Morgianna raised the Potion Holy Grail in her hand.
Inside the Potion Holy Grail, energy churned. The energy of the magical winds stored within was released by the Lake God Witch, and rumbling thunder appeared in the clouds. Morgianna chanted the magic spell softly, guiding the power of lightning.
"Ahhhh!" This male serf, who appeared to be around thirty years old, was already scared out of his wits. He sat on the ground, retreating continuously, and before him were a dozen zombies and several ghouls.
Zombies are the lowest level of undead, immediately resurrected from corpses. These undead had lost their senses and even their instincts. They only knew to attack enemies under the manipulation of a necromancer or a vampire lord. Their eyes emitted a blue soul fire as they slowly approached the serf.
"Help~ Help!" The serf cried miserably. Meanwhile, the Lake God Prophet finished chanting her spell. Raising her hand, she said, "Thorn Shield!"
Thorny plants rapidly grew from the snow-covered ground, separating the serf and the zombies. The zombies were blocked by the thorns, and the sharp spikes pierced their decaying bodies, but to no effect. The zombies were held back by the thorns, their claws not sharp enough, vainly trying to break free.
Ghouls, far stronger than zombies, tore through these thorns with their sharp claws. In a few seconds, some of the thorns were ripped apart. The serf rolled up, looking like he was about to flee for his life again.
"Yurino Lightning Arrow!" At that moment, Morgianna finally completed casting the lightning arrow spell. Pale blue magical energy tore through the thick clouds, and from the sky, a powerful lightning ball slashed through the clouds, smashing into the group of zombies and ghouls. The exploding lightning turned the group into blood and ash, reducing them to cinders.
Some cunning ghouls, having hidden behind the zombies, luckily survived. Seeing Morgianna, they immediately fled, running wildly and disappearing into the small woods.
The remaining zombies almost simultaneously collapsed on their own, turning into real corpses and chunks of flesh.
Morgianna narrowed her eyes. There must be a vampire or a necromancer nearby controlling these zombies! Seeing her arrival, they must have immediately cut off control to hide their presence.
Golden eyebrows furrowed, Morgianna thought to herself: Has the vampire corruption in the Berleone Duchy become so severe? To see these undead creatures openly active near villages even under broad daylight?
"Ah~ Saved~" The male serf rolled a few times on the floor and finally got up. He looked like he was about to wet his pants, his face a picture of having survived a calamity. Seeing Morgianna's cold face, he immediately crawled toward her on his knees: "Lake God Witch Your Highness... Lake God Witch Your Highness..."
"Clang!" The sword unsheathed. Morgianna held a faintly glowing rune sword in her hand. The Lake God Witch said sternly, "Enough! Stay there, don't come near me!"
"Yes, yes!" The serf quickly stopped moving. He was about to say something when suddenly, Morgianna heard footsteps and Lake God Prophet Clement's exclamation from behind her: "Lady Morgianna, behind you!"
A dire wolf with blue flames in its eyes rushed towards Morgianna at great speed. It growled, its hind legs pushing powerfully, charging directly towards Morgianna's back. Its foul stench and disgusting saliva sprayed out from its huge mouth.
Morgianna's gaze tightened, showing no panic. She firmly gripped the handle of her rune sword, thrusting it out. The sharp rune blade pierced directly into the dire wolf's gaping mouth and through its body.
Blood and guts flew everywhere. Just like that, Morgianna split the dire wolf open with her sword, its intestines and blood scattered on the ground. Protected by her golden belt, the bloody and disgusting fluids couldn't get close to Morgianna and were stopped by the shield.
"Lady Morgianna? Are you alright?" Lake God Prophet quickly rode up to Morgianna's side.
"I'm fine..." Morgianna's stunning face was all seriousness. She glanced at the corpse of the dire wolf: "Just a despicable ambusher."
