The forbidden land behind the barrier was a world of its own. The crimson blood moon was nowhere to be seen. A majestic and imposing palace appeared before Erin’s eyes, with stone pillars so tall they seemed to touch the sky, their tops shrouded in black clouds and disappearing from view. Unlike the Earth Mother’s palace, there were no statues of armored knights here, only tall, mighty beasts of various forms.

Every one of them was already extinct on the Statu Continent, and almost no one could name them.

Erin still clutched the Dark Key that Noah had returned to her. The dark energy within the forbidden land was pure and dense, and even Erin, who did not specialize in dark magic, felt a jolt of energy.

A cloud of black mist emerged from the barrier behind her. Noah and the two other red-robed witches who had entered the forbidden land walked out of the mist. Although they were trying their best to control themselves, their slightly trembling hands, uncontrollably wide eyes, and suppressed low laughter betrayed them.

The witches of the Garcia family had studied for thousands of years for the chance to enter the forbidden land. Now that their wish was finally fulfilled, even Noah found it difficult to control her emotions.

Seeing the three of them in their state of manic excitement, Erin took a few fearful steps back.

Noticing Erin’s retreat, Noah took several deep breaths, barely suppressing the excitement in her heart. Her voice was somewhat shrill from her intense emotions. “Erin, you truly are a good child.”

Erin crossed her arms over her shoulders, watching her warily.

Noah walked over and put an arm around Erin’s shoulders, saying with a low laugh, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll have Vera send you away after we leave.”

She guided Erin toward the palace, her eyes shining with an unusual light as she stared at the tall, magnificent, and eye-catching statue in the center of the forbidden land. She muttered to herself, “Ah, the call from the Dark God…”

Because she had been young the first time she entered the forbidden land, and because so much time had passed, Erin’s memory of the place was no longer clear. However, she remembered the statue in the center vividly.

It was a statue of the Dark God.

The statue was dozens of meters tall, and its full form could only be seen from the entrance of the forbidden land. But even seeing it all was of little use, as the statue wore a wide black cloak, its legs obscured by a vividly carved mass of black mist. The hood on its head covered half of its face, leaving only its lips exposed. The corners of its mouth were turned up slightly in a wicked and arrogant smile.

Although the statue’s features were deliberately hidden by the hood, a pair of crimson eyes that were contemptuous, indifferent, and arrogant, looking down on all living things, appeared before everyone who gazed upon the statue.

Noah and the other two red-robed witches were awestruck upon seeing this for the first time. The statue’s oppressive aura dissipated some of the excitement in their eyes, and their thoughts became much clearer.

Noah shook her head, raised a hand to rub her brow, and muttered to herself, “The Dark God…”

Erin glanced at Noah. Seeing her dazed expression, she was about to quietly slip out of her grasp, but the moment she moved, the hand on her shoulder pressed down, holding her in place.

“…Not here.” Noah looked up at the statue again and said with a frown, “Let’s go inside the palace.”

With that, she led Erin past the statue and continued deeper into the palace, the two red-robed witches following behind them.

The further they went, the dimmer the light became, until they could only rely on the faint glow surrounding the stone pillars to illuminate the path at their feet. The interior of the palace was not as luxurious as one might imagine; it was empty, with nothing but the stone pillars and the tall statues lining both sides.

Half of the statues here had also appeared in the Earth Mother’s palace. At the time, Erin and Tang Qiu had guessed that these statues might be other gods.

Noah was more familiar with the temple’s layout than Erin. She had no interest in the statues on either side and strode briskly through the palace, heading straight for the northwest corner.

As if she knew where Noah was going, Erin’s footsteps came to a halt. Noah paused, glanced at her, and directly summoned a skeleton to hold Erin up.

As Erin struggled, the sleeping Little Fur Ball fell out of her sleeve. The red-robed witch following behind Erin stopped, looked down, then bent over to pick up Little Fur Ball and place it back in Erin’s hood.

After being jostled, Little Fur Ball slowly woke from its deep slumber. The dark energy in the forbidden land felt comfortable to it. It opened its eyes and was about to go back to sleep when it suddenly sensed something that woke it up completely.

Little Fur Ball climbed out of the hood, its two paws gripping Erin’s shoulder as it craned its head forward to look.

