Chapter 9: The Moon Witch
Under the torrential rain, white steam rose from the gas street lamps along the roadside. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. Though it was daytime, the sky was pitch black, stirring unease in people's hearts.
Su Xiao, clad in his feathered robe, walked through the heavy rain. After entering the tracking state of the [Old Hunter] title, faint traces of blood appeared in the air within his field of vision, stretching into the distance. On the ground, there were also faint, indistinct footprints—one pitch black, one pure white—leading far away.
Through these tracking clues, Su Xiao could discern the general location of the Dark Twins. He was currently in the southern part of this vast continent, at the Ancient King City, formerly known as the Swamp Light City. To the south lay the Great Swamp Wetlands, to the southeast a small fishing village, and to the north the central region of the continent, where the Moon Ring City was located.
As for why the small fishing village southeast of the Ancient King City could serve as a landmark, it was because this place produced an abundance of formidable figures: the First Generation Sky City Lord, the Third Generation Moon Witch, the Swamp King Kalaya, one of the three leaders of the Dark God Cult, Black Hole Azler, and the strongest defiler, the Dark Prophet. All these powerhouses hailed from this small fishing village.
This small fishing village indeed produced many fierce individuals, but every one of these ruthless figures had caused immense damage to this world, with the First Generation Sky City Lord being the most terrifying, and the Third Generation Moon Witch slightly less so.
The Dark Twins were to the north. It was unlikely they were near Moon Ring City, so heading to the "Silent City" first was definitely the right move.
The tracking time limit was only 10 hours, so Su Xiao immediately headed to the teleportation tower. When the spatial mist around him dissipated, he, Alanna, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha had already arrived at the Silent City.
After leaving the spatial radiation range of the teleportation tower, the tracking traces became more distinct. This gave Su Xiao a better understanding of the tracking function. Once tracking began, the target being tracked could be considered a signal source. The closer one got to this signal source, the stronger the tracking traces became. Conversely, if the distance was too great, energy fluctuations, spatial radiation, and other factors could affect the tracking traces.
Was this a flaw in the tracking function? In Su Xiao's view, it was far from it. On the contrary, it was an advantage, allowing one to judge the approximate distance to the target based on the intensity of the tracking traces.
Even within the Silent City, which was right next to the Sigor River, the tracking traces were so weak. This indicated that the Dark Twins were located at the northernmost edge of this vast continent, or perhaps even on the islands north of the Wizard Continent.
Taking out a map to examine, Su Xiao noticed the Sky City located in the upper right corner of the Wizard Continent. After a moment of thought, he decided not to go to the Sky City first. The problems there were likely more severe than the matter of hunting the Dark Twins. It was better not to step into that quagmire for now.
This made the Eternal Winter City, Longlu, at the northernmost part of the continent, the best location. The problem was that it was outside the Witch's sphere of influence.
The Eternal Winter City was a very ancient force. Before the Wizard Era arrived, the King of the North, the Winter King, was locked in an endless conflict with the Ancient King of the Great Swamp Wetlands to the south. At that time, there wasn't even a Moon Ring City yet; the wizards' capital was located at the Sky City on the edge of this continent.
With the Sigor River as the boundary, everything south of the Sigor River was ruled by the Ancient King, while everything north of the Sigor River was essentially the territory of the Winter King. Only the Sky City region here belonged to the wizards.
Later, the wizards rose to power. After defeating the Ancient King, they pushed the Winter King back to the cold borderlands, which is now the Eternal Winter City, Longlu. Because of this, a fortress city called the Giant Armor City was built between the Eternal Winter City, Longlu, and the Sigor River. This was the wizards' defense against a potential resurgence from the Eternal Winter City.
Thinking about it this way, the situation for the Wizard Faction wasn't very optimistic. The Ancient King City in the south appeared submissive, but in reality, the nobles there dared to collude with the Dark God Cult. Meanwhile, the Eternal Winter City in the north seemed bitter and cold, but its combat power was formidable. Such a harsh, freezing land was a natural training ground.
There were hidden dangers on both the north and south sides, along with the Dark God Cult, a malignant tumor that caused the Wizard Faction the most headaches. Besides these external enemies, among the four major forces of the Wizard Faction, the origin place of the wizards, the Sky City, had become eerie and gloomy, the Ancient King City was in chaos, and the power of the internal Wizard Association was weakening.
