Release That Witch - Chapter 793

Chapter 793: The Ancient Witch’s Discovery

p>Roland went back to his apartment after bidding farewell to Garcia.

Phyllis who had been sitting in the living room waiting for him asked, “Your Majesty, who’s that person?”

“She’s a warrior. You can consider her as an Awakened with magic power in this Dream World.” He waved his hand. “You don’t have to mind her attitude. No one in this world knows I’m a king.”

“But after all, she’s also created by you like everything else in this world…” Phyllis still did not want to let it go. She showed him much greater respect after he had granted her request and treated her to tasty food.

He sat opposite to her and explained, “They don’t think so. All the people in this world have their own ideas and memories. Their whole lives have nothing to do with me. This world has its own rules which I also need to follow.”

When he was talking about this world, Phyllis’ eyes shone with excitement. She had been deeply shocked by her experiences here and had been meant to ask something about him. Now, she finally got the chance.

She looked at Zero’s bedroom and then whispered, “Your Majesty, is this the real place where you used to live? Please excuse me for being blunt, but I guess you’re not Prince Roland of Graycastle, are you?”

Roland raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Why did you say that?”

Phyllis was excited. “Because your Neverwinter looks just like this world! When I first came to your city, I didn’t quite understand why you built so wide, flat roads for carriages even inside the city where space is limited… But now I know you didn’t build them for carriages. You did it for those fast four-wheeled vehicles! Your amazing weapons, your ambitious plan to build a 10-floor building, your powerful machine powered by boiling water and many other things in Neverwinter all seem to have something to do with this world.”

After a little thought, he said, “I’m indeed Prince Roland, but when I came to Border Town, some different memories just somehow popped into my head in a sudden. They’re some abstract, incredible knowledge, and I’ve only mastered a small part of it by now.” He decided not to tell her his time-travel story that he only wanted to share with his closest witch.

Phyllis did not doubt what he said at all. “Then those memories must be something from the deities. Taquila witches often said that the deities didn’t love human beings, but now it seems that we were wrong. You’ve got the deities’ smile. As long as you are with us, we’ll be able to defeat demons!”

Roland was startled hearing her share this idea with a decisive air. He had been trying hard to convince the Taquila survivors that he was able to defeat demons, but it was the first time a Taquila witch expressed confidence in him. He was a little uncertain since he had only brought her to a park and some restaurants instead of a scene of the military exercises.

He subtly mentioned his uncertainty, and Phyllis frankly told him what she thought. “Because of those four-wheeled iron vehicles.”

“The vehicles?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Back in Taquila’s age, we had to use lots of horses and carriages to send supplies to the front line camps. Some witches did have the ability to move fast but they could hardly complete this kind of tasks. Once the weight they carried exceeded a certain point, the consumption of magic power would increase by many folds. I believe you’ve know this phenomenon already.”

She continued, “We felt great pressure when the Union seized the demons’ Siege Beasts. Such a big thing, hundreds of times heavier than a person, could be operated by only one witch. When its iron shield and bolts on the top were removed, its loading capacity was equivalent to that of four to five carriages. Judging from this, we all knew that demons were much better at manipulating magic power than us. At that time, the Quest Society also believed demons’ fighting potential was far greater than ours. Given this, Lady Alice started to pin her hope on the God’s Punishment Army plan.”

“So you guys judge an opponent’s potential by their transportation capacity?” Roland asked with interest.

Phyllis nodded. “Yes. The method to transport goods, manually carried or horse-drawn, determines how far we can go. The species who’re able to travel farthest are the strongest.” She paused here and could not help smiling. “In this Dream World, I saw a four-wheeled iron vehicle move several times farther than a carriage could travel. They’re as fast as the wind while carrying over 100 people. That shows this world’s strength. If your weapons are also created based on something from this world, I believe they’ll easily crush demons.”

Having heard her explanation, Roland was touched and lost in thought. Limited by their knowledge and era, the Taquila witches failed to defend the Fertile Plains, but that doesn’t mean they’re stupid. Phyllis is quite smart to infer this world’s strength from some crowded bus. Such an insightful observation is really impressive even for people in modern times.

He suddenly thought of a topic frequently discussed by netizens in forums, “How can we defeat aliens who come to invade the Earth?”

In fact, this discussion was meaningless. Human beings worked hard only to send several astronauts to the moon, the closest celestial body to the Earth. This achievement was nothing when the alien invaders were able to travel hundreds of light years or even across the galaxies to the Earth. The energy they had consumed in their travel was enough to burn the Earth to ashes. How could human beings defeat such strong enemies?

He believed that if a civilization was able to travel in space and expand its power to another solar system, it would be strong enough to destroy human beings on the Earth. The moment we saw these alien invaders would be our time of death.

To his surprise, he found Phyllis or the dominators of Taquila also knew this truth about war very well.

In the end, the ancient witch stood up and bowed to him with hand on her chest once again. “Though you aren’t a witch and unable to activate the Instrument of Divine Retribution, I still believe you’re the Chosen One the deities sent to us.”

Hearing this tenuous conclusion, Roland did not know whether to laugh or cry, but he did not point out her mistake. He knew that with Taquila witches’ support, his Neverwinter would have a brighter future.

He took a deep breath and rose. “We don’t have much time. Let’s start testing.”

They had to move fast and carefully in case that they would wake up Zero at night.

After setting up a ladder, Phyllis climbed to the top and turned her back to the bed. She fell down from the ladder, but nothing changed after her fall.