Held by the skeleton, Erin was carried out of the palace and into an open area. This place was surrounded on all four sides by black mist, with racks for cold weapons standing on either side. Two statues, each over ten meters tall, occupied half of the open space. On the ground between the two statues was a damaged dark array.

Erin’s expression grew complicated when she saw the array. This was where she and Vera had found the Dark Key and repaired the array for summoning the Dark God.

Compared to the statues in the palace, the two here were not only a size smaller, but the aura around them was also subtly different. Unfortunately, Erin’s strength was not enough to notice this. As for Noah and the other two red-robed witches who could, their thoughts were no longer clear the moment they saw one of the statues.

The statue they were staring at was completely covered in blood-red armor. Her features were heroic and her gaze was sharp. Her long, blood-red hair was tied back neatly, and she held a crescent-shaped long blade, exuding an air of dominance and majesty.

“This is it…” Noah narrowed her eyes and gave a meaningful look to the red-robed witch beside her.

The red-robed witch waved her bone staff, and a bone bridge appeared beneath the statue, arching upward bit by bit. Noah stepped onto the bone bridge, directing it to lift her to the same height as the statue.

Noah’s hands were crossed in front of her, clasped tightly together. When the bone bridge brought her behind the statue, she took a deep breath and carefully searched the statue’s shoulder area, finding a red box there, just as she had expected.

The time Erin and Vera had entered the forbidden land, she had used witchcraft to borrow Vera’s body and see the situation inside for the first time. A mysterious power had guided her to search for this red box.

But unfortunately, the witchcraft had failed too quickly, and she hadn’t been able to do anything at the time.

But now she had it. Guided by the Dark God, she had obtained what she was meant to have.

The corners of Noah’s mouth curved up slightly. She reached out and picked up the box. Feeling the aura emanating from it, a flash of joy crossed her face. She opened the box. Inside lay a black stone, its shape somewhat similar to a key.

If Erin had seen this stone, she would surely have been astonished, because it was identical to the Dark Key Noah had returned to her.

The statue was too tall for those below to see what was happening, but Noah’s joyous laughter reached Erin’s ears clearly. She didn’t know what Noah had found up there, and a sense of anxiety grew in her heart.

The Dark Key in her hand had fallen from one of these two statues before she picked it up. But because it had been so long ago, Erin could no longer remember which statue it was.

Erin was anxious to know what was happening above, so she didn’t notice that Little Fur Ball, which had been perched on her shoulder, had already jumped onto the other statue.

Completely different from the statue in eye-catching blood-red armor, this one looked much more subdued. Its attire was somewhat similar to the Dark God statue outside the palace, only its black cloak was replaced with a gray robe. A hood covered half of its face, and its only exposed feature, its lips, were pressed together in a slightly cold expression.

It held no weapon. The hands resting on its abdomen were clearly different from a human’s; stiff hairs stood on end like barbs, and its nails were as sharp as blades.

Little Fur Ball stood in the folds of the statue’s robe and pressed its paws against it. Some of the dullness in its eyes faded, but they were still filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Outside, no one knew what was happening inside the forbidden land. After Rona and the others successfully infiltrated Witch City, they had planned to split up to search for Erin. But before they could act, they were ambushed by red-robed witches in a premeditated attack.

One Dark Domain after another enveloped them. The ground began to tremble, and giant beasts formed from the power of darkness surrounded them from all directions.

“…We’ve been tricked.” Rona clicked her tongue and said with displeasure, “Damn Black Witches.”

Thor had anticipated this and had already intercepted one of the beasts before they closed in.

Rona ran a hand through her hair in frustration and said in a low voice to the others behind her, “Make it quick. Don’t waste time.”

When facing Black Witches, wasting time was the biggest taboo. If their real bodies were safe, they could wear down their enemies to death within their domains just by stalling, if they so chose.

The siege on Rona and her group inadvertently provided cover for Tang Qiu. The attention of the Anderson family’s Black Witches was entirely focused on Rona’s group. Tang Qiu observed from a distance for a moment, then turned and left without a second thought.

Although she didn’t know why the Black Witches had taken Erin, Tang Qiu had a gut feeling that it might be related to the Garcia family.

