In a small cabin in the Black Forest, in Truffle Town.
The old witch surveyed the young man lying on the bed. His entire body was burning with heat, his face and chest were covered with an abnormal amount of sweat, and his cheeks were redder than apples.
In the room, a Demon Hunter with a twin-sword slung over his back inquired, "Can he be saved?"
"This chap is my mission target to protect. If he dies, where will I get my commission."
"Sigh."
"This is the biggest lose-lose deal for me. I originally thought that I just had to deliver him to the kingdom to receive my reward, but who would have known that a rebellion would break out in the kingdom and that he would also fall seriously ill."
The old witch bent over to closely examine the boy on the sickbed when she suddenly sneered. "It's a fever disease."
"To my understanding, this was created by one of my peers. The ordinary people think it's a naturally occurring plague, but they don't know that it's a vicious curse."
The Demon Hunter sneered. "More than half of the plagues on this continent have been created by you witches."
The old witch stated frankly, "I can save him."
"However, I want the manor that you currently occupy."
The Demon Hunter didn't object, after all, the manor belonged to the young man, it had nothing to do with him. "I agree. When he wakes up, you can get him to sign the legal document yourself."
"Let him transfer the manor to you."
"However, you need the priest of The Church to witness the contract transfer of the manor, are you sure you can pass that hurdle?"
The old witch nodded. "I have ways."
"People from The Church are the most corrupt. As long as you give them money, they would even let demons trade within the church. I am just a mere witch, what could that amount to?"
"Alright, I'll cure this boy now. It could be considered as the last good deed of my life."
"It's laughable, the day has come when we witches save people."
"This is a complete insult to my entire professional career."
Of course, this was all nonsense.
Because in reality, the one who surreptitiously cursed the boy on the sick bed was the old witch herself.
Upon meeting a helpless destitute prince, she had set her sights on his last piece of property—this manor.
She discretely devised a scheme just to cleverly seize the manor.
The old witch looked down at the young man on the bed in contempt.
This person was already dead, his heart had stopped beating.
Even if she was a witch, it was impossible to revive someone who was already dead.
However, it didn't matter, she could use necromancy to summon a low-level undead into the body and manipulate this undead, enabling this body to move.
Anyway, as long as the body could move a little in front of the Demon Hunter, it would be fine.
Once the Demon Hunter had left, she could do as she pleased.
Witches never keep their word!
Why adhere to agreements for things that can be gained through deception?
The old witch extended her hand out of the window. She twisted her wrist, and instantly, a chicken from the coop outside the window was summoned by her, breaking the window glass, and landed in her hand.
'Cluck~'
The chicken's neck was snapped by her single-handedly, and the chicken's blood sprayed out.
The old witch leaned over to sniff the chicken's blood. "Mmm, it's an old hen that hasn't been bred."
She dipped her fingertip in a little chicken blood and had the Demon Hunter's Black Wolf tear open Ivita's neckline, revealing the boy's chest.
She drew an inverted hexagram pattern on Ivita's chest with her bloodied finger and then drew an eye in the middle of the hexagram.
This eye was the Witch's Eye.
The inverted hexagram was the Fallen Magic Array.
So the combined magic array language was— [hereby, I willingly renounce all the protection that the gods have given to humans and invite all things to enter this body].
"Cough cough ... alright." the old witch chuckled evilly, she just had to chant a regular spirit-summoning spell and call a low-level undead into this corpse, and let the naive Demon Hunter next to her mistakenly believe that the prince had been revived.
Heh heh.
He can actually be a Demon Hunter with this IQ.
The old witch swiftly withdrew her finger, ready to chant the necromancy spell, but who could've anticipated that at this moment, Ivita, who was supposed to be a corpse, suddenly opened his eyes.
'Ivita' held his head and got up from the bed. "Ouch, my head hurts."
"Where is … this place?"
"Is this a movie set? Where is my phone?"
The old witch's dry smile became stiff on her face as she incredulously observed the boy who has suddenly revived from death, risen from the bed.
She was utterly flummoxed.
The Demon Hunter, Black Wolf, turned towards the witch, marveling at the sight. "I never thought witches could actually cure people, it's the first time I've seen a nice witch like you."
The word 'nice' almost made the old witch feel nauseous. She had never done a good thing in her life!
Doing good deeds would ruin her reputation and would result in mockery from her peers.
But the key issue here was not this, the old witch incredulously looked at the dead chicken in her hand, then at her bloodied finger, and for a while, she was a bit dazed.
