Chapter 881: The Despair Witch (Thanks to Tu Shi Cha Wan Zheng for Supporting Reniet Tinikor

Within the next two or three minutes, a large crowd of exiles flooded into the square before the Cathedral of Knowledge; some chose to duel on the spot after being accidentally bumped, others subtly adjusted their necks to prevent them from tilting too far, some began singing loudly out of boredom, others played a game of slapping each other's faces…

Lumian stood on the steps, holding the Extradimensional Property of the "Despair Witch," expressionless as he watched these exiled convicts.

Time is running out… Lumian whispered silently, turning again to look toward the Cathedral of Knowledge—but still saw no Archbishop Herabeg of Morola.

He finally gave up, refocusing his gaze on the exiles, nearly filling the entire square.

This is definitely over thirty thousand.

Lumian suddenly laughed, his body trembling with laughter.

His choices seemed countless, but after weighing environmental factors, time constraints, the current situation, and his own obsession, only one path remained.

Only this one path lay before him.

After laughing for over ten seconds, Lumian, dressed in a white shirt, black vest, dark trousers, and laced boots, stepped down the stairs one by one and walked into the sea of people.

The exiles near the Cathedral of Knowledge began to sense something was wrong; their limbs grew weak, and when they tried to slap their opponents, it felt as if they were caressing their faces.

Some instinctively tried to flee, but their legs had lost all strength, their bodies heavy, moving only slowly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—a dozen blazing white-and-blue fireballs shot from around Lumian, flying past the exiles infected with mystical disease and landing at the square's edges, yet the exiles strangely ignored this entirely.

Boom!

The fireballs exploded simultaneously, surrounding the square in a blazing white hellfire; temperature surged, thick smoke rolled in.

Thud, thud, thud—countless exiles with worsened conditions collapsed to the ground, watching stronger convicts trample over them, watching the blazing white flames illuminate the sky and slowly creep toward them.

Pain and despair rapidly filled their minds, devouring their reason.

Some tried to scream for help, but even their voices were faint.

Boom!

Amid continuous explosions, Lumian walked out of the square, entered the spreading sea of fire, and reached the nearest street.

Boom!

Houses on both sides of the street were either blown apart by white-and-blue fireballs or directly ignited, erupting into fierce flames like torches one after another.

The convicts in the square fell in waves, helplessly enduring agony within the disease that drained their strength, awaiting death.

Lumian pulled out a glass bottle and placed inside it, in sequence: the Extradimensional Property of the "Despair Witch," the bile of the Plague Mother Serpent, fragments of the Silver Hunter, blood from various plague victims, and fresh mistletoe.

Bubbles gurgled up; the deep purple potion shimmered with rose-red ripples.

Lumian stared at the potion and laughed, his voice low:

"Don't worry—I already know my insignificance. I will embrace despair, I will walk the Witch's Path."

"But this is to ensure I am never arranged for again—to choose my own ending!"

With that, he walked forward while bringing the bottle to his lips and tilting his head back to drink.

The exiles still standing in the square suddenly felt their pain and despair solidify into tangible threads, stretching toward the burning street, toward that figure with his back turned.

They finally "awoke," but were too ill to fight back against the killer; some were already engulfed by flames, their bodies burning.

They saw that figure walking step by step among the burning buildings, through the street turned into a hellfire, beneath the crimson and bright sky—his hair floating strand by strand, growing longer, blacker, thicker.

In midair, two starlike points ignited; the white-and-blue flames covering the entire region suddenly turned pitch black.

This blackness surged like a flood, drowning all light, turning the hellfire silent, deep, and dark.

………

In the special mirror world, within the abandoned park-like dark scene where Franca and others fought Higton of the "End of All Things."

Higton, covered in greenish-yellow slime, had split into four, each seeking different targets, while Franca and Jianna were surrounded by quiet "Witch" black flames.

These black flames burned away the spiritual essence of the disease, yet were gradually dimmed and extinguished by the decay force accompanying the disease.

Had Franca not realized these diseases, born from Higton's split, possessed a degree of spirituality that could be ignited by the Witch's black flame—thereby slowing and weakening their human infection—she believed she and Jianna would have already exhausted their "Mirror Doppelgängers" and been waiting to die.

Meanwhile, the "Armor of Pride" played a crucial role; this sealed artifact was nearly unaffected by Higton's diseases and had not rusted or deteriorated under decay forces—it remained vigorous, chasing down any Higton who dared attack its back, occasionally unleashing a "Storm of Light."

During the battle, Franca and Jianna discovered another problem.