Moving away from the most intense part of the battle, Tang Qiu suppressed her aura while searching for the Garcia family’s territory.

The city streets were littered with rotting corpses, and the stench of blood was so thick it was hard to breathe. Some little girls, only four or five years old, were squatting beside the corpses, studying them and laughing, completely unfazed by their surroundings.

The battle at the entrance of Witch City had attracted the attention of many Black Witches, who dropped what they were doing to investigate. However, some Black Witches had no interest in it, instead directing skeletons to carry unconscious but still breathing humans in a certain direction.

These Black Witches caught Tang Qiu’s attention. Her gaze lingered on the humans being carried by the skeletons for a moment, and then she chose to follow them.

There were quite a few Black Witches engaged in the same activity. After following for a while, the number of skeletons carrying people in the procession had grown to nearly a hundred.

These Black Witches never expected to be followed. They directed the skeletons to a clearing in the wilderness where a forest had once stood. But now, the trees had all been cut down, and thrown together with them were thousands upon thousands of humans.

They were piled up densely. Some had been dead for a long time, their bodies already rotting and emitting a nauseating stench.

The witches commanded the skeletons to throw the humans onto the ground, then turned and left with the skeletons to continue the next round of transport.

There were probably several thousand Black Witches engaged in this transport work. The number of humans piled here grew larger and larger, but they still showed no signs of stopping.

Observing the scene from the shadows, the corners of Tang Qiu’s mouth slowly flattened. The putrid smell wafting through the air made her frown deeply. The dark energy coming from the “mountain of corpses” suppressed her, making her chest feel heavy and tight.

What formidable power of darkness. She could feel its oppressive force even without getting close.

…Could this be the Black Witches’ array to summon the Dark God?

The power of darkness was too immense. She couldn’t possibly stop it on her own. Tang Qiu sighed, feeling for the first time that the situation was rather tricky.

The fighting in Witch City was fierce. Even the red-robed witches who had been besieging Abel outside gave up on him and turned back to help, leaving only a group of white-robed witches to fend off the light spells he was throwing.

With the red-robed witches gone, the pressure on Abel lessened. He tossed a few more light spells, frowning as he watched the demonic creatures turn to ash under their glow. They were just too weak. He thought for a moment and simply stopped attacking.

After he stopped, the white-robed witches stopped as well and began to retreat.

Abel: “…” No wonder Rona had left him outside. It was just too safe.

As Abel was musing, a black vortex suddenly appeared at the entrance to Witch City. A Black Witch who hadn’t yet retreated noticed the vortex, stared at it warily, and raised her bone staff.

A long black arrow shot out from the vortex, piercing the Black Witch’s chest like a bolt of lightning. Blood splattered. The Black Witch looked down at her chest in disbelief, then collapsed to the ground.

A slender, tall figure walked out of the vortex. Her long, silver-gray hair was casually braided down her back, and the bangs on her forehead couldn’t hide the light green mark there. Her wheat-colored skin and pointed elven ears were enough to reveal her identity. She carried a pure black longbow on her back and held a sharp, long arrow condensed from the power of darkness in her hand.

Patricia stepped out of the vortex, and the black mist dissipated behind her. She lifted her gaze to the bone monument of Witch City, her silver-gray eyes dark and devoid of any light.

The Black Witches who were halfway through their retreat stopped and turned to face Patricia, raising their staves once more.

Patricia emotionlessly raised her longbow, nocking the arrow in her hand. She didn’t aim specifically, just casually fired an arrow. It shot out with a whoosh, piercing their hearts before the Black Witches could react.

Only a few cautious Black Witches managed to escape danger by using scarecrows just before the arrow pierced their chests.

After clearing the obstacles at the entrance of Witch City with a single arrow, Patricia lowered her longbow and entered the city with a cold expression, her figure gradually disappearing into the white mist.

Abel, who had been observing everything from the rear, sucked in a sharp breath of cold air. He leaned against a mushroom, raised a hand to stroke his chin, and muttered to himself, “Why are the dark elves here too?”

The Holy See, which was supposed to be suppressing the darkness, was doing nothing. Instead, unrelated parties were showing up in the witches’ territory one after another.

Abel sighed, wondering how much of the Holy See’s power on the Statu Continent would remain after the new Pope took office.