That meant she could not leave the Dream World by falling.

Now, there were only two possibilities.

She would leave here when Roland left this Dream World. Or, she would be trapped in this world forever.

When he climbed up the ladder and sat on it, ready to fall, Phyllis walked up to him.

“If I can’t leave this Dreamland, don’t worry. It’s a nice place for me. If I can never come back after I leave here, I’ll never forget all the things I went through today and will be always missing this world.”

Roland nodded and then fell backward.

In an instant, the world was dark again.

Chapter 794: A Sweet Dream

hen he opened his eyes, Roland sensed the weight on his arm.

Gently tilting his head, he saw Anna’s serenely sleeping face. She lay on her side, pillowing her head on his arm and slightly curling her lips. She seemed to be having a sweet dream.

Fortunately… he could still get out of the Dream World in this way.

He carefully pulled his arm out and sat up. After covering the quilt for Anna, he quietly left the room.

When he walked downstairs, the soldiers guarding at the corridor hurriedly stood up and saluted him one after another.

He waved his hand to indicate that they could do away with formalities and went to the hall on the first floor.

Then he saw Phyllis.

She was standing in the center of the hall with a look of loss on her face. She bent her head and looked repeatedly at her clenched hands as if she was still amazed at the moment when her body regained its senses.

It seemed the answer was the former one.

The Dream World was still under the control of his consciousness.

When he woke up, the world would come to a standstill, while the outsiders would be expelled from it.

“Your Majesty, I…” When she saw Roland, she pursed her lips to force a smile and said, “I woke up from the dream.”

Apparently, the God’s Punishment Witch had thought of staying in the Dreamland for a split second. She originally had no other choice but to transform into an immortal soul so as to keep fighting with the demons. But the price she paid became increasingly expensive as time went by. It was not surprising that she would change her mind in the face of a new world.

But she eventually suppressed her desire, either due to the Taquila witches, or her hatred of the demons, or both. Whatever the reason was, Roland was full of admiration for her self-discipline.

“We’re not certain yet,” he smiled and replied, “we’ve just finished half of the test. We can’t know whether it’s an occasional or certain result after the integration of light beams until the end of the test. Let’s continue here.”

Phyllis was a little surprised, asking, “Won’t you go back to your bedroom?”

“That may wake Anna up,” Roland shook his head and replied. “Anyway, there’s heating in the castle and sleeping in the living room is the same.” He said a few words to a guard, who widened his eyes in surprise but still faithfully executed Roland’s order.

Half a quarter later, the long table in the living room was spread with a layer of soft cushion and quilt.

In this way, the living room was tightly guarded by a group of completely confused soldiers while Roland was sleeping in it alone. Phyllis, as well as the others, stayed in the hall, waiting for the emergence of the light beam.

He had to admit that it was really difficult to fall asleep after he woke up, especially when it was time to reveal the answer to the puzzle.

Roland tossed and turned for several hours until he finally fell asleep at dawn.

The new world instantly recovered operation.

To his surprise, in the Dreamland it was not the early morning of the next day. Outside the window, the neon lights were still flashing. The ladder was still at the bedside. Phyllis’s eyes became clear little by little. She suddenly awoke from her dreamy state, bent her head and looked at Roland in disbelief.

“Your Majesty, is… is this true? Am I dreaming?”

He could not help smiling.

The answer was self-evident.

Whether it was a dream or a real world, it might not matter for this God’s Punishment Witch.

What was important was that she finally got her compensation after assuming the pain and responsibility for hundreds of years.

…

This time, they only stayed in the Dream World for a short period of time.

Roland had thought that she would eagerly go out and hang around. He did not expect that she would get down on one knee and plead with him to allow her to share the news with her other companions. She promised that the Taquila survivors would remember his kindness forever and would make every effort to serve him.

In the face of this plea, Roland did not respond immediately as usual.

He was not reluctant to welcome the Taquila witches, but he did not know how to feed so many people. More importantly, Zero had already been suspicious of Phyllis, and he could not claim that these additional 100 witches were all his distant relatives.

Roland would never want to get the little girl, the second creator of the Dream World, involved in these things. If she sensed any problem of this world, he could not predict what would happen. Just to be on the safe side, the Taquila witches could not stay at his home.

Then he would need a place for the witches to live, for example, an entire apartment building. And the daily expenses such as food and drinks would also be a heavy burden for him.

After thinking about it for a while, Roland finally decided to let the witches solve this problem by themselves.

His temporary silence probably made Phyllis misunderstand him. She bit her lip and bent the other leg, kneeled down and begged again. This gesture, which was only employed when ordinary people met the dominator of the Union, had gone beyond the ordinary salute of Taquila witches. Roland tried to pull her up, but she insisted. She begged him not to refuse her companions’ entry into the new world.

At this time he finally realized what she was thinking, and explained his plan to her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. After hearing his explanation, Phyllis let out a long breath of relief.

In fact, for Roland, accepting Taquila survivors was not a difficult choice as she had thought.

In the Dream World, they would no longer be a group of God’s Punishment warriors who had brutal force, but they would be witches of various types of magic power that were not limited by the God’s Stone of Retaliation.

With the help of such a group of people, the means and efficiency of exploring the Dream World could be greatly improved. And they could also help him to memorize and copy the knowledge. In the long run, they might also learn various kinds of knowledge and use modern equipment to study the essence of magic power. Of course, the most important point was that even after the Battle of Divine Will ended, the Taquila witches could still find a place to live in the new world.

After leaving the Dreamland, Phyllis could not wait until dawn before she bade farewell to Roland and rushed to the Third Border City in exhilaration.

Roland yawned and went back to his bedroom.

He climbed into the warm quilt and hugged Anna in his arms again. She also opened her bleary eyes and vaguely murmured, “Why did you wake up so early?”

“Well, I hung around in the Dream World,” he said as he kissed her on her forehead. “I ran into something unexpected, and then I couldn’t fall asleep again.”

“Oh?” The girl’s breath was like a soft feather gently sliding along his neck. “Was it a sweet dream?”

“Of course.” Roland changed into a more comfortable posture and let her pillow on his arm again, “It’s a sweet dream for everyone.”

Chapter 795: A Kind Heart

p>Anna leaned on him while listening to how the God’s Punishment Witch accidentally entered the Dream World.

“So they can all recover the feelings they lost, and return to the normal life?” She took a deep breath and answered delightfully, but with a bit of melancholy and regret. “That’s so good… If only I could also see the world that you had lived in.”

“That means that you have to transform your soul into a light beam. It would be too high a price to pay for you,” said Roland, stroking her hair and earlobe. “And we can build Neverwinter into an ideal place which can be comparable to the Dreamland, can’t we?”

“That’s all right,” Anna chuckled. “But are you feeling a little guilty now?”

“Er?” Roland was a little stunned, “No, I just…”

“No need to answer. Just let me listen to it.” Anna put her head on his chest and whispered after a while. “Uh-huh. You’re a little guilty and worried. You’re guilty because Phyllis is a woman and also very pretty. And you’re also worried that I’ll be suspicious. Am I right?”

“Well…” Roland did not know how to respond to her answer which could not be more correct.

Anna tilted and said, “But you’re honest, so don’t be worried. I trust you.” She paused and said with a more serious tone, “Roland, you’ve made this decision to help them, just like what you did to help the Witch Cooperation Association and me. How could I be suspicious of your kind action? It’s your duty as a king, isn’t it?”

Roland felt slightly relieved.

If it were Nightingale, he could not be certain that she would not be suspicious. But Anna was different. If she said she believed it, then she really did. And from her expression, Roland knew that she really supported his decision to find a home for the Taquila witches and help them to regain their lost consciousness.

Anna had a kind heart, which had never changed since the day he met her.

“But from now on you must tell me what you do in the Dream World. Promise me.” She blinked her blue eyes and whispered in his ear.

Roland nodded, “I promise.”

Anna contentedly smiled, slowly climbed onto him and held his cheeks with both hands. She murmured, “Now you’re mine.”

She gently bit his collar all the way down…

Their sweet breathing sounds could be heard coming from the bedroom.

…

When Phyllis brought the amazing news back to the Third Border City, the witches burst into a commotion.

“As long as we cut off the consciousness in the range of the light beam, we can return to our original appearance?”

“It’s not important at all. The most important thing is that we can restore the sense of touch and smell!”

“Is KFC really that delicious? More delicious than roast meat with honey sauce?”

“Could… could you take me to the Dream World?”

“Me too!”

“I would also like to…”

They surrounded Phyllis, eagerly asked her all kinds of questions and behaved totally different from their ordinary calm selves. They had never been so excited, not even in the face of a swarm of demonic beasts invading the underground maze.

“Stop! If we go to the castle together, they’ll suspect that we want to occupy Neverwinter!” Alethea shouted and put a tentacle on Pasha, “What do you think of it? Is this a trap by the king of the common people?”

“Even if it were a trap, I’m afraid that they would probably willingly walk into it,” Pasha replied with a bitter smile. Until now, she had not recovered from the shock after listening to the story told by Phyllis. A highly developed Dream World, a place where all souls could regain their new life, was a temptation which none of Taquila survivors could refuse. From the king of the common people, they also found the answer of how to defeat the demons, which they had sought for a long time. After suffering for hundreds of years, they finally saw a glimpse of hope. This incredible feeling struck her with a rare dizziness.

It had been a long time since she dreamed.

Subconsciously, Pasha hoped that all this was true, but she was not entirely convinced that such a good thing could happen. A common person without any magic power became the savior of Taquila witches? No wonder Alethea would be vigilant and suspicious.

Luckily she was aware that she had to send someone to verify what Phyllis had said.

That did not mean that she did not trust Phyllis. After breaking with the Union and going into exile, the survivors treated each other as sisters.

She was just worried that Phyllis might have been deceived.

After all, this sounded like a fairy tale and a sweet dream. She had to examine it with great caution.

Thinking of this, Pasha transmitted her consciousness to everyone’s mind, “Is King Roland really willing to let the others enter the Dream World?”

“He said so, but not now,” explained Phyllis. “That world has rules that must be followed just as in the real world. To avoid unnecessary changes caused by any exposure, the first batch of people must fulfill his requirements to enter the world. They’ll assume the pioneer mission and prepare for the admission of more people in the future.”

Hearing that, Pasha became a little less worried. If it were a trap, then he would try to let more people fall into it instead of giving the Pioneers a chance to warn others when they realized it.

“What kind of requirement?”

“Well…” Phyllis hesitated for a moment. “He needs witches who can move fast, sneak around, control and attack.”

“That means he needs combat witches?” Alethea questioned, “But didn’t you say that the power of that world is far above the demons? Isn’t his requirement too self-contradictory?”

“He doesn’t intend to let us fight against the whole world, but…”

“But what?”

“Well… to loot in private,” Phyllis answered with embarrassment. “Of course, the targets are evil people who deserve it.”

