Witch Troupe and the Undead

The scorching greatsword swung through the dragon's breath smoke, each strike a fiery inferno. Even Captain Augros was stunned. It's normal for dragons to use props, but they rarely use weapons. Most of their weapons are inferior to their own claws and teeth. Otherwise, why would dragon teeth, scales, and bones be the materials for all kinds of divine weapons? For dragons, weapons that are not divine weapons are just useless.

This was the first time he had ever seen a dragon, after throwing bombs and various enchanted items, pull out two jet-powered greatswords and slash wildly like a skilled butcher's apprentice. The weight of the greatswords required Alessina to use his body weight and inertia to swing them, but for a dragon, they were no different from ordinary kitchen knives.

However, even after reverting to its ancestral form, fighting in dragon form is still a huge drain on a dragon's energy, especially the breath attack. Vivi has only just successfully reverted to her ancestral form and is only equivalent to a fledgling dragon, roughly the size of a 6-7 year old human child.

Children of this age may seem to have a lot of energy, but they actually get tired very quickly when they exercise and can't keep it up for very long.

Chapter Ninety-Two

The little witch extracted the ethereal magic representing "wilderness," and the trees in the Black Forest began to show signs of withering. However, what followed was the emergence of countless poisonous thorns representing "wilderness," which entangled all the sin demons together. As the great sin magic was neutralized, the sin demons turned to ashes and disappeared one by one.

The neutralized ethereal magic coalesced into thousands of crimson butterflies as the witch drew circles with her wand, flying towards the distant barrier. The butterflies merged into the barrier the moment they touched it, their crimson tentacles and runic light bands entangling and pulling back the escaped demons one by one.

As the number of Sin Demons decreased, the camp, with the help of Roach and the others, regained its footing and began to counterattack. At the breach in the wall, Vilandera's breath covered the area, and the few Sin Demons that managed to escape the ash breath were swiftly cut down by the dragon-form Vilandera with her power greatsword.

Compared to Alessina's greatsword, Vilandella's greatsword, although similar in design, is not very durable. After all, it wasn't handmade and personally enchanted by the little witch, and it quickly broke under such rough use. However, the remaining blade was enough to cut down those sinful demons whose bodies were burning with undying dragon fire.

On this side of the gate, Alessina gripped his power sword with both hands, striking a baseball-like pose. Whenever a sin demon lunged at him, he would kick it against the blade, sending it flying, then spin and swing it. Accompanied by the flames from the alchemical blaster, the greatsword would send the sin demon flying, and those unlucky might be cut in two on the spot.

The biggest advantage of this fighting style for Alessina is that it saves energy. She doesn't need to keep swinging her sword; she only needs to get into position, catch her breath and recover her strength, and wait for the enemy to make a move before counterattacking.

The fox girl, who had already transformed into human form, twitched her ears, ripped off her top and skirt, revealing her rounded shoulders and fair thighs. However, the beautifully sculpted muscles on her arms and thighs made it clear to everyone that this girl was no mere pretty face, but a female warrior with considerable strength.

He was only wearing a fur chest protector, with most of his arms exposed. Wisps of heat rose from his back and chest, and visible beads of sweat dripped down his chin into the deep cleavage.

Alessina flexed her wrists and swung the Greatsword of Wupeng with one hand, the blade trailing an arc on the ground. This was the reference point she used to predict the enemy's position and the optimal slash line. It was also the section of the sword with the greatest power and strength when the Greatsword of Wupeng was fully swung horizontally, or the "strongest part" of the sword.

"Roar!" The two sin demons lingered and clashed at the broken gate, their blood-red, molten-like eyes fixed on Alessina in the distance. "Click!" Alessina's wrist guard made a soft sound, and bright runes lit up on its surface. The magic power of the power essence was boiling, transforming into the energy of this enchanted equipment made by Livia.

Unlike source equipment, this enchanted equipment will be destroyed once the enchanted magic is exhausted, and cannot be replenished with essence to generate new energy like source equipment.

The Power Gauntlets have a simple purpose: to enhance physical strength and stamina. They are very useful for Alessina in her current state. Of course, like other equipment, they are filled with the little witch's wishful thinking. She has subjectively assigned roles to each of her companions and then assigned them equipment according to these ideas.

Essentially, it's no different from how little girls decorate their dolls. Roche is a hero doll, while Alessina is a warrior or barbarian doll, so the equipment Livia gives her has this style.

The simple and direct approach of enhancing physical strength, power, and speed is quite suitable for Alessina, a beast-like warrior.

"Hoo~" Alessina exhaled a breath of white mist, the muscles in his arms twitching slightly, ready to react at any moment and kill the two sin demons that were hesitating and observing on the spot.

"This is a good spot, I've finally found a good one." In the attic of the post station, Leslie, who had escaped with the help of the little witch, finally found a suitable position for herself, which was to snipe or shoot from this high point.

The silver-black wooden arrow rested between his fingertips, nocked onto the magic longbow, and the ethereal bowstring was drawn back. The bowstring, made of dynamic elements, shimmered with the emerald green light unique to wind magic between his fingers, though the pure dynamic element effect was fainter than the previous wind element effect, like a rope made of green crystal.

"Bang!" The air exploded, and a silver line passed through Alessina's cheek and pierced directly into the body of a sin demon. However, Leslie had aimed for the eye, but the arrow hit the forepaw instead.

"Bang!" The arrow exploded the moment it pierced the ground, and silver flames spread from the point of impact. Taking advantage of the moment when the demon was startled by the attack, Alessina suddenly dragged the greatsword forward two steps, used the momentum of the charge to lift the greatsword off the ground, and pulled the trigger at the same time.

With a "bang!" sound like a gunshot, the flames propelled the sword high into the air, slamming it into the sin demon's chin. Then, the fox spirit spun around and slashed downwards, knocking another sin demon to the ground with a single blow.

Just then, the knight who had dealt with the demon on the side of the gate arrived. He smashed his shield into the demon's face, whose jaw had been shattered. "Beastman, watch your side!" The knight used his weight to press down on the demon, frantically stabbing its abdomen with his longsword, searching for its weak spot.

“Your equipment is inadequate, human.” Alessina’s pupils contracted to a slit as he swung his greatsword backhand, smashing the demon’s head to pieces. “Change to heavy equipment; this thing’s scales are incredibly tough.”

Even the Unrivaled Sword, enchanted by the Little Witch, couldn't completely cut through in its highest mode. However, its power was enough to shatter the bones of the Sin Demons or cripple them in the waist. Leslie didn't have many silver magic arrows, so she could only seek out the most valuable or critical battlefields in the attic to provide sniping support. Compared to the perilous front yard, the backyard was much more peaceful.

Minotaur, holding a sin demon in each hand, forcefully slammed them together in front of him. With a "thud," their heads shattered upon impact, and the corpses burned to ashes in his hands. "Perfect for fertilizing the field," Minotaur thought, pulling out a wooden rake from the side and vigorously raking the soil a few times. He buried the ashes of the burned sin demons in the ground. Although they weren't very nutritious, it was better than nothing.

"Eighty, eighty, eighty, no, this forty..." Black Horse held an explosive hammer in one hand and was empty-handed in the other. He grabbed the sinful demon that rushed near the witch's hut and ended the battle by smashing it on the head with his explosive hammer. If there weren't too many of these demons, they would still be within the little witch's team's ability to handle.

Even the weakest Leslie can get a few kills as long as she finds a safe sniping spot. Of course, the main source of this strength is still equipment. The strength of adventurers and powerful figures in this world is about 70% equipment and 30% their own hard-earned body and skills, whether they are spellcasters or melee warriors.

Even the two demons of Hell are the same, except that both of them are very poor. One is still struggling in the first level of Hell and hasn't made a name for himself yet, while the other, if he had a good set of equipment, would already be a lord of the sixth level.

With a lightsaber in his right hand and a chainsaw in his left, Roach blocked the entrance to the inn. Two of the power boxes on the rune disk on his back were empty, and the internal essence fuel was clearly only half full. All the horizontal rune stones were in a cooling state. The price was a patch of scorched earth in front of the inn building.

