Ianna left.
The sanctuary fell silent.
Allen looked at the three sacred statues of Melitele, glowing with a faint white radiance under the sunlight, and did not rush to commune with the goddess. Instead, he pondered the conversation he had just had with Ianna.
Vera had already shown resistance to his participation in the expedition to The Valley of Thousand Monsters before she was summoned to Thanedd Island, so her current reaction was hardly surprising.
The malice from the Rogrides family and Radovid IV revealed at the assembly had indeed proven Vera's worries were not groundless.
The expedition to The Valley of Thousand Monsters was extremely dangerous—for Allen, and even more so for the School of the Wolf.
Yet in Allen's view, precisely because all that malice had been concentrated in one place, it instead became a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.
In the end, his true enemies were never the kings, nobles, or sorcerers of the witcher world.
Yes—his enemies had never been the people of the witcher world, not even the Wild Hunt, nor the Aen Elle who obsessed over the Gate of Ard Gaeth.
Not because they were unworthy. They were all powerful, but they were also enemies that could be dealt with, or at the very least, avoided.
No matter how sharp a sorcerer family's claws were, no matter how deep their malice, they only dared to scheme in the shadows, playing at intrigue and underhanded plots.
Those who were truly powerful, who felt no fear toward witchers or the School of the Wolf, could simply send assassins, or even dispatch troops to attack Kaer Morhen directly. Why bother with such despicable methods?
If the king of Redania disliked witchers, then he simply wouldn't go to Redania. The Northern Continent wasn't limited to a single kingdom. In another hundred years, when Nilfgaard marched north, it was still unknown who would survive to the end.
He didn't even need to wait a hundred years. Radovid IV was nothing more than a mortal—twenty years from now, he would be a handful of yellow dust, while a witcher's career would only just be beginning.
No matter how powerful the King of the Wild Hunt was, no matter how godlike he seemed, no matter if the armies of the Aen Elle conquered worlds across the planes—so what?
As long as he didn't use the Gate of Ard Gaeth, where would those Aen Elle even find him?
Allen himself was not particularly obsessed with increasing his strength. Even without relying on the Gate of Ard Gaeth, sooner or later he would still become the strongest being in the witcher world.
Measured against a witcher's lifespan, as long as he "played it safe" enough, before he reached that peak, all beings could refrain from becoming his enemies—and afterward, he would have no enemies at all.
If that was the case, why should he fight sorcerers, nobles, kings, and Eredin, King of the Wild Hunt, to the death?
Because time was too tight to waste. Because the White Frost hung overhead like a Sword of Damocles, gleaming coldly, ready to fall at any moment—decapitating him in a single stroke, killing everyone he cared about, and erasing every trace of his existence.
That was why he had to seize every second, why he had to make use of the Gate of Ard Gaeth, and why he had no choice but to face the malice of sorcerers, nobles, kings, and the Aen Elle head-on.
In the final analysis—
From beginning to end, the witcher's true enemy had always been only one thing: the White Frost, which was destined to arrive, and very soon.
If not for twists of fate, sorcerers, nobles, kings, and even the Aen Elle should all have been forces he sought to win over.
Before the White Frost, all life should have been allies.
Unfortunately, he couldn't simply stand before them and say, "I am the Child of Destiny. Join me, and together we will drive away the White Frost."
That was impossible. The Rogrides family was blinded by greed and incapable of seeing that far. The stubborn Radovid IV would never bow his head to a witcher, let alone offer everything and let him lead the great cause against the White Frost. As for Eredin Bréacc Glas—he would probably just carve the Gate of Ard Gaeth out of Allen's body and then lead the Aen Elle far away from the Frost's reach.
Thus, they were destined to be enemies.
But—
Setting the Aen Elle aside for now.
The Rogrides family had to be destroyed, yet most of the sorcerers connected to the Brotherhood of Sorcerers were forces that could still be won over.
Radovid IV's issue was mostly one of wounded pride. Redania, after all, was the second-largest power on the Northern Continent after Temeria, and indispensable in the camp opposing the White Frost.
Rather than dragging things out—allowing the Rogrides family to scheme in the shadows, forcing the School of the Wolf to confront them while entangling more and more unrelated forces—
Just like how a conflict that was originally only between the School of the Wolf and the glutton Henselt had ended up severely injuring Hen Gedymdeith, who could have been an ally.