From this perspective, among the four major Wizard factions, only the Night Temptation Witch Guild and the Star Research Society served as the main pillars here. However, the leaders of these two pillars, the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, and the President, Poe Yenn, had long-standing conflicts.
The Witch Guild naturally wouldn't give up the supreme position of the Moon Wizard, while the Star Research Society had always coveted this throne representing the strongest wizard. The conflict between the two was thus ignited.
Su Xiao suddenly thought of a point. Whether it was the Moon Witch, Sesshiris of the Witch Guild, or the President, Poe Yenn of the Star Research Society, could these two really not see through the current situation of the Wizard Faction?
Even if they wanted to seize the leadership position, they should ensure that the Wizard Faction could continue to control this world. Otherwise, the title of Moon Wizard would lose its original meaning.
These two were certainly not such short-sighted people. Moreover, the Moon Witch inviting Su Xiao this time was a particularly interesting and meaningful act. First of all, the Moon Witch paid the reward personally this time, but she only paid seventy percent of it. The remaining thirty percent was paid by the Star Research Society.
Because of this, Su Xiao's first assistant in this world came from the Ero family, a subordinate force of the Star Research Society. The order the President passed down was to have the Dark Star Witch, Felis, assist Su Xiao, the Law Destroyer.
The Ero family, skilled in power games, thought, "Oh~, there's a hidden meaning here. 'Assist.' It must be 'properly assisted.'" They then conveyed this interpreted meaning to the Dark Star Witch, Felis.
The Dark Star Witch, Felis, originally just planned to hold things back a little, but unfortunately, her fate was silently devoured by the Platinum Apostle.
In reality, the President's intention was simply for the Dark Star Witch, Felis, to assist Su Xiao normally. It wasn't that the Ero family wanted to overinterpret things, but rather that the public image the Star Research Society had crafted for the President had backfired on the Ero family.
The public image the Star Research Society crafted for the President was that of a powerful figure, skilled in power games, understanding of human nature, and possessing considerable ambition. His many years of traveling outside the Witch Realm were actually a cover for his hidden ambitions. Now that he had returned, he had finally accumulated enough chips to compete with the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, for the position of Moon Wizard.
The truth, however, was that the President had combat power comparable to the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, but he preferred a carefree life. He was the type to yawn over twenty times during a half-hour high-level meeting. Compete for the position of Moon Wizard? No kidding. President Poe Yenn would run as far away as possible.
Even becoming the President of the Star Research Society was the result of years of persuasion by the previous old President, who finally used the emotional card of being a mentor to drag him into the position. But shortly after becoming President, this guy went off traveling the myriad realms, claiming it was to find talent for the Wizard Faction.
Whether he found any talent was unclear, but he certainly found plenty of old flames. As for why he hadn't looked for witches before, it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. Witches were very devoted, and when looking for a partner, they would prioritize excluding a playboy like the President. The reason the President returned to the Witch Realm this time was that the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, had issued a harsh ultimatum: if Poe Yenn didn't come back to manage the Star Research Society's affairs, she would replace the President.
The result was that Poe Yenn sent a message back that very night, saying, "Great! Sesshiris, you must keep your word."
After seeing this letter, the Moon Witch sat behind her desk, holding her forehead for a long time. As for actually removing him from the President's position, of course, that was impossible. If the President of the Star Research Society were ambitious, that would be even worse.
Later, she lied that President Poe Yenn's father was seriously ill, and this filial son rushed back immediately. When he arrived, he saw his old father holding a ten-thousand-jin giant sword, doing morning exercises in the backyard. Knowing he had been tricked, Poe Yenn tried to slip away but was blocked by a group of high-ranking members of the Star Research Society.
From then on, an ambitious Star Research Society President was gradually crafted. All of President Poe Yenn's previous actions became evidence of his patience and waiting for an opportunity, including his initial reluctance to take the position of President, which became a foil for his hidden ambitious nature.
The Moon Witch inviting Su Xiao to the Witch Realm to deal with the Dark God Cult this time was by no means so simple.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Ancient King's forces, the Eternal Winter City, and the Dark God Cult were all mortal enemies of the Wizard Faction. These three factions had long been secretly allied, and with the internal problems of the Wizard Faction in recent years, they were becoming even more eager to act.
The Moon Witch, Sesshiris's plan was to let the outside world see her and President Poe Yenn competing for the position of Moon Wizard, when in reality, they had no conflict and were actually cooperating.
