Chapter 218: Panicking Inside…

Chapter 218: Panicking Inside…

“You… what are you doing here?” Zheng Yichen looked at the woman before him. His eyelids twitched, and his expression was very unnatural. The reason was simple. Last time, he abruptly encountered the Undying Witch. This time, it was the Saintess of the Sanctuary Church. Rather than him being found, it felt more like he had picked a terrible spot, becoming the rabbit that ran into the tree!

“Why are you here?” Deya’s tone was even stranger, sounding as if she really did not want Zheng Yichen to appear here.

“You’re hurt?” Twitching his nose, Zheng Yichen caught a faint scent of blood. His gaze fell on Deya. Taking advantage of his large build, he saw a wound on her back. A stubborn gray mist clung to the wound. It was being suppressed by a holy white power , but that power could not eliminate it. The wound was worsening.

“You should leave quickly. This is not your business,” Deya said solemnly. The Undying Witch was truly troublesome. While the team she led had been focusing fully on the Undying Witch recently, they had indeed achieved significant results, destroying the Undying Witch’s body several times. Based on the Sanctuary Church’s understanding of the Undying Witch, each time her body was destroyed and reborn, it was not without consequences.

It was like a hero reviving in a game. Reviving a level one hero required only a small amount of money, while reviving a max-level hero needed a large sum. The Undying Witch’s situation was similar. A Witch’s body was not some mass-produced item that could be cloned thousands of times casually. Even though the Undying Witch was special, constantly regenerating her body was a burden for her.

Destroying her body several times in a row was already a glorious achievement. Although many people were lost along the way, the people around her were never lacking. With the support of the Sanctuary Church, there was no need to worry about that. However, in the final operation, the Undying Witch launched a counterattack.

It seemed her poor condition earlier had caused the Sanctuary Church to succeed repeatedly. But this time was different. The Undying Witch’s counterattack directly wiped out the elite force Deya led and seriously injured her, forcing her to hide and recover temporarily. As for returning to the Sanctuary Church? The Undying Witch would not give her that chance.

What she never expected was that Zheng Yichen would come here at this time. She had found this place less than half a day ago!

Speaking of this failure, Deya was very unwilling… In a direct fight, she was not inferior in any aspect except for lacking the Undying Witch’s immortality. The reason for the failure was a stab in the back… She did not know why an elite combat member of the Sanctuary Church would suddenly betray them, becoming a pawn of the Undying Witch. Although there was only one, that single variable caused the entire situation to collapse!

From that Traitor, Deya sensed the aura of the Evil God they had destroyed before. They had thoroughly checked the scene back then, and that Evil God was indeed destroyed. Why did it reappear? A oversight traceable to long ago directly led to this failure, which Deya found quite disheartening. Of course, she adjusted her mindset quickly.

The Undying Witch was still at large, and wallowing in self-pity here was useless. She needed to gather herself and continue with the mission.

“Um, can I leave now?” Zheng Yichen asked somewhat helplessly. Since Deya did not want him here, he might as well take the opportunity to leave.

“Leave? No. You should come back to the Sanctuary Church with me. The… little girl beside you will also have arrangements made for her,” Deya refused outright. She did not want to encounter Zheng Yichen here, but since he had stumbled upon her, she could not let him go. As for Lily, as long as she was a normal Corpse Puppet, the Sanctuary Church’s attitude towards arranging for her was quite good.

Although Lily seemed a bit strange, her power appeared much stronger than those Corpse Puppets that had not undergone Awakening, and she carried a greatsword on her back taller than herself… Deya also knew about that sword. It was the Magic Sword Apophis from the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, an extremely evil type of weapon. It was also closely connected to the Magic Arms recently associated with the Demon Sword Sect.

Ordinary people could not touch that Magic Sword’s evil aura. Upon contact, they would either go mad instantly or die from the Bloodthirst Curse’s backlash, drained of all their blood. Yet the one in Lily’s hands seemed like a toy. Not only did it not emit any aura, but it also seemed devoid of evil power. Otherwise, with her strength, she would be completely incapable of handling this Magic Sword.

But was it really a toy?