Then, the Lake God Witch turned her gaze back to the serf, who apparently had been chased by vampire creatures. The Mirror of Morgianna told her that the serf also reeked of that disgusting vampire smell and the traces of undead magic: "Are you a villager nearby?"
"Yes, I'm from the nearby village of Felbach. My name is Allen." The serf knelt and kowtowed, "Thank you so much, Your Highness, you saved my life!"
"Felbach..." Morgianna and Clement exchanged glances. That was the village they were heading to. The girl mentioned in the prophecy was in Felbach: "Are you a resident there? What's the situation in Felbach now?"
"It's not good, Your Highness. Since the continuous wars, the number of residents in the town has drastically decreased. There used to be three to five hundred people, now there might not even be two hundred." The serf continued to kowtow, "This year the knight lord is again collecting taxes, we can barely survive, so I thought of going into the forest to see if I could find something to eat, but then I encountered the undead. Alas, if it weren't for Your Highness, I would surely be dead. Now there's only some rye and bran left at home..."
"Enough, shut up, take us to Felbach." The Lake God Prophet had no interest in hearing the serf's complaints. If the Holy Maiden's Convent was an organization for serfs to air their grievances, then the Brittany serfs queuing up for this would stretch around the Old World one and a half times. Thus, she decisively stopped the serf from continuing.
Morgianna's face remained impassive, clearly not taking the serf's words to heart.
So, the serf led the Lake God Witch and the Lake God Prophet to Felbach.
Felbach was a village already showing signs of decay. In the rain and snow, the low wooden walls and the watchtowers still had a few militia and guards on duty, but there were few residents to be seen. Looking around, the whole village was almost buried in the snow, like a half-dead old man gasping for the last bits of life.
The tree at the village entrance was hung with an astonishing number of corpses from the Estalian army, unwelcome outsiders, and offending serfs. Morgianna glanced up and knew there were at least thirty to forty bodies.
The authority of the Lake God Witch was absolute. Under her command, the knight lord of the village immediately ordered all the serfs to come out from their homes for questioning by the Lake God Witch.
In the midst of a snowy winter, about two hundred villagers were called out. Morgianna immediately found the girl with exceptional magical talent and then, ignoring the kneeling and crying parents of the child, ordered Clement to take the girl away.
This wasn't because Morgianna was cold-hearted, but because the Lake God Witch knew well that if these magically gifted children weren't taken away early and trained in the domain of the Lake Fairies, their eventual fate was almost sealed. They would become corrupted by chaos during their attempts at magic, leading to their downfall, and eventually, these children would become prime conduits for chaos demons, aiding in their manifestation in the material plane.
There are few exceptions, and corruption is just a matter of time.
When the serf parents pleaded not to take their children away, did they understand in their hearts, did they have the right to let these children live? Then watch them become portals for demons, bringing destruction to the entire village or even the country?
No, the serfs wouldn't understand, so Morgianna wouldn't explain. The Lake God Witch had given them a chance. If these children's families had the means to send them to the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy for study, Morgianna would not have intervened.
After handing over the task, Morgianna signaled Clement to take the girl away. The Lake God Witch used her powerful magic to open a portal: "Clement, you go back first. I'm going to Berleone Castle to find Theodoric."
"Yes, Your Highness." The Lake God Prophet disappeared into the portal with the girl.
Morgianna's expression was indifferent. She nodded, then rode her unicorn, Sylphane, towards the outskirts of the village. In the snowstorm, a lonely figure blocked her path: "Lake God Witch Your Highness!"
"What is it?" Morgianna frowned, wondering what the serf wanted.
"Your Highness, thank you for saving my life!" The serf named Allen said while kneeling.
"If that's all you have to say, then you needn't bother. I know." Morgianna spoke impatiently, then signaled her unicorn to keep moving.
"But, Your Highness, I know I don't have much to repay you with." To Morgianna's surprise, the serf blocked her again, tremblingly taking out something from his person.
A string of pearls strung together with silk thread.
