Carrying Margaret on her back, Tia took out three Condensed Magic Crystals.
After completing the Witch Council mission within the Imperial Capital, she had never touched these three magic crystals until today, when she finally absorbed them completely.
With the help of Eros Energy, she absorbed the magic power from the air and quickly crossed the threshold of One-Star Silver, stepping into the realm of Two-Star Silver.
Feeling a qualitative leap in her own strength, she smiled and nodded, then found an excuse to make Margaret leave her bedroom.
Next, magic power surged from her fingertips, slowly coalescing in the air, gradually outlining a humanoid form.
After a moment, a figure identical to her lay quietly on the bed, breathing evenly, as if truly asleep.
Magical Clone.
This way, even if Margaret came in later, she wouldn’t notice that she had left the residence.
Glancing at the sleeping “self,” Tia turned and walked to the window.
Pushing open the window, the night wind rushed in, stirring her long hair. Its silver gradually turned to black.
She flipped over and leaped out, her black skirt spreading in the wind like a bat merging into the darkness.
The situation was more chaotic than she had imagined.
Every few streets, she could see a squad of patrolling soldiers hurrying past.
The clatter of armor was especially piercing in the silent night.
From afar, explosions sounded from time to time, and flames shot up in some direction, illuminating half the night sky.
Screams and cries continued endlessly.
The Imperial Capital seemed to be fighting an invisible enemy.
After passing through several streets, Celeste still didn’t know who their enemy was.
Sidestepping to avoid a squad of patrol soldiers, she turned into a more secluded alley.
Western Street.
This street was originally one of the busiest commercial streets in the Imperial Capital, but now it was deserted.
The shops on both sides had their doors and windows tightly shut, signs creaking in the night wind, and various discarded items scattered on the ground.
Following the instructions, she found that dark alley at the end of the street.
The alley was very narrow, with towering walls on both sides.
Looking up, she could only see a sliver of sky.
She walked in, stopped in the darkness, leaned against the cold wall, and waited.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Another explosion sounded in the distance, flames flaring up in some direction and then dying out.
Until footsteps came from the entrance of the alley.
The footsteps were light, slow, and staggering.
Celeste’s body tensed slightly, and she began to gather magic in her hand.
A figure stumbled into the alley from the entrance.
It was a woman, covered in injuries, blood staining her clothes.
She held tightly a long wooden box in her hands, each step leaving a bloody footprint on the ground.
She saw Celeste, and a glimmer of hope finally appeared in her unfocused eyes.
“Night… Nightingale?”
Her voice was especially hoarse and weak, as if she would run out of breath in the next second.
Seeing this, Celeste quickly stepped forward and supported her.
“It’s me.”
The witch’s body leaned limply against her, panting heavily.
She struggled to shove the wooden box into Celeste’s arms.
“Take, take it, and go quickly…”
Her voice grew weaker.
Celeste could only passively use magic to treat her wounds.
After placing her aside, Celeste looked down at the wooden box.
The wooden box was about a meter long, pitch black all over, covered with dense Sealing Patterns.
These patterns faintly glowed in the darkness, exuding a heart-stopping aura.
Her fingers lightly touched the surface of the box.
In that instant, a bone-chilling coldness came from her fingertips, almost freezing her blood.
‘Such a terrifying seal.’
She looked up, wanting to ask the witch what was inside, but after hesitating for a moment, she didn’t ask.
After all, sometimes curiosity only brings deadly disaster.
Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Thinking this, she took out the Witch Council’s Communication Crystal, which had updated with an emergency mission.
It required her to take this box to another location, find the next contact, and continue the transfer.
And so, Celeste left the alley, continuing to move through the darkness, avoiding squad after squad of patrol soldiers.
Very smooth.
A little too smooth.
She felt a vague unease in her heart.
Just as she crossed a narrow alley and was about to reach the next rendezvous point, she stopped.
At the entrance of the alley stood a person.
Moonlight shone in from behind him, hiding his face in shadow, only outlining a tall silhouette.
He wore a dark trench coat, the hem lightly fluttering in the night wind, casually holding a drawn longsword in his hand.
The tip of the sword pointed towards the ground, and a drop of blood was sliding down the blade, falling onto the stone slab with an extremely faint tick sound.
“There are quite a lot of witches hiding in the Imperial Capital, group after group, impossible to kill them all.”
The man spoke, his words filled with cruelty.
Celeste’s pupils slightly contracted.
Even if she were stupid, she understood that the witch who was supposed to meet her was most likely dead at this man’s hands.
Her hand slowly moved behind her back, channeling magic power, while she asked aloud, “Who are you?”
Hearing this, the man lifted his head and smiled lightly.
It was this action that allowed Celeste to see his face—an ordinary face, so ordinary that it would be impossible to pick out from a crowd.
But his eyes, glowing with a faint light, were chilling.
“You don’t need to know, because soon, you’ll be a dead person.”
