It felt so good to be close to the witch!

At that moment, the young man in fine clothes suddenly slammed his hand on the railing, and with a loud "bang," he shouted, "Is this what I care about?"

"What exactly happened to the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia! Didn't you swear that after 150 years, even if she wasn't dead, she wouldn't be this weak? But now? The legendary three-star Fang Wind Great Knight Sima is dead! Dead! Dead at the hands of the 'weak' Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia you spoke of!"

"You know how much we paid to get her on board, but what about now? What about now?!"

"The failure of the Star Lake Project and the failure to obtain the A-level forbidden item - the Lost Ice Coffin, means that our deal and cooperation with the Border Duke has completely failed! The legendary knight of the Fang Wind, Sima, is dead, while the Moonlight Great Witch Cecilia has broken free of her seal and disappeared without a trace, creating another formidable enemy."

"In the end, after planning for so long, not only did we gain nothing, but we also paid a huge price!"

"Hu Chi... Hu Chi..."

In the end, even the shrewd and composed young man in fine clothes couldn't help but feel his breathing quicken.

"call……"

After venting his anger, the young man in Chinese clothes let out a deep breath.

“Project Star Lake has failed, and the possibility of winning over the border duke is close to zero. In that case, activate the backup plan – ‘Star Destroyer’.”

"A force that cannot be attributed to me should never become an aid to others."

"In addition, send people out to secretly gather any information about the Moon Witch Cecilia."

"Yes," the figure in the shadows replied in a low voice.

"Go down."

“Tap, tap…”

The footsteps faded into the distance, and once they disappeared completely, the angry expression on the face of the elegantly dressed young man standing by the fence, illuminated by the crimson moonlight, vanished abruptly, replaced by a calm and eerie one.

He walked to the desk in the room and pressed a button on a certain spot on the chair.

Silently, a downward entrance opened in the perfectly sealed wall.

The young man in traditional Chinese clothing walked in and went downhill until he arrived at a small basement.

The basement was very ordinary, with simple furnishings: a table and chairs, nothing more.

The only thing that looked somewhat unusual was a fist-sized luminous pearl on the desk.

Sitting down at the desk, the elegantly dressed young man reached out and touched the luminous pearl.

“Ding—verification passed.”

The moment the sound appeared, a pure white energy shield emerged at the edge of the entire basement.

Only then did the young man in traditional Chinese clothing completely relax.

A ring on his finger flashed, and a notebook with a cover as black as ink and a quill pen with a blood-stained tip appeared in his hand.

He sat down at the desk, opened the black notebook, picked up the blood-stained quill pen, and began to write on the blank pages.

"The hidden magic vein in Blackrock Territory has been unlocked. Objective achieved."

A flash of light appeared on the blood-red characters, then slowly disappeared. The next instant, an extremely dense blood-red light rushed into the body of the elegantly dressed young man through the quill pen.

"Ho...ho..."

Amidst suppressed groans of pain, the richly dressed young man revealed a morbid expression of enjoyment.

After a long while, the light faded, and the young man in fine clothes lowered his head, looking at the new words that appeared on the notebook, a crazy smile on his face.

……

The southern border of the Glorious Empire, a wall of solid stone.

The grand hall of the Duke's mansion is rugged yet luxurious.

Despite it being night, the place was brightly lit by the candlelight and the glow of the campfire.

Below the hall, Crimson Sword Callus knelt on the ground, head bowed, and recounted the entire story of the Star Lake incident as he knew it.

After a long silence in the vast hall, a deep, authoritative voice came from the head of the hall: "Commander of the Crimson Knights, Calles, has left without orders. He is hereby punished with half a month of confinement and a three-month suspension of resource supplies."

"Yes." Scarlet Sword Callus offered no objection to the punishment and obediently agreed.

In his view, confinement was a peaceful time for cultivation. As for the three-month supply cutoff... well, how should I put it? On the surface, he would indeed be without resources for three months, but privately, he believed that the young master would definitely compensate him more.

"Go down."

In silence, Crimson Sword Callus left the hall and went to the confinement room.

Inside the hall, only the border duke at the head of the table remained, along with the young knight standing on the left and the three-meter-tall legendary knight of the Flame Sword standing on the right.

His gaze fell upon the young knight, and the border duke slowly spoke, "Arnok, is there anything you wish to say?"

"Your subject... I have said that I will bear all the consequences." The young man knelt down and bowed his head: "I am willing to accept any punishment."

“Very well.” The border duke’s voice echoed in the hall: “In that case, then…”

Before the border duke could finish speaking, the legendary knight of the Flame Sword stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your Grace, I believe the punishment for the young master should be reconsidered."

"Oh?" The border duke let out a soft exclamation. "Is Mr. Andrew intentionally showing him favoritism?"

Legendary knights hold extremely high status, and even border dukes must show them sufficient respect.

The full name of the legendary swordsman is Andrew Barrow.

“No, it’s not about favoritism.” Andrew, the legendary knight of the Flame Sword, shook his head. His imposing three-meter-tall body stood in the hall like a human pillar. “Whether or not to participate in the royal struggle is your decision, Your Grace. However, if it’s just a limited cooperation with the Second Prince’s faction on the matter of the lost ice coffin, I think it’s feasible.”

"After all, the young lady doesn't have time left..."

"The focus now is not on punishing the young master, but on how to retrieve the A-level forbidden item - the Lost Ice Coffin."

"We can decide on the punishment after the lost ice coffin is found."

After expressing his views, Andrew, the legendary knight of the Flame Sword, returned to his original position and remained silent.

His legendary privilege allowed him to offer advice to the border duke, but he had no right to interfere with the specific decisions made.