The crowd fell into a brief silence.

“Wait a minute. Did he think that we’re gangsters and thugs? We’re respected…” Her voice was overwhelmed by the sound of the crowd before she could finish her words.

“It sounds interesting!”

“Those guys have no God’s Stone of Retaliation, right? Is there anyone who can stop my continuous fireballs?”

“You’ll make too much of a loud noise. His Majesty obviously needs quiet actions. My Shadow Dagger is perfect for it.”

“You can only shoot within ten steps, not to mention your weak attacking strength.”

“I can cover for my teammates. Let’s go!”

Pasha soothingly patted the back of Alethea and said, “Don’t mind them. They have just been bored for too long.”

Chapter 796: First Action of Pioneering Team

he worries and doubts of the Senior Witches lasted only a day or so, and were completely dispelled by the subsequent news.

Everything that Phyllis said was real.

The Third Border City began to seethe with excitement.

In this case, no matter how reluctant Alethea was, she could not stop the other witches who were looking forward to entering the Dream World. At this point, the choice of Taquila was obvious.

Through the phantom instrument, Pasha conducted a meeting with Roland about the covenant.

The God’s Punishment Witches in the underground city walked passed the light curtain one by one, lifting the elbow and pressing on the chest to greet the lord of Neverwinter, King of Graycastle and acknowledge him as the only leader of the united front. The Senior Witches who were transformed into original carriers also bent down their main tentacles to show their allegiance. This was a type of salute which had only been received by the Three Chiefs of the Union, signifying that Taquila now had a ruler from the common people after more than 400 years.

Alethea was the last one to show up in front of the light curtain.

As a higher ascendant, Alethea joined the Blessed Army when she was 20 years old and had fought with the demons for more than a decade to defend the glory of Taquila. Pasha was worried that she would do something unexpected. But ultimately Alethea had chosen to put the Battle of Divine Will and the expectations of her companions in the first place and bent her main tentacle to Roland. Regardless of how reluctant she was at the moment, her decision still made Pasha feel relieved.

If it were still in the Taquila age, this would definitely be an incredible scene.

However, a long period of more than 400 years could change many things. The ambitions and convictions that “all mankind will surely defeat the devil under the leadership of witches” were gradually diminished. When a common person showed his amazing potential and grace toward the Taquila survivors, their resistance would seem pointless.

Pasha believed the unanimous view of the Three Chiefs of the Union, that the witches would eventually stand out from the human community. Common people like Roland were only a minority, and the witches would one day return to the position of the rulers. But by then, the relationship between the two sides was bound to be much more harmonious than that of the Taquila age. After all, if they could survive the third Battle of Divine Will, the idea of the witches and the common people working together to maximize their strength would undoubtedly gain in popularity.

She did not mind welcoming such a future.

…

It was already three days later when Roland actually implemented his looting plan.

To ensure that Zero would not suspect, he rented a warehouse near the tube-shaped apartment to serve as a temporary “landing point” for the witches to connect to the Dreamland. As long as the witches assembled here before he interrupted the dream, they would still appear in the warehouse when they entered the next time.

Of course, the first connection would inevitably be Room No. 0825 of the tube-shaped apartment. Roland was puzzled about this and found no explanation for it. Probably Zero was the reason why this room became the key point connecting the real world and the Dreamland. Therefore, he had to wait until Zero went to school every time when a new witch came to the Dreamland.

During these three days, Roland selected four God’s Punishment Witches, including Phyllis, as the first pioneers. For the first two days, he bought some fast food and drinks to entertain them and satisfy their extremely strong desire for food and drink. On the third day, he could only afford some instant noodles and mineral water. But even then, they still enjoyed every bite and nearly licked the seasoning packets.

Actually, they had tried but were stopped by Roland.

That would be a discredit to the united front.

As his savings started becoming less, he had to carry out the plan now.

When the night fell, Roland told Zero that he had to work overtime and would go home late. Then he went with the four witches to the villa area outside the third ring of the city in two cabs.

The witches did not just stay in the warehouse to enjoy food and drinks these days. As a former member of the Quest Society, Faldi had a strong detective ability. She was able to create a Magic Bug Nest, link her consciousness with bugs such as moths and bees, and release them to spontaneously search for other Sources of Magic Power. This was very effective in preventing the attack of demons and could also be used to search for some areas inaccessible to ordinary people.

Although the bugs could not provide visions for Faldi, they helped her to feel the types and sizes of the magic power, including the Force of Nature.

After three days of searching, she found more than a dozen magic reaction sources, including Garcia living in 0827.

After excluding the same type, there were still six targets.

Among the six targets, the one living in the villa area was most worthwhile to loot.

That was Roland’s plan—searching for the Fallen Evils through effective magic inspection and looting their Force of Nature and property. These mutated monsters did not easily leave their habitats, so even if they were destroyed, their neighbors would not notice. Moreover, even if their bodies were found by the police, the case would be transferred to the Martialist Association. By then, the Association would only believe that they were killed by another group of the Awakened. They would not suspect that another group of superpower bandits were in town.

After getting off the cabs, they came to a dark corner and stood around Dawnen. She then summoned the “matte curtains” to wrap everyone together.

This magical ability could make her companions within the reach of the curtain disappear, but it was far beyond being invisible, as the vision, smell, and magic breath would also be blocked. No one could sense the existence of the hidden people without direct touch. Undoubtedly, Dawnen would play a crucial role in a surprise attack.

