Chapter 1077

Due to the intensifying blizzard, the delegation led by Princess Margaret could not depart immediately upon arriving in Huntington and thus temporarily stayed in the city. For this reason, Miss Sylvia also had ample grounds to remain here. After Miss Aflora also arrived locally, the three witches resided at the Wisteria Manor within the city.

That was the Aflora family's private property in this area, just like the Aflora Mansion in Coldwater Port. Of course, if Miss Aflora had not come, Miss Jia Lin Na would have been equally capable of securing a manor to reside in locally. Among the three Great Witches currently in Huntington City, only Miss Sylvia lacked such financial means.

Sister Sister Daifulin would not depart with them; she had already preceded them, joining a team formed by the local church to enter the Pantanal region. Accompanying her were two High-Ring Nuns from the 【Spiritual Cultivation Order】 and a small crimson bird. That was the phoenix that sacrificed itself during the Battle of Midhill Fortress; after being reborn, it had followed the nun ever since.

Regarding Xia De's arrival, all three witches felt pleased. On Tuesday night, Xia De also learned of the witches' action plan. The 【Witch Council】 would maintain a neutral stance toward Leikins Prishia this time, not preventing him from performing the ritual, but would strive to prevent the other party from releasing the Pantanal region's sealed Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu.

Of course, that was not the primary objective.

The purpose of the Council dispatching three Great Witches to participate in this event was two others: one was the enlightenment radiating outward during the Chosen One ritual; Miss Jia Lin Na seemed to wish to use this to attempt to pry into the mysteries of the Demigod Witches. On the other hand, having learned of the existence of alternate candidates for the Chosen One, the Council wished to confirm whether, this time, a lower-ranked candidate would appear, defeating Leikins Prishia in advance.

In short, regardless of what actually happened, the tasks accepted by Miss Jia Lin Na, Miss Aflora, and Miss Sylvia from the Council were merely to observe this event from the sidelines and accumulate intelligence for the nine other Chosen Ones yet to appear. If possible, they could intervene to assist the Wushen Sect at an appropriate moment; these were decisions they could make themselves.

As for Xia De, this time he would finally not face danger alone. Under the most favorable circumstances, he would only need to follow behind the three Great Witches to witness Leikins Prishia's end with his own eyes.

Of course, if Leikins Prishia truly managed to perform the ritual smoothly, Xia De would, after the ritual, send him to death alongside Yi Lu Na and Sister Sister Daifulin. He had not revealed his intentions to the witches, after all, only a Chosen One could defeat a Chosen One. And compared to the earliest Yi Lu Na and the High-Ring Sorceress Sister Sister Daifulin, Leikins Prishia held no advantage in either experience or power.

"But, will things go so smoothly?"

On Tuesday night, after exchanging goodnights with the ladies, Xia De slept alone in the manor's guest room. Due to his pre-sleep anxiety, he had a strange dream that night.

In the dream, he saw the Great Lake at the center of the Pantanal Great Swamp amidst the heavy snow; the lake in the darkness had not frozen, and at its center was a small island shrouded in thick fog. The lighthouse located northeast of the lake island flickered with a crimson light.

And when the Xia De in the dream approached that lighthouse, he discovered that the lighthouse's light was actually the eye of a terrifying giant monster. But before the bizarre creature could attempt to devour Xia De, Miss Violet, the Witch Emperor, saved him again, just as if he were still on the Lake Island in the center of Lost Lake in the spring of the 5th Era, year 5177.

"Why did I dream of Miss Violet? The adventure of 5177 ended long ago."

Waking up with his head still somewhat dazed, he waved his hand to slide the curtains to the side; outside the window was the morning of Huntington City amidst the heavy snow:

"If this snow does not stop, even if the Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu are not unsealed, the western Old Continent will surely face a major crisis."

Although the faith of the Wushen Sect spread throughout the entire material world, the interior of the Pantanal Great Swamp region was one of the few areas where the church's power was extremely scarce. To successfully resolve this major event, the Wushen Sect mobilized an unprecedented nine Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers to participate in the operation. Adding Miss Danist, the Thirteen-Ring Sorceress of Saint Byron, and Mr. Ghost, the Thirteen-Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi "Spirit Caller" from the Zalas Academy, a total of eleven Thirteen-Ring Sorcerers entered the Great Swamp region from the four directions of east, west, south, and north.

Among these, Yi Lu Na entered from the north, accompanied by the "Sunny Great Sword" who left Tobesk with her, the "Red Moon Witch" of Saint Byron, and the Peace Church's Thirteen-Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi "Hand of Annihilation" stationed in the southern border city of Delarion. As for Sister Sister Daifulin, she entered from the western side of the Great Swamp; the only accompanying Thirteen-Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi was the "Nightmare Priestess" of the Nature Church. According to the witches, the two were friends who had known each other for a very long time.

The church teams had already departed between Monday and Tuesday, while Miss Jia Lin Na and the other two planned to follow the church by a step, letting the church deal with the troubles ahead first.

The originally scheduled departure time was Wednesday noon, when Miss Sylvia would use the Council's power and a special relic to forcibly carve out a path leading to the core area of the Great Swamp. But before departing at noon on this day, another incident occurred, nearly delaying everyone's departure. At that time, Xia De had just visited Mr. Bernhardt and returned to the manor by carriage:

"What? Someone saw Leikins Prishia in the city?"

Upon hearing this news, Xia De felt it was incredibly unbelievable. He asked the witch sitting opposite him, who had beautiful brown wavy long hair. Miss Aflora, whom he had not seen for a long time, was still the same; her apparent age was slightly older than Miss Jia Lin Na's, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. At this moment, she looked at Xia De with a slightly troubled expression:

"Yes, it is indeed unbelievable. The church has even already departed, yet Leikins Prishia is still in the city. If not for the poem fragments explicitly pointing out the ritual location, I would even suspect that the information provided by the Apna Library was intended to deceive the church and conceal the true ritual site."

The wind and snow outside the window were heavy; the howling wind could even be said to make one feel spine-chilling:

"Jia Lin Na and Sylvia have already gone to the location where Prishia was seen to investigate the situation. I am staying here to await news. If you also wish to go take a look, I have already prepared a carriage for you."

Miss Aflora and Miss Jia Lin Na had a very good relationship, so she directly addressed Miss Jia Lin Na by her given name, but her address for Miss Sylvia was by her surname.

"How did you know I would want to go take a look?"

Xia De asked curiously, and the Twelfth-Ring witch smiled and said:

"Wasn't it the same when you were at Midhill Fortress and Coldwater Port?"

Saying this, she beckoned Xia De with a finger. After Xia De stood up and approached, the witch wearing a purple long dress spoke:

"I heard your relationship with Sylvia is quite good? After this matter ends, talk to me about what happened between you and her in Tobesk."

Her dark golden eyes were full of amusement.

Observing the witch up close, Miss Hill Aflora, though wearing only light makeup on her face, possessed even greater charm.

"It wasn't anything much; she just wanted me to become her apprentice."

"Oh? Then I am truly surprised; Jia Lin Na didn't fight with her."

The location where Miss Aflora's follower saw Sir Prishia in the city was near the Bai Wang Club in the city center. After the carriage struggled through the heavy snow to bring Xia De to the destination, he did not immediately see the two witches who had arrived half an hour earlier.

The city was now a sea of silver white; almost no pedestrians could be seen on the roads. If the residents of Tobesk had once seen similar heavy snow, then for Huntington, where the climate of all four seasons is quite mild, this winter might be the worst in nearly several hundred years.

Venturing out into the snow to circle the nearby blocks, Xia De discovered traces of Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi combat in an alley, but saw no one. Continuing his search, the first thing he found was not a witch, a church Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, or a Chosen One; the first thing he found was actually a beggar curled up in the alley, using a cardboard box to shield himself from the wind and snow.

Beggars were not uncommon in this era; the problem was that this was actually a humanoid relic.

The Whispering Element on its body was very concealed; before Xia De noticed that cardboard box house covered by wind and snow, he had not detected any trace of elements.

While he hesitated, unsure whether he should approach, the "beggar," who appeared to be a dark-skinned man in his fifties with a weathered gaze and gray hair, poked his head out from the cardboard box house:

"Kind sir, would you be willing to help me?"

Xia De was stunned; the Whispering Element on the other party's body was indeed not strong, and its mental pollution ability belonged to the weaker category among the humanoid relics he had seen. He had seen many similar relics this winter:

"Keeper of Secrets?"

The gray-haired old man nodded with a smile:

"Well, young man, are you willing to provide me with some help? Help me three times, and I can grant you one wish. First, go into the city and help a child who urgently needs assistance, allowing him or her to pass this winter peacefully. However, the Crowns you can use must not exceed one Crown; you must use your own wisdom to solve this matter."

"It really is a Keeper of Secrets!"

Xia De was startled, then immediately realized that Leikins Prishia had not yet entered the swamp region up to now, most likely because he had not yet collected all the "Sage Luminescent Stones." Or rather, except for the Witch Council, Sister Sister Daifulin, Lu Lu Weiya, Xia De, and the Order of the Light-Bearing, no one knew that the poem fragments on the "Immortality Secret Art" indicated that the number of Sage Luminescent Stones required was five, so he was still actively seeking the stones.

Actually, calculating it, adding the stone given to him by the demon of inflated desire, the number of stones in Sir Prishia's possession was only three. Even if he found a Keeper of Secrets before leaving Tobesk, he could at most obtain one more stone.