"..."

Silence settled once again in the hall.

The silence was broken only by the sound of crisp footsteps coming from outside the hall.

"Tap..."

Accompanying the sound of footsteps was a lithe figure clad in close-fitting crimson soft armor and a knight's longsword at his waist.

She did not enter the hall, but stood at the entrance, her face obscured by shadows, making it impossible to see her features.

But his perfect physique, which combines muscles and beautiful lines, is clearly visible even in the dim candlelight.

“Father, brother, Mr. Andrew, please don’t worry about me anymore.”

The girl's voice lacked the delicate softness of a typical woman, leaning more towards androgynous, and contained the tenacity of a stubborn blade of grass on a cliff.

“I now know what you have been doing behind my back.”

"This is my own problem, and I should solve it myself."

“Father, you know my character. Don’t try to stop me, or I’d rather die.”

After leaving those words, the girl turned around and walked away into the distance.

Inside the hall, the young knight suddenly raised his head, wanting to get up and chase after him, but his body stiffened when he thought of his current situation.

“You are not allowed to go anywhere.” The border duke, sitting at the head of the hall, rubbed his forehead with a headache. “Mr. Andrew, I’ll have to trouble you to accompany my daughter.”

“Not at all. I’ve watched the young lady grow up since she was a child. Even if you didn’t give the order, I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting her go out alone.” Andrew, the legendary knight of the Flame Sword, nodded slightly. The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot, leaving only a few slowly dissipating particles of crimson battle aura.

……

The drowsy mind made it difficult to control consciousness, which kept wandering and extending into the unknown darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, a faint light appeared before his eyes. His slumbering consciousness instinctively moved closer to it and reached out to touch it.

Random, yet radiant.

Roy slowly opened his eyes, but the bright candlelight made him instinctively close them again until his pupils adjusted to the change in light before he finally opened them completely.

"Lord Roy, you're awake? That's wonderful!"

A surprised voice came from the side. He subconsciously turned his head to look, and what came into view was a gentle and beautiful face.

The platinum ram's horns reflected a warm, curved light in the candlelight. Its long, smooth hair fell to its owner's shoulders and continued downwards, stopping before a breathtaking mountain range, too difficult to climb, leaving the owner sighing in despair.

Seeing the anxious look on the face of the healing witch Shanica, Roy's unfocused pupils gradually focused, and the memories that had become somewhat blurred due to his unconsciousness surged back into his mind.

With the help of the Moon Witch Cecilia, he and the Shadow Witch Lilia left the Magic Pulse Space. After making contact with the Healing Witch Shanica through the Conch Shell, he rushed to the Lord's Mansion.

Almost at the same time, he and the healing witch Lisanna, who was carrying the Ice Witch Ais, returned to the lord's manor.

Without time to say more, Roy pulled the Healing Witch Shanika into the Hidden Land. Seeing the Light Witch Vivian and the Fox-Eared Witch Elena there, he felt relieved and immediately closed the entrance to the Hidden Land. Then, everything went black, and he fell into a coma.

So much had happened tonight, and his nerves were on edge. Coupled with the fact that he had been using his talent [Infinite Desire] at full power for an extended period while absorbing the pollution for the Moon Witch Cecilia, his body and mind had long been pushed to their limits. He had only been able to hold on until now thanks to sheer willpower. Now that things had stabilized and he could relax even slightly, he would be unable to hold on any longer.

After sorting through his memories, Roy lowered his hand and looked at the horned girl in front of him, whose face still showed worry: "I'm fine, Shanica. How long was I unconscious? By the way, what about Miss Ais and Lilia? How are they?"

“You were unconscious for four hours.” During Roy’s coma, Shanica had performed several treatments on him, so he should be fine by now. However, she was still worried. Now that Roy had woken up and was in good spirits, Shanica was completely relieved. Then, she pointed behind Roy:

"They're there. I've already treated them. Miss Lilia should be fine after she wakes up, but her depleted life force can't be replenished in a short time. She'll need a long period of rest."

"As for Miss Ais, her condition is not good. She is seriously injured, and there is an unusually powerful energy lurking in her body that my healing talent cannot remove. Only after you use your talent to remove it can I proceed with the next step of treatment. Right now, I can only barely keep her alive."

After hearing the story of the healing witch Shanica, Roy's heart tightened suddenly.

Lilia... Miss Ais...

He was aware of Lilia's situation, but as for Miss Ais, she clearly did not flee immediately when things went wrong, as he had expected. Instead, she encountered the legendary knight Sima of the Fangwind and a fierce conflict broke out.

Turning his head, he looked at the two girls lying quietly on the bed. He didn't care about anything else, turned over and came to the side of the Ice Witch Ais, and reached out to hold her hand.

The Ice Witch Ais, who was unconscious, was deathly pale, and her aura was extremely weak. Just as Shanica said, Ais was only "clinging to life".

Without hesitation, Roy activated his talent [Infinite Desire]!

Soon, Roy discovered a powerful fighting spirit within the Ice Witch Ais.

The purity of this fighting spirit was something Roy had never seen before. It rampaged through Ais's body, constantly destroying her. Even though Ais's magic instincts tried to stop it, the difference in "quality" was too great. To put it metaphorically, it was like trying to stop metal spikes with tofu. Even if there were far more tofu than metal spikes, it was impossible to stop it.

Legendary three-star battle aura...

However, he could even absorb the corruption of the Great Witch, and although the battle aura of a legendary three-star warrior was powerful, it was still within the absorption range of his talent [Infinite Desire].

Strands of purplish-black battle aura were extracted and flowed into Roy's body, gradually transforming into pale silver energy.