Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 882 Conspiracy
"..."

"…Tracy…"

"Tracy?"

The voice that repeatedly appeared in Tracy's dreams called out to her and woke her up.

When she opened her eyes, Tracy found herself sitting next to a tree, with soft grass beneath her and Elaine squatting in front of her with a gloomy face.

She subconsciously moved her hands and feet and found that her legs were tied together from bottom to top with strong ropes, leaving no room for movement. Her arms were crossed behind her back and were also unable to move. She could confirm that they were similar ropes by touch.

No need for spider silk... Hasn't the witch's spirituality recovered yet?

Tracy was delighted and straightened her back slightly. Just as she was about to try to do something, a cold voice came from behind her:

"If you make any more movements, this dagger will pierce your cervical vertebrae."

It was that witch... The cold metallic touch on the back of her neck made Tracy quickly give up struggling.

Her substitute magic wand had been used up and her magic mirror had also been confiscated. If she wanted to escape, she could only condense the frost blade to cut the rope, or use the disease to make the two people beside her fall down, but that would take time, while it only took one second for the dagger to pierce her cervical vertebrae and end her life.

The battle between the "Black Death" and the "Red Haired Girl" in the distance has also ended. The arrival of the "Hunter" who turned into a spear and flew to the battlefield seems to have made everyone lose their fighting spirit.

"No need to look over there. Anderson Hood has a pretty good reputation. At least his fighting ability is consistent with the rumors. I hired him to wait in Berens and come quickly to protect the red ship once a battle breaks out at sea. It seems that he arrived just in time."

Elaine glanced at the sea, with a smile on her lips, and said as if to show off her foresight.

"Pre-hire?" Tracy twisted her body twice, letting the rope cut into her tight pants, highlighting the extremely well-distributed fat in her lower body. "Did you expect that I would attack you and your ship here?"

"Of course, most of the route from Bayam to here is within the narrow safe channel of the Raging Sea. Our ships have similar speeds and are not capable of interception. The best time to attack is when I stop and anchor near Berens Harbor and prepare to go ashore. If I were you, I would also launch an attack at this time."

Elaine chuckled and seemed to enjoy Tracy's struggle, which made the latter's face turn even redder.

Since they met, she had always been the only one who treated Elaine like this. She never dreamed that there would be a day when she would be humiliated... No, I seemed to have dreamed about it once...

Is my nightmare coming true?
Tracy's face turned pale, and scenes from her nightmare flashed through her mind. After a moment, she continued:

"So, everything else, including the Golden Queen's flagship heading to the Sonia Sea and her being held hostage in Backlund, is fake?"

----

"You guessed correctly. The Queen Anne's Revenge simply disappeared from the sight of others. She has been hovering near Bayam and has not headed to the Sonia Sea. The Golden Queen who is communicating with Duchess Georgina Augustus is also played by German Sparrow... Of course, I was the first person to appear in the mirror, otherwise I would not be able to hide it from other witches who might be observing in the dark... such as you."

Angel folded his arms, standing casually, and spoke as if he was talking to an old friend.

She had put "Angelica's Blade" back into the mirror space to prevent the burning desire to fight from filling her brain and making her chop the "White Saint" in front of her into two pieces. The latter had no intention of taking action and stood quietly not far away. Her boldly cut white robe fluttered in the wind, revealing her fair skin and beautifully shaped thighs from time to time.

After hearing Angel's explanation, she smiled calmly and asked:

"In that case, how can you be so sure that Tracy will lose the battle? Did you hire other demigods, ask the 'Archon of Death' to take action, or is it like the rumors say, that you have a connection with the 'Queen of Mystery'?"

"If there are other demigods or even angels joining the battle, I will have them ambush you here and kill you completely instead of capturing Tracy," Angel also laughed. He stroked the mark of Anne on his palm with his middle and ring fingers. The secret holy emblem on the same hand also dropped and kept shaking. "Now I can have two angels appear on this island at any time. I believe they have the ability to prevent the 'Man in the Mirror' from resurrecting, or at least prevent your resurrection from being so smooth."

Feeling the faint sense of majesty and the elusive "hidden" power, Catalina's expression finally became serious. She knew that the other party was telling the truth. During the time when the two were fighting for the right to use the "mirror passage" and were both trapped on the island, the arrival of any angel would completely change the balance of power.

"In that case, why don't you do it?"

After a while, the "ageless" witch smiled again and asked in a cheerful tone.

"I said before, there is no reason for us to fight to the death. You did provide me with clues about potion materials when I was promoted to 'Despair', and your other daughter Laura also helped me a lot... In addition, you should be glad that you are not the culprit of the 'Great Smog'."

Angel replied, imitating the other's tone, only becoming slightly more serious when mentioning the smog.

"Is this why you asked what George III was doing? It seems that you have learned from somewhere that he is related to the great smog..." Catalina said thoughtfully, "Unfortunately, I don't know much, and most of it is restricted by the 'secret'. If you are willing to hand it over..." When she said this, her face suddenly changed, and she looked towards the south involuntarily.