"What's this?" The pearls in the serf's hands looked bright and round, quite beautiful.
"I found these on the seaside and strung them myself. After thinking it over, this is the only thing I can offer to repay the Lake God Witch Your Highness. Please accept it!" Named Allen, the serf kept kowtowing, then knelt on the ground.
Morgianna, seeing such beautiful pearls, liked them at first sight and remembered that the serf was indeed one she had saved. Sighing softly, she got off Sylphane. Beneath her gray long dress, her white short boots, untouched by dust, touched the ground. Her jade hand, covered in lace gloves, flicked, and the string of pearls flew from Allen's hands into Morgianna's.
The cautious Lake God Witch checked them and, finding no magical traces on the pearls, nodded: "Alright, I'll accept this. You can go now."
Having said this, Morgianna no longer paid attention to the serf and left on her unicorn.
Allen watched the Lake God Witch leave, then slowly walked back to his town.
At this time, people started gossiping about the serf who had narrowly escaped death.
"They say Allen is really lucky. Three days ago, he encountered a pack of dire wolves in the wild and was saved by a passing wizard. Today, he was saved by Lady Morgianna of the Lake God Witch."
"Yes, I even suspect he's a favored one of the Goddess of Fortune."
The serfs buzzed with conversation, but Allen showed no reaction, slowly walking back to his house.
Closing the door, Allen blankly looked at his empty home, then walked to the middle of the room. Suddenly, the serf collapsed on the ground as if all his bones had been removed, lifeless, his hot blood pooling around him.
He bled out rapidly, turning into a dry corpse.
In the darkness of the room, a decayed, shriveled voice spoke, "Don't worry, everything is proceeding as planned."
"Yes, Father." The young voice was a bit confused: "But... Father, the flood in Bicci severely damaged Connaught's economy. Our plan to attack Boldro next year has to be postponed."
"No matter, what we have most is time... Morgianna is not easy to take down. We need patience, my child." The shriveled voice spoke: "You saw Morgianna's power, didn't you?"
"…Very strong."
"As long as we can't take her down immediately, nearby knights will come to support within fifteen minutes, then more knights..."
"I understand, Father."
"Good. According to the intelligence from Berleone, Theodoric is holding a concert in the Berleone Singing Hall tonight. Looking at the time, Morgianna should arrive at Berleone Castle around then." The withered voice continued, seemingly pleased that the young voice grasped the importance: "That will be our time to act."
"I will summon an undead army to attack Berleone Castle's Singing Hall, and you, seize this opportunity to find the Nine Scrolls hidden in Berleone's library! Hehe~ After centuries of accumulation and infiltration, it's time to show our strength."
"Yes!"
...
As dusk fell that day, the heavy snow finally stopped. Morgianna arrived at Berleone Castle.
Berleone's main castle was located at a commanding height of the city and island peaks. Many small towers within the harmoniously integrated civilian buildings controlled the sea area, and the tall, sturdy towers on the streets could resist armies with just one person stationed. Many gardens and mansions were enclosed spaces where intruders would be cut off and annihilated one by one, so Estalian invaders had attacked up to the castle several times but failed each time.
"Where's your Duke? I have something to discuss with him." As the castle gates opened, Morgianna's face was as cold as frost, and she asked the guard directly.
"Your Highness, the Duke is in the Singing Hall. There's a concert tonight, you can go directly to find him." The guard replied somewhat proudly.
Morgianna's eyes flashed with displeasure. Compared to the Red Dragon Duke Berthamond, who was considered a model of knighthood, Duke Theodoric of Berleone was like the opposite side of the same coin.
In battle, Theodoric swung his huge battle-axe, ruthlessly cleaving incapacitated enemies and tossing their bodies to the ground. He always attacked from the front but rarely returned with injuries. His knights claimed that the power of war had descended upon the Duke, and any opponent knocked off his horse by him was sure to be finished off.
He seemed to enjoy the slaughter.
"Lead the way!"
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