Witch Troupe and the Undead

"Quick, close the door!" The deacon frantically pushed the heavy oak door shut, slowly closing it, but blood mist continued to seep in from under the door. Fortunately, the pool in the center of the church shimmered with golden light, which emanated from the murals and scriptures on the walls, preventing the blood mist from spreading further.

"Crash!" The stained glass was shattered from the outside, and the completely mangled corpse flipped over the windowsill and fell to the ground with a thud. The shattered bones, with only a tough, blood-red membrane covering the soft, mud-like internal organs, rose again and staggered toward the priests who had gathered in a group.

"Don't panic, keep praying!" The priests on the outer perimeter held candlesticks and makeshift weapons, while the priests on the inner perimeter prayed with all their might to maintain the church's protective barrier and prevent more blood mist from intruding.

"Bang!" The candlestick struck the blood corpse with a muffled thud. The sluggish creature leaned back slightly before regaining its posture and swaying as it continued to approach. "Don't come near me!" a nun screamed, stabbing the blood corpse in front of her with a sharp candlestick, but to no avail. Instead, she was covered in splattered black blood.

The blood was corrosive; when it touched the skin, the flesh immediately separated and melted. Amid the nun's screams and shrieks, she was completely transformed into a highly corroded corpse. She then stood up again and waved a candlestick at the nearest priest who was holding a bench to block the blood corpse.

Listening to the increasingly faint sounds of resistance and screams coming from the upstairs hall, Bishop Megavin in the underground sanctuary gripped the golden sun badge tightly in his hand, while the paladins beside him held their shields and maces with tense expressions, watching the stairs leading to the sanctuary.

Inside the Earl's castle, the Earl and his personal guards had retreated from the outermost part to the inner part of the castle, relying on the sturdy stone castle inherited from their ancestors to resist.

It must be said that these blood corpses are not particularly strong in combat, but they have amazing resistance to injury and are extremely resilient in the blood mist. Unless they are burned to ashes, they will be quickly healed by the blood mist.

"Bring some more things!" Several knights dragged the heavy long table and pressed it against the door of the main hall of the castle. The heavy door made a series of dull thuds as it was hit. Fortunately, this was indeed an ancient castle.

This means that it does not have the large number of floor-to-ceiling windows and glass windows that modern manors and castles have. The windows are not only small but also few, and there are few doors for entry and exit. The whole structure is made of rough stone, and some areas are reinforced with wood and iron bars.

Those blood zombies outside, at most at the level of Superhuman Physique I, would have a hard time attacking from outside the main gate. As for the smaller gates, they would be even easier to block. The only problem is that the Earl, in order to better expand his garden, opened a new gate at the back of the castle leading to his garden, and that gate…

The iron gates were designed for better lighting and offered some defense, but they couldn't stop the red mist from seeping in. As a result, almost the entire castle, except for the main castle, fell into the hands of the red mist. Only the audience hall, which also served as a banquet hall, and the tower where the lord lived upstairs remained safe.

"Bang!" The blood-soaked corpses outside kept pounding on the gate, dust swirling down. This made the knights' expressions grim. When they hastily realized something was wrong and retreated here, they had almost no usable weapons left.

The armor and weapons were stored in the armory at home. The sword in his hand was just an ordinary steel sword he had found from the dead guards. Don't ask why he didn't wear a full set of armor when he went out. Putting on such heavy armor takes a lot of time, and the servants had all been corroded into blood corpses by the red mist. One person couldn't complete the task of putting on the armor.

They were all simply wearing a layer of ordinary chainmail or leather armor and carrying the simplest weapons they could find, charging towards the most fortified castle. Those who were willing to fight alongside their families were the most ruthless of the ruthless.

"Catch!" A runic longsword was thrown from the second floor, landing precisely in the hands of a knight. He swung the blade a few times to get a feel for the weapon's weight and center of gravity. "Where did you find this?"

"The Earl's collection room, thank God, that cowardly fat pig still has some good stuff in his house."

