Witch’s Night: Chapter 17 Shadow and the Shadow Guard
Slumberers and Ice Coffin Weapons were undoubtedly two completely different kinds of power.
Not to mention that Slumberers started with “Destruction” level combat power, and for various reasons, could use all kinds of extremely powerful techniques with severe consequences without any hesitation.
Forbidden Techniques, powerful moves rarely used normally, could be unleashed at will by Slumberers during their awakened period, as if they were free.
After all, once they reached the limit of their awakening, they would completely disappear, not even a trace of their soul or consciousness remaining.
As for Ice Coffin Weapons… not all Ice Coffin Weapons were like “One.” Most Ice Coffin Weapons’ destructive power could only reach “Peril” level. Compared to ordinary “Peril” level ability users, their advantage might only be their wider attack range.
Lannister did possess “Destruction” level Ice Coffin Weapons, but using them… wasn’t very convenient.
Compared to unconscious Ice Coffin Weapons, Slumberers with self-awareness were more controllable. There was a fundamental difference between the two from the moment they were created.
The severity of the incident in Restricted Zone Seven was obvious to all, and Norian’s firm stance was approved by most members of the Council of Elders. The order was quickly conveyed.
All of Lannister’s forces were mobilized to extinguish this raging fire.
……
Tina had already left before Norian sealed off Spencer Manor.
However, bypassing a lockdown targeting nobles wasn’t a difficult task for her.
“I didn’t expect him to choose this time to act…”
Tina took a deep breath and looked towards Restricted Zone Seven.
Hamid Surian, a former Saint candidate, had been a classmate… or even a senior… of the current Saint Shadow.
The current Saint Shadow had been brought back to the Noah Holy Church by Saint Illusion during the War of the Witch of Absolute Death hundreds of years ago.
Although it was unknown what had happened between the two Saints back then, their relationship was clearly quite good.
Thus, Saint Shadow became a Saint candidate… through connections?
Actually, Granny Zoya was also a Saint candidate of that generation, but she unsurprisingly lost the selection.
Later, she became a “Destruction” level ability user due to her own opportunities, but her path only reached the starting point of “Destruction” level and then almost permanently stagnated.
Saint Shadow was just an ordinary person back then, but after being selected as a Saint candidate, she made rapid progress, and finally, under the instruction of the previous Saint Shadow, she became a Saint ranked eleventh as a “Peril” level ability user.
Of course, the current Saint Shadow was already a “Destruction” level ability user, and not a weak one among them. More importantly, her path hadn’t reached its end yet.
And Hamid Surian, who was currently confronting Granny Zoya in Restricted Zone Seven, was one of Saint Shadow’s strongest competitors back then.
However, no one had expected that a Saint candidate would choose to betray all of humanity, becoming a cult Bishop overnight, and even backstabbing his classmates.
Hamid used the trust of other Saint candidates to kill more than thirty of them through conspiracy. These were all geniuses with the potential to become “Destruction” level ability users, and were extremely important to humanity, which had been severely weakened after the War of the Witch of Absolute Death.
The Twelve Saints were furious, and Saint Illusion personally severely injured him, but failed to kill him.
Thousands of members of the Church of the End Gods, appearing from nowhere, rescued Hamid by sacrificing countless lives. Coupled with the fact that Illusion had suffered hidden injuries from the War of the Witch of Absolute Death, Hamid ultimately escaped.
After so many years, the Noah Holy Church had never given up on searching for Hamid’s traces. It wasn’t until recently that they received news that he was in Lannister, but they couldn’t confirm it.
Therefore, to confirm this news, and also to avoid alerting him, the Noah Holy Church secretly sent the Shadow Guard most skilled in concealment to Lannister, namely Tina.
Chris had come because of Norian’s invitation; she hadn’t known that her mother was also in Lannister beforehand.
Now, Tina finally confirmed that Hamid was in Lannister, but unfortunately… it was too late.
Tina herself only had “Peril” level strength, and she was better at lurking and assassination, or using “Siren’s Song” to buff her teammates, than direct combat.
Tina couldn’t participate in the battle in Restricted Zone Seven. All she could do was inform Saint Shadow.