President Poe Yenn hoped to resolve the internal problems of the Wizard Faction as soon as possible so he could continue his carefree life. The Moon Witch, Sesshiris, hoped to eliminate all hidden dangers so that even if she met with an untimely end one day, her three candidate successors could hold the situation together, and one of them might have the chance to become the new Moon Witch.
Su Xiao, Sesshiris, and Poe Yenn could confront the Dark God Cult, the Ancient King City, and the Winter King head-on, but the three Moon Witch successors didn't yet have such strength. Therefore, in Sesshiris's view, these hidden dangers had to be eradicated.
The Moon Witch, Sesshiris, invited Su Xiao this time precisely to have him crush the Dark God Cult. In the Wind Sea Continent, Su Xiao had done such things. Coupled with his astonishing achievements in the Eternal Light World, the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, had no doubt that Su Xiao could deal with the Dark God Cult.
While Su Xiao was dealing with the Dark God Cult, the Moon Witch could choose to deal with either the Sky City or the Ancient King City. The Moon Witch would definitely resolve the internal threats first before striking out against external threats like the Winter King and the Archbishop of the Abyss.
Furthermore, President Poe Yenn, who was as powerful as the Moon Witch, a Supreme Strong, with two Supreme Strongs stationed in Moon Ring City, would undoubtedly stabilize the hearts of the Wizard Faction's high-ranking members. Two Supreme Strongs were more reassuring than any clever plan.
Not only that, but the ambitious persona that the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, and several wizard elders had crafted for the President acted like a magnet, constantly drawing out the hidden unstable elements within the Wizard Faction. Every family that supported President Poe Yenn's bid for the Moon Wizard position was noted down by the Moon Witch, Sesshiris. After dealing with the Ancient King City and the Sky City, she would deal with them.
Therefore, the Dark Star Witch, Felis, didn't die unjustly. Her family, the Ero family, was the fish that had been hooked.
It could only be said that the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, was indeed a ruthless person who had ascended to the position of leader by holding the head of the previous Moon Witch.
From another perspective, the Dark Star Witch, Felis, was also the Moon Witch's test for Su Xiao. Seeing is believing. No matter what rumors she had heard, the Moon Witch trusted her own eyes more. However, when Felis was sent on the very day and was tricked to death by Su Xiao, the Moon Witch was somewhat surprised, mistakenly thinking that Su Xiao was angered by this, which was why she sent the little assistant, Alanna, instead.
As for Su Xiao's ability, being able to kill an Absolute Strong so naturally and without any obvious flaws, after learning this, the Moon Witch, Sesshiris, no longer doubted Su Xiao's capabilities.
Standing in the rain, Su Xiao was able to think of all this thanks to the group of nobles in the Ancient King City. It was their order for that bombing that had raised his suspicions.
Those nobles had reacted too fiercely. The feeling went far beyond the level of secret cooperation with the Dark God Cult. It was as if Su Xiao's previous visit to the Ancient King City was specifically to deal with them. It seemed these Ancient King City nobles were not to be underestimated, as they had some guesses about the Moon Witch's plan.
Under these circumstances, if Su Xiao rashly went to the Eternal Winter City, he might even be besieged by that force. He wasn't afraid of this at all. The Demon Insect Race was no decoration. If the Winter King had the foresight rumored, the best choice now was to temporarily sell out the Dark God Cult as an ally.
[War Lord]
Title Effect 1: Lord's Authority (Active), can open a Void Gate connecting to the Eternal Light World's Insect Race Base Camp, summoning a large number of Demon Insect Race...
Title Effect 2: Designated Summon (Active), ...
Title Effect 3: Strongest Flame Dragon Barbatos (Active), summons the Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos. If there are no insect race units of the same clan in the world where the Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos is located, it will enter a Frenzied State and receive a boost from the entire Demon Insect Race. The more insect race units the Demon Insect Race has, the higher the boost Barbatos receives in its Frenzied State (the maximum boost is 10 million Demon Insect Race units. When the number of insect race units exceeds this limit, it will not provide a higher boost to Barbatos).
Hint: The cooldown for this ability is 30 natural days.
Hint: After summoning the Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos, Barbatos can stay for a maximum of 1 hour before being teleported back to the Eternal Light World and exiting the Frenzied State.
...