"Whoosh!" The lightsaber swept across the front, and for Roach, this was the most advantageous battlefield. If the monsters wanted to break in, they could only attack from the front at a maximum angle of about 120 degrees. He only needed to swing the lightsaber without thinking to cut down most of the demons. Those that were not killed would also be cut with a deep cut.

Of course, this method of fighting consumes too much energy from the rune disk, so Roach only makes one strike to kill the weaker sin demons and wound the stronger ones.

Those sin demons that were injured or had their legs cut off and were temporarily unable to recover or move would be stomped on by Roach, and then chainsawed. The scene was extremely brutal. If the sin demons didn't bleed and turned to ashes after death, the battlefield on Roach's side would be so chaotic that it would be impossible to tell which side was the monsters and which side was their own.

"Whoosh!" The magic chainsaw pressed down on the neck of a kneeling demon. Due to the weak destructive power of the tiny explosion, the chainsaw struggled to cut in. However, it didn't matter. Roach used both hands to press down on the magic chainsaw and slowly sawed off the demon's head along with half of its body.

The scene made Commander Augros, who was covering his flank, involuntarily swallow hard. What on earth was this weapon? The scene was too brutal. He couldn't imagine how terrifying and frightening it would be if it were cutting down normal flesh and blood.

After fighting for most of the day, the last demon was finally reduced to ashes, and the gap in the wall was temporarily blocked by the tree roots summoned by the little witch.

"Fortunately, Lady Livia blocked the barrier, otherwise..." Seven or eight adventurers died, more than half of the guards were killed or wounded, and one knight also died. He was surrounded and torn to pieces by four or five Sin Demons. Before he died, he killed three Sin Demons and severely injured one, so it wasn't too bad.

"The consequences would be unimaginable..." The adventurers carried their companions' bodies and threw them into the dug pit. They were left with only a thin set of clothes on their bodies, and there was no coffin. Their weapons and equipment were all taken away. Some of these items that were useful were taken by their companions, while the rest were sold later. The proceeds from the sale, along with a share of the adventure's profits, would be given to the family members of the deceased.

Unless there are special circumstances or excess weight, they generally don't take corpses back, at most a small jar of ashes. But there isn't enough fuel here right now, and the wood needs to be used to repair and reinforce the walls and doors. Otherwise, they won't even have to wait for the Sin Demon to attack again; even the monsters of the Black Forest in winter could kill them all.

The blonde little witch, leaning on her cane with one hand and lifting her skirt with the other, walked among the wounded. When she saw a soul floating out, she casually stuffed it back in. Of course, considering the rarity of soul essence, she didn't bind them with soul threads.

Without soul threads, these temporarily revived guys can only give their last words or make a last-minute confession to annoy their teammates before they still die.

As for those who could still be saved, Livia would take out a potion from her apron pocket and pour it over their heads. To punish Roach, who would occasionally court death and cause trouble for everyone, Livia improved the potion formula. Now, this powerful healing potion is not only 25% more effective, but its side effects have also increased by at least double.

The effect was that every wounded soldier rolled around on the ground in excruciating pain. Those who were seriously injured arched their bodies like dying fish, their eyes wide open, and lay back down as if dead after several dozen seconds. However, their wounds disappeared, leaving only a red scar.

On the third floor of the inn, in the investigation team's office. "Lady Livia, Master Roch, thank you so much for your help." Captain Augros took two bags from a small cabinet and handed them to Roch, which contained coins mixed with gold and silver. "We'll replenish the rest when the supply team arrives in the spring."

"Hmm, this should be enough." Luo Qi weighed the money bag in his hand, feeling that it was about right. After all, although they had put in a lot of effort, if they really showed a need for gold coins, they would be taken advantage of.

"I have a favor to ask..."

"Then don't say it," Roach shrugged. "It's already an unreasonable request, what more can you say?"

“This…” “We’re just here to collect ancient scrolls and documents, as well as various antiquities, and do some small business on the side. Of course, helping out in small ways is fine, but it’s best not to make requests that are too difficult.”

"...Well, it's not really that difficult. It's like this, our weapons aren't very effective against those demons, and the tools we brought back need purification. We only have one priest here right now, so I wanted to say..."

"Let us help purify those instruments, and provide some weapons while we're at it?" Roach frowned. "The latter isn't a big problem. As long as you can provide the money and materials, I accept processing from your suppliers. But purification..." Roach looked at Livia beside him, and the little girl also looked at Roach, making a fist with both hands as if to say "no problem."

"Okay, that's not a big problem, but our fees here..."

"Should we follow the church's standards?"

"Hmm...that's fine too." Roach didn't know what the church's prices were, but looking at the priests' gorgeous robes, he knew it wouldn't be cheap.

A few days later, at the witch's hut. "Whoosh~" A puff of gray mist shot into the furnace, instantly igniting the fuel inside. Chunks of crystalline fuel released commanding flames, the white flames scorching the magically reinforced crucible above.

Livia sat on a stack of books, holding a thick alchemical tome in one hand, her little feet swinging lightly. In her other hand, she drew circles with an alchemical wand about the length of a chopstick. As she moved, the crystal cylinder floating in mid-air was slowly stirred in the crucible.

Just like stirring maltose, a large clump of debris emitting incandescent light gradually appeared on the crystal. These attracted debris fell off the crystal bar and into the pit next to it as the little witch flicked her magic wand.

The place was already filled with clumps of condensed residue, reflecting colorful patterns in the sunlight. Once it had cooled down enough, Roach picked them up one by one, not knowing what he was going to do with them.

Under the expectant gaze of two adventurers, Livia looked up at the direction of the cauldron, her delicate pale gold eyebrows furrowing and then relaxing. With a wave of her small hand, the cauldron slowly tilted, and the bright liquid metal inside poured little by little into the mold on the ground, turning into a long, uneven metal strip with pinholes.

The black-skinned, horse-headed giant grabbed the scorching metal strip, threw it onto the anvil while it was still hot, and began to hammer it. Soon, the strip of metal turned into a red-hot metal plate about a finger's thickness.

"Hmm~" Livia twisted her finger, and the unshaped metal plate turned into a sharp, three-finger-wide standard military heavy sword blade. All that was needed was to attach the handle and handguard before it could be used.

"Master Livia...is it really over?"

"Mm!" The little witch nodded.

"But... isn't this just a regular alloy greatsword? But they paid a high price for it, and even added some magic ores they got during their previous adventures, and it doesn't even have a basic enchantment."

"That's enough." Livia explained in a low voice. Her enchantment didn't require any complicated rituals. During the shaping process, she casually added a heavy blade effect, which would increase the weight of the blade when slashing, resulting in a better slashing effect.

"..." Faced with the menacing horse-headed giant and the dragon lying nearby, the adventurer hesitated for a long time before obediently taking the seemingly plain sword and leaving.

At first, Livia had a lot of customers. Many adventurers, upon hearing about this good thing, brought out all the materials they had kept hidden away.

As a result, Livia's enchanting and crafting process was both luxurious and simple. It was luxurious in that the dragon girl breathed fire, the horse-headed giant forged iron, and the witch shaped the form. It was simple in that no enchanting ritual was seen from beginning to end, and there were no fancy tricks like the flaming greatsword.

In contrast, Roach had many more customers. Whether it was the wailing magic chainsaw or the jet-powered greatsword, they were all very cool. Roach also had a variety of explosive weapons, explosive weapons in every sense of the word.

"This thing... if you notice any abnormal overheating before you run out of ammunition, throw it at your enemy."

"why?"

“Because it will explode,” Roach said calmly, handing a crossbow to the adventurer in front of him. “The explosion might be much more powerful than the wind arrows it shoots.” After all, this was the first time that the product of wind elemental dismantling had been used, so the explosion would definitely be more powerful.

Chapter Ninety-Three: The Roach Peace Prize

The dark corridor stretched endlessly forward, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows. Outside, twinkling lights extended across the land, and massive buildings seemed bound in mid-air by some force. The streams of light formed by pedestrians and various vehicles entangled between the buildings. Looking up at the sky, it was an upside-down city.

