Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 816 Angelica's Blade

Duchess Georgina...

Angel dug in his mind for a while before he found the information he had seen when he was forced by his stingy boss, Sylvia Langdon, to learn aristocratic etiquette. He recalled a photo of a good-looking but slightly serious female face.

Of course, that was the image of the Duchess' last public appearance more than 20 years ago. She should have aged a lot now. After all, in terms of age, she is about the same age as the reigning King George III and is about to enter the ranks of the elderly.

Strictly speaking, she is not a member of the military, but a member of the royal family... Why would such a noble at the top of the kingdom come to me? No, I can't be sure it's her. Maybe there is a female demigod in the army that Laura and Vincent don't know about...

With his mind full of thoughts, Angel took another sip of coffee, using the bitter drink with the aroma of oil to wash away the doubts that kept coming up. He looked at Laura and continued to ask:

"What about the Witch Cult? They seem to have disappeared from this city. Isn't the White Saint Katarina planning to rebuild their branch in Backlund?"

Angel came to this conclusion after talking to the "manipulator" Hvin Rambis. As an advisor to the royal family and a member of the "Psychological Alchemy Society", while working closely with the royal family, he would inevitably come into contact with members of the "Witch Cult". From his attitude, it can be seen that the "Witch Cult" has not been carrying out any activities in Backlund recently, and there are not even a few people left.

"My mother has never come to see me, and I have rarely received a reply to the letters I sent through the magic mirror she left behind." Laura's beautiful eyebrows slightly frowned, making her blue eyes appear even brighter. "This gave me a guess... Do you remember that I said that the 'Witch Cult' had a deal with the conspiracy behind the Great Smog, involving an item that was extremely important to the cult? I think that item has been delivered to the cult."

That was something the Witch Cult was willing to sacrifice their entire Backlund branch and have "Madame Despair" create a toxic haze to cover up the human trade... Judging from its value, it was most likely a Level 0 Sealed Artifact, or an extraordinary characteristic of equal value... Could it be a characteristic left behind by an angel?
The "White Saint" Katarina has recently received her reward, so she stopped her actions in Backlund, and may have even left the city to report to the headquarters of the Witch Cult?
But as Catalina's daughter, Laura, who has been in contact with her recently, actually spoke out about this matter directly. Is there some kind of deep meaning in this, such as Catalina deliberately revealing it, or is Laura actually still secretly opposing her mother's behavior...

Angel's thoughts raced, and he quickly formed several possible directions, but since he couldn't verify them further, he had to suppress them in his heart.

"Oh, there's one more thing." Seeing Angel in a daze, Laura chuckled with some pride and continued, "According to my mother's guess, there is some recent disagreement within the royal family. She didn't say what it was about, but I guess it's a follow-up event to the 'Great Smog', such as the one that happened recently."

Relaying Katarina's information again, it seems that this "White Saint" has indeed shown a clear bias, including the information that "the Witch Cult has obtained that important item", which is a gift, representing her "investment"...

Angel finally understood, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Laura changed a little, causing the "joy" witch to be stunned for a moment, and even looked away unnaturally.

----

After the battle with Amon's clone, Angel became idle again. She reduced her appearances in social occasions as planned, paving the way for the trip to the "Fountain of Youth" which might last for half a month. At the same time, she waited for the call from the "East Balam Veterans Club". As expected, she received a message from Sander two days later, asking her to wait for a special carriage at her doorstep on Saturday night to meet the "female demigod of the military".

After learning that the other party was likely a member of the royal family, Angel naturally felt a little more nervous than before. After all, she and Klein had been investigating the faction of the royal family that was involved in the smog incident, and according to the information they had investigated, they had a very close relationship with the military.

So, it is very doubtful whether the invitation from a demigod who is a member of the royal family and a former soldier was made with malicious intent.

Fortunately, Angel spent 8000 pounds to hand over the magical item made by the extraordinary characteristics of the "Iron Knight". It was finally completed on Friday night and was delivered to Angel from the hands of the "Hermit" Cattleya through the "express delivery" of Mr. Fool.

After finishing the ceremony of accepting the "bestowal", she immediately looked at the altar. A sword about one meter long, with a broad blade, iron-black in appearance, engraved with countless complex runes, and with a deep red flame flowing inside came into view.

Just by looking at it from a distance, Angel could feel the murderous aura that was as real as the sword, which was like being pierced by a spike in the eyes, making it difficult to look directly at it for a long time. Even Sequence 4 couldn't stare at it for a long time, and the middle sequence would probably be like an incomplete mythical creature, with all kinds of out-of-control behaviors as soon as the eyes swept over it... The craftsman this time was different from Sharf, who preferred to make low-key accessories such as bracelets, necklaces, and rings. The items made by this demigod craftsman, the "alchemist", did not conceal the power inside at all... Could it be that he had aroused the provocative power within the "Iron Knight", making the holder the focus of attention wherever he went?
Angel simply closed his eyes and recalled the information about this weapon that the Hermit Cattleya had included in the sacrifice:

"This one-handed longsword is made from a Beyonder attribute of the Iron Knight and a Sequence 4 Alchemist.

"Its sturdiness and sharpness are comparable to extraordinary weapons of the same level. It has an overwhelming advantage over weapons made with medium and low sequence characteristics. Even when facing attacks from demigod levels, it can directly block them without being damaged.

"Injecting a small amount of spiritual energy can make the blade have an extremely high temperature, which is enough to allow the long sword to penetrate all physical defenses, cut off most weapons that come into contact with it, and suppress the defense capabilities of many demigods, causing fatal damage to them. Its high temperature has the mystical "destructive" property, which can be effective against most spiritual creatures and evil spirits, or ignite the enemy's fragile soul. The long sword that enters this state will actively burn other weapons within a radius of 2 meters, whether they are firearms or swords. Ordinary revolvers will be heated to the point of being unusable in a few seconds, and even the bullets in the magazine will be ignited. Even a "level " seal will be destroyed after a minute.

"If enough spiritual power is consumed, the tip of the sword can emit a stream of high-temperature flames that is a hundred meters long. It has similar properties to a long sword and can cut through almost any object and kill most spirits when swung. The duration of the flame is related to the user's spiritual power.

“It can be thrown after being ignited, and it will fly back to the user’s hand according to his will, provided that he can catch the weapon correctly. Otherwise, he may be pierced by it and become one of the victims of the sword.

"When holding a long sword, the user can create a mystical 'connection' with the target identified as his 'companion', which can gather their strength to make the attack more effective, and even activate a similar 'harvest' ability. The damage he suffers can also be shared with his companions, with the ratio being roughly half."

In contrast to the extremely aggressive abilities, there are two negative effects that are hard to ignore:

"Once the user holds the hilt of the sword, they will enter a 'burning' state. Their blood will gradually boil and their sanity will be quickly worn away. If they do not drop the weapon and stop using it, within three minutes at most, a demigod's body will be ignited and become its nourishment.

"If the wielder becomes weakened and unable to continue fighting, the weapon will betray him, making the 'burning' effect even more intense, and it may directly slice off his arm when it flies back into his hand, or cause him to kill himself in a rage that rushes straight to his brain."

Sure enough, after being processed by a specialized craftsman, this weapon has the "connection" effect that comes with the "Iron Knight" feature, which allows the "Harvester Legion" to continue to work in my hands, and the other abilities are all related to fire, which is the essence of the "Hunter" path. That flame stream is also very similar to the one used by the "Red Angel" evil spirit to sneak attack me. It has amazing penetrating power and can even seriously injure demigods with one blow by surprise, provided that they don't have abilities like stand-ins...

Compared to the powerful effects, the negative effects of burning oneself are very easy to avoid. For example, you can throw it into the mirror space after a short use, and continue to use it after the body cools down. "Betrayal" can also be handled in the same way... This may be a reflection of the ability of the "alchemist". He has stimulated many practical abilities, but only made the long sword equivalent to a "level 1" seal have two negative effects, and they will only appear when used. When stored alone, it is even no different from an ordinary long sword.

Angel even had some doubts as to whether the Sequence 4 craftsman mentioned by the Hermit was really only a Sequence 4...

Could it be that some saint from the "Steam Church" is making extra money?

Moreover, why does the longsword have similar negative effects as the "Reaper Legion"? Is it because the original owner of the extraordinary characteristics, Syrio Soran, died of betrayal, so it has this effect?
But where does the "Reaper Legion"'s tendency to betray come from?
Angel thought about it and reached out to touch the sword. His palm touched the hilt, which was completely undecorated and made of the same material as the sword body. He instantly felt the blood in his body begin to boil, and even his breathing became a little hot.

Let alone three minutes, I’m afraid my body will be affected in one minute… I can use the “Rose Necklace”’s ability to repair my body to fight back, but there is a gap between our statuses, so the effect should not be great… She assessed the state of the weapon and did not try to ignite the blade, which would result in the destruction of the weapons used by the guards, male servants, and butlers in her villa to protect the garden.

"I'll call you 'Angelica's Blade'. She can't have any other weapons besides you..."

Angel whispered with a smile on his face, enjoying the negative effects of his body gradually becoming hot.

(End of this chapter)