Letting a Corpse Puppet wield such a dangerous Magic Sword without suffering backlash… once the Corpse Puppet underwent Awakening, the disaster it could bring… Deya shook her head, feeling she was overthinking. Although this dragon’s deeds were highly connected to Witches, overall, he was not chaotic evil. Nor would he casually eat people or commit robbery. With him watching, as long as Zheng Yichen did not lose his mind, nothing should happen.

Even if something did happen, the first one to get chopped would be Zheng Yichen.

“The Sanctuary Church? That won’t do. How about we make an exchange?” Zheng Yichen sized up Deya. Thinking of the awe-inspiring power of Witches, even injured, the woman before him could probably overpower him. He had no intention of conflict. At the very least, she was the type Zheng Yichen would not want to directly fight unless absolutely necessary.

One could find all sorts of reasons to be ruthless to a bad person, but attacking a good person for no reason… Zheng Yichen did not know if others could do it, but he currently had no such thought. “I’ll help treat your injury. This time, just act like you never saw me, okay?”

“I’ll handle the injury myself,” Deya flatly refused. This dragon was too slippery. With sufficient preparation, he could fly very fast. Without prior interception measures, with those Propulsion Devices on his body, he could practically do as he pleased in many situations.

“Why are you so stubborn? If we each took a step back, wouldn’t it be good for both of us?” Zheng Yichen helplessly spread his claws. His eyes moved slightly, preparing for a sudden evasion. Perhaps major movements would alert the Saintess before him, but the Magic Sword hanging on Lily’s back was a good diversion.

The Magic Sword was with her, but it was still under Zheng Yichen’s control. With a single thought, he could recall it…

“Fine!” Deya suddenly nodded in agreement, her tone somewhat urgent. “How long will it take?”

“Uh, very quickly.” Zheng Yichen was puzzled by her emotional change and also a bit worried she was tricking him. But she did not seem to be deceiving him. “Don’t lie to me. I recorded this. If you lie, I’ll spread it everywhere later.”

“I have never lied!” Deya glared at Zheng Yichen unhappily. “As for you, if you can’t do it, don’t think about leaving!”

She did not mention using force to subdue Zheng Yichen, and Zheng Yichen did not mind her words. But he soon understood why Deya said that. If he could not heal her injury, even if she did not take action, he would not be able to leave.

The Undying Witch had arrived!

“Hmm~ So it seems Dan Marina really did not lie to me…” Looking at the pointer in her hand, the arriving Undying Witch gently tossed it into a crack beside her. When she discovered the pointer’s target was not Zheng Yichen but the Saintess of the Sanctuary Church, the Undying Witch felt deceived – utterly deceived. If not for being targeted so severely by the Sanctuary Church, she would have gone to settle accounts with that woman.

Precisely because she was targeted so heavily, the Undying Witch temporarily suppressed her anger at being deceived and instead used the pointer to launch a counterattack. Of course, her previous counterattacks were passive due to the influence of that bottle of black liquid containing the backlash power of fate that Zheng Yichen had discarded. It was only after those backlash forces were mostly eliminated that she truly succeeded.

This success even rendered useless a miraculous existence she had prepared through a backup plan long ago. Deya had indeed destroyed the Evil God at that place, but what she destroyed was not the main part. The true core part later parasitized an elite member of the Sanctuary Church!

No one discovered it before it actively revealed itself. With proper development, it could have become the biggest planted agent within the Sanctuary Church. However, that agent was used up not long ago. Of course, the news had not spread. As long as the final person with knowledge, Deya, was killed, no one would know about this. The Undying Witch could completely spend some time creating a similar existence again.

As for the possibility of Deya escaping? With this pointer, unless she fled to the Secret Vault of the Sanctuary Church, the Undying Witch would find her anywhere else. What the Undying Witch did not expect was that Zheng Yichen would also be here. Recalling what Dan Marina had said before about using this pointer to find Zheng Yichen…

Well, she indeed could find him, but that woman had withheld some information, thoroughly tricking her. If she had known it was like this, she would not have been forced into several hard battles with Deya. She could have just regenerated once, secretly observed this woman, and appeared to reap the rewards after Deya found Zheng Yichen. Why bother with all this trouble?

“Perhaps… is she using me to restrain the Sanctuary Church?” Finally in a somewhat better mood, the Undying Witch thought of a possibility and frowned. That possibility was quite high. Otherwise, Dan Marina would not have offended her for Zheng Yichen’s sake. Could even she not avoid some of the ‘Curses’ belonging to Witches?

That was rather interesting.

The Undying Witch slightly raised the corner of her mouth as she looked at Zheng Yichen. According to her previous thoughts, she was very interested in Zheng Yichen’s abilities. There were many ways to turn a target into a ‘puppet’ completely under her control while preserving its original characteristics. But now, she instead wanted to preserve Zheng Yichen’s self. What kind of reaction would that woman Dan Marina have then?

“So, that woman really has an itch to scratch.” Zheng Yichen muttered in his mind, astonished. Dan Marina, what exactly are you planning, woman? Harming me like this? When I get the chance, I really need to teach you a lesson.

Thinking fiercely in his heart, Zheng Yichen did not put such thoughts into action. After all, his dragon life was long. If he couldn’t win now, wouldn’t there be chances in the future? For now, he chose caution.

“Don’t move around, Little Dragon.” Seeing Zheng Yichen approach Deya, the Undying Witch said softly. Her voice carried a strange fluctuating vibration that directly affected one’s Soul. Unfortunately, everyone present was an Outsider. Zheng Yichen had a natural resistance to it. Lily, having no Soul, wondered what this thing was. As a Saintess, Deya had once pinned her to the ground with a silver falling strike from the sky. How could she be affected by such a voice?

“Hey, hey! Listen, as a new-generation genius of the Dragon Clan, if you dare lay a hand on me, be careful of thousands of dragons coming to pound you in minutes!!” Zheng Yichen blustered fiercely.

“Overstated, overstated. The Dragon Clan doesn’t have that many.” Watching Zheng Yichen turn around and shout, Deya admired his courage to roar in the face of a Witch’s might, but the Dragon Clan truly did not have that many members. Otherwise, the Dragon Clan would not need to be so protective of their young…

“…WTF?” Zheng Yichen was stunned. Not even a few thousand? That number was practically near extinction.

“Hmm~ Are you really from the Dragon Clan?” The Undying Witch crossed her arms, looking at Zheng Yichen with great interest. The general population of the Dragon Clan was also common knowledge among them. Even if an exact count was impossible, a general number was known.

After all, currently, not many dragons were active on the Continent. Most were gathered in the Dragon Realm. So, the population statistics would not have huge fluctuations. Plus, with the Dragon Clan’s pitiful reproduction rate, having a few dozen new clan members over decades was considered high yield.

Sometimes, it was hard to even reach double digits. If not for the Dragon Clan’s long lifespan and great strength, their numbers would not increase; negative growth would be normal.

“What makes you think I’m not?”

“Oh~ Where’s the Dragon’s Aura when you’re shouting?”

“I’m not some brainless dragon that randomly emits kingly aura everywhere! I’m a pacifist!” Zheng Yichen pouted unhappily, as if feeling insulted to be lumped together with dragons that casually released their Dragon’s Aura. In truth, his heart was already panicking like a dog’s. Damn it, indeed his flaws couldn’t be hidden from experts.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Yichen suddenly burst into action. One claw scooped up Deya from the ground. She initially intended to resist, but feeling the stubborn Gray Mist Power on her back loosening, she let Zheng Yichen pick her up.

Hmm, so that’s how it was. When Zheng Yichen touched the power on the wound on Deya’s back, he felt that this power was not actually very vast. The reason it was troublesome was similar to the intertwined ice and fire power residue on his own back wound. The ice and fire power would flare up with the slightest provocation.

As for the Gray Mist Power, not only would it flare up when provoked, but it would also continuously spread and increase… In short, if not suppressed, it would only become more troublesome. And if that amount erupted, it would be enough to turn the person’s injury from minor to severe. Moreover, afterward, this power would not disappear; it would only continue to expand its contaminated range, creating a vicious cycle. Normally, one could only slowly purge it, which required much time.

But Zheng Yichen indicated this was all no big deal!

“I choose you, Saintess!” After eliminating the influence of the Gray Mist Power on Deya’s back through his grabbing ability, Zheng Yichen hurled her away with great force…