Chapter 246: The Final Secret of the Old Castle, a Beautiful and Powerful Witch! (5200)

Chapter 246: The Final Secret of the Old Castle, a Beautiful and Powerful Witch! (5200)

In this room, Cao Xing obtained a large amount of herbs.

"Not bad, not bad, let us keep searching!"

After saying that, they prepared to head to the next room and continue looting.

However, in the subsequent rooms, they did not gain much.

They only found some miscellaneous items.

Soon, they arrived at the final room.

Pushing open the door, the scene inside was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations.

They saw a small loft.

The facilities inside were very simple.

There was only a small table and a small wooden bed.

The wooden bed leaned against the loft's window, where moonlight sprinkled down, filled with a cool and desolate atmosphere.

And on that small wooden bed,

everyone saw an extremely beautiful woman dressed in a red low-cut dress, with an impressive scale on her chest and a head of dark brown hair.

She lay quietly on the bed with her hands crossed over her abdomen.

Her aura was exceptionally calm, as if she had been in a deep sleep for a long time.

The moment Cao Xing saw her appearance,

even he, who had seen quite a few beauties, felt a slight trace of distraction.

Her eyes were tightly closed, and her long eyelashes, like small black brushes, gently covered her gem-like eyelids.

The touch of green eyeshadow at the corners of her eyes added a bit of depth and mystery to her.

Her small and high-bridged nose had a faint pearly luster shining on the tip, below which was a small mouth with dark green lips that did not look seductive.

Moonlight spilled onto her through the castle window, adding a few touches of a cold and aloof temperament to her.

Elisa couldn't help exclaiming from the side: "So… So pretty big sister…"

Including Sarah, Isabelle, and even Liu Muxue, all of them widened their eyes, gazing at the figure on the bed.

Because it was also the first time they had seen such a beautiful woman.

Even in appearance, she was slightly superior to them.

Only Hilda could compare to her in temperament and appearance.

Just as Cao Xing wanted to check the other party's attributes,

he discovered that this woman with green eyeshadow and a cold temperament suddenly opened her eyes.

"Fall back!"

Cao Xing reacted instantly and had everyone quickly withdraw from the room.

Then, they came to the doorway, watching the woman on the bed with vigilant expressions.

At this moment, she quietly sat up from the bed.

Then, with her deep eyes, she gazed at Cao Xing and the others.

As her lips parted slightly, a voice like a bird in the forest sounded.

"You are… people from outside the old castle…"

Seeing that she didn't attack him immediately, Cao Xing felt somewhat surprised.

He nodded and then asked in return: "Are you the witch of this forest?"

A thoughtful look flashed in the woman's eyes, and then she sighed softly.

"Consider it that way…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing became even more puzzled.

What did 'consider it that way' mean?

At this time, Braum and the others behind him had already prepared for battle, ready to rush up at any moment.

After all, their goal this time was to deal with the castle witch.

Which was the woman in front of them.

Cao Xing waved his hand, signaling everyone not to be anxious.

Because he did not sense any hostility from this witch.

"Are those legends all true?"

"For instance, that you murdered a large number of commoners and nobles."

"And that you are conducting some kind of human experiments, treating those soldiers and beasts in the jungle as test subjects."

Hearing this question, the eerie woman before him sighed once more.

"Part of it is true…"

"I am indeed conducting human experiments, but I have not laid hands on those soldiers and the beasts in the jungle…"

"Those commoners and nobles were not killed by me either…"

"I am only conducting these studies to resurrect… a deceased family member of mine…"

Upon hearing this, Cao Xing wore a puzzled look.

"Resurrect your family member?"

Although under normal circumstances he wouldn't talk so much with an enemy, Cao Xing could sense that this witch's state was somewhat abnormal.

"Yes… collect their mementos, summon back their spirit bodies… and then prepare a perfect physical body for them… That way, elder sister can be reborn…"

"This is a method I accidentally saw in a book…"

Cao Xing frowned and said: "You failed, right?"

The woman looked at Cao Xing with a complicated expression.

"Yes… resurrecting the departed is in itself defying the rules, something that will cause the gods to send down punishment…"

"I didn't resurrect elder sister, but instead summoned an evil existence…"

"He has usurped my consciousness, attempting to seize my body and reappear in the mortal world through it…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing finally understood.