He took a step forward, the tip of his sword dragging a harsh scraping sound across the stone slab.
Celeste didn’t hesitate.
“LIGHTNING!”
A bolt of lightning exploded from her palm, striking straight at the man’s face!
The questioning was just a means to buy time; a sneak attack was her true method of offense.
In her eyes, a frontal battle always carried the risk of defeat, but a sneak attack did not.
If the sneak attack failed, it would at most be a miss.
As long as she escaped quickly, she wouldn’t be defeated.
This lightning magic was the most powerful magic she had ever used.
Although she hadn’t tested its true power, it should be enough to kill an ordinary Silver Grade strong one.
However, the man simply raised his hand and waved it lightly.
The lightning blasted onto his palm, exploding into a dazzling flash of light, and then the magic dissipated.
He was completely unharmed.
Celeste’s heart sank.
“Hmph, a petty trick.”
After sneering, he waved his hand, and the sky changed.
The originally clear night sky instantly became covered with dark clouds.
Cold raindrops fell from the clouds, at first just a few sparse drops, then growing denser and denser—
Those raindrops hit the ground, splashing tiny water droplets; hit the walls, leaving deep scratches; and hit Celeste’s body, like blades, tearing her skin.
Shua, shua, shua—
Countless raindrops, like sharp blades, crazily sliced her body.
Fortunately, protected by magic power, the raindrops didn’t completely pierce her flesh; otherwise, with this one move, she would have been reduced to minced meat.
From afar, the screams of passersby came.
The range of the raindrops was wide, affecting distant pedestrians.
Those people didn’t have Celeste’s magic protection, so they fell one after another in the rain, their bodies covered in countless wounds, as if they had been sliced a thousand times.
Seeing this tragic scene, the man not only didn’t stop, but instead curled his lips into a sinister grin.
Where did this guy get the audacity to do this?!
Wasn’t he afraid of retaliation from the Imperial Capital?!
Gritting her teeth, Celeste erected a magic barrier, barely blocking the deadly raindrops.
But each impact of the raindrops on the barrier depleted a fraction of her magic power.
Her face grew paler, while the man looked at her with a cruel delight in his eyes, like a cat playing with a mouse.
“I’ve killed countless witches. How much longer can you hold out?”
Celeste’s pupils sharply contracted.
She suddenly understood his identity—Witch Hunter!
This guy was definitely a Witch Hunter, a pure madman who had lost all morality for the sake of hunting witches!
“Realizing it now? Too late!”
The man seemed to have read her thoughts.
He aimed his sword tip at Celeste’s throat and lunged forward!
Celeste dodged with all her might.
The blade grazed past her side, cutting off a few strands of hair.
She retaliated by using lightning magic again, but the man didn’t dodge, letting the lightning blast hit him.
Boom!
Although the explosion was loud, the man took no damage.
He struck again, and before Celeste could react, he turned magic power into a fist and slammed it into her abdomen.
Puh!
Celeste flew backward, slamming heavily into the wall, then bounced to the ground.
A mouthful of blood sprayed from her mouth, staining the ground in front of her.
She struggled to stand up but found she couldn’t at all.
Gold Rank.
This guy definitely had the strength of Gold Rank!
Propping herself up on the ground, she looked up and watched the man slowly approach.
Each step felt like a stomp on her heart.
Damn it!
What exactly had the Witch Council done inside the Imperial Capital to provoke such an enemy?!
Could it be that they had looted the Imperial Vault?!
Looking down at the wooden box she had been protecting, Celeste suddenly realized that this possibility wasn’t unlikely.
What was stored inside this wooden box was definitely a treasure the entire Empire highly valued!
The man walked up to her, grinning, looking down at her from above.
“Any last words?”
Hearing this, Celeste clenched her fists.
No matter what, she couldn’t die here!
Boom!
As if toying with a helpless prey, the man used another magic cannon, slamming heavily into Celeste.
Intense pain tore at her consciousness.
Her body flew up like a broken ragdoll and fell heavily.
Blood gushed from her mouth, staining the wooden box in her arms.
That wooden box was bone-chillingly cold.
Her consciousness began to blur.
Everything in her vision became blurry, only the man’s towering figure remained clear.
‘So… this is the end of being targeted by a Witch Hunter?’
She lay in a pool of blood, looking at the sky obscured by dark clouds.
Her gaze grew more and more unfocused, only the falling raindrops pattered against her cheeks.
But at this moment, a strong will to survive surged from the bottom of her heart.
No.
She couldn’t die yet.
After finally being reincarnated as a witch, how could she fall here?!
Her gaze finally fell on the wooden box in her arms.
That wooden box was wrapped in layers of terrifying magical seals.
The sealing patterns flickered with eerie light in the rain, emitting a terrifying aura.
But this was her only hope.
If she could undo the magical seal, perhaps… she could survive.
Thinking this, her fingers slowly tightened around the cold wooden box.
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