is enough.

However, before the first test of the game could even begin, Vilandella received a message from Sylvia: another layer of the seal had been broken, and the situation in the Lost Capital was not optimistic; the Dragon Clan was preparing to officially intervene in the matter.

"The dragons are involved? They're actually this diligent?" Leslie couldn't understand. The dragons were usually not very involved in things, but this time they actually took the initiative to intervene in human affairs. Guarding the Dragon Castle and the seal was already the greatest demonstration of their diligence.

"Because of the previous matter concerning the undead"

"Undead?" Roach was stunned for a few seconds before he remembered that it was about the Black Abyss Cemetery incident, and that ever since they recaptured the Deathwhisper Fortress and blew up the ancient fortress dungeon beneath the Black Abyss Cemetery, there seemed to be no follow-up to those undead creatures, especially the Soulbound Corpses.

"Yes, those soul-bound corpses are all remnants of the Kingdom of Gulushe. They transformed themselves into soul form through some kind of ritual to avoid a certain disaster. According to the intelligence gathered from the Kingdom of Rada, they are trying to awaken the souls of the sleeping legions and remnants in this way to restore their kingdom."

"Oh... So, what does this have to do with dragons?"

"Yes, the reason they perished was most likely related to the massive original sin magic ritual in the lost royal city, but the specific information is not very clear. However, it is certain that a considerable portion of the treasures of the Luster Kingdom and the ritual implements necessary for the restoration of the kingdom are in the hands of the dragons."