No wonder he felt that this witch's aura was somewhat wrong.

It turned out that another powerful existence was hidden within her body!

"He seems to have some other purposes… So He came to this forest and brought those three guardians…"

"And through certain means, He tricked those soldiers over to conduct certain experiments."

"And to stop Him, I could only do my utmost to plunge my own body into a state of deep sleep…"

"But as time passed, He continuously launched attacks against me, and my independent consciousness has become increasingly weak… It won't be long before it completely disappears…"

"And this body will completely belong to Him…"

Saying this, she slowly raised that beautiful head and said softly.

"Now, please help me put an end to all of this…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing pondered and asked: "You mean, let me kill you?"

"That's right… Kill me, and this forest will restore its original tranquility…"

The eerie woman before him wore a trace of yearning on her face, along with a faint sorrow.

Cao Xing pondered for a moment, then nodded.

With a wave of his hand, everyone prepared for attack.

But right at this moment,

everyone suddenly saw the sorrow on the woman's face disappear.

The corners of her lips also gradually curled into a seductive arc.

The smile bloomed in an instant, carrying a soul-captivating beauty!

However, beneath this beautiful smile,

Cao Xing only felt a massive sense of crisis!

He ordered: "Retreat!"

The next moment,

a terrifying black gas suddenly erupted from the witch's body!

"Boom!"

The black gas swept instantly, directly blasting the walls into pieces.

Everyone was blown dozens of meters away, heavily slamming onto the hall's floor.

Fortunately, everyone had a layer of Holy Shield on them and didn't suffer much damage.

"Holy crap! So strong?"

Cao Xing was instantly startled.

At this moment,

this eerie woman's red robes fluttered without wind, and she slowly flew into mid-air.

The entire top floor of the old castle was swept by a terrifying airflow!

"Whoosh— Whoosh—"

The airflow whistled past, filled with strong black gas!

At this moment, those black gases diffused out through the windows on the top floor of the old castle.

In an instant, the entire old castle seemed to be enveloped by this black gas.

Not only that, but the terrifying dark aura was also spreading through the old castle into the forest.

And all of them were also shrouded in the dark aura.

Instantly, Cao Xing felt a strong sense of nausea and dizziness in his body!

[You have entered the Dark Aura Domain, all attributes reduced by 20%, every 10 seconds 1 layer of Dark Seed will be planted, after reaching 10 layers you will fall into a state of confusion, after 100 layers you will completely lose your sanity…]

[Ding! Because your mental resistance has reached over 50%, you are immune to the invasion of the Dark Seed!]

…

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing was instantly shocked.

"So this is the source of those dark auras in the forest!"

"Being under this aura, not only will one's attributes be greatly reduced, but a Dark Seed will also be planted!"

"When the layers of the Dark Seed are too many, one will not only fall into confusion, but also go crazy on the spot, becoming just like those wild boars outside."

"However, all of us have the skill [Faith Thought], which increases mental resistance, so we are immune to the invasion of the Dark Seed."

Cao Xing felt incomparably fortunate in his heart.

Good thing he had the talent [Eternal Power], otherwise this dark aura domain alone would make one feel powerless.

At this moment, that Dark Witch flying in mid-air

was gazing at Cao Xing and the others with an indifferent, completely emotionless gaze.

That gaze was even colder than looking at ants.

It was just like a high and aloof deity inspecting the mortal world.

And when she noticed that Cao Xing and the others had no abnormalities under the shroud of the dark aura,

a flash of shock also crossed her indifferent eyes.

"A group of ants can actually resist this deity's power?"

"A bit interesting, no wonder you could reach here."

Seeing that she did not make a move immediately, Cao Xing said,

"Who are you?"

He wanted to pry out more intelligence.

"Me?"

The witch pointed at herself, her eyes still hanging with a hint of an indifferent expression.

"It seems too much time has passed, do mortals no longer know this deity's name?"

"But it doesn't matter. Once this deity completely occupies this half-elf's consciousness and channels all of this deity's power out from that ghost place, the world will be destroyed under my fury!"

Hearing this, Cao Xing quickly analyzed it in his mind.

Obviously, the fellow occupying the witch's consciousness had a rather astonishing background.