With Faldi’s guidance, the five people passed straight through the main entrance and walked all the way towards the foothill of the villa area.

Here was the residential area of the rich people in the city. Most villas were built by the hillside with wide yards. Hardly anyone walked around in the evening, which made it a perfect place for Roland’s plan.

“Here we are. The target is in it.” Faldi stopped and pointed to a vast, detached compound on the side of the road. Its parvis was almost as large as the tube-shaped apartment.

“Damn the enviable rich people…” Roland glanced at the flashing surveillance camera, turned around to look at Ling, the last member of the looting team—no, the pioneering team and said, “It’s your turn to help us sneak into the house. Just do as you practiced before.”

Ling nodded and slowly faded into the shadow as if she was sinking.

None of the Taquila survivors could directly walk through any obstacles like Nightingale or Margie, but Ling’s ability was enough for this task. She could melt into any shadow and move freely like water. Especially in the night when the shadows spread around, the entire parvis became her domain, and she could easily walk through the gaps between the doors and windows.

“Crack!” The door of the house was open with a slit.

Chapter 797: Body of Magic

Not bad at all.” Roland waved towards the black shadow which had deftly entered into the drapes.

A smiling face emerged from the darkness as if to acknowledge his encouragement. This would have been a frightening sight if he had not known that it was a witch hiding inside.

“Your Majesty, enemies are within the hall. I can sense that their magic powers are nearly as strong as hybrid demonic beasts.” Faldi cautioned.

“Can you handle them?”

“Don’t worry. Ling and I won’t have any problems as long as they aren’t like Senior Demons.” Phyllis replied.

“Then let’s act according to plan.”

As Roland passed through the long porch, he discovered that the villa’s windows were all covered up with boards and tape. There were only a few lights within, making the hall seem rather dim. Due to the weak air-conditioning, he felt as though he had just entered from early autumn into winter. Furthermore, the rancid and putrid smell which filled the air caused him to feel nauseous.

A man dressed in a suit stood motionless in the center of the hall – he was clearly this trip’s target. The instant Roland stepped into the hall, he felt a warmth begin to swell inside his body with an intensity several times stronger than when he first saw the fake man.

From the looks of it, Faldi had snagged a big fish.

However, what distressed Roland was a sculpture of a huge monster hung on the two-story mural wall which the man was facing. He could not tell if it was made of wood or seasoned leather. It had a human face and a pair of wings, while its brawny hind legs and slender front paws were curled up in front of its body – a completely mismatching appearance. It was close to four meters in length, while the carvings of feathers and veins on its body were highly lifelike, thus marking out its high value.

“The grotesque taste of rich people,” Roland muttered to himself. Judging from the craftsmanship, it was worth at least a million gold royals.

“Time to act.” He looked away from it and placed his attention on the target.

“Yes.”

Making use of the matte curtains to sneak two meters behind the enemy, Phyllis initiated the first attack.

A claw protruded from her back and lashed with lightning speed toward the suited man. The interference of magic caused the curtains to ripple. At this time, the target seemed to sense something and turned his head sharply. However, at this distance, even an Extraordinary would have no time to dodge. The claw slit through the man’s neck and out from his lower back, thereby cutting him diagonally into two.

The enemy’s eyes stared wide in disbelief as he collapsed on to the floor, and dark red blood spattered all over.

From the looks of it, even if the natural core of a Fallen Evil was not stripped away, it would not be able to survive if its body was heavily damaged.

“That’s all?” Ling peered out from the shadow beside the sofa.

“The plundering we now have to do is the main point,” Roland answered while covering his nose. The putrid smell in the air had intensified once more, though he was not sure if it was his own false perception. “Do you still remember what I taught you?”

“Gold ornaments, red paper, and chests with orbs!” Ling raised her hand. “Coins are worthless, and leave the gemstones!”

“That’s right. In particular, the more red paper, the better.” From his experience of plundering the Holy City of Hermes, he knew that the price of gemstones fluctuated too greatly, and hence it was difficult to sell them off at a suitable price. Gold was certainly far more stable. Of course, the best of all was cash notes. He mused to himself, “Hope this fella isn’t too fond of online shopping.”

As Roland bent his body and intended to convert the Force of Nature which was mounted on the belly of the man, Faldi suddenly frowned and remarked, “Hold on, why do I still sense the presence of magic reaction?”

“What?” The other three people startled at once.

“The source of magic power isn’t gone. Instead, it’s growing bigger!” She lifted her head and looked around the hall in search of something. Her eyes fell on the sculpture. “Damn it, that monster is alive!”

Just as she finished speaking, the sculpture abruptly opened its mouth and revealed a frog-like tongue which thrust directly at Roland.

“Careful, Your Majesty!”

With no hesitation, Phyllis shielded in front of Roland and used her claws to obstruct the path of the incoming tongue.

But Roland was much improved from his former self. He anticipated the monster’s attack, before catching hold of Phyllis’ waist and rolling toward one side in order to avoid the tongue which was as sharp as an arrow.

The tongue thrust into the half-section of the corpse lying on the floor. It entwined the natural core and jerked away violently. With that, the crimson core flew in the direction of the sculpture’s mouth.

Roland noticed that the Force of Nature, which had entered into a solid state, began to rotate once again upon the monster’s touch.

The monster’s movements caused a large swarm of insects to fly out from its back and panickedly flee in all directions. They had obviously been attracted by the monster’s magic power, but because Roland could not share what he saw with Faldi, she was not able to discern that there were two different sources of magic reaction in the hall!