It couldn’t be said that the Noah Holy Church was completely unprepared, but these preparations were also too late, unless Granny Zoya could hold on until Saint Shadow’s shadow avatar arrived.
Unfortunately, that was unlikely.
Shadow had complained to Tina more than once that Zoya Sivir was the most infamous straggler among the Saint candidates of that generation, a complete pretty face (yes, Granny Zoya was very beautiful when she was young), who had somehow gotten lucky and reached “Destruction” level.
Of course, this also showed from the side that every Saint candidate was extremely talented, even the straggler had the potential to become a “Destruction” level ability user.
Let alone Hamid Surian… He was originally more talented, and he had also chosen to convert to the Malice of All Worlds. His strength could only be higher than Granny Zoya’s.
Sure enough, not long after, violent fluctuations came from Restricted Zone Seven, and the barrier instantly shattered.
A raging malicious aura spread out. Even though Lannister had prepared a spiritual energy shield in advance, it couldn’t completely block it. The aura itself was constantly eroding this ridiculously thick shield.
“Tina, lower your head.”
Just then, a cold voice sounded in her mind, and Tina quickly lowered her head.
“Yes, Saint Shadow.”
The shadow on the ground squirmed, rising slowly and gradually seeping into Tina’s eyes.
Tina’s beautiful azure blue eyes were completely filled with darkness at this moment. Shadow, through Tina’s eyes, saw the situation at the scene.
“It seems it really is too late. Damn it, Sivir, that straggler…”
Shadow’s voice was somewhat gritted. Half a continent away, it was a bit difficult for her shadow avatar to arrive quickly, unless she used the Void for teleportation.
Even now, Shadow couldn’t help but complain about Granny Zoya’s past performance.
“Saint Shadow, I remember Saint Illusion should be arriving in Lannister soon…” Tina couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s Elise, not Illusion. Her strength is only at ‘Ruin’ level. Counting on her is worse than hoping Hamid will change his mind and atone for his sins.” Shadow said casually, her gaze still serious.
Tina really wanted to say that Elise was Saint Illusion’s avatar, but thinking about it carefully, there was a difference between a puppet and a shadow avatar.
Although both were avatars, the shadow avatar had a closer connection to Saint Shadow and could exert nearly thirty percent of her strength.
The puppet, on the other hand, was more like an independent individual, albeit controlled by Saint Illusion’s consciousness. Its strength was limited by the body itself.
However, if the shadow avatar was damaged or killed, it would affect the main body, but the puppet didn’t have this concern. Even if Elise died, Illusion wouldn’t be affected at all.
“Why not try letting Luo Yan meet him?” Shadow suddenly said. “Maybe if Miss Luo Yan says a few nice words, Hamid might stop.”
“…Saint Shadow, this is not the time for jokes.”
Tina’s eyelids twitched wildly. She had served this Saint Shadow for quite some time and was already quite used to her eccentric behavior.
“I was joking, but thinking about it carefully, it might actually work…”
Shadow pondered for a moment, and Tina felt numb.
Hamid had originally intended to go to Restricted Zone Seven to find Luo Yan. Tina didn’t believe he would risk exposing his identity just to visit his new neighbor.
The tragedy hundreds of years ago was still vivid in her mind. Humanity had lost an entire generation of experts because of traitors, including Hamid, and no new “Destruction” level ability user was born in the lost twenty years.
In the worst-case scenario, Hamid might even be planning to use Luo Yan to summon the true body of a Primordial Demon, and not just a toe or something.
Moreover, Miss Luo Yan…
The image of a black-haired young man appeared in Tina’s mind. He, in his disguised appearance, was quietly staying in the corner of the banquet, mixing cocktails by himself, seemingly unconcerned with the surrounding hustle and bustle.
Seeing this scene through the cognitive distortion, Tina had to admit, she was somewhat touched.
“Are you worried about her?” Shadow sensed Tina’s nervousness. “It seems you’ve already met. What kind of person is she? Illusion refused to tell me, only saying that she can’t let her meet me.”
“She’s a good person, I guess.”
Tina sighed. Saint Illusion didn’t let you meet her because she was worried you would corrupt her…
“Giving her a good person card so soon? Did something happen between you two… Tsk, you’re a married woman, Auntie Tina.”