If the Winter King, who was colluding with the Dark God Cult, wanted to experience the Demon Dragon Flame, then Su Xiao wouldn't mind summoning Barbatos to this world.
Su Xiao turned back and entered the teleportation tower. He walked to a teleportation platform and began to adjust the teleportation scales himself. As the teleportation array activated, the coordinate array diagram formed above it shattered with a crack. Seeing this, he knew what was happening. The Eternal Winter City had performed a spatial blockade, prohibiting spatial teleportation to that area.
Seeing this, Su Xiao walked out of the teleportation tower. As long as he got the spatial coordinates, everything else wouldn't be a problem.
An hour later, in a deserted park, the little assistant, Alanna, sat on a bench waiting, her face pale. She watched the teleportation array gradually taking shape on the open ground and suddenly felt homesick.
A moment later.
Boom!
After a dull thud that shook the surrounding ground, the [Law-Destroying Teleportation Array] activated.
At the same time, at the Eternal Winter City.
Boom!!
In the rear area of the city, a hundred-meter-tall spatial interception tower stood. At this moment, with a loud noise, this spatial interception tower exploded into pieces. The shattered spatial array diagrams drew ripples of spatial energy in the air.
A moment later, several teams of armored soldiers rushed over quickly. At their head was a man in silver armor, a one-horned Ice Descendant. The so-called Ice Descendants were a very ancient ethnic group in this world, active in the Northern Border even before the Abyss Era.
This Ice Descendant was the second son of the current Winter King, named Erm, known as the Sword of Fierce Winter, Erm. Compared to his elder brother, he was stronger, but his chances of winning the throne were not high.
Erm looked at the shattered spatial interception tower and instinctively thought that someone had destroyed it from the inside. He immediately ordered, "Lock down the surrounding..."
Before the Sword of Fierce Winter, Erm, could finish his order, his trusted scout rushed over at top speed and urgently reported, "Your Highness, there is an intruder requesting an audience."
Interrupted while giving orders, Erm felt a flicker of displeasure but didn't show it. This trusted subordinate had followed him for many years, always competent and good at reading people. He shouldn't be acting like this.
"Your Highness, this person also claims that he accidentally destroyed our space tower and wants to meet with you to discuss compensation."
Hearing this, a dangerous glint appeared in Erm's eyes. He said coldly, "Lead the way."
Erm led a group of personal guards and soon arrived at the city gate of the high wall. As soon as he arrived, he saw all the guards lying on the ground, snoring loudly. This made him immediately hold his breath.
"Second son of the Winter King?"
Su Xiao sat on a wooden cargo box of a carriage, snowflakes slowly falling. He casually tossed aside the empty potion vial in his hand.
"Let's talk business. It concerns the safety of the Eternal Winter City. I think you'll be interested."
As Su Xiao spoke, he half-activated the [War Lord] title. A ten-thousand-meter-high insect nest, countless Demon Flame Dragons flying in the sky, an uncountable number of Demon Beasts, and giant Titan Beasts appeared as phantom images behind Su Xiao. This scene quickly dissipated the anger in Erm's heart.
"I am very interested."
The Sword of Fierce Winter, Erm, immediately realized the gravity of the situation. He also understood that this Law Destroyer, who had no faction, was not afraid of retaliation. Retaliate against whom? The Law Destruction Faction? That wasn't reliable. Retaliate against Reincarnation Paradise? The Eternal Winter City had no desire to try such a novel way of seeking death.
The reason Su Xiao met with the Sword of Fierce Winter, Erm, was that he couldn't think of a place more suitable than the Eternal Winter City for the Dark Twins to carry out their plan. This place blocked spatial teleportation but didn't block the spatial fluctuations of summoning. This meant it was the most stable place in this world to operate a summoning array, and also the best place to operate a reverse summoning array.
Furthermore, the Eternal Winter City had been colluding with the Dark God Cult for a long time. With all these conditions combined, no one would believe that the Dark Twins weren't here.
"Where are the things the Dark Twins set up?"
Su Xiao spoke. This was his purpose in seeking out the Sword of Fierce Winter, Erm. He could indeed track the Dark Twins' location, but if they were speed-type and didn't want to fight, it would be troublesome. However, if Su Xiao found the location of the reverse Abyss summoning array that the Dark Twins had spent a massive amount of resources to set up, they would have no choice but to fight.
