Things about the female knight in black stockings

"The goddess's divine power... Hmm, that's possible."

Ailanfeier actually thought about it quite seriously before nodding in affirmation.

Not only that, she also completely abandoned some of Alanfeier's previous little schemes.

She had originally been thinking about whether to find an opportunity to capture Valensa and take her back to the Witch's Forest for a proper study after this matter was over, but now she had given up on that idea.

Those are the chosen ones...the ones who are favored by the sun goddess.

Targeting those favored by the gods could easily result in a powerful witch being sent to the headquarters of the Church of the Sun, or even the legendary divine realm, for research...

After the potion offered by Alanfeier failed, the Sage Tower was the second to step in.

The Sage Tower, which had been a liability in this incident several times, finally came through this time.

They first provided Valencia with a very thin leather mask, similar to the kind of mask that often appeared in spy movies in Valencia's previous life. It could easily fool AI facial recognition and even more easily fool ordinary visual judgment.

The only drawback is that the shaping principle of this mask is based on magic, and it requires constant consumption of magic power to maintain the disguise effect. Moreover, if it is hit by a dispelling spell, it will revert to its original form.

Valensa was quite satisfied, though... There probably weren't many undead with independent consciousness controlled by Savat Langdon's magic, and undead with dispel spells were even rarer, so this mask was enough.

As for Valensa's figure, it was the 18th seated female sage who personally bestowed upon her a modified version of the Obscure Spell.

Ordinary obscuring spells only make a person appear ethereal and harder to lock onto from a distance, and are mostly used to defend against ranged attacks.

This improved version of the Obscuring Magic adds some illusion effects, allowing people to see what they want to see.

A simple, modified version of the illusion technique might not be very effective. However, Valensa and Lily's figures are already quite similar, and with the mask's effect, it's easy for people to mistake Valensa's figure for Lily's when looking at her from a distance.

After putting on the mask and Lily's Ranger Knight Leather Armor, Valensa even tested it out with a few people from the Sage's Tower who knew Lily, and the effect was very good.

With that, Valensa's disguise was complete, and the next step was to enter the city.

Before setting off, Tia secretly found Valensa and slipped her several golden magic cards. Among them were cards that could greatly buff herself, cards that could instantly teleport her back to Tia's side, and cards that had effects similar to spatial storage items but contained a magical explosion sealed inside.

"Don't worry, my darling Tia."

Valensa did not refuse Tia's kindness, smiled and hugged Tia, then gently kissed Tia on the lips:

“You know my trump card… The real strength of a necromancer lies in the undead army, but Savat Landon’s high-ranking undead are all outside the city. If he were to fight me one-on-one, he might not be able to defeat me.”

"Then you must be extra careful and never be careless!"

Tia continued her earnest instructions, then hesitated for a moment before biting her lip and whispering in Valensa's ear:

“I know you paladins value honor highly, but your own safety is more important than honor. If things are hopeless, those who must be sacrificed… let them sacrifice. I’m a selfish, wicked woman; I just want you to come back safe and sound.”

"I understand, don't worry."

Valensa chuckled and nodded. Seeing that many people were curiously watching them, she simply pulled Tia into her arms and gave her a deep kiss, as if deliberately showing affection.

This kiss not only fed many people a lot of "dog food" (a Chinese slang term for public displays of affection), but also turned Tia, whose skin was still not very thick, into a steampunk mess, leaving her brain too embarrassed to even think about anything else.

Valensa then entrusted Tia, whose body was weak from her kiss, to Ilana's care, before using her mental powers to erase her own presence and head towards Poliland.

This stealth method of eliminating one's own presence, like most invisibility abilities, cannot break through the perception of a domain, but it is still very useful outside of that domain.

To avoid attracting attention as much as possible, Valensa didn't dare to run too fast, and it took her about half an hour to travel the approximately 50-kilometer distance.

Upon approaching the city of Polyland, Valensa did not rush to enter. Instead, she first circled the city to observe it before choosing the northwest gate to minimize her presence and approach openly.

The two Radiant Undead guarding the northwest city gate, along with hundreds of Ordinary Undead in their lair, immediately spotted Valensa.

The high-ranking officers of the Joint Operations Team, who were watching from the air through some kind of magical projection, were momentarily tense and inwardly worried for Valensa.

Fortunately, it seemed that Valensa was only one person and posed no real threat, and that her open approach didn't seem hostile. Instead of notifying the undead in the city to execute the hostage as a deterrent, the undead surrounded Valensa.

The magical projection high in the sky was quite far away, making it difficult to see the exact appearance of the undead on the ground. One could only roughly judge the strength of the undead based on the energy fluctuations on their bodies.

However, several Sage Tower Spell Eyes were hidden among the small decorations on Valensa's Ranger Knight Leather Armor, allowing the Joint Task Force members to see clearly what the undead surrounding Valensa looked like, as if watching a live broadcast.