They didn't know whether Higton was simply brainless or whether this half-god was just absurdly unlucky—he always made choices that favored them, and every "inevitable death" attack missed.

Combined, the two "Witches" and Anthony, hidden beyond the decay zone by his "Psychological Invisibility," barely held out against a half-god for nearly nine minutes, occasionally even feeling Higton lacked the oppressive aura of a true half-god, as if he were a defective product.

But even so, they found no chance to escape or break free, and noticed their enemy multiplying—from two at the start of battle to four now, and one had even split off to search for Ludwig.

Moreover, though a single Higton didn't feel like a true half-god and seemed weaker, each of his split forms was equally powerful—not weaker than the original—and stacked together, they truly reached the terror of a half-god. Of course, Franca guessed his splitting had a limit and wouldn't be too numerous.

"I have two 'Mirror Doppelgängers' left; Jianna probably has only one… Anthony, though attacked less and outside the zone, only had two 'Mirror Doppelgängers' to begin with and has already used one…" Franca rapidly shifted position to avoid Higton's disease-form suddenly appearing behind her with an "inevitable hit," while swiftly analyzing the current situation.

As for Lu Jianuo, when he was first blocked by Higton and combat began, Franca signaled him to run as far as possible and hide in a concealed corner.

The outcome proved Franca's judgment correct: Higton's targets were Ludwig and the two "Witches"; he made no effort to stop Lu Jianuo's escape from this park-like ruin, nor did he split more Higtons to pursue him.

"Continuously using black flame consumes immense spiritual energy; neither Jianna nor I can last much longer…" Franca considered whether to now gather with Jianna, expend the last "Mirror Transit" of the "Ice Talisman," and buy more time to see if a turn might come.

And this would also give Anthony a chance to survive.

This "Hypnotist" was not Higton's target either, and still possessed "Psychological Invisibility."

Just as Franca was about to signal Jianna with her eyes to approach her, she suddenly saw greenish-yellow droplets protruding from Jianna's back, rapidly coalescing into Higton's form.

Almost simultaneously, Franca sensed from Jianna's worried, grim expression that something was wrong behind her too.

The two "Witches" acted without hesitation, each activating their "Mirror Doppelgänger" again.

The next second, two Higtons spread into fluffy, slime-covered "blankets," enveloping Franca and Jianna in inevitable fate.

A cracking sound followed.

On the other side, Anthony, who had been quietly hiding at the edge of the park-like ruin, leaning against a half-wall, suddenly saw a Higton covered in greenish-yellow slime emerge beside him.

He had been found.

Higton pushed forward, and a greenish-black orb landed on Anthony.

Crack!

Anthony used his final "Mirror Doppelgänger"; his silhouette appeared behind Higton's side.

Seeing this, Anthony suddenly had an idea.

Opportunity!

He didn't flee; instead, he raised his "Winter's Coming" revolver, aimed at Higton, and pulled the trigger.

"Inevitable Death!"

A golden bullet tinged with dull greenish-yellow flew the short distance and struck Higton.

The Higton covered in greenish-yellow slime froze, his body rapidly disintegrating into a fine mist of liquid, lifelessly scattering onto the ground.

This Higton died.

But the other three Higtons were unaffected.

After confirming this, Franca and Jianna both felt profound despair.

Their earlier plan had been to use the two "Witches" as bait, giving Anthony a chance to strike one Higton with an "Inevitable Death" bullet, killing all of them.

Who knew, the "Inevitable Death" effect only affected the one directly hit.

Instantly, Franca and Jianna saw the "Armor of Pride" struck by an "Inevitable Death" attack—metal fragments falling from its chest, frozen in place.

Jianna gritted her teeth, ready to abandon the ritual and shove the "Pain Witch" materials straight into her mouth, gambling on forcing an advancement.

That would at least restore her spiritual energy.

Even if she failed, she could become a monster and create an escape chance for Franca!

Jianna had not yet reached into the "Traveler's Satchel" when she saw another figure appear at the edge of the area.

It was Vazan Sanson, his golden hair streaked white—he had caught up here!

Franca and Jianna's hearts plummeted; the latter no longer hesitated.

At that moment, above one of the Higtons, a black iron straight sword, blazing with white-and-blue fire, descended without warning, piercing precisely through its crown.

Boom!

That Higton exploded into fragments, and the surging white-and-blue fire instantly turned quiet black, drowning every shard.

The fragments vanished; a figure swiftly materialized in the eyes of Franca, Jianna, and Anthony.

ps: Thank you to Tu Shi Cha Wan Zheng for supporting the RENIET TINIKOR Silver Chest～

(End of Chapter)