The Cornflower Witch Chapter 201

“Hundred-Eyed Cult!”

Upon seeing three floating large eyeballs, the pursuers immediately shouted the name of this evil cult.

Just like the Dual-Serpent Cult betrayed humanity and worshipped the two-headed serpent, during the third Alien Star impact, some humans, due to the power of the Alien Star creatures, began to worship and believe in them. One such group particularly worshipped the eye demon monsters of the Alien Star, forming a special cult organization known to the outside world as the Hundred-Eyed Cult.

Compared to the notorious Dual-Serpent Cult, the Hundred-Eyed Cult, while evil, hadn’t reached the point where both gods and men were outraged. Some small places and countries would even secretly collude with them to obtain the combat power provided by the cult.

Cultivating a formal Third-Rank professional was extremely difficult; only one Third-Rank professional would emerge from approximately 200-300 First-Rank Transcendent beings. Such a low success rate made some small countries particularly eager for combat power and talent, but ordinary organizations could not satisfy this.

The Hundred-Eyed Cult’s prowess lay in its ability to briefly open an Otherworld Passage when they successfully performed the Eye of Demon Ritual, allowing a Third-Rank eye demon to descend into this world. This demon would then forge a magical contract with the cultist performing the ritual, allowing it to temporarily remain in the current world and grant the cultist the combat power of a Third-Rank creature.

Of course, this method had many drawbacks. Firstly, the Eye of Demon Ritual itself went against the will of the world, and its success rate was not high. If it failed, the ritual performer would suffer severe backlash and death.

Secondly, even if an eye demon from another world was summoned, how to form a contract and how to stabilize the core secret technique were highly difficult problems. Failure in any of these steps would result in severe injury or even death from backlash.

Only fervent and fearless believers dared to participate in such sacrificial rituals.

…

“Why are there Hundred-Eyed Cult members here?” Both the pursuers and the royal prince and princess who had been rescued were surprised.

It was true that the Hundred-Eyed Cult was revered in some small places, but in all major surface organizations and countries, they were wanted criminals. Yet, they dared to appear within the Regas Duchy.

“Prince, and Princess, please follow us.”

From the forest, a group of people wearing dark red robes emerged. Their outer robes were adorned with eye patterns of various sizes, unsettling to behold.

Seeing this, the remaining personnel guarding the prince and princess hesitated. Although the pursuers were dangerous, the cultists before them were not trustworthy either.

They hesitated, but the pursuers did not. Seeing the members of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, their actions became even more urgent.

Several assassins in the shadows no longer hid, but directly leaped from the dim corners, rushing towards Prince Jero, who was hiding in the back.

When facing the obstructing gray-white barrier, these individuals’ figures instantly became indistinct and blurry. In this state, the gray-white barrier seemed unable to recognize them, allowing them to pass through. In peril, Princess Lia quickly pushed Jero away, taking several sword wounds herself.

“No!” Jero roared.

His eyes instantly turned blood-red as he glared at the distant cultists.

“Kill them, kill these pursuers! I’ll agree to whatever you want me to do!”

Upon this, the cultists in the shadows conferred softly among themselves, then nodded.

The three floating eye demons once again unleashed rays, continuously sweeping and piercing the bodies of the pursuers. From the shadows, several assassins dressed in cultist robes also charged out. They engaged in a skirmish with their pursuing counterparts in the shadows, leaving multiple enemies dead within moments.

Several minutes later, the pursuing team was routed, with only a few individuals, sensing the danger, fleeing. At this point, the dim forest once again fell silent.

Several leading cultists, surrounded by their members, slowly approached the prince. They bowed, then looked at the severely wounded Princess Lia.

“We have a way to heal the princess. Please follow us, Your Royal Highness.”

At this moment, Jero glanced at the vigilant knights and attendants beside him, then made up his mind.

“Alright, I’ll go with you. I hope you keep your promise.”

Seeing the prince agree, the remaining knights had no choice but to obey. In fact, they were at their wit’s end, exhausted, and had little room to resist.

Half an hour later, this group left the place, disappearing into the distance. A Black-Crowned Magpie arrived late, perched on a branch, observing the corpses and traces below, strange lights swirling in its eyes.

Soon, several other night birds arrived in the forest. They perched on branches, communicating with their eyes.

‘Prince Jero must have escaped from here.’

‘But his tracks are now lost.’

‘Most of the pursuers are dead. The wounds don’t seem to be caused by knights or warriors.’

‘There aren’t many groups with ray attack capabilities, either mages or some strange creatures.’

‘The Mage Alliance wouldn’t care about the life or death of a small country’s prince; it must be strange creatures.’

‘There are residual scents of the “Alien Star” and some “twisted” contamination on the trees along the way. We infer this was caused by Alien Star creatures.’

‘The Hundred-Eyed Cult, it must be them.’

‘How dare they snatch someone from us witches? They truly have no regard for us.’

‘Spread the word, put out a warrant for their capture.’ ‘Yes.’

At the end of the year, before Winter had ended, Whitecliff City, the capital of the Regas Duchy, fell. Grand Duke Regas and the First Prince died in the city, and a large number of other nobles surrendered. Thus, there was no longer any strong resistance in the Regas Duchy, and its division by the Anti Kingdom and the Eagle Scorpion Tent Country was a foregone conclusion.

