Chapter 291: The Lady of the Lake

Upon arriving at this former battlefield, Geralt was surprised to discover that a group of Fallen Ones had occupied the area at some point.

Several Fallen Shamans, holding skull staves and adorned with various human bone decorations, were shaking their staves while chanting incantations, resurrecting the previously slain mercenaries and fallen soldiers into undead zombies.

For the Fallen Shamans, corpses like these—which came fully armed and possessed superior physical constitutions—were the best spellcasting materials. They could easily be resurrected into relatively powerful zombies, far stronger than the low-level, hacked-to-pieces zombies that lacked any equipment.

After spotting these monsters from afar, Geralt did not move to kill them. Instead, he recalled his Spirit Horse, donned his Invisibility Cloak, and while moving rapidly, began searching the battlefield for the retreat tracks of the Corrupted army that had participated in the battle.

Time was of the essence to rescue Yennefer; he dared not delay. Otherwise, even if Yennefer hadn't been corrupted into a Fallen Sorceress by the hellish power, a beautiful sorceress like her, once fallen into the hands of those Corrupted, would surely be "filled like a cream puff" if left for too long.

The enemy force numbered over a hundred; for such a large group, their tracks were basically impossible to hide from the eyes of a Witcher.

Sure enough, following some visible clues, Geralt soon found the footprints left by the Corrupted as they retreated.

Without hesitation, he immediately summoned his Spirit Horse and gave chase along these tracks, paying no mind to the monsters that had been scared nearly to the point of falling over by his sudden appearance.

What followed was another long and tedious search. Fortunately, the enemy was quite numerous, and their intelligence had been eroded by the hellish power, leaving them without the habit of hiding their tracks. Even with the Spirit Horse maintaining a running pace, he could follow the obvious footprints and catch up quickly.

About an hour later, Geralt, who had been concentrating on searching for the tracks, felt a sense of relief.

He had pursued them for over twenty kilometers and finally, as hoped, found the trail of that Corrupted army in a small, abandoned town.

It was a small town called Yelun. Geralt didn't know the specific intelligence, but he had heard Keira mention it.

Because the fog had arrived so quickly, only a portion of the town's residents had escaped, becoming refugees; the rest of the inhabitants had vanished after the city was enveloped by the fog.

Now, seeing these Corrupted, Geralt roughly understood the fate of those survivors who had been swallowed by the fog.

According to Geralt's observations, the Corrupted army he was tracking was only a part of the force stationed in this city.

He estimated there were at least five hundred Corrupted soldiers in this small town; as for how many Fallen Sorcerers were currently present, he could not judge.

However, as a man who could move freely through a legion of thousands of Orcs, Geralt felt no fear in his heart.

To him, with his Blink ability, as long as the enemy didn't have anyone else with teleportation capabilities, and as long as they didn't have too many aerial units that could pinpoint his location instantly, no matter how many enemies there were, they were just consumables to him.

Before his stamina and mana were exhausted, he could kill without limit.

Moreover, without bystanders, his Thundercloud Storm, Mirror Image magic, and other powerful items could all be put to use. Being able to fight without restraint, his combat power was greatly enhanced compared to before.

However, just as Geralt took a light breath, preparing to storm the dragon's den and tiger's lair before him, a familiar yet faint voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Geralt, my knight."

"Follow my voice; I have something to tell you."

Hearing this voice, Geralt was startled, and he couldn't help but show an expression of surprise.

Because he knew this voice very well; it was the voice of his goddess, the Lady of the Lake, Lilith.

And this familiar tone, along with that familiar scent, made him dismiss the idea of lies or hallucinations. Although Geralt was somewhat puzzled as to why the Lady of the Lake's voice would appear in the fog, out of trust for Lilith, he abandoned his plan to storm the small town and followed the direction guided by the voice, arriving at a forest outside the small town of Yelun.

Upon entering the forest, Geralt immediately felt that the air here was much cleaner than outside, and it was not shrouded by the fog, nor affected by the hellish power; it seemed to be protected by some kind of force.

Walking through the forest for another ten minutes, he followed the guidance of the voice deep into the woods, and surrounded by scattered rocks, flowers, and trees, he discovered a clear, secluded lake.

After Geralt approached, a beautiful figure wearing a gorgeous white dress slowly appeared; it was indeed his goddess, Lilith, and even the clothing she wore was something Geralt had purchased himself.

But just as he wanted to speak to the goddess and ask why she had sought him out...

One, two, three—three more beautiful girls with different temperaments appeared beside Lilith.

They also wore revealing attire; some were full-figured, others petite and exquisite. Although their expressions revealed a sense of gravity, their figures and appearances were top-tier, and they wore some rather primitive ornaments, indicating their identities.

Lilith pointed to a beautiful girl wearing a crown of fresh flowers and a light green dress, introducing her: "This is the Field Goddess, also known as the Flower Goddess. Most of the time, she takes care of the many living creatures in the wilderness, maintaining the balance of the wild."

After speaking, she pointed to a full-figured girl who used only some leaves and fur to cover her vital parts, saying: "This is the Forest Goddess, also called the Forest Lady. She is the guardian of the forest, maintaining the ecology within and protecting the many species in the woods."

As for the last girl, who was petite and exquisite, somewhat flat-chested, with feathers stuck in her hair and a playful, cute appearance, Lilith introduced her as well: "This is the Wind Goddess; some call her the Bird Goddess. She is a mischievous child who protects the many birds and insects in the sky. She has no fixed abode and often brings the warm, gentle breeze to the entire world."

After introducing the three fellow Nymphs who had appeared behind her, the Lady of the Lake, Lilith, spoke to Geralt with a tone of gravity:

"My knight, the reason we have appeared here and found you is that this world is facing a tremendous crisis."

"I have been watching you, and I know the purpose of your journey."

"However, the Yennefer you are looking for is not in the small town you were just about to search."

"She, along with some other sorcerers, has been gathered in the mountain range outside Ban Ard under the influence of some evil power."

"It is that very mountain range that contains the rift leading to another world."

"Although the evil power there is too strong for our gaze to penetrate."

"However, we have reason to believe that this evil power from another world is likely trying to control these sorcerers to cast even more evil spells, expanding that rift to another world."

"Allowing more evil monsters from the opposite world to invade our world."

"Although this journey is very dangerous, my knight, I hope you can stop them and not let more evil power continue to spread in our world."

Geralt was stunned upon hearing this, but this time, no system quest notification reached his ears. He had already accepted Geralt's Master-level quest today, and he could no longer accept this obviously more difficult quest.

The Lady of the Lake watched him with a gentle gaze, and seeing him somewhat dazed, the goddess gently comforted him: "My knight, the enemies you face this time are too powerful; we will not let you fight alone."

"We will lend you our power and bestow upon you a powerful blessing."

"While the evil power has yet to take root and sprout in this world, we must stop a greater crisis."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 292 =====