That's why the people in the Sage's Tower had very complicated expressions.

Chapters 145-147 Entering the City

The dozen or so high-level undead that surrounded Valensa to the northwest of Poliland were all zombie undead.

They were none other than the three squads that the Sage Tower had secretly sent to attack Savat Landon when they were acting on their own. As a result, they lost contact almost as soon as they reached the vicinity of Poliland City.

Although they had guessed that the three teams were likely doomed, the people in the Sage's Tower still held onto a sliver of hope that they might survive.

Now that their illusions have been completely shattered, the faces of the Sage Tower members in the Joint Operations Team's command room are extremely complicated.

Valensa deliberately chose this direction to enter the city.

But Valensa didn't want to provoke the people in the Sage's Tower; she was just being cautious.

According to Ailanfeier's analysis, Savat Landon's spirits all have a certain degree of autonomy, and Savat Landon, who is currently focused on something, is likely not in sync with his own spirit consciousness. Instead, he issued a series of commands and then let the spirits act on their own.

Savat Langdon certainly recognized the Sin Angel disguised as Lily, but his other undead subordinates might not. If those undead really thought Lily was just a ranger knight from the Sage's Tower, it would be difficult for them to prevent Valensa from entering the city.

That's why Valensa entered the city from this direction. The Sage Tower pursuit team, who had already turned into zombies, must have known that Lily and Savat Landon were in cahoots before they died. Now that they were Savat Landon's subordinates, they probably wouldn't consider Lily an enemy.

At this moment, facing the zombies and undead surrounding her, Valencia's expression remained unchanged, and her pace remained the same, as if she completely ignored the undead.

Valensa stopped when the distance between them was less than 10 meters, and stared at the spirits with an unhappy expression.

These zombies and undead were still wearing the clothes of the Sage's Tower, and one could still vaguely see the former splendor of these clothes.

But now, those clothes can't even be called shrouds anymore; they're all tattered and covered in dust and blood.

Judging from the bodies and clothing of these zombies, it is likely that when they went to secretly attack Savat Langdon, they were ambushed, their communications were cut off, and they encountered a fierce battle, ultimately dying and turning into zombies.

Zombies with only wounds on their bodies are considered to be in relatively good condition. Most zombies are missing limbs or only have half a head. The worst off is a female sage who has turned into a zombie. Her upper body is covered with bite marks, and her flesh has been almost completely eaten away, revealing her white ribs.

As Valencia observed the zombies, the zombies stared intently at her.

Valensa could clearly sense that these zombies harbored a very strong hatred for her... This hatred must have stemmed from the zombies' resentment towards Lily, the traitor, during their lifetimes.

This actually made Valensa feel a little relieved.

The fact that the zombies hate her so much means they've already identified her as Lily, and they must also know that she's an ally of their master.

Even if the zombies harbored resentment and unwillingness, they were controlled by necromancy and could not disobey Savat Landon's orders.

really.

Although the zombies hated Valensa so much they were practically grinding their teeth, they didn't attack her or stop her from entering the city. Instead, they made way for her, simply standing on either side of the road and staring at her with hateful eyes.

That look still made Valensa feel a little uneasy, and it took a lot of willpower for her to remain calm and slowly walk into the city.

The high-ranking members of the joint action team, who were watching the live stream through the Mage's Eye, finally breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, the first step of the plan had been successfully completed without any major incidents.

But before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, their expressions changed again—the magical projection on the oval table, which was broadcasting Valensa's situation live, suddenly disappeared.

"This……"

The old man, the 15th seat sage of the Sage Tower, changed his expression and hurriedly began to chant incantations in a low voice while using hand gestures, trying to adjust the Mage's Eye to make the magical projection reappear.

"it's useless."

Ailanfeier simply shook her head:

"This should be a magical barrier for long-distance magical communication, which can block any magical link inside or outside the city, except for the specific magical frequency set by the other party."

The three teams you sent out suddenly lost contact; they must have entered this kind of barrier.

"Then what happens next?"

The officer from the Chamber of Commerce immediately became anxious, sweating profusely as he asked:

"I don't know the situation of that paladin lady. Are we just going to wait here? I don't mean to question Her Majesty the Goddess's oracle, but that paladin lady is just a beacon after all, while she has entered the stronghold of a Radiant-rank necromancer on her own!"

All eyes in the command room immediately fell on Gamona.

Valenza is, after all, a member of the Church of the Sun. Now that she has lost contact, what should be done? The opinion of Gamona, the vice-master of the Holy Knights, must be given priority.

“I believe in her abilities… She created many miracles that everyone thought were impossible when she was in Fran. I have even heard her name many times on the continent of God’s Blessing.”

Gamona expressed his trust in Valensa almost without hesitation.

But relying solely on this subjective trust would undoubtedly be insufficient to convince everyone, so Gamona took out a pocket watch, checked the time, and continued:

"Let's wait an hour... If there's no change in the city after an hour, we'll launch a full-scale attack!"