Although the Regas Duchy no longer existed, the royal bloodline was not cut off. Some said that Prince Jero and Princess Lia had escaped before Whitecliff City fell. Many speculated that the prince and princess had gone to Hidden Grove for refuge.

Regarding this speculation, Hidden Grove did not directly answer, and the Anti Kingdom and the Eagle Scorpion Tent Country no longer sent people to search for Prince Jero, as if they were certain he would not reappear.

…

In the Shadow World, within the Dark Mist Mountains.

After several days of arduous travel, Hylial and her companions finally arrived at the front-line outpost, ‘Firestone Fortress’.

The tall city gate slowly rose as the hinges creaked, then Hylial and her group, bringing supplies and personnel, slowly drove in. Awaiting them were several members dressed in black robes.

“Welcome, Student Hylial.” The leader of the black-robed men placed a hand on his chest and offered a simple bow.

“My name is Dickens, Quartermaster of the fortress. Please follow me.”

He led Hylial’s group to the tower at the base of the fortress, arranged for them to unload their goods, and registered them one by one.

“We are very grateful for the valuable food you’ve brought, Student Hylial, but this was not part of the expected resupply plan. Do you have any particular intentions?”

After storing the goods, the other party then asked Hylial what she wanted, as if to imply that no matter what the girl suggested, the food would not be returned.

Hylial merely shook her head slightly, uncaring, and then spoke with the Quartermaster.

“I need a batch of fuel. I would also like to know what your main outputs are, and what supplies you lack.”

Hearing this, Dickens seemed to find a kindred spirit and began to speak enthusiastically with the young girl. As he spoke, Hylial gradually compiled the information.

‘Firestone Fortress’ was an outpost in the third canyon of the Dark Mist Mountains. It was rich in a peculiar black stone. If the edges were ground away, a dark red interior would be revealed, but strangely, if cut completely, the inside was entirely black.

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The characteristic of this stone was that it would generate heat upon impact, and could be used for ignition, hence it was called ‘firestone’. Unfortunately, it could not burn on its own; intense collision was required to generate heat.

Aside from firestone, the area around the fortress also grew many twisted trees, which were trees contaminated by the ‘Twist’ aspect. These trees could also burn, but burning them produced polluting black smoke. Therefore, it was necessary to first char them to remove the pollution, and then use the purer charcoal as suitable fuel.

“We can provide you with charcoal, but each time, you’ll need to exchange it for food. We can trade five catties of charcoal for one catty of food.”

“Five catties is too little, seven catties.” The girl shook her head. This exchange rate was too low.

“This…” The other party hesitated.

“If you’re unwilling, I’ll go ask at other outposts.” It wasn’t as if this was the only front-line outpost offering charcoal.

“Alright, seven catties it is.” The other party agreed immediately. In truth, they still profited, as charcoal was only valuable here. In resource-rich rear outposts, no one would buy it.

Afterward, Hylial learned about the other specialties of the area.

“Frontline outposts participate in combat with monsters, so if you’re looking to buy monster materials, they’ll be unusually cheap.” The other party directly informed her.

“Secondly, we also produce a ‘black crystal’ that is a byproduct of the firestone. It is extremely hard and suitable for engraving runes and imprints, making it useful in the manufacture of special artifacts.”

“I haven’t heard of it before. Is this a recent discovery?” Hylial had reviewed a lot of information about the Dark Mist Mountains before coming.

“That’s right, it’s a special gem that was only unearthed from the mines two months ago. It’s not for sale to the public yet, but if you can bring food of Rare quality or higher, we might consider trading a small amount.”

“I see, I understand.” After agreeing, Hylial and her companions thoroughly toured the magnificent fortress. Reportedly, about 2,000 people were stationed there, mostly Second-Rank Transcendent beings, with over forty Third-Rank professionals. The highest commander of the outpost was General Cyphane, a Fifth-Rank.

“General Cyphane is constantly busy defending against monster assaults outside the fortress, always on patrol. He spends little time resting within the fortress, and usually, several deputies handle the management,” Dickens explained to Hylial.

“If your outpost develops well and can provide more food, our manpower here will also be more abundant.”

“There are two main obstacles to expanding deeper into the Dark Mist Mountains: one is the vast number of dangerous monsters, and the other is the long and difficult supply line.”

“This is a map showing the distribution of various outposts in the Dark Mist Mountains. Consider it my personal gift to you, Hylial.” Before parting, Dickens handed her a detailed map.

“I hope to see you again, Student Hylial, in a few months.”

With full carts of charcoal and some monster materials, Hylial waved goodbye to the other party and embarked on her return journey.

At the same time, after more than a month of hiding and fleeing, Prince Jero, led by members of the Hundred-Eyed Cult, used a special method to reach the Shadow World beneath the surface continent.

Seeing the twisted and bizarre trees around him, and the thick, never-dispersing dark clouds pressing down from above, the usually pampered prince finally realized that he was no longer in the sun-drenched surface world, but had arrived in the shadow world beneath the continent.

“Is this…the home you spoke of?”