"It's the Shepherd Witch."
Seeing the figure beside the windmill building, the Scarecrow warned, "Her power is quite troublesome."
In fact, it was far more than that. Under Miss Red's rule, their statuses varied, and the Shepherd Witch was considered Miss Red's personal maid, with her strength ranking among the first tier below Miss Red.
"I can tell."
Itsuki also saw the target, and the panel beside the Shepherd Witch displayed a fire-based Skill that could be activated by sight.
And the Scarecrow and the Gingerbread Witch were both very afraid of fire.
Pokémon - Shepherd Witch
Attributes: Ghost, Dark
Skill-1-Sheep's magic Mark: A cursed power that can turn creatures into sheep.
Skill-2-Mourning: Your crying can madden sheep into demonic sheep filled with hellfire.
Skill-3-Feast Charm: You can summon a table full of delicacies by sacrificing a sheep.
Skill-4-Companion Demon: Your elder and younger sisters have become your companion Strange Tales due to your bloodline.
Elder Sister - One-Eye: Her resentful gaze can distort everything in front of her.
Younger Sister - Three-Eyes: Her jealous fire will descend upon the target through her gaze.
The Shepherd Witch was sitting in front of the doorframe, grooming her elder and younger sisters. It was clear from their eyes that these two demonic sheep still retained their intelligence.
She had light golden, slightly curly long hair, and her figure was completely covered by her witch's robe. All that was known was that she wasn't tall, her lips were thin, but her seemingly watery eyes and delicate features concealed any shortcomings.
"No, she's crying!"
Itsuki hadn't given a command yet, but the Scarecrow, having noticed this, had already rushed forward.
Although he couldn't beat her, the Shepherd Witch wasn't here to kill him.
This was just a trial. He hadn't dared to go all out against the Gingerbread Witch earlier; the Shepherd Witch should also go through the motions for this fight, right?
With this thought in his mind, the Scarecrow's dark claws, like sickles, slashed towards the Shepherd Witch.
And the Shepherd Witch's tears had already fallen, and her younger sister beside her grew fangs, her pure white fur also tainted by the power of hell into the colour of magma.
Then, the Scarecrow caught fire.
At this moment, Illya's voice came again.
"Congratulations, Itsuki, you have now reached the second stage of the trial.
Defeat the Shepherd Witch before you, and you will receive the golden apple that can restore the Queen's sanity."
Due to the Scarecrow's mistake, Illya and the others, watching the battle through the Magic Mirror, found that Itsuki and the Gingerbread Witch passed the first stage without much effort.
And this clearly did not conform to the trial.
So the instruction they gave the Shepherd Witch was to attack freely, making Itsuki experience as difficult a battle as possible.
"Are you serious?!"
Feeling his body burning, the Scarecrow was not only in excruciating pain but also full of questions.
No? Are you all targeting me?
Seeing that the demonic sheep had no intention of stopping its attack, the Scarecrow could only endure the pain and use another substitute. His substitutes not only required the slaughter of a large number of lives but also had to be woven by hand, so each one used meant one less.
"So how do we defeat her?"
Itsuki also noticed this and dared not let the Gingerbread Witch enter the fray, as the Gingerbread Witch had no substitute to dodge fatal attacks.
"Who knows…"
The Scarecrow grumbled.
Substitutes, avatars, illusions, and teleportation—the Scarecrow's Skill set was entirely for self-preservation, and its lethality against Strange Tales was truly meager.
And the Shepherd Witch?
Her set of Skills was for killing.
In any case, the Scarecrow simply could not defeat the Shepherd Witch, that killing machine.
Taking a deep breath, the Scarecrow split into three, only able to try to move around the battlefield, using illusions to blind the Shepherd Witch and the demonic sheep. The Gingerbread Witch, meanwhile, tried to cause damage by summoning with the Candy House.
…
"Mrs. Yukino, Mrs. Yukino?"
"Please don't call me that…"
Mrs. Yukino crossed her forearm over her face, barely managing to squeeze out a protest from the corner of her mouth.
Who calls someone 'Mrs.' at a time like this?
Yukino questioned inwardly.
That address made her feel very ashamed, and Yukino's special Yuki-onna physique would also produce a peculiar state of melting ice. Kisaragi had discovered this trigger and loved to use this unfortunate address for her.
"Mrs. Yukino, Mrs. Yukino…"
This time it wasn't Kisaragi Rin, but Spider Mother's teasing voice, full of laughter.
"Ugh…"
The next moment, her mind went blank, her ability to think completely disintegrating.
It was a while before Mrs. Yukino relaxed her fingers, which had been tightly clutching Spider Mother's slender waist.
"So useless," Yukino thought, feeling aggrieved.
Controlling the cold to freeze water molecules, then using power to shatter them, the slightly stuffy air was smoothed by this coolness.
Yukino felt it was all Spider Mother's fault; otherwise, she definitely could have held on a little longer.
"But I remember Spider Mother was even more useless in this regard." Recalling past memories, Yukino's lingering blush deepened again.
At this moment, Spider Mother's side ponytail also fell onto her face, its swaying motion making Yukino want to sneeze. If anyone else were here, she would definitely seek revenge for what just happened, but unfortunately, even when Yukino felt her anger rise, she only dared to secretly tickle Spider Mother's sensitive spots down below.
Hmm… not using more aggressive methods against her was to prevent it from becoming a counterproductive reward.
Yukino convinced herself.
After some more time passed, the two white-haired individuals were already lying wrapped in a blanket nearby, their eyes half-closed, and it took a while for them to respond to the conversation.
"The danger level of this world is very high. Be careful when dealing with it. I will leave the R'lyeh Text with you. If you encounter a situation you can't handle, you can try to pull Shikanoko Noko into this world to resolve the trouble."
Kisaragi Rin said to Busujima Saeko in his arms.
The upper limit of existences like Strange Tales is quite high, no less than most bloodlines.
And the upper limit of fairy tale characters is even more terrifying. The convergence of these two already represents how unreasonable the power of the top Strange Tales in this world is.
Although there was a Workshop, and Miss Red also said that those divine kingdoms were very far from the Rapunzel Territory they were going to, Kisaragi Rin still worried that one day two smelly bears would suddenly run into his territory to stop the destruction of nature…
It sounded ridiculous, but reality often develops in ways more ridiculous than expected.
The matters of the Strange Tales Association were left to Busujima Saeko and Spider Mother. If any unexpected situation arose, Kisaragi Rin could only seek the organization's protection.
Hmm… Paradise World, where everything exists.
I, Kisaragi Rin, have but one deer.
Capable of moving mountains, overturning seas, subduing demons, suppressing devils, commanding gods, plucking stars, severing rivers, destroying cities, and opening the heavens!
Deer, come!