"We should have done this a long time ago!"

The word "forceful attack" clearly excited Alanfeier. She downed a large cup of tea in one gulp, licking her lips and her eyes shining.

"Those Radiant-Rank undead outside the city will all be mine! You're not allowed to take them from me! Hehe... Which spell should I use to completely obliterate them? Seems like I need to come up with an interesting plan first..."

. . . . .

Valensa, of course, noticed that the Mage's Eye on her body had suddenly lost its connection.

To be honest, she was a little panicked... This meant that if she encountered any danger, those experts wouldn't know immediately and wouldn't be able to provide timely support.

But soon, Valensa felt the magic cards on her body vibrating slightly, and a faint but gentle and familiar magical power entered her body from the magic cards.

This gave Valensa a jolt of excitement, and she immediately understood the meaning of those magic cards.

It was Tia who was telling her that although the Sage's Tower's Eye of Mage had been disconnected, Tia's Linking Arcane still connected the two of them.

Valensa immediately calmed down, and at the same time sighed inwardly:

The secret techniques passed down through generations of the Britannia family are truly amazing!

After receiving comfort from Tia, Valensa quickly regained her composure and carefully observed the situation inside the city of Poliland.

Fortunately, although the city blocked magical communication with the outside world, it did not use any large-scale illusions to disguise the situation inside the city. The actual situation was basically the same as what was seen from the air by using magical projection in the command room.

Simply put, the defenses of Poliland were tight on the outside but loose on the inside.

Savat Landon deployed almost all the high-ranking undead outside the city to form a defensive line, so the number and quality of the undead inside the city were not high.

Most of the undead were guarding and waiting to execute the hostages at various hostage gathering points. There were no undead on the streets where there were no hostages, and many places in the city were deserted.

To avoid being encountered and causing trouble by undead who didn't recognize Lily, Valensa hesitated for a moment before using her mental powers to significantly reduce her presence and cautiously sneak around the city.

The next plan is to find Savat Langdon's hideout in the city, see what he's up to, and then figure out a way to threaten him into negotiating terms in order to rescue the hostages.

The Sage's high-altitude view, like that of a spy satellite, had already given a clear view of the situation outside Poliland City. There was no place that could be suspected of being Savart Landon's hiding place; his hiding place was most likely underground.

Following this idea, Valensa carefully avoided the undead in the city while searching all the larger building complexes in Poliland.

With her heightened senses of hearing and touch enhanced by the power of her mind, Valensa found many hidden underground spaces in those large buildings without much effort.

Unfortunately, no trace of Savat Langdon was found.

Those underground spaces were basically refuges built by the city's powerful and wealthy for themselves, as well as treasure vaults used by them to store their wealth. There were even two beautiful women with good figures and fair skin living in two large dog cages in one of the basements.

It's a pity that although the woman was pretty, her eyes were very empty and unfocused, probably because she had been used and abused long ago.

However, the basement where the two beauties were imprisoned was very well hidden... If the joint operations team really launches a full-scale attack on Poliland City, they will likely be the last survivors.

When Valensa discovered the two beautiful women, she hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to let them stay in the cage in the basement for the time being.

She didn't have the ability to rescue the two beauties right now, and compared to other places in Poliland City, this basement was actually the safest.

Valensa was quite disappointed that she couldn't find Savat Langdon in these hidden underground spaces.

However, she didn't make a wasted trip—she took all the money that the wealthy and powerful people of Poliland had hidden without any hesitation.

It's a bit of a shame that these powerful and wealthy people have picked up this bad habit from who knows where, because their treasure vaults contain very little cash and mostly works of art.

Those artworks were quite valuable, but converting them into cash was a problem... So after hesitating, Valensa only took the cash and left the artworks untouched.

The extra income of about 2 gold coins made Valensa feel a little better, but it did not alleviate her anxiety.

Counting the time, it had been almost half an hour since they entered the city, but they still hadn't found Savat Langdon's hiding place.

Valensa could roughly guess how the command center would react after she lost contact. She knew her time was running out and she had to speed things up.

Otherwise, if the joint operations team resorts to a desperate measure and launches a full-scale attack, even if Valensa has trump cards to protect herself in the fierce battle, probably very few of the more than 100,000 hostages will survive.

It would have been fine if we hadn't thought of a solution before, but now that we have a plan and are halfway to success, it would be very frustrating to fail at the last minute.

But getting anxious didn't seem to help... Valensa had thoroughly searched all the residences of the wealthy in the city, but there were still no clues.

Standing on a high floor of what appeared to be the city lord's mansion, Valensa discreetly peered through the window at the city streets, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what she might have missed.

Just then, three people suddenly appeared on a street in their field of vision... to be precise, three humanoid zombies on patrol, one of whom, Valensa, looked quite familiar.

Valensa never saw what that person looked like in life, but she saw her soul after death.