The speaker was one of Talos's knights. They didn't care about that fat pig, Kreber. However, they now had to cooperate with these knights of Tallinn. If the latter still had any respect for the Earl, these knights did not.

They barged into the count's collection room and distributed the exquisite armor and weapons, ensuring that everyone received at least one weapon and one piece of armor. However, some received helmets, some received boots, and some only received gloves and belts.

These are enchanted armors. In addition to their defensive capabilities, they also provide some enhancements. And they don't go out in shirts. Just because they don't have time to wear heavy armor doesn't mean they don't have time to just throw on some other protective gear. Even if they don't have time, they can still pick up protective gear from the corpses of the guards in the courtyard.

The azure runes on the blade lit up, emanating a chill. The knight nodded, "As expected of the Earl's collection, not bad."

"A monster is coming from above!" A giant bat-like creature smashed through the debris blocking the high window, rushed into the hall, and swooped down towards the knight below. Wisps of blood-red mist kept falling from the broken window sill.

"Pfft!" The sword blade decisively pierced the bat's abdominal cavity, splitting it open. Numerous flesh buds grew from the cut surface of the corpse, attempting to reconnect. Then, it was crushed into a bloody pulp by an iron boot. Count Talos's expression was extremely grim. He was the only one here fully equipped, with heavy armor, a helmet, a cloak, and a two-handed battle axe.

"Those hell sorcerers betrayed me!" Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to say that out loud; what came out was, "Retreat to the second floor!"

As an ancient castle, it has a special design to deal with such enemy intrusions. For example, when Talos, who was at the back, stepped on the only wooden staircase leading to the second floor, there was a loud bang, and the entire staircase shattered and exploded, completely separating the second floor from the first floor.

However, everyone's expression was not good, because there were still two hours until dawn, and no one could guarantee that these monsters would disappear after dawn. The only thing to be thankful for was that the blood moon was indeed slowly sinking below the horizon, and as it sank lower, the moonlight began to fade from its original blood red to a light red.

"Bang!" More blood bats crashed through the windows and rushed into the city, engaging in fierce battles with the knights and the remaining guards. These blood bats only needed to take one bite to turn an adult into a rotting corpse. Even knights with extraordinary physiques could only barely withstand the poison and take out a potion to gulp it down.

Just when everyone was about to give up, the blood bat suddenly paused, then turned into a pool of blood and landed on the ground. The blood mist in the city quickly settled down, corroding the corpses into a pool of blood. As the morning light shone, the blood evaporated at an astonishing speed, leaving only a completely silent city.

The sun rose as usual, and the little girl with long golden hair staggered down the stairs. She slipped and fell headlong, but the carpet, which was used to her, lifted up the half of the carpet near the stairs like a cobra and gently placed the golden ball of fur on the ground.

A towel, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, quickly patted away the dust clinging to her dress. "Ooh~" Livia yawned, placing the three ornaments she had stayed up all night to finish on the dining table. With faint dark circles around her eyes, she gave Roach and Alessina a soft, doting "-w-" smile as they looked at their astonished faces.

Alessina was given a pair of gloves, with rubies representing strength and passion inlaid on the back of the hands. These gloves could enhance the "strength" attribute, which does not refer to physical strength or arm strength, but strength in a broader sense.

The power of the beastmen's blood rage ability naturally includes the destructive power of magic, but for Alessina, it allows her to unleash even greater destructive power when wielding her greatsword.

What was given to Roach was a finger-sized bottle with four colored orbs of light floating around it. It could be hung with a necklace. There were no restrictions on wearing magical ornaments in this world. If you had the money, you could wear magical rings on all ten of your fingers. However, only one ornament with the same effect could be active at a time.

For example, with the Shield spell, even if you wear 10 Shield rings, you can only summon one force field shield, not ten shields that are ten times thicker or ten shields. However, you can wear 10 Protection rings to defend against ten different scenarios and sources of damage, and these different types of spells with the same effect can be stacked.

Spells of the same type but with different effects will have higher-level spells overlaying lower-level spells. In general, if you are really rich, you can indeed be covered from head to toe in a lot of magical ornaments and inlays, which is what wealthy knights do.

However, very few knights can actually do this with various magical ornaments, mainly because the equipment is quite expensive. In order not to embarrass themselves, most knights will wear a lot of ordinary jewels with no effect or natural magical gems with very weak effects—at least so that your colleagues are all dressed in dazzling jewelry while you come out in plain clothes.

The Elf Amulet activates automatically, circumventing Roach's zero magical perception. It automatically senses magic of a certain level or higher and activates a one-time anti-magic barrier. The strength of this barrier is based on the creator's skill, meaning that even if the opponent throws some forbidden spell, it can ensure that Roach will not be blasted to dust.

The four orbs of light represent that this amulet can be used a maximum of four times. As for physical attacks, this amulet offers no defense, which is also Livia's idea. Anyway, Roach isn't afraid of physical attacks; even if he's shredded, it'll just make her puzzle game a bit more difficult. However, being blasted away and vaporized by magic is truly hopeless.

As for Vilandella's belongings, they were quite perplexing. It was a long scarf that Livia solemnly tied around the neck of the dragon-like sleeping Vilandella, and even made a bow.

Due to the witch's limited craftsmanship, after discarding the scraps, the remaining materials for the "Disease Resistance Cloak" were only enough to make a scarf. Its sole purpose was to greatly enhance resistance to diseases, making it very precious for a race like the dragons who are extremely susceptible to illness.

There are many similar magical items, but the dragons' own resistance makes these items very ineffective against them. In addition, once a dragon gets sick, it is often fatal. Even if these items work normally, the increased resistance they provide is not very meaningful.

Therefore, for dragons, disease resistance items that can be effective against them are extremely precious and high-end items.

After delivering the gifts, the little witch yawned and went back to sleep, not waking up until noon. She still looked very tired.

"Kid, come here," Black Horse called Luo Qi over with a serious expression and stuffed a blood-red gem into his hand. "Take this and give it to the young lady."

"Why aren't you going?" Roach glanced at the gem, unable to identify what it was. Black Horse's face contorted with a "Are you an idiot?" expression. "Giving this to me is completely different from giving it to you. Go now, or I'll kick your ass!"

So, with a strange look on his face, Roche took the Blood Gem to Livia. Faced with the "gift" presented to her, the little witch first showed a bewildered expression, and then a very happy smile.

The little hand grabbed Roach's face and rubbed it hard, then gave him a hug—but the problem was, this hug was of Roach's head—and so, Roach drowned in the sweet, rose-like scent...

Just kidding. Although I instinctively rubbed against him after being pressed down, I think I'm fine, right?

"..." The black horse outside the window had a very long face. It turned its head to look at the bull's head in the animal pen next to it. "Look at my face, do I look like an idiot?" The bull's head didn't hear it at all, so it nodded without hesitation. Now the black horse's face turned even blacker.

Chapter 154 The Wrathful Spellcaster

After the hug, Livia looked confused, holding the blood gem and asking Roach, "Where did you find this?"

"Huh?" Luo Qi, still in a dazed state, shook his head and then pointed out the window, "That's what Old Ma gave me."

"..." The little witch patted his head, "Hmm, good boy~" Then she patted her skirt, stood up, grabbed her wooden cane from behind the door, and went out.

Soon, the sound of a wooden fish being struck came from inside the stable. The blonde girl pouted angrily, gripped her cane tightly with both hands, and struck the black horse's head with great force, making a rhythmic sound. The old horse looked at Roach with surprise, its eyes filled with almost tangible resentment: "You betrayed me!?"

"Don't look around!" This time, he used his foot to kick, a very forceful kick. Although it wasn't very lethal, it still made the black horse shudder and straighten up, staring straight ahead.

"I picked up this stone!"

"..." Her large, emerald-green eyes stared at him, as if to say, "Do you think I'm stupid and easy to fool?"

“I really picked it up! I found it in Tallinn. Someone summoned a great demon like the Blood Queen, and I figured nobody wanted it, so I just picked it up.”

It's not that nobody wants it, but if someone does want it, they'd see this high-level Nightmare Demon gently tapping its palm with a stick, sitting with its legs crossed, do you think it would dare to take it? So, they'd just have to wait until the entire ceremony is over, and then the blood gem, formed from the lives and flesh of the city's inhabitants, falls to the ground unclaimed, and Old Ma picks it up.

Of course, he wasn't afraid of Livia investigating. After all, the ritual in the city wasn't meant to summon him, nor was it done by his people. His only fear was that if the little witch directly summoned the Blood Queen, given their deep and unwavering friendship as demons, it would be strange if she didn't betray him.

“Hmm…” Livia thought for a moment, then untied the old horse’s reins. Clearly, she was going to go and see for herself if this thing was the culprit. No one knew better than her what the Blood Gem, or “Life Essence Gem,” was.

At the edge of the Black Forest, a black horse, its head drooping, slowly carried a girl wearing a black pointed hat, a black cloak, and a white dress with gold patterns. The village ahead looked the same as usual, but everyone was gathered in the village hall, their expressions terrified.

"Dead, dead, all dead, all dead!" The absent-minded merchant sat on the ground, panting heavily. He had gone to Tallinn City to do business early in the morning, but when he arrived at the city gate, he did not see any guards.

Looking further in, they saw only merchants and travelers from out of town near the city gate, all with terrified expressions. The adventurers who had ventured deeper into the city returned and shook their heads: "We searched several blocks and found no survivors."

So the merchants readily gave it to Luda, while the more skilled and daring adventurers were eager to enter the city and make their fortune—what kind of fortune, of course, is self-evident.

"Everyone in the city has turned into skeletons, without a trace of flesh, and even the holy light of the church has been extinguished." The merchant took a sip of water, trying to calm his fear slightly. "I heard that everyone in the church is dead, their deaths extremely gruesome; it must have been the work of the devil."

"The blood moon last night?"

"Yes, yes, that's it. Some traveling priests said it was a great demon from hell," the villagers murmured. However, they didn't notice anything unusual about the previous night and went to bed early. This was not only because there was no entertainment, but also because sleep reduces metabolism. They wanted to sleep while they still had some food in their stomachs after dinner, otherwise they wouldn't be able to sleep after the black bean porridge they ate for dinner was digested.

"See what I told you? I didn't do it, did I?"

"Hmm..." The little witch nodded slightly in relief, but still gave the black horse a tap on the head. Then she walked towards the city gate. There were hardly any people left there. A few adventurers were searching for survivors in the city and collecting the valuables of those unfortunate families who had perished. Because there were too many dead, they hadn't yet set their sights on the few survivors.

After all, the resources consumed in fighting these survivors, whether physical strength, energy, or magical items, are more valuable to use on searching other mansions that are completely deserted. There is no need to waste time. Moreover, if the lord and his guards are still alive, they will soon come out to take charge of such an important matter.

The news also spread through the caravans, and this place was about to become the core of the struggle between the royal family, local nobles and various forces. No matter how they competed, their primary condition or first task was to restore order and take stock of the losses.

In other words, for adventurers, the time to collect valuables so recklessly is extremely precious. No one would waste time getting entangled with survivors at this point. If they kick down a door and find someone still alive, they'll give up and move on to the next place. It's better to search the next place than to stand still here.

When Livia entered the city, she was met with this chaotic scene. Some adventurers even gestured for her to leave, telling her not to block their way.

"..." The blonde loli opened her mouth but said nothing. She raised her right cane and "whoosh!" A beam of light landed in front of the adventurer. "Don't steal!" Livia said angrily, puffing out her cheeks.

"Hey, little brat, what business is it of yours?"

"Alright, stop talking to this little girl and hurry up and take inventory." His companion pulled the hot-tempered soldier aside and asked him to help carry out a heavy, obviously valuable box.