“Hah… what do I see, a bunch of martialists delivering themselves to me?” The sculpture swallowed the core and began to speak. “Thieves like you have no place in this sacred territory. Go to hell!”

It raised its neck as if to inhale a deep breath, and then blew a gush of bloodred air at the people in the hall.

It was magic power in its purest form!

In a flash, the furniture in the room was ripped into smithereens. As the matte curtains were struck, Dawnen and Faldi, who were hiding within, suffered several wounds on their bodies and fell heavily on the floor. Fortunately for them, they got away from the central and most powerful region of the magical attack by a hair’s breadth, or they would have suffered the same fate as the furniture.

On the other hand, Roland was in much better shape. As the magical attack came upon him, the warmth inside him spread all over his body and protected his vital organs like a piece of armor.

“What form of attack is this?” Roland was disconcerted that its ability was completely different from that of witches. He had never seen magic power directly turn into a potent energy before. Ever since he acquired the strange force, he was able to better understand how magic power worked. The monster’s attack was certainly not something a Fallen Evil was able to perform.

The expressions on the witches’ faces were also that of extraordinary surprise. It was clear that the monster’s understanding of magic power was a level above theirs.

“Its magic reaction… is close to the Senior Demons’!” Faldi bit her teeth. “How’s this possible?”

“Demons? Is that what you call my ancestors?” The monster grinned and laughed wickedly. It easily snapped off the rivets which fixed its wings to the wall, then leapt onto the floor and stooped like a gargoyle in front of the party. “You try to take energy from the Divine Domain without permission, and now call the Chasers ‘demons’? Sheer stupidity!”

“Divine Domain? Chasers?” Roland began to frown involuntarily. “What’s it referring to?”

Suddenly, a beam of black light sprung from the shadows behind the monster and flew against its cheeks. It was Ling’s shadow! A crisp clicking sound was heard as she stuck a dagger into its eyes and out from the back of its head. Without pausing to contemplate her success, she escaped back into the shadows. The entire surprise attack was as smooth as flowing water.

“Beautiful!” Phyllis clenched her fists and commended.

“Beautiful?” The monster did not collapse like the Fallen Evil did. A crack appeared on its wooden-like face, and it now spoke in a shrivelled voice which sounded cold and indifferent. “You think this piece of common metal and tiny amount of magic power can harm me? You have no idea what the Divine Domain’s all about! Now, I shall let you witness the true might of the Lord!”

Before it finished talking, a series of rupturing sounds broke out. The crack on its face extended to its entire body, and subsequently, its pitch-black shell split into fragments and peeled off. The now-revealed interior emitted a dark red glow, as though it was flowing with burning blood.

When all of its true body was revealed, Roland gaped in shock and horror.

Underneath the shell had been a body which was purely formed by magic power. Small clusters of star jades glistened inside its body, and gradually converged into a huge star ring at its chest.

It was what you could call a magical creature.

Chapter 798: The Will of the World

What’s your Lord’s name?”

Roland somehow sensed that this creature was much more emotionally rich than the Fallen Evil. He thus hoped to gather more intelligence by asking it more questions. While doing so, he gestured towards behind him for the two wounded persons, Faldi and Dawnen, to leave the place at once. If a situation arose where the party had to flee quickly, he would certainly run faster than these witches.

“My lord’s a being that’s everything and nothing at the same time. A presence that none of you can fathom.” The creature spread its phantom wings, which emitted a red glow, and stretched its hands towards the floor. “Your clever tricks are useless here. You want them to escape now? Too late!”

Scarlet blood flowed from its body and rapidly extended across the surfaces of the room. In the blink of an eye, the floors, walls, and ceiling of the hall turned into a bright red.

Ling, whose hiding place was now uncovered, was pushed out of the wall by an unknown force, and she fell by Phyllis’ side.

“What… what’s this?” Faldi cried out softly from behind. When Roland turned his head, he saw that spiked tentacles had emerged out of the red and black void and ensnared the witches’ legs. He recalled that he had seen something similar before.

But he had no time to contemplate further as the situation was fast deteriorating.

With the warm current in his body spinning ferociously, Roland gathered all of his physical strength and charged directly towards the strange enemy.

“Ooh? You aren’t affected?” Astonished, the magical creature raised a palm at him. “How about this?”

An extremely powerful force burst forth from its palm towards Roland. It felt like a huge hammer blow upon impact, and sent Roland flying and crashing into the wall. After a heavy thud, he felt like his back was burning, and that all of his organs had displaced.

“Keke…” He coughed involuntarily, and smelled something sweet yet fishy that had expelled from his throat.

“Your Majesty!”

Phyllis let out an urgent cry. She was, at present, the only person who could move other than Roland. The blade claws on her back danced up and down, hurriedly cleaving the tentacles which had protruded from the floor. However, with an endless number of them to deal with, she was not able to draw close to Roland at the moment.

It was now the crunch time.

But Roland’s mind remained exceptionally clear.

There was entirely no fear in him, as if he had deleted the feeling of fear from his brain.

The warm current in him surged ever faster, accompanied by the vigorous beating of his heart. He could feel that an extraordinary change was occurring in his body.

All of the world’s magical power was gravitating towards him.

Even the red glow that extended across the walls became sluggish. The trails of blood circumvented his body as they passed by, and wherever he touched, a blue mark would appear.

This process was entirely out of his control – he was unclear about what was happening himself. A strange sound reverberated beside his ear, while the tones of the tumultuous cries seemed to harmonize.

“Kill it, kill it!”