“Saint Shadow, this is not the time for jokes. Let’s focus on the matter at hand.”
A rare look of helplessness appeared on Tina’s face. Only Saint Shadow could make her, who was always expressionless, show such an expression.
“Heh… Tina, didn’t I just say it?” Shadow’s voice became a bit more serious. “Why not try letting Miss Luo Yan meet Hamid?”
“…”
“I know what you’re worried about, Tina, but what if I told you that Miss Luo Yan faced the true form of the ‘Witch of Envy’ in the Void and successfully returned to the present world… what would you think?”
Hearing this, Tina’s pupils constricted, and her expression darkened slightly.
Luo Yan had indeed said that she had seen the Witch of Envy with her own eyes and even talked to her, but no matter what, this was quite unbelievable.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Luo Yan, but this kind of situation was common. Many people claimed to have seen the Primordial Demons with their own eyes, including the Devil’s Apostles of the Church of the End Gods.
But the truth was… they hadn’t. They had at most seen avatars, or fragments of consciousness.
This could be evidenced by the War of the Witch of Absolute Death hundreds of years ago.
This was the only war recorded in the history of the New Era where humanity directly faced the complete form of a Primordial Demon. Almost all humans who witnessed the Witch of Absolute Death’s form fell into madness, even the Devil’s Apostles.
War, madness, betrayal…
That was the era when human civilization was closest to destruction, apart from the transition between the Old and New Eras.
To this day, the details of that war had been completely erased, for fear of similar situations occurring.
Miss Luo Yan was indeed special, but no matter how special, she was still human, at least she was now.
…If she weren’t human, Lannister wouldn’t have brought her back no matter what; Norian wouldn’t have agreed to Illusion’s request even if he were beaten to death.
“This is Lannister, not Noah… Magistrate Norian should be the one to decide.” Tina said after a moment of silence.
“Oh, that cowardly old man? Then there’s no hope.” Shadow said with a hint of regret. “I originally wanted to see Miss Luo Yan’s reaction when she encountered these cultists…”
Tina resisted the urge to retort about Shadow’s way of addressing Norian. What cowardly old man? Magistrate Norian was hundreds of years younger than you.
And the “Auntie Tina” just now too…
I’m not even sixty yet, okay!
Of course, ever since ability users in the New Era broke through the limits of human lifespan, seniority had been a mess…
“The current situation is still under control. That straggler seems to be doing alright, although it’s hard to say whether she can hold on until my shadow avatar arrives.” Shadow’s tone became a bit more serious, although it was unclear how much of it was genuine. “Don’t worry about Luo Yan, she’s stronger… and more reliable… than you all think.”
After her voice fell, the trace of shadow power also dissipated.
Tina frowned slightly, pondering Saint Shadow’s words.
But in the end, she could only shake her head and continue to retreat, seeing if she could help in any way without revealing her identity.
……
Luo Yan and Chris sat facing each other.
An awkward atmosphere permeated the space between them.
“Miss Chris, I think I understand what you misunderstood,” Luo Yan said with a serious expression. “I asked a few people who seemed easier to talk to and learned a few things. But I’m curious, why does ‘a commission that can’t be spoken about directly’ specifically refer to that kind of thing?”
Luo Yan’s expression and tone didn’t seem like she was joking, so serious that Chris felt a little ashamed.
She had specifically come to explain to Chris, which wasn’t considered wandering around, as long as she didn’t leave Spencer Manor.
“Be-, Because…”
Chris stammered for a long time, but couldn’t give a coherent answer.
Because she didn’t know why either… Maybe it was human nature?
“Forget it, as long as Miss Chris can clear up this unnecessary misunderstanding, it’s fine.”
Luo Yan nodded and stood up.
“Wait!”
Seeing that Luo Yan seemed to be about to leave, Chris suddenly called out in a hurry.
“Hmm?”
Luo Yan paused.
“Actually, you’re not Mr. Luo Yan, but Miss Luo Yan, right?” Chris asked through gritted teeth. “Why are you hiding your identity at this banquet…”
Was it because she discovered that she was the peeper?
“I’m not hiding my identity,” Luo Yan replied directly. “I just don’t want to attract attention.”
It turned out that this disguise was still useful, as her reduced presence had been broken through several times.
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