The radicals of Ban Ard deserved death, but the other factions of Ban Ard, as well as the sorcerers cooperating with Rissberg in civil enterprises, had also suffered heavy losses in the wave of establishing a sorcerer kingdom and opposing the Wild Hunt.
Were there truly no innocents among them? Were they all narrow-minded extremists filled with hatred toward witchers, with no forces worth winning over?
Of course not!
It was simply that one connection dragged in another, forcing people ever deeper, and then rapidly affecting those who had originally been outsiders.
"This can't go on," Allen thought, his brows tightly knit.
If it continued like this, hatred would only propagate endlessly, with no end in sight.
Destroy Sunny, and Belendil Rogrides would appear. Erase the Rogrides family, and Fingridis would block the way next.
Without even waiting for the White Frost to descend, there might be very few usable forces left by the time the Wild Hunt arrived two years later.
He had to seize a moment and completely sever this malignant chain reaction.
The expedition to The Valley of Thousand Monsters was the perfect opportunity. The eyes of the entire supernatural world—and even the mundane world—were focused there.
As long as he displayed power and influence that could not be ignored, preparations against the Wild Hunt could begin in advance.
"First, we need to define friend and foe," Allen reasoned to himself. "The Rogrides family is the chief culprit—undoubtedly irredeemable. Then they'll serve as the target. I'll completely sever the hands they've stretched toward the School of the Wolf, to serve as a warning!"
"Radovid IV wasn't actually involved. Otherwise, at Drakenborg, Baron Evans, the prison warden, and Ronnie Dickinson wouldn't have needed to collude in secret. If the king of Redania wanted to target the School of the Wolf, he'd have plenty of ways to do so."
"At the core, Radovid IV's hostility comes from the witchers' offense—carrying out private justice on Redanian nobles without his consent. In essence, there's no deep hatred between us."
"Granny Ianna insisting that I bring the priests of the Temple of Melitele is probably for this reason as well."
"After some time passes and the news of the Holy Child's anointment spreads, if I find a way to give Radovid IV a way out, Redania isn't without hope of becoming an ally."
"So—"
A fierce glint flashed in the witcher's eyes. "When it comes to the Rogrides family, I must strike hard! Not only inside The Valley of Thousand Monsters, but outside it as well—I must uproot this tumor completely!"
"As for how exactly to do it—"
Allen thought for a moment and decided that after returning to Kaer Morhen, he would discuss it with Sol, Vera, and the other witcher masters.
Outside the sanctuary window, the maple leaves had already turned red.
"At this time, the witchers of the School of the Wolf should already be on their way back," Allen suddenly thought. "I hope not too many of them were secretly harmed by the Rogrides family's schemes—"
To be honest, he wasn't very optimistic.
Even Witcher Master Danthe had fallen into their trap by accident. Ordinary witchers of the School of the Wolf would likely find it hard to avoid.
"Forget it. No use thinking about this now. Improving my strength comes first. As for those companions of the School of the Wolf who were harmed by intrigue—"
"Sooner or later, the Rogrides family's black hands will pay in blood!"
Setting aside the matter of the expedition to The Valley of Thousand Monsters for now, Allen raised his head and looked at Melitele's three sacred statues, not rushing to prepare a ritual or pray for the Blessing of Harvest.
Coming here wasn't easy, for one thing. For another, given the recent activity at the temple, the goddess's expenditure of divine power would certainly not be small.
He needed to think through his next strategy in advance.
With a thought, the witcher opened the Witcher's Journal.
[Chests: @#￥%& Chest ×5, Carrion Lord's Chest ×5, Putrid Ghoul's Chest ×5, Renakins Galleon Price's Chest ×5, Sunny Gobert's Chest ×5, Miguel Courtney's Chest ×5, Aen Elle Chest ×5, Sorcerer's Chest ×5]
Although most of the chests had already been opened at Ban Ard, there were still forty chests left in the journal.
Even with the previous Greater Blessing of Harvest, there had only been room for twenty-seven gold-quality openings.
Allen didn't plan to save them for next time, nor did he plan to ask the goddess for additional blessings.
Because the Blessing of Harvest itself consumed divine power, and judging from the previous times, Melitele's expenditure had not been small.
At present, the training of priests in the temple was undoubtedly a major drain on divine power. Although Lysa and Ianna didn't seem particularly aware of this—which was normal; it would be strange for a goddess to complain to her followers about divine power consumption—the astonishingly simple interface of Lysa had nonetheless displayed outrageously powerful effects in an extremely short time—
By basic logic alone, it was obvious that Melitele had invested a great deal of effort in this, and the consumption of divine power could not possibly have been low.