The monster had also begun to notice that something was not right. With a slight fluctuation in its dry voice, it asked, “What’s happening… what’ve you done to my magic power?”

Roland did not reply. He could feel that the warm current had swelled to its limits, and his body subconsciously arched. The next thing he knew, he was charging directly at the enemy like a cannonball!

“Kkkkkiiiiilllllllllll iiiiittttt!!!!!”

“Die!” Repeating its old tactic, the monster raised its hand towards him once more.

But this time, Roland was not struck down by the monster’s force. For the first time, he saw the warm current rush out of his body to form a pair of blue light curtains in front of him. When the pair collided with each other, a dazzling radiance burst forth and hovered above his head, which then brought him flying directly into the monster’s chest.

He swung out a punch.

The impact of his fist on the monster’s chest was not as he had expected. It felt as if he had just struck a lump of soft liquid. He saw his arm sink into the monster’s body only a fingerbreadth away from the star jades. Gritting his teeth, Roland opened his fist and grabbed hold of the most prominent star ring on its chest.

At once, the monster let out a deafening roar. “No… this is the Lord’s strength, how did you… touch it!”

The galaxy-like ring began to quiver, and it gradually changed from its rich red into blue and white. This, however, occurred at an extremely slow rate, and there were several relapses. At this moment, Roland felt as if he was tussling with a fierce bull. Fortunately for him, more and more magical power flowed towards him, and it felt like the entire world was blending into one with him.

“So that’s it… I understand now!” A vortex-like eye on top of the monster’s head opened. “You’re… the one responsible for creating this world! It was you who defeated my Lord!”

“Didn’t you already call him ‘everything and nothing’? How could I even touch him?” Roland laughed sardonically.

“You fool! My Lord may be almighty, but he can’t stop all of this himself… Go back and never return here, your actions are destroying everything… Hssst… All living things, and not only yourself, will perish because of you!”

Its voice became increasingly unclear, as if it was affected by severe interference.

Roland could feel that the resistance of the star ring was weakening. The color change also became faster.

“All living things?” He turned his head and glimpsed at the witches sitting feebly on the floor, before he continued in a low voice. “No, the only ones who shall perish are your kind… I’ve no idea where you’re from, or what intention you possess, but certainly, this world will be better without you!”

“From… hssst… Bottomless Land… no intention… hssst… this is rule…” The monster was no longer able to spit out a complete sentence. Roland further noticed that it was not as emotionally expressive as it was. Its voice had turned flat and monotonous, as if it was one of those answering machines which provided a fixed response.

When it finished speaking, the resistance in Roland’s hand vanished instantly.

The star ring began to spin rapidly, and drew all of the surrounding star jades towards itself to form a dazzling white light. For a moment, Roland seemed to hear the heartbeat of the earth.

This time, the scene of the surging of magic power was even more spectacular than the previous two times. The monster shrunk into a round mass and released a column of silver light that shot straight to the ceiling for an extended period of time. Standing in front of it, Roland felt an indescribable satisfaction and bodily pleasure which exceeded the sum of his previous two encounters. There was nothing which could compare to the sight of this light column.

The witches’ conditions were nothing too serious, except that they had expended all of their magic power. They were still able to walk on their own. According to Phyllis, when Roland was in a deadlock with the monster, the magic power of all four witches was taken in by him. This was something which could never have happened in the real world.

However, it was simply one more thing to add to a night when so many unimaginable events had already taken place.

After a quick search, Roland, carrying a heavy safe together with the car key taken from the suited man, led the witches quietly out of the foothill villa.

Chapter 799: Changes

hankfully, driving lessons were all the rage during his university days, and he, too, had signed up for them together with his friends. But he had never thought that the first time he would touch a steering wheel after receiving his license would be in the realm of dreams.

“Your Majesty, what exactly was that monster?” Faldi asked faintly. “Can a Fallen Evil also possess such strength? It seems theoretically unjustifiable that they can obtain so much magic power in such a short time.”

While evading the first round of magical attacks, it was Dawnen and her who received the greatest damage. Half of her beautiful violet curls had fallen off as a result. Fortunately, none of her wounds were fatal, and her head (except for her hair) and torso were practically unblemished. In other words, she had chosen the optimal form of evasion against the sharp yet unpredictable attacks. It, therefore, has to be said that all of the Taquila survivors were highly-experienced warriors, as evident by the fact that even a witch who was mainly not combat-type could perform this well.

Because of this, the pioneering operation did not end in failure. Although Roland did not know what would happen if one died in dreamland, he hoped that there would never come a day when this doubt would be addressed.

“Did the Union never have a similar ability?”

“Of course they did… what we call biting, is precisely caused by the damage inflicted by magic power on a body.” Faldi gasped as she spoke. “As a witch increases her capacity for magic through continuous practice, her body will become more used to this kind of damage, and her recovery speed will also improve. Whether it be for us, demons, or hybrid demonic beasts, our levels of magic power can only be slowly cultivated.”

“I get it now,” Roland thought, “this is the first time she has seen a living thing that’s purely formed by magic power. In other words, she was only cognizant of life that’s formed of flesh and bone. Therefore, it was natural that she couldn’t understand an enemy she had never seen before.”

He did not have such doubts himself. From the moment the monster revealed its translucent body, he had already regarded it as a spirit or an elemental, and he believed that because it was formed by magic, it was certainly not going to be affected by magic.