But there was too little information, and Cao Xing couldn't tell her true identity.

Thus, he made a speechless expression, "Stop bragging! An Ancient Dragon can only destroy a single continent, yet you claim to destroy the world."

"Could it be that you're even more badass than an Ancient Dragon?"

The Dark Witch's expression paused slightly.

"How difficult is it to destroy the world? Once I manifest in the world once more…"

Cao Xing seemed to see through her lack of confidence. "Haha, you really are just bluffing."

"If you're really that powerful, why have I never heard of your name?"

Hearing this, the Dark Witch's expression turned ugly. "Heh… Little fellow, don't think you can pry words out of me."

"However, although my power cannot compare to the Ancient Dragon—"

"—dealing with the few of you is still a piece of cake."

"Now, have you figured out how you want to die?"

At this moment, an unprecedented hostility erupted from the witch.

Cao Xing even felt a sense of danger from it!

Just as the opponent was about to launch an attack, he quickly glanced at the witch's stats.

[Forest Witch: Francesca (Dark Form)]

[Race: Half-Elf]

[Level: Level 50 (Tier 5 Commander-grade Creature)]

[HP: 1,543,178 / 1,543,178]

[Attack Power: 12,137 ~ 12,274]

[Armor: 2,079 ~ 2,133]

[Divinity: 1 (Contains a trace of weak divinity within her body, all attributes increased by 50%)]

[Skills: Dark Power (Francesca possesses extremely strong spiritual power and can unleash a variety of attack skills, but currently all her power has been polluted by Dark Power.)]

Dark Burst (Erupts a powerful Dark Power from within, dealing Attack Power * 146% damage to all enemies within a hundred-meter radius and knocking them back. Cooldown: 60 seconds)

Devouring Black Moon (Summons a black full moon, reducing the movement speed of all enemies by 20% and applying a layer of erosion effect, taking 1,247 erosion damage per second for 3 minutes)

Black Tide Surge (Condenses Dark Power to attack all enemies within 500 meters, dealing 6 instances of Attack Power * 157% damage. Cooldown: 5 minutes.)

Blessing of the Forest (Causes self to immediately recover 30% HP, or increases friendly units' Dark Power by 20%. Cooldown: 3 minutes)]

[Commander-grade Skill: Dark Forbidden Zone (Creates a dark forbidden zone, prohibiting all enemies' flight capabilities;

puts all enemies' skills into cooldown, making them unable to use any skills within one minute, and halves the cooldown time of all her own skills)]

[Life Skills: Master-level Alchemical Proficiency (Accelerates alchemy speed by 40% and alchemy success rate by 30%)]

Expert-level Herbalism Knowledge (Possesses rich herbalism knowledge, capable of complex combinations based on herb characteristics to refine more advanced secret potions.)

Advanced Chant Mastery, Intermediate Instrument Mastery…]

[Talent ①: Forest Envoy (HP +35%, Spiritual Power Recovery Speed +50%)]

[Talent ②: Erudite (Francesca has possessed astonishing learning ability since childhood, learning all skills 35% faster)]

(Character Introduction: A legendary witch with the bloodline of a half-elf. Over her long lifespan, she has mastered much knowledge. However, due to certain reasons, a trace of divinity from a certain existence is parasitic within her body.)

…

"Damn, she's this fierce?"

The strength of this witch far exceeded Cao Xing's imagination!

A Tier 5 Commander-grade, nearly 20 levels apart from them.

Moreover, the skills on her body were more terrifying than the last.

[Dark Burst] made it very difficult for Braum and the others to get close.

[Devouring Black Moon] was practically equivalent to directly rendering the Holy Shield on Cao Xing and the others useless.

The Commander-grade skill was even more terrifying, forcefully grounding flight and putting all skills into a cooldown state.

In other words, during this period, everyone could only unleash basic attacks.

Most crucially, this witch also possessed a trace of divinity.

Although there was only a trace, it directly increased all attributes by 50%.

In other words, the actual combat power of this witch far exceeded that of a normal Level 50 Commander!

"She is way too powerful!"

"No wonder this Forest Witch gave me such a dangerous feeling!"

However, Cao Xing did not panic. After all, he still had his greatest trump card in hand.

[Book of the Dead of Ascalon]

Using this thing could summon a powerful Commander-grade figure, Duke Baradin.

