The Cornflower Witch Chapter 255

While Sylphidya and the two knights were fighting, Lucas, on the other side, was struggling to resist the ‘Blood Law’ warrior named Alu.

The giant axe wielded by the opponent, swaggering with power, was simply the bane of skeletal creatures. No matter what kind of skeleton corpses Lucas summoned and commanded, they would be easily chopped down and shattered by the opponent. Under the constant pressure of the approaching enemy, he didn’t have much spare energy to cast complex and powerful magical abilities either.

Once again, the skeletal creature in front of Lucas was chopped and shattered. He then made up his mind and took out the ‘dragon bone’ fragments he had just acquired.

He scattered these dragon bone fragments, then raised the pale skull in his hand, as if exerting all his strength. This skull spewed out a thick mist, like white stardust.

Then Lucas chanted an enhanced incantation, and his eyes shone brightly as the ‘Dead Embers’ symbol appeared.

In a few breaths, the stardust mist not far away seemed to come alive, devouring the dragon bone fragments below and the skeletal remains all over the ground.

Soon, a brand new skeletal monster appeared. It was humanoid, but its two hands had sharp bone claws, and its head also had sharp teeth and vaguely visible horn bones. Its joints were covered with sharp bone spurs.

【School of White Bone Graveyard – Dragon Tooth Soldier】

This is a ritual secret method that requires dragon bone materials to cast, and the created Dragon Tooth Soldier is not limited by its own rank, only related to the completeness of the ritual.

If Lucas were fully prepared, he could probably create a Dragon Tooth Soldier close to ‘Tier 4’ with the dragon bone materials he had, but unfortunately, the hastily created Dragon Tooth Soldier now only had Tier 3 strength.

As soon as this Dragon Tooth Soldier appeared, it was struck by the attacking warrior with a giant axe.

The heavy axe, carrying a whistling sound that tore through the air, shattered a gap in the Dragon Tooth Soldier’s head and sent it flying. It still seemed to be at a disadvantage, but the expression on Lucas’s face relaxed.

It was not dead, only slightly injured, and it was still passively and hastily engaging the enemy. If it could withstand even in such circumstances, then he could finally rest assured.

As expected, the Dragon Tooth Soldier soon got up and charged towards the giant warrior in front of it again. Although it was no match for the opponent in terms of strength, the opponent couldn’t do anything to this indestructible and tough Dragon Tooth Soldier.

After a struggle, it even managed to leave a few bloody wounds on Alu’s body.

At this point, Lucas finally had time to survey the overall situation and formulate subsequent plans and spells.

The warrior Alu was in a bitter battle, and Somaelin, commanding from the rear, slightly changed his expression. He sent out two more knights from his side to assist. He hadn’t expected that the always powerful and unrivaled warrior ‘Alu’ would suffer a disadvantage against this scrawny ‘bone connector.’

If the other side could finish quickly, that would be great. Somaelin turned his gaze to the other side, wondering if the graceful and charming maiden had been captured.

But in just this short time, a thick expanse of flowers and bushes spread across the entire area, not only obscuring his vision but also trapping the surrounding soldiers, who continued to shout and struggle.

A moment later, Somaelin personally witnessed the two knights he had sent to assist being pierced by several emerald spiral blade-spears and falling into the deep autumn foliage. At this moment, he desperately wanted to scream in terror and escape quickly, but unfortunately, a similarly sharp emerald blade-spear was already pressed against his back.

“No, no, I have many secrets to tell you, don’t kill me yet.” Somaelin raised his hands and quickly begged for mercy.

Hearing his words, Sylphidya considered it. She indeed had many questions she wanted to ask, so she temporarily refrained from killing the new lord of Scorched Stone City.

“Then tell me everything properly, but first, you have to tell your subordinates to stop.”

“No problem, you can ask whatever you want, I’ll have my subordinates stop immediately.”

Soon, Somaelin shouted to make the besieged soldiers stop and also told the warrior ‘Alu’ to stop fighting as soon as possible.

Alu, who was focused on fighting, then realized that his lord in the back had been hijacked. Unfortunately, he was too far away to help.

Afterward, Lucas and Alu slowly stopped fighting and then retreated. Lucas then walked over to Sylphidya and Somaelin, using his skeletal monsters to surround Somaelin. This way, even if he broke free from the spear in Sylphidya’s hand, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

The situation finally calmed down. Sylphidya retracted her ‘Autumn Courtyard’ and sat on a nearby stone, questioning Somaelin, who had his back to her.

“First, tell me how you became the lord of Scorched Stone City.” She wanted to know the whole story.

“That’s easy to explain. Most of my subordinates know my experiences,” Somaelin said, feeling a little relieved realizing that the young girl wasn’t an enemy specifically targeting him.

“I used to be a traveling merchant in the Anti army, responsible for buying spoils of war from soldiers and selling them various necessities, whether it was herbs, weapons, armor, enhancement resources, or even forbidden items.”

“Because I stayed in the army for a long time, I was especially familiar with the Anti army officers and their situation, and they would entrust me with some private matters.”

“Over time, I simply became an idle officer in the army to avoid some scrutiny, and my position slowly rose.”

“The Anti have been fighting constantly these years, and business has been good. I saved a sum of money, and after conquering Regas, I negotiated with General Bate to buy this Scorched Stone City as my fief.”

“Then you should know that many of the policies you implemented are unreasonable. Scorched Stone City is clearly much more desolate now. What’s the reason for this?” Sylphidya asked, still confused.

Hearing this, Lucas, who was nearby, shook his head slightly, thinking that his junior sister was still worrying too much. This was probably the curiosity of youth, he silently mused.

“I didn’t want it to be this way at first, but the locals were uncooperative. They didn’t treat me as a noble lord at all. They badmouthed me behind my back and tried every possible way to evade taxes.” As Somaelin spoke, he grew agitated.

“They’ve already been conquered, why can’t they just obey? I didn’t come here to be their nanny, I came to be their lord. Since they won’t cooperate, why should I cherish these fools?”

“So, you started trying every possible way to collect taxes and make money?” Sylphidya shook her head slightly. “What else could I do?” Somaelin replied grumpily.

“I have so many soldiers and several knights under me. If I don’t have money, how can I support them? If I can’t support them, the residents here will devour me in minutes.”

“A steady stream of income is impossible. If I foolishly disbanded the army, I would have been assassinated long ago.”

“It’s not that I’m cruel or wicked, but that’s just the way the world is. I’m just forced into it.” He thought the young girl was a naive newcomer with a strong sense of justice.

“How much did you pay to become the lord of Scorched Stone City?” Sylphidya knew it was pointless to reason with such a person.

“I paid about 10,000 gold coins. That was all my savings from the first half of my life,” Somaelin replied grudgingly.

Ten thousand gold coins, this amount is not insignificant to Sylphidya now, but for other Tier 3 Transcendants, it is indeed an unimaginable fortune.

“How much do you have left?” Lucas couldn’t help but ask.

“I still have some, but if I gave it all to you, I probably wouldn’t survive,” Somaelin’s mind raced.

“I know the two of you don’t have a great feud with me, and I won’t report today’s events to the Anti high command. As for the deceased, I’ll say it was an accident in the mine.”

“I can give each of you a large sum of money, just let me live.”

“Don’t worry, I will disband most of my soldiers later and give the residents of Scorched Stone City a peaceful life. If you don’t believe me, you can always come to me later.” His attitude and tone were sincere now, making the two of them feel somewhat skeptical.

Sylphidya decided to ignore his proposal for now and continue her interrogation.

“How many minerals did you discover in the mine, and what did it produce?” She always felt that this lord was too preoccupied with this mine, and had paid a great price for its output. Such actions must be supported by enormous benefits.

“This… this place produces some iron ore, and occasionally some special Hellfire Gems, which are very rare.”

“Hellfire Gem? No wonder there was a strange burnt smell in the mine.” Lucas nodded.

“What kind of gem is that?” Sylphidya had never heard of it before.

“It’s a rather special ‘Dead Embers’ Aspect gem, which can be used to learn many abilities and in necromantic creation rituals,” Lucas explained.

“If you gave me ten such Tier 3 gems, I could probably summon three Hellfire Hounds.”

It seems that Lord Somaelin has gained a lot from this, otherwise, he wouldn’t care so much about this mine. Sylphidya roughly understood the situation.

“Do you know the whereabouts of the former lord, Viscount Xuefeng?” Sylphidya asked finally.

“I don’t know. When I arrived, the Anti army was already in control here. The former lord probably fled to another country.” It seemed he arrived here relatively late, Sylphidya recalled. Indeed, after the occupation a few months prior, Viscount Xuefeng had left with Scholar Hyde, and Somaelin had likely arrived about a year ago.

Seeing that they had finished asking, Somaelin felt his chance had come.

“Don’t worry, both of you. I will give you the gems I’ve excavated, and if I dig up any new gems in the future, I will leave half for you.” He was very clever, trying to paint a picture of long-term benefits to persuade them to spare his life.

It must be said that he was indeed skilled at observing and inferring human nature. If it were anyone else, with a little greed, they would probably agree.

Unfortunately, the young girl behind him didn’t care much for these gains, nor was she greedy for the wealth he left behind.

“If only your character were better,” Sylphidya said faintly, her words making Somaelin feel a great unease, and a inexplicable panic rose within him.

“Actually, I really wanted to let you go, because even if you die, your successor might not be any better.”

“But, those innocent people who died, they don’t agree.” Poisonous thorny vines coiled around Somaelin’s feet. He began to struggle violently, preparing to escape.

“Alu, quick, save me!”

He called out to the giant warrior in the distance, but the poison had already spread from his ankles. Soon, the lord fell to the ground, his face purple, motionless.

In the end, Sylphidya still felt a glimmer of compassion and didn’t give him too painful a death.

Lucas, who had been about to intervene, paused for a moment and then lowered his hand.

He had intended to extract more benefits from this lord before taking action, but the young girl was so decisive.

After this incident, Lucas’s perception of the seemingly quiet girl changed considerably. There was an indescribable feeling that this girl was not the naive and innocent hothouse flower he had imagined, but possessed a mysterious quality that made him somewhat unable to see through her.

“What should we do with the remaining soldiers, Tiya?” Unconsciously, he began to actively ask for the girl’s opinion.