"It seems that Tracy has been captured by Elaine." Seeing the change in the other party's expression, Angel's smile became more obvious. "Don't worry, she won't kill Tracy for the time being. The answer to your question just now is also very simple. Just like our confrontation, it only takes a Sequence 5 'Strongest Hunter' to tip the balance of the battle to one side. And the one Elaine hired is the 'Strongest Hunter' Anderson."

"Anderson? Who is that..." Catalina retracted her gaze and muttered in a low voice, then smiled again, "Let me guess, Elaine designed to capture Tracy in order to completely digest her magic potion and complete the ritual to become a 'reaper'?"

It seems that the members of the Witch Cult also know about the potion of the "Hunter" path. Perhaps they have all thought about whether to jump to another path and restore their male identity... Angel thought about it, nodded, and said:
"That's right. Most of the 'conspiracy' was designed by Elaine. Herman and I were disguised by her. Anderson was hired by her. Even the ambush location that Tracy thought was perfect was predicted by her."

"I see... I remember that the last step of the Reaper's promotion ceremony requires Elaine to show off the complete conspiracy to Tracy in person, and take the potion in her regret, right? Oh, this will make her fall into complete pain and despair..."

Upon hearing that her daughter was involved in the conspiracy, Catalina smiled instead of being anxious, making Angel feel that the "ageless" witch was feeling joy from the bottom of her heart.

"Then I agree to your terms. I will tell you everything I can, and you bring Tracy back alive."

Having made up her mind, Catalina looked straight at Angel and spoke in a serious tone.

She agreed right away... It seems that the reason lies with Tracy. Is it because the "pain" of being betrayed can allow her to completely digest the potion, giving her a chance to advance to "despair" at her current age, or even hope of becoming an "immortal" witch?
Angel's mind was full of thoughts. After a moment, he nodded and said:

"I want to know what important items George III hid in the Tudor ruins."

"This falls within the scope of 'keeping secrets,'" Catalina shook her head and replied, "I have a way to circumvent this restriction. As long as I die immediately and then revive with the power of the 'Man in the Mirror,' the contract will naturally be lifted... But I know you won't trust me to do this."

Indeed, who knows whether you were resurrected in front of me, or used the "mirror world" to escape... Angel frowned, and hesitated for a moment between turning hostile and changing the question, and continued to ask:
"What did the 'Witch Cult' do to help George III? What was his reward?"

She still remembered Laura saying that the Witch Cult had obtained an extremely important item through this.

"What George III did required a large number of workers, and this had to be concealed from the Orthodox Church. He could not openly hire them, so he kidnapped many people from all over the country, as well as from the populous and poorly managed East District of Backlund. On the surface, he was engaged in the slave trade, but in fact, they were all sent to help him build his cause... The mission of the sect was to help him cover up his tracks, such as controlling gangs in various places, pretending to transport slaves at sea, and... killing a large number of people through the 'Great Smog' and counting the missing people as death lists."

Catalina still had a smile on her face, but her tone was quite formal. It was unclear whether she felt that this method was despicable or she was worried about angering the witch in front of her who was obviously dissatisfied with her actions.

"And the sect can obtain a copy of the extraordinary characteristics of 'Conqueror' through this cooperation. We have obtained it and are ready to dedicate it to 'Original'."

Conqueror... That is the "Hunter", or the Sequence 1 of the "Red Priest", and one of the ways in which the Sequence 0 True God has not yet appeared!

Angel nodded in understanding.

No wonder the Witch Cult worked so hard to cooperate with George III. After the death of "Lady Despair", they sent "White Saint" to continue the cooperation. If the purpose was to obtain a Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, then it was completely understandable.

But hasn't the "Original Witch" become the true god of the "Witch" path? What does He need this characteristic for? Let a certain "Disaster" witch jump to an adjacent path to solve the problem that the true god cannot have a Sequence 1?
"Next question, you just mentioned 'those' ruins, which means there are more than one. Where are the other ruins located? What are their functions?"

Angel put his questions about the "Conqueror" to the back of his mind and continued asking.

She did not choose to inquire about the whereabouts of this Sequence 1 characteristic, because Katarina must have handed it over to other members of the Witch Cult, otherwise she would not have stayed in Backlund and made herself a sitting duck with a huge sum of money.

On the contrary, what George III was doing was what she was most concerned about, and it was worth testing the boundaries of "secrecy" by asking questions from different angles.

The effort was rewarded.

"There are eight other ruins in total. They have been repaired and can be used at any time to complement the most important one."

This time, Catalina did not mention "keeping it a secret", but answered in a natural tone.

Then, she revealed the locations of the other eight ruins:

"They are located in the southwest suburbs of Backlund, at the foot of York Mountain in Ahowa County, outside Stoen City in East Chester County, and Eskelson Island in Desire Bay..."

As Catalina narrated, a map of the northern continent emerged in Angel's mind. Red dots were marked on it. Together with the ruins of the Stryven section of the Tussock River, they formed a group of ruins that were scattered throughout the Kingdom of Loen and had no regular pattern.

The nine red dots kept flashing in Angel's mind, as if they had some deep meaning, yet it was hard to fathom.

Wait, nine?
(End of this chapter)