Although he didn't know who was stronger between Duke Baradin and this Dark Witch,

behind him were also over a thousand powerful Ascalon Undead Warriors, which could definitely deal with this Dark Witch!

Moreover, this time Blot Brimstone's Leader-grade skill was also very powerful, able to summon a Tier 4 Commander-grade creature for 60 seconds.

In this way, Cao Xing could summon two Commander-grade creatures at once.

Calculated this way, he wasn't afraid of this Forest Witch at all.

At this moment, that witch had already flown into mid-air.

As the woman raised her delicate hands,

everyone saw over a hundred huge black balls suddenly appear above their heads!

"Damn, such a wide attack range?"

Cao Xing was immediately startled and hurriedly shouted, "Retreat!"

Wind seemed to grow under everyone's feet. Under the blessing of [Queens Will], their running speed was extremely fast.

And those black balls also rapidly plummeted toward them.

After landing, they erupted with astonishing might!

"Boom! Rumble—"

Puffs of black Qi exploded outward.

But fortunately, everyone dodged quickly, avoiding the explosive attacks of these black balls.

At this moment, Cao Xing quickly gave the order, "Braum, Assam, all melees, push up."

"Everyone else, attack with full force!"

At this moment, Braum held his large shield high, launching a heroic charge alongside Assam who was riding a Frost Wolf!

Even though the enemy's strength far exceeded their imagination,

it still failed to instill fear in everyone!

The witch floating in the air saw a group of melee fighters charging toward her.

Her eyes still carried that trace of unruffled indifference.

The next moment, she raised her head and made a gesture.

Several more black balls smashed down.

Not only that, the witch also created a series of black circles on the ground in front of them, from which bursts of black Qi emerged.

If one were to step on these circles, they would likely suffer extremely severe damage.

Assam and Braum reacted equally fast.

While dodging the witch's various attacks, they approached right in front of the witch.

Just as they were about to launch an attack on the Dark Witch,

the opponent once again flew dozens of meters high into the air, directly leaving their melee range.

The Dark Witch methodically summoned one black ball after another, inflicting explosive damage on everyone.

"Bang! Bang bang!"

Smashing down, the Centaur, Assam, and the others could only dodge continuously.

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing quickly ordered, "Jonard, Josent, jump into the air and knock her down."

"Kandaer, Kantor, get ready."

Upon hearing the order,

the two Dragon Blood Warriors raised their long spears and shouted explosively.

"Dragon Spear! Raid!"

Words falling, they kicked off with both feet, and a terrifying impact force instantly erupted, charging directly into mid-air.

Seeing the two Dragon Blood Warriors charging toward her,

a disdainful smile appeared at the corner of the witch's mouth.

With a casual wave of her hand, two black balls smashed down!

Bang! Bang!

However, these two attacks only knocked away a layer of Holy Shield from their bodies.

The witch frowned.

"Bizarre… To actually have so many layers of Holy Shield…"

Just as the two Dragon Blood Warriors' spears were about to hit her body,

a flash of red swept past.

The witch shifted slightly and evaded the two Dragon Blood Warriors' [Dragon Spear Raid].

Clearly, even in the air, her movements were incomparably agile!

And just when she thought she had dodged the attack,

the two Centaurs, who had been waiting for a long time, suddenly pulled out a strange device from behind.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two ejection grappling hooks shot out, accurately hitting the target.

One hooked the witch's shoulder, and the other wrapped around her slender waist.

The witch's expression changed, and she immediately wanted to break free from the restraint of the ejection grappling hooks.

Cao Xing quickly ordered, "Kantor, Kandaer, pull her down!"

"Neighhh!"

The two Centaurs directly moved their hooves and gave a fierce yank!

The witch flying in mid-air was instantly pulled down by a large margin.

Before she could steady her figure,

Cao Xing's [Ice Breaking Flying Blade] and Sarah's [Hindering Dagger],

along with everyone else's ranged attacks, had all landed.

[-4,353]

[-7,731!]

[-4,321]

[-3,031!]

[-3,763]

[-6,023!]

[-1,733]

[-1,532]

…

This wave of focused fire directly knocked away nearly 50,000 HP from the witch!

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing was instantly overjoyed in his heart!

…

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