However, this was not an easy problem to explain, and his conjecture was not necessarily accurate. He recalled that when the blue light in the monster’s body held the upper hand, the monster’s visibly declining mood and consciousness could have caused it to revert to a more conventional living form. At last, Roland could only shake his head and reply, “I don’t know what it is either. But I can confirm that it’s not a Fallen Evil.”

“Are there many more monsters like this in the Dream World?” Ling asked, still in a state of shock. “When the shadows in the room were covered by the black and red void, I felt my body freeze, as if there was something extremely frightening that was observing me all the time. I swear, even facing the Senior Demons wasn’t as scary as this.”

“I believe there aren’t that many, or else the Dream World would have been seized by them long ago,” said Roland reassuringly. The Martialist Association could handle the Corruptors, which were not affected by conventional force, but against this type of monster, even 12 martialists might not be sufficient to win. If there were many of them, the Association would probably have been destroyed by now.

In retrospect, he realized that he could finally confirm Garcia’s assertion that the corruption of the outside world was inseparably related to the Bloody Moon. The tentacles which protruded from the void was similar to the scene in the Divine Domain.

Yet, why would the Bloody Moon corrupt the dreamland? Isn’t this world a part of it? Who’s the Lord that the monster spoke about? Is it a real deity or a source of magic power? If it truly detests the Dream World, why did it remain silent when he touched the divine relics?

Roland also took extra note of the “Bottomless Land” which the monster mentioned last. It was perhaps due to linguistic assimilation that the structure of this term was similar to that found in the Land of Dawn. It was only when referring to an entire continent that it would be phrased this way. For example, although the meaning of “Divine Land” was similar, it was expressed in a different way.

Supposing that the Bloody Moon is perpetually observing the real world because of the Battle of Divine Will, does that mean that what it reveals is an actual continent, just as I’ve understood?

These questions were best left to an explorer to solve.

Of course, not every witch was still contemplating the events of the battle that just happened. Phyllis, who sat in the front passenger seat, had already cast aside the heavy emotions she felt during the battle, and was much more interested in understanding the operation of this limousine. When she was seated in a taxi previously, she was instructed to remain silent due to the presence of an outsider. This time, she could no longer control her wild curiosity, and stared unblinkingly at Roland, as if she was trying to memorize every action that he made.

“You want to learn driving?” Roland asked jokingly, having also relegated his thoughts to the back of his mind.

Phyllis immediately nodded.

“We’ll have to perform a few more tasks first.” He took the opportunity to entice her. “When the time comes, we’ll be able to enjoy different cuisine every day, and having your own room and private car won’t be a problem.”

“Will the food taste better than KFC and hotpot?” Faldi added.

“Those are entry-level stuff. Once we have money, you’ll find out that even if you ate something different every day, you’ll never be able to taste all the different types of cuisine in the world.”

Though Roland did not turn his head back, he could sense the glowing gazes from the witches behind him.

“When Dawnen’s fine, let’s move on to the next house. I’ve already marked its location.” Faldi’s voice remained soft, but it was not as faint as previously.

“I’m okay. We can set off tomorrow once our magic powers have recovered.” The petite Dawnen replied in a positive manner. “This bit of injury won’t be a hindrance.”

Even Ling, who had been traumatized, was moved by Roland’s alluring words. Though she did not echo the others’ words, her eyes were glimmering, as Roland saw through the rearview mirror.

Roland felt deeply touched. It turned out that boosting the team’s morale was truly a simple thing to do.

…

In order to prevent policemen from popping by their place, he decided not to drive into Tongzi Street, and instead parked the car next to the neighboring Clover Association’s construction site, which was still under demolition and hence was a surveillance blind spot. From there was a nice little pathway which led to the rented warehouse.

Subsequently, it was time to examine the spoils.

Regrettably, there was not much cash in the safe, amounting to only 100000 dollars or so. However, there was a considerable amount of jewelry, consisting of jades and pearls. It was not possible to place a fixed valuation on them. To his surprise, he also discovered several solidified Forces of Nature. It was these small yet exceptionally heavy things which gave him the false perception that the trip was indeed fruitful.

Are cash transactions already out of vogue for these people? Forces of Nature are now a currency?

By the time Roland returned to 0827, it was already half past 11. He gently opened the door and discovered that the lights were lit in the parlor. Zero was lying by the tea table with her back arched and slightly undulating, as if she had already entered dreamland. In front of her were a stack of textbooks and a pencil box. It was evident that she had been revising her homework while waiting for his return.

There was only supposed to be a tenant-landlord relationship between them, but there seemed to be a sense of family now. Roland’s heart softened as he gazed at this sight.

He walked up and gently carried Zero to her bed. After taking off her shoes, he covered her in the warm quilt.

Oh right, the textbooks.

If she forgets about them tomorrow, she’ll blame me again.

Roland shook his head and laughed. He brought the textbooks on the tea table to her room and stacked them neatly on Zero’s desk. At this moment, the bold print on a textbook cover caught his attention.

Junior High Math Olympiad.

This was an extracurricular subject which appeared impressive but was thoroughly impractical. He recalled that he was uninterested in math when he was in junior high, and, thinking that Math Olympiad was simply a higher level of math, he kept his distance from it, and would rather spend his summers learning sketching and calligraphy than attend Math Olympiad lessons. Therefore, at present, he had not the slightest idea what the course was about.

Strangely, he began to take interest in its content, if only for a moment.

He could feel his breath becoming shorter.

He took a deep breath and slowly flipped open the first page of the textbook.

The neatly-arranged examples, together with Zero’s elegant handwriting, caught his eye at once.