Did she just chant a spell?
No, right?
Then why did the body on the sick bed move?
Could it be that she had actually chanted a spell, but forgot about it?
No, that's not right.
She didn't utter any spell at all!
A terrifying guess appeared in the old witch's mind, and cold sweat began to slide down her forehead.
The Fallen Magic Array and the Witch's Eye just now actually had the potential to summon other entities to inhabit this corpse, but the probability was too low. Usually, specific incantations were needed to summon specific ghosts.
But every magic comes with risks!
Could it be that her magic trail attracted the attention of some subspace entities, who then followed her magic trail to possess this corpse?
The mere thought of this made the old witch feel the urge to pack up and run away.
She didn't want this manor anymore!
Meanwhile, on the sickbed.
Ivita had no idea what was going on. As far as he knew, he was seriously ill and should have been stuck in bed with a fever of forty degrees.
Why then did he wake up in a strange environment with a man and an old person?
Simultaneously, the previous host's memories kept flooding in.
Ivita absorbed the previous host's memories, which helped him to understand his current situation.
This world was somewhat like the Middle Ages, but more like a setting from Grimm's fairy tales, with witches, Wolfmen, Vampires, giants, goblins, Elves, and other strange races.
Humans and monsters coexisted.
The original host was a kingdom's only prince and sole heir.
However, he was ousted from the kingdom by the rebel forces during an uprising.
The rebels declared his throne invalid, and the original host was driven out of his homeland.
Rumor had it that some influential people instigated the uprising. Now, the vacant throne was up for sale to the highest bidder.
According to the previous host's memories, a large-scale cotton trader ended up buying the throne.
During this process, the guards around him had fled one by one, and the loyal old servant who had stayed with him died of sickness.
The original host had run to this manor, far away from his kingdom.
The manor was inherited from his mother and was not a property of the kingdom, allowing him to retain this last piece of property and barely survive here.
But it seemed that this last piece of wealth already caught someone's attention.
Ivita clenched his fists, feeling the original host's resentment in his dying moments. The original host's soul wailed and screamed, resenting the capitalist who used money to buy the throne that should have been his.
Perhaps it was this grievance that brought Ivita to this body.
Ivita was responsible. Since he had taken someone else's body, he should undertake the original host's duties. He thought, 'Since I have come to your body, you are me from now on.'
'I will help you reclaim our throne!'
Thinking of this, he felt much lighter, as if his body was a cloud, extremely light.
He swallowed the body's last lingering obsession and perfectly controlled the body, making the soul and the body perfectly fit.
Ivita glanced at the Demon Hunter and the witch in the room and began to contemplate.
He would reclaim his kingdom sooner or later.
However, to do so, he couldn't rely on himself alone; he must have an army and a territory.
He needed to put together a force to take back his kingdom!
The Demon Hunter and the witch in front of him seemed to be potentials.
He should find a way to make them stay, and it would be best if they could swear loyalty to him, not obeying him just for the sake of money.
"You're burning up, little master!" The Demon Hunter said as he touched Ivita's forehead. "Your Highness, can you please pay me my wage before you die?"
"Your condition worries me."
"I'll end up with nothing."
The old witch who was standing aside and planning to secretly cast a spell to probe 'Ivita', had a drastic change of expression.
She immediately stopped casting the spell.
Because she noticed something terrifying.
That is, a dead person couldn't possibly have body temperature.
The old Ivita must have died of fever, she knew better than anyone, after all, she was the one who had cursed old Ivita.
Whether Ivita was dead or not, no one knew better than her.
But, a dead person could not have body temperature.
Usually, even if a ghost or an evil entity possessed a body, they could not make the body warm.
Let alone inducing fever, something so complex and challenging.
How far could an evil spirit who had entered a corpse and revived it have to go, to be able to do this?
The old witch anxiously stared at Ivita, her muscles stiffening as she stood still like a wooden mannequin.
Could it be an evil spirit from subspace?
Or an old outer god attracted by magic, coming from outer space?
Anyway, this wasn't the first time a magic incident had summoned a terrifying existence.
Each magic required an equal price and assumed a certain risk!
'Bang~'
The sound of a door being kicked came from outside.
A rough voice rang out from outside the door. "Wicked Hearthstone Witch, I, the righteous Wild Boar Knight, have discovered you and will punish you!"
"In God's will, face your death!"
"And the owner of this manor who is harboring the witch, you cannot escape either!"