The Warden of The Witches

The Tainted Druid

Around the long table, the grand witches of the Witch Gathering were in the midst of a strategic meeting.

"Lulin people? Never heard of them." Hasbinis rested her chin on her hand. "With such twisted sacrificial methods, which dark deity do they worship?"

"That's no dark deity, but the Wild King who fell five hundred years ago, a divine wolf that embodying the authority of life. The last tribe of the Lulin people vanished around that time," Abigail answered her query.

"Are you kidding me? Those who worshipped the Wild King in ancient times, shouldn't they all be those Druids who love to preach about the harmony of life?" Hasbinis frowned. "I recall these folks were quite tolerant of other religions. Would they indulge in such macabre activities like roasting living creatures?"

"The ancestors of the Lulin people were indeed Druids, and the most devout among them. They actively sought the traces of the Wild King, wanting to serve their master personally. It's said they did see him in the end thus receiving the 'blessing' of the god. Then, these Druids, having achieved their desires, went mad and distorted the Druidic doctrines they once followed, and establishing a new cult tribe in the valleys of the Lulin Mountains," Abigail stated calmly.

"Hmph, gone insane, haven't they?" Lamia chuckled.

Ordinary individuals who directly receive the divine words of the rulers, or who gaze upon the true faces of the rulers after they've acquired authority, will suffer varying degrees of spiritual contamination.

"The Druids' shapeshifting abilities, when properly utilized, can be used to speak divine words, and their meditation can resist spiritual contamination," Qimora pondered. "But to collectively descend into this level of madness?"

"At that time, it wasn't actually them who were truly contaminated, but the Wild King himself. This contamination spread to the followers after they beheld the god they worshipped. Although the Lulin people were undoubtedly a bunch of lunatics, their techniques were indeed formidable," Abigail replied nonchalantly, then turned to Vera. "How is the construction progress going?"

"The workshop currently produces five willow people a day, and the efficiency cannot be increased further. There is a limit to the puppets I can control simultaneously," Vera softly responded after a moment of silence.

After failing to assassinate Aiden and losing the mercury golem Abigail had given her, she had relinquished her stubborn stance.

Now summoned by Abigail to one of the venues in the Sabbath Forest specifically used for Witch Gathering, she had set up a workshop here to manufacture golems like the willow people to defend the Sabbath Forest. Together with the magical beasts tamed by Abigail, they hunted down the Black Mountain goat nuns and the bounty hunters hired by the Cult.

Willow people were incredibly useful guardians. Their production costs were much lower than those of solid stone or steel golems. Although their initial combat capabilities were slightly inferior, they would experience a sharp increase after consuming prey as offerings and burning them. The runes carved on the willow controlled the flames securely within the cage made of willow, preventing the ignition of the forest's vegetation.

With Vera continuously creating golems in the Sabbath Forest, the Bountifull Goddess cult temporarily found it challenging to penetrate deeper.

"That's enough; the reproduction speed on the Black Mountain goat side also has its limits," Abigail nodded, then turned to Qimora and Hasbinis. "How is your investigation progressing?"

Among the grand witches, Hasbinis excelled in fast-traveling flight magic, while Qimora could delve into various places using divine words. Hence, Abigail assigned them the task of probing the movements of the Bountifull Goddess cult.

"I found the cult's missionary outpost in the empire and was planning to interrogate the nuns there, but the guy ended up committing suicide," Hasbinis shrugged. "However, the useless male followers revealed that a significant number of nuns had disappeared recently, and their whereabouts remain unknown. Since I couldn't extract any useful information, I simply slaughtered them all."

"Those nuns are 'reproductive' clones; they only obey the will of the mother body entirely. It's better not to expect any valuable intel from them," Abigail remarked before shifting her gaze to Qimora.

"I located their base of operations on the outskirts of Silver City in the autonomous zone, along with Father Bales, who is preaching there," Qimora replied, puffing on a rolled-up paper cigarette. "Similar to his activities in Gistas and the Empire, he continues to amass wealth and connections by selling daughters. I had the chance to witness it firsthand this time, and let me tell you, the scene was quite... unpleasant."

"Disgusting," Vera commented, wrinkling her brow.

"Have you found the mother body of the nuns?" Abigail inquired.

"Beside the Father, there is a nun in a black robe. Her aura is entirely different from that of regular nuns, and she appears to hold a much higher status, wielding a considerable level of decision-making power within the cult. I suspect she might be the Father's first 'daughter,'" Qimora responded.

"Oh, I vaguely remember one of the male followers mentioning a Navi nun in a black robe by the Father's side," Hasbinis added as if recalling suddenly.

"Besides the name, do you have any other intel?" Abigail turned to Habinis.

"Nothing else," Hasbinis shrugged.

"Your impatience is really ill-suited for intelligence gathering," Lamia chastised from the side in a hoarse voice. "You didn't even inquire thoroughly before killing them."

"If you think you can handle it, be my guest!" Hasbinis retorted without backing down.

Lamia chose not to continue the banter and turned to Abigail for advice, asking, "What should we do? Should we deal with that nun first?"

All eyes turned to Abigail.

Lamia's suggestion was practical. Based on the intelligence they had gathered, Father Bales, as the leader of the cult, was highly likely to be close to the authority of 'reproduction.' Rather than confronting such an opponent head-on, it might be wiser to clip his wings first.

Most of the nuns in the Bountifull Goddess cult originated from the same mother body. The ability of the offspring created by divine words is partially inherited from the mother body, and the further down the 'reproduction' line, the more inferior the capabilities become. The combat skills and necromancy techniques mastered by the battle nuns deep in the Sabbath Forest are skills inherited from the mother body.

If they could eliminate the original mother body, the combat strength of the Bountifull Goddess cult would directly decrease by a significant margin.

"Let's not rush into action; the situation in the Sabbath Forest has stabilized, and we have enough time," Abigail decided after a brief contemplation. "To be honest, I am curious about their purpose in the autonomous zone. Qimora , any response from Aiden Galord?"

"Not yet. He's quite the hesitant man," Qimora sighed.

"Inform him about the cult's locations, and let the Inquisition Bureau on his side restrain the cult for now," Abigail suggested leisurely.