The world felt like it was sandwiched between two buildings and a metal ground, like a biscuit. The wind rushed through the open window into the corridor, chilling everyone to the bone.

Staggering forward, the gate ahead was carved with strange statues. Two witches wearing pointed hats stood sideways, their hooked staffs crossed on the door, their hands clasped together, gripping a golden apple-shaped handle.

"Click!" The handle was easily turned open, revealing countless thick, deep red curtains in front of you, with a faint, noisy sound coming from behind.

"...Let us welcome..." Reaching out to part the curtain, in front of him was a radiant multi-tiered stage. The faces of the audience stretched out to the horizon, their numbers impossible to count. A strange man in a black robe with a green trim stood on the stage with a broad smile, holding a pure gold bust in his hands, which looked like some kind of strangely shaped trophy.

"The 287th Roach Peace Prize winner, who completely ended the war between humans and demons by destroying the Hell Fortress with a powerful alchemical weapon..." A burst of enthusiastic applause rang out from the audience. "The Roach Peace Prize? What the hell is that!?" Suddenly, the lights shone on them, making their faces feel warm, and the intense light made it hard to open their eyes.

"Holy crap!" Roach suddenly opened his eyes. What kind of nightmare was that? He dreamt that his name had become something like the Nobel Prize, and he was even at the award ceremony.

What is this Nobel Peace Prize? The Nuclear Peace Prize, huh? God the hell used a high-explosive bomb to destroy the Demon Fortress and end the war, so he got the Nobel Peace Prize. Hmm, so why didn't LeMay get the Nobel Peace Prize? At the very least, Oppenheimer should have received one!

Regardless of how many ordinary people were killed, just tell me whether there's peace or not!

Warm sunlight streamed through the window of the cabin onto the head of the bed, which seemed to be the source of the light. The window was slightly ajar, and at the foot of the bed was a small metal heater, with the remaining ashes trying to keep the last flame alive. As Roach pulled back the covers, the last flame went out.

After getting dressed, she went downstairs. The others were already at the table waiting for her. "Hmm..." Livia looked at Roach as he came down, reached out her little hand to touch his forehead, and nodded. "You're not sick." "I wasn't sick, I was just too tired."

Roach shook his head. On the table was a standard Western breakfast: slightly charred bread slices, a large piece of pale yellow cheese and butter in the middle of the wooden table, a fried egg, and a small bowl of pickled radish chunks.

"So, Master Roach, what have you been busy with these past few days?" Alessina asked curiously. The main reason was that the sign on the door of Roach's studio that said "No Trespassing" was like a curse from the Little Witch. No one dared to push the door open and go in, for fear that they would be blown out if they stepped in with their right foot first.

"Oh, let's make a metal smelting device." The idea came to him after seeing the little witch's pile of slag. He installed a magical steam-to-electricity device in his workshop and made a special slag pool to test the effect of electroslag remelting.

"Master Roach, I'm curious, with such a frail physique, why don't you consider exercising?"

“There’s a reason for that,” Roach said after thinking for a moment. “For some reason, my training is essentially nonexistent. Because I haven’t achieved any results yet, and then when the little witch is resurrected, all the training results are gone.”

“I need to live until Livia resurrects me, until I’ve trained to a certain level, at least to the point where I’ve achieved some solidified results. Otherwise, it’s like my progress is reset to zero, and my chances of surviving are zero…” Roach thought about the whirring machine in his workshop and looked troubled. “Compared to this, I might as well wear a few more light protective gear pieces so that I don’t break into too many pieces and the resurrection will be easier.”

"Hmm~" The little witch patted her head, indicating that this easily-died guy finally understood her hardships, but... her big emerald eyes stared blankly at Roach, "Want... to die a few more times?"

"I don't want to. Although I can be resurrected, both the death and resurrection will be very painful."

"Hmm~" The little witch stroked it, indicating that she understood and that it was always very difficult for her to revive this silly thing.

Others only needed to put the souls back in, but Roach not only had to put them back in, she also had to sew them back together. She felt she would soon be able to learn how to sew rag dolls herself.

“Of course, there’s another reason,” Roach said after thinking for a moment, “training isn’t something that can be achieved in a day or two, is it?”

"Yes"

"It's not something that can show obvious results in one or two years, is it?"

“Yes,” Alessina said calmly. Which warrior doesn’t grow through years of training? You think you can make a difference with just a day or two of casual practice? Are you living in a dream?

"Moreover, you don't actually feel the benefits of each workout, and sometimes you even regress, right?" Roach spread his hands. "Look, if I had that kind of willpower and perseverance, would I be in this state today? I'd probably be an associate professor by now."

As for why people with weak bodies shouldn't try to improve their physical strength, that's laughable. It's like how modern people know that if they don't exercise and maintain their health, they'll be taken away by various sub-health conditions and occupational diseases. How many people actually stick with it in the gym?

As for saying that you are tired from work and have no energy or time, that is a ridiculous excuse. After all, even when you are cultivating, you may not have time to grow spiritual herbs, you may not have energy to practice weapons, you may fall asleep easily when you meditate, or even the surrounding environment, the people around you, or the cultivation method may be a bad excuse.

Therefore, Roach was absolutely certain of one thing: if a person is a good-for-nothing in modern society, even if they are thrown into a world with supernatural powers, they will still be a good-for-nothing. They will not have any thoughts or perseverance about cultivation. This is because anyone with such perseverance and mindset would have already made a name for themselves in the modern world.

Don't say things like, "There's no supernatural power here. If there were, things would be different." That kind of talk might fool others, but it's not worth fooling yourself. You just don't have the patience, perseverance, or willpower. It's not about what the "finish line" reward is.

"So, I think I should just stick to my job as a Mystic Mage. At least I can handle this kind of academic work." He was used to the tedium and boredom of this part back in modern society, and now he has some advantages, such as a cheat code and the trial-and-error cost advantage brought by his immortality.

"I support you!" The useless mermaid in the team echoed his sentiment.

"What are you supporting?" Roach squinted. "My goal is to kill the enemy with a single shot from 800 miles away. You're just... incompetent, aren't you?"

"..."

“Yes, Miss Leslie does need training and rigorous practice, so…” Alessina looked at the little witch, who scrutinized Leslie for a while and nodded vigorously.

"Well, starting tomorrow, I will train you. I hope you can stick with it." Then the fox girl looked at the little witch, who hesitated for a while, looked at Roach, then at the mermaid, and finally thought for a long time before taking out bottles of magic potions from her apron pocket and handing them to the fox girl.

"What is this?!" Leslie looked around, while Alessina glanced at the types of potions—healing, stamina restoration, and regeneration—and roughly understood what was going on. He then gave Leslie a very terrifying smile.

“Master Roach, Miss Vivi, I don’t know much about magic bows, that bow…”

"You don't need to say anything. Once my experimental electroslag is finished, if it works, we'll make her a new one. By the way, Miss Alessina, what do you think is the best level of completion?"

“I will discuss this with you, Master, later.” Alessina still respected Roach very much. She was the most respectful person in the group. After all, she was a warrior, while Roach was an arcane mage and a rune master who made big explosions. First, she didn’t want to be blown up by her own people one day. Second, she hoped that Roach’s explosive weapons could be popularized. She was very satisfied with that jet sword.

It perfectly aligns with the cultural habits and emotional values ​​of the beastmen. The unparalleled greatsword, the roar of its engine, and the crisp gunshots at the moment of its strike—every single point hits the bullseye of both the beastmen and the beastmen. And among the beastmen, craftsmen who can create powerful weapons are highly respected by society.

At Roche's Workshop, electric arcs flash, with absolutely no industrial protection. Anyway, if you get electrocuted or charred, the little witch will help you fix it, so it's fine.

Red-hot metal dripped from the bottom of the slag tank. After crystallization and condensation, it turned into some strange metal blocks. Roach's equipment was very different from real electroslag remelting, or rather, it was very rudimentary. Anyway, he was just giving it a try.