On top of that, the Crone Knight Order he had seen earlier—normally, it would take three or four years at minimum to raise a group of raw recruits to a usable level.
Ianna hadn't selected experienced knights, only recruits devoted to the goddess. That wasn't to guard against Duke Merlin.
More likely, there was a way to rapidly raise the Crone Knight Order's strength—but it would certainly require massive divine power.
These were the places where Melitele's divine power should be invested right now.
After all, his own strength had basically stabilized. What mattered more now were leap-tier improvements like the Great Deed Vessel and secondary mutation.
There would hardly be another opportunity like the Mountain Trial, where opening a single gold chest to get Killer Whale could decisively change everything.
Even another Path of the Beast's Roar wouldn't be enough.
So—
Compared to spending divine power on opening chests for a few more gold-quality drops, he would rather see Melitele's power invested in the priests and the Crone Knight Order.
That would be the better choice, whether for the expedition to The Valley of Thousand Monsters or for dealing with the Wild Hunt coming from afar.
To be honest, even if Melitele only granted an ordinary Blessing of Harvest this time, he would accept it—and he didn't plan to save the chests for another round.
"That means at least thirteen chests need to be opened in advance—no, not necessarily in advance, but at least there needs to be an order—"
Allen carefully examined the eight categories of chests in his inventory.
"The evil god chests have been saved for a long time; they should definitely be the first batch—but if it's truly just a normal Blessing of Harvest, then Renakins Galleon Price's chests absolutely need to be opened before the evil god chests—"
"I've already used more than ten Immortal's Memory Crystals, and there's still no sign of breaking the limit or advancing a tier. The probability is higher that it'll come from Renakins Galleon Price's chests—"
"Mm—by the same logic, the Aen Elle chests are also important. Put them in third place—"
"That's fifteen chests already—"
"The Carrion Lord and Putrid Ghoul chests are actually less important—"
"Sunny Gobert and Miguel Courtney might, like Ronnie Dickinson's chest, yield a Spirit of the Sorcerer of the Wind School. Mary doesn't need it anymore, but there's still Yennefer at Kaer Morhen—"
"A Sorcerer's Spirit increases Mysticism by twenty points and lets the user learn all spells of that school—use it and you immediately gain combat power—"
"Let me think… what kind of spells was Yennefer good at in the novels and the games—"
"Portals go without saying. When Geralt first met Yennefer while catching a djinn, she cast a bright orange beam of light—she's also skilled in illusion magic, capable of summoning a tangible hawk, which is an extremely advanced application of illusion—during the final battle with Vilgefortz, she also used lightning and fire—at the Massacre of Rivia, she and Triss Merigold together cast the Merigold Hailstorm, comparable to Alzur's Thunder—"
"Uh… Yennefer seems to be proficient in all four schools of magic—she really is a genius—"
"Then Sunny Gobert—the radical leader who once nearly became the king of the first sorcerer kingdom on the Northern Continent—his spells definitely won't be weak—"
After careful consideration, the witcher finally decided to open the chests in the following order:
[Chests: Renakins Galleon Price's Chest ×5, Aen Elle Chest ×5, @#￥%& Chest ×5, Sunny Gobert's Chest ×5, Miguel Courtney's Chest ×5, Sorcerer's Chest ×5, Carrion Lord's Chest ×5, Putrid Ghoul's Chest ×5]
Once the order was decided, Allen no longer hesitated. He took out the chalk, sulfur, enchanted dust, and mercury solution he had prepared earlier from the storage niche, and began setting up Melitele's Concealment Ritual before the three sacred statues of Melitele.
Very soon, a complete ritual array formed within the sanctuary—the three interwoven ritual circles symbolizing the goddess's trinity as Maiden, Mother, and Crone.
After checking it once more, Allen took a deep breath and prayed devoutly:
"Praise be to the Mother of All Things, goddess of abundance, harvest, and childbirth, guardian of the eternal Maiden, Mother, and Crone—"
The next second—
There were no layered visions born of prayer. Instead, the candle flames burning before the statues instantly turned golden, blazing with brilliant light.
The sacred statues were cloaked in gold, and the plain, unadorned sanctuary was transformed in an instant into something as solemn and holy as a divine realm.
And then—
The goddess Melitele descended!
.......
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