A faint murmur arose, and the wooden staff drew a semicircle in mid-air. Sharp, light blue arrows appeared on the outer ring of the circle, arranged in neat rows. "Whoosh!" The arrows flew directly towards the adventurers, easily piercing their armor and locking their limbs to the ground.

"Don't steal!" Livia repeated.

"..." The adventurers looked at the magic arrows still crackling with electricity on their limbs, and the immense power that could lock them to the ground, and had no choice but to admit defeat.

"Alright, alright, let's leave now!" It would be unwise to clash with a high-level arcane mage at this distance. In general, if an arcane mage takes the initiative to attack, it means they have made full preparations, and it would be impossible to launch a surprise attack.

Livia released her control over the magic, and the light arrows vanished as specks of light. The light arrow spell transformed into a binding spell. This smooth transition would be nothing short of a miracle to an expert, but for her, it was just a little trick she had recently learned.

“The living…” The little witch looked up at the sky above the city. The collapsing souls were like a raging fire, with smoke rising continuously. She stretched out her hand, and the smoke-like fragments of souls swirled into her palm, eventually condensing into a crystal bottle.

"Clang~" A translucent silver-white gem fell, followed by a second and a third. These gem-shaped solids are the essence of the soul, also known as white amber or silver amber.

The fusion of blood, flesh, and life essence, represented by the Blood Gem, is an essential material for creating artificial demons and androids. It is also a necessary material for human alchemy. The Philosopher's Stone also requires this, but the Philosopher's Stone also requires the more difficult-to-obtain "Complete Magic Essence".

Soon, the silvery-gray smoke that lingered above the city, visible only to her, vanished completely. This wasn't because she had casually come to collect some materials, but because if left untreated, this soul smoke would revive the corpses. Simply put, too many dead people led to the proliferation of undead creatures.

However, others do not have the same level of control over the soul as the Little Witch, and cannot reassemble these broken soul fragments into this kind of thing. They can only extract the soul completely through a complicated sacrificial ritual, and then process it into this kind of white amber through soul alchemy.

Compared to the safe and harmless silver amber like that of the Little Witch, the things made by those psychics contain too many emotions and impurities. Not only are they not as pure, but they also have serious side effects when used.

Meanwhile, inside the castle.

"What are you doing? I'm your brother!" Count Clayber crawled backward on his hands and feet. In front of him, his attendants lay on the ground one by one, their blood seeping into the carpet, making the precious rose-red fabric look even more eerie.

The servant's unseeing eyes stared at Count Clayber, fear engulfing him like a nightmare.

Several knights from the territory of Lum wiped the swords from Clayber's collection on the servants, and large areas of blood splattered on the walls, the marks of Clayber's wife and children.

“I have no brother. My brother died in a despicable attack by the Hell Order. He was a warrior, wearing his family's armor, and died on the city wall. His body was completely burned. You are nothing but a substitute put forward by the Hell Order, a shameful imposter and a coward.” Talos, with tears in his eyes, approached Count Clayber, who was only wearing a nightgown, with his two-handed battle axe in hand.

"Next, I will not allow the Kreber family's reputation to be ruined. I will wipe out all the hell sorcerers and kill all these despicable villains to avenge my brother and nephews. But Tallinn cannot be left unguarded until the Emperor's appointment is issued..."

Talos raised his two battle axes and slammed them down with all his might. A dull thud echoed as flesh and bone shattered, and blood and tiny bits of meat splattered all over his face. Count Talos reached out and wiped the blood from his face.

"Although it is heartbreaking and I feel helpless, I have no choice but to accept the title of Earl of Clayber and the fief of Tallinn."

"Have you taken care of everything? I hope some illegitimate child won't pop up in a few years and cause trouble for me, the uncle?" Talos glanced sideways at his subordinate.

The two knights who were searching the corpses on the ground looked up and grinned. "Of course, they were all killed. Even the cooks in the castle were not spared. And with the scene last night, even if there were any illegitimate children, they couldn't possibly still be alive in Tallinn."

"What about outside Tallinn?"

“We asked the surviving knights, and none of them knew if the count had any illegitimate children outside, let alone such a thing… Now we have all the letters and seals of Tallinn City and the count, so it’s up to us to say whether it’s true or not.”

“That makes sense…” Talos nodded. Illegitimate children have no right to inheritance. As long as he has these seals, he doesn’t have to worry about a claim popping up out of nowhere. You know, making a claim isn’t easy. Without coats of arms, documents, and other supporting documents, the House of Nobles won’t recognize it. These documents are in his hands now, and he just needs to destroy them.

"Take care of the castle so that no one will realize it was us. Also, send out the Swifthawk to inform Natalia and have her deal with the uninvited guests in the castle, and clean up the things in the dungeon as well."

"Is the young lady really capable of doing something like this?"

"Isn't this the game she loves the most?" Talos asked rhetorically, feeling a bit of a headache just thinking about his only daughter. To outsiders, this girl really is like her father—resilient, stubborn, reckless, and full of a sense of justice. If Talos didn't know what kind of person he was, he would have had a couple more drinks to celebrate.

Or is it that because he acted so well and put on such a convincing performance, even his own family members were fooled?

However, this is not entirely a bad thing. At worst, she can work harder and finish all the dirty, shady, and tiring work. She can also be a very qualified, even exemplary, border count: courageous, loyal, determined, healthy, and full of a sense of justice, while also possessing considerable combat strength.

"Is this what they call parental love?" Talos looked down at the corpses lying haphazardly on the ground. "Should we just have another one? Forget it, it's better to avoid unnecessary complications."

Moreover, he was somewhat insecure about his fertility. He had been with a dozen or so women, but only one of them got pregnant, and the child was a daughter. If it weren't for the fact that the girl looked almost exactly like her father, he would have suspected that he might have been cheated on.

Now he's starting to have a headache because the girl looks too much like her father.

At the castle of Loum, a girl with short brown hair, panting, ran down the stairs, clutching her coarse cloth skirt. "Miss Natalia, slow down! I... I can't keep up!" she cried. "You still have an etiquette class to attend!"

"Oh dear, don't worry about that. I have important things to do right now~" The girl, with slightly curly black hair like her father, held her hat, turned sideways, grabbed the stair railing, and slid down the stairs in the maid's horrified gaze. The maid breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her land safely.

This young lady probably won't get hurt from the fall, but if she really did fall, she would be in pain. Lord Talos isn't as easy to fool as he seems. This girl even thinks her father is a barbarian and is preparing to become the second barbarian.

In the eyes of most Rum people, Lord Talos was a decent man. Although he was short-tempered, he was not very tolerant of insects, which made the tax collectors and scribes in the government office relatively law-abiding. Of course, various forms of extortion and bribery were still common, but it was much better than the extortion and exploitation in other territories.

Moreover, Lord Talos was perceived by outsiders as a typical rude, reckless yet shrewd, and hot-tempered pioneer knight.

Or rather, this image is almost a textbook example of what a pioneering knight should look like—if this were in other parts of the empire's interior, even the most astute nobles and some of the common people would be able to tell that he was obviously faking it.

Just as people don't get sick according to textbooks, people's personalities and behaviors don't grow according to textbooks either. A person who is exactly the same as the knight in the book is like finding two identical leaves in reality; one of them is definitely a fake!

However, this is Rock Tower County, or Loom Frontier Territory, where intelligent people don't exist. What's produced here are only the mindless and unhappy. With an illiteracy rate of over 95%, they don't even know what the pioneer knights in the books are like.

If the people of the territory thought Lord Talos was "unhappy," then Miss Natalia was a typical "brainless" person. However, in fact, she was a wizard, the kind who dropped out of school.

Wizards, or sorcerers, are a profession that uses language to stimulate the inner power of things. Eloquence is their defining characteristic, and a mastery of various dialectical philosophies is their specialty. They can use "spells" to command things or to unleash the hidden power of objects.