"I cannot betray my collaborators. Give it up, Law Destroyer."
The Sword of Fierce Winter, Erm, spoke coldly. Then, he raised his hand and continued, "You all withdraw. I will test the mettle of this Law Destroyer. Don't let outsiders say that we Ice Descendants of the North bully the weak by ganging up."
Erm's personal guards all withdrew. Under the order of the guard captain, they simply retreated back into the city.
Seeing that his men had all left, the coldness on Erm's face gradually faded. His previous statement, 'I cannot betray my collaborators,' should actually be understood as: 'I cannot betray my collaborators in front of so many men. I have to wait until they leave before I can betray them.'
"This prince suddenly feels unwell. Today's duel is canceled. It will be rescheduled for tomorrow."
With that, Erm turned and left, but just as he took a step, a map fell to the ground.
After returning to the city, Erm regrouped his men. He cleared his throat and said, "That Law Destroyer is quite powerful, but after fighting me, he was defeated and retreated."
Hearing this, the group of personal guards quickly began to shower him with flattery. However, one guard respectfully asked, "My lord, what about the loss of this destroyed space tower?"
"Of course, we'll pin it on the Dark God Cult. The despicable Dark God Cult destroyed our Eternal Winter City's space tower."
As Erm spoke, there was a hint of worry in his eyes. He had never agreed with his father, the King, cooperating with the Dark God Cult. Now, the drawbacks of cooperating with the Dark God Cult were becoming apparent.
...
Drip, drip.
Black liquid dripped into a ritual vessel. Two figures stood before the vessel, one in a black robe and one in a white robe. The figure in the black robe had a white ring on its back, while the figure in the white robe had dark patterns on its back. This was the Dark Twins.
Among the Dark Twins, the elder brother was gaunt, while the younger brother was over four meters tall, his hands as black as metal and covered in fine scales.
These two brothers usually had the elder brother make the decisions. The Dark Elder Brother looked at the ritual vessel, which was nearly full, and a hint of amusement finally appeared in his pitch-black eyes.
Just then, a member of the Dark God Cult hurried over, knelt on one knee, and said urgently, "Two lords, it's bad. The Law Destroyer, Bai Ye, has discovered our secret stronghold and may destroy those summoning formations at any time."
Smack~
The Dark God Cult member shattered on the spot. His blood formed a formation in the air. Seeing that this formation could be constructed, the Dark Elder Brother knew that the Eternal Winter City's spatial blockade tower had a problem.
The next second, this spatial formation activated. Several hundred major and minor leaders of the Dark God Cult were all teleported to this location due to the marks on their bodies. Among them were two ruthless characters whose strength was second only to the Dark Twins. Seeing the Dark Twins' unfriendly expressions, these two said nothing.
The formation under everyone's feet changed, and everyone felt a teleportation sensation. When the spatial fluctuations dissipated, the group, led by the Dark Twins, arrived in a grand hall. Ahead of them was a long corridor leading deeper inside.
The Dark Twins walked at the front. When the group passed through the corridor, they arrived at the inner hall where the reverse Abyss summoning array was set up. The area here was over ten thousand square meters, the ground covered in deep metallic array patterns. On the wall at the back, due to many Abyss engravings, dark mist was emanating.
After stopping, the group of Dark God Cult members saw that in the inner hall, faint light shone down from above, darkness permeated the rear, and the ground was covered in metallic-looking array patterns. At the center of the array sat a metal chair. A figure sat on it, a sheathed longsword standing upright on the ground. The person's hands were crossed and resting on the end of the sword's hilt. One arm was covered by a black metal bracer that enveloped the entire forearm and hand. His eyes, with a blood-red glint in their pupils, calmly looked at the group of Dark God Cult members.
The overwhelming pressure caused the hearts of the Dark God Cult members to flutter with panic. The aura of the powerful enemy opposite them was too strong. Even from several dozen meters away, they could faintly feel the sharpness of a blade coming towards them, as well as a bloodlust that slowed their heartbeats.
This scene didn't look like Su Xiao challenging the Dark Twins as the big boss. Instead, it looked like the Dark Twins had brought a group of underlings to besiege a top-tier boss.
Su Xiao looked at the enemies opposite him. Even with the powerful Dark Twins present, he was unafraid of such a siege, because he possessed a melee-type ultimate move with a range of 3000 meters: Azure Shadow King.