The Witch's Anatomical Notes

Chapter 60

Shackles

"I told you already..."

Pa!

The crisp sound of a slap echoed through the forest, and Princess Olivia’s cheek quickly swelled and reddened.

She clenched her teeth without making a sound, her black pupils staring coldly at Bishop Woven.

Woven pulled out a dagger from who knows where and pressed it against Olivia’s throat, shouting into the misty forest:

"I know you're hiding there! Come out right now! Or I’ll slit her windpipe!"

The forest fell into a deathly silence, with only the rustling of fallen leaves stirred by the night wind.

Seeing no response, the kind mask on Woven’s face completely shattered, replaced by the madness of impotent fury.

The dagger slowly advanced, forcing Olivia’s neck to tilt backward, the veins on her neck bulging as two cultists pinned her firmly in place.

As the blade tip pierced the skin, beads of blood rolled down her snow-white skin.

Just as she closed her eyes, ready to face death—

Rustle rustle rustle—

The bushes shook violently. Lucy, holding her staff, slowly emerged from the undergrowth. Under the moonlight, her gaze was calm and cold, her long silver hair seemingly glowing faintly.

At that moment, Olivia felt her heart racing wildly, a surge of complex emotions rushing to her head.

"Fool!" Her voice trembled uncontrollably. "Why did you come out! Do you think this kind of cliché trick can save anyone?"

Lucy pulled the corner of her mouth.

If not for that night of entanglement, she might truly not have appeared, gambling on whether Woven dared defy the will of the Lord of Golden Worship and kill Olivia, the core anchor.

But after all, inside the delicate Miss Lucy resided an unyielding soul from another world.

"Very good!" Bishop Woven steadied the dagger. "Drop your staff on the ground. Now!"

The Gear Staff fell with a dull thud.

Woven’s face lit up with wild joy, and he pointed his golden coin scepter at Lucy.

Three coin-shaped phantoms sliced through the air, forming deadly beams.

"Die!"

But at that moment, the light wings behind Lucy suddenly unfurled.

The instant the beams pierced through her slender body, she had already vanished from where she stood.

The evasion function of Phase Wing Leap successfully activated.

Unfortunately, a deep wound exposing the bone still appeared on Lucy's shoulder.

Losing her balance, Lucy fell into a pile of decaying leaves twenty meters away.

Her breathing became irregular, and the magical energy within her started to fluctuate unstably.

Even more terrifying, the edges of her wound began to glow golden, and the system interface suddenly popped up.

[Divine Contamination of the Lord of Golden Worship: 20%... 21%... 22%]

"She can't hold on!" Bishop Woven exclaimed excitedly. "All of you, kill her together!"

As five cultists charged at her with axes, she "panicked" and fired a clearly underpowered Venomous Fang.

The moment the axe blades split the poisonous fang, the cultists grinned hideously.

But that grin froze forever. The witch, who had seemed on the verge of collapse just a moment ago, suddenly lifted her head.

In an instant, a terrifying sonic wave burst from Lucy’s throat, enveloping the five cultists.

The high-frequency sound wave swept through the forest like an invisible tsunami.

The golden light on the cultists' bodies shook violently under the impact, and finally, their flesh, bones, and blood exploded into pulp.

Blood and viscera splattered everywhere.

"Cough, cough..." Lucy propped herself up, coughing blood. Her collarbone had been completely dyed gold, yet she bared her pale teeth. "Bishop, you're all alone now."

Woven’s facial muscles twitched.

All the forces he had developed over the past few months in the Principality of Kolo were now completely annihilated in this assault on the Duke’s castle, leaving only a few stragglers back at the church.

Yet he still did not believe he would fail.

As long as he could bring the witch back, the Lord of Golden Worship would surely grant him infinite glory.

"There are always plenty of low-level followers, but how much mental strength do you have left?"

Lucy grinned.

"Enough to kill you."

As the words fell, both of them sprang into action.

Woven’s scepter fired several beams of golden light, while Lucy lunged toward the staff on the ground.

There was one thing Woven hadn’t been wrong about: Lucy’s mental strength had indeed nearly run dry.

Worried that Olivia might truly be taken out of the forest, Lucy hadn’t had time to fully restore her mental strength. She had only forced it back to about sixty percent by relying on magic stones.

After her earlier string of continuous casting, her mental strength had long since hit rock bottom again.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—

Three golden beams chased the afterimages left by her phase shift. Yet the moment Lucy reappeared, Woven had already predicted her landing spot.

Another three beams sealed off her retreat.

"Die!"

Woven’s face twisted in a savage grin.

The golden beams rapidly enlarged in Lucy’s pupils.

At that life-or-death moment, Olivia suddenly appeared from who knows where and swung a short-handled axe at Woven’s back.

Clang!

A flash of golden light burst on Woven’s shoulder, sending Olivia’s axe flying from her hands instantly. The laser beam skewed at the same time, shooting past Lucy’s hair, slicing off a few strands of her long silver hair as it pierced into the night sky.

"Whore, you’re courting death!"

With golden flames burning in his eyes, Woven had almost completely turned into a madman. The divine power’s corruption had granted him strength comparable to that of a high-level apprentice witch, but at the same time, his sanity had dropped to a dangerously low point.

He swung his scepter, knocking Olivia to the ground with one blow.

Just as he raised his scepter again, he suddenly realized Lucy had vanished, and so had that strange witch’s staff.

"Are you looking for me?"

The voice rang out behind him, sending a chill down Woven’s spine.

The moment he turned his head, the Molten Steel Torrent etched into the Gear Staff erupted.

The thousand-degree molten iron shot directly onto Woven, instantly setting his luxurious bishop’s robe ablaze.

Yet no joy appeared on Lucy’s face after landing the blow.

The molten, high-temperature iron hadn’t pierced through Woven’s body, and...

"In my Lord’s domain, all heretical witchcraft shall be nullified... urgh!"

Inside the molten steel, Woven’s body suddenly swelled. Tumorous lumps bulged beneath his skin, splitting his bishop’s robe apart. His throat burst like a ruptured abscess, spewing countless golden tendrils.

Lucy couldn’t be more familiar with this sight.

"Contamination value exceeded!"

Strictly speaking, it was divine contamination exceeding the limit. Woven’s body had completely transformed into a vessel of the Lord of Golden Worship’s divine power.

Lucy attempted to activate Phase Wing Leap to escape the reach of the tendrils, but as she constructed the witchcraft model in her mind, a stabbing pain suddenly surged through her head.

"Damn!"

Lucy’s expression changed drastically. Her mental strength had been completely exhausted.

At that moment, sticky tendrils had already wrapped around her ankles, dragging her with immense force toward Woven’s gaping mouth.

And beyond that mouth seemed to lie another bizarre world.

This was the end!

Lucy sighed inwardly. She couldn’t think of any way out. Just as she was about to shout for Olivia to escape on her own, she saw the princess slowly raise her right hand.

In her black pupils reflected a massive clock face of time, and the ticking of its hands echoed throughout the entire forest.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock!