Chapter 157: Backup Preparations

Chapter 157: Backup Preparations

“Is this the Witch’s preparation?” A young girl frowned as she looked at a mass of black energy in front of her. Floating in the air, the energy was surrounded by arrangements resembling an Altar. Even an ordinary member of the Sanctuary Church could tell this was the Witch’s Power.

However, this portion of power was tightly sealed by the surrounding setup, with not a single trace leaking out. Only by facing it directly could one perceive it.

This arrangement was extremely forceful, violently cutting off the influence of the Black Moon, allowing it to retain its original nature without any mutation. Though the isolation was strong, the amount of power isolated at one time was not much. What they discovered here was only a small portion of power left behind by Loris. The Sanctuary Church had found nearly fifty similar setups nearby.

Each contained only a small amount of power, but when combined, they formed a massive force. Moreover, these setups were interconnected. If one was triggered, the power from other locations could immediately transfer to a specific spot. When all these different setup points were combined, they formed a special Magic Array—a highly penetrating Transfer Magic Array.

This meant that even if the Sanctuary Church had completely eliminated the Black Mist back then, causing the Witch to fall into a weakened state, it would have been very difficult to completely capture her. In fact… she might even have used it to her advantage.

That Black Mist belonged to the Witch’s mutated power. If it flowed back into the out-of-control Witch, she would be further affected, and her consciousness would become difficult to restore. However, if the influence of the mutated Witch Power was minimal and she regained her own non-mutated power, she could quickly recover her original consciousness with the help of this portion of power.

Then, with the addition of this highly concealed and penetrating Transfer Magic Array, even if the Sanctuary Church set up a blockade nearby, it would at most reduce the distance Loris was transferred. Once she had already escaped the blockade location, if she focused on hiding, it would be very difficult to find her again.

However, due to the forceful intervention of that Little Dragon, this setup was never used. It was unclear whether Zheng Yichen had destroyed Loris’s backup preparations, or whether this preparation was merely an emergency precaution triggered in case Zheng Yichen’s actions failed… Given the role Zheng Yichen played back then, even if he failed, he could have given Loris more time to actively activate these preparations.

Rather than waiting for them to be passively triggered as originally set.

“Prepare the Purification. This is the Witch’s Power and must not be left behind,” the young girl said without hesitation. The Witch’s Power was very special and difficult to dissipate. Once it went out of control, it would spread throughout the area, making it very hard to cleanse later. It was like farmed locusts under control—they were manageable and easy to eliminate.

But once a large-scale leak occurred in the farm, it would become a hard-to-handle locust plague. Controlled Purification and uncontrolled Purification were two entirely different levels of difficulty.

“Ah! I can’t see anything!” Zheng Yichen pulled a long face. In the sealed-off forbidden area, he could see many excavated pits resembling archaeological sites, but those areas were all sealed off. Even with the advantage of a high vantage point, he couldn’t see the specific situation, leaving him frantically trying to figure out what was going on.

While the Sanctuary Church was nervously Purifying the Witch Power, a mutation occurred. The previously restrained Witch Power suddenly erupted into a collective frenzy. This power violently broke through the Altar’s seal and surged outward. Because it happened so abruptly, by the time the Sanctuary Church members reacted, over thirty masses of Witch Power had already escaped the sealed area.

The remaining masses were blocked and forcibly scattered in the air. However, even after being scattered, this pure Witch Power was not completely destroyed. The remnants directly dispersed within the Lockdown Zone, and the mutated Witch Power lingering there, as if fueled, suddenly increased in intensity. A very faint black aura began swirling in the Lockdown Zone.

This scene made the accompanying Archbishop’s face turn as black as the bottom of a pot. The worst-case scenario had still happened. The shattered Witch Power had directly become nourishment for this area. Yet, they had no choice but to do it. If they had waited for all the Witch Power to escape, who knew what subsequent effects it might bring?

The black aura here was very difficult to Purify, especially due to its low density. It was like tiny, needle-thin fish fry in the sea. If undisturbed, they could gather in one place and slowly grow. But once the water was stirred, these hard-to-catch fry would immediately scatter and disappear to unknown places.

This power… every strand could cause death to those who touched it or increase the likelihood of females undergoing Witch Awakening. As for the former, in a world with so many people, a few deaths were common. The latter, however, was what the Sanctuary Church least wanted to see.

In any case, the mutated Witch Power remaining here was still in a stable state, but its concentration had greatly increased. This meant it would take much longer to dissipate. The worry was that during this time, the Lockdown Zone might be exploited by certain factions. The Witch’s Power was both terrifying and incredibly powerful, making some crave control over it, even knowing it was a forbidden act.

The Cursed Dragon was also a taboo, yet hadn’t many people in the past taken great risks to transform themselves into Cursed Dragons?

“Tsk, that was fast,” Zheng Yichen remarked, watching over thirty black spheres streak across the sky like meteors, chased by Streams of Light. Inside those Streams of Light were Spellcasters. “Too bad they’re not truly light speed. They’re still a bit slower than this dragon… Hmm!? That power looks somewhat familiar…?”

After observing for a moment, Zheng Yichen also sensed something amiss. Without hesitation, he changed direction, trailing far behind those Streams of Light.

“Hmm? This kind of preparation? How bold,” Dan Marina glanced up at the Witch Power swiftly passing through the sky, then quickly averted her gaze. She didn’t even spare a second look at the pursuing Streams of Light, as if deliberately avoiding something.

Loris’s preparation… was textbook, really. Dan Marina saw through the trick at a glance. However, this trick relied on the Sanctuary Church being sufficiently effective to succeed. After all, it involved using pure power to disperse the influence of the mutated Witch Power on oneself. If too much of the mutated Witch Power flowed back, the preparation would be completely ineffective; instead, it would become nourishment for the mutated Witch Power.

It was a rather risky preparation: “Perhaps it’s precisely because it’s risky that it’s extra effective.”

Loris was willing to take the gamble, but the Sanctuary Church, unaware of the details, certainly wouldn’t. Their goal was to reduce the Witch’s Power as much as